هل عند ريح الصَّبا من رامةٍ خبرُ
أم طاب أن صاب روضاتِ اللّوى المطرُ
Do the winds of dawn have news of a gazelle grazing,
Or is the rain's watering of the gardens of passion pleasing?
علامةٌ لك من أمّ الوليد أتت
تعلو الرياحُ بها والمزن تنحدرُ
A sign for you from Umm al-Walid has come
The winds bear it and the clouds pour down.
كأنّ ما هبَّ عِطريّاً مَجاسدُها
منفوضةً وكأنّ البارقَ الأُشُرُ
As if the fragrance it diffused from its bedouin encampments
Was overflowing, as if lightning flashed from its clouds.
هوىً ترامت به الأيّام تُبعدُهُ
وقرَّبتْه لك الآياتُ والذِّكَرُ
Passion which the days have tossed far away
Yet the signs and mention have brought near to you.
ونازلٌ باللوى يسليك صورتَهُ
تيهُ الطريق وينسيك اسمَهُ الحذَرُ
Descending upon passion, its image consoles you
Though losing the way, its name makes you forget caution.
سرى إلى الشرق مشتاقاً وما فُقِدتْ
عينٌ له بلوى خبتٍ ولا أَثرُ
It traveled east yearning, no eye was lost
In passionate love nor any trace or footstep.
يُجشِّمُ البدرَ أن يشقَى برؤيته
ويلبَسُ الليلَ زوَّاراً فيعتكرُ
The full moon complains of seeing it
And darkness clothes itself in visitors and thickens.
ما استوطن البيدَ لولا أنه رشأٌ
وما امتطى الليلَ لولا أنه قمرُ
The full moon would not have inhabited the deserts
If it were not a crescent, nor mounted the night if it were not a moon.
يا مِنّةً للكرى لولا حلاوتُها
ما ذُمَّ وهو وفاءٌ في الهوى السهرُ
A kindness to creation, if not for its sweetness
It would not have been blamed though it is faithful in passionate vigil.
مدَّ الظلامُ بها قبلَ الصباح يداً
بيضاءَ بانَ بها من أمسه السحَرُ
Darkness stretched out a white hand before dawn
At daybreak, sorcery appeared from its predawn ink.
في الضاربين على البَلقْاءِ باديةً
يَسبِي لها الحرَّ من أبنائه الحَضَرُ
Among those raiding the steppe are signs
The heat seizes for it some urban youth.
تُصبِي الأحاديثُ عنها وهي نازحةٌ
والسمعُ يعلَق ما لا يعلَق البصرُ
Stories about her circulate while she departs
And hearing clings to what sight cannot cling to.
سمراءُ غارتْ عليها وهي تُشبهها
في القدّ واللون تحميها القنا السُّمُرُ
A brown woman attacked her, resembling her
In stature and color, protected by a reddish tent.
تَلينُ خَلْقاً ويجفو خُلْقُها فكأنْ
في جسمِها الماءِ أُلْقِي قلبُها الحَجرُ
She is gentle in nature though her nature is coarse
As if in her body water were cast but her heart remained stone.
سعديّة تدّعِي أن الوفاءَ لها
من صُلب حاجبَ حبلٌ ليس ينبتر
A happy Sa'diya claims that loyalty to her
Is an unsevered rope from the side of an eyebrow.
فما لها وفؤادي في خِفارتها
والشوقُ يرعاه ظلماً ليس ينتصرُ
Yet what can she do while my heart is under her spell
And yearning tends it unjustly with no victor?
ما أنكرتْ أمُّ خير وهي معرضة
أغيرَ أنْ لوّنتْ من لِمّتي الغِيَرُ
Umm Khayr did not deny when she was aloof
That my change of color was from dyeing, not real.
وَفَى الصِّبَا للهوَى إذ كان حالفه
لا يُحلَقُ الحبُّ حتى يُحلَقَ الشَّعَرُ
Dawn was faithful to passion since it was its ally—
Love is not shed until hair is shed.
أرى المنى بعدُ تُملي لي سوالفَها
وفي المشيب الذي استقبلتُ مزدجَرُ
I now see wishes reciting their night tales to me
While I have greeted old age seeking to deter me.
أشتاق حاجاتِيَ الأولَى وتجذبني
إلى اتباع النُّهى حاجاتِيَ الأُخَرُ
My first desires pull me
And the latter bid me follow restraint.
ما أشرفَ الحلمَ لولا ثِقلُ محمِلِهِ
وأجملَ الصمتَ لولا قولهم حَصَرُ
How honorable is determination but for the burden of its load,
How beautiful is silence but for their saying it is confinement.
وما أعزَّ الفتى في ظلِّ عفّتِهِ
لو شُووِرَ الحزمُ أو لو صحَّت الفِكَرُ
How mighty is the youth in the shade of his chastity
If resolve were consulted or reason was sound.
ما لكَ في الحرصِ إلا فضلُ ذلَّتِهِ
والرزقُ يفعل فيه ما اشتهى القدَرُ
You have no excellence in greed but the baseness of its humiliation
As fate does with sustenance what it desires.
خُلْقانِ في هذه الدنيا مُعاسرةٌ
ما طولِبتْ وبها إن تورِكت يُسُرُ
Two natures in this world are difficult to marry
Not sought, though if you leave them, ease comes.
قنعتُ منها بما بلَّ الصدَى كِبَراً
من همّتي ظنَّ قومٌ أنه صِغَرُ
I am content in it with what expands my breast
Some thought my ambition small though it was great.
أسوِّفُ العيشَ حسنَ الظنِّ أجبرُهُ
على فسادٍ وجَبْرُ الظنِّ منكسرُ
If I praise, it is pride with which I find no fault
And the experts' reports do not deny my accounts.
مرقِّعاً بالمنَى أرجو غداً فغداً
تأتي الحظوظُ وحظّي بعدُ منتَظرُ
If in speech I exaggerate what does not lead me
Back to manliness, I apologize for what I say.
رضىً بنفسِيَ أو ودِّ امرىءٍ ثِقةٍ
أغنَى به وغنيُّ المالِ مفتقِرُ
Tell of the Bani ‘Abd al-Rahim’s merit—they were few
In the world’s days though the early pages bear witness to what was transmitted of them, which histories and biographies did not recount.
وإن مدحتُ ففخرٌ لا أعابُ به
ولا يكذِّبُ إخباري به الخُبُرُ
Secluded, their reputations sufficed them,
Though absent from office, they sufficed and attended.
إذا غلوتُ بقولٍ فيه لم ترني
إلى المروءة فيما قلتُ أعتذرُ
They are the peak of the pillar of this kingdom, spreading out
Its lofty branches, seeking the star though it did not decline.
حدِّثْ بفضلِ بني عبدِ الرحيم وما
طابوا على قِدَمِ الدنيا وما كثُروا
They possessed the kinship of the world and its law
Such that people follow whatever they promulgate.
واستشهد الصُّحُفَ الأولى بما نقلت
عنهم وما قصَّت الآثارُ والسِّيَرُ
Events do not belittle them if they approach
Caprice, nor does good fortune make them domineering.
المكتفين إذا غابوا بشُهرتهم
عن الشهادة والكافين ما حضَروا
If you test their endurance or perception in prosperity or calamity,
They give thanks or endure.
أبناء ذِروة هذا الملكِ قد فَرَعوا
سَنامَه يطلبون النجمَ ما انحدروا
They speak and the spokesmen walk humbly for them
They do not command nor are disobeyed if they command.
تملَّكوا قَرَبَ الدنيا وشِرعتَها
لا يَردُ الناسُ إلا كلَّ ما صدَروا
In the years of droughts they are called
And do to them what rain does.
لا تستخفُّهمُ الأحداثُ إن طرقت
عن الحُلومِ ولا يُطغيهم البطَرُ
The Euphrates ebbed and the clouds held back
Then flowed in the clouds, their hands squeezing them until they dripped.
إذا بلوتَ تُقاهم أو بصائرَهم
في نعمةٍ شَكَروا أو نكبةٍ صبَروا
If they placed their fingers atop their lofty mounts
On a day of tumult, their tips would turn green.
تكلَّموا وأَرمَّ الناطقون لهم
لا يؤمَرون ولا يُعصَوْن إن أَمَروا
If distance has concealed them from you riding on,
You know them from their published works.
يُدعَون في السنواتِ الشُّهبِ جامدةً
فيفعلون بها ما يفعلُ المطرُ
This Husayn is a life perpetuated for them
They were not the first dead with him as their namesake.
غاض الفُراتُ وضنَّ المزنُ وانبعثتْ
في المزنِ تُعصَرُ أيديهم فتنعصِرُ
He prayed and his swiftness added to his fervor
A sanctuary pigeon, his step pressing on urbanely.
لو ركَّبوا في أعاليهم أناملَهم
يومَ الوغَى خُضِّرتْ أطرافُها الحُمُرُ
Like an arrow, he won fame when you release it
His parents did not grant him bow or cord.
إن كنتَ فيمن طواه البينُ ممترياً
منهم فعندك من منشورهم خَبَرُ
An extract which overflowed in perfume from its clay
Wine is the sweetest thing pressed from it.
هذا الحسينُ حياةٌ خُلِّدتْ لهمُ
ليسوا بأوّل موتَى بابنهم نُشروا
Ibn Layl will not lack his companion’s bow at nightfall
Due to the length of his journeying and his bone being refined by travel.
صَلَّى فزادت على السُّبَّاق حَلبتُه
محلَّقُ العُرفِ جارٍ خطوُهُ حُضُرُ
He raced into the waste with no shelter to take cover
Behind him and no early dew to guard him.
كالسهم أَحرزَ ذكراً يومَ تُرسله
لم يُعطِهِ أبواه القوسُ والوتَرُ
Need hurls him at the goal of dangers
Whether the salt is sweet to him or the bitterness is clear.
عُصارة فَضلتْ في الطِّيب طينتَها
والخمرُ أطيبُ شيء منه يُعتَصرُ
He senses or envisions any fading encampment
No hearing confirming it or sight.
لا يعدَم الصاحبَ ابنُ الليل قوَّسهُ
طولُ السُّرَى وتَنقَّى عظمَه السَّفرُ
He sees its heavens in the water and denies them
Due to the great difference of forms in his eye.
فوَّزَ في البيدِ لا ظلٌّ يَفيء له
ظُهْراً ولا يتّقيه من ندىً سَحَرُ
Until when the turns of fate wearied of his woes
And the fruits of his efforts were ripe to reap
تَرمِي به غرضَ الأخطارِ حاجتُهُ
يحلو له المِلحُ أو يصفو له الكَدَرُ
He glimpsed the fire of his generosity, heralding
The cool of his livelihood where it raged,
يحسُّ أو يتراءى كلَّ مُخلِفَةٍ
لا سمعَ يَصدُقُه فيها ولا نظرُ
He came to tap it until he reached settlements
Where it would relieve his soul’s anguish or diminish it.
يَرى سماوتَه في الماءِ يُنكرُها
من طول ما اختلفتْ في عينه الصُّوَرُ
While the houses and tents revolve around him
A new moon, and for settlements, a full moon is invoked.
حتى إذا ملَّت الأقدارُ شِقوتَه
وحان من سعيه أن يُدرَك الظفرُ
Thus no quarter of merit was devoid of him inhabiting it—
Wealth to be divided, words to be hoarded.
آنَسَ من جوده ناراً مبشرةً
ببَرْدِ عيشته من حيثُ تستعرُ
The egg of the kingdom—he protected it and it did not crack
Since he buttressed it with opinion, which splits it.
فجاء يقتافُها حتى أصاب قِرىً
يأخذُ منه اشتطاطَ النفسِ أو يذَرُ
They swore by his name until they became certain
That if he marched in other than an army, they would be granted victory.
بينا تكونُ البدورُ الطائفاتُ به
ولائداً وتُذكَّى للقِرَى البِدَرُ
The release of arrows loosed, his exertions comprehend
No month feared nor empty.
فلا خلا منه ربعُ الفضلِ يَعمُرُه
بالمال يُقسَمُ والأقوالِ تُدَّخَرُ
He deluded in honor until he achieved his goal
While the side of honor is delusion's ride.
وبَيْضة الملكِ يحميها فما كَرَبت
مذ قام يَشعَبُها بالرأي تنفطِرُ
If what he did were blamed, nothing could be weighed against it
Of deficiencies other than that he is human.
تيمَّنوا باسمه حتى لقد وثِقوا
لو سار في غير جيشٍ أنهم نُصِروا
Praise suits him until he has no price
That would burden him, and until his wealth is scattered.
طلقُ النقيبةِ لم يعقِل سعايته
عن مطلبٍ رجبٌ يُخشَى ولا صَفَرُ
If a man gave himself one day as excess
He would not give life but as concise.
غَرَّرَ في العزِّ حتى نال غايتَهُ
وجانبُ العزِّ مركوبٌ له الغَرَرُ
I spent my days in woe with you
Then well-being came, though in them is decline.
لو عِيبَ ما عابه شيءٌ يُزَنُّ به
من النقيصةِ إلا أنه بشرُ
With my luck before your affection I had
A grudge, so I rose with you like an avenging sword.
حلا له الحمدُ حتى ما لَه ثمنٌ
يغلو عليه وحتى مالُهُ هَدَرُ
May wonders always come to you from me
While in their lands they are squalor.
لو وَهَبَ المرءُ يوماً نفسَهُ سَرَفاً
لم يَهبِ النفسَ إلا وهو مختصِرُ
Ships sail accounts presenting to eyes
Phantoms all of them deceptions.
عَجمتُ أيّامَ دهري صعبةً بكُمُ
فسالمتْني وفي أيّامها خَوَرُ
When analyzed, their meanings are their collars—
No freshness, or their words their pearl earrings.
وكان لي عندَ حظّي قبلَ ودِّكمُ
ثأرٌ فقمتُ بكم كالسيف أثَّئِرُ
Born from me, though opposing their office
Like my father, and her father, ancestry from Mudar.
فلتأتينَّكُمُ عنِّي وبي أبداً
غرائبٌ وهي في أوطانِها فِقَرُ
Gladdening you and maddening those envious of you
While one people's gain is harm to other people.
تسري مراكبَ للأحساب تَعرِضُها
على العيون شِيَاتٌ كلُّها غُرَرُ
With each new day bringing innovation
The winds and breezes drive them to you.
إذا تحلَّتْ فمعناها قلائدُها ال
نُضار أو لفظُها أقراطُها الدُّرَرُ
In their accounting is length though I have notjourneyed
And in them, falling short of what you deserve.
ممّا ولَدتُ وإن خالفتُ منصِبَها
كِسرَى أبي وأبوها نِسبةً مُضَرُ
You have heard others' words as recompense
So how can patience be sweet for the bee's stinger?
تسرُّكم وتسوء الحاسدين لكم
ونفعُ قومٍ لقومٍ غيرِهم ضَرَرُ
And if words are similar and coincide, the rope’s strand
Is alike, a male serpent.
في كلِّ يومٍ جديدِ العهد مبتكرٍ
تسوقُها لكم الرَّوْحاتُ والبُكَرُ
لها بأحسابها طُولٌ وما قطَعتْ
سَيْراً وفيها عن استحقاقكم قِصَرُ
وقد سمعتم سواها قابلين له
فكيف يحلو لجاني النحلةِ الصَّبِرُ
وإن تشابهتِ الألفاظُ واتفقتْ
فرُمَّة الحبل شكلاً حَيَّةٌ ذكَرُ
