متى أرجو مسالمة الهموم — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

متى أرجو مُسالَمَةَ الهُمومِ

وآملُ صِحّةَ الجِسمِ السّقيمِ

When may I hope for peace with sorrows,

And hope for health for my ailing body?

وكرُّ الحادثاتِ عليَّ تَجني

جناياتِ القروفِ على الكُلومِ

While misfortunes return to assail me, inflicting

The injuries of scabs peeled from wounds.

قفا يا صاحبي فخبّراني

عن الأهواءِ والزمنِ القديمِ

Stop, my two companions, and tell me

Of loves and bygone days.

بعهدِ اللهِ هل أزَلُّ وعِرْضٌ

على مَتْنِ الطّريقِ المُستقيمِ

By God's covenant, are Azall and 'Ird

On the spine of the straight road?

وهلْ لُبنانُ للسّاري مَقيلٌ

إذا ما راحَ من عينِ الحَميمِ

And is Lebanon a noonday resting place for the night traveler,

When he sets out from 'Ayn al-Hamim?

وهلْ تبدو البديةُ أو أراها

سَهولَ الصحصحانِ إلى الخُزومِ

And does al-Badiyya appear, or shall I see it—

The open, level plains as far as al-Khuzum?

وكنتُ إذا مشيتُ سَحَبتُ بُردي

على مَشّاء جاليةِ الأديمِ

And once, when I walked, I trailed my cloak

Over Mashsha', with its gleaming surface.

وقُولا كيفَ غيرتِ اللّيالي

سُهولَ الصحصحانِ إلى الحُزومِ

And tell me both how the nights transformed

The wide, level plains into rugged ridges.

وكيفَ سبى نسيمُ الريحِ بَعدي

ثَرى تلكَ المعالمِ والرسومِ

And how the wind's soft breath carried away, after I left,

The soil of those landmarks and traces.

فإنّ غرائبَ الأحزانِ تُهدَى

لمُصطبرٍ على البلوى كَتومِ

For strange sorrows are offered as gifts

To one who patiently bears affliction and keeps silent.

أُحِبُّ ثَنيةَ الصّنَمين تحدو

بها الأرواحُ مُطَّلَعَ الغُيومِ

I love al-Sanamayn's mountain pass, where

The winds urge onward toward the clouds' rising-place.

ونشرَ الغانياتِ من الخُزامى

ومُعْتَصَرَ السّرورِ من الكُرومِ

And the fragrance of fair women, drawn from lavender,

And joy pressed from the vines.

ولا أهْوى الكَحيلَ إلى دُجَيْلٍ

إلى الزّوراءِ مَنزِلةِ الذّميمِ

Nor do I love al-Kahil, onward to Dujayl,

On to al-Zawra, the abode of the ignoble.

بلادٌ أنفُسُ الأحرارِ فيها

ضِبابُ القاعِ تُروى بالنّسيمِ

A land where the souls of free men

Are flatland lizards, their thirst slaked by the breeze.

يَجوزُ بها وينفقُ كلُّ شيءٍ

سِوى الآدابِ طُرّاً والعُلومِ

Everything passes muster there and sells,

Except literature of every kind, and learning.

ما خِلتُ المقادرَ تبتليني

بصبرٍ في مساكنِها أليمِ

I never thought fate would put me to the test

With painful endurance in that land's dwellings.

ولا أني أفرُّ إلى ثَراها

ولو أنّي فَرَرْتُ إلى الجَحيمِ

Nor that I would flee to its soil,

Even if I had fled to Hell.

أكنتُ عدوَّ أهلِكَ يومَ أحموا

عيونَهُم وحَيّوا بالوُجومِ

Was I your people's enemy, the day they inflamed

Their eyes and greeted me with sullen silence?

فَبتُّ أُعقِّرُ الآمالَ فيهمُ

وأقربها لأضيافِ الهُمومِ

So I spent the night slaughtering my hopes in them,

And serving them to the guests of sorrow.

إذا ما العيسُ بالفتيانِ راحَتْ

وما أقتابُها غيرَ الشُّحومِ

When the pale camels set out bearing the young men,

With nothing but fat for their saddles,

فَحبَّ اللهُ أسنِمةً رَمَتْ بي

على أحقادِ بكرٍ في تَميمِ

May God lop off the humps that flung me

Upon Bakr's grudges against Tamim.

أبيتُ الليلَ ملتمساً دواءً

لداءٍ في صدورِهم قَديمِ

I pass the night seeking a remedy

For an ancient sickness in their breasts,

كأنّي زُرتُهم بالخيلِ تَعدو

على أكتافِها جِنُّ الصّريمِ

As though I had visited them with galloping horses,

The jinn of the dark night upon their shoulders.

لعلَّ تعرضي بالرزقِ يوماً

سيهجمُ بي على رجُلٍ كريمِ

Perhaps my quest for sustenance, one day,

Will bring me suddenly upon a generous man,

كمثل أبي العَلاءِ وأيُّ مِثلٍ

لهُ غيرُ السّحائبِ والنّجومِ

Like Abu al-'Ala—and what equal

Has he, besides the clouds and stars?

حَلَفتُ بذُبَّلِ الأعناقِ تَخفى

مناسمَها فتَنْعَلُ بالرّسيمِ

I swore by the lean-necked camels, whose

Footpads vanish, their swift trot serving as shoes.

لقد حاولنَ من بلدٍ بعيدٍ

نِصابَ العزِّ والحَسَبِ الصّميمِ

Indeed, from a distant land they sought

The very source of glory and pure lineage.

شكونَ نحولَهنّ إلى رحيمٍ

وحاكمنَ الرجالَ إلى حكيمِ

They complained of their emaciation to a merciful man,

And brought suit against men before a wise man.

أجاركِ صاعدٌ منها فحُلي

على الغُدرانِ والكلأِ العَميمِ

Ṣāʿid has given you refuge from it; so settle

Beside pools and abundant pasture.

ولمّا أنْ رأيتُ الغدرَ يَحلو

كما تَحلو المُدامةُ للمُديمِ

And when I saw that treachery tasted sweet,

As wine tastes sweet to the habitual drinker,

جمعتُ مآربي ووصلتُ حبلي

بحبلٍ ليسَ بالخَلقِ الجَذيمِ

I gathered my aims and joined my rope

To a rope neither worn out nor severed,

ليقظانِ العَداوةِ مُستريبٍ

ووسنانِ المودةِ مُستنيمِ

Of one alert in enmity, ever wary,

And drowsy in affection, resting trustfully.

فتىً لا يستطيلُ على جليسٍ

ولا يهَبُ النّدامةَ للنّديمِ

A young man who never lords it over a companion,

Nor gives his boon companion cause for regret.

بَراهُ اللهُ من حِلْمٍ وجُودٍ

وكلُّ الناسِ من سَفَهٍ ولُومِ

God fashioned him from forbearance and generosity,

And all other people from folly and baseness.

له دونَ المحامدِ والمَعالي

مُحاماة الغيورِ عن الحَريمِ

His defense of virtues and lofty honors

Is a jealous man's protection of his household.

إذا ما جئتَ تَخْبُرُ خالتيهِ

ملأتَ يديكَ من كرمٍ وخيمِ

If you come to test his two maternal aunts [text unclear],

You fill both hands with generosity and noble character.

وربَّ مدائحٍ وَرَدَتْ عُلاه

ورَوْدَ خوافقِ الأكبادِ هِيمِ

And many praise poems have come to his heights

Like thirst-maddened camels, their livers throbbing.

سلمنَ له ولم تكنِ القَوافي

لتسلَم في سوى عِرضٍ سَليمِ

They were safe with him; rhymes could never

Be safe except in unblemished honor.

ذكرتُ وقد رأيتُ الغيثَ يَهمي

وأعرضَ شاهقٌ من هَضبِ رِيمِ

I remembered, when I saw the rain pouring

And a lofty peak of Rim's hills came into view,

عطاءكَ حينَ تُسرفُ في العَطايا

وحِلمكَ حينَ تَغضبُ في الحُلومِ

Your bounty when you lavish gifts,

And your forbearance when, even in anger, you remain forbearing.

وأنتَ وسمتَ بالمعروفِ رِقّي

ورقّ الخيل تحفظ بالوُسومِ

And you branded my servitude with kindness,

As ownership of horses is secured by brands.

رأى الأعداءَ يوم جنَحت دوني

نجومَ المشرفيةِ كالرجومِ

The enemies saw, when you bent to shield me,

The stars of Mashrafi swords like hurled missiles,

غداةَ جَلا سَوادَ الظلمِ عنّي

سِراجا جبهةِ الأسدِ الشَّتيمِ

That morning when injustice's darkness was cleared from me

By the two lamps on the grim-faced lion's brow.

حَرَمتُ الناسَ غيرَكم ثَنائي

وبينتُ الخصوصَ من العُمومِ

I denied my praise to everyone but you,

And set the particular apart from the general.

وبي عن هذه الأنعامِ نَفْرٌ

وكان الثّغْرُ من خُلُقِ الظَّليمِ

And I feel aversion to these cattle,

And the mouth was among the ostrich's traits [text unclear].

أظنُ الدهرَ يسلبني أموراً

سينفعُ عندَها عِلمُ العَليمِ

I think time will rob me of certain things;

Then the knowledge of the learned will prove useful.

إذا حلَّ الشّقاءُ نَعِمْتُ فيهِ

وبعضُ القومِ يَشْقى بالنّعيمِ

When misery descends, I find happiness in it,

While some people suffer amid comfort.

فإنْ تكنِ الخطوبُ بَخَسْنَ حَظّي

فليس العُدْمُ من فعلِ العَديمِ

So if calamities have diminished my share,

Poverty is not the poor man's own doing.

طلبتُ براحَتَيَّ وماء وجهي

فجئتُ وما طلبتُ إلى لئِيمِ

I sought with both my palms and my face's dignity,

So I came, having asked no ignoble man.

ولم أعلمْ بأنّ الرزقَ خصمي

وأنّي صاحبُ الجَدِّ العَقيمِ

I did not know that sustenance was my adversary,

And that I was the companion of barren luck.

تَدارَكْ فوتها واشدُدْ قُواها

فأنتَ لها وللحَدثِ العَظيمِ

Make good their loss, and strengthen their powers,

For you are equal to these and to great calamity.

وكنتَ عهدتَ كفَّكَ تقتضيني

قَبولَ عطائِها مثلَ الغَريمِ

And you had known your hand to demand of me

Acceptance of its gifts, like a creditor.

بَقيتَ لحيةٍ أعيتْ رُقاها

وخصم فلَّ أقوالَ الخُصومِ

May you endure to face a snake that baffles charms,

And an adversary who blunts his opponents' arguments.

ولا استسرَرْتَ يا قمرَ المَعالي

فإنّكَ غرةُ الزمنِ البَهيمِ

May you never vanish, O moon of lofty honors,

For you are the white blaze on this pitch-dark age's brow.