مالي أخوف محتوم المقادير — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

مالي أُخوفُ محتومَ المقاديرِ

وسَعيُ كلِّ غُلامٍ رهنُ تَغريرِ

Why am I made to fear the inevitable decrees of fate?

And every young man's striving is pledged to peril.

لا يبلُغُ الغايةَ القُصوى بهمّته

إلاّ المقَسَّمُ بين السَّرجِ والكُورِ

None reaches the utmost goal through his resolve

except one divided between the saddle and the camel-saddle.

فُؤادُهُ بالرّزايا غيرُ مكترثٍ

وجُرْحُهُ في الحَوايا غيرُ مَسْبورِ

His heart is untroubled by calamities,

and his wound within his entrails remains unprobed.

يَطوي حشاهُ إذا ما النومُ ضاجعَه

على وشيجٍ من الخَطيِّ مكسورِ

He folds his entrails, when sleep lies beside him,

around a broken shaft of a Khatt spear.

ترفعَ الهمُ بالفتيانِ يومَ مِنى

ونحنُ ننقلُ مأثورَ الأخابيرِ

Resolve soared with the young men on the day at Mina,

while we recounted the handed-down tales:

ركوبَ قيسٍ على أحياءِ ذي يمنٍ

وغارةً جَدَعَتْ في رَهَطِ منطورِ

Qays's riding against the clans of Dhu Yaman,

and a raid that mutilated Mantur's band.

فقلتُ حلّوا الحِبى لأنامَ جدكم

وشَمِّروا إنّها أيامُ تَشْمِيرِ

So I said: Undo the knee-bands—may your fortune never sleep!

And gird yourselves: these are days for girding!

قد سوّمَ الملكُ المنصورُ رايتَهُ

للطعنِ تَخفِقُ في ظِلِّ المَحاضيرِ

King al-Mansur has marked his banner

for spear-thrusts; it flutters in the swift steeds' shade.

وجَرّدَ الحزمَ في يُمنى عزائِمِهِ

فما يُصَمِّمُ إلاّ بعدَ تَدبيرِ

And he has unsheathed prudence in his purposes' right hand,

so he acts decisively only after deliberation.

يُهدي إلى كلِّ أرضٍ من عَجاجَتِهِ

جِنحاً من اللّيلِ في طيِّ الأعاصيرِ

He sends to every land, from his dust-cloud,

a stretch of night within the folds of whirlwinds.

نصرتَ سيفكَ بالرّي الذي علمت

به المواردُ أعقابَ المصاديرِ

You aided your sword with slaking, through which

the watering-places knew the aftermath of departures.

وكنتَ كاللّيثِ غرته فريستُهُ

فضيعَ النابَ منه بالأظافيرِ

And you were like a lion beguiled by its prey,

which neglected its fang in favor of its claws.

إذا توسّدَ للأقرانِ ساعدُهُ

فلا مَحالَةَ من عقرٍ وتَعفيرِ

When he pillows his head on his forearm before his rivals,

there is no escape from hamstringing and rolling in dust.

لا يُبعِدُ اللهُ فتياناً رميتَ بهم

قلبَ الكريهةِ عن نزعِ وتوتيرِ

May God never banish the young warriors you hurled

into battle's heart, from a bow drawn and strung.

رَدّوا صدورَ الغُضَينيات عاطفةً

على الأسنّةِ من ناجٍ ومَعقورِ

They turned the Ghudayni mares' breasts back

onto the spearheads—some unscathed, some hamstrung.

قد ثقّفَ الغزوُ منها فهي مُخطَفَةٌ

خُصورهنّ كأوساطِ الزّنابيرِ

Campaigning has honed them, so slender

are their waists, like the middles of wasps.

لا يعرِفونَ صدوداً عن عدوّهم

والطّعنُ يهتِكُ منهم كلَّ مستورِ

They know no turning away from their enemy,

while spear-thrusts rend every covered part of them.

مواقعُ النبلِ في ضاحي جلودِهِمُ

مثلُ الدّنانيرِ في قَدٍّ وتَدويرِ

The arrow-strikes on the exposed parts of their skin

are like dinars in size and roundness.

في جَحفلٍ سَجَدَتْ شمّ الحصونِ له

وبحثرتْ فيهِ انفاقُ المَطاميرِ

In a great army to which lofty fortresses bowed,

the tunnels of underground vaults were laid bare within it.

ما بينَ رُوميّةَ القصوى وأنقرةٍ

روعٌ تقلقلُ في أحشاءِ مَذعورِ

Between far-off Rumiyya and Ankara,

terror churns in a frightened man's entrails.

أعطاكَ عنها مليكُ الرومِ جِزيتَه

وكان قد حلَّ فيها غيرَ مقمورِ

The king of the Romans paid you his tribute for it,

though he had settled there without being defeated.

ما أدركوا ورُقاهُم فيكَ نافِثةٌ

غيرَ الأماني من ظَنٍّ وتقديرِ

They attained, while their spells were breathed against you,

nothing but wishes born of conjecture and calculation.

وأهلُ جُرزانَ والأملكُ قاطبةً

ما بينَ مُنطلقٍ منهم ومَحصورِ

And the people of Jurzan and al-Amlak, all together,

ranged between those at large and those besieged.

لم يتركِ اللهُ غِشّاً في صدورِهمُ

إلاّ جَلاهُ بتاجِ الملةِ النّورِ

God left no deceit within their breasts

without exposing it through Taj al-Milla, the light.

مَنْ لا يُتَبّعُ جَدواهُ ببائقَةٍ

ولا ينغصُ نعماهُ بتكديرِ

One who never follows his bounty with harm,

nor spoils his favors with vexation.

قدْ قوّمَ الزيغَ من أعطافِ مجلِسِهِ

بكلِّ منتقدِ الأخلاقِ مَخْبورِ

He has straightened the crookedness along his council's sides

with men whose character has been scrutinized and tested.

جَروا على أدَبٍ منهم فكلّهم

يأتي السّدادَ مُصيباً غيرَ مأمورِ

They follow a discipline of their own, and each of them

does what is right, hitting the mark without being ordered.

إنّ القِلاعَ التي نيلتْ ذَخائرُها

من قبلِ كَيدكَ لم تُقدَر لمقدورِ

The fortresses whose treasures were won

by your stratagem had been allotted to no fate-bound man,

من بعدِ ما دميتْ أيدي الخُطوبِ بها

وحاذَرَ الدهرُ منها سِنَّ مَغرورِ

after the hands of calamities had bloodied themselves upon them,

and Time feared risking a deluded man's tooth against them.

ويومَ جاشتْ جيوشُ التركِ مُعلَمَةً

جاءَ النفيرُ فلم يقعدْ عنِ العِيرِ

And on the day the Turkish armies surged forth, marked for battle,

the war-levy came and did not hold back from the caravan.

لم يشكروكَ وقد نفستَ كربَهُمُ

وربَّ حامل عزمٍ غيرُ مشكورِ

They did not thank you, though you relieved their distress;

many a bearer of resolve goes unthanked.

ومُنهَلينَ بقَصرِ الجُصِّ زادُهُمُ

دراكُ ضربٍ على الهاماتِ ممطورِ

And those given drink at Qasr al-Juss—their fare

was blow upon blow, raining down upon their heads.

رَضوا من الُنْمِ إنْ كَرّتْ جيادُهُم

يعدو إلى أهلِ مصرٍ بالمَعاذِيرِ

They were content with [spoils], if their steeds charged again;

he runs to the people of Egypt with excuses,

فعلَ المُضجَّعِ خانتْهُ عزيمتُه

فطوّقَ العزمُ أعناقَ المقاديرِ

like a supine man whose resolve failed him;

so resolve collared the necks of destinies.

لو شاء عرّضَ يومَ الروعِ ثغرته

لوادقٍ كلسانِ النّارِ مَطرورِ

If he wished, on the day of terror he would expose his throat

to a sharpened lance-point like a tongue of fire.

وهَبْ عليْهِ رياحُ النصرِ قد حُظرتْ

هلِ الحِمامُ على ساعٍ بمحظورِ

And suppose the winds of victory were barred to him:

is death barred to one who strives?

لا يعلُ شوقُك يا بنَ التغلبي إذا

هبتْ يمانيةُ من جانبِ الدورِ

Let your longing not rise, O son of al-Taghlibi, when

a Yemeni wind blows from the direction of the dwellings.

وعللِ الهمّ إنْ عنّاكَ طارقُهُ

بباردٍ من عصيرِ الكرمِ مقرورِ

And soothe care, if its night-visitor troubles you,

with a cool, chilled draught of the vine's juice.

إذا المزاجُ جلاهُ قلتَ من طَربٍ

ليتَ الجزيرةَ تَغلي بالمغاويرِ

When the mixing-water makes it gleam, you say in delight:

Would that al-Jazira seethed with raiding warriors!

فلن تُحاذِر بالحَصْباءِ معترضاً

مُردَ الكماةِ على جُردِ المضاميرِ

So, confronting them at al-Hasba, you will not fear

beardless champions upon sleek racecourse steeds.

ولن تَرى جبلَ الجوديِّ ترمقُهُ

دونَ المجرةِ غيظاً أعينُ القورِ

And you will not see Mount al-Judi, watched

beneath the Milky Way by the hills' eyes, glaring in rage.

ولا الجزيرةَ ما ناحتْ مطوقةٌ

هيهاتَ ذلكَ كسرٌ غير مجبورِ

Nor al-Jazira, as long as a ringdove laments;

far beyond reach! That is a break beyond mending.

حيتكَ يا ملكَ الأملاكِ قافيةٌ

تزورُ مجدَكَ من نسْجي وتبريري

A rhyme has saluted you, O king of kings,

visiting your glory, from my weaving and my vindication.

أعليتَ كفّي وأقذيتَ النّواظرَ بي

في موقفٍ مثل حدِّ السيفِ مشهورِ

You raised my hand and, through me, cast motes into gazing eyes,

in a conspicuous station, like the edge of a sword.

تلكَ السياسةُ من بِرٍّ وتكرُمةٍ

مزجتها بنوالٍ غيرِ منزورِ

That policy of kindness and honor

you blended with unstinted bounty.

فالآنَ لا أقبلُ الميسورَ من زَمني

إنّ المشيعَ لا يرضى بمَيسورِ

So now I accept no easy gain from my days;

for a stout-hearted man is not content with easy gain.