أسل بدمعك وادي الحي إن بانوا — Alsharif Alradi

أَسِل بِدَمعِكَ وادي الحَيِّ إِن بانوا

إِنَّ الدُموعَ عَلى الأَحزانِ أَعوانُ

Make the tribe's valley flow with your tears if they depart.

Tears are helpers against sorrow.

لا عُذرَ بَعدَ تَنائي الدارِ مِن سَكَنٍ

لِمُدَّعي الوَجدِ لَم يَدمَع لَهُ شانُ

There is no excuse, once the dwelling is far from its dweller,

for one who claims passion yet whose tear duct has not flowed.

حَيِّ الطَوالِعَ مِن نَجدٍ تَصونُهُمُ

عَنِ النَواظِرِ أَنماءٌ وَكيرانُ

Greet those coming into view from Najd, whom

Anmaʾ and Kiran shield from watching eyes.

رَمَوا جُيوبَ المَطالي عَن مَيامِنِهِم

وَشيحَةُ الحَزنِ يُسراهُم وَنَجرانُ

They left the hollows of al-Matali to their right,

and Shihat al-Hazn and Najran to their left.

سارَت بِقَلبِكَ في الأَحشاءِ زَفرَتُهُ

وَاِستَوقَفَتكَ بِأَعلى الرَملِ أَظعانُ

Your heart's sigh bore it away within your breast,

and traveling litters halted you in upper al-Raml.

لَمّا مَرَرنا عَلى تِلكَ السُروبِ ضُحىً

نَصَت إِلى الرَبعِ أَجيادٌ وَأَعيانُ

When we passed those companies in the morning,

necks and eyes strained toward the encampment,

مِن كُلِّ غَيداءَ قَد مالَ النَعيمُ بِها

كَما تَخايَلَ بِالبُردَينِ نَشوانُ

each belonging to a supple beauty swayed by luxury,

as a tipsy man struts in his two mantles.

كَأَنَّما اِنفَرَجَت عَنهُم قِبابُهُم

يَومَ الأُنَيعِمِ آجالٌ وَصيرانُ

As though their parted canopies had revealed,

on the day at al-Unayʿim, herds of gazelles and wild cattle.

مُستَشرِفاتٌ يُعَرِّضنَ الخُدودَ لَنا

كَما تَشَوَّفَ صَوبَ المُزنِ غِزلانُ

Peering out, they turned their cheeks toward us,

as gazelles gaze toward the rain clouds.

لا يُذكَرُ الرَملُ إِلّا حَنَّ مُغتَرِبٌ

لَهُ بِذي الرَملِ أَوطارٌ وَأَوطانُ

Whenever al-Raml is mentioned, an exile yearns,

with desires and homelands in Dhu al-Raml.

نَهفو إِلى البانِ مِن قَلبي نَوازِعُهُ

وَما بِيَ البانُ بَل مَن دارُهُ البانُ

We yearn toward the ban trees, drawn by my heart's impulses,

yet it is not the ban trees that ail me, but one whose home is among them.

أَسُدُّ سَمعي إِذا غَنّى الحَمامُ بِهِ

إِلّا يُبَيِّنَ سِرَّ الوَجدِ إِعلانُ

I stop my ears when the doves sing there,

lest an outcry disclose the secret of passion.

وَرُبَّ دارٍ أَوَليها مُجانَبَةً

وَبي إِلى الدارِ أَطرابٌ وَأَشجانُ

Many a dwelling I treat with avoidance,

though I bear toward it rapture and sorrow.

إِذا تَلَفَّتُّ في أَطلالِها اِبتَدَرَت

لِلعَينِ وَالقَلبِ أَمواهٌ وَنيرانُ

When I turn to look among its ruins, there rush forth

waters for the eye and fires for the heart.

كُلمٌ بِقَلبي أُداويهِ وَيَقرِفُهُ

طَولُ إِدكاري لِمَن لي مِنهُ نِسيانُ

A wound in my heart I tend, yet it is reopened by

my long remembrance of one who has forgotten me.

لا لِلَوائِمِ إِقصارٌ بِلائِمَةٍ

عَنِ العَميدِ وَلا لِلقَلبِ سُلوانُ

The reproachful women never cease their reproaches

against the love-stricken man, nor does the heart find solace.

عَلى مَواعيدِهِم خُلفٌ إِذا وَعَدوا

وَفي دُيونِهِمُ مَطلٌ وَلَيّانُ

Their promises carry breach whenever they promise,

and their debts bring delay and evasion.

هُم عَرَّضوا بِوَفاءِ العَهدِ آوِنَةً

حَتّى إِذا عَذَّبوني بِالمُنى خانوا

At times they hinted at keeping the pledge,

until, having tormented me with hopes, they betrayed me.

لا تَخلُدَنَّ إِلى أَرضِ تَهونُ بِها

بِالدارِ دارٌ وَبِالجيرانِ جيرانُ

Never settle in a land where you are held cheap;

for one home there is another, and for neighbors, other neighbors.

أَقولُ لِلرَكبِ قَد خَوَّت رِكابُهُمُ

مِنَ الكَلالِ وَمَرُّ اللَيلِ عَجلانُ

I tell the caravan, whose mounts have sagged

from exhaustion, while the night passes swiftly:

مُدّوا عَلابيَّها وَاِستَعجِلوا طَلَباً

إِذا رَضي بِالهُوَينا مَعشَرٌ هانوا

Stretch out their neck-sinews and hasten your pursuit;

a people who accept a sluggish pace fall into contempt.

نَرجو الخُلودَ وَباقينا عَلى ظَعِن

وَالدارُ قاذِفَةٌ بِالزَورِ مِظعانُ

We hope for permanence, though even those remaining must depart,

and the abode casts out its visitors, ever sending them onward.

إِن قَلَّصَ الدَهرُ ما أَضفاهُ مِن جِدَةٍ

فَصَنعَةُ الدَهرِ إِعطاءٌ وَحِرمانُ

If time draws in the wealth it once spread wide,

giving and deprivation are time's craft.

كَم مِن غُلامٍ تَرى أَطمارَهُ مِزقاً

وَالعِرضُ أَملَسُ وَالأَحسابُ غُرّانُ

How many a youth you see with his rags in tatters,

yet his honor is unblemished and his lineage radiant.

إِذا الفَتى كانَ في أَفعالِهِ شَوَهٌ

لَم يُغنِ إِن قَيلَ إِنَّ الوَجهَ حَسّانُ

If a young man's deeds are marred by ugliness,

it does no good to say his face is handsome.

لا تَطلُبِ الغايَةَ القُصوى فَتُحرَمَها

فَإِنَّ بَعضَ طِلابِ الرِبحِ خُسرانُ

Do not seek the furthest goal only to be denied it,

for some pursuit of profit brings loss.

وَالعَزمُ في غَيرِ وَقتِ العَزمِ مَعجَزَةٌ

وَالإِزدِيادُ بِغَيرِ العَقلِ نُقصانُ

Resolve outside its proper moment is helplessness,

and increase without reason is diminution.

وَاِجعَل يَدَيكَ مَجازَ المالِ تَحظَ بِهِ

إِنَّ الأَشِحّاءَ لِلوُرّاثِ خُزّانُ

Make your hands a passage for wealth, and you will benefit from it;

misers are storekeepers for their heirs.

سَيَرعُبُ القَومَ مِنّي سَطوُ ذي لِبَدٍ

لَهُ بَعثَرَ أَعراسٌ وَوِلدانُ

The people will fear my assault, like a maned lion's,

with mates and cubs at ʿAthar.

لا يَطعَمُ الطُعمَ إِلّا مِن فَريسَتِهِ

إِن يَعدَمِ القِرنَ يَوماً فَهوَ طَيّانُ

He eats no food except from his own prey;

if one day he finds no opponent, he goes hungry.

ما شى الرِفاقَ يُراعي أَينَ مَسقِطُهُم

وَالسَمعُ مُنتَصِبٌ وَالقَلبُ يَقظانُ

He walked alongside the travelers, watching where they would alight,

his hearing alert and his heart awake.

يَستَعجِلُ اللَيلَةَ القَمراءَ أَوبَتَها

إِذا بَنو اللَيلِ مِن طولِ السُرى لا نوا

He urges the moonlit night to hasten its return

when the sons of night grow weary from long night travel,

حَتّى إِذا عَرَّسوا في حَيثُ تَفرُشُهُم

نَمارِقَ الرَملِ أَنقاءٌ وَكُثبانُ

until, when they halt to rest where

sandbanks and dunes spread sandy cushions beneath them,

دَنا كَما اِعتَسَّ ذو طِمرَينِ لَمَّظَهُ

مِن فَضلَةِ الزادِ بِالبَيداءِ رُكبانُ

he draws near like a night-prowler in two rags, whom

riders have fed leftover provisions in the wilderness.

ثُمَّ اِستَقَرَّت بِهِ نَفسٌ مُشَيَّعَةٌ

لَها مِنَ القَدَرِ المَجلوبِ مِعوانُ

Then a dauntless spirit settles firmly within him,

with the summoned doom as its helper.

فَعاثَ ما عاثَ وَاِستَبلى عَقيرَتَهُ

يَجُرُّها مُطعِمٌ لِلصَيدِ جَذلانُ

He ravages as he will and puts his victim to the test,

dragging it off, a gleeful feeder of lions.

قِرنٌ إِذا طَلَبَ الأَوتارَ عَن عُرُضٍ

لَم تَفدِ مِنهُ دِماءَ القَومِ أَلبانُ

A foe who, when he seeks blood debts indiscriminately,

accepts no milk to ransom the people's blood.

وَغِلمَةٍ أَخَذوا لِلرَوعِ أُهبَتَهُ

لُفَّ البُطونِ عَلى الأَعوادِ خُمصانُ

And many young men have made ready for terror,

stout of belly, yet lean upon the wooden saddles.

طارَت بِأَشباحِهِم جُردٌ مُسَوَّمَةٌ

كَأَنَّما خَطَفَت بِالقَومِ عِقبانُ

Sleek, marked horses flew with their bodies,

as though eagles had snatched the company away.

مِن كُلِّ أَعنَقَ مَلطومٍ بِغُرَّتِهِ

كَأَنَّهُ مِن تَمامِ الخَلقِ بُنيانُ

Each long-necked steed, smitten with a white blaze,

seems, in its perfect form, a solid edifice.

يَمُدُّ لِلجَرَسِ مِثلَ الآسِتَينِ إِذا

خانَ التَوَجُّسَ أَبصارٌ وَآذانُ

He extends two myrtle-leaf ears toward a sound, when

eyes and ears have failed their anxious watch.

فَاِستَمسِكوا بِنَواصيها وَقَد سَقَطَت

مِن غائِرِ الجَريِ أَلبابٌ وَأَرسانُ

Hold fast to their forelocks, for there have fallen,

from their plunging gallop, breast-straps and reins.

كَأَنَّما النَخلُ تَزفيهِ يَمانِيَةٌ

فاهَت بِهِ ثَمَّ أَعقابٌ وَعَيرانُ

As though palms were swept along by a Yemeni wind,

breathed forth there by Aʿqab and ʿAyran.

كَعَمتُ فاغِرَةَ الثَغرِ المَخوفِ بِهِم

يَهفو بِأَيمانِهِم نَبعٌ وَمُرّانُ

With them I gagged the gaping mouth of the dreaded frontier,

nabʿ-wood bows and murran-wood spears waving in their right hands.

كَأَنَّ غُرَّ المَعالي في بُيوتِهِمُ

بيضٌ عَقائِلُ يَحميهِنَّ غَيرانُ

As though the radiant heights of honor in their houses

were fair, highborn women guarded by jealous men.

يا فاقِدَ اللَهِ بَينَ الحَيِّ مِن يَمَنٍ

أَنساهُمُ الحِلمَ أَحقادٌ وَأَضغانُ

O you bereft of God among the clans of Yemen—

hatreds and grudges have made them forget forbearance.

إِلى كَمِ الرَحمُ البَلهاءُ شاكِيَةٌ

لَها مِنَ النَعيِ إِعوالٌ وَإِرنانُ

How long must innocent kinship complain,

with wailing and lamentation from death tidings?

حَيرى يُضِلّونَها ما بَينَنا وَلَهاً

مِنّا عَلى عُدَواءِ الدارِ نِشدانُ

Bewildered, they leave it lost between us, distraught,

while we seek it despite the separation of our homes.

النَجرُ مُتَّفِقٌ وَالرَأيُ مُختَلِفٌ

فَالدارُ واحِدَةٌ وَالدينُ أَديانُ

Our stock is one, but our judgment differs;

the dwelling is one, yet faith has become many faiths.

وَثَمَّ أَوعِيَةُ الإِحسانِ مُكفَأَةٌ

فَوارِغٌ وَوِعاءُ الشَرِّ مَلآنُ

There the vessels of kindness lie overturned,

empty, while the vessel of evil is full.

إِنّا نُجِرُّهُمُ أَعراضَنا طَمَعاً

في أَن يَعودوا إِلى البُقيا كَما كانوا

We give them our honor to assail, hoping

that they will return to sparing us, as they once did.

أَنّى يُتاهُ بِكُم في كُلِّ مُظلِمَةٍ

وَلِلرَشادِ أَماراتٌ وَعُنوانُ

How are you led astray into every darkness,

when right guidance has signs and a clear marker?

ميلوا إِلى السِلمَ إِنَّ السِلمَ واسِعَةٌ

وَاِستَوضِحوا الحَقَّ إِنَّ الحَقَّ عُريانُ

Incline toward peace, for peace is spacious,

and seek the truth clearly, for truth is naked.

يا راكِباً ذَرَعَت نُوَبَ الظَلامِ بِهِ

هَوجاءُ ماثِلَةُ الضَبعَينِ مِذعانُ

O rider, borne through the successive watches of darkness

by a headlong, high-shouldered, obedient she-camel,

أَبلِغ عَلى النَأيِ قَومي إِن حَلَلتَ هِمِ

أَنّي عَميدٌ بِما يَلقونَ أَسوانُ

tell my people, though far away, if you lodge among them,

that I am stricken by what they endure, sorrowful.

يا قَومُ إِنَّ طَويلَ الحِلمِ مَفسَدَةٌ

وَرُبَّما ضَرَّ إِبقاءٌ وَإِحسانُ

My people, prolonged forbearance breeds corruption,

and sometimes sparing and kindness do harm.

ما لي أَرى حَوضَكُم تَعفو نَصائِبُهُ

وَذودَكُم لَيلَةَ الأَورادِ ظَمآنُ

Why do I see your watering trough's stone markers disappearing,

while your camel herd thirsts on the night of watering?

مُدَفَّعينَ عَنِ الأَحواضِ مِن ضَرَعٍ

يَنضو بِهامِكُمُ ظُلمٌ وَعُدوانُ

Driven from the watering troughs through weakness,

oppression and aggression strip your heads bare.

لا يُرهَبُ المَرءُ مِنكُم عِندَ حِفظَتِهِ

وَلا يُراقِبُ يَوماً وَهوَ غَضبانُ

No man among you is feared in his wrath,

nor is he heeded any day when angry.

إِنَّ الأُلى لا يُعَزُّ الجارُ بَينَهُمُ

وَلا تُهابُ عَواليهِم لَذُلّانُ

Those among whom a neighbor is not honored

and whose spear-tips inspire no fear are surely abject.

كَم اِصطِبارٌ عَلى ضَيمٍ وَمَنقَصَةٍ

وَكَم عَلى الذُلُّ إِقرارٌ وَإِذعانُ

How much endurance of oppression and humiliation!

How much acceptance of disgrace and submission!

وَفيكُمُ الحامِلُ الهَمهامُ مَسرَحُهُ

داجٍ وَمِن حَلَقِ الماذيِّ أَبدانُ

Among you is the valiant charger, whose ranging-ground

is dark, and coats of armor fashioned from rings of fine mail.

وَالخَيلُ مُخطَفَةُ الأَوساطِ ضامِرَةٌ

كَأَنَّهُنَّ عَلى الأَطوادِ ذُؤبانُ

And the horses, tucked at the waist and lean,

seem wolves upon the mountains.

اللَهَ اللَهَ أَن يَبتَزَّ أَمرَكُمُ

راعٍ رَعِيَّتُهُ المَعزِيُّ وَالضانُ

God, God! Beware lest your rule be snatched away

by a shepherd whose flock is goats and sheep.

ثوروا لَها وَلتَهُنُ فيها نُفوسُكُمُ

إِنَّ المَناقِبَ لِلأَرواحِ أَثمانُ

Rise to defend it, and hold your lives cheap for its sake;

glorious deeds are the price of souls.

فَمِن إِباءِ الأَذى حَلَّت جَماجِمُها

عَلى مَناصِلِها عَبسٌ وَذُبيانُ

For, in refusing harm, they laid their skulls

upon their blades—ʿAbs and Dhubyan.

وَعَن سُيوفِ إِباءِ الضَيمِ حينَ سَطوا

مَضى بَغُصَّتِهِ الجَعديُّ مَروانُ

And from swords raised in refusal of oppression, when they struck,

Marwan al-Jaʿdi passed away, choking on his grief.

فَإِن تَنالوا فَقَد طالَت رِماحُكُمُ

وَإِن تُنالوا فَلِلأَقرانِ أَقرانُ

If you strike, your spears have reached far;

and if you are struck, every adversary has his match.