هبّتْ تلومُ على النّدى هندُ
يا هندُ خيرٌ من غِنىً حَمْدُ
My blamer blames me for longing after dew, O Hind!
Seeking praise is better than seeking wealth, O Hind!
الحمدُ يبقى لي وإنْ تَلِفَتْ
نفسِي وفاتَ الأهلُ والوُلْدُ
Praise remains with me even if
My soul perishes, and family and children are lost,
وَالمالُ تَأكلُهُ النّوائبُ وال
أحداثُ حتّى ما لَهُ رَدُّ
And wealth is consumed by misfortunes, and
Events, until nothing remains,
وَيَبيت يحرسُهُ وإن دفعتْ
عنه الكرامُ الطِّفْلُ والعبْدُ
And it spends the night being guarded, even if
The generous, the child and the servant protect it.
وَالحمدُ لا يَستطيع يأخذهُ
مِنْ راحتيَّ النّاكلُ الوَغْدَ
And praise cannot be taken away
From my comfort by the greedy glutton.
وإذا سريتُ سرى معِي وَضِحاً
وهْناً وجُنْحُ اللّيلِ مُسْودُّ
And when I walk at night, it walks with me clearly,
Gently, while the wing of night is outspread.
يا هِندُ إنّ الدّارَ زائلةٌ
والقربُ يأتي بعده بُعدُ
O Hind, truly the home is transient,
And nearness comes after it with distance.
عُمْرِي يروح وما أهَبْتُ بهِ
ذاك الحِمامُ به ولا يَغْدُو
My life passes while I have not gained with it
Except for that pigeon - it does not return at daybreak -
ما كنتُ بالمنقادِ في يَدِه
لو كان في أيدِي الرّدى بُدُّ
I was not led by it when it was in the hands of fate.
And the goal of man's attire is a shroud
وَالمَرءُ غايةُ لِبْسِهِ كَفَنٌ
يَبلى وآخِرُ بَيتِهِ اللَّحْدُ
That wears out, and the last of his homes is the grave.
How many a people whose homes were ruined
كَم مَعشَرٍ هُجرتْ ديارُهُمُ
بأساً وعرّج عنهُمُ القصدُ
By distress, and the straight path deviated from them,
Dwelling together in a neglected house,
مُتَجاوِرينَ بدارِ مَضْيَعَةٍ
لا حرَّ عندهُمُ ولا بَرْدُ
Having neither heat nor cold,
They did not part except against their will
ما فارَقوا إلّا بِرغمِهُمُ
في النّاسِ مَنْ عَشِقوا ومَنْ وَدّوا
From those they loved and those they befriended,
And when dire need called them,
وَإِذا دعا وجْداً يُدِلُّ بهِ
عند المنيّةِ خانَهُ الوُجْدُ
It betrayed them at death, the intimate friend.
Eternity's end is death, and it has no
والخُلْدُ مُنْيَتُهُ وليس له
مُكْثٌ على الدّنيا ولا خُلْدُ
Stay in the world, nor eternity.
O Hind, neither a cave nor refuge saves
يا هندُ ليس يُجير من حَذَرٍ
خوفَ الرّدى غَوْرٌ ولا نَجْدُ
From the fear of fate.
All souls, even if they are heedlessly passionate
كلُّ النفوسِ وإنْ غفلنَ هوىً
بين الحمامِ وبينها وعْدُ
Between the pigeon and it, have a promise.
And fate in time is a twisting serpent
والنّدْبُ فسلٌ في الزّمان إذا
أهوى له والواهنُ الجَلْدُ
When it desires it, and the feeble flesh is pliable.
If the dishevelment of time misses a youth,
لو فات تشعيثُ الزّمان فتىً
فات الأصمَّ اليابسَ الجَلْدُ
It misses the deaf, barren, tough flesh.
And the howling heights of Kadhimah were saved
ونَجَتْ وعولُ هضابِ كاظمةٍ
منه وما شَقِيَتْ به الرُّبْدُ
From it, and the skins were not wretched because of it.
And Hind desires while she is apprehensive -
وَتودُّ هندٌ وهْيَ مُشفقةٌ
أنّى خَلَدْتُ وفاتَها الوُدُّ
How did I live forever and affection passed from her?
And she prevents every visitor from me -
وتردّ عنِّي كلَّ طارقةٍ
أنّى وليس يُطيعها الردُّ
How, when obedience does not obey her?
And she says, "Distance did not separate us in vain,
وَتَقول لا عَبِثَ البِعادُ بنا
وَتضلّ عَمّن خانهُ البُعْدُ
And she errs from the one distance betrayed."
And hardships grieve her if they befall
وَتَؤودُها البأساءُ إنْ نزلتْ
داري وعرّس عندِيَ الجَهْدُ
My home, and effort holds marriage feast at my place.
And she wants for me what is not in her hands -
وَتُريدُ لي ما ليسَ في يَدِها
أمداً على الأيّامِ يمتدُّ
A term against the days that would extend.
And she protects me from comfort that does not benefit her,
وتُعيذُنِي ما ليسَ يَنفعها
من راحةٍ ما بَعْدها كَدُّ
After which there is no hardship.
You console me if we slip, and stumble,
تَسَلين إنْ زلّتْ بنا وبِكم
قدمٌ وطُوِّل بيننا العهدُ
A foot, and the covenant between us is prolonged.
How many like you came while you were leaving
كَم جاءَ مثلَكِ وهْيَ ذاهبةٌ
من حادثٍ بعضُ الّذي يبدو
From an event, some of which appears,
Truly fate necessarily leads it
إنّ الرّدى لابدّ أُورَدُهُ
مستوخماً يوبى له الوِرْدُ
Reluctantly, and for it the flowers mourn.
It breaks into homes, and neither jest stops it,
يَلِجُ البيوتَ وليس يدفعهُ
هَزْلٌ يرادُ به ولا جِدُّ
Intended seriously, nor earnestness.
Do not scratch a cheek against me, for the
لا تَخدِشِي خدّاً عليَّ فما
ردّ الفتى أنْ يُخدَش الخدُّ
Young man does not refuse when his cheek is scratched.
And learn, if you are learned,
وتعلَّمي إنْ كنتِ عالمةً
أنّ الحِمامَ على الورى يعدو
That the pigeon flies across the land.
No sooner does a flower bloom for you,
ما إنْ جنى وِرْدٌ عليكِ ردىً
حتّى يُعطَّ لذلكَ البُرْدُ
Than for that, hail is given.
Do not heed the gloaters, for I am not
لا تَحفلي بِالشامِتين فما
أنا في المنيّةِ دونهمْ وَحْدُ
Less than them in death, alone.
They did not attain the seekers after me, nor
لَم يُدرِكوا بَعدِي الطِلابَ ولا
سدّوا بمثْلِي الخَرْقَ إنّ سدّوا
Did they close with the like of me the tear, even if they closed it.
And I had sufficed them, though they did not feel
وَلَقد كَفيتُهُمْ وما شَعروا
كيْدَ العِدا وَلِكَيدِهمْ وقْدُ
The cunning of the enemy, and for their cunning, resolution.
And I exalted them when I attracted them
وعَلَتْ بهمْ لمّا جَذَبتُهُمُ
بيَدَيَّ قَسْراً تلكُمُ الوَهْدُ
Forcibly - those are the precipices.
On me are rings of the lance that no
نَزعوا الخمولَ بما كَسوتُهُمُ
من مَأْثُراتٍ حشوُها المجدُ
Weaving reached, nor knitting.
Where you are saved from the slanderer, and not
وَتَناهَبوا الأوْساقَ مِنْ شَرَفٍ
لا صاعَ فيهِ لَهُمْ ولا مُدُّ
Saved by the deep wound of the tearing spear.
Who will loan me the bare shoulders from
وَأَنَا الّذي وَسْطَ الخميسِ إذا
نادَيتُ شُدّوا بِالقَنا شَدّوا
A world whose severity for her ornament is ardour?
He escapes her stings without being stung,
وعَلَيَّ مِن خِلَعِ القَنا حَلَقٌ
لَم يدنها نَسجٌ ولا سَرْدُ
Like the pendant adorned by the necklace.
And he prevents the adorning of her ornament
في حيثُ ينجيكَ الطّعانُ وَلا
يُنجِي الأقبُّ القارحُ النَّهْدُ
Where he was provoked, so propriety prevented him.
And patience was saved from a slippery place
مَنْ لِي بعارِي المَنْكِبَين منَ ال
دُنيا له عن خَتْلها شدُّ
That announces with it her causes of sorrow.
O fickle one, and the taster of her
يَنجو قَذاها غيرَ مُتّئدٍ
مِثْلَ الوَسيقةِ لَزَّها الطَّرْدُ
Thinks the time of tasting her is honey,
As long as your love lasted, and it lasted in you,
وَيَصُدُّ عَن تَزويقِ زينتها
حَيث اِستثيرَ فأعوَزَ الصَّدُّ
So it lasts in you, and sanity passes away.
How many you have tied to faithfulness, but
وَجناءَ مِنها الصّبرُ عن مَلَقٍ
تُنبِي بهِ أسبابُها النُّكْدُ
That knot does not cease, it grows weak.
And if your sins of spendthrift ways are counted to us
يا مُرَّةً وَيظنّ ذائقُها
أبَدَ الزّمانِ بأنّها شَهْدُ
Time will end, and the counting will not finish.
As for the dwellings of those settled
ما دامَ غيُّك وهوَ منك هوىً
فَيدوم فيك وَيذهب الرُّشدُ
In your rescue, they are terraces with stillness.
In them is no bell except if
كَم ذا عقدتِ على الوفاءِ وما
ينفَكُّ يضعفُ ذلك العَقْدُ
A nightingale sang or thunder rumbled,
And your sad clouds rained over the one who lodged there and passed away,
وذنوبُ صَرْفِكِ إنْ عُدِدْنَ لنا
فَنِيَ الزّمانُ وَما اِنقَضى العَدُّ
Sobbing, as if the howling of its hyena
Roared, and with it the lions bellowed.
أَمّا دِيارُ السّاكِنين إِلى
نَجواكِ فهْيَ الدُرَّسُ المُلْدُ
Where are those who the goblets are honorable for them,
Whose sea of honor has a high tide?
لا جِرْسَ فيه غير أنْ صَدَحَتْ
قُمْرِيّةٌ أو قَعْقَعَ الرَّعْدُ
They extended the blessings, so when it was complete for them,
It was stripped from them, and that which they extended was cut off.
وَبَكى عَلى مَنْ حلّها وَمضى
مُسْحَنْكِكُ القُطرينِ مُرْبَدُّ
From all the fathers of the lowly world no
Limit was loosened for them in any request.
زَجِلاً كأنّ صَلِيلَ هَيْدَبِهِ
زَأَرتْ وَقَد ريعَتْ بِه الأُسْدُ
Like the lion, wine brought out his form,
And the sword displayed its sheath.
أين الّذينَ عَلى القِنانِ لهمْ
شَرَفٌ عَزيزٌ بَحرُهُ عِدُّ
Because of their honor and awe, old age
Submitted among the living and the tender youth.
مُدّوا النعيمَ فحين تَمَّ لهمْ
سُلبوه وَاِنقطَعَ الّذي مُدّوا
And their child's darkness, his talisman
Did not break, and his equilibrium is the cradle.
من كلِّ أَبّاءِ الدنيّةِ لمْ
يُفْلَلْ له في مطلبٍ حَدُّ
They repelled misfortunes - they withdrew backwards,
But from death they did not repel.
كاللّيثِ أبرز شخصَه خَمَرٌ
والسّيفِ أعلَنَ مَتْنهُ غِمْدُ
And it is as if after they dwelled in
The graves, they neither jested nor were serious.
ذَعَنَتْ لعزّتهمْ وهَيبتهمْ
الشّيبُ في الأحياء والمُرْدُ
My seriousness is not beneficial for a
Term - the young man was serious and seriousness twisted.
ويسودُ طفلُهُمُ تميمتُهُ
لم تنفصمْ وقرارُهُ المَهْدُ
So if I am lost, then surely for me there is a
Speech necessarily eternal, that has no loss.
ردّوا الخطوبَ قعُدْنَ ناكصةً
لكنّهمْ للموتِ ما ردّوا
It roams the countries, and no
Neck feels it, neither near nor far.
وكأنّهمْ من بعدما سكنوا الْ
أجداثِ ما هَزَلوا وما جدّوا
From every warbling rhyme
That the thrush sings, if he sings.
ما نافعٌ جدِّي إلى أمَدٍ
جدّ الفَتى وَقدِ اِلتَوى الجَدُّ
And when the dispersal of its fragrance spreads,
The bells on the camel's neck said the myrtle spread.
فَلَئِنْ فُقِدْتُ فإنّ لِي كَلِماً
حَتماً خَوالِدَ ما لَها فَقْدُ
It rose like the sun of morning on a
Horizon, white, that falsehood cannot deny.
تفرِي البلادَ وما يُحَسُّ بها
عَنَقٌ على دوٍّ ولا وَخْدُ
And it is as if its intentions are sparks
In the fading of a night that fireflies resemble.
من كلِّ قافيةٍ مُرَقِّصَةٍ
يشدو بها الغِرّيدُ إنْ يشدُو
A carriage - speech gallops for it
Forgivingly, and the eloquence of its driver is cultured.
وإذا تضوّع نشرُ نَفْحَتِها
قال العَرَارُ تضوّع الرَّنْدُ
The envious lean toward its
Goodness, and its opponents are violent.
طَلَعتْ كَشمسِ ضحىً على أُفُقٍ
بيضاءَ لا يسطيعها الجَحْدُ
So if the essence of its wording were a body,
The necklace would add it to its string.
وَكَأنَّما أَغراضُها شرَرٌ
في وهنِ ليلٍ شبّها زَنْدُ
سَيّارةٌ جَمحُ الكلام لها
سَمْحٌ وحُرُّ فصيحها عَبدُ
يُنثْنِي عليها الحاسدون على
إحسانها وخصومُها اللدُّ
فَلَوَ اِنَّ جوهرَ لَفظها جسدٌ
لأضافَهُ في سِلْكِهِ العِقْدُ
