عوجوا عليها أيها الركب — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

عُوجوا عليها أيُّها الركْبُ

وتَعلموا أَني بِهَا صَبُّ

Turn aside toward her, O caravan,

and know that I am lovesick for her.

فهي الهَوى لا سِرَّ دونكمُ

يُطوى وهل يَتكاتَمُ الصَحْبُ

For she is love itself; no secret from you

is folded away—do companions keep secrets from one another?

لا حلَّ دارَك بعدَ نأيكمُ

الا الرياضُ تَرُبُّها السُّحْبُ

After your departure, nothing dwelt in your home

but meadows nurtured by the clouds.

نَعَرَتْ نُجومُ المِرْزَمين بها

وأَضلَّها الدَّبَرَانُ والقَلْبُ

The stars of the two Mirzams rose over it,

and Aldebaran and al-Qalb effaced it.

ومسودٍ يبأى تقربُه

ولقد أَراه وبعدُه قُربُ

And many a lord grows haughty when courted—

yet I once saw him when his distance was closeness.

مالي وان أَبدى تجملُه

اِلاَّ تلون مفرقي ذَنْبُ

I have—though he displays graciousness—

no fault but the changing color at my hair's part.

قد كنتُ أَحسِبُ هَجْرَه عَبَثاً

وأَظُنُّ صدودهَ عَتْبُ

I once reckoned his estrangement a jest,

and thought his turning away a reproach.

حسبي بَرمتُ بمن أَصاحِبُهُ

ولكلِّ صَاحِبِ نيقةٍ حَسْبُ

Enough for me! I have wearied of the man I befriend;

every man of refined taste has his limit.

الذُّلُ والخَيراتُ عندكُمُ

والعِزُّ للأَعرابِ والجَدْبُ

With you are humiliation and bounty,

while the Bedouins have honor and barrenness.

لكن بأَرضِ الريِّ مضطَلِعٌ

بالحزمِ آخرُ كيده الحَرْبُ

But in the land of Rayy is one accomplished

in prudent resolve; war is his ultimate stratagem.

يَهوى النجومَ لأنهنَّ علاً

ومنالهن لأَنه صَعْبُ

He loves the stars for their loftiness,

and attaining them because it is difficult.

تأبى الشدائدُ غيرَ مطلبه

وعلى القوانسِ يكلبُ الضرْبُ

Hardships accept no quest but his,

and blows grow savage upon helmet-crests.

عُرِضَ السلاحُ فما تجاوزه

رمحٌ أَصَم وصارمٌ عَضْبُ

Arms were displayed, and none passed him by—

neither a solid spear nor a keen, cutting sword,

ومُفاضةٌ جَدلاءُ أَحكمها

داودُ مافي نَسجها عَتْبُ

nor a full-length, tightly woven mail coat perfected

by David, with no flaw in its weave.

تجلى عليه كل سَلْهَبَةٍ

روعاءُ يَثلمُ جدَّها اللعْبُ

Every long-bodied mare is displayed before him,

spirited; play blunts her earnestness.

اِن رُوغمتْ عن شَأوها حَطَمَتْ

فأسَ الشكيمةِ خطوُها وَثْبُ

If checked in her pace, she shatters

the bit's iron bar; her steps are leaps.

ويزينُ هاديها وأَيطَلَها

نسبٌ تنازعَ مجدَه القَبُ

And her neck and flank are adorned

by a pedigree whose glory lean steeds vie to claim.

تَرمي الشخوصَ بعينِ ضاريةٍ

صقعاءُ ما لجفونها هُدْبُ

She shoots glances at figures with the eye of a fierce

white-headed eagle, whose eyelids have no lashes.

ينوي بها الهيجاءَ مُنْصَلِتٌ

يَقْظانُ ليس لعيِنه جَنْبُ

A resolute warrior means to ride her into battle,

vigilant, with no drowsiness in his eye.

طلبوا حقيقتَه فأَعجزَهُمْ

مُرُّ الحَلاوةِ يابسٌ رَطْبُ

They sought his true nature, but he baffled them:

bitter in sweetness, dry yet moist.

ما تستطيلُ الكبرياءُ به

تِيْهاً ولا يطغى به العجْبُ

Grandeur does not make him overbearing

with arrogance, nor does conceit lead him to excess.

فَرْآهُ أَبعدُ مِنْ لِحَاظِهُمُ

وكذا تراهُ الأَنجمُ الشُّهْبُ

His wild-ass quarry lies beyond their gazes;

and even the bright stars see him thus.

يامن به نرجو اِقالتَنَا

راخِ الخناق فانَّهُ الكَرْبُ

O you through whom we hope for deliverance,

loosen the noose, for it is anguish.

أَو ما سمِعتَ بأَنَّ سائمةً

يُحمى عليها الماءُ والعُشْبُ

Have you not heard that a grazing herd

is barred from water and grass?

يُغري الغُرابُ به نَواهِضَهُ

فَهُمُ لكلِّ طَرِيْدَةٍ نَهْبُ

The raven sets his fledged brood upon it,

so they plunder every quarry.

قد شُوركوا في بؤسِ عيشِهم

حتى الذي في مَهْدِهِ يَحبُو

They have been made to share their wretched livelihood,

even the child crawling in his cradle.

طوبى لهم لو كنتَ جارهم

من أَين يَعرِفُ جارَكَ الخَطْبُ

Blessed would they be if you were their neighbor;

how could calamity ever know your neighbor?

لو شئتَ قلتَ لهم وقد لَجَأوا

فَهِمَ الاشارةَ من لَهُ لُبُّ

Had you wished, you would have spoken to them when they sought refuge;

one with sense understands the hint.

عاقتْ عوائقُ عن جوارِكم

ما ضُمِّنَتْ أَمثالَها الكُتْبُ

Obstacles kept us from your protection—

no books have contained their like.

فالدامغانِ وأَرضُ ساريةٍ

يُحثى على آفاقها التُّرْبُ

For Damghan and the land of Sariya—

dust is cast across their horizons.

وبجانبي جُرجَانِ طَالِية

حكَّتْ بها أَعناقَها الجُرْبُ

And on either flank of Jurjan stands a tar-smeared rubbing post,

against which the mangy beasts rubbed their necks.

نَثَرَ الضرابُ على رؤوسهم

قُضباً من الهِنديِّ ما تنبُو

The fierce striker showered their heads

with blades of Indian steel that never glance off.

ساسَ الرعيةَ والدٌ حَدِبٌ

في راحتيهِ الرَّغْبُ والرَّهْبُ

A caring father governed the subjects,

with hope and fear in his two palms.

أَعطوهُ طاعتَهم وماظُلِموا

طوعاً وشرُّ الطاعةِ الغَصْبُ

They gave him their obedience, without being wronged,

willingly; coerced obedience is the worst.

لو أَنَّ شُربَ الماءِ يُبطرهم

لَحَمَاهُ وهو الباردُ العَذْبُ

If drinking water made them insolent,

he would withhold it, though it is cool and sweet.

فكأَنَّهُ لهم مُوشِّحَةٌ

طفلاً يلوح كأَنه قَلْبُ

He is to them like a mother cradling

a child who gleams like a bracelet.

يَدنو لِدَرَّتِها فتمنعه

حباً وليس يضرُّه الحُبُّ

He approaches her flow of milk, but she holds him back,

out of love; love does him no harm.

ذكرتْ ضغائنَها فما اجتَمَعَتْ

الاَّ عليكَ العُجمُ والعُرْبُ

They recalled their grudges and united

against you alone—the non-Arabs and the Arabs.

وأَرى قلوباً غيرَ سَالمةٍ

مَرِضَتْ وأَنتَ بدائِها طبُّ

And I see hearts that are not sound;

they have sickened, and you are skilled in treating their disease.

حَذِرُوكَ حين تركتَ أَرضَهم

حَذَرَ المريضِ تعودُه الغِبُّ

They feared you when you left their land,

as a sick man fears the fever that returns every other day.

لم يسترونكَ عن نواظرِنا

لو كانَ يَحجب ضوءَ ك الحُجْبُ

Why do they hide you from our eyes,

as though veils could conceal your light?

أَصْبَحْتَ للدنيا وعالمِها

كالشَّمْسِ منها الشَّرقُ والغَرْبُ

You have become for the world and its people

like the sun, from which come east and west.

بادرْ بنصركَ قبلَ نائِبَةٍ

أَكبادُهم لبَنَانِها عَصْبُ

Hasten with your aid before a calamity

whose fingers have their livers for sinews.

فالأَرضُ فخرُ الدولتينِ لها

فلكٌ يدورُ ورأيكَ القُطْبُ

For the earth, O Fakhr al-Dawlatayn, has

a turning sphere, and your judgment is its pole.

والناسُ دونكما وانْ زَعَموا

لا يستوي المربوبُ والرَّبُ

The people are beneath you both, whatever they claim;

the ruled and the ruler are not equal.

مِثلُ الجوارحِ في تصرفِها

غلبتْ عليها العينُ والقَلْبُ

Like the limbs in their movements,

the eye and heart hold sway over them.