خَليليَّ أَلّا عُجتُما بالقلائص
على حائرٍ في عَرْصَةِ الدَّار شاخِصِ
My beloveds! Do not be surprised at the bags
Of one perplexed in the courtyard of the house looking up
يُخالُ ورسمُ الحيِّ يُخرِسُ نُطقَهُ
أخا ميتَةٍ لولا اِرتعاد الفرائصِ
He seems a lifeless form, dumbfounded,
Like a dead man were it not for the shuddering of the eyelids
وَلمّا تولّوْا يَحمِلون قُلوبنا
عَلى راتِكاتٍ بالحُدوج رواقِصِ
And when they turned away, bearing our hearts
On litters, with the mourning-women keening,
ظَلَلْنا بذي الأَرْطى كأنّ عيوننا
مَزادٌ أضَلَّتْهنّ راحةُ عَافِصِ
We remained in the house of the Bereaved, our eyes
As though they were a caravan which the departure of the tribes had misled.
نُقاسِمُهم شَطرَ العيون فَما تَرى
مِنَ القومِ إلّا ناظراً بتَخاوصِ
When we share out the eyes between us, you see
None of the people except looks askance.
وَنَلثمُ في رَبْعِ الذّين تحمّلوا
من التُّربِ آثار الخُطا والأخامصِ
And we kiss in the dust those who bore
From the earth traces of the tattoos and amulets.
بنفسي وإنْ لم أرضَ نفسي أوانِسٌ
يُفَتِّلْنَ في جُنْحٍ عقودَ العَقائِصِ
I console myself, though I do not please myself, with intimate friends
Who unfold the knotted necklaces of chastity,
عَفائِفُ يَكتُمنَ المَحاسنَ كلّها
وَيَنظرنَ وَهْناً من عيون الوصاوصِ
Young women who conceal all the fair charms
And glance, behaving weakly, from languid eyes,
فراقٌ لَنا لَم يَدْعُهُ نَعْقُ ناعقٍ
ومنُصدَعٌ لم يَجْنِهِ قبصُ قابِصِ
An estrangement which no plaint of a complainer leaves alone
And a devotion which no rending of a rending woman rends,
وَمن ذا الّذي تَبقى على الهجرِ والنّوى
مودّتُهُ غيرُ المحبِّ المخالصِ
And who is he whom his steadfastness on estrangement and passion
Leaves with a devotion other than that of the sincere lover?
وَزارٍ عَلى مَجْدِي وَلَم أَرَ زارياً
عَلى الفَضلِ إِلّا مُثقَلاً بالمناقِصِ
And a visitor to my glory, though I have not seen a visit
To merit except one laden with secret envy,
أَلا لا تُفاحِصْنِي فتعلمَ أيُّنَا
يروح ويغدو خازياً بالمفاحِصِ
Do not examine me closely, then, till you learn which of us
Fares forth at morning and returns at evening downcast.
وَكيفَ تساميني وظلُّك قالصٌ
وظلِّي على سُوحِ العُلا غيرُ قالصِ
How do you aspire above me when your shade is thin
While my shade upon the mountain-tops is never-fading?
وَأنتَ حَريصٌ أَن يقاَل مؤمِّلٌ
وَإنّي عَلى كسبِ العُلا غيرُ حارِصِ
And you are eager that it should be said, "He hopes,"
While I, for the attainment of the heights, am not striving.
وَأَبنِي أهاضيبَ المكارم والنّدى
وأَنتَ مُعَنّىً باِبتناءِ القَرامِصِ
And I rear the structures of bounty and sweet flowing love,
While you are busied in raising up the stunted date-palm.
بني عمّنا كم نَكْظِمُ الغيظَ منكُمُ
على لاذعاتٍ بيننا وقوارِصِ
O sons of my uncle! How much rancour do we conceal from you,
On account of the sharp words between us and biting discourse!
وَدِدْتُمْ بأنّ المجدَ أصبحَ شارداً
وَليسَ لَنا فيه اِقتِناصٌ لقانِصِ
And you wished that glory had become cast down
And that for us cutting it off there was no harvest-reaper.
وَماذا عليكمْ مَنْ عَلا رَتَباتكمْ
ولم تَبْتَنوها في أجلِّ المراهِصِ
Why is it your concern if others have attained a rank above you
When you did not build it up through the complete term of life?
وَتَطوونَ منّا ما قضى اللَّهُ نَشرَهُ
وما ضرّ ضوءَ الصُّبحِ إنكارُ غامِصِ
And you spurn aside from us what God has unfolded
As though the outshining of dawn were disapproved by the blind.
وَقلتُم بأنَّ النَّجْرَ والسِّنْخَ واحدٌ
فَماذا وَقَد فُتْناكُمُ بالخصائِصِ
And you said that palm leaves and rushes are the same−
What then when we tried you by the distinguishing properties!
تَعالَوْا نعدُّ الفخرَ منّا ومنكُمُ
لِننظر أَوْلانا برجع النّقائِصِ
Come let us enumerate glory as between us and you
To see which of us surpasses with all the attributes taken away.
فَما لكُمُ مَجدٌ سِوى مالِ باخلٍ
وَلا فيكُمُ مَدحٌ سِوى قولِ خارِصِ
You possess no glory but the wealth of a carrier of faggots
And there is no praise of you but only from a cheating pleader,
وَما أَنتُمُ بخلُ البطونِ لزادكمْ
وَلكِنْ لأزوادِ البطونِ الخمائِصِ
You are not the penetration of the interiors by your provisions
But penetrate the interiors of provisions by your greedy bellies:
بَنِي عمّنا كَم تسرحون بِهامكمْ
بعَقْوَةِ مفتولِ الذّراع قُصاقِصِ
O sons of my uncle! How proudly your minds range at large
With the power of the outstretched arm, brachia like palm-fronds
وَكَم تَحملونا كلَّ يومٍ وليلةٍ
على ظَهرِ جمّاحٍ من الشّرِّ قامِصِ
And how every day and night you load us
Upon the back of a stallion suffering from mange
يُعَنُّ فَيجري مِلْءَ كل فروجِهِ
وَيُتلى غداةَ الجَريِ منه بناكِصِ
Who chafes till he flows from every orifice
And is recited at dawn with ejaculations omitted.
أَفي الحقّ أنْ نمشي الضّراءَ وأنتُمُ
تدِبّون مِن خَلْفِي دَبيبَ الدَّعامِصِ
Is it right that we should walk in misery while you
Step with the tread of a blood-swollen parasite?
وَنرضى بِدون النّصْفِ منكمْ وأنتُمُ
تُلِطّون إلطاطَ الغريمِ المُلاوِصِ
And (that) we should consent to less than half from you
While you pile up the confusion of the deceiver?
وَلَم تَعطِسوا لَولاىَ إلّا بِأجدَعٍ
وَلَم تَنظُروا إلّا بِعُمْىٍ بخائِصِ
And you never sneezed except with one whose nose was cut off
And you never looked except with the blindness of a blinker
وَلَم تَركَبوا إِلّا قَرا كلِّ ظالعٍ
أجبَّ سنامِ الظّهرِ بالرّحلِ شامِصِ
And you never rode a riding beast except one docked of tail
Which knocks the saddle-bags with the saddle strap.
صِلوا الحَسَبَ الماضي بما لا يَشينُهُ
فكم ذي نِجارٍ خالصٍ غيرُ خالصِ
Maintain the bygone reputation with what does not dishonor it,
For how many a pure basket does not contain purity!
ولا تحصُلوا من جانب الفخرِ كلِّهِ
على أوّلٍ زاكٍ وأصلٍ مُصامِصِ
And do not gain from the aspect of glory everything
Except a first, prosperous, not mixed with dregs.
وَكونوا اِبتِداءَ الفخرِ لا غايةً له
وثَبْتين في مرأىً وفي فحص فاحِصِ
And be the beginning of glory, not the end of it,
And remain visible and exposed to the test of an examiner,
كَأنّي بها تختالُ بَينَ صَفائحٍ
رقاقٍ وأرماحٍ طِوالٍ عَوارصِ
As though it walked proudly between thin, polished blades
And long, hurling spears.
تَسدّ فِجاجَ العُذرِ مِنّا ومنكُمُ
فليس إلى عُذرٍ مَحيصٌ لحائِصِ
They bar the holes of excuse from us and you,
So to excuse there is no way to slip through.
