تهاب السيوف البيض والأسل السمر — Ibn Alabar

تُهابُ السُّيوف البيضُ والأُسُل السمْرُ

وأقْتلُ مِنْهُن الغَلائِلُ والخُمْرُ

White swords and dusky spears are feared,

yet fine gowns and veils are deadlier than they.

أما تِلْك صَرْعاها تَعِزُّ نَجَاتُها

وَكَمْ قد نَجا مَنْ يصْرَع الدّعْس والهَبْرُ

As for those, their victims can scarcely escape,

while many struck down by thrusting and slashing have survived.

بِها فَتَنَ الأَلْبابَ حُسْنُ مَنَاظِرٍ

لَهَا طُرَرٌ سُحْمٌ لها غرَرٌ زُهْرُ

Within them, beauty of countenance has bewitched minds,

with black forelocks and radiant brows,

ولينُ قُدُودٍ يُوجَدُ النَّوْر والجَنَى

لَدَيْها ولكِن يُعدَمُ العطفُ والهَصْرُ

and the suppleness of figures: blossom and fruit are found

beside them, but neither tenderness nor an embrace.

بكَتْ لِبُكائِي المَالِكِيّةُ فَالتَقَى

بِحُكمِ النَّوى الياقوتُ أحمَرَ والدُّرُّ

The Malikiyya wept at my weeping, and there met,

by separation's decree, crimson ruby and pearl.

وَمَا زَوَّدَتْنِي غيْرَ إيماءةٍ كَفَتْ

وَحَسْبِيَ عُرْفٌ لا يُقَابِلُهُ نُكْرُ

She gave me no provision but a gesture that sufficed;

enough for me is kindness unopposed by rejection.

عَجبْتُ لها رَاضَ الوَداعُ جِماحَهَا

وَعَهْدِي بِها غَضْبَى تُزارُ فَتَزْوَرُّ

I marveled at her: farewell had tamed her unruliness,

though I had known her angry, turning away when visited.

وَقدْ سرّها في صدقِيَ السرَّ أنَّ لي

بِقَلْبِي لَهَا ما لا يُحِسُّ به الصّبْرُ

The secret of my sincerity had pleased her: that I hold

in my heart for her what patience cannot perceive.

لَهَانَ عَلَيَّ الصَّعْبُ في حُبِّ عمرَةٍ

وإنْ غاب في أعقابِ رِحْلتها العُمرُ

Hardship would be easy for me in loving ʿAmra,

even if life vanished in the wake of her departure.

يَقُولونَ أتبعْت الصّبا آهَةَ الهَوَى

فقُلْتُ ارْتِشافُ الرّاح يتْبعُهُ السُّكْرُ

They say, 'You followed youthful dalliance with passion's sigh.'

I said, 'Sipping wine is followed by intoxication.'

صَبَرْتُ إِلى أن أَوْمأَتْ بِسَلامِها

فلمَّا استَقَلَّ الرّكبُ أسلَمَني الصَّبرُ

I endured until she gestured her farewell;

then, when the caravan departed, patience abandoned me.

ومِنْ أيْنَ أو كَيْفَ التَّجَلُّدُ للنَّوَى

ومَدُّ الأسى في القَلْبِ لَيْس له جَزْرُ

From where—or how—can fortitude against separation come,

when sorrow's flood within the heart has no ebb?

حَيَاتِيَ هَجْرٌ كُلُّها وقَطيعَةٌ

أما آن أنْ تَفْنَى القَطيعَةُ والهَجْرُ

My life is all estrangement and severance;

is it not time for severance and estrangement to end?

إِذا لَم يَكُن في صَبْوتي الهَوْنُ نافِعي

فَتَاللَّهِ ما في سَلْوَتِي ضَائِري الكِبْرُ

If abasement did not help me in my infatuation,

then, by God, pride will not harm me in forgetting.

فَخَرْتُ بقرْبِ العِزِّ مِنْ حَضْرَة العُلى

وَلَولا مكانُ القرْبِ عَزَّنِيَ الفَخْرُ

I gloried in honored nearness to the court of high estate;

but for that station of nearness, glory would have eluded me.

فَإنْ عُدَّ بَيْتِي في قُضَاعة أوَّلاً

فَمَنْ عُدَّ مَوْلاها هُوَ الماجِدُ الحُرُّ

If my house is reckoned foremost in Qudaʿa,

then whoever is reckoned its client is noble and freeborn.

عَلَى أنَّها جُرْثُومَةُ اليَمَنِ التي

لها في بَنِي عَدْنَانَ الحلفُ والصِّهرُ

Moreover, it is Yemen's rootstock, which

has bonds of alliance and marriage among the sons of ʿAdnan.

لَقَدْ كرمتْ في حالَتَيْها مَغَارِساً

فطال وطابَ النجْلُ ما شاءَ والنجْرُ

Indeed, in both its states, noble were its roots;

so offspring and lineage grew lofty and fair as could be.

صَفَتْ جَوْهَراً مِنها تَميمٌ وصوفةٌ

وَزادتْ عُلىً عنْها كِنانَة والنّضْرُ

From it, Tamim and Sufa emerged pure in essence;

and through it Kinana and al-Nadr grew in glory.

وَأَجْمَعُ بَأوٍ في إخاء مُجَمَّعٍ

كَفَانَا انتِخاءً أنَّ إِخْوَتنَا فِهْرُ

The fullest pride lies in brotherhood with Mujammaʿ;

boast enough for us that Fihr are our brothers.

كَألْسُنِنا أسْيافُنا فِي مَضَائِها

فلا خُطْبَةٌ حَتَّى نَقُومَ ولا شِعْرُ

Our swords are like our tongues in their sharpness:

no oration, no poetry, until we rise.

وكَمْ سُؤدَدٍ فينا تَرَدَّدَ مَحضُه

ومَجْدٍ أَبَى إبلاءَ جِدّتِهِ الدَّهْرُ

How much pure nobility has circulated among us,

and glory whose freshness Time refused to wear away!

لَنَا آخِذُ المِرْباع قَبْلَ رَبيعَةٍ

فأَنَّى لبَكرٍ أنْ تُفاخرَنا بَكْرُ

Among us was the taker of the quarter-share before Rabiʿa;

so how could Bakr—Bakr itself—vie with us in glory?

ومنّا الذي أرْضى النبوَّة مَنْطِقاً

وأطْلَعَهُ بَدْراً بأفْقِ الوَغى بَدْرُ

And among us was he whose speech pleased prophethood,

whom Badr raised as a full moon on the horizon of battle.

جَحَاجِحَةٌ غُرُّ الوجوهِ صِبَاحُهَا

ألا بِأبِي تِلْك الجَحَاجِحَةُ الغُرُّ

Mighty chiefs, with radiant, handsome faces—

ah, may my father ransom those radiant chiefs!

يَمانُونَ في أيْمانِهِم مُلْتَقى العُلَى

سَماحٌ إذا قَرَّوا وَبَأسٌ إذا كَرُّوا

Yemenis, in whose right hands the heights of glory meet:

generous when at rest, fierce when they charge.

سِرَاعٌ بِطاءٌ لِلْحَبَاء وفي الحُبَى

فقُل أجْبلٌ شُمٌّ وقُلْ أبحرٌ خُضْرُ

Swift to give gifts, deliberate when sitting with knees clasped,

call them lofty mountains; call them green seas.

مِنَ العَرَب العَرْباءِ في سِرّ يَعْربٍ

صَفَا للمَعالي مِنْهُمُ السِّرُّ والجَهرُ

Pure Arabs, from Yaʿrub's choicest stock;

their hidden and their open selves are pure for lofty deeds.

أقَامُوا مُلوكَ الجاهِلِيّة عَصْرَها

وَما ازْدانَ في الإسلام إلا بهِمْ عَصْرُ

They reigned as kings throughout the age of Ignorance,

and no age of Islam was adorned except by them.

بِهِم شُدَّ لِلإيمانِ أَزْرٌ وسَاعِدٌ

وهُدَّ بناءُ الكُفرِ حتَّى هَوَى الكُفرُ

Through them, faith's back and arm were strengthened,

and unbelief's edifice was demolished till unbelief fell.

وَهُم فَتَحُوا الآفاق طراً فأصْبَحَتْ

تُؤَدِّي جِزاها القِبْطُ والفُرْسُ والصُّفرُ

They conquered every horizon, so there came

the Copts, Persians, and yellow-hued peoples, paying their tribute.

ولَوْلاهُمُ بَاد الشآمُ وأهْلُهُ

ولَم يَتَبوّأْهُ ابنُ صَخْرٍ ولا صَخْرُ

But for them, al-Sham and its people would have perished,

and neither Sakhr's son nor Sakhr would have settled there.

قَضَوْا نَحْبَهم بين الأسِنَّة والظُّبى

وقَد خامَ عَنها عامِر ونَبا عَمرو

They met their deaths among spearheads and sword-edges,

while ʿAmir shrank from them and ʿAmr drew back.

وَطالَ عَلَى حُمر المَنايا ازْدِحامُهُمْ

أَمَا نَبَّأْتَهُم أنَّ مَوْردها مُرُّ

Long did they press together toward blood-red death;

did you not tell them that its watering-place is bitter?

يَعُدُّونَ غيرَ الموْتِ غَمْصاً علَيهمُ

فلَيسَ لَهُم إِلا بمَعرَكةٍ قَبْرُ

They deem anything but death a slight upon them,

and have no grave except upon a battlefield.

وَلوْ أن يَحْيَى المُرْتضَى أُنِسئوا مَعاً

لِخِدْمَتِهِ لَمْ يُنْسَ يَوْماً لَهُمْ ذِكْرُ

Had they all been granted longer life for Yahya al-Murtada,

to serve him, their memory would never have been forgotten.

أولَئِكَ قَوْمي جاد تُرْبَهُمُ الحَيا

وَهَذا إِمامِي لا عَدا نَصله النّصْرُ

Those are my people—may rain drench their dust;

and this is my imam—may victory never miss his blade.

بِسُدَّتِهِ العَلْيَاءِ سُدْتُ فَمَنْزلي

بحيثُ استطارَ القلبُ أوْ رَفْرَفَ النسرُ

At his lofty threshold I gained eminence; my dwelling is

where the heart takes flight or the eagle hovers.

وعَن غُرةِ الإصباحِ غمَّضْتُ إِذ غَدَا

لغُرتِّه الإصباحُ مُذ بَدا والفَجرُ

I closed my eyes to morning's radiance, for

since he appeared, his brow has claimed both morning and dawn.

وأَنمُله استَسقَيتُ لا البَحرَ زاخِراً

ولا المُزنَ أين المُزْنُ منهُنَّ والبَحرُ

I sought rain from his fingertips, not the surging sea,

nor rainclouds—what are clouds and sea beside them?

سُمُوّاً إلى العليا لنفسٍ مَتَى وَنَت

عنِ الغايَةِ القُصوَى فَلَيْسَ لَها عُذرُ

Aspiring to the heights for a soul that, should it falter

short of the furthest goal, can have no excuse.

تُحاوِلُ ما فوقَ الثرَيا براحَةٍ

تُطاوِل سُمر الخِطِّ أقلامُها الصُّفْرُ

It seeks what lies above the Pleiades, with a hand

whose yellow pens rival the dusky spears of al-Khatt.

سَواءٌ لدَيها الوَصْم وَالمَوت لا تَرى

سِوى الصَّومِ والإمساكِ ما يَوَّمَ الفِطرُ

Disgrace and death are equal in its eyes; it sees

only fasting and abstinence, as long as the feast endures.

وما أنا مِمن يرتَضِي القُلَّ مُقتَنىً

وَمَوْلايَ لا يُرضِيهِ أَفضالُهُ الكُثرُ

I am not one content to possess little,

nor is my lord content with his many acts of bounty.

تَقَبَّلْتُ مِنهُ الوِترَ في كلِّ سُؤدَدٍ

مَواهِبُهُ شَفعٌ ونُجعَتُهُ وِتْرُ

From him I accepted singular distinction in every noble rank;

his gifts are paired, but seeking his bounty has no equal.

فَمَنْ ضَامَهُ دَهرٌ وأَلوَى بِوَفْرِهِ

فَمِنِّي له نَصرٌ وعِندِي له وَفْرُ

Whoever is wronged by time and stripped of his wealth

shall have help from me, and with me wealth in plenty.

وأُبرِئُ مَن يَشكُو وإن شَفَّنِي الضّنَى

وأنفَع مَنْ يَرجو وإنْ مَسَّنِي الضرُّ

I heal whoever complains, though wasting sickness wears me thin,

and help whoever hopes, though hardship touches me.