أسألت رسمَ الدارِ أم لم تسألِ
دِمناً عفتْ فكأنها لم تُحلِلِ
Did you ask the house to draw its plan or did it build without asking?
It endured time gracefully as if it was never worn down.
دُرُساً براهُنَّ البِلى بريَ الضَّنا
جسمي لبينِ قطينها المتحمّلِ
The passing years left their marks clearly on my weathered body
That carried its structure and endured its burdens.
فلو استطاعتْ إذ بكيْتُ دُثُورَها
لبكت نُحولي بالدموع الهُمَّلِ
If it could have wept when I wept for its dilapidation,
It would have cried for me with tears of compassion.
ولقدْ عهدْت عِراصَها مأنُوسةً
أيامَ تعهدُني كسيفِ الصْيَقلِ
I knew its wide courtyard to be familiar
In days when it welcomed me like a polished sword.
رودُ الشبيبةِ لا أُعاصي لذةً
تدعو هواي ولا أدينُ لعُذَّلي
The impudence of youth does not now shame me
When my passion calls and I do not repent my audacity.
وإذا أشاءُ غدوْتُ غيرَ مُنهنهٍ
فأروح مقْتَنِصَ الغزالِ المُطْفلِ
And when I desire, I walk proudly without inhibition
So I take the wandering gazelle by surprise.
بؤسى الزمان وليسَ يبرحُ آخِرٌ
من صرفهِ يعفو محاسنَ أوَّلِ
The misery of time continues and does not cease
To change its ways, erasing the beauty of the past.
وأنا المقابَلُ في أكاسرِ فارسٍ
وابنُ الملوكِ الصّيدِ غير تنحُّلِ
Yet I face it boldly, a valiant horseman,
The son of kings, hunting, not one to withdraw.
رفعوا يفاعي كابراً عن كابرٍ
حتى استقلَّ إلى السّماك الأعزلِ
They raised my reputation, glory above glory,
Until I rose to the highest, most isolated peak.
في حيث يقصرُ باعُ كُلّ مساوِرٍ
دوني ويحْسرُ ناظرُ المتأمّلِ
Where the reach of every rival falls short of me
And the onlooker stands in awe and wonder.
فضلاً له بك يا ابنَ طاحنة الرَّحى
رَوْمي وبيتُك بالحضيضِ الأسفلِ
You are higher than me, O son of a miller,
While my house is in the lowest ravine.
يا ابنَ السّفاح شهادةً مقبولةً
مثلَ الشهادةِ بالكتابِ المنزلِ
O son of a wanton killer, your witness is accepted
Like the witness of the revealed scripture.
إن التي ولدتْك تخبرُ أنها
حملتْك من نُطفٍ لعدةِ أفحُلِ
She who gave birth to you reports that she conceived you
From the sperm of countless stallions.
بظراءُ لو نطحتْ بمُقدَمِ بظرها
ثهلانَ حلحله ولم يتحلحلِ
A she-camel, if she butted with her vulva,
Would make two dreamy camel bulls collide and scatter.
بخراء لو نكهتْ على صُمّ الصّفا
صدعتْ بنكهتها متونَ الجندلِ
A she-camel, if she vocally announced her heat to the deaf rock face of As-Safa,
Her call would crack the sturdy camel litters.
ذفراء لو بلَّتْ برشْح أديمِها
جسدَ امرئٍ لم يَنْقَ منه بجدولِ
A she-camel, if she wetted a man’s body with the drippings of her hide,
One not safe from the burning thirst, with her morning dew,
خضراءُ لونِ الريقِ لو نفثتْ به
مَيْثاء ألقحها الحيا لم تُبْقِلِ
A green-colored she-camel, if she blew her spittle,
Even a snake impregnated by it would not coil in lifelessness.
حرَّى تُسَكّن نَعْظَ ألفِ حَزَوَّرٍ
شبقٍ وغُلَّةُ دائِها لم تُبللِ
Hot enough to contain the desire of a thousand lustful poets
Whose passion for her does not cool.
لا تسخطنّ على الإله فإنما
أعمالُ طعنِ فحولها بالفَيْشلِ
Do not be angry with God, for it is only
The work of her wanton vulva against the stallions.
لو أمهلتكَ مدى ثوائك في استها
لسلمْتَ لكنْ داؤها لم يُمهلِ
If He gave you time according to your hopes for survival,
You would be spared, but her disease did not grant you time.
ورأتك أيسر مهلكاً ورزيةً
من دعستين بأيرِ عيرٍ أغرلِ
And she saw you an easy target for perdition and misfortune,
More so than being trampled by the feet of a heavily loaded traveling camel train.
فاعْصب ملامَة ناظريْك برأسِها
لا بالإله وبالنبي المرسلِ
So curb the blame of your two eyes against her head,
Not God or the Prophet—and be just in your rule.
ما استوجبا منك الكُفورَ بجرمها
فدعِ الهوادةَ في الحكومةِ واعدلِ
They did not deserve your disbelief in their crime,
So leave aside your grudges and be equitable in your judgement.
سقياً لأمك من صديدِ جهنم
لا من صبيبِ البارقِ المتَهلِّلِ
Give your mother a drink of Hell’s pus,
Not from the clear sparkling heavenly wine.
لمَضَتْ من الدنيا وما أسِفت على
مستمتَعٍ من مَشْربٍ أو مأكلِ
She left this world without yearning for
Any pleasure of drink or food she tasted,
إلا مُباضعةَ العبيدِ فإنها
عنها وعن خَطراتها لم تذهلِ
Except copulating with slaves—she did not neglect it
Or cease to think of it and its excitements.
الموتُ يغشاها وخاطرُ قلبِها
ذِكْرُ الأيور كأنها لم تُشغلِ
Death overtook her while her mind
Was on the penises, as if they preoccupied her.
واستخْلفتكَ وما نَسلتْ مكانها
فابذلْ لناكتها عجانَك وابذلِ
She left you as her successor but did not produce
Anyone to replace her, so exert your powers to the utmost!
ولقد حبوتَهمُ بفاعلةِ التي
ذاعتْ لها مِدحُ الجوادِ المفضلِ
You were endowed with the traits of the one whose fame
Spread for her generous gifts.
أزناةَ بابِ الشام طرّاً أبْشروا
من بنتِ شاعركم بخيرِ مُقبّلِ
O people of Damascus, rejoice!
For the daughter of your poet brings you auspicious news.
خلفت عليكم أمهُ وتكفّلتْ
بكُمُ وعِدّةُ عشرها لم تُكْملِ
She left you a mother who took care of you all
And her pregnancy reached full term.
أَأُبَيَّ يوسفَ دعوةً من حاقرٍ
مستصغرٍ يأبى دعاءك من علِ
Shall the invitation of a lowly despised one
Be refused, one who spurns your call from on high?
خذها إليك تذود غاشيةَ الكرى
عن أهلها وتُضيق رحبَ المنزلِ
Take her to yourself, to drive away the overpowering fate
From her people, and narrow the breadth of the abode.
وتُخيلك الماءَ النقاحَ كأنه
في فيك مازجه نقيعُ الحنظلِ
Make the brackish water seem to her
Like it was sweetened for you by steeping lote leaves.
ولقد وزعتُ الشعرَ عنك تعظُّماً
وتنزهاً وكففتُ غربَ المِقولِ
I have apportioned poetry about you sparingly,
Out of reverence and piety, holding myself back.
فأبتْ جوامحُ للقريضِ غوالبٌ
جاش الضميرُ بهن جيشَ المِرجلِ
But wild poetry forces insisted upon composing poems
Whose tide flooded forth like a raging torrent.
