كَدَعواكِ كُلٌّ يَدَّعي صِحَّةَ العَقلِ
وَمَن ذا الَّذي يَدري بِما فيهِ مِن جَهلِ
Just as you claim, so all men claim their reason is sound,
Yet who among them truly knows the ignorance he bears within?
لِهَنَّكِ أَولى لائِمٍ بِمَلامَةٍ
وَأَحوَجُ مِمَّن تَعذُلينَ إِلى العَذلِ
By God, you are the blamer most deserving of all blame,
And more in need of strict rebuke than he whom you revile.
تَقولينَ ما في الناسِ مِثلَكَ عاشِقٌ
جِدي مِثلَ مَن أَحبَبتُهُ تَجِدي مِثلي
You say to me, "Among all mankind, there is no lover like you";
Find but another like my beloved, and then you will find my peer.
مُحِبٌّ كَنى بِالبيضِ عَن مُرهَفاتِهِ
وَبِالحُسنِ في أَجسامِهِنَّ عَنِ الصَقلِ
A lover who speaks of fair maidens but means his slender blades,
And by the beauty of their forms, the burnish of the steel;
وَبِالسُمرِ عَن سُمرِ القَنا غَيرَ أَنَّني
جَناها أَحِبّائي وَأَطرافُها رُسلي
And by the dark-skinned beauties, I mean the dark brown spears—
Though my beloveds wield them, 'tis their points that serve as my envoys.
عَدِمتُ فُؤاداً لَم تَبِت فيهِ فَضلَةٌ
لِغَيرِ الثَنايا الغُرِّ وَالحَدَقِ النُجلِ
May I be bereft of any heart that holds no extra room,
Save for the gleaming, parted teeth and eyes so wide and deep.
فَما حَرَمَت حَسناءُ بِالهَجرِ غِبطَةً
وَلا بَلَّغَتها مَن شَكى الهَجرَ بِالوَصلِ
No beauty ever stole my joy by turning from my side,
Nor granted bliss by her embrace to him who mourned her pride.
ذَريني أَنَل ما لا يُنالُ مِنَ العُلى
فَصَعبُ العُلى في الصَعبِ وَالسَهلُ في السَهلِ
Leave me to grasp at glory's peaks, unattainable and high;
Hard tasks befit the hard-won height; the easy suit the low.
تُريدينَ لُقيانَ المَعالي رَخيصَةً
وَلا بُدَّ دونَ الشَهدِ مِن إِبَرِ النَحلِ
You wish to meet with eminence at but a tawdry price,
Yet one cannot taste the honeycomb without the sting of bees.
حَذِرتِ عَلَينا المَوتَ وَالخَيلُ تَلتَقي
وَلَم تَعلَمي عَن أَيِّ عاقِبَةٍ تُجلَي
You feared that death would claim us when the charging squadrons met,
Yet knew not what a glorious end the dust of war would show.
فَلَستُ غَبيناً لَو شَرَيتُ مَنِيَّتي
بِإِكرامِ دِلَّيرَ اِبنِ لَشكَرَوَزٍّ لي
I would not be the loser if I purchased my own death,
To gain the honor Dilayr ibn Lashkarawazz bestows.
تُمِرُّ الأَنابيبُ الخَواطِرُ بَينَنا
وَنَذكُرُ إِقبالَ الأَميرِ فَتَحلو لي
The spear-shafts pass the deadly thoughts between us in the fray,
Yet recalling the Emir's approach makes danger sweet to me.
وَلَو كُنتُ أَدري أَنَّها سَبَبٌ لَهُ
لَزادَ سُروري بِالزِيادَةِ في القَتلِ
And had I known these perils were the cause of his arrive,
My joy would have but multiplied with every added kill.
فَلا عَدِمَت أَرضُ العِراقَينِ فِتنَةً
دَعَتكَ إِلَيها كاشِفَ الخَوفِ وَالمَحلِ
May the lands of the two Iraqs never lack for strife,
That summons you to banish fear and drive the drought away.
ظَلِلنا إِذا أَنبى الحَديدُ نُصولَنا
نُجَرِّدُ ذِكراً مِنكَ أَمضى مِنَ النَصلِ
We stood our ground; and if the iron turned our sword-blades dull,
We unsheathed the memory of your name, sharper than the steel.
وَنَرمي نَواصيها مِنِ اِسمِكَ في الوَغى
بِأَنفَذَ مِن نُشّابِنا وَمِنَ النَبلِ
We hurled your name against the forelocks of their charging steeds,
A missile far more piercing than our arrows or our darts.
فَإِن تَكُ مِن بَعدِ القِتالِ أَتَيتَنا
فَقَد هَزَمَ الأَعداءَ ذِكرُكَ مِن قَبلِ
And though you came to join us when the fighting had ceased,
The terror of your mention had defeated them before.
وَما زِلتُ أَطوي القَلبَ قَبلَ اِجتِماعِنا
عَلى حاجَةٍ بَينَ السَنابِكِ وَالسُبلِ
Before we met, I kept my heart suppressed and folded tight,
Fixed on a purpose shared between the hoof-beats and the road.
وَلَو لَم تَسِر سِرنا إِلَيكَ بِأَنفُسٍ
غَرائِبَ يُؤثِرنَ الجِيادَ عَلى الأَهلِ
Had you not marched, we would have marched to you with eager souls,
Strange spirits that prefer their noble steeds above their kin.
وَخَيلٍ إِذا مَرَّت بِوَحشٍ وَرَوضَةٍ
أَبَت رَعيَها إِلّا وَمِرجَلُنا يَغلي
And horses that, when passing wild game in a verdant mead,
Refuse to graze until our camp is set and cauldrons boil.
وَلَكِن رَأَيتُ القَصدَ في الفَضلِ شِركَةً
فَكانَ لَكَ الفَضلانِ بِالقَصدِ وَالفَضلِ
Yet I perceive that seeking merit creates a partnership;
Thus yours are double honors: for the purpose and the grace.
وَلَيسَ الَّذي يَتَّبَّعُ الوَبلَ رائِداً
كَمَن جائَهُ في دَهرِهِ رائِدُ الوَبلِ
The scout who searches for the rain is not the same as he,
To whom the very scout of rain comes seeking in his time.
وَما أَنا مِمَّن يَدَّعي الشَوقَ قَلبُهُ
وَيَحتَجُّ في تَركِ الزِيارَةِ بِالشُغلِ
I am not one whose heart lays claim to longing with mere words,
Then pleads the press of business to excuse a visit unpaid.
أَرادَت كِلابٌ أَن تَفوزَ بِدَولَةٍ
لِمَن تَرَكَت رَعيَ الشُوَيهاتِ وَالإِبلِ
The 'Dogs' of Kilab desired to seize a turn of fortune for themselves,
Those who abandoned herding little sheep and camels' young.
أَبى رَبُّها أَن يَترُكَ الوَحشَ وَحدَها
وَأَن يُؤمِنَ الضَبَّ الخَبيثَ مِنَ الأَكلِ
Their Lord refused to leave the beasts of prey without a meal,
Or grant the vile lizard safety from its scavenged feast.
وَقادَ لَها دِلَّيرُ كُلَّ طِمِرَّةٍ
تُنيفُ بِخَدَّيها سَحوقٌ مِنَ النَخلِ
So Dilayr led against them every long-legged, racing mare,
Whose cheek-straps tower high as lofty branches of the palm.
وَكُلَّ جَوادٍ تَلطِمُ الأَرضَ كَفُّهُ
بِأَغنى عَنِ النَعلِ الحَديدِ مِنَ النَعلِ
And every steed whose hoof strikes down upon the earth so hard,
His hoof needs no iron shoe, for it is harder than the shoe.
فَوَلَّت تُريغُ الغَيثَ وَالغَيثَ خَلَّفَت
وَتَطلُبُ ما قَد كانَ في اليَدِ بِالرِجلِ
They turned and fled in search of rain, yet left the Rain behind;
Seeking with weary feet what they once held securely in their hand.
تُحاذِرُ هَزلَ المالِ وَهيَ ذَليلَةٌ
وَأَشهَدُ أَنَّ الذُلَّ شَرٌّ مِنَ الهَزلِ
They feared the wasting of their wealth, though they are abject now—
And I bear witness: abject shame is worse than poverty.
وَأَهدَت إِلَينا غَيرَ قاصِدَةٍ بِهِ
كَريمَ السَجايا يَسبِقُ القَولَ بِالفِعلِ
Unwittingly, they gifted us a prize they did not mean to send:
A man of noble nature, whose great deeds outstrip his word.
تَتَبَّعَ آثارَ الرَزايا بِجودِهِ
تَتَبُّعَ آثارِ الأَسِنَّةِ بِالفُتلِ
He tracks the traces of misfortune with his boundless gifts,
As one tracks deep spear-wounds to pack them tight with healing lint.
شَفى كُلَّ شاكٍ سَيفُهُ وَنَوالُهُ
مِنَ الداءِ حَتّى الثاكِلاتِ مِنَ الثُكلِ
His sword and bounty have brought cure to every complaining soul,
Curing the sick of sickness, and the bereaved of grief.
عَفيفٌ تَروقُ الشَمسَ صورَةُ وَجهِهِ
وَلَو نَزَلَت شَوقاً لَحادَ إِلى الظِلِّ
A chaste and virtuous man, whose visage charms the very sun;
Were she to descend in longing, he would withdraw into the shade.
شُجاعٌ كَأَنَّ الحَربَ عاشِقَةٌ لَهُ
إِذا زارَها فَدَّتهُ بِالخَيلِ وَالرَجلِ
A warrior so brave, it seems that War is in love with him;
When he pays her a visit, she sacrifices horse and man for him.
وَرَيّانُ لا تَصدى إِلى الخَمرِ نَفسُهُ
وَعَطشانُ لا تَروى يَداهُ مِنَ البَذلِ
His soul is fully quenched and bears no thirst for flowing wine,
Yet he is thirsty for largesse; his hands are never slaked of giving.
فَتَمليكُ دِلَّيرٍ وَتَعظيمُ قَدرِهِ
شَهيدٌ بِوَحدانِيَّةِ اللَهِ وَالعَدلِ
The power granted to Dilayr, the exaltation of his rank,
Bear witness to the Oneness of God and to His Justice.
وَما دامَ دِلَّيرٌ يَهُزُّ حُسامَهُ
فَلا نابَ في الدُنيا لِلَيثٍ وَلا شِبلِ
For as long as Dilayr brandishes his trenchant sword,
No lion and no lion-cub in all the world shall bare a fang.
وَما دامَ دِلَّيرٌ يُقَلِّبُ كَفَّهُ
فَلا خَلقَ مِن دَعوى المَكارِمِ في حِلِّ
And as long as Dilayr turns his palm to scatter gifts abroad,
No other creature has the right to claim the traits of nobility.
فَتىً لا يُرَجّي أَن تَتِمَّ طَهارَةٌ
لِمَن لَم يُطَهِّر راحَتَيهِ مِنَ البُخلِ
A youth who deems his purity can never be complete,
Unless he purifies his palms of every trace of miserliness.
فَلا قَطَعَ الرَحمَنُ أَصلاً أَتى بِهِ
فَإِنّي رَأَيتُ الطَيِّبَ الطَيِّبَ الأَصلِ
May the Merciful never sever the root from which he sprang,
For I have seen that he who is good is truly of good origin.
