كَفِرِندي فِرِندُ سَيفي الجُرازِ
لَذَّةُ العَينِ عُدَّةٌ لِلبَرازِ
My sword, my dear friend, is the weapon of warriors,
My soul's luster mirrors the luster of my keen blade— / A delight to the eye, yet forged for the duel.
A delight to the eye and equipment for the excellent.
You would think the water within it had traced upon fire / The most delicate script found on amulets.
تَحسَبُ الماءَ خَطَّ في لَهَبِ النا
رِ أَدَقَّ الخُطوطِ في الأَحرازِ
You would think it a tract of water in the intense heat,
Whenever you seek its color, a ripple bars the sight, / As though the steel itself were mocking you.
The subtlest of lines against the hot terrain.
Fine as dust motes, elegant in its grain, / Flowing continuously across a smooth, vibrating expanse.
كُلَّما رُمتَ لَونَهُ مَنَعَ النا
ظِرَ مَوجٌ كَأَنَّهُ مِنكَ هازي
Whenever its hue is glimpsed, a wave stopping the gaze
It came to the water, and its edges drank their fill by decree, / While the steel between them merely passed it by.
As though teasing the onlooker and darting away.
The baldrics of Time have borne it for so long / That they now stand in need of a cobbler.
وَدَقيقٌ قَذى الهَباءِ أَنيقٌ
مُتَوالٍ في مُستَوٍ هَزهازِ
Slender but firm, refined as the dust of battle,
Blood does not cling to its twin edges, / Nor does shame stain the honor of the one who draws it.
Proceeding on a steady course, unswerving and sure.
O you who banish my darkness, my garden in days of revelry, / And my fortress in the open field of battle.
وَرَدَ الماءَ فَالجَوانِبُ قَدراً
شَرِبَت وَالَّتي تَليها جَوازي
It turns back the water, and the edges drink their fill,
The Yemeni blade for which, could I but choose, / My own eye would serve as a sheath out of reverence.
While the neighboring areas are left dry and yearning.
Truly, my lightning—when you flash—is my deed, / And my resonance—when you clang—is my verse.
حَمَلَتهُ حَمائِلُ الدَهرِ حَتّى
هِيَ مُحتاجَةٌ إِلى خَرّازِ
It has borne the vicissitudes of fate until
I have not borne you, distinguished thus, / Save to strike at necks and torsos,
Itself has need of the armorer's hammer and file.
And to shear through the iron of armor with your edge, / So that each of us, this day, wars against his own kind.
وَهوَ لا تَلحَقُ الدِماءُ غِرارَيـ
ـهِ وَلا عِرضَ مُنتَضيهِ المَخازي
Yet its blows fail to reach the speed of my charges,
The gallop unsheathed it past midnight in Najd, / And the people of Hijaz looked up, expecting rain.
Nor can the virtue of its wielder be surpassed.
I wished for its equal, yet it was as though / I sought a peer to rival Ibn Salih.
يا مُزيلَ الظَلامِ عَنّي وَرَوضي
يَومَ شُربي وَمَعقِلي في البَرازِ
O Remover of shadows from me and from my garden
Not every chief is the Rudhabari, / Nor is every bird that takes to flight a hawk.
On the day I resort to it and dwell in the battlefield!
A Persian noble wearing a crown of glory, / Resplendent as the jeweled diadem of Parviz.
وَاليَماني الَّذي لَوِ اِسطَعتُ كانَت
مُقلَتي غِمدَهُ مِنَ الإِعزازِ
And O my right hand - if I brandished
His soul transcends every noble lineage, / Even were I to trace his descent to the sun itself.
It would sheathe itself modestly in its sleeve.
It is as though rare pearls, gems, and rubies / Were formed from his utterance and the shine of ore.
إِنَّ بَرقي إِذا بَرَقتَ فَعالي
وَصَليلي إِذا صَلَلتَ اِرتِجازي
For when its lightning flashes there is no sword quicker;
The beauties of high deeds have engrossed his heart, / Distracting him from beautiful faces and shapely forms.
And when it clashes none more penetrating in fray.
Before him, enemies gnaw upon embers and iron / As readily as one bites into the sugar-cane of Ahwaz.
لَم أُحَمِّلكَ مُعلَماً هَكَذا إِلـ
ـلا لِضَربِ الرِقابِ وَالأَجوازِ
I would not charge you, teacher, to behead
In him, eloquence reaches its peak without strain; / He achieves the vastness of meaning through brevity of speech.
And sever necks were you not adept in this work.
He bears the burden of war and blood-price for his people, / And carries the weight of their debts and destitution.
وَلِقَطعي بِكَ الحَديدَ عَلَيها
فَكِلانا لِجِنسِهِ اليَومَ غازي
So that we both, of this breed, are raiders today
How is it he does not complain, while they lament? / Yet the true burden lies on him, not on those who cry out.
Let War loose him to mill after exhaustion at Nejd;
O you of the spacious courtyard, wherein / Your passing wealth finds no place to rest for the night.
سَلُّهُ الرَكضُ بَعدَ وَهنٍ بِنَجدٍ
فَتَصَدّى لِلغَيثِ أَهلُ الحِجازِ
The people of the Hijaz will then suffer his onslaught.
Through you, the sharp points of spears have become to me / Like the flimsy legs of leaping locusts.
I wished for his peer, but it was as if
And the Rudayni lance bent away from me, / Curling like the looped letters of the alphabet.
وَتَمَنَّيتُ مِثلَهُ فَكَأَنّي
طالِبٌ لِاِبنِ صالِحٍ مَن يُوازي
I sought a righteous son of Salih's will to match me.
In your noble forefathers, one finds consolation, / Solace for those who have passed, and true comfort.
Not every horseman is a runner like the Rozbeh;
They departed the earth only after taming it, / Till it moved beneath them without need of a spur.
لَيسَ كُلُّ السَراةِ بِالروذَبارِيـ
ـيِ وَلا كُلُّ ما يَطيرُ بِبازِ
Not everything that flies is a falcon or baz.
Armies obeyed them, and so feared were they / That the speech of men in their presence became a mere stammer.
A Persian whose glory diadem was of pure
And noble camels bearing noble riders flocked to you, / Numerous as grains of sand in the dunes.
فارِسِيٌّ لَهُ مِنَ المَجدِ تاجُ
كانَ مِن جَوهَرٍ عَلى أَبرَوازِ
Jewel set upon silk taffeta bright.
The march aligned them across the open waste, / Like embroidery stitched upon a spreading cloth.
His soul was nobler than any line of kings;
The journey ravaged their flesh as you ravage your wealth, / Wasting away the strong and sturdy she-camels.
نَفسُهُ فَوقَ كُلِّ أَصلٍ شَريفٍ
وَلَوَ أَنّي لَهُ إِلى الشَمسِ عازي
And to compare myself to him would deck me in light.
Whenever hopes dared to whisper a promise from you, / Your hands were swift to grant the fulfillment.
Eloquence and truth and clarity were born of his utterance,
A king before whom the reciter of verse / Is like one offering cloth to a master weaver.
وَكَأَنَّ الفَريدَ وَالدُرَّ وَاليا
قوتَ مِن لَفظِهِ وَسامَ الرِكازِ
And powerful speech gained elegance by his condensing,
Ours is the speech, yet he knows better its import, / And is a surer guide to its subtleties and wonders.
Hearts were occupied with the beauty of noble deeds,
There are some among men who are duped by poets / Whose verse is but the buzzing of flies.
شَغَلَت قَلبَهُ حِسانُ المَعالي
عَن حِسانِ الوُجوهِ وَالأَعجازِ
Beyond the beauty of faces and the grace of verse.
He deems himself a connoisseur of the art, / Yet he walks in blindness, having lost his cane.
He cracks flint and iron with his adversaries
Every poem reflects its speaker when addressed to you, / And the wit of the judge mirrors the wit of the judged.
تَقضَمُ الجَمرَ وَالحَديدَ الأَعادي
دونَهُ قَضمَ سُكَّرِ الأَهوازِ
Like crunching sugar with the jaws of a grinder.
Eloquence conveyed to him her utmost
بَلَّغَتهُ البَلاغَةُ الجَهدَ بِالعَفـ
ـوِ وَنالَ الإِسهابَ بِالإيجازِ
By amplitude and gain by terse lucidness.
The nation's wars and blood-money were upon him
حامِلُ الحَربِ وَالدِياتِ عَنِ القَو
مِ وَثِقلِ الدُيونِ وَالإِعوازِ
And heavy debts and plights of those brought low.
Why would he not complain? How could they complain
كَيفَ لا يَشتَكي وَكَيفَ تَشَكَّوا
وَبِهِ لا بِمَن شَكاها المَرازي
When through him - not through those who complained to him?
O spacious mansion, dwelling-place
أَيُّها الواسِعُ الفَناءِ وَما فيـ
ـهِ مَبيتٌ لِمالِكَ المُجتازِ
Of a king taking possession forcefully!
Due to you the flower of eloquence with me
بِكَ أَضحى شَبا الأَسِنَّةِ عِندي
كَشَبا أَسوُقِ الجِرادِ النَوازي
Is like locust swarms descending insistently.
The Hamadan speaker circles far from me
وَاِنثَنى عَنِّيَ الرُدَينِيُّ حَتّى
دارَ دَورَ الحُروفِ في هَوّازِ
To the point the letters roam confused in my head.
By your noble ancestors - solace
وَبِئابائِكَ الكِرامِ التَأَسِّي
وَالتَسَلّي عَمَّن مَضى وَالتَعازي
And consolation for those long passed - I pray
Who left the earth after having tamed it
تَرَكوا الأَرضَ بَعدَ ما ذَلَّلوها
وَمَشَت تَحتَهُم بِلا مِهمازِ
And it marched under them without resistance.
Armies obeyed them; they were feared
وَأَطاعَتهُمُ الجُيوشُ وَهيبوا
فَكَلامُ الوَرى لَهُم كَالنُحازِ
So that the words of man were as carded wool to them.
Raids succeeding raids manifest your qualities
وَهِجانٍ عَلى هِجانٍ تَآيَتـ
ـكَ عَديدَ الحُبوبِ في الأَقوازِ
As the sustained assault of hail in seasons of sowing,
Which the career in wide land marshaled
صَفَّها السَيرُ في العَراءِ فَكانَت
فَوقَ مِثلِ المُلاءِ مِثلَ الطِرازِ
Above excellence, as fine embroidery excels.
And which told in the meats your deeds in courage
وَحَكى في اللُحومِ فِعلَكَ في الوَفـ
ـرِ فَأَودى بِالعَنتَريسِ الكِنازِ
Which undid Antar son of Shaddad the obese.
Whenever hopes made promises of your munificence,
كُلَّما جادَتِ الظُنونُ بِوَعدٍ
عَنكَ جادَت يَداكَ بِالإِنجازِ
Your hands were generous in fulfilling them.
A king who seeks the ode and before whom
مَلِكٌ مُنشِدُ القَريضِ لَدَيهِ
واضِعُ الثَوبِ في يَدَي بَزّازِ
The train grovels while the clothes-merchant is humble.
To us belong words - but he knows best
وَلَنا القَولُ وَهوَ أَدرى بِفَحوا
هُ وَأَهدى فيهِ إِلى الإِعجازِ
Their intricacies and is their ultimate judge.
Among the people are those before whom pass
وَمِنَ الناسِ مَن يَجوزُ عَلَيهِ
شُعَراءٌ كَأَنَّها الخازِبازِ
Poets who peck as woodpeckers on a tree;
And such a person deems himself knowing
وَيَرى أَنَّهُ البَصيرُ بِهَذا
وَهوَ في العُميِ ضائِعُ العُكّازِ
While in blindness losing his way like a blind man's stick.
Every poem matches its sayer, so measure
كُلُّ شِعرٍ نَظيرُ قائِلِهِ فيـ
ـكَ وَعَقلُ المُجيزِ عَقلُ المُجازِ
The assessor's intellect by the degree of its truth.
