كذا يهجم القدر الغالب — Alsharif Alradi

كَذا يَهجُمُ القَدَرُ الغالِبُ

وَلا يَمنَعُ البابُ وَالحاجِبُ

Thus overpowering fate bursts in,

and neither door nor chamberlain can bar it.

تَغَلغَلَ يَصدَعُ شَملَ العُلى

كَما ذَعذَعَ الإِبِلَ الخارِبُ

It penetrated, sundering glory's unity,

as a raider scatters the camels.

وَقَد كانَ سَدَّ ثَنايا العَدوِّ

فَمِن أَينَ أَوضَعَ ذا الراكِبُ

And he had barred the enemy's passes,

so from where did this rider gallop in?

وَهابَت جَوانِبَهُ النائِباتُ

زَماناً وَقَد يُقدِمُ الهائِبُ

And calamities had feared his domain

for a time—yet the fearful may grow bold.

طَواكَ إِلى غَيرِكَ المُعتَفى

وَجاوَزَ أَبوابَكَ الراغِبُ

The seeker of bounty passed you by for another,

and the suppliant passed beyond your doors.

وَهَل نَحنُ إِلّا مَرامي السِهامِ

يَحفِزُها نابِلٌ دائِبُ

And are we anything but targets for arrows

propelled by a tireless archer?

نُسَرُّ إِذا جازَنا طائِشٌ

وَنَجزَعُ إِن مَسَّنا صائِبُ

We rejoice when a stray one passes us by,

and despair if a true one touches us.

فَفي يَومِنا قَدَرٌ لابِدٌ

وَعِندَ غَدٍ قَدَرٌ واثِبُ

So in our today, fate lies crouching,

and with tomorrow, fate springs forth.

طَرائِدُ تَطلُبُها النائِباتُ

وَلا بُدَّ أَن يُدرِكَ الطالِبُ

We are quarry pursued by calamities,

and the pursuer must catch up.

أَرى المَرءَ يَفعَلُ فِعلَ الحَدي

دِ وَهوَ غَداً حَمَأٌ لازِبُ

I see man act with the force of iron,

though tomorrow he is clinging black mud.

عَواريُّ مِن سَلَبِ الهالِكينَ

يَمُدُّ يَداً نَحوَها السالِبُ

Borrowed things from the spoils of the dead,

toward which the plunderer stretches a hand.

لَنا بِالرَدى مَوعِدٌ صادِقٌ

وَنَيلِ المُنى واعِدٌ كاذِبُ

We have a true appointment with death,

and a lying promiser of wishes fulfilled.

نُصَبِّحُ بِالكَأسِ مَجدوحَةً

وَلا عِلمَ لي أَيُّنا الشارِبُ

We serve at dawn the cup, well stirred,

and I know not which of us will drink.

حَبائِلُ لِلدَهرِ مَبثوثَةٌ

يُرَدُّ إِلى جَذبِها الهارِبُ

Time has snares spread abroad;

the fugitive is drawn back into their grip.

وَكَيفَ يُجاوِزُ غاياتِنا

وَقَد بَلَغَ المَورِدَ القارِبُ

And how can he pass beyond our limits,

when the water-seeker has reached the watering place?

لَقَد كانَ رَأيُكَ حَلَّ العِقالِ

إِذا طَلَعَ المُعضِلُ الكارِبُ

Indeed, your judgment would loosen the hobble,

when a baffling, distressing problem arose.

وَقَد كانَ عِندَكَ فَرجُ المَضيقِ

إِذا عَضَّ بِالقَتَبِ الغارِبُ

With you, too, lay relief from the strait,

when the withers bit against the pack-saddle.

يَفيءُ إِلَيكَ مِنَ القاصِياتِ

مُراحُ المَناقِبِ وَالعازِبُ

From far-off places would return to you

virtues brought home, and virtues straying.

فَيَومُ النُهى مُشرِقٌ شامِسٌ

وَيَومُ النَدى ماطِرٌ ساكِبُ

So reason's day was radiant and sunny,

and bounty's day was rainy and pouring.

فَأَينَ الفَيالِقُ مَجرورَةً

وَقَد عَضَّلَ اللَقَمُ اللاحِبُ

So where are the legions, drawn along,

when the broad highway was choked?

وَأَينَ القَنا كَبَنانِ الهَلوكِ

بِماءِ الطُلى أَبَداً خاضِبُ

And where are the lances, like a wanton's fingers,

ever dyed with the blood of throats?

كَأَنَّ السَوابِقَ مِن تَحتِها

دَبىً طائِرٌ أَو قَطاً سارِبُ

As though the swift steeds beneath them

were flying young locusts, or sandgrouse streaming past.

لَها قَسطَلٌ كَنَسيجِ السَدوسِ

بِهامِ الرُبى أَبَداً عاصِبُ

They have a dust-cloud like a weave of dark cloth,

forever wound around the hilltops.

وَمَلبونَةٍ في بُيوتِ الغُزِيِّ

يُقَدِّمُ إِغباقَها الحالِبُ

And many a milk-fed mare in the raiders' homes,

whose evening milk the milker gives first—

نَزائِعَ لا شَوطُها في المُغارِ

قَريبٌ وَلا غَزوُها خائِبُ

mares brought from afar, whose course on a raid

is not short, nor their foray fruitless.

فَسَرجُ وَغىً ما لَهُ واضِعٌ

وَجَيشُ عُلىً ما لَهُ غالِبُ

So war's saddle has none to set it down,

and glory's army has none to defeat it.

وَكُنتَ العَميدَ لَها وَالعِمادَ

فَضاعَ الحِمى وَوَهى الجانِبُ

You were their chief and their pillar;

so the sanctuary was lost, and the flank weakened.

فَماذا يُشيدُ هُتافُ النَعيِّ

فيكَ وَما يَندُبُ النادِبُ

What, then, does the death-herald's cry extol

in you, and what does the mourner lament?

أَمَدَّت عَلَيكَ القُلوبُ العُيونَ

فَلَيسَ يُرى مَدمَعٌ ناضِبُ

For you, hearts have replenished the eyes,

so no tear duct is seen dried up.

أَرى الناسَ بَعدَكَ في حَيرَةٍ

فَذو لُبِّهِم حاضِرٌ غائِبُ

I see the people bewildered after you;

their wise man is present, yet absent.

كَما اِختَبَطَ الرَكبُ جِنحَ الظَلامِ

وَقَد غَوَّرَ القَمَرُ الغارِبُ

as a caravan stumbles beneath darkness's cover,

when the setting moon has sunk from sight.

وَلَمّا سَبَقتَ عُيوبَ الرِجالِ

تَعَلَّلَ مِن بَعدِكَ العائِبُ

And since you rose above the failings of men,

the faultfinder sought pretexts after you.

وَلَم أَرَ يَوماً كَيَومٍ بِهِ

خَبا مَثقَبٌ وَهَوى ثاقِبُ

I have never seen a day like the day on which

a torch went out and a shining star fell.

تَلومُ الضَواحِكَ فيكَ البُكاةُ

وَيَعجَبُ لِلباسِمِ القاطِبُ

Those weeping for you reproach those who laugh,

and the frowner marvels at the smiling one.

سَقاكَ وَإِن كُنتَ في شاغِلٍ

عَنِ الريِّ داني النَدى صائِبُ

May you be watered—though a concern keeps you

from drinking—by a cloud whose rain falls close at hand,

مُرِبّاً إِذا مَخَضَتهُ الجَنوبُ

أَبَسَّت بِهِ شَمأَلٌ لاغِبُ

lingering: when the south wind churns it,

a weary north wind gently urges it on.

يَجُرُّ ثَقائِلَ أَردافِهِ

كَما بادَرَ القِرَّةَ الحاطِبُ

It drags the heavy masses at its rear,

as a wood-gatherer hastens before the cold.

كَسَوقِ البَطيءِ بِسَوطِ السريعِ

يَنوءُ وَيُعجِلُهُ الضارِبُ

Like driving the slow one with the swift one's whip,

it heaves, and the striker hurries it on.

يُصيبُكَ بِالقَطرِ شَفّانُهُ

كَما قَرَعَ الجَمرَةَ الحاصِبُ

Its cold wind strikes you with rain,

as a stone-pelting wind strikes a live coal.

وَلَولا قِوامُ الوَرى أَصبَحَت

يُرِنُّ عَلى صَدعِها الشاعِبُ

But for humankind's mainstay, it would have faced dawn

with the mender wailing over its breach,

وَباتَت وَقَد ضَلَّ عَنها الرُعاءُ

مُحَفَّلَةً ما لَها حالِبُ

and spent the night, its herdsmen having strayed from it,

full-uddered, with no one to milk it.

وَساقَ العَدوُّ أَضاميمَها

وَما آبَ مِن طَردِها آيِبُ

The enemy would have driven off its gathered herds,

and none would have returned from pursuing them.

وَما بَقِيَ الجَبَلُ المُشمَخِرُّ

فَما ضَرَّنا الجَبَلُ الواجِبُ

And while the towering mountain remains,

the fallen mountain has done us no harm.

وَما يُنقِصُ الثَلمُ في المَضرِبَينِ

إِذا اِهتَزَّ في القائِمِ القاضِبُ

And what does a nick in the two cutting edges take away,

when the keen sword quivers in the hilt?

بِمِثلِ بَقائِكَ غَيثَ الأَنا

مِ يَرضى عَنِ الزَمَنِ العاتِبُ

With survival such as yours, O rain for humankind,

the reproacher is pleased with time.

لَهانَ عَلَينا ذَهابُ الرَديفِ

ما بَقِيَ الظَهرُ وَالراكِبُ

The loss of the pillion-rider would be light to us,

as long as the mount and rider remain.