يا خيبة الحر الذي — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

يا خيبة الحرِّ الذي

لم يلقَ فوقَ الأَرض حرَّا

O the disappointment of the noble man

who has met no noble man upon the earth!

يَثْني على كيد يداً

فيسوءُ جانبه بحرَّا

He turns a hand against a stratagem,

and his flank fares ill—an ocean [wording unclear].

مترِّدُ الحسرات حتَّـ

ـى بالتردُّد صِرْنَ حَسري

He keeps repeating regrets, until

through repetition they themselves are spent.

شكرىَ جَوَاهُ لا يُقِرُّ

بها وفي عَيْنَيْهِ تُقْرَا

The complaint of his heartache he will not confess,

yet in his eyes it can be read.

وإِذا اشتكى فقراً أَسا

لَ الدمعَ من عينيْه نَهْرا

And when he laments his poverty, he pours

a river of tears from his eyes.

والخلق تُذْرِي الدمعَ ما

ءً وهو يُذْرِي الدمعَ جَمراً

People shed their tears as water,

while he sheds his tears as embers.

ذو حنكة ويردُّه الـ

ـمقْدارُ بالتهثيرِ غَمْراً

He possesses experience, yet destiny turns him

through bewilderment into a novice.

ضِرغامةٌ متثعلِبٌ

ويمينهُ في البطش يُسْرَى

A lion turned foxlike,

his right hand in striking is a left.

وأَنا الذي ذاك الذي

أَجريتُه في الشِّعر ذكْرَا

And I am he—that very man

whose mention I have sent coursing through verse.

بكَّرتُ للحظِّ الذي

صادفْتُه في الليلِ أَسْرَى

I set out early after fortune,

which I found had traveled away by night.

وطَفِقْت أَجْرِي خَلفَه

من ساعَتي وهلُمَّ جرًّا

And I began running after it

from that very hour, and ever onward.

جَاريْتُ هذا الدهرَ لكِـ

ـنْ ما وجدْتُ عليه نصراً

I contended with this Time, but

found no victory over it.

من أَجل حزني قد أَعدَّ

وقد أَحدَّ شَباً وظُفْرَا

To cause me sorrow, it has made ready

and sharpened blade-edge and claw.

والقوس يُحْنَى والمهنَّـ

ـدُ يُنْتَضَى والسهمُ يُبْرَى

The bow is bent, the Indian blade

is drawn, and the arrow sharpened.

ورجعتُ والآمال قَتْ

لى منه والأَطماعُ أَسْرَى

And I returned, my hopes slain

by it, and my ambitions captive.

لا بَطْشَتي كُبْرى ولا

تُغْني على اللأْواءِ صُغْرَى

My striking power is not great, nor

can a lesser blow avail against adversity.

في الحالة الوُسْطى فلا

ظهراً رَجَعْتُ ولسْتُ صَدْرا

I am left in a middling state:

neither at the rear nor at the fore.

لا تسمعِ الأَيامُ

لي نَهْياً ولا الأَقدارُ أَمْرَا

The days do not heed

my prohibitions, nor the fates my commands.

وأَظلُّ في سوق الكَسَا

دِ أُباع فيه ولَسْتُ أُشْرىَ

I remain in the market of stagnation,

offered for sale there, yet never bought.

في معشر خَسُّوا ولـ

ـكن قد أَهانُوا الحرًّ قهراً

Among a company who are base,

yet have humiliated the noble man by force.

صُفر الوجوهِ وربما

لاحت لك الأَقفاءُ حمرا

Pale of face, though sometimes

their napes appear red to you.

ولربما كان القفا

باعاً وكان القد شبرا

Often the nape measures

a fathom, while the stature is a span.

مَرْضَى ولا يَبْرَوْنَ إِذ

داءُ الخَسَاسَةِ لَيْسَ يَبْرىَ

They are sick and cannot recover, for

the disease of baseness admits no cure.

الكلبُ يُكسى عندهُم

بالوَشْي والضِّرغامُ يَعْرَى

Among them the dog is clothed

in brocade, while the lion goes bare.

والحُّر بينهمُ يمو

تُ مجاعةً لو كان خِضْرَا

Among them the noble man dies

of starvation, even were he Khidr.

ما فيهم إِلا مُعا

رُ المجدِ مَعْمُولٌ مُطرَّى

None among them has more than borrowed

glory, fabricated and embellished.

وابيضَّ قِدْراً يا لجو

عِ نزِيله واسودَّ قَدْراً

His pot is white—alas for the hunger

of his guest!—and his worth turns black.

مَيْتٌ وما هو في الثَّرى

بل في الخَساسَةِ جلّ قدرا

He is dead, though not beneath the earth;

rather, in baseness his rank is great.

نادِيه تربتُه فكم

قد زُرْتُه وقَرَأْت عشْرَا

His gathering-place is his grave; how often

have I visited him and recited ten verses!

يا قلبُ ويحَك لا شُفِـ

ـتَ جَوىً ولا رُوِّحت سراً

O heart, woe to you! May you never be healed

of heartache, nor comforted inwardly.

يا قلبُ ويحك ما كذا

عوَّدتني ذلاَّ وذُعْرا

O heart, woe to you! Never before

have you accustomed me to such abasement and fear.

كَمْ ذَا السُّهادُ من الأَسى

تُكْرَى النُّجُومُ ولَسْتَ تُكْرَى

How long this sleeplessness born of sorrow?

The stars are lulled to sleep, yet you are not.

والحزن يقتلُ كلَّ من

لا يقتلُ الأَحزانَ صَبْرَا

Sorrow kills everyone

who does not slay sorrows through patience.

لِمْ لا أُهينُ صِغارَهم

وكبارَهم تيهاً وكِبْرَا

Why do I not humiliate their petty men

and their great men with hauteur and pride,

وأُذيقُهم هَجْراً وأُس

مِعُهم من الكلماتِ هُجْرَا

make them taste estrangement, and make them

hear obscenities among my words,

وأَسيرُ سيراً عنهمُ

لأَرى مرادَ القلبِ جَهْرا

and journey away from them

to see my heart's desire made plain?

كم خِلَّةٍ ليَ أَعْرَضَتْ

فتركتُها وعَشِقْتُ أُخرى

How many a beloved of mine has turned away,

so I left her and loved another.

وتركتُها لا القلبُ مُكْت

ئِبٌ ولا الأَجفانُ عَبْرَى

I left her, with neither my heart

downcast nor my eyelids wet with tears.

ما النيلُ من ماءِ الحيا

ةِ ولا جميعُ الأَرضِ مِصْرَا

The Nile is not of the Water of Life,

nor is the whole earth Egypt.

ولكم غَرَبْتُ من السُّرى

في ليلةٍ وطلعت فَجْرَا

How often have I set while traveling by night,

and in a single night risen at dawn!

ولكم وجدت الموتَ حلواً

حين ذُقْتُ الذُّلْ مُرّاً

How often have I found death sweet

when I tasted humiliation's bitterness!

ولكمْ أُعيَّر بالغُرو

رِ نعم فَطِنْتُ وكُنْت غرّا

How often am I reproached for gullibility!

Yes, I have grown discerning; I was naive.

سأَسير عنهم طائعاً

فعسى الهلالُ يصير بدراً

I shall leave them willingly;

perhaps the crescent will become a full moon,

وأجِد لي رزْقَاً وإِخـ

ـواناً ومنزلةً وعمراً

and I shall find sustenance and

brothers, standing, and a life.

ويقال خوفاً كيف را

حَ وما نراه أَيْنَ مَرَّا

And in fear they will ask, 'How did he

leave? We do not see him—where has he gone?'

وأَقودُها شُعْثاً يرو

ن بوقعها الأَيام غُبْرا

I shall lead them, disheveled; they will see

the days turned dust-gray by their onslaught.

وأَردّ زيداً منهمُ

لمكانِه وأُعيد عَمْرا

And I shall send Zayd, one of them,

back to his place, and return Amr as well.

وأُقيمُ إِمَّا دولةً

للملك أَو للنَّفْسِ عُذْرَا

I shall establish either a realm

for kingship, or a justification for myself.

والمجدُ مرٌّ طَعْمُه

لا تحسبنَّ المجْدَ تمرَا

Glory is bitter to taste;

do not suppose that glory is dates.

واطمعْ ولا تَهْزِم رجَا

ءَك إِنَّ بعد العُسْر يُسْراً

Aspire, and do not defeat your own

hope: after hardship there is ease.

والدَّهر يجمعُ ثم يسـ

ـمَحُ قد رأَينا ذاكَ دَهْراً

Time gathers, then gives freely;

we have long seen this.

وأَنا الذي ما عِشْتُ حتَّى

قد قَتَلْتُ الدَّهر خُبْراً

I am he who did not live until

I had slain Time through knowledge.

وإِذا كسِلْتَ عن العُلا

فانْشَطْ لها صَهْباءَ بكْرَا

And if you grow idle toward lofty aims,

rouse yourself for them with virgin, tawny wine.

لا تكسَلَنْ عَنْ ذَا وذَا

فيعودَ سهلُ العَيْشِ وَعْرَا

Do not be idle toward this or that,

lest life's smooth path turn rugged.

صفراءُ تُصبحُ إِن عُنِيـ

ـتَ بها من الأحزان صفرا

Golden wine—if you attend

to it, you awake free of sorrows.

وما أصبحت في داخل

إلا وبات الهمُّ برَّا

It never comes to be inside

but sorrow spends the night outside.

والهمّ عِنِّين إِذَا

ما صادفَ الصَّهْبَاءَ بِكْرا

Sorrow is impotent whenever

it encounters the tawny wine still virgin.

يَغْنى الفتى بنسيمِها

وحَبابها مِسْكاً ودرَّا

A youth grows rich through its fragrant breath

and its bubbles—in musk and pearls.

ما الدّر إِلاَّ ذَا الحبَا

بُ وإِنَّني بالدّر أَدْرَى

Pearls are nothing but these bubbles,

and I know pearls well.

سُعْدَى وشِعْري في السما

ءِ وفي كؤوسِكَ أَلفُ شِعْرَى

Su'da and my poetry are in the sky,

and in your cups are a thousand Siriuses.

مَنَّتَ عَلَيْكَ ولا كما

منَّتْ على أَشلاءِ كِسْرى

It has favored you, though not as

it favored the remains of Kisra.

الخلقُ لما عاشَ قد

سجدوا له طَوْعاً وقَسْرَا

People, when he lived,

bowed to him willingly and by force.

والكُلُّ لما مَاتَ قد

سَجَدوا لَهُ في الكأْس سَكْرَى

And all of them, when he was dead,

bowed to him in the cup, drunk.

ومعطَّرُ الأَنفاسِ يحـ

ـملها فتسرقُ منه عِطرَا

And one with perfumed breath carries

it, and it steals fragrance from him.

في وَجْهِهِ بِشْرٌ ومِنْ

أَلفاظِه للسَّمعِ بُشْرَى

Cheerfulness is in his face,

and his words bring glad tidings to the ear.

أَسكنْتُه شِعْرِي فأَصبَح

كُلُّ بيتٍ مِنْهُ قَصْرَا

I housed him in my poetry, and so

every verse in it became a palace.

ما السحرُ إِلا نَاظِرَا

هُ وفي يَدَيْهِ رأَيتُ سِحْرَا

Magic is nothing but his two eyes;

and in his hands I have seen enchantment.

الخَمْرُ ماءٌ في الدَّنَا

نِ وفي يَدَيْهِ يَصيرُ جَمْرَا

Wine is water in the jars,

but in his hands it becomes embers.

يَجْنِيكَ من وَجَنَاتِه

ورداً وريحاناً وزَهْرَا

He plucks for you from his cheeks

roses, sweet basil, and blossoms.

والغُصْنُ يَحْسُنُ حينَ يُكْـ

ـسَى وهُوَ يَحْسُنُ حِينَ يَعْرى

A bough is beautiful when clothed,

but he is beautiful when bare.

نَفْسِي تتوقُ لأَخضرٍ

في وَجْهِهِ والنَّفْسُ خَضْرا

My soul yearns for green down

upon his face, and my soul is green.

هَيْهَاتَ أَن تَثْرَى يدا

يَ وَوَجْهُهُ بالحُسْنِ أَثْرَى

Far be it that my hands grow rich,

while his face is richer in beauty.

فيه أَغالِطُ مُهْجَتي

حتى تَتوبَ وتستقرَّا

With him I beguile my heart,

until it repents and finds rest.

والموتُ أَولى بالفَتى

من عِيشَةٍ في الذُّلِّ غَبْرَا

Death is more fitting for a young man

than a dust-gray life of humiliation.

وإِذا تملَّكَتِ اللِّئَا

مُ فإِنَّ مَوْتَ الحُرِّ أَحْرَى

And when the ignoble take power,

the noble man's death is more fitting.