أفاضل الناس أغراض لذا الزمن — Al Mutanabbi

أَفاضِلُ الناسِ أَغراضٌ لِذا الزَمَنِ

يَخلو مِنَ الهَمِّ أَخلاهُم مِنَ الفِطَنِ

The noblest people are targets for this age;

the emptiest of them in wit is free of care.

وَإِنَّما نَحنُ في جيلٍ سَواسِيَةٍ

شَرٍّ عَلى الحُرِّ مِن سُقمٍ عَلى بَدَنِ

We are among a generation all alike,

worse for the noble man than sickness for a body.

حَولي بِكُلِّ مَكانٍ مِنهُمُ خِلَقٌ

تُخطي إِذا جِئتَ في اِستِفهامِها بِمَنِ

Around me, everywhere, are forms of their kind—

you err if you ask about them with “who?”

لا أَقتَري بَلَداً إِلّا عَلى غَرَرٍ

وَلا أَمُرُّ بِخَلقٍ غَيرِ مُضطَغِنِ

I travel through no land except at peril,

nor pass a soul who harbors no resentment.

وَلا أُعاشِرُ مِن أَملاكِهِم أَحَداً

إِلّا أَحَقَّ بِضَربِ الرَأسِ مِن وَثَنِ

Nor do I keep company with any of their kings

save one more deserving of a blow to the head than an idol.

إِنّي لَأَعذِرُهُم مِمّا أُعَنِّفُهُم

حَتّى أُعَنِّفُ نَفسي فيهِمِ وَأَني

Indeed, I excuse them for what I rebuke them for,

until I rebuke myself for my weakness in dealing with them.

فَقرُ الجَهولِ بِلا عَقلٍ إِلى أَدَبٍ

فَقرُ الحِمارِ بِلا رَأسٍ إِلى رَسَنِ

A fool’s need for learning, without a mind,

is a donkey’s need for a halter, without a head.

وَمُدقِعينَ بِسُبروتٍ صَحِبتُهُمُ

عارينَ مِن حُلَلٍ كاسينَ مِن دَرَنِ

And destitute men in a barren waste I have accompanied,

bare of robes, yet clothed in grime.

خُرّابِ بادِيَّةٍ غَرثى بُطونُهُمُ

مَكنُ الضِبابِ لَهُم زادٌ بِلا ثَمَنِ

Desert marauders, their bellies famished,

lizards’ eggs their provisions, costing nothing.

يَستَخبِرونَ فَلا أُعطيهِمُ خَبَري

وَما يَطيشُ لَهُم سَهمٌ مِنَ الظِنَنِ

They question me, but I give them no news of myself;

yet no arrow of their suspicions flies wide.

وَخَلَّةٍ في جَليسٍ أَتَّقيهِ بِها

كَيما يُرى أَنَّنا مِثلانِ في الوَهَنِ

Many a companion’s failing I use to shield myself from him,

so that we may seem alike in weakness.

وَكِلمَةٍ في طَريقٍ خِفتُ أَعرِبُها

فَيُهتَدى لي فَلَم أَقدِر عَلى اللَحنِ

And many a word upon the road I feared to pronounce correctly,

lest I be found out—yet I could not speak incorrectly.

قَد هَوَّنَ الصَبرُ عِندي كُلَّ نازِلَةٍ

وَلَيَّنَ العَزمُ حَدَّ المَركَبِ الخَشِنِ

Patience has made every calamity light for me,

and resolve has softened the edge of a rough ride.

كَم مَخلَصٍ وَعُلًى في خَوضِ مَهلَكَةٍ

وَقَتلَةٍ قُرِنَت بِالذَمِّ في الجُبُنِ

How many an escape and rise to glory lie in braving mortal peril,

and how many a death, yoked to disgrace, in cowardice!

لا يُعجِبَنَّ مَضيماً حُسنُ بِزَّتِهِ

وَهَل يَروقُ دَفيناً جَودَةُ الكَفَنِ

Let no oppressed man delight in his fine attire;

does a fine shroud delight a buried man?

لِلَّهِ حالٌ أُرَجّيها وَتُخلِفُني

وَأَقتَضي كَونَها دَهري وَيَمطُلُني

By God, I hope for a state that keeps eluding me;

I demand its fulfillment from my age, and it delays payment.

مَدَحتُ قَوماً وَإِن عِشنا نَظَمتُ لَهُم

قَصائِداً مِن إِناثِ الخَيلِ وَالحُصُنِ

I praised certain men; if we live, I shall compose for them

odes made of mares and stallions,

تَحتَ العَجاجِ قَوافيها مُضَمَّرَةً

إِذا تُنوشِدنَ لَم يَدخُلنَ في أُذُنِ

their rhymes trained lean beneath the battle-dust;

when recited, they will enter no ear.

فَلا أُحارِبُ مَدفوعاً إِلى جُدُرٍ

وَلا أُصالِحُ مَغروراً عَلى دَخَنِ

So I do not wage war driven back against walls,

nor make peace deceived, while rancor smolders.

مُخَيِّمُ الجَمعِ بِالبَيداءِ يَصهَرُهُ

حَرُّ الهَواجِرِ في صُمٍّ مِنَ الفِتَنِ

He camps his host in the desert, where he is melted

by noonday’s heat amid intractable strife.

أَلقى الكِرامُ الأُلى بادوا مَكارِمُهُم

عَلى الخَصيبِيِّ عِندَ الفَرضِ وَالسُنَنِ

The noble men who perished laid their noble qualities

upon al-Khasibi, in matters of duty and tradition.

فَهُنَّ في الحَجرِ مِنهُ كُلَّما عَرَضَت

لَهُ اليَتامى بَدا بِالمَجدِ وَالمِنَنِ

They are in his guardianship; whenever there appear

before him orphans, he comes forth with nobility and favors.

قاضٍ إِذا اِلتَبَسَ الأَمرانِ عَنَّ لَهُ

رَأيٌ يُخَلِّصُ بَينَ الماءِ وَاللَبَنِ

A judge: when two matters are confused, there comes to him

a judgment that separates water from milk.

غَضُّ الشَبابِ بَعيدٌ فَجرُ لَيلَتِهِ

مُجانِبُ العَينِ لِلفَحشاءِ وَالوَسَنِ

Fresh in youth, the dawn of his night still distant,

his eye shunning lewdness and slumber.

شَرابُهُ النَشحُ لا لِلرِيِّ يَطلُبُهُ

وَطَعمُهُ لِقَوامِ الجِسمِ لا السِمَنِ

His drink is but a sip; he seeks it not for full quenching,

and his food sustains the body, not fattening it.

القائِلُ الصِدقَ فيهِ ما يَضُرُّ بِهِ

وَالواحِدُ الحالَتَينِ السِرِّ وَالعَلَنِ

Speaking the truth even when it brings him harm,

and one and the same in private and in public;

الفاصِلُ الحُكمَ عَيَّ الأَوَّلونَ بِهِ

وَالمُظهِرُ الحَقَّ لِلساهي عَلى الذِهنِ

settling judgments that baffled his predecessors,

and revealing the heedless man’s right against the clever.

أَفعالُهُ نَسَبٌ لَو لَم يَقُل مَعَها

جَدّي الخَصيبُ عَرَفنا العِرقَ بِالغُصُنِ

His deeds are his lineage: had he not said alongside them,

“My grandfather is al-Khasib,” we would know the root from the branch.

العارِضُ الهَتِنُ اِبنُ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ اِب

نِ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ اِبنِ العارِضِ الهَتِنِ

A pouring raincloud, son of a pouring raincloud, son—

—of a pouring raincloud, son of a pouring raincloud.

قَد صَيَّرَت أَوَّلَ الدُنيا وَآخِرَها

آباؤُهُ مِن مُغارِ العِلمِ في قَرَنِ

The world’s beginning and end have been joined

by his fathers in a tether of tightly twisted knowledge.

كَأَنَّهُم وُلِدوا مِن قَبلِ أَن وُلِدوا

أَو كانَ فَهمُهُمُ أَيّامَ لَم يَكُنِ

As though they were born before they were born,

or their understanding existed before it came to be.

الخاطِرينَ عَلى أَعدائِهِم أَبَداً

مِنَ المَحامِدِ في أَوقى مِنَ الجُنَنِ

Forever striding proudly before their enemies,

in noble deeds more protective than shields.

لِلناظِرينَ إِلى إِقبالِهِ فَرَحٌ

يُزيلُ ما بِجِباهِ القَومِ مِن غَضَنِ

Those who look upon his approach feel a joy

that wipes the wrinkles from the people’s brows.

كَأَنَّ مالَ اِبنِ عَبدِ اللَهِ مُغتَرَفٌ

مِن راحَتَيهِ بِأَرضِ الرومِ وَاليَمَنِ

As though the wealth of Ibn Abd Allah were scooped

from his two palms in the lands of Rum and Yemen.

لَم نَفتَقِد بِكَ مِن مُزنٍ سِوى لَثَقٍ

وَلا مِنَ البَحرِ غَيرَ الريحِ وَالسُفُنِ

Thanks to you, we lack nothing of rainclouds but mud,

nor of the sea but wind and ships,

وَلا مِنَ اللَيثِ إِلّا قُبحَ مَنظَرِهِ

وَمِن سِواهُ سِوى ما لَيسَ بِالحَسَنِ

nor of the lion but the ugliness of its appearance,

nor of anything else but what is not good.

مُنذُ اِحتَبَيتَ بِأَنطاكِيَّةَ اِعتَدَلَت

حَتّى كَأَنَّ ذَوي الأَوتارِ في هُدَنِ

Since you sat with knees drawn up in Antioch, it has grown so orderly

that those with blood-feuds seem to live in truce.

وَمُذ مَرَرتَ عَلى أَطوادِها قَرِعَت

مِنَ السُجودِ فَلا نَبتٌ عَلى القُنَنِ

And since you passed its mountains, they have grown bald

from prostration, so no plants grow upon the summits.

أَخلَت مَواهِبُكَ الأَسواقَ مِن صَنَعٍ

أَغنى نَداكَ عَنِ الأَعمالِ وَالمِهَنِ

Your gifts have emptied the markets of craftsmen;

your bounty has made work and trades needless.

ذا جودُ مَن لَيسَ مِن دَهرٍ عَلى ثِقَةٍ

وَزُهدُ مَن لَيسَ مِن دُنياهُ في وَطَنِ

This is the generosity of one who puts no trust in time,

and the detachment of one not at home in this world.

وَهَذِهِ هَيبَةٌ لَم يُؤتَها بَشَرٌ

وَذا اِقتِدارُ لِسانٍ لَيسَ في المُنَنِ

And this is an awe no mortal has been granted,

and this a tongue’s authority, not the sway of favors.

فَمُر وَأَومٍ تُطَع قُدِّستَ مِن جَبَلٍ

تَبارَكَ اللَهُ مُجري الروحِ في حَضَنِ

So command and beckon: you will be obeyed. Hallowed be you, a mountain!

Blessed is God, who makes the spirit flow in Hadan.