كدعواك كل يدعي صحة العقل — Al Mutanabbi

كَدَعواكِ كُلٌّ يَدَّعي صِحَّةَ العَقلِ

وَمَن ذا الَّذي يَدري بِما فيهِ مِن جَهلِ

Just like your claim, everyone claims soundness of mind;

and who is it that knows the ignorance within him?

لِهَنَّكِ أَولى لائِمٍ بِمَلامَةٍ

وَأَحوَجُ مِمَّن تَعذُلينَ إِلى العَذلِ

You are indeed the reproacher most deserving of reproach,

and more in need of reproof than the one you reprove.

تَقولينَ ما في الناسِ مِثلَكَ عاشِقٌ

جِدي مِثلَ مَن أَحبَبتُهُ تَجِدي مِثلي

You say, 'Among people there is no lover like you.'

Find one like the one I have loved, and you will find one like me.

مُحِبٌّ كَنى بِالبيضِ عَن مُرهَفاتِهِ

وَبِالحُسنِ في أَجسامِهِنَّ عَنِ الصَقلِ

A lover who speaks of his keen-edged swords as fair-skinned women,

and of their polish as beauty in their bodies,

وَبِالسُمرِ عَن سُمرِ القَنا غَيرَ أَنَّني

جَناها أَحِبّائي وَأَطرافُها رُسلي

and of brown spear-shafts as brown-skinned women—except that, for me,

their fruits are my beloveds, and their points my messengers.

عَدِمتُ فُؤاداً لَم تَبِت فيهِ فَضلَةٌ

لِغَيرِ الثَنايا الغُرِّ وَالحَدَقِ النُجلِ

May I lose a heart in which no room remains

for anything but gleaming front teeth and wide eyes.

فَما حَرَمَت حَسناءُ بِالهَجرِ غِبطَةً

وَلا بَلَّغَتها مَن شَكى الهَجرَ بِالوَصلِ

So no beautiful woman has robbed a man of felicity by estrangement,

nor granted it through union to one who lamented estrangement.

ذَريني أَنَل ما لا يُنالُ مِنَ العُلى

فَصَعبُ العُلى في الصَعبِ وَالسَهلُ في السَهلِ

Leave me to attain the unattainable heights;

for difficult heights lie in hardship, and easy ones in ease.

تُريدينَ لُقيانَ المَعالي رَخيصَةً

وَلا بُدَّ دونَ الشَهدِ مِن إِبَرِ النَحلِ

You want to attain lofty honors cheaply,

but before the honey, the bees' needles are inevitable.

حَذِرتِ عَلَينا المَوتَ وَالخَيلُ تَلتَقي

وَلَم تَعلَمي عَن أَيِّ عاقِبَةٍ تُجلَي

You feared death for us when the horses clashed,

and did not know what outcome their dispersal would reveal.

فَلَستُ غَبيناً لَو شَرَيتُ مَنِيَّتي

بِإِكرامِ دِلَّيرَ اِبنِ لَشكَرَوَزٍّ لي

So I would not be cheated if I bought my death

with Dillayr son of Lashkarawazz's honoring me.

تُمِرُّ الأَنابيبُ الخَواطِرُ بَينَنا

وَنَذكُرُ إِقبالَ الأَميرِ فَتَحلو لي

The swaying spear-shafts between us taste bitter,

and we recall the prince's favor, and they grow sweet to me.

وَلَو كُنتُ أَدري أَنَّها سَبَبٌ لَهُ

لَزادَ سُروري بِالزِيادَةِ في القَتلِ

And if I knew that they were the cause of it,

my joy would grow with each increase in killing.

فَلا عَدِمَت أَرضُ العِراقَينِ فِتنَةً

دَعَتكَ إِلَيها كاشِفَ الخَوفِ وَالمَحلِ

So may the land of the two Iraqs never lack such strife

as summoned you there, dispeller of fear and drought.

ظَلِلنا إِذا أَنبى الحَديدُ نُصولَنا

نُجَرِّدُ ذِكراً مِنكَ أَمضى مِنَ النَصلِ

Whenever iron deflected our blades, we would

unsheathe a remembrance of you sharper than a blade.

وَنَرمي نَواصيها مِنِ اِسمِكَ في الوَغى

بِأَنفَذَ مِن نُشّابِنا وَمِنَ النَبلِ

And in battle we shoot at their forelocks, drawing on your name,

with something more piercing than our shafts and arrows.

فَإِن تَكُ مِن بَعدِ القِتالِ أَتَيتَنا

فَقَد هَزَمَ الأَعداءَ ذِكرُكَ مِن قَبلِ

So if it was after the fighting that you came to us,

your name had already routed the enemies before.

وَما زِلتُ أَطوي القَلبَ قَبلَ اِجتِماعِنا

عَلى حاجَةٍ بَينَ السَنابِكِ وَالسُبلِ

And before we met, I kept folding my heart

around a wish amid hooves and roads.

وَلَو لَم تَسِر سِرنا إِلَيكَ بِأَنفُسٍ

غَرائِبَ يُؤثِرنَ الجِيادَ عَلى الأَهلِ

And had you not set out, we would have traveled to you with souls

far from home, preferring fine steeds to kin,

وَخَيلٍ إِذا مَرَّت بِوَحشٍ وَرَوضَةٍ

أَبَت رَعيَها إِلّا وَمِرجَلُنا يَغلي

and horses that, passing wild game and a meadow,

would refuse to graze there unless our cauldron was boiling.

وَلَكِن رَأَيتُ القَصدَ في الفَضلِ شِركَةً

فَكانَ لَكَ الفَضلانِ بِالقَصدِ وَالفَضلِ

But I saw that making the journey would give me a share in the merit,

so both merits were yours: coming and giving.

وَلَيسَ الَّذي يَتَّبَّعُ الوَبلَ رائِداً

كَمَن جائَهُ في دَهرِهِ رائِدُ الوَبلِ

And the one who follows the downpour as a pasture-scout is not

like one visited in his lifetime by the downpour's scout.

وَما أَنا مِمَّن يَدَّعي الشَوقَ قَلبُهُ

وَيَحتَجُّ في تَركِ الزِيارَةِ بِالشُغلِ

And I am not one whose heart professes longing

yet pleads busyness as an excuse for not visiting.

أَرادَت كِلابٌ أَن تَفوزَ بِدَولَةٍ

لِمَن تَرَكَت رَعيَ الشُوَيهاتِ وَالإِبلِ

Kilab wished to win a realm;

to whom did they leave the tending of little sheep and camels?

أَبى رَبُّها أَن يَترُكَ الوَحشَ وَحدَها

وَأَن يُؤمِنَ الضَبَّ الخَبيثَ مِنَ الأَكلِ

Their lord refused to leave the wild beasts alone

or to make the vile spiny-tailed lizard safe from being eaten.

وَقادَ لَها دِلَّيرُ كُلَّ طِمِرَّةٍ

تُنيفُ بِخَدَّيها سَحوقٌ مِنَ النَخلِ

And Dillayr led against them every long-legged mare

whose cheeks are borne aloft by a towering palm-tree,

وَكُلَّ جَوادٍ تَلطِمُ الأَرضَ كَفُّهُ

بِأَغنى عَنِ النَعلِ الحَديدِ مِنَ النَعلِ

and every noble steed whose forehoof strikes the ground

with a hoof less in need of an iron shoe than a shoe itself.

فَوَلَّت تُريغُ الغَيثَ وَالغَيثَ خَلَّفَت

وَتَطلُبُ ما قَد كانَ في اليَدِ بِالرِجلِ

So they fled in search of rain, leaving the rain behind,

and sought with their feet what had already been in their hands.

تُحاذِرُ هَزلَ المالِ وَهيَ ذَليلَةٌ

وَأَشهَدُ أَنَّ الذُلَّ شَرٌّ مِنَ الهَزلِ

They dread their livestock growing lean, though they themselves are abased,

and I testify that abasement is worse than leanness.

وَأَهدَت إِلَينا غَيرَ قاصِدَةٍ بِهِ

كَريمَ السَجايا يَسبِقُ القَولَ بِالفِعلِ

And they unwittingly bestowed upon us

a man of noble character whose deeds precede his words.

تَتَبَّعَ آثارَ الرَزايا بِجودِهِ

تَتَبُّعَ آثارِ الأَسِنَّةِ بِالفُتلِ

He followed the traces of misfortunes with his generosity,

as spear-wounds are tended with lint wicks.

شَفى كُلَّ شاكٍ سَيفُهُ وَنَوالُهُ

مِنَ الداءِ حَتّى الثاكِلاتِ مِنَ الثُكلِ

His sword and bounty cured every sufferer

of illness—even bereaved mothers of bereavement.

عَفيفٌ تَروقُ الشَمسَ صورَةُ وَجهِهِ

وَلَو نَزَلَت شَوقاً لَحادَ إِلى الظِلِّ

Chaste: the image of his face enchants the sun,

and were she to descend in longing, he would turn aside into the shade.

شُجاعٌ كَأَنَّ الحَربَ عاشِقَةٌ لَهُ

إِذا زارَها فَدَّتهُ بِالخَيلِ وَالرَجلِ

Brave, as though war were in love with him:

when he visits her, she ransoms him with horses and foot soldiers.

وَرَيّانُ لا تَصدى إِلى الخَمرِ نَفسُهُ

وَعَطشانُ لا تَروى يَداهُ مِنَ البَذلِ

And thirst-quenched: his soul does not thirst for wine;

and thirsty: his hands are never quenched by giving.

فَتَمليكُ دِلَّيرٍ وَتَعظيمُ قَدرِهِ

شَهيدٌ بِوَحدانِيَّةِ اللَهِ وَالعَدلِ

So granting Dillayr sovereignty and exalting his rank

bear witness to God's oneness and justice.

وَما دامَ دِلَّيرٌ يَهُزُّ حُسامَهُ

فَلا نابَ في الدُنيا لِلَيثٍ وَلا شِبلِ

And as long as Dillayr brandishes his keen sword,

no lion or cub in this world has a fang.

وَما دامَ دِلَّيرٌ يُقَلِّبُ كَفَّهُ

فَلا خَلقَ مِن دَعوى المَكارِمِ في حِلِّ

And as long as Dillayr turns his palm,

no creature may rightfully lay claim to noble deeds.

فَتىً لا يُرَجّي أَن تَتِمَّ طَهارَةٌ

لِمَن لَم يُطَهِّر راحَتَيهِ مِنَ البُخلِ

A young man who does not expect purification to be complete

for one who has not cleansed both his palms of stinginess.

فَلا قَطَعَ الرَحمَنُ أَصلاً أَتى بِهِ

فَإِنّي رَأَيتُ الطَيِّبَ الطَيِّبَ الأَصلِ

May the All-Merciful never sever the root that brought him forth,

for I have seen that the noble man is of noble stock.