مالنا كلنا جو يا رسول — Al Mutanabbi

مالَنا كُلُّنا جَوٍ يا رَسولُ

أَنا أَهوى وَقَلبُكَ المَتبولُ

Why are we all lovesick, O messenger?

I am in love, yet yours is the love-stricken heart.

كُلَّما عادَ مَن بَعَثتُ إِلَيها

غارَ مِنّي وَخانَ فيما يَقولُ

Whenever someone I sent to her returns,

he grows jealous of me and betrays his trust in what he says.

أَفسَدَت بَينَنا الأَماناتِ عَينا

ها وَخانَت قُلوبَهُنَّ العُقولُ

Her two eyes have destroyed the trust between us,

and minds have betrayed their hearts.

تَشتَكي ما اِشتَكَيتُ مِن أَلَمِ الشَو

قِ إِلَيها وَالشَوقُ حَيثُ النُحولُ

You complain of what I complained of—the pain of longing

for her; yet longing dwells where bodies waste away.

وَإِذا خامَرَ الهَوى قَلبَ صَبٍّ

فَعَلَيهِ لِكُلِّ عَينٍ دَليلُ

And when love pervades a lover's heart,

every eye can see its sign upon him.

زَوِّدينا مِن حُسنِ وَجهَكِ ما دا

مَ فَحُسنُ الوُجوهِ حالٌ تَحولُ

Provision us with your face's beauty while it lasts;

for the beauty of faces is a state that changes.

وَصِلينا نَصِلكِ في هَذِهِ الدُنـ

ـيا فَإِنَّ المُقامَ فيها قَليلُ

And join with us; we shall join with you in this world,

for our stay in it is brief.

مَن رَآها بِعَينِها شاقَهُ القُطـ

ـطانُ فيها كَما تَشوقُ الحُمولُ

Whoever sees it as it truly is longs for those dwelling

in it, as he longs for laden caravans.

إِن تَريني أَدِمتُ بَعدَ بَياضٍ

فَحَميدٌ مِنَ القَناةِ الذُبولُ

If you see me darkened after being fair,

a spear-shaft's dryness is praiseworthy.

صَحِبَتني عَلى الفَلاةِ فَتاةٌ

عادَةُ اللَونِ عِندَها التَبديلُ

A maiden accompanied me across the wilderness,

whose color is always changing.

سَتَرَتكِ الحِجالُ عَنها وَلَكِن

بِكِ مِنها مِنَ اللَمى تَقبيلُ

The curtained chambers screened you from her, but

the darkness of your lips is a kiss she left on you.

مِثلُها أَنتِ لَوَّحَتني وَأَسقَمـ

ـتِ وَزادَت أَبهاكُما العُطبولُ

You are like her: she scorched me, and you made me ill;

and the lovelier of you two—the long-necked beauty—outdid her.

نَحنُ أَدرى وَقَد سَأَلنا بِنَجدٍ

أَقَصيرٌ طَريقُنا أَم يَطولُ

We know better, though we asked in Najd:

'Is our road short, or does it stretch far?'

وَكَثيرٌ مِنَ السُؤالِ اِشتِياقٌ

وَكَثيرٌ مِن رَدِّهِ تَعليلُ

And much questioning is longing,

and much of the reply is solace through promises.

لا أَقَمنا عَلى مَكانٍ وَإِن طا

بَ وَلا يُمكِنُ المَكانَ الرَحيلُ

May we never linger in a place, however pleasant;

and departure gives that place no chance to detain us.

كُلَّما رَحَّبَت بِنا الرَوضُ قُلنا

حَلَبٌ قَصدُنا وَأَنتِ السَبيلُ

Whenever the meadows welcomed us, we said:

'Aleppo is our destination; you are the road.

فيكِ مَرعى جِيادِنا وَالمَطايا

وَإِلَيها وَجيفُنا وَالذَميلُ

In you is pasture for our steeds and riding camels,

and toward her are our swift galloping and trotting.'

وَالمُسَمَّونَ بِالأَميرِ كَثيرٌ

وَالأَميرُ الَّذي بِها المَأمولُ

Many are those called emir,

but the emir in her is the one we hope for.

الَّذي زُلتَ عَنهُ شَرقاً وَغَرباً

وَنَداهُ مُقابِلي ما يَزولُ

He from whom you have traveled eastward and westward—

his bounty faces me and never leaves,

وَمَعي أَينَما سَلَكتُ كَأَنّي

كُلُّ وَجهٍ لَهُ بِوَجهي كَفيلُ

and stays with me wherever I travel, as though

every face of his were a guardian of mine.

وَإِذا العَذلُ في النَدا زارَ سَمعاً

فَفِداهُ العَذولُ وَالمَعذولُ

And when reproach for generosity visits an ear,

may the blamer and the blamed alike be his ransom.

وَمَوالٍ تُحيِيهِمِ مِن يَدَيهِ

نِعَمٌ غَيرُهُم بِها مَقتولُ

And retainers are kept alive by gifts from his hands,

by which others are slain:

فَرَسٌ سابِقٌ وَرُمحٌ طَويلٌ

وَدِلاصٌ زُغفٌ وَسَيفٌ صَقيلُ

a swift horse, a long spear,

smooth, ample mail, and a polished sword.

كُلَّما صَبَّحَت دِيارَ عَدُوٍّ

قالَ تِلكَ الغُيوثُ هَذي السُيولُ

Whenever they raid an enemy's lands at dawn,

he says, 'Those were the rains; these are the torrents.'

دَهِمَتهُ تَطايِرُ الزَرَدَ المُحـ

ـكَمَ عَنهُ كَما يَطيرُ النَسيلُ

They overwhelm him, sending his tightly joined mail

flying off him as loose wool flies.

تَقنِصُ الخَيلَ خَيلَهُ قَنَصَ الوَحـ

ـشِ وَيَستَأسِرُ الخَميسَ الرَعيلُ

His horses hunt down horses as one hunts wild game,

and a troop takes an army captive.

وَإِذا الحَربُ أَعرَضَت زَعَمَ الهَو

لُ لِعَينَيهِ أَنَّهُ تَهويلُ

And when war shows itself, terror claims

to his eyes that it is only empty bluster.

وَإِذا صَحَّ فَالزَمانُ صَحيحٌ

وَإِذا اِعتَلَّ فَالزَمانُ عَليلُ

And when he is well, time is well;

and when he falls ill, time is ill.

وَإِذا غابَ وَجهُهُ عَن مَكانٍ

فَبِهِ مِن ثَناهُ وَجهٌ جَميلُ

And when his face is absent from a place,

praise of him leaves a beautiful face there.

لَيسَ إِلّاكَ يا عَلِيُّ هُمامٌ

سَيفُهُ دونَ عِرضِهِ مَسلولُ

There is no hero but you, O Ali,

whose sword is drawn in defense of his honor.

كَيفَ لا يَأمَنُ العِراقُ وَمِصرٌ

وَسَراياكَ دونَها وَالخُيولُ

How should Iraq and Egypt not be safe,

with your detachments and the steeds guarding them?

لَو تَحَرَّفتَ عَن طَريقِ الأَعادي

رَبَطَ السِدرُ خَيلَهُم وَالنَخيلُ

If you turned aside from the enemies' path,

lote trees and date palms would tether their horses.

وَدَرى مَن أَعَزَّهُ الدَفعُ عَنهُ

فيهِما أَنَّهُ الحَقيرُ الذَليلُ

And he whom defense has made mighty would learn,

in those two lands, that he is contemptible and abased.

أَنتَ طولَ الحَياةِ لِلرومِ غازٍ

فَمَتى الوَعدُ أَن يَكونَ القُفولُ

All your life you wage war on the Romans;

when, then, is the promised time of your return?

وَسِوى الرومِ خَلفَ ظَهرِكَ رومٌ

فَعَلى أَيِّ جانِبَيكَ تَميلُ

And besides the Romans, there are Romans behind your back;

so toward which of your two sides will you turn?

قَعَدَ الناسُ كُلُّهُم عَن مَساعي

كَ وَقامَت بِها القَنا وَالنُصولُ

All the people have sat back from your endeavors,

while spears and blades have risen to fulfill them.

ما الَّذي عِندَهُ تُدارُ المَنايا

كَالَّذي عِندَهُ تُدارُ الشَمولُ

He around whom deaths are passed round is not

like him around whom wine is passed round.

لَستُ أَرضى بِأَن تَكونَ جَواداً

وَزَماني بِأَن أَراكَ بَخيلُ

I am not content that you should be generous

while my time begrudges me the sight of you.

نَغَّصَ البُعدُ عَنكَ قُربَ العَطايا

مَرتَعي مُخصِبٌ وَجِسمي هَزيلُ

Distance from you has spoiled the nearness of your gifts;

my pasture is lush, but my body is gaunt.

إِن تَبَوَّأتُ غَيرَ دُنيايَ داراً

وَأَتاني نَيلٌ فَأَنتَ المُنيلُ

If I make a home beyond this world of mine,

and a gift reaches me, you are the giver.

مِن عَبيدي إِن عِشتَ لي أَلفُ كافو

رٍ وَلي مِن نَداكَ ريفٌ وَنيلُ

Among my slaves, if you live for me, are a thousand Kafurs,

and from your bounty I have fertile countryside and a Nile.

ما أُبالي إِذا اِتَّقَتكَ الرَزايا

مَن دَهَتهُ حُبولُها وَالخُبولُ

I do not care, if calamities shun you,

whom their dire afflictions and ruin overwhelm.