بأي مهول في الزمان أهال — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

بأَيَّ مَهُوْلٍ في الزَّمانِ أُهَالُ

ولي من أَميرِ المؤمنينَ مَآلُ

What terror in time could frighten me,

when I have refuge with the Commander of the Faithful?

حِمىً كلُّ من لم يحمهِ فهو مسلِمٌ

وكلُّ علاءٍ ما خلاهُ سَفَالُ

A sanctuary: whoever lacks his protection is forsaken,

and every height apart from him is low.

لَعَمري لجارٌ من لؤي بن غالب

له الخَلقُ طراً والأنامُ عِيالُ

By my life, a protector from Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib,

to whom all creatures, all mankind, are dependents,

أَبرُّ من المستأثرينَ بزادهِم

لهم حالةٌ وللمؤاكلِ حالُ

is kinder than those who hoard their provisions,

whose lot is one thing, their tablemate's another.

جلا البؤسَ والضراءَ عنا كما جلا

حديدةَ ماضي الشفرتين صِقالُ

He dispelled our misery and distress, as polishing brightens

the steel of a blade keen on both edges.

فلا يحسَب الأعداءُ أَنَّ ديونَنَا

لُوينَ وأَنَّ المقْتَضِينَ عِجَالُ

Let not our enemies suppose that our claims

are being deferred, or that those who exact them are hasty.

لهم يومَ لُذنا بالخليفةِ منهم

ويومٌ عليهم بالصليقِ طُوالُ

Theirs was the day we sought refuge from them with the caliph;

and against them, at al-Saliq, is a very long day.

كذاكَ صُروفُ الدَّهْرِ فينا وفيهم

يُدالونَ منا مرةً ونُدَالُ

Such are time's reversals among us and them:

at times they prevail over us, and we prevail in turn.

حَرَامٌ علينا أَنْ يلائمَ مضجِعٌ

لنا سِنَة أَو أَنْ يسوغَ ذَلالُ

It is forbidden us that a bed should bring

us drowsiness, or sweet water go easily down,

ولم تروَ صَدقَاتُ الكعوبِ كأَنما

براهنَّ من حُبِّ الدماءِ سُلالُ

while the stout-jointed spears have not drunk their fill, as though

a wasting sickness born of love for blood had worn them thin.

الى كم على حِذْرٍ أُراوغُ حاذراً

نزالِ اذا لم يغنِ عنكَ نِزَالُ

How long must I dodge warily, on my guard?

To battle—even when battle cannot save you!

تقول ابنةُ السعدي وهي كئيبةٌ

أَمالك الاَّ صدرُ سيفِكَ مَالُ

Al-Sa'di's daughter says in sorrow,

'Have you no wealth but the forepart of your sword?

اذا كانَ يومٌ ذو قَتامٍ وَهَبْوَةٍ

فأنتِ به للمستضيءِ ذُبَالُ

When a day is thick with dust and swirling haze,

you are then a wick for anyone seeking light.'

رُيدك أو تنحاشَ عنه صَفاتُه

كما انحاشَ عن فيض الأَتي جُفَالُ

Gently—or its hard rock will recoil from it,

as flotsam fled from a torrent's surge.

ألم تعلمي أَني بقيةُ أُسرةٍ

بطفلهم الحابي نَدىً وقتَالُ

Did you not know that I am the remnant of a family

whose crawling infant has generosity and fighting spirit?

أَبوا أَنْ يَبيعوا فاقةَ العزِّ بالغِنى

وفي سعيِهم حذوٌ لنا ومثَالُ

They refused to trade honorable poverty for wealth;

their striving gives us a pattern and example.

تبدَّلْتُ من بسلِ بنِ ضبةِ هاشماً

وأَين من السمرِ الطوالِ الآلُ

I have taken Hashim in place of Basl ibn Dabba;

how can a mirage compare with tall acacias?

وفي الصبحِ عن وارىِ زنادهم غِنىً

وفي الليلِ عما يَعمُدون ظِلالُ

At dawn there is no need of their firesticks' flame,

and at night there is shade apart from what they raise.

بحيثُ الندى تحدو هُنيدةَ والقِرى

يكبُّ المَتَالى والمَقَالُ فعَالُ

There, generosity drives a hundred camels, and hospitality

fells mother camels, and speech is action.

ولما وردتُ الغَمرَ من نَفَحَاتِهم

رَويتُ وبلتني هناكَ بِلالُ

When I came to the deep waters of their bounty,

I drank my fill, and refreshing waters drenched me there,

على حين لم يُرَع الذمامُ وقُطِّعَتْ

رماماً بأَيدي الماسكينَ حبَالُ

when covenants went unhonored, and cords were cut

to shreds by the very hands that held them.

أَمرَّ عَقدَ الجوارِ مَعَاشِرٌ

تَرَى جَارَهم كالنَّجمِ ليسَ يُنَالُ

A people bound the covenant of protection fast,

whose protected neighbor, like a star, cannot be reached.

لنا خُلُقٌ فيهم جريءٌ عليهُمُ

تَخَالُ به الأدلالَ وهوَ دَلاَلُ

With them, our manner is bold toward them;

you would think it presumption, but it is affectionate freedom.

مَعَاريضُ عن لَهْوِ الحَدِيثِ وَلَغْوِهِ

اذا قيلَ قولوا أَقْصَروا وأطَالُوا

Averse to frivolous conversation and empty talk,

when told, 'Speak,' they speak briefly, yet at length.

وفيهم حياءٌ لا يضامُ وجُرأةُ

وشحٌ على أَعراضِهم وَنَوالُ

In them is modesty that suffers no affront, and courage,

jealous care for their honor, and generosity.

ملوكٌ لهم طولُ السُّجُودِ تَحِيَّةٌ

وطولُ التَّصَدِّي للسُّؤالِ سُؤالُ

Kings for whom prolonged prostration is a greeting,

and lingering before them to petition is itself a petition.

تَرى ولداً في الملكِ يخلف والداً

كما خلفَ البدرَ المنيرَ هِلالُ

You see a son succeed a father in kingship,

as a crescent succeeds the shining full moon.

اليك أَميرَ المؤمنينَ فانه

ضَلال لمن يرجو سِواكَ ضَلالُ

To you, Commander of the Faithful—for it is

error, sheer error, to hope in anyone but you—

قواف بأعجازِ المطيِ عوالقٌ

تَخِفُّ على الراوي وهنَّ ثِقَالُ

come rhymes clinging to the riding camels' hindquarters,

light for the reciter, though they are weighty.

ينامُ العِدى عن دائِبٍ مُتَقَلقِلٍ

لهم فترةٌ عن سيرهِ وكَلالُ

The foes sleep, heedless of one tireless and restless;

they falter and tire of keeping pace with him.

أَعدَّ لهم فيما أعدَّ من الأذى

عطائفَ نبعٍ لحمهنَّ نِبَالُ

Among the harms he has prepared, he has readied for them

curved bows of nab'-wood, whose flesh is arrows.

يَردنَ وأطرافُ الرماحِ حوائمٌ

وهنَّ قِصارٌ والرماحُ طِوالُ

They reach water while spearpoints circle thirstily,

though they are short and the spears are long.

لهم ان أَساءوا في اكتتابكَ طَيرةٌ

وفي اسمكَ انْ عاذوا بعفوكَ فَالُ

If they offend, your written name is an ill omen for them;

your name is a good omen if they seek refuge in your pardon.

كريمٌ على العلاتِ في الفقر والغنى

عطيتُه للمكرماتِ كَمَالُ

Generous in every circumstance, in poverty and wealth,

his giving is the perfection of noble deeds.

يُحَبُّ ويُخشى وهو طلقٌ مؤسَّلٌ

شَتيمٌ عليه هيبةٌ وجَمَالُ

He is loved and feared, open-faced and sharp-featured,

stern, bearing both awe and beauty.

تواضعَ في ذاتِ الالهِ وانما

تواضعه عن ذى الجلالِ جَلالُ

He humbled himself for God's sake; yet

his humility, from the Lord of Majesty, is majesty.

ففي كل فضلٍ كان أَو هو كائنٌ

سِوى فضلهِ للعالمينَ جِدَالُ

In every excellence that has been or will be,

except his own, the world's people find room for dispute.

مع الدينِ أَنتم يا بني عمِّ أَحمَدٍ

فليس لكم حتى يزول زوالُ

You are with the faith, O sons of Ahmad's uncle;

you will not pass away until it does.

فان تك دارت للعدو عليكم

رَحى أنتم قُطْبٌ لها وثِقَالُ

Though there has turned for the enemy against you

a mill, you are its pivot and its heavy stones.

فكم من جبالٍ قد علا شَعفاتَها

رجالٌ فزالوا والجبالُ جِبَالُ

How many mountains have had their summits climbed

by men who vanished, while the mountains remained mountains.

أَرى أيدياً كانت يداً فتفرقتْ

فيا لك فَتْحاً لو يكونُ رِجَالُ

I see hands that once were one hand, now scattered;

what a victory there could be, if only there were men!

يُحرِّمُ ختلانَ الرقادِ عليهم

فتىً لا يرى أنَّ الرقادَ حَلالُ

He denies them even sleep snatched by stealth—

a youth who does not consider sleep lawful.

سوابقُ عن حَرِّ الطِّعَانِ وبَردِهِ

تُصانُ وفي خَضْلِ الرِّهانِ تُذَالُ

Thoroughbreds, from the heat and cold of lance-thrusts,

are sheltered, yet worn down in the sweat of racing.

أَغَضٌ بأَبصارِ الفوارسِ أَم عَمى

أَم الوعدُ منهم والوعيدُ مِطالُ

Are the horsemen's eyes lowered, or is it blindness?

Or are their promises and threats mere procrastination?

فمن مبلغٌ حيرانَ يعتسفُ الدُّجى

وأَطرُ الربى واللاذعاتُ نِعالُ

Who will carry word to a bewildered man blundering through darkness,

with hill-rims and stinging things for sandals?

ثَنى يومَ وادي السُّوسِ عاملُ رمِحه

وما نابَ عنهُ ما ينوبُ خِلالُ

On the day at Wadi al-Sus, his spear's upper shaft bent;

it did not serve him even as well as a toothpick.

أَبى وُدُّ قَومٍ أَن يَغيضَ معينُه

وَوُدُّكَ يا ابنَ الحاضريةِ آلُ

Some people's love refuses to let its spring run dry,

but your love, son of al-Hadiriyya, is a mirage.

فهل هو الا أَنْ وفيتُ لصاحبٍ

غدرتَ بهِ والنائبات سِجالُ

Was it anything but my keeping faith with a companion

whom you betrayed, while misfortunes take their turns?

أَقلنى يداً عند الصديقِ حميدةً

لعلكَ تلقى مِثلَهَا فَتُقَالُ

Forgive me a favor praiseworthy in a friend's eyes;

perhaps you will meet its like and be forgiven.

اذا أَنتَ صاحبتَ الكرامَ فكنْ لَهُمْ

عَذِيراً تُثَنّيهِ صَباً وشَمَالُ

When you keep company with noble men, be for them

a defender whom east wind and north wind bend.

وكن رائدَ الشيءِ الذي يطلبونَه

وانْ كانَ فيهِ للعدوِّ مَقَالُ

Be the scout for whatever they seek,

even if it gives the enemy grounds for reproach.