ألم يك جهلاً بعد سبعين حجة — Farazdaq

أَلَم يَكُ جَهلاً بَعدَ سَبعينَ حِجَّةً

تَذَكُّرُ أُمَّ الفَضلِ وَالرَأسُ أَشيَبُ

Was it not folly, after seventy years,

To remember Umm al-Fadl while the head is gray,

وَقيلُكَ هَل مَعروفُها راجِعٌ لَنا

وَلَيسَ لِشَيءٍ قَد تَفاوَتَ مَطلَبُ

And to say, 'Will her kindness return to us?'

When there is no pursuing what has grown far distant?

عَلى حينَ وَلّى الدَهرُ إِلّا أَقَلَّهُ

وَكادَت بَقايا آخِرِ العَيشِ تَذهَبُ

When time has passed away, all but its smallest part,

And the last remnants of life are almost gone.

فَإِن تُؤذِنينا بِالفِراقِ فَلَستُمُ

بِأَوَّلِ مَن يَنسى وَمَن يَتَجَنَّبُ

So if you announce parting to us, you are not

The first to forget and to turn away.

وَرُبَّ حَبيبٍ قَد تَناسَيتُ فَقدَهُ

يَكادُ فُؤادي إِثرَهُ يَتَلَهَّبُ

And many a loved one whose loss I have feigned forgetting,

My heart nearly blazes in his wake:

أَخي ثِقَةٍ في كُلِّ أَمرٍ يَنوبُني

وَعِندَ جَسيمِ الأَمرِ لا يَتَغَيَّبُ

A trustworthy brother in every trouble that befalls me,

And never absent when the matter is grave.

قَرَعتُ ظَنابيبي عَلى الصَبرِ بَعدَهُ

فَقَد جَعَلَت عَنهُ الجَنائِبُ تُصحِبُ

I struck my shins, bracing for patience after him,

For the led mounts have begun to go obediently away from him.

دَعانِيَ سَيّارٌ وَقَد أَشرَفَت بِهِ

مَهالِكُ يُلفى دونَها يَتَذَبذَبُ

Sayyar called me when he had been brought to the brink by

Deadly perils, before which he was found wavering.

فَقُلتُ لَهُ إِنّي أَخوكَ الَّذي بِهِ

تَنوءُ إِذا عَمَّ الدُعاءَ المُثَوَّبُ

So I told him: I am your brother, through whom

You rise when the crier sends his summons to all.

فَإِن تَكُ مَظلوماً فَإِنَّ شِفاءَهُ

بِوَردٍ وَبَعضُ الأَمرِ لِلأَمرِ مُجلِبُ

So if you are wronged, the remedy for it

Lies with Ward; some affairs give rise to others.

هُوَ الحَكَمُ الراعي وَأَنتَ رَعِيَّةٌ

وَكُلَّ قَضاءٍ سَوفَ يُحصى وَيُكتَبُ

He is the judge and shepherd, and you a subject,

And every judgment will be counted and recorded.

وَأَنتَ وَلِيُّ الحَقِّ تَقضي بِفَصلِهِ

وَأَنتَ وَلِيُّ العَفوِ إِذ هُوَ مُذنِبُ

And you are guardian of right, pronouncing its decision,

And you are master of pardon, when he is guilty.

يَزينُ عُبَيداً كُلُّ شَيئاً بَنَيتَهُ

وَأَنتَ فَتاها وَالصَريحُ المُهَذَّبُ

Everything you have built adorns Ubayd,

And you are her champion, pureborn and refined.

نَمَتكَ قُرومٌ مِن حَنيفَةَ جِلَّةٌ

إِلى عيصِها الأَعلى الَّذي لا يُشَذَّبُ

Great, noble sires of Hanifa raised you

To her highest thicket, which is never pruned,

وَجُرثومَةُ العِزِّ الَّتي لا يَرومُها

عَدُوٌّ وَلا يَسطيعُها المُتَوَثِّبُ

And the rootstock of might, which no

Enemy seeks, nor any assailant can reach.

وَما قايَسَت حَيّاً حَنيفَةُ سوقَةً

وَلَو جَهِدوا إِلّا حَنيفَةُ أَطيَبُ

Hanifa never matched herself against a tribe of common folk,

However hard they strove, without Hanifa proving nobler.

وَكانَت إِذا خافَت تَضايُقَ مُقدَمٍ

تَمِدُّ بِأَيديها السُيوفَ فَتَضرِبُ

And whenever she feared her advance would be cramped,

She stretched forth swords in her hands and struck.

إِذا مَنَعوا لَم يُرجَ شَيءٌ وَراءَهُم

وَإِن لَقِحَت حَربٌ يَجيؤوا فَيَركَبوا

When they barred the way, nothing beyond them could be hoped for,

And if war conceived, they came and mounted.

إِلَيهِم رَأَت ذاكُم مَعَدٌّ وَغَيرُها

يُحِلُّ اليَتامى وَالصَعيبُ المُعَصَّبُ

To them—Ma'add and others have seen this—

Orphans are given lodging, and the unbending, turbaned man;

تَحِلُّ بُيوتَ المُعتَفينِ إِلَيهِمُ

إِذا كانَ عامٌ خادِعُ النَوءِ مُجدِبُ

The households of bounty-seekers settle beside them

When the year is barren and its rain-star deceives.

وَقَعتُم بِصُفرَيِّ الخَضارِمِ وَقعَةً

فَجَلَّلتُموها عارَها لَيسَ يَذهَبُ

You struck Sufrayy of al-Khadarim a blow,

Thus you shrouded it in shame that never fades.

وَلَمّا رَأَوا بِالأَبرَقَينِ كَتيبَةً

مُلَملَمَةً تَحمي الذِمارَ وَتَغضَبُ

And when they saw at al-Abraqayn a battalion,

Compact, defending all they held dear and burning with anger,

دَعا كُلُّ مَنحوبٍ حَنيفَةَ فَاِلتَقَت

عَجاجَةُ مَوتٍ وَالدِماءُ تَصَبَّبُ

Every doomed man called on Hanifa; there converged

A dust-cloud of death, while blood poured down.

وَجاؤو بِوِردٍ مِن حَنيفَةَ صادِقٍ

تُطاعِنُ عَن أَحسابِها وَتُذَبِّبُ

And they brought a steadfast war-band from Hanifa,

Fighting with spears for her ancestral honors and defending them.

مَصاليتُ نَزّالونَ في حَومَةِ الوَغى

تَخوضُ المَنايا وَالرِماحُ تُخَضَّبُ

Fearless warriors, ever alighting in battle's thick,

Wading through deaths while the spears are dyed.

وَرائِمَةٍ وَلَّهتُموها وَفاقِدٍ

تَرَكتُم لَها شَجواً تُرِنُّ وَتَنحَبُ

And many a tender mother you drove frantic, and one bereft,

You left her grief, so she keens and sobs.

وَقَد عَصَبَت أَهلَ الشَواجِنِ خَيلُهُم

وَقَد سارَ مِنها بِالمَجازَةِ مِقنَبُ

And their horses had encircled the people of al-Shawajin,

And a troop of that cavalry had marched at al-Majaza.

إِذا وَرَدوا الماءَ الرَواءَ تَظامَأَت

أَوائِلُهُم أَو يَحفِروا ثُمَّ يَشرَبوا

When they reach plentiful water, thirst grips

Their foremost ranks, unless they dig and then drink.

تَفارَطُ هَمدانَ الجِبالَ وَغافِقاً

وَزُهدَ بَني نَهدٍ فَتُسمى وَتَحرُبُ

It outstrips Hamdan to the mountains, and Ghafiq,

And Zuhd of Banu Nahd; then it is exalted and plunders.

تَوَثَّبُ بِالفُرسانِ خوصاً كَأَنَّها

سَعالٍ طَواها غَزوُهُم فَهيَ شُزَّبُ

They leap with horsemen, hollow-eyed, as though they were

She-ghouls, thinned by their raiding, and gaunt.

وَهُم مِن بَعيدٍ في الحُروبِ تَناوَلوا

عِياذاً وَعَبدَ اللَهِ وَالخَيلُ تُجذَبُ

And from afar in wars they reached

Iyadh and Abd Allah, while the horses were pulled along,

بِذي الغافِ مِن وادي عُمانَ فَأَصبَحَت

دِماؤُهُمُ يُجرى بِها حَيثُ تَشخَبُ

At Dhu al-Ghaf in Oman's valley; then

Their blood flowed wherever it spurted.

أَذاقوهُمُ طَعمَ المَنايا فَعَجَّلوا

وَمَن يَلقَهُم في عَرصَةِ المَوتِ يُشجُبوا

They made them taste death and hastened it;

And whoever meets them in death's arena is destroyed.

شَفَوا مِنهُما ما في النُفوسِ وَشَذَّبوا

بِوَقعِ العَوالي كُلَّ مَن يَتَكَتَّبُ

Through those two they healed what lay in their souls, and cut down

With the blows of long spears everyone who formed ranks.

وَأَضحى سَعيدٌ في الحَديدِ مُكَبَّلاً

يُعاني وَأَحياناً يُقادُ فَيَصحَبُ

And Sa'id became fettered in iron,

Suffering, and at times led along, going obediently.

رَأى قَومَهُ إِذ كانَ غَدواً جِلادُهُم

مَعَ الصُبحِ حَتّى كادَتِ الشَمسُ تَغرُبُ

He saw his people: their sword-fight began in the morning,

With dawn, and lasted until the sun was almost setting.

فَما أُعطِيَ الماعونُ حَتّى تَحاسَرَت

عَلَيهِم جُموعٌ مِن حَنيفَةَ لُجَّبُ

So submission was not yielded until there closed

Upon them Hanifa's clamorous hosts,

وَحَتّى عَلَوهُم بِالسُيوفِ كَأَنَّها

مَصابيحُ تَعلو مَرَّةً وَتَصَبَّبُ

And until they towered over them with swords, as though they were

Lamps, rising one moment and cascading down.

فَلَم يُرَ يَومٌ كانَ أَكثَرَ عَولَةً

وَأَيتَمَ لِلوِلدانِ مِن يَومِ عوتِبوا

So no day was seen with greater wailing

And more children orphaned than the day they were rebuked.

وَمَن يَصطَلي في الحَربِ ناراً تَحُشُّها

حَنيفَةُ يَشقى في الحُروبِ وَيُغلَبُ

And whoever burns in war in a fire stoked by

Hanifa suffers in wars and is defeated.

وَما زالَ دَرءٌ مِن حَنيفَةَ يُتَّقى

وَما زالَ قَرمٌ مِن حَنيفَةَ مُصعَبُ

And a force from Hanifa has always been feared,

And a chief of Hanifa has always been untamable.

لَهُ بَسطَةٌ لا يَملُكُ الناسُ رَدَّها

يَدينُ لَهُ أَهلُ البِلادِ وَيُحجَبوا

He has a breadth of power that people cannot repel;

The people of the lands submit to him and are barred from his presence.

تَرى لِلوُفودِ عَسكَراً عِندَ بابِهِ

إِذا غابَ مِنهُم مَوكِبٌ جاءَ مَوكِبُ

You see an encampment of delegations at his door:

When one cavalcade of theirs departs, another arrives.