يا هل ترى زمن القرينة يرجع — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

يا هَلْ تُرى زمَنُ القَرينَةِ يَرْجِعُ

أو مِثل كَوكَبِنا بِرامَةَ يَطلعُ

Ah, I wonder—will the days with my companion return,

or will another like our star rise at Rama?

إنّ الذينَ من الوَداعِ تطيّرُوا

والحَيُّ منهُم ظاعِنٌ ومُشيعُ

Those who took farewell as an evil omen,

with some of their clan departing and others escorting them,

لو يعْلَمون من المقادر علمَنا

لَشَفَوا من النظرِ العيونَ وودّعوا

had they known of fate what we know,

would have soothed their eyes with gazing and said farewell.

أنكرتُ عِزّي بعدَهم ومهنّدي

عَضْبٌ وعزْمي في الكريهةِ أجمَعُ

After them I found my might unfamiliar, though my Indian blade

was keen, and my resolve in battle undivided.

فاليومَ أُخدعُ بالسّرابِ فأطمعُ

ويُراحُ لي سِجْنُ الهوانِ فأرتَعُ

Today a mirage deceives me, and I grow hopeful;

the prison of humiliation is made my resting-place, and I graze at ease.

ما كان يحسَبُ سيفُ دولةِ هاشمٍ

أنّي لشيءٍ بعدَهُ أتضعضعُ

The Sword of Hashim's dynasty never imagined

that anything would make me falter after him.

خالفتُه فيما أرادَ فِعالَهُ

والدّهْرُ يفعلُ ما يُريدُ ويَصنعُ

I opposed him in what he wished to do,

but Time does and performs whatever it wishes.

فتركتُه يدْعو بأقصى صوتِهِ

ويظُنّ أنّي غافلٌ لا أسْمَعُ

So I left him calling at the top of his voice,

and he thinks I am heedless and do not hear.

لم يثْنِني بذْلُ الرّغائبِ نحوَهُ

حتى انثَنى لي خدُّه والأخْدَعُ

The offering of coveted gifts did not turn me toward him,

until his cheek and neck-vein bent to me.

لا يُبْعِدُ اللهُ الأراقمَ غِلْمَةً

رَكِبوا الفِرارَ من الهَوانِ فأسْرَعوا

May God not banish the Araqim, those young men

who mounted flight from humiliation and sped away,

ومقالَتي لهُم بتربتةِ مَنْبِجٍ

ونحورُنا فيها الأسنّةُ تلْمَعُ

nor my words to them upon Manbij's soil,

while spearheads gleamed in our throats:

لا تبخَلوا بنُفوسِكم عن وَقفةٍ

عَذُبَ الحِمامُ بها وطابَ المَصْرَعُ

Do not begrudge your lives for a stand

where death was sweet and falling slain was welcome.

حَذَرَ المذلّةَ طارَ قيسٌ هارِباً

لمّا رأى عَبْساً إلَيْها تَرجِعُ

Fearing humiliation, Qays flew away in flight

when he saw Abs returning to it.

فَمَضى يُداوي بالحِمامِ فؤادَهُ

إنّ الحِمامَ من المذلّةِ ينفعُ

He went to heal his heart with death;

death indeed brings relief from humiliation.

ما كانَ لو قبلَ الدنيّةَ خالداً

فلأيِّ شيءٍ يسْتكينُ ويخضعُ

He would not have lived forever had he accepted dishonor;

so why should he submit and bow?

غنّيْتُ باسمِ أبي العَلاءِ ومَدْحِهِ

رَكْباً على أكوارِهم لم يَهجَعوا

I sang the name and praise of Abu al-Ala

to riders who had not slept upon their camel-saddles.

سَلبوا إليْهِ نشاطَ كلِّ نجيبةٍ

حسَدَتْ قوائمَها الرياحُ الأربعُ

On their way to him they drained the vigor of every noble she-camel,

whose legs the four winds envied.

طالعنَ شربةَ من معاركِ جوشَنٍ

والشمسُ في أفقِ المغاربِ تضجَعُ

They came upon Sharba from the battlefields of Jawshan,

as the sun reclined on the western horizon.

وشَقَقْنَ أردِيةَ الظّلامِ بعَرعَرٍ

ونُجومُهُ حولَ المجرةِ تكْرَعُ

At Arar they tore through the robes of darkness,

while its stars drank around the Milky Way.

نَهْنَهْنَ مِنها وارداً لا يَرعَوي

وثَنَيْنَ منها شارِباً لا يَنقعُ

From it they drove back a water-seeker who would not desist,

and turned back a drinker who could not quench his thirst,

حتى إذا لمَعَ الصّباحُ كأنّهُ

ثَغْرٌ تبسّمَ عنه قَيْنٌ أسْفَعُ

until morning shone, as though it were

teeth revealed by a dark-faced blacksmith's smile.

وعزفنَ في ريحِ الصَّبا من صاعدٍ

نفحاتِ مسكٍ تستطيرُ وتَسطَعُ

And in the east wind from Sa'id they played

wafts of musk, spreading abroad and rising high.

كادت تُجَنُّ من الحنينِ وسامُها

زُجرٌ يُقادُ بهِ الحَرونُ فيتبعُ

They nearly went mad with yearning; their bane

was a cry that leads even a stubborn beast to follow.

تَحْدو الجماجمُ بالمناسمِ بعدَما

ألقى الحداةُ عِصيّهم وتَصدّعوا

Their skulls urged their hoof-pads onward, after

the camel-drivers cast down their staffs and scattered.

وبدا لَهُنّ مع الغزالةِ ماجدٌ

أبْهى وأجملُ في العيونِ وأرْفَعُ

And with the sun a noble man appeared to them,

more radiant, fairer to the eye, and more exalted.

سامي قناةَ الأنفِ تُبرقُ وجهَه

في كلِّ خطبٍ يَدلَهِمُّ ويَفْظَعُ

Lofty of nose-bridge, with a face that flashes

amid every crisis that grows dark and dreadful.

خِلْنا التّزعزعَ من سَجيّاتِ القَنا

فإذا القَنا من خوفِه يتزعزعُ

We thought trembling was a habit of spears,

but lo, the spears tremble from fear of him.

وإذا مطارُ الهامِ حوّمَ فوقَه

رفعتْ عَجاجَتَه النّسورُ الوُقَّعُ

And when the flight of heads circles above him,

the perched vultures raise his cloud of dust.

مالي رأيتُكَ لا تُسَرُّ بليلةٍ

حتى تجوعَ بها وضيفُكَ يشبعُ

Why do I see you take no joy in a night

until you go hungry in it and your guest is sated?

وإذا كُفِرْتَ صنيعةً أسديتَها

لم يَثنكَ الكفرانُ عمّا تَصنعُ

And when a kindness you bestowed meets ingratitude,

that ingratitude does not deter you from what you do.

أمن الصوارمِ نستعيرُ عَزائماً

أمْ من عزائمكَ الصّوارمُ تُطْبَعُ

Is it from keen swords that we borrow resolves,

or are keen swords forged from your resolves?

أغنيتَ عِزَّ المُلكِ عن أنصارِهِ

وقَمَعْتَ خَطْباً مثْلَهُ لا يُقْمَعُ

You made the might of kingship independent of its supporters,

and quelled a crisis whose like is never quelled.

مازلتَ تَطْمِسُ كلّ طرفٍ طامحٍ

حتى انطَوى طيَّ الجريرِ الأشجعُ

You kept effacing every covetous eye,

until al-Ashja' was coiled like a tether,

وأبوه حينَ رأى الجزيرةَ جمرةً

لا تُستَطاعُ وصَمغةً ما تُقلَعُ

and his father too, when he saw al-Jazira a live coal,

unapproachable, and a lump of gum that could not be pried loose.

فإذا السوابقُ كالسِّهامِ مَوارِقاً

تجتابُ أرديةَ العَجاجِ وتَخْلَعُ

And lo, the swift steeds darted through like arrows,

piercing the robes of dust and stripping them off,

حتى رمى بكَ فوقَ آمالِ العِدى

كالدّهْرِ تُعطى ما تَشاءُ وتَمنَعُ

until you were hurled beyond your enemies' hopes,

like Time, granted whatever you wish, and withholding.

كَرِهوا طِعانَكَ إذْ مدَدْتَ إليهمُ

كفّاً أنامِلُها رماحٌ شُرّعُ

They hated your thrusts when you stretched toward them

a hand whose fingers were leveled spears.

ما تَعْدِمُ الرمحَ المثقفَ كعبَه

في الحربِ مادامتْ بكفّكَ إصبَعُ

You never lack a spear with straightened joints

in battle, so long as a finger remains in your hand.

فرت بنو لقْمانَ عن أحْسابِها

والضّربُ يُنْثَرُ والأسنّةُ تُجْمَعُ

The Banu Luqman fled, abandoning their ancestral honor,

while blows were scattered and spearheads gathered.

وكأنّما الأسيافُ يومَ لَقيتَهُم

في الهامِ إجلالاً لوجهكَ تركَعُ

It was as though the swords, the day you met them,

bowed within their heads in reverence for your face.

وهم غُداةُ الدينِ يومَ تجمّعُوا

جيشاً يَضيقُ به الفضاءُ ويَظلعُ

They were the faith's dawn-marchers when they assembled

an army that cramped the open space and made it limp.

علِموا عشيةَ واجهتكَ ظهورُهم

أنّ الظُّبا بنفوسهم لا تَقنَعُ

On the evening when their backs faced you, they learned

that blades were not content with their lives.

لمّا استغاثَ بكَ اللواءُ نصرتَهُ

بيدٍ يصول بها الكَهامُ فيَقْطَعُ

When the banner cried to you for help, you aided it

with a hand that makes a blunt blade charge and cut,

وفوارسٌ لا يحفظونَ نُفوسَهم

إلاّ إذا نبذوا الحياةَ وضيّعوا

and horsemen who preserve their lives

only when they cast life away and squander it.

وإذا تسربلت الدروعُ فإنّما

هدفُ الرّماحِ نحورُهم والأضلُعُ

And when coats of mail are donned, the only

targets for spears are their throats and ribs.

قومٌ سيوفُ الهندِ تطمعُ فيهمُ

والعارُ في أعراضِهِمْ لا يطمعُ

Men whom the swords of India covet,

but whose honor disgrace cannot covet.

ما كانَ إلاّ لفتةً من ناظرٍ

حتى عصفتَ بهمْ وفُضَّ المجمعُ

It took only a glance from an eye

before you swept through them and scattered their gathering.

ولّوا وكمْ هَزَمَتْهُمُ من طعنةٍ

تنفي السبارَ وضربةٍ ما تُرقعُ

They fled; how many a thrust had routed them,

repelling the wound-probe, and a blow beyond mending!

ومُفاضةٍ كَرهَ السنانُ جِدالَها

قد مَرّ فيها الرمحُ لا يتَتَعْتَعُ

And a full coat of mail whose quarrel the spearhead disliked—

the spear passed through it without a stammer.

وتبادرتْ أيديهمُ ورؤوسُهُمْ

في الجوِّ تخفِضُها السيوفُ وتَرفعُ

Their hands and heads raced one another

through the air, swords lowering and raising them.

فكأنّهُمْ حسِبوا النجومَ ذَوائباً

فسَمَتْ إليْها هامُهُمْ والأذْرُعُ

As though they had taken the stars for forelocks,

their heads and arms rose toward them.

لكَ كلُّ يومٍ في المكارمِ غايةٌ

تستصغِرُ الماضي لِما يُتَوقّعُ

Each day you reach a new height in noble deeds,

diminishing the past beside what is yet expected.

فِطرٌ وصومٌ أنتَ فِينا قبلةٌ

كالسّيفِ مخماصُ الأصائلِ أروعُ

In feasting and fasting, you are our direction of prayer,

sword-like, hungry-bellied at evening, awe-inspiring.

لا تستفزِكَ حالةٌ عن حالةٍ

هيهاتَ غيرُكَ بالخطوبِ يُروَّعُ

No change of circumstance can unsettle you;

far from it—others are terrified by calamities.

أمن القضيةِ أنْ تفوتَ أنامِلي

ويدُ المقصِّرِ في نَداكَ تبَوَّعُ

Is it decreed that you elude my fingers,

while a laggard's hand reaches far into your bounty?

كالغيثِ تُحرَمُه المزارعُ والقُرى

حيناً وتُرزَقُهُ الفَلاةُ البَلْقَعُ

Like rain, denied to the fields and villages

at times, yet granted to the barren desert.

سأسيرُ سيرَ فتىً تنظرَ بارقاً

لم يروِهِ وهو السّحابُ الممرعُ

I shall journey like a youth who awaited a flashing cloud

that did not quench him, though it was a pasture-bringing cloud.

يأبى مُقامي في مكانٍ واحدٍ

دهرٌ بتفريقِ الأحبّةِ مُولَعُ

My staying in one place is forbidden by

a Time obsessed with parting loved ones.

كفكِفْ قِسيّكَ يا فراقُ فإنّهُ

لم يبقَ في قلْبي لسهمكَ موضعُ

Hold back your bows, O Separation, for

no place remains in my heart for your arrow.

يومٌ أحرُّ من الصّبابةِ في الهَوى

وأمَرُّ من ثكلِ البَنين وأوجَعُ

A day hotter than yearning in love,

and bitterer than the loss of sons, and more painful.