هل الطلل المخلد بالوجين — Omani Nabhani

هل الطّللُ المخلَّدُ بالوجينِ

يحدثنا الغَداة عن القطينِ

Will the enduring ruin on the stony slope

tell us this morning of the dwellers?

وأنىّ يرجع التسآلَ ربعٌ

عفَتَه كلُّ ساهكةٍ هَتونِ

And how can a dwelling answer our questioning,

effaced by every scouring, rain-pouring storm,

مدعدعة إذا عصفتْ أزالتْ

دِعامةَ كل ذي طنبٍ مَكينِ

which shakes violently and, when it rages, uproots

the pillar of every firmly guyed tent?

نعم فأبكى المعاهدَ والمغانى

بدمعٍ متيَّمٍ وَلهٍ حزينِ

Yes, so I weep for the familiar haunts and dwellings

with the tears of a lovesick, distraught, grieving lover.

رمى الله التفرقَ بالتنائي

وشمل البينِ بالبينِ المبين

May God strike separation with estrangement,

and parting's unity with unmistakable parting.

سَقى طللَ الأحبَّةِ في حَبوبٍ

بوابل كلّ منسجمٍ هَتونِ

May He water the beloveds' ruin in Habub

with the downpour of every streaming, rain-pouring cloud.

وحيَّا الوابلُ الهطَّال حياً

لهم سِربانِ من أُدمٍ وعينِ

And may the heavy downpour greet a clan

whose two herds are dusky-white gazelles and wide-eyed wild cows,

رخيماتِ الكلام مهفهفاتٍ

مريضاتِ التأوُّب والجفونِ

soft of speech and slender of waist,

languid in their nightly return and their eyelids.

ويا عجباً لنا والحب داءُ

يفاجيء الحرَّ بالحَين المحينِ

And oh, how strange we are, when love is a sickness

that surprises the freeborn man with deadly doom.

نَصيد ضراغَم العرّيسِ قَسراً

وتقْنصنا الخرائد بالعيونِ

We hunt the fierce lions of the thicket by force,

yet bashful maidens ensnare us with their eyes.

فو البيت العتيق ومَروتيِه

وزمزم والمشاعرَ والحَجونِ

So, by the Ancient House and its two Marwa hills,

and Zamzam, the sacred sites, and al-Hajun,

لأنتم أكرم الثَّقَلين عندي

وأحظَى من شمالي واليمينِ

surely you are, to me, the noblest of humankind and jinn,

and dearer than my left hand and my right.

أديموا لي الموَّدة ما حيينا

فما ريب الزمان بمستكينِ

Keep your affection for me as long as we live,

for time's misfortunes do not relent.

وما للدهرِ بالإحسان عهدٌ

ولا هو في الأمانة بالأمينِ

And time has no bond with kindness,

nor is it trustworthy in keeping a trust.

أليس الدهرُ أهلكَ ذا رُعينِ

وذا يَزنٍ وأهلك ذا جدون

Has time not destroyed Dhu Ru'ayn,

and Dhu Yazan, and destroyed Dhu Jadun,

وأننى المنِذرين وذا نَواسٍ

وذا اليَومينِ والحصن الحصينِ

and [annihilated] the Mundhirs and Dhu Nuwas,

and Dhu al-Yawmayn, and the impregnable fortress,

وألقى بإبن داوودَ جِراناً

فعادَ وكان ذا عّزٍ مكينِ

and laid a camel's neck upon the son of David,

so he returned, though he had held firmly established power?

وقد أطوي المروتَ بذات لَوَثٍ

سنادِ الظَّهر ناجيةٍ أمونِ

And often I traverse the barren wastes on a strong she-camel,

high-backed, swift, and sure-footed,

مؤور الضّبع درفْسةٍ هجانٍ

ترضُّ حصى القَرادِدِ والحُزونِ

powerful of forearm, massive, and white,

crushing the pebbles of rocky heights and rugged ground.

وقد أهب الجزيلَ لذي رجاءُ

مني بعداوةِ الزَّمن الخؤونِ

And often I bestow rich gifts on one who hopes for them

from me, despite the hostility of treacherous time.

فليت النّاذرين دمي وهُّموا

بقتلي يومَ كائنةٍ لقوني

Would that those who vowed my blood and plotted

to kill me had met me on a day of battle!

إذا شاهدتهم جَبنوا وحاروا

وإن عَبث الزَّمان توعَّدوني

Whenever I face them, they quail and grow bewildered,

yet if time plays its tricks, they threaten me.

ذروا قولَ الخَلاءِ فإن أردتم

مِصاعي فابرزوا لي أو دعوني

Drop your talk in private; if you wish

to fight me, come forth against me—or leave me alone.

ألا هَبلٌ لأمكمُ ألمَّا

بفلاَّل الكتائبِ تعرفوني

Ah, may your mother be bereaved! Have you not yet

recognized me as the shatterer of battalions?

أنا الأسدُ الذي ذلَّت ودانت

لشدَّةِ بأسهِ أسْدُ العرينِ

I am the lion before whom have cowered and submitted

the lions of the lair, because of his fierce might.

ألست التاركَ البطلَ المُكنى

خضيتَ الشيّب منقطعَ الوتينِ

Am I not the one who left the hero known by the epithet

Khudayt al-Shayb with his aorta severed?

ولمّا دارت الهيجاءُ ضَرباً

على قُطبٍ وحان قضا الدُّيونِ

And when battle whirled, dealing blows,

around its pivot, and the time came to settle debts,

أقولُ لها وقد نفرت وجَاشت

سأوردكِ المنَّيةَ أو تهوني

I say to her, as she recoils and surges:

I shall lead you to death, or you will be disgraced.

إذا أنا لم أرقْكِ على العَوالي

فلستُ بصاحب العرضِ المصونِ

If I do not spill you upon the spearpoints,

then I am no man of inviolate honor.

وصبراً في لقاءِ الموت صبراً

فإنك ويلَ غيركِ بالمنونِ

And be steadfast in facing death—steadfast!

For you are the bane of others through death.

نصبتُ إلى الرماح الصُّمّ نحري

كأني حين ذلك ذو جُنونِ

I presented my throat to the solid spears,

as though, at that moment, I were possessed by madness.

ضربتُ شِجاعهم بالقرن حتى

هوى وكذاك فِعلي بالقُرونِ

I struck their champion with the spearpoint until

he fell; thus I deal with rival champions.

تركتُ عَزيزَ خيلكمٍ ذليلاً

أذلَّ هناك من إبن اللَّبون

I left the pride of your cavalry abased,

more abject there than a two-year-old camel calf.

تركتُ نساءَ عُكلي عليه

حزيناتٍ تُنادِبُ بالرّنينِ

I left 'Ukli's women over him,

grief-stricken, lamenting together with ringing cries.

ذَروني معشر الأملاكِ إني

بعيدٌ من تَناوُلكم ذروني

Leave me alone, O company of kings, for I

am beyond your reach—leave me alone.

ذروني والممالكَ والمعالي

وآخذي للمعاقلِ والحُصونِ

Leave me to kingdoms and lofty honors,

and to my capture of strongholds and fortresses,

حَليفَ العّزِ من طَرفيْ يَمانٍ

نقيَّ الجيب فيَّاض اليمينِ

an ally of glory, Yemeni on both sides,

with an unstained bosom and an overflowing right hand.

أخفتُ قلوبَ أهلِ الأرض حتى

ليرهب سَطوتي قلبُ الجنينِ

I terrified the hearts of all on earth, until

even an unborn child's heart dreads my onslaught.

فسعيُ المالكينَ دُوَيْنَ سعيي

وكلُّ متوَّجٍ في الفضلِ دوني

So the striving of rulers is just beneath my striving,

and every crowned ruler is beneath me in excellence.