أرائح أنت أم غاد فمبتكر — Al Staley

Are you leaving at evening, or setting out at dawn and departing early

from ʿAmrah's people, or staying on and waiting?

Or is the soul's longing bewildered, its bearer lingering

at a promise's watering places, with no departure for it?

Or is there no way to its people in the protected land? They have departed,

and guards and dusky spears bar access to them.

O dwelling that the heart never ceases to reach,

though its people have grown distant, though they have deserted it.

How full you once were, a summer and spring abode,

while you were filled with companionship and frequented!

When all the residents were gathered, and the meeting place was, for us,

near, and evening talk gathered us in your night.

And when gazelles sheltering in coverts inhabited you, from among

the gazelles of Wajrah, neither unadorned nor skittish.

Fair gazelle-herds, in whom beauty struts,

and coy charm, tooth-luster, rosy color, and modesty.

Each one languid in both eyes, with dark pupils against bright whites,

as though she were drowsy or intoxicated.

Full in hips and flanks, a soft, well-formed beauty,

her shift filled out and drawn tight upon her slender waist.

Far beyond reach is all that, save a memory and wishes,

with distance, destitution, and old age barring the way to them,

and having to struggle against people with whom I am afflicted.

For I cannot prevail against their clamor through forbearance.

From me comes fidelity when they betray; and even if they restrain themselves,

they hurt me; I meet treachery with loyalty if they betray.

How many an imperfect man longs for merit, hoping to attain it,

by disparaging one whose merit is renowned as the sun!

And one obsessed with people's faults maligns them,

as though making excuses for faults within himself.

Whoever has never been guided by his own insight

toward right judgment will not be guided by hearing or sight.

I complain of things that I myself have brought upon me

through my good opinion—why, then, do I not bear them patiently?

I claim forbearance while circumstances toy with me;

I do not know where benefit lies and where harm.

I see enemy and friend alike intent on

harming me, so I do not know whom to beware of.

Desires have abased me, inclining toward

things whose turning away leaves a mark upon one's honor.

And only the eye of a calamity shall see me—

a mighty one, within which the male serpent flicks its tongue.

I have experience of eloquent days,

despite their supposing that I am taken in by people.

And I have virtues that torment the envious,

as though they were needles in their livers.

Virtues born of grandeur, by which one may discern

a lineage's purity, with no murkiness in them.

There is no pride except for one whose character is good,

and one whose forefather is said to be al-Azd or Mudar.

Whoever is not like Dhuhl or Yaʿrub will not

be helped by his father or his grandfather ʿUmar.

Abu al-Muʿammar kept every noble deed alive,

hastening forward with the like of his radiant deeds.

Like Dhuhl's excellence and Yaʿrub's goodness, the two hastened toward

those noble deeds; no shortcoming held them back.

Both are resplendent in what they said and did,

in beauty, like rubies and pearls artfully arranged.

Both are fragrant through what they established and what they followed,

sweet as blossoms and flowers wafting their scent.

They shared beauty as an inheritance, and understanding; it is as though

the moon were split between them in the assembly.

They resemble one another, yet no equal of theirs is seen

when characters and outward forms resemble one another.

God ordained for them the means of exalted rank;

who can ward off what destiny brings?

These two are true-born; Nabhan has become for them

a source of pride, together with al-ʿAtik and al-Azd.

And recall the kings of Banu Nabhan in Yemen,

for they bring them pride whenever they are remembered.

They were the mightiest of old; no one commits what

they forbid, nor are their commands disobeyed.

They were kings over mankind in the Age of Ignorance; they never

faltered in rule, nor did any mortal surpass them.

And if you examine their excellence in Islam,

it was through them that their overlords were subdued.

Recall the Prophet of guidance in the days of his migration

to them, when those who disbelieved deserted him.

They protected the faith of Islam and followed

the Messenger's religion; they sheltered him, and they gave him aid.

I have beheld them with benefactions that none deny—

Arab or non-Arab, nomad or townsman.

In odes and verses we recall what

the verses and surahs have spread abroad concerning them.

In the sight of Banu Nabhan lies proof of what

tradition conveys to us about the house of Qahtan.

Al-ʿAtik established generosity for them, and they followed;

and al-Azd built them glory, which they made flourish.

Much praised, with spotless breast-folds,

free of faults, as are their sleeves and waist-wraps.

Their gifts are like a sea of sweet water; there flows

in every direction a river from its swelling tide.

Truly, the heights and the very heart of glory have been won by

Dhuhl, Yaʿrub, the multitude, and the chosen men.

O my two lords of the house of Qahtan, through you have risen

praise, might, and stature above those of kings.

You both took over the flourishing court from ʿUmar;

through you it rises high and flourishes.

For you both are two branches of a rootstock that grew

in glory, with neither flaw nor weakness in it.

May you both endure, the world shining with your light,

and may the rain of your bounty benefit the people.

Through your nourishment from bliss, O Abu Hasan,

and O Abu al-ʿArab—the boughs and the trace [wording unclear].

May the fast of your month gladden you both each year,

and the breaking of the fast, the feast, prosperity, and delight.