خذ من يدي صفقة الأماني

على عطاياك يا زماني

Take from my hand the bargain of hopes,

in exchange for your gifts, O my time.

واخشن كما شئت أو فلن لي

فليس جنبي بمستلانِ

Be harsh as you wish, or be gentle with me;

for my flank cannot be made to yield.

ملكتَ عنقي فلم أقدْها

تُضغَط في رِبقة الأماني

You mastered my neck, yet I did not lead it

to be constricted in the halter of hopes.

وأعطشتْني الدنيا ولكن

لا أشربُ الماء بالهوانِ

The world has made me thirsty, but

I will not drink water at the price of humiliation.

كم غرَّني من بنيكَ آلٌ

أنضَى ركابي وما سقاني

How many a mirage among your sons has deceived me,

wearing out my riding-camels without giving me drink.

فُعدَّني قد قتلتُ حظّي

خُبرا وجرّبتُ ما كفاني

So count me as having fully fathomed my fortune

through experience, and tested enough to suffice me.

ماجُمِعتْ ثروةٌ وفضلٌ

والماءُ والنارُ يُجمعانِ

Wealth and merit have never been united,

though water and fire can be brought together.

طِرْ بجناح النّقصان فيهم

محلِّقا عاليَ المكانِ

Fly among them on the wing of deficiency,

soaring to a lofty station.

وطامنِ الشخصَ إن توافت

فيك مع المال خَلَّتانِ

And lower your stature if there come together

in you, along with wealth, two virtues.

صرفتُ وجهي عن كلِّ حظٍّ

حتى عن الأوجه الحسانِ

I have turned my face from every share of fortune,

even from beautiful faces.

واعتنّ وَهْنا فلم يَشُقْني

على جواي البرقُ اليماني

Appearing late at night, it did not stir my longing:

despite my heartache, the lightning of Yemen.

واستحلمتني الصَّبا وقِدماً

جُنَّ بأنفاسها جَناني

The east wind found me composed, though once

my heart went mad with its breaths.

فأيّ كفٍّ تكُفُّ شأوِي

والحبُّ لم يثنِ من عِناني

What hand, then, can curb my course,

when love has not turned my reins?

لو صادني بالغنَى مُنيلٌ

لصادني بالهوى الغواني

Had a benefactor caught me with riches,

fair women would have caught me with love.

ولي من الناس أهلُ بيتٍ

له من المجد ظُلَّتانِ

And among people I have a household

that has two canopies of glory.

ممتَنع لا أرى صروفَ ال

أيامِ فيه ولا تراني

Unassailable: I do not see the vicissitudes of the

days within it, nor do they see me.

حلفتُ بالراقصاتِ خَبْطاً

يَطرحن سَلْمى على أبانِ

I swear by the camels dancing with stamping strides,

that cast Salma upon Aban;

كلِّ أَمونٍ خرقاءَ تمحو

بالرّجل ما تكتب اليدانِ

every trusty, swift she-camel, erasing

with her hind foot what her two forefeet write.

نواجيا غيرَ خاضعاتٍ

لغاربٍ جُبَّ أو جِرانِ

Fleet, not bowed

by a shorn hump or throat.

ترمِي بألحاظِ مَضْرَحِيٍّ

من المَحاني إلى الرعِّانِ

Casting the glances of a white eagle,

from valley bends to mountain spurs.

إذا ادلهمَّ الظلام أمسى

لها سليطانِ يوقَدانِ

When darkness deepens, by evening

she has two oil lamps lit.

تقذِفها ليلةٌ جمادٌ

في يومِ رمضاءَ معمعانِ

A dry night hurls her

into a day of scorching ground and fierce heat.

يحمِلْن شُعثا عَبرُ الفيافي

أشهَى إليهم من المغاني

They carry disheveled men; traversing the deserts

is dearer to them than settled dwellings.

شرَوا بتلك النفوس يوما

يُغلِي به بائعُ الجِنانِ

They bought with those lives a day

on which the seller of Paradise demands a high price.

حتى توافَوا جَمعا فقاموا

رامين تالين للمثاني

Until they assembled at Jamʿ and stood,

casting stones and reciting the oft-repeated verses.

ما انهدمت سُورة عليها

من آل عبد الرحيم باني

No wall has fallen when over it stands

a builder from the house of Abd al-Rahim.

المال خصمُ السماحِ فيها

والجارُ والأمنُ صاحبانِ

Within it, wealth is generosity's adversary,

and the neighbor and safety are companions.

تفيَّئوا في العلا ظِلالا

قُطوفُها غَضَّة دواني

They sheltered beneath shades on high,

whose fruits are tender and within reach.

واقتعدوا الذَّروةَ القُدامَى

بيتا على كاهل الزمانِ

And they took the foremost summit for their seat,

a house upon the shoulders of time.

بيت قِرىً أخضر الأَداوَى

إذا شَتَوْا أحمر الجِفانِ

A hospitable house, green its water-flasks,

its serving-bowls red when they spend the winter.

بناه قِدما على العطايا

أبناءُ ساسانَ ذي الطعانِ

Long ago it was built on giving

by the sons of Sasan, master of spear-fighting.

لم ينتقل عزُّه وقوفا

دون أوانٍ على أوانِ

Its glory has never passed on only to halt

at one age, falling short of another.

فُرسان يومِ الهياج منهم

وفيهمُ ألسنُ البيانِ

From them come horsemen for the day of battle,

and among them are tongues of eloquence.

إن عزموا الغارةَ استشاروا

نصيحةَ الرمح والجنَانِ

If they resolve upon a raid, they consult

the counsel of the spear and the heart;

أو احتبَوا للكلام ردّوا

ما أخذ السيفُ باللسانِ

or, if they sit with clasped knees to speak, they restore

with the tongue what the sword took.

كم عُطَّ ثوبُ البأساءِ منهم

بواضح في الندى هجانِ

How often has hardship's garment been torn among them,

by one radiant in generosity, pure and noble.

كلّ فتىً فيه من أبيه

إذا ادّعى المجدَ شاهدانِ

Every youth bears from his father,

when he claims glory, two witnesses.

إذا الدِّقاقُ الفخرِ استعاروا

زُورَ التسامي أو التكاني

When men of scant glory borrow

false exaltation or assumed honorifics,

فقد غدت في أَبي المعالي

أسماؤهم تَصدُق المعاني

then in Abu al-Maʿali their names have come

to speak truly of their meanings.

أبلج تُجلَى الخطوبُ سوداً

بقمرٍ منه إضحِيانِ

Bright-faced: dark calamities are dispelled

by the brilliant full moon that shines from him.

وتُسنَد المشكلاتُ منه

بغير واهٍ وغير واني

And difficult matters find support in him,

in one neither weak nor slack.

إن خار عودُ الآراء شدَّ ال

حزمُ بآرائه المِتانِ

If the timber of counsel weakens, it is braced by

resolve, through his sturdy judgments.

أوعزَّ غيث البلاد أرعى ال

ربيعَ من ماله المهانِ

Or if the land's rain fails, he nourishes

spring from the wealth he holds cheap.

فارسُ ظهرِ النشاط إما

قطَّر بالعاجز التواني

A rider upon the back of vigor, whenever

sloth throws the incapable man to the ground.

ينتهز المكرماتِ وثبا

بنهضةِ الطالبِ المعاني

He leaps to seize noble deeds,

with the vigor of one seeking lofty aims.

ثَقَّفَ عزماتِه سدادا

آمنةً عيبَ ما يعاني

He has straightened his resolves to rectitude,

safe from flaws in what he undertakes.

وبات بالبشر من دبيب ال

غِيبة والشرّ في أمانِ

And through his cheerfulness he passes the night, from the creep of

slander and evil, in safety.

سرَّحتُ ذودَ الآمال فيه

بين جِذاعٍ إلى مثَاني

I turned my small herd of hopes loose upon him,

from younger camels to older ones.

فلم تزل عشبه إلى أن

أربتْ عجافي على السمانِ

They never left his pasture until

my lean camels surpassed the fat.

كاثرني بالنوال حتى

حبوتُ من فضل ما حباني

He outdid me with gifts until

I bestowed from the surplus of what he bestowed on me.

فلو تمكَّنتُ من زماني

بفضله وحده كفاني

So, if I gained mastery over my time,

his bounty alone would suffice me.

إن جئتهُ طالبا فحكمي

أو أنا أجممته ابتداني

If I come to him as a petitioner, my choice prevails;

or, if I give him respite, he approaches me first.

كلّ نفيس على اقتراحي

منه وشرطي الذي أتاني

Every precious thing is at my choosing

from him; what comes to me accords with my terms.

أصبح والشمسُ من جمالٍ

عليه والبدرُ يحسُدانِ

He greets the morning, and the sun, for the beauty

upon him, and the full moon both envy him.

مواهبٌ لو أُسرْتُ منها

بالودّ أعياه في ارتهاني

Gifts—were I made captive by them

through love, holding me in pledge would confound him.

بكم زكت طينتي وأثْرَى

جوِّي وساء العدا مكاني

Through you my clay has grown pure, and rich have grown

my surroundings; my standing has vexed my foes.

قسا زماني فلم يرُعْني

لمّا حنتكم ليَ الحواني

My time grew harsh, but did not frighten me,

when tender affections bent you toward me.

فابقوا فلا مالَ ما بقيتم

عنديَ بالأنفس الغواني

So live on: while you remain, no wealth

in my eyes can equal self-sufficient souls.

سيّارةٌ وهي لم ترِمكم

بكلّ قاصٍ في المدح داني

A far-traveling poem, though it has not left you,

with every far-off one drawing near in praise.

للعيد ما للنيروز منها

في الحظّ منكم والمهرجانِ

Eid has the same share of it as Nowruz,

in your favor—and Mehrgan too.

حتى أرى كلّ يومِ مُلكٍ

لكم يسمَّى سعدَ القِرانِ

Until I see each day of sovereignty

for you called the auspicious conjunction.

ما أرَبِي في ضمانكم لي

والحمدُ والشكرُ في ضمانِ

What need have I of your pledge to me,

when praise and thanks are assured?