حمى ظهره الأسد الأغلب — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

حمى ظهرَهُ الأَسَدُ الأَغلبُ

ومن يركب السيفَ لا يُركَبُ

The mighty lion protected his back;

Whoever rides the sword cannot be ridden.

لحا الله كلَّ أَمَقِّ الذِّراعِ

يُسامُ الهوانَ فلا يَغْضَبُ

May God curse every long-armed man

Who suffers humiliation yet does not grow angry.

حديثُ الوصالِ بطرفِ الخيالِ

اذا دأَبَ الركبُ لا يَدْأَبُ

New to union with the phantom's steed,

He does not toil when the caravan toils.

يَخافُ الحقوقَ على مالهِ

وللحقِ في مالهِ مَذهَبُ

He fears rightful claims upon his wealth,

Yet right has a path through his wealth.

وما حاتِمٌ يومَ يبني العلا

وليدٌ بِوَدْعَتِهِ يلعَبُ

Hatim, when he builds lofty honor,

Is no infant playing with his cowrie.

رأَى كلَّ صرحٍ على ظَهرِها

يبيدُ ولو أَنَّه كَبكَبُ

He saw that every palace upon the earth

Perishes, even were it Kabkab.

فشيد بالحمدِ بنيانه

وبيتُ المحامدِ لا يَخرَبُ

So he built his edifice with praise;

The house of praiseworthy deeds never falls to ruin.

يخون الأمينُ ولا كالسنان

اذا خانَ لهذمَه الثعلَبُ

The trusted may betray—but none like the spearhead

When the shaft's tenon betrays its keen blade.

وصاحبُك السيفُ لا صاحبٌ

يعم الدعاءَ فَيستَركِبُ

Your companion is the sword, not a companion

Who calls on everyone, then begs a mount.

سأَلتكَ باللهِ ان فوجئَا

الى النَّصْر أَيهما أَقرَبُ

I ask you, by God, if both are surprised,

Which of them is nearer to victory?

وأَدنى اذا حملتكَ الخطوبُ

على شَفرةِ ظهرُها أَحدَبُ

And nearer at hand when calamities bear you

Upon a blade whose back is curved?

وما كلّ مرتقبٍ كائن

فيأمنه المرءُ أَو يَرهَبُ

Not everything expected comes to pass,

For a man to feel secure about it or afraid.

تربصْ بيومكَ ما في غَدٍ

فان العَواقبَ قد تعقبُ

Wait in your day for what tomorrow holds;

For outcomes may yet bring reversals.

لعلَّ غداً من أَخيه حِمىً

يلُمُّ لكَ الصدع أَو يَرأَبُ

Perhaps tomorrow is shelter from its brother,

Healing the breach for you, or closing it.

رَضِيتُ بميسورِ ما نلتُه

فلا أستزيدُ ولا أطلُبُ

I am content with what I could obtain;

I ask no increase, nor seek more.

ولا أقبل الرفدَ من مُنْعِمٍ

وشَرُّ المكاسبِ ما يُوهَبُ

Nor do I accept a gift from a benefactor;

The worst of earnings is what is given.

وما كنتُ قبلَ أَبي غالبٍ

على القصدِ من شيمي أُغلَبُ

Before Abu Ghalib, I had never

Been turned from moderation, one of my traits.

فَصيَّر لي جودَه رغبةً

ولم أكُ في منفسٍ أَرغَبُ

But he made his generosity an object of my desire,

Though I had never coveted anything precious.

ومن مثله فيساوَى به

وهل يَستوي الصبحُ والغَيهَبُ

Who is like him, to be ranked his equal?

Can morning and deep darkness be alike?

فتى ما تزال أفاعليه

يسيرُ بها مثلٌ يُضرَبُ

A youth whose deeds are forever

Carried abroad in oft-repeated proverbs.

يَصُدُّ الكتيبةَ عن شأوها

ويطعن فيها كما يكتُبُ

He turns the battalion from its course

And thrusts into it as though writing.

له مجلسٌ يوسفي الوقارِ

كأَنَّ الحضورَ به غُيَّبُ

His council has a Joseph-like dignity,

As though those present there were absent.

يَغُضُّ البصيرُ له طَرفَهُ

ويعيا به اللسنُ المهذبُ

The keen-sighted man lowers his gaze before him,

And the polished, eloquent man falters before him.

فطوراً عُذوبتُهُ مرَّةٌ

وطوراً مرارتُه تَعْذُبُ

At times his sweetness is bitter,

At times his bitterness grows sweet.

تلذ المدامة أَخلاقَه

فتشربُ منه كما يَشرَبُ

Wine savors his character,

And drinks from him even as he drinks.

ومعتركٍ لفَّ أَبطَالَهُ

بأَبطاله والقَنَا تُخْضَبُ

And many a battlefield where he entangled its champions

With his own, while the spears were stained.

وصادتْ حبائلُه بالحِبَا

لِ صَيْداً حِرابُهم تُحْرَبُ

And his snares, with cords, captured

A quarry whose spears were plundered.

أَود النجاةَ بحوبائِهِ

هِلالٌ فَضَاقَ به المَذْهَبُ

He longed to escape with his life—

Hilal—but the way out narrowed around him.

وواكله الركضَ مستوهِلٌ

مَراتِعُهُ الحاذُ والخُلَّبُ

And a frightened mount failed him in the gallop,

Its pastures were hadh and khullab.

يَحيد ويَهرُبُ من يومهِ

الى أينَ من يومكَ المَهرَبُ

He swerves and flees from his fated day;

Where can you flee from your fated day?

رأَوا في شعابهم حيَّةً

له في شبا نابهِ مِخْلَبُ

They saw a serpent in their ravines,

With a claw at the sharp tip of its fang,

وريقٌ يخالطُ حبَّ القلوبِ

اذا طلب الاذن لا يُحجَبُ

And spittle that mingles with the cores of hearts,

Never barred when it asks leave to enter.

وسار بجمعٍ يَفُضُّ الأكامَ

ويعلو الحِدَابَ فيحْدَودِبُ

He marched with a host that breaks the hills

And scales the ridges, arching as it goes.

وكل مكان رأى وجهَه

قريرٌ برؤيته معجَبُ

Every place that has seen his face

Is gladdened by the sight and filled with wonder.

وسيمُ المخيلةِ لا غيمُه

جَهَامٌ ولابرقُهُ خُلَّبُ

Fair is his rain-cloud: his cloud is not

Rainless, nor is his lightning deceptive.

يُعيدُ الشَّكيرَ الى عُودِه

ويحيا بهِ البلدُ المُجْدِبُ

He restores fresh growth to its stem,

And through him the barren land comes to life.

يحلُّ بِجَونَةَ من بأسهِ

غرامٌ من الشرِّ ما يُحْسَبُ

From his might there falls upon Jawna

A torment of evil beyond reckoning.

فأَبلغْ نِزاراً وان جئتَها

ويَعربَ لا جَذِلَتْ يَعْرُبُ

Carry word to Nizar, if you reach her,

And to Ya'rub—may Ya'rub never rejoice!

فان ديارَ بني عامرٍ

ذُيولُ الرياحِ بها تُسحَبُ

For the dwellings of Banu Amir

Are where the winds drag their skirts.

وما هاجَ من كلأ الوادِيين

حِمىً ما يباحُ ولا يُقرَبُ

And whatever herbage has withered in the two valleys

Is protected pasture, not free to use or approach.

كما صَمَّ ثلته بالبراحِ

الى حرزها الرابحُ المُعْرِبُ

As he herded his flock in the open country

Into its refuge—the prosperous, plain-spoken man.

اذا هو بالكيسِ لم يرعَها

رعاها أَبو جَعْدَةَ الهَبْهَبُ

If he does not tend it with shrewd care,

Abu Ja'da, the fleet wolf, will tend it.

تصح الجزيرةُ من دائِها

اذا طرِدَتْ هذه الأذؤُبُ

Al-Jazira will recover from its sickness

When these wolves are driven out.

الى كم وليس بها مِنَّةٌ

يُعانَبُ كعبٌ فلا يُعْتِبُ

How long—though she has no strength—

Must Ka'b be reproached without making amends?

ولو أَنها سامحتْ في القيادِ

لكانَ لها السهلُ والمرحَبُ

Had she only yielded to the rein,

She would have found ease and welcome

لديكَ وما أَصبحتْ دارُها

غُرابُ الفِراقِ بها يَنْعَبُ

With you; her home would not have become

A place where the raven of parting croaks;

ولا عضَّ غاربَها بالشفيقِ

يومٌ من الشرِ مُعْصَوصِبُ

Nor would her withers have been bitten at al-Shafiq

By a darkly tangled day of evil,

وظلَّ من النقع حامى المقيلِ

سُرادقُه بالقَنا يُطنَبُ

Or by a canopy of dust, scorching at noon,

Its pavilion guyed with spears.

رأَيت أَبا جَوشَنٍ عارضاً

على الرايتينِ له هَيدَبُ

You saw Abu Jawshan as a rain-cloud,

Trailing its fringe above the two banners.

فلولا الترفع عن وَدقِهِ

أَصابكَ من وقعةِ صَيِّبُ

But for your disdain for its rainfall,

A downpour from the battle would have struck you.

وَحَلَّتْ مع الوحشِ في هَوْجَلٍ

يَعُزُّ الدليلَ بهِ الكوكَبُ

And she settled with wild beasts in a trackless waste,

Where even the star eludes the guide.

ولا بدَّ للخيلِ من زَورَةٍ

اليها وان بَعُدَ المطلَبُ

The cavalry must pay a visit

To her, however distant the goal,

بوالغةٍ في عبيط الدِّمَاءِ

يُشرع فيها ولا تَشْرَبُ

With a spear lapping freshly shed blood,

Leveled into it, though it does not drink.

نَباتُ الاكفِّ لها مَشرِقٌ

وهامُ الكُماة لها مغرِبُ

The shoots of hands are its rising-place,

And armored warriors' heads its setting-place.

هنالكَ طاحَ رفاتُ القَنا

وطابَ الضِرابُ لمن يَضْرِبُ

There the splinters of spears fell,

And striking was sweet to those who struck.

فيا ذا الجلالةِ والصالحاتِ

يذخرها الحُوَلُ القُلَّبُ

O possessor of majesty and righteous deeds,

Which the shrewd, resourceful man stores up:

أُعيذُ ارتياحكَ من عاجزٍ

نوالُ الرجالِ له مكْسَبُ

I would shield your generous ardor from an inept man

Whose livelihood is the bounty of men.

يُلمُ الملمُ فَيعنى بهِ

ويلقى العجيب فلا يَعْجَبُ

A calamity descends, and he is consumed by it,

Yet he meets wonders without wonder.

ومن مادح لك انْشَادُه

جَناحٌ يُصَرِّفُهُ الجُندُبُ

And from a praiser of yours whose recital

Is a wing fluttered by a grasshopper;

يموتُ بموتِ الذي قالَه

فلا هو يُرْوَى ولا يُكتَبُ

It dies with the death of the man who spoke it,

Neither transmitted nor written down.

ومِنْ ناصحٍ لكَ في صَاعِهِ

يكيل وفي حيلهِ يحْطِبُ

And from an adviser to you who, into his own bushel,

Measures out, and gathers fuel for his own schemes;

وواشِ اِليكَ بأَعدائِه

يَدِبُّ كما دَبَّتِ العقْرَبُ

And from one who slanders his enemies to you,

Creeping as a scorpion creeps.

فيا ربَّ أمرٍ على فوته

تداركه حدُّكَ المُنْجِبُ

How many an affair, though it was slipping away,

Your successful resolve has retrieved in time!

تناولتَ أَبعدَ ما تبتغي

وأَدركتَ غايةَ ما تطلُبُ

You have reached the farthest of what you seek,

And attained the utmost of what you pursue.