بيني وبين الحادثات خصام — Ibn Al Zaqqaq

بيني وبينَ الحادثاتِ خصامُ

فيما جَنَتْهُ على العلا الأيَّام

There is a quarrel between me and calamities,

over the wrong the days have done to glory.

كسفت هلالَ سمائِها من بعد ما

وافاهُ من كَرَمِ الجلالِ تمام

They eclipsed the crescent of its sky, after

the bounty of majesty had brought it fullness.

ورمتْ قضيبَ رياضها بتقصفٍ

غضَّاً سقاه من الشباب غمام

And they struck the bough of its gardens, snapping it,

still tender, watered by a cloud of youth.

فاليومَ بستانُ المكارمِ ماحِلٌ

واليومَ نورُ المعلُواتِ ظلام

Today the garden of noble virtues is barren,

and today the light of lofty achievements is darkness.

رامت صروفُ الحادثاتِ فأدركت

مَنْ كان لم يبعدْ عليه مرام

Fate's vicissitudes sought and overtook

one to whom no goal had ever been beyond reach.

أودت بمهجته الليالي بعد ما

فخرت به الأسياف والأقلام

The nights destroyed his life, after

swords and pens had taken pride in him.

وغدا وراح المجد ذا ثقة به

أن يردعَ الأحداثَ وهي جسام

And morning and evening, glory trusted him

to repel calamities, mighty as they were.

وبدتْ عليه من حلاهُ شمائلٌ

لا تهتدي لنعوتها الأوهام

And graceful traits appeared in him,

which imagination could not find words to describe.

كالروضِ لما دبّجتُهُ غمامة

والمسكِ لما فُضَّ عنه ختام

like a garden when a cloud has embroidered it,

and musk when its seal has been broken.

ناحتْ عليه الشهبُ وهي عرائسٌ

وبكى عليه الغيمُ وهوَ جهام

The stars lamented him, though they were brides,

and the cloud wept for him, though rainless.

وانجابَ ظلُّ الأنسِ فهو مقلَّصٌ

وامتدَّ ليلُ الخطب فهو تمام

The shade of companionship withdrew, now diminished,

and calamity's night stretched out to its full length.

واربدَّ ضوءُ الشمسِ في رأد الضحى

حتى استوى الإشراقُ والإظلام

And sunlight turned ashen in early morning,

until radiance and darkness were alike.

ما للمدامعِ لا يُطَلُّ بها الثرى

والسادةُ الكبراء فيه نيام

What ails the tears, that they do not bedew the earth,

while the great lords sleep within it?

أَكذا يُبادُ حلاحلٌ ومهذَّبٌ

أَكذا يُنالُ مُسَوَّدٌ وهمام

Is this how a noble chief, a refined man, is destroyed?

Is this how a chieftain, a valiant man, is struck down?

تَعِسَ الزمان فإنَّما أيامه

ومقامنا في ظلِّها أحلام

Woe to time, for its days

and our stay beneath their shade are only dreams.

لنرى الديارَ وهنَّ بعد أنيسها

دُرُسُ المعالمِ والجسومِ رِمام

We surely see the dwellings, their companion gone:

their landmarks effaced, and bodies decayed remains.

والنسرُ مقتَنصٌ بأشراكِ الرَّدى

وبناتُ نعشٍ في الدجى أيتام

And the Eagle is caught in the snares of death,

and the Daughters of Na‘sh are orphans in the dark.

بأبي قتيلٌ قاتلٌ حُسْنَ العزا

مذ أَقصدته من المنونِ سهام

My father be ransom for the slain man who slew fair solace,

since the arrows of death struck him down.

غدرتْ به أُمُّ اللهيمِ وطالما

فلَّ الخميسَ المجرَ وهو لُهام

Umm al-Luhaym betrayed him, though many a time

he shattered a vast host, overwhelming though it was.

وأبى له إلاَّ الشهادةَ ربُّهُ

ومضاؤُهُ والبأسُ والإقدام

His Lord willed for him nothing but martyrdom,

as did his resolve, his courage, and his daring.

فتك الردى بأبي شجاعٍ فتكةً

زلَّت لها رضوى وخرَّ شمام

Death dealt Abu Shuja‘ such a blow

that Radwa slipped and Shamam fell.

فُقِدَتْ لها الألبابُ والأحسابُ وال

آداب والإسراج والإلجام

With that blow were lost intellect, noble lineage, and

letters, saddling, and bridling.

ندبته أبكارُ الحروبِ وعونها

وبكاهُ حزبُ الله والإسلام

Wars, maiden and matron, lamented him,

and the party of God and Islam wept for him.

أيُّ السيوفِ قضى عليه وبينه

قِدْماً وبين ظبا السيوفِ ذِمام

Which sword brought him down, when between him

and sword-edges there had long been a covenant?

وبأيِّ لحدٍ أودعوه وإنَّه

ما قَطُّ في الضريحِ حسام

And in what grave did they lay him, when

no keen sword has ever lain in a tomb?

ما كان إلاَّ التبرَ أُخلِصَ سبكُهُ

فاسْتَرْجَعَتْهُ تربةٌ ورغام

He was but gold, refined in the smelting,

so soil and dust reclaimed him.

يا حامليه قِفوا عليه وقفةً

يَشْفَى بها قبل الوداع هُيام

O you who bear him, pause over him a moment,

that love's anguish may be healed before farewell.

رُدُّوا وليَّ الله حتى يُشْتَفى

من أروعٍ شُفِيَتْ به الآلام

Bring back God's friend, that healing may be sought

from the splendid man through whom pains were healed.

ردُّوا الشهيد نُسَقِّهِ من أَدمع

إنْ أَخلفتْ مُزْنٌ بهنَّ رهام

Bring back the martyr; let us water him with tears,

if rainclouds fail—these tears contain fine rain.

لا تسلموه إلى الثرى فلسيفِهِ

مذ كان من أعدائه استسلام

Do not surrender him to earth, for to his sword

his enemies surrendered throughout his life.

ولتدفنوه في الجوانحِ والحشا

إن كان يُرضيه هناك مَقام

And bury him within your ribs and entrails,

if a dwelling there would please him.

واستنشقوا لثنائِهِ عَرْفَاً به

ينحطُّ عن نفسِ الصباح لثام

And inhale the fragrance of his praise, by which

the veil falls away from morning's breath.

ما ضمَّهُ بطنُ الثرى إلا وقد

ضمَّتْه في دارِ النعيمِ خيام

Earth's belly did not embrace him until

tents in the abode of bliss had already embraced him.

صلى عليه الله ما ثنت الصبا

غصناً وما غنَّتْ عليه حمام

May God bless him as long as the east wind bends

a branch, and doves sing upon it.

يا عينُ شأنك والمدامعَ فاسمحي

ولتعلمي أن الهجوعَ حرام

O eye, attend to tears, and let them flow freely,

and know that sleep is forbidden.

إن الذي كان الرجاءُ مشيّداً

بوفائِهِ غدرتْ به الأيام

Indeed, the man—hope was built high

upon his faithfulness—was betrayed by the days.

أَعززْ عليَّ بضيغمٍ ذي سطوةٍ

أَجماته بعد الرماحِ رِجام

How grievous to me is a lion of mighty power,

whose thickets, once spears, are now stones!

اعززْ عليَّ بزهرةٍ مطلولةٍ

أمست ولا غيرَ الضريحِ كِمام

How grievous to me is a dewy flower,

which now has no calyx but the tomb!

اعززْ عليَّ بمنْ يعزُّ على العلا

إن غيل قَسْوَرُ غيلها الضرغام

How grievous to me is one whose loss grieves glory,

when its thicket's lion, its mighty lion, is slain by treachery!

إن كان أفنتْهُ الحروبُ فشدَّ ما

فنيت بِمُنْصُلِهِ الطلى والهام

If wars have destroyed him, how many

necks and heads have perished by his blade!

أو راح مهجورَ الفِناءِ فطالما

هَجَرَتْ به أرواحَها الأجسام

Or if he has gone, his courtyard deserted, how often

bodies forsook their souls at his hand!

أمضرَّجٌ بدمائه هي ميتة

وَقْفٌ عليها السيد القمقام

Is he drenched in his blood? Such is a death

to which the mighty lord is destined.

البأسُ والإقدام أوردكَ الردى

إن كان أنجى غيرَك الإحجام

Courage and daring led you to death,

even if holding back saved others.

قد كنتَ في ذاك المقام مخيَّراً

لكن ثبتَّ وزلَّتِ الأقدام

In that stand you had a choice,

but you stood firm while feet slipped.

لم يُلْفَ فيه سوى الفرارِ أو الردى

فاخترتَ صَرْفَ الموتِ وهو زؤام

There was nothing there but flight or death,

so you chose death's blow, bitter though it was.

وأبتْ لك الذمَّ المكارمُ والعلا

والسمهريُّ اللدنُ والصمصام

Noble virtues and glory would not let you be disgraced,

nor would the supple spear or the keen sword.

الليلُ بعدك سرمدٌ لا ينقضي

فكأنما ساعاتُهُ أعوام

The night after you is endless, never passing,

as though its hours were years.

والأنْسُ غمٌّ والسرورُ كآبةٌ

والنومُ سُهْدٌ والحياةُ حمام

Companionship is grief, and joy is sorrow,

sleep is sleeplessness, and life is death.

لمن اطَّرحَت المجد وهو كأنه

طَلَلٌ تعفّيه صباً وغمام

To whom have you abandoned glory, now like

a ruined dwelling effaced by east wind and clouds?

ولمن تركتَ الصافناتِ كأنَّها

موسومةٌ باللؤمِ وهي كرام

And to whom have you left the poised steeds, as though

branded with baseness, noble though they are?

زَفَرَتْ لموتِ أبي شجاعٍ زفرةً

لم يبقَ ساعَتَها لهنَّ حزام

At the death of Abu Shuja‘ they heaved such a sigh

that no girth remained upon them that hour.

عمَّتْ رزيَّتُهُ القلوبَ فكلُّها

كاسٌ وأنواعُ المدامِ حمام

His loss filled every heart, so each

is a cup whose every wine is death.

كَثُرَ العويلُ عليه بعد نعيِّه

حتى كأنَّ العالمين حمام

The wailing for him grew after news of his death,

until all creation seemed to be doves.

وحكتْ دموعَ الغانياتِ عقودُها

لو لم يكن لعقودهنَّ نظام

And their necklaces would resemble the beauties' tears,

if their necklaces had no string.

يا حاملينَ النعشَ أين جيادُهُ

يا ملبسيه التربَ أين اللام

O bearers of the bier, where are his fine steeds?

O you who clothe him in dust, where is his armor?

أينَ السماحةُ والفصاحةُ والنهى

منه وأين الجودُ والإكرام

Where are liberality, eloquence, and wisdom

in him? And where are bounty and hospitality?

أضحى لعمرُ الله دونَ جلاله

سترٌ من الأجداث ليس يرام

Now, by God's life, before his majesty stands

an unapproachable veil of graves.

أأبا شجاعٍ إنْ حُجِبْتَ بربوةٍ

فالزهرُ منبتهُ رُبىً وأَكام

O Abu Shuja‘, if a hill has veiled you,

flowers, after all, grow upon hills and mounds.

قم تبصرِ الخفراتِ حولك حُسَّراً

لو كان يمكنُهُ الغداةَ قيام

Rise and see the modest women bareheaded around you—

if only he could rise this morning!

واسمعْ عويلَ بكائها فلقد بكتْ

لبكائها الأصواء والأعلام

And hear the wail of their weeping, for tears were shed

at their weeping by cairns and mountain peaks.

ضجَّتْ لمصرعكَ النوادبُ ضجَّةً

سدَّت مسامعَها لها الأيام

The mourning women wailed at your fall with such a cry

that the days stopped their ears against it.

ولقد عهدتُك كوكباً أَبراجه

جُرْدُ المذاكي والسماءُ قتام

And indeed I knew you as a star whose mansions

were sleek, mature steeds, and whose sky was dust.

وعهدتُ سيفك جدولاً في وِردِهِ

يومَ الكريهة للنفوسِ هيام

And I knew your sword as a stream, at whose waters

souls burned with thirst on the day of battle.

فابشرْ فدارُ الخلد منكَ بموعدٍ

واهنأ ففيها غبطةٌ ودوام

So rejoice: the abode of eternity awaits you,

and be glad: within it are bliss and permanence.

مرَّ الغمامُ على ثراك محيِّياً

فعلى الغمامِ تحيَّةٌ وسلام

The clouds passed over your soil in greeting,

so upon the clouds be greeting and peace.