أظن الدهر جاءك مستثيرا — Ibn Al Khayyat

أَظُنُّ الدَّهْرَ جاءَكَ مُستَثِيراً

فَقَدْ أَحْقَدْتَهُ كَرَماً وَخِيرا

I think Time has come to you seeking to provoke,

for your generosity and goodness have stirred its rancor.

تَبِيتُ عَلى نَوائِبه مُعِيناً

وَتُضْحِي مِنْ حَوادِثِهِ مُجِيرا

You spend the night aiding against its calamities,

and greet the morning granting refuge from its mishaps.

وَتَصْرِفُ صَرْفَهُ عَنْ كُلِّ حُرٍّ

وَتَمْنَعُ خَطْبَهُ مِنْ أَنْ يَجُورا

You turn its reversals away from every noble man,

and prevent its calamity from doing wrong.

فَكَمْ أَنْقَذْتَ مِنْ تَلَفٍ أَخِيذاً

وَكَمْ أَطْلَقْتَ مِنْ عُدْمٍ أَسِيرا

How many a captive you have rescued from destruction,

and how many a prisoner you have freed from poverty!

فَلا عَجَبٌ وَإِنْ وافى بِأَوفى الْ

فَوادِحِ أَنْ يَسُوءَ وَأَنْ يَسُورا

So no wonder, even if it brings the greatest

calamities, that it should grieve and assail.

وَهَلْ قَصَدَ الزَّمانُ سِوى كَرِيمٍ

حَماهُ أَنْ يَضِيمَ وَأَنْ يَضِيرا

Has Time ever targeted anyone but a generous man

who restrained it from oppression and harm?

وَما زالَتْ صُرُوفُ الدَّهْرِ تَحْدُو

إِلى الأَخْيارِ شَراً مُسْتَطِيرا

The vicissitudes of Time have never ceased driving

far-spreading evil toward the virtuous.

تُسِيءُ إِلى ذَوِي الْحُسْنى وَتَحْبُو

مُقَيِلَ عِثارِها الْجَدَّ الْعَثُورا

They wrong the doers of good, and bestow

on him who pardons their stumbles a stumbling fortune.

وَلَوْ راعى ذَوِي الأَخْطارِ دَهْرٌ

رَعى ذا الْمَجْدَ وَالشَّرَفَ الْخَطِيرا

Had Time cared for men of high standing,

it would have cared for this glory and lofty honor.

وَلَو دُفِعَ الْحِمامُ بِعِزِّ قَوْمٍ

لَكُنْتَ أَعَزَّ ذِي عِنٍّ نَصِيراً

If death could be repelled by a people's might,

you would have been the best-supported of all men of standing.

هُوَ الْقَدَرُ الَّذِي لَمْ تَلْقَ خَلْقاً

عَلَى دَفْعٍ لَهُ أَبَداً قَدِيرا

It is destiny: you have not met a creature

ever capable of warding it off.

سَواءٌ مَنْ يَقُودُ إِلَيْهِ جَيْشاً

وَمَنْ يَحْدُو مِنَ الأَقْوامِ عِيرا

Alike are those who lead an army to meet it

and those among mankind who drive a caravan.

وَما ينَفْكُّ هذا الدَّهْرُ حَتّى

يَصِيرَ إِلى الْفَناءِ بِنا الْمَصِيرا

This Time will not relent until

it carries us on our way to extinction.

فيا لِيَ مِنْهُ صَوّالاً فَتُوكاً

وَيا لِيَ مِنْهُ خَلاّباً سَحُورا

Alas for me, with it so fiercely assailing and murderous!

And alas for me, with it so beguiling and bewitching!

كَذلِكَ شِيمَةُ الأَيّامِ فِينا

تَسُوءُ حَقِيقَةً وَتَسُرُّ زُورا

Such is the nature of the days toward us:

they bring real grief and false delight.

وَكَمْ سُكّانِ دُنْياً لَوْ أَفاقُوا

لَما سَكَنَتْ قُلُوبُهُمُ الصُّدُورا

How many dwellers in this world, if they awoke,

would find their hearts no longer dwelling in their breasts!

أَهَبَّ عَلَيْهِمُ الْحَدَثانُ رِيحاً

بِكُلِّ عَجاجَةٍ تُغْري مُثِيرا

Time's upheaval set a wind blowing over them,

with every dust storm goading its raiser on.

تَحَدّاهُمْ كَأَنًَّ عَلَيْهِ فِيهِمْ

يَمِيناً أَوْ قَضى بِهمُ النُّذُورا

It challenged them as though it were bound concerning them

by an oath, or were fulfilling its vows through them.

فَيا عَيْشا مُنِحْناهُ خِداعاً

وَيا دُنْيا صَحِبْناها غُرُورا

O life granted to us in deception!

And O world we accompanied in delusion!

وَيا دَهْراً أَهابَ بِنا رَداهُ

لِيُتْبِعَ أَوَّلاً مِنّا أَخِيرا

And O Time, whose destruction has summoned us

to send the last of us after the first!

أَما تَنْصَدُّ وَيْحَكَ عَنْ فَعالٍ

ذَمِيمٍ لا تَرى فِيهِ عَذِيرا

Will you not desist—woe to you—from conduct

so shameful that you can find no excuse for it?

سَمَوتَ إلى سَماءِ الْفَخْرِ حَتّى

تَناوَلْتَ الْهِلالَ الْمُسْتَنِيرا

You rose to the sky of pride until

you seized the shining crescent.

وَطُفْتَ بِدَوْحَةِ الْعَلْياءِ حَتّى

خَلَسْتَ بِكَيْدِكَ الْغُصْنَ النَّضِيرا

You circled the great tree of eminence until

you stole its fresh branch through your cunning.

كأَنَّ أَبا الْغَنائِمِ كانَ مِمَّنْ

تَعُدُّ وَفاتَهُ غُنْماً كَبِيرا

As though Abu al-Ghana'im were someone

whose death you counted as great booty.

كَأَنَّكَ كُنْتَ تَطْلُبُهُ بِثَأْرٍ

غَشُومٍ لا تَرى عَنْهُ قُصُورا

As though you were pursuing him in a vendetta,

a ruthless one in which you would brook no slackening.

خَطَوْتَ الْعالَمِينَ إِلَيْهِ قَصْداً

كَأَنَّكَ قَدْ سَأَلْتَ بِهِ خَبِيرا

You strode past all mankind, deliberately making for him,

as though you had consulted someone who knew him well,

إِلى أَنْ أَغْمَدَتْ كَفّاكَ مِنْهُ

حُساماً زانَ حامِلَهُ شَهِيرا

until your two hands sheathed, in him,

a renowned sword that adorned its bearer.

مُصابٌ لَوْ تَحَمَّلَهُ ثَبِيرٌ

دَعا وَيْلاً وَأَتْبَعَها ثُبُورا

A calamity: were Thabir to bear it,

it would cry 'Woe!' and follow that with 'Ruin!'

يُذَكِّرُنِي سَدِيدَ الْمُلْكِ وَجْداً

وَكُنْتُ لِمِثْلِهِ أَبَداً ذَكُورا

It reminds me, in grief, of Sadid al-Mulk,

and I have always kept one such as him in memory.

فَما أَطْفَأْتَ مِنْ نارٍ لَهِيباً

إِلى أَنْ عُدْتَ تُذْكِيها سَعِيرا

No sooner had you quenched a fire's flame

than you returned to kindle it into a blaze.

وَما طالَ الْمَدى فَيَسُوعَ عُذْرٌ

بِأَنْ يَكْبُوا الْجَوادُ وَاَنْ يَخُورا

Nor had the course grown long enough to allow an excuse

for the steed to stumble or grow weak.

قَصَرْتَ مَداهُ حَتّى كادَ يَوْماً

بِهِ أَنْ يَسْبِقُ النّاعِي الْبَشِيرا

You shortened his span, till one day it almost happened

that the death-announcer outran the bearer of good news.

وَلَمْ يَكْسُ الْفَتى كَمَداً طَوِيلاً

كَمَفْقُودٍ نَضى عُمْراً قَصِيرا

Nothing has clothed a young man in lasting grief

like someone lost who cast off a brief life.

وَلَمْ أَجِدِ الْكَبِيرَ الرُّزْءِ إِلاّ

سَلِيلَ عُلاً فُجِعْتَ بِهِ صَغِيراً

I have found none whose loss is great except

a scion of eminence of whom you were bereft while he was young.

عَلَى أَنَّ الْكِرامَ تَعُدُّ لَيْثاً

هَصُوراً مِنْهُمُ الرَّشَأَ الْغَرِيرا

Yet the noble count as a lion—

a crushing one—the guileless fawn among them.

تَرى أَيّامَهُمْ أَعْوامَ قَوْمٍ

وَساعاتِ الْفَتى مِنْهُمْ شُهُورا

You see their days as other people's years,

and a young man's hours among them as months.

فَلا يَبْعُدْ حِبِيبٌ بانَ عَنّا

وَإِنْ كانَ الْبعادُ بِهِ جَدِيرا

May the beloved who left us not be far away,

though distance is now his due.

وَكَيْفَ دُنُوُّ مَنْ طَوَتِ اللَّيالِي

كَما تَطْوِي عَلَى الظَّنِّ الضَّمِيرا

How can one whom the nights have folded away be near,

as you fold your heart around a suspicion?

فَيا رامِيهِ عَنْ قَوْسِ الْمَنايا

أَصَبْتَ بِواحِدٍ عَدَداً كَثِيرا

O you who shot at him from the bow of death,

in striking one, you struck a multitude.

ويا راجيه يجعله ظهيراً

نبا لك حادث قطع الظهورا

And you who hoped to make him your supporter,

a calamity turned against you and broke backs.

ويا حاثِي التُّرابِ عَلَيْهِ مَهْلاً

كَسَفْتَ بَهاءَهُ ذاكَ الْبَهِيرا

And you who heaps earth upon him—gently!

You have eclipsed that dazzling splendor of his.

فَلَو أَنِّي اسْتَطَعْتُ حَمَلْتُ عَنْهُ

ثَقِيلَ التُّرْبِ وَالْخَطْبَ الْكَبِيرا

If I could, I would bear away from him

the weight of earth and the great calamity.

أَصُونُ جَمالَهُ وَأُجِلُّ مِنْهُ

جَبِينَ الْبَدْرِ أَنْ يُمْسِي عَفِيرا

I would guard his beauty and hold too sacred, in him,

the full moon's brow to become covered in dust.

بِنَفْسِي نازِحٌ بِالغَيْبِ دانٍ

يُجاوِرُ مَعْشَراً غَيَباً حُضُورا

My life be ransom for one far in the unseen, yet near,

who dwells beside a company absent yet present.

أَقامَ بِحَيْثُ لا يَهْوى مُقاماً

وَلا يَبْغِي إِلى جِهَةٍ مَسِيرا

He remains where he desires no stay,

and seeks no journey in any direction.

وَلا هَجْراً يَوَدُّ وَلا وِصالاً

وَلا بَرْداً يُحِسُّ وَلا هَجِيرا

He desires neither estrangement nor reunion,

and feels neither cold nor midday heat.

أَقُولُ سَقى مَحَلَّتَهُ غَمامٌ

يَمُرُّ بِها مِراراً لا مُرُوراً

I say: may a cloud water his abode,

passing over it repeatedly, not merely passing by,

وَرَوَّضَ ساحَتَيْهِ كَأَنَّ وَشْياً

يَحُلُّ بِها وَدِيباجاً نَشِيرا

and make gardens of his two courts, as though embroidered cloth

settled there, along with brocade unfurled.

إِذا خَطَرَ النَّسِيمُ عَلَيْهِ أَهْدى

إِلى زُوّارِهِ أَرَجاً عَطِيرا

When the breeze wafts over him, may it bring

a fragrant perfume to his visitors.

وَما أَرَبِي لَهُ فِي ماءِ مُزْنٍ

وَقَدْ وَدَّعْتُ مِنْهُ حَياً مَطِيرا

What need have I for raincloud water for him,

when in him I have bid farewell to abundant, life-giving rain?

وَلَوْلا عادَةُ السُّقْيا بِغَيْثٍ

إِذاً لَسَقَيْتُهُ الدُّرَّ النَّثِيرا

But for the custom of watering with rain,

I would instead have watered him with scattered pearls.

وَقَلَّ لِقَدْرِهِ مِنِّي وَقَلَّتْ

لَهُ زُهْرُ الْكَواكِبِ أَنْ تَغُورا

Yet that from me would fall short of his worth; so too

would the shining stars, if they sank down for him.

أَحِنُّ إِلى الصَّعِيدِ كَأَنَّ فِيهِ

شِفايَ إِذا مَرَرْتُ بِهِ حَسِيرا

I yearn toward the earth, as though within it lay

my cure whenever I pass it, weary.

وَاسْتافُ الثُّرى مَذْ حَلَّ فِيهِ

وَأَلْصِقُهُ التَّرائِبَ وَالنُّحُورا

I breathe in the soil since he came to rest in it,

and press it to my breast and throat.

وَلَوْلا قَبْرُهُ ما كُنْتُ يَوْماً

لأَلْثِمَهُ وَأَعْتَنِقَ الْقُبُورا

Were it not for his grave, I would never

have kissed that earth or embraced graves.

عَلَيْكَ بِأَدْمُعٍ آلَيْنَ أَلاّ

يَغِضْنَ وَلَوْ أَفَضْنَ دَماً غَزِيرا

You shall have tears that have sworn never

to dwindle, even if they pour out copious blood.

يَزُرْنَكَ مُسْعِداتٍ مُنْجِداتٍ

رَواحاً بِالتَّفَجُّعِ أَوْ بُكورا

They visit you, sharing grief and bringing help,

in the evening with lamentation, or at dawn.

فَأَوْلى مَنْ يُقاسِمُكَ الأَسى فِي

خُطُوبِكَ مَنْ تُقاسِمُهُ السُّرُورا

The one most entitled to share your grief in

your calamities is the one with whom you share joy.

وَلا تَعْلَقُ بِصَبْرٍ بَعْدَ بَدْرٍ

ذَمَمْنا الصَّبْرَ عَنْهُ والصَّبُورا

Do not cling to patience after Badr;

we have condemned patience over him, and the patient man.

وَإِنْ قالُوا اسْتَرَدَّ الدَّهْرُ مِنْهُ

مُعاراً كَيْفَ تَمْنَعُهُ اْلمُعِيرا

And if they say, 'Time reclaimed from him

what it lent—how can you withhold it from the lender?'

فَلِمْ أَعطاكَهُ نَجْماً خَفِياً

وَعادَ لأَخْذِهِ قَمَراً مُنِيرا

then why did it give him to you as a faint star,

and return to take him as a shining moon?

أَبا الذَوّادِ ما كَبِدٌ أُذِيبَتْ

بِشافِيَةٍ وَلا قَلْبٌ أطِيرا

O Abu al-Dhawwad, a liver melted by grief

brings no healing, nor does a heart sent flying.

فَهلَْ لَكَ أَنْ تُراقِبَ فِيهِ يَوْماً

يُوَفّى الصَابِرونَ بِهِ الأُجُورا

Will you then look, in this, toward a day

when the patient are paid their rewards in full?

وَلَوْلا أَنْ أَخافَ اللهَ مِنْ أَنْ

يَرانِي بَعْدَ إيمانٍ كَفُورا

Were it not that I fear God, lest

He see me unbelieving after faith,

لَما عَزَّيْتُ قَلْبَكَ عَنْ حَبِيبٍ

وَكُنْتُ بِأَنْ أُحَرِّقَهُ بَصِيرا

I would not have consoled your heart for a beloved,

and would have known well how to set it aflame.

وَلَمْ نَعْهَدْكَ فِي سَرّاءِ حالٍ

وَلا ضَرّائِها إِلاّ شَكُورا

We have never known you amid prosperity

or adversity except as deeply thankful.

فَصَبْراً لِلْمُلِمِّ وإِنْ أَصَبْنا

جَناحَ الصَّبْرِ مُنْهاضاً كَسِيرا

So be patient before the calamity, though we have found

the wing of patience fractured and broken.

أَلَمْ تَعْلَمْ وَكانَ أَبُوكَ مِمَّنْ

إِذا خَطَبَ الْعُلى أَغْلى الْمُهُورا

Did you not know—and your father was among those

who, when courting eminence, paid the dearest dowries—

بِأَنَّكُمُ أَطَبُّ بِكُلِّ أَمْرٍ

إِذا ما ضَيَّعَ النّاسُ الأُمُورا

that you are most expert in every matter,

when people let affairs fall into neglect?

وَأَيُّ الْخَطْبِ يَنْقُصُ مِنْ عُلاكُمْ

وَأَيُّ النَّزْفِ يَنْتَزِحُ الْبُحُورا

What calamity can diminish your eminence,

and what draining can empty the seas?

وَأَيُّ عَواصِفِ الأَرْواحِ يَوْماً

تَهُبُّ فَتُقْلِقُ الطُّوْدَ الْوَقُورا

What violent gusts of wind could ever

blow and unsettle the steadfast mountain?

وَإِنَّكَ شائِدٌ وَأَخُوكَ مَجْداً

سَيَخْلُدُ ذِكْرُهُ حَسَناً أَثِيرا

Indeed, you and your brother are building a glory

whose memory will endure, fair and cherished.

إِذا وُقِّيتُما مِنْ كُلِّ خَطْبٍ

فَما نَبْغِي عَلَى زَمَنٍ ظَهِيرا

If you two are protected from every calamity,

then we seek no helper against Time.

وَما الْقَمَرانِ إِذْ سَعِدا وَتَمّا

بِأَبْهَرَ مِنْكُما فِي الْفَضْلِ نُورا

Nor are the two luminaries, when auspicious and complete,

more dazzling in the light of excellence than you two.

أُرانِي لا أَسُومُ الصَّبْرَ قَلْبِي

فَأُدْرِكُهُ يَسِيرا أَوْ عَسِيرا

I see I cannot ask patience of my heart

and attain it, whether easily or with difficulty,

كَأَنِّي مُبْتَغٍ لَكُما شَبِيهاً

بِهِ أَوْ مُدَّعِ لَكُما نَظِيرا

as though I were seeking someone like you two

through it, or claiming an equal to you two.

فَلا أَخْلى الزَّمانُ لَكُمْ مَحَلاّ

وَ لاعَدِمَتْ سَماؤُكُمُ الْبُدُورا

May Time never leave a place of yours empty,

and may your sky never lack full moons.