من لصب دموعه ليس ترفا — Maawali Omani

مَنْ لصبٍّ دموعُه ليس تَرْفَاً

هَمَلاناً إنْ شَام بالشام بَرْقَا

Who will aid a lovesick man whose tears are no indulgence,

streaming when he sights lightning in al-Sham?

وَكَئيبٍ إِذا تذكر أحبَا

باً بصنعاءَ حَن وحبذاً وشَوْقَا

And a sorrowful man who, when he recalls loved ones

in Sanaa, yearns—how dear they are!—with longing?

وإذا لاحَ نحو يبَرِينَ بَرْقٌ

هامَ شَوْقاً وهَام حبّاً وعِشقاً

And when lightning flashes toward Yabrin,

he wanders in longing, wanders in love and passion.

جيرة قد شقيتْ لولا هواهم

بهواهم ما كنتُ في الحبّ أشْقى

Neighbors—I have suffered; were it not for love of them,

I would not suffer so in love, through my love of them.

مَنْ بُلِى بالغرامِ والوجدِ يوماً

وجَفْتهُ أحبابهُ فهْوَ أشْقَى

Whoever is one day afflicted with passion and ardor,

and is forsaken by his loved ones, is more wretched still.

وإذا بدلوه بالبُعْد قُرْباً

بعد ما شَفَّهُ الضّنَى ليس يَشْقَى

And if they grant him nearness in place of distance,

after wasting sickness has worn him down, he no longer suffers.

ورُبُوعٍ سَفْيتُها بدموع

وأكفانٍ ما كنّ بالدمع تُسْقَى

And dwellings I have showered with tears,

and shrouds that were not watered with tears.

فارحمُوا المبتَلى بكمُ فهو يهوا

كُم ورقُّوا لمن لكم صار رِقّاً

So pity the man afflicted by you, for he loves

you; be tender to one who has become your slave.

وافقُوا بالصبِّ المتيم فالر

فقُ لمن آلف الكآبةَ أَبقَى

Accommodate the love-stricken lover, for

kindness better sustains one accustomed to sorrow.

لا تُطِيلوا النَّوى فإنيَ مِن بَعْ

د نَوَاكُمْ وهَجْرِكمْ لستُ أَبقَى

Do not prolong separation, for I, after

your distance and abandonment, cannot survive.

وارفُضُوا البَيْن والبعَادً فإني

لستُ أقوى نعُرْوَةُ الحبِّ وُثقَى

Reject separation and estrangement, for I

have no strength; the bond of love is firmest.

أَنَا أَرْضَى إن كان يُرْضيكُمُ

قتلَى وما قد لقيت منكم وألقىَ

I consent, if it pleases you,

to my death and what I have borne from you and still bear.

قد كفَاني ما بِي هوىً لا تزيدو

ني جَفاءً فإنني صِرْتُ مُلْقَى

The passion I bear is enough; do not heap

more coldness on me, for I am cast down.

أَنَا نشوانُ مِن رحيقِ هوَاكُم

طولَ دَهْرى لا زلتُ أَسْقِى وأُسْقَى

I am intoxicated with the nectar of your love,

all my life—may I always give drink and be given drink.

كلما قُلت قد هبطتُ من الشدةٍ

في حبِّكم بَدَا لِيَ مَرْقَى

Whenever I say, ‘I have descended from the hardship

of loving you,’ an ascent appears before me.

كلما قُلت قد صَحَوْتُ من الحبِّ

سَقَاني نَوَاكُمْ كأسَ فُرْقَى

Whenever I say, ‘I have sobered up from love,’

your absence gives me a cup of parting.

ومديحي لك ابنَ سلطان سيفٍ

قد سارَ غَرْباً وشَرْقَا

And my praise of you, son of Sultan Sayf,

has traveled west and east.

هوَ رَبُّ الندَى أبو العرب السا

مى عَلا الخلْقِ في البرية خُلْقَا

He is the lord of generosity, Abu al-Arab, the exalted,

who surpassed all creatures in character throughout creation.

فاقَ أهلَ الزمان أصلا ومجداً

مثل ما فاقهم طِباعاً وخُلقا

He surpassed the people of his age in lineage and glory,

just as he surpassed them in nature and character.

وهو أنْدَاهم يداً في العطايا

وهو أزْكاهم فُروعاً وعَرْقَا

And he is the most generous-handed among them in giving,

and the purest of them in branches and root.

سبَق السابقين مجداً وجوداً

وعطاءً في حليةِ الملكِ سَبْقَا

He outstripped the foremost in glory and generosity,

and in giving, excelling in the adornment of kingship.

فارْق يا ابنَ الكرامِ درَج العليا

ء لا زلتَ للمكارِمِ تَرْقَى

So ascend, son of the noble, the steps of the heights;

may you never cease to rise toward noble deeds.

لا تُبالِ فالأمرُ والنهىُ والدْ

دُنيا لكم فامحق المخالِفَ مَحْقَا

Do not worry: command and prohibition,

and the world are yours; utterly crush the opponent.

واترك الضِّدَّ لا يقرُّ ولا يسط

يع صرفاً ولا خلافاً ونطقاً

Leave the adversary unable to rest or

to turn affairs aside, oppose, or speak.

وارمِ من عادَانا وخالفنا في

أمرِنا بالقِلَى ومن مَال شَقّا

And strike whoever is hostile to us and opposes us in

our cause with hatred, and anyone who turns aside.

واسخُ وارجو الإله واصدعْ وسامحْ

واسمُ واسترْ وزرْ وعشْ واحمِ وابْقَى

Be generous, put your hope in God, speak openly, and pardon;

rise high, conceal faults, visit, live, protect, and endure.

واسلُ واسترْ واستفدْ وترمَّق

واهدِ وارحمْ وجدْ وزدْ واعزُ وارقَا

Find solace, conceal faults, gain benefit, and keep watch;

guide, show mercy, give generously, increase, ascribe, and ascend.

واعفُ واصفحْ وقلْ وسُدْ وتجاوز

وابنِ لي مُرْتَقَى المعالي لأَرْقَى

Forgive, pardon, speak, rule, and overlook;

and build me a stairway to lofty honors so I may ascend.

أنا أصبحتُ في ذَرَاك زمَدْحِي

ومعاليك أطولُ الناس عُنْقَا

I have become, in your shelter, through my praise [reading uncertain]

and your lofty deeds, the tallest-necked of men.

زانَ شِعرى بِكُم وتاهَ على الشع

ار طُرٍّا لأنه صارَ صِدْقَا

My verse gained beauty through you and vaunted itself above the poets,

all of them, for it had become truth.

كلُّ مدحٍ في غيركم هذيانٌ

والهذاءُ الرَّدِىُّ يورِثُ حُمْقَا

All praise of anyone but you is babble,

and vile babbling engenders folly.

كان مدح الأئمةِ العدلِ دينا

وامتداح الضلال ظلماً وفسقَا

Praising just imams was an act of faith,

and praising the misguided, injustice and sin.

يا سليلَ الإمام سلطانَ سيف

أنت أهدَى الورَى وأزكَى وأَتقَى

O scion of Imam Sultan Sayf,

you are the best-guided of humankind, the purest, and the most God-fearing.

يا فتَى الأكرمينَ حَمْداً وشكراً

هذه سلم العُلَى فَتْرَقى

O young man of the noblest, praise and thanks!

This is the ladder to eminence, so ascend.

وتوقى الأعداءَ جهدَك واحلمْ

فأخُو الحِلم دَهرَه بَتَوَقّي

Guard against enemies as best you can, and be forbearing;

for the forbearing man spends his life on guard.

أعيالٌ لكَ الأنامُ فأنَّى

خِلْتهم في بحار جُودِكَ غَرْقَى

Are all people your dependents? How, then,

did I think them drowned in the seas of your generosity?

ومُلوك الدنيا لديكَ عبيدٌ

وموال لا يستطيعونَ عِتُقَا

And the kings of the world are slaves before you,

and bondsmen unable to attain freedom.

هاكَ مدحاً كأنه الدرّ والمر

جان والزِّبرقانُ بل هو أَبْقَى

Take this praise, as though it were pearls and

coral and the full moon—rather, it is more enduring.

بقوافٍ لا عيبَ تلقاهُ إلا

أنها ترشقُ المُعادِين رَشْقَا

In rhymes where you find no fault except

that they fire volleys at adversaries.

فبِها تبيضُّ الوجوهُ وتسو

دٌّ وجوهُ الأعداء غَيْظاً وتَشْقَى

Through them faces turn white, while

the enemies’ faces blacken with rage and grow wretched.

فاقَ معنىً ورقةً وعبارا

تٍ وطالَ القريضُ نظمَا فَدَقَّا

It excelled in meaning, delicacy, and expression,

and the verse grew long in composition, becoming refined.