لقد حازني وجد بمن حازه بعد — Al Mutanabbi

لقَد حازَني وَجْدٌ بمَنْ حازَهُ بُعْدُ

فيَا لَيْتَني بُعدٌ ويا لَيتَهُ وَجْدُ

Longing has seized me for one whom distance has seized.

Would that I were distance, and it were longing!

أُسَرّ بتَجديدِ الهَوَى ذِكْرَ ما مضَى

وإنْ كانَ لا يَبقَى له الحجرُ الصّلدُ

I rejoice as love renews the memory of what has passed,

Though even hard stone cannot withstand it.

سُهادٌ أتانا منكِ في العَينِ عِنْدَنَا

رُقادٌ وقُلاّمٌ رَعَى سَرْبُكمْ وَرْدُ

Sleeplessness that came from you to our eyes is, to us,

Sleep, and the saltwort your herd grazed is roses.

مُمَثَّلَةٌ حتى كأنْ لمْ تُفارِقي

وحتى كأنّ اليأسَ من وَصْلكِ الوَعدُ

You are pictured so vividly, as though you had never left,

And as though despair of union with you were itself a promise;

وحتى تَكادي تَمْسَحينَ مَدامعي

ويَعْبَقُ في ثَوْبيَّ من رِيحِكِ النَّدُّ

And so vividly that you almost wipe away my tears,

And fragrant incense from your scent clings to my two garments.

إذا غَدَرَتْ حَسناءُ وفّتْ بعَهدها

فمِنْ عَهدِها أن لا يَدومَ لها عَهدُ

When a beautiful woman betrays, she keeps her pledge;

For part of her pledge is that no pledge of hers should last.

وإنْ عَشِقَتْ كانتْ أشَدّ صَبابَةً

وإن فَرِكتْ فاذهبْ فما فِركها قَصدُ

And if she loves, her passion is most intense;

And if she detests you, leave: her aversion knows no moderation.

وإنْ حقَدَتْ لم يَبقَ في قَلبِها رِضًى

وإنْ رَضِيَتْ لم يَبقَ في قَلبِها حِقدُ

And if she bears a grudge, no contentment remains in her heart;

And if she is pleased, no rancor remains in her heart.

كذلِكَ أخلاقُ النّساءِ ورُبّمَا

يَضِلُّ بها الهادي ويخفى بها الرّشدُ

Such are women's ways, and sometimes

The guide goes astray through them, and sound judgment is obscured.

ولكنّ حُبّاً خامَرَ القَلْبَ في الصِّبَا

يَزيدُ على مَرّ الزّمانِ ويَشْتَدُّ

Yet a love that pervaded the heart in youth

Grows with the passing of time and becomes stronger.

سَقَى ابنُ عَليٍّ كلَّ مُزنٍ سقَتكمُ

مُكافأةً يَغْدو إلَيْها كمَا تَغدُو

The son of Ali has watered every raincloud that watered you,

In recompense, going forth to it as it goes forth,

لتَرْوَى كمَا تُرْوي بلاداً سكَنْتِها

ويَنْبُتَ فيها فَوْقَكِ الفَخرُ والمجدُ

That it may drink, as it waters lands where you dwelt,

And pride and glory may grow there above you,

بمن تَشخَصُ الأبصارُ يوْمَ رُكوبِهِ

ويُخْرَقُ من زَحْمٍ على الرّجلِ البُرْدُ

Through one at whom eyes stare on the day he rides out,

And a man's cloak is torn by the crush of the crowd.

وتُلْقي وما تَدري البَنانُ سِلاحَها

لكَثْرَةِ إيماءٍ إلَيْهِ إذا يَبدُو

And fingers drop their weapons without knowing it,

From pointing at him so often when he appears.

ضَرُوبٌ لهامِ الضّارِبي الهامِ في الوَغى

خَفيفٌ إذا ما أثقَلَ الفَرسَ اللِّبْدُ

A mighty striker of the heads of those who strike heads in battle,

Light, when even the felt saddlecloth weighs down the horse.

بَصِيرٌ بأخذِ الحَمدِ من كلّ مَوْضِعٍ

ولَوْ خَبَأتْهُ بَينَ أنْيابِها الأُسْدُ

Skilled in winning praise wherever it may be,

Even if lions hid it between their fangs.

بتَأميلِهِ يَغنى الفَتى قَبْلَ نَيْلِهِ

وبالذّعْرِ من قبلِ المهنّدِ يَنْقَدُّ

By hoping in him, a man grows rich before receiving his bounty,

And is cleft by terror before the Indian-steel sword can strike.

وسَيْفي لأنْتَ السّيفُ لا ما تَسُلّهُ

لضرْبٍ وممّا السّيفُ منهُ لكَ الغِمدُ

By my sword, you are indeed the sword, not what you draw

To strike; your scabbard is made of the very stuff of swords.

ورُمْحي لأنْتَ الرّمحُ لا ما تَبُلّهُ

نجيعاً ولوْلا القَدحُ لم يُثقِبِ الزَّنْدُ

By my spear, you are indeed the spear, not what you drench

In fresh blood; without striking, the fire-stick would not kindle.

منَ القاسِمينَ الشّكرَ بَيني وبَينَهمْ

لأنّهُمُ يُسدَى إلَيهِمْ بأنْ يُسدُوا

You are among those who divide gratitude between me and themselves,

For a favor is done them when they themselves do a favor.

فشُكري لهم شُكرانِ: شكرٌ على النّدى

وشكرٌ على الشّكرِ الذي وَهبوا بَعْدُ

So my thanks to them are twofold: thanks for bounty,

And thanks for the thanks they bestowed afterward.

صِيامٌ بأبْوابِ القِبابِ جِيادُهُمْ

وأشْخاصُها في قَلبِ خائِفِهمْ تَعدُو

Their fine steeds stand still at the doors of the domed tents,

And their forms gallop in the heart of whoever fears them.

وأنْفُسُهُمْ مَبْذولَةٌ لوُفُودِهم

وأموالهُمْ في دارِ مَنْ لم يَفِدْ وَفْدُ

And their very selves are freely offered to their visitors,

And their wealth is a delegation in the house of one who never came.

كأنّ عَطِيّاتِ الحُسَينِ عَساكِرٌ

ففيها العِبِدَّى والمُطَهَّمَةُ الجُرْدُ

Al-Husayn's gifts are like armies:

Among them are slaves and sleek-coated, well-formed horses.

أرَى القمرَ ابنَ الشّمسِ قد لبسَ العُلى

رُوَيْدَكَ حتى يَلْبَسَ الشّعَرَ الخَدُّ

I see the moon, the sun's son, already clothed in glory.

Wait a little, until the cheek is clothed in hair.

وغالَ فُضُولَ الدّرْعِ مِن جَنَباتها

على بَدَنٍ قَدُّ القَنَاةِ لَهُ قَدُّ

And he has taken up the coat of mail's slack along its sides,

Upon a body whose stature is the stature of a spear.

وباشَرَ أبْكارَ المَكارِمِ أمْرَداً

وكانَ كَذا آباؤهُ وهُمُ مُرْدُ

And, still beardless, he has embraced virgin feats of nobility,

And his forefathers were likewise when they were beardless.

مَدَحْتُ أباهُ قَبْلَهُ فشَفَى يَدي

مِنَ العُدم مَنْ تُشفَى به الأعينُ الرُّمدُ

I praised his father before him, and he healed my hand

Of poverty—he through whom inflamed eyes are healed.

حَبَاني بأثْمانِ السّوابِقِ دونَهَا

مَخافةَ سَيرِي إنّها للنّوَى جُنْدُ

He gave me the price of swift steeds rather than the steeds,

Fearing my departure: they are an army for separation,

وشَهْوَةَ عَوْدٍ إنَّ جُودَ يَمينِهِ

ثُنَاءٌ ثُنَاءٌ والجَوادُ بها فَرْدُ

And desiring my return: the bounty of his right hand

Is twofold, twofold, yet its generous giver is unique.

فلا زِلْتُ ألقَى الحاسِدينَ بمِثْلِها

وفي يدهم غَيضٌ وفي يديَ الرِّفْدُ

May I never cease to face the envious with such gifts,

With scarcity in their hands and bounty in mine.

وعِندي قَباطيّ الهُمَامِ ومَالُهُ

وعندَهُمُ ممّا ظَفِرْتُ بهِ الجَحدُ

And I have the noble lord's Egyptian linens and his wealth,

And all they have of what I won is denial.

يَرومُونَ شأوي في الكَلامِ وإنّمَا

يحاكي الفتى فيما خَلا المَنطقَ القِرْدُ

They seek to match my reach in speech, yet

A monkey imitates a man only in things other than speech.

فَهُمْ في جُموعٍ لا يراها ابنُ دأيَةٍ

وهم في ضَجيجٍ لا يُحسّ به الخلدُ

So they form hosts that even Ibn Da'yah, the crow, cannot see,

And raise a din that even the mole cannot sense.

ومني استفادَ النّاسُ كُلَّ غَريبَةٍ

فجازوا بتَرْكِ الذّمّ إن لم يكنْ حمدُ

And from me people have learned every rare marvel;

So repay me by withholding blame, if there is no praise.

وجَدْتُ عَليّاً وابنَهُ خيرَ قوْمِهِ

وهم خيرُ قوْمٍ واستوَى الحُرُّ والعبدُ

I found Ali and his son the best of his people,

And their people are the finest, freeman and slave alike.

وأصْبَحَ شِعري منهُما في مكانِهِ

وفي عُنُقِ الحَسْناءِ يُستَحسنُ العِقدُ

And through them both my poetry has found its proper place;

And on a beautiful woman's neck a necklace is admired.