دعِ اللَّومَ إن اللَّومَ عونُ النوائِبِ

ولا تتجاوز فيه حدَّ المُعاتِبِ

Blame me not, for blame does not ease calamity,

Cease your blame, for blame aids misfortunes,

Nor transgress in it the bounds of gentle reproof;

And do not cross the bounds of mere admonition.

فما كلُّ من حطَّ الرحالَ بمخفِقٍ

ولا كلُّ من شدَّ الرحال بكاسبِ

Not all who halt have stumbled headlong,

For not everyone who lays down his saddle is a failure,

Nor has every horseman gained spoils.

Nor is every traveler who cinches his pack a gainer.

وفي السعي كَيْسٌ والنفوسُ نفائسٌ

وليس بكَيْسٍ بيعُها بالرغائبِ

In endeavor lies success, and souls are precious;

There is profit in striving, yet souls are precious gems,

Yet not all gain who barter them for vain desires.

And it is no wisdom to trade them away for desires.

وما زال مأمولُ البقاء مُفضّلاً

على المُلك والأرباحِ دون الحرائبِ

Safety has still been ranked above wealth and profit,

The hope of survival has always been preferred

More than rule, for all its envied glory.

Above kingdoms and profits gained through peril.

حضضتَ على حطبي لناري فلا تدعْ

لك الخيرُ تحذيري شرورَ المَحاطبِ

You have spurred me on although my strength gave out;

You urged me to gather fuel for my own fire, so do not neglect

Let well-wishing suffice you, and forego reproach.

—May good betide you—to warn me of the dangers in the wood.

وأنكرتَ إشفاقي وليس بمانعي

طِلابي أن أبغي طلابَ المكاسبِ

Denounce me not, when you my succor are

You denounced my caution, yet it does not bar me

In the adversity of fate.

From seeking the path of gain as I pursue my goals.

ومن يلقَ ما لاقيتُ في كل مجتنىً

من الشوك يزهدْ في الثمار الأَطايبِ

Kind counsel is better than harsh rebuke

Whoever encounters what I have faced in every harvest

In gentle words from one who gives good advice.

Of thorns, will lose all taste for the sweetest fruits.

أذاقتنيَ الأسفارُ ما كَرَّه الغِنَى

إليَّ وأغراني برفض المطالبِ

Truthful counsel still brings help to resolves;

Travels have made me taste that which made wealth hateful

No benefit in counsel that excoriates.

To me, and tempted me to renounce all ambitions.

فأصبحتُ في الإثراء أزهدَ زاهدٍ

وإن كنت في الإثراء أرغبَ راغبِ

One such as I needs generosity,

So I have become the most ascetic of men regarding riches,

Gentle of nature, calming to one troubled.

Even though, in truth, I am the most desirous of wealth.

حريصاً جباناً أشتهي ثم أنتهي

بلَحْظي جناب الرزق لحظَ المراقبِ

His touch is soft to one threadbare;

Covetous yet cowardly; I desire, then I desist,

He meets each wish at the asking.

Eyeing the abode of provision with the glance of a watchman.

ومن راح ذا حرص وجبن فإنه

فقير أتاه الفقر من كل جانبِ

For him the seeker attains the sought,

And whoever sets out possessing both greed and cowardice

Petitioner, petitioner, speaker, spoken to.

Is a pauper to whom poverty comes from every side.

ولما دعاني للمثوبة سيّدٌ

يرى المدح عاراً قبل بَذْل المثَاوبِ

How excellent in character is one high minded,

When a master invited me to receive a reward,

His gifts contend with clouds' prolific showers!

One who deems praise a disgrace unless accompanied by gifts,

تنازعني رغْبٌ ورهب كلاهما

قويٌّ وأعياني اطِّلاعُ المغايبِ

Like life-giving rains he comes to all who seek;

Fear and desire wrestled within me, both of them

I flee him like a coward, a scheme not meet.

Strong, and the knowledge of the unseen exhausted me.

فقدمتُ رجلاً رغبةً في رغيبةٍ

وأخّرتُ رجلاً رهبةً للمعاطبِ

I'm torn between desire and fear of him,

So I advanced one foot in desire for the prize,

While fate's dominions are obscure to me.

And held back the other in fear of destruction.

أخافُ على نفسي وأرجو مَفازَها

وأستارُ غَيْب اللّهِ دونَ العواقبِ

I hope yet fear for my wretched soul,

I fear for my soul, yet I hope for its triumph,

As God's unseen decrees shape destiny.

While the veils of God’s mystery cover the outcomes.

ألا من يريني غايتي قبل مذهبي

ومن أين والغاياتُ بعد المذاهبِ

Would that one showed my fate before my course,

Oh, who will show me my end before I depart?

For endings come not first, nor consequences causes.

But how can that be, when ends lie beyond the paths?

ومِنْ نكبةٍ لاقيتُها بعد نكبةٍ

رَهِبتُ اعتساف الأرضِ ذاتِ المناكبِ

Calamity followed calamity until

From one calamity I encountered after another,

I feared the ground itself might split asunder.

I have come to dread traversing the earth and its shoulders.

وصبري على الإقتار أيسرُ مَحْملاً

عليَّ مِنَ التغرير بعد التجاربِ

Bearing destitution proves an easier burden

My patience with poverty is easier for me to bear

Than risking lives to further feed ambition.

Than exposing myself to danger after all my experiences.

لقِيتُ من البَرِّ التّباريحَ بعدما

لقيتُ من البحر ابيضاضَ الذوائبِ

On land I suffered horrors then at sea

I encountered miseries from the land after

Assailed by waves from every corner rising.

I had encountered the whitening of my temples from the sea.

سُقيتُ على ريٍّ به ألفَ مَطْرةٍ

شُغفتُ لبغضِيها بحبّ المجَادِبِ

I've drunk a flooding deluge, loathed it, loved

I was watered to satisfaction by a thousand rains,

Soft pleasant rains - so great had hardship grown.

Becoming fond of droughts because of my hatred for them.

ولم أُسْقَها بل ساقَها لمكيدتي

تَحامُق دهرٍ جَدَّ بي كالمُلاعبِ

Not I called rains but destiny conspired,

I was not watered by them, but rather the foolishness of time

To mock and ruin me, a foolish lad.

drove them to plot against me, playing a serious game.

إلى اللَّه أشكو سخفَ دهري فإنه

يُعابثني مذ كنت غيرَ مُطائبِ

To God I cried against time's foolishness,

To God I complain of the absurdity of my fate, for it

Tormenting me since I was but a child.

Has toyed with me since I existed, never in jest.

أبَى أن يُغيثَ الأرضَ حتى إذا ارتمتْ

برحلي أتاها بالغُيوثِ السواكبِ

Refused to hydrate dust before my strides

It refused to aid the earth until, when the rain clouds

Brought me there, then visiting in kind excess.

Targeted my saddle, it brought forth pouring torrents.

سقى الأرضَ من أجلي فأضحتْ مَزِلَّةً

تَمايَلُ صاحيها تمايُلَ شاربِ

Drenched the land on my account, till itliquefied,

It watered the earth for my sake, so it became a slip-slide,

Camels swaying whether riders prayed or no.

Where the sober man sways like a drunkard,

لتعويقِ سيري أو دحوضِ مَطيَّتي

وإخصابِ مُزوَّرٍ عن المجد ناكبِ

Impeding progress, floundering every mount,

To hinder my journey or cause my mount to fall,

Pretending care, from glory turning back.

Creating a false fertility that deviates from glory.

فملتُ إلى خانٍ مُرثٍّ بناؤُه

مميلَ غريقِ الثوب لهفانَ لاغِبِ

Thus I came upon a ruin for a lodge,

So I turned aside to a ruined caravanserai,

Reeling like the drunk, no rest within or out.

Swaying like a man drowning in his clothes, eager and weary.

فلم ألقَ فيه مُستراحاً لمُتعَبٍ

ولا نُزُلاً أيانَ ذاك لساغِبِ

No repose here for the tired, no lodging,

I found therein no resting place for a tired man,

Sleepless nights and darkness without end.

Nor a lodging—when was there ever one?—for the hungry.

فما زلتُ في خوفٍ وجوعٍ ووحشةٍ

وفي سَهَرٍ يستغرقُ الليلَ واصبِ

A roof so much like ravenous birds overhead,

I remained in fear, hunger, and desolation,

Creaking, bowing under moisture's heavy weight.

And in wakefulness that consumed the lasting night.

يؤرِّقني سَقْفٌ كأّنيَ تحته

من الوكفِ تحت المُدْجِنات الهواضبِ

Many lodgings fell just so, with travelers in them,

A roof keeps me awake, as though I were beneath it

Like a hawk swooping down upon its prey.

Suffering the drip under cloudy, pouring skies.

تراهُ إذا ما الطينُ أثقلَ متنَهُ

تَصِرُّ نواحيه صريرَ الجنادبِ

Nor will I forget the woes of summer days,

You see it, when the mud weighs heavy upon its back,

With crackling clay and winds of flame about.

Its corners creaking with the sound of crickets.

وكم خَانِ سَفْرٍ خَانَ فانقضَّ فوقهم

كما انقضَّ صقرُ الدجنِ فوق الأرانبِ

How often fire we kindled in the waste -

How many a travelers' inn has betrayed them, collapsing upon them

Its sparks did reach us, searing brow and veil.

Just as a falcon of the clouds dives upon rabbits.

ولم أنسَ ما لاقيتُ أيامَ صحوِهِ

من الصّرِّ فيه والثلوج الأشاهبِ

When the desert glowed white hot, swelling, seething

I have not forgotten what I faced in the days of clear skies,

In a flood whipped up from dusty worn remains.

From the bitter cold within it and the gray snows.

وما زال ضاحِي البَرِّ يضربُ أهلَهُ

بسوطَيْ عذابٍ جامدٍ بعد ذائبِ

Once it dried, the winds blasting, it allowed

The exposed land never ceased striking its people

No drink, withheld its water, bonds restraining.

With two whips of torment: one frozen, one fluid.

فإن فاته قَطْرٌ وثلج فإنه

رَهين بسافٍ تارةً أو بحاصبِ

Now and then a flood to drown me, without rains,

If it missed rain and snow, then it was

At times a drought - no mercy for these pains!

Hostage to a violent sandstorm or a hail of stones.

فذاك بلاءُ البرِّ عنديَ شاتياً

وكم ليَ من صيفٍ به ذي مثالبِ

Still the land persisted, raining blows by tempest,

That is the tribulation of the land for me in winter,

Or by frozen mass, binding fast its people.

And how many summers have I spent in it with flaws?

ألا رُبَّ نارٍ بالفضاء اصطليتُها

منَ الشَّمسِ يودي لَفْحُهَا بالحواجبِ

If from them some moisture slipped, or snowflakes flew,

Oh, many a fire in the open space have I endured,

In cutting blasts or sweltering heat they perished.

From the sun, whose scorching heat destroys the eyebrows.

إذا ظلتِ البيداءُ تطفو إِكامُها

وترسُبُ في غَمْرٍ من الآلِ ناضبِ

So winters plagued me by experience there -

When the desert hills appear to float,

How many summers boded ill besides!

And sink into a flood of mirages that have dried up.

فدعْ عنك ذكرَ البَرِّ إني رأيتُهُ

لمن خاف هولَ البحر شَرَّ المَهاربِ

Ah how often scorching winds upon the land

So leave off mentioning the land, for I have seen it

Sear bodies to the bone, leaving no voice to cry.

As the worst of escapes for one who fears the terror of the sea.

كِلا نُزُلَيْهِ صيفُهُ وشتاؤُهُ

خلافٌ لما أهواهُ غيرُ مُصاقبِ

Spare me descriptions of the wintry north,

Both of its lodgings—its summer and its winter—

For one who dreads the sea it is the worst of fates.

Are contrary to what I desire, never aligning.

لُهاثٌ مُميتٌ تحت بيضاءَ سُخْنَةٍ

وَرِيٌّ مُفيتٌ تحت أسْحَمَ صائبِ

Both climes afflict, each season in its turn;

A deadly thirst under a hot white sun,

Not what one wishes, with no constancy.

And a fatal drenching under a pouring black cloud.

يجفُّ إذا ما أصبح الرّيقُ عاصباً

ويُغدقُ لي والرّيق ليس بعاصبِ

Suffocating in the white heat, lethal swelter;

It dries up when my throat is constricted with thirst,

Killing frost descending with no guide in sight.

And floods for me when my throat is not constricted.

ويمنع منّي الماءَ واللَّوحُ جاهدٌ

ويُغرِقني والريُّ رَطْبُ المحَالِب

It sears when winds blow hot, but then withholds

It denies me water when the heat is intense,

Its water, when the air blows cool and soft.

And drowns me when the irrigation channels are wet.

وما زال يَبغيني الحتوفَ مُوارِباً

يحوم على قتلي وغيرَ مُواربِ

And turns to flood just when I fear its drought,

It continues to seek my death through deception,

Or parching death, if the clouds travel light.

Hovering around my killing without any guile.

فطوراً يُغاديني بلصٍّ مُصَلِّتٍ

وطوراً يُمَسّيني بورْدِ الشَّواربِ

Still seeking to destroy me, circling round,

At times it surprises me in the morning with a brandishing thief,

Bent on murder though no blood feud stood.

And at times it greets me in the evening with a watering of blades.

إلى أنْ وقاني اللَّه محذورَ شرّهِ

بعزتِهِ واللَّه أَغلب غالبِ

Sometimes it shocked me with a morning raid,

Until God protected me from its feared evil

Or ambushed me when day slipped into night.

By His might, and God is the Victor of victors.

فأفلتُّ من ذُؤبانهِ وأُسودِهِ

وحُرَّابِهِ إفلاتَ أَتوب تائبِ

Until God saved me from its wickedness,

So I escaped from its wolves, its lions,

In His glory did He aid, defeat my foe.

And its bandits, with the escape of a repentant sinner.

وأما بلاءُ البحر عندي فإنه

طواني على رَوعٍ منَ الروح واقبِ

Escaping its rapacious jaws, salvation

As for the tribulation of the sea, it has

Came to this penitent and God-reliant soul.

Folded me upon a terror that pierces the soul.

ولو ثاب عقلي لم أدعْ ذكرَ بعضهِ

ولكنه من هولِهِ غيرُ ثائبِ

But the sea's tribulation in my eyes

Had my reason returned, I would not leave out the mention of some of it,

Is a tumultuous chaos of the spirit.

But due to its terror, my reason does not return.

وَلِمْ لا ولو أُلقيتُ فيه وصخرةً

لوافيت منه القعرَ أوّلَ راسبِ

Had mind returned I would not have recalled

And why not? If I were thrown into it along with a rock,

Some of its horrors - so profound the dread.

I would reach the bottom before the first sinking stone.

ولم أتعلم قط من ذي سباحةٍ

سوى الغوص والمضعوف غيرُ مغالِب

Why not? Cast in it, any boulder

I never learned from any swimmer

Would plummet to the depths, no footing trace.

Anything but diving, and the weak cannot compete.

فأيسرُ إشفاقي من الماء أنني

أمرُّ به في الكوز مرَّ المُجانبِ

I learned naught from swimmers but to plunge,

The least of my fear regarding water is that

To flounder, helpless, mastered by the waves.

I pass by it in a cup with the caution of one avoiding it.

وأخشى الردى منه على كل شاربٍ

فكيف بأَمْنِيه على نفس راكبِ

More tender my compassion for the sea:

I fear death from it for every drinker,

Crossing in a cup I fear its minor raids.

So how could I be safe from it while riding upon it?

أظلُّ إذا هزتهُ ريحٌ ولألأتْ

له الشمسُ أمواجاً طِوالَ الغواربِ

And for a ship passenger, how great the alarm

I remain, when a wind shakes it and the sun

When gales whip waves to titanic heights!

Glitters upon waves with tall crests,

كأني أرى فيهنّ فُرسانَ بُهمةٍ

يُليحون نحوي بالسيوف القواضبِ

I see in them champions with purpose bent,

As if I see within them knights of darkness,

Brandishing swords, surging toward me forth.

Brandishing sharp swords towards me.

فإن قُلْتَ لي قد يُركَبُ اليمُّ طامياً

ودجلةُ عند اليمِّ بعضُ المَذانبِ

You say it may be crossed, the sea's expanse,

If you say to me, 'The sea is ridden when swollen,

Euphrates to the sea a slender thread.

And the Tigris compared to the sea is but a stream,'

فلا عذرَ فيها لامرىءٍ هابَ مثلَها

وفي اللُّجَّةِ الخضراء عذرٌ لهائبِ

There is no excuse in that for a man who fears the like of it,

No excuse then for one who dreads its form,

But in the green abyss, there is an excuse for the fearful.

فإنّ احتجاجي عنك ليس بنائمٍ

وإن بياني ليس عني بعازبِ

Though for the verdant swamp some pardoning.

For my argument against you is not sleeping,

I say the Euphrates wears a guise of calm,

And my eloquence is not absent from me.

لدجلةَ خَبٌّ ليس لليمِّ إنها

تُرائي بحلمٍ تحته جهلُ واثبِ

Dogged by ignorant violence in its depths.

The Tigris has a deceit that the sea does not;

It plays serene, till we are reassured,

It feigns a gentleness beneath which lies the ignorance of a pouncer.

تَطامَنُ حتى تطمئنَّ قلوبُنا

وتغضبُ من مزحِ الرياح اللواعبِ

Then rages at the winds' impertinence.

It lowers itself until our hearts are reassured,

But its depths conceal all kinds of treachery,

Then rages at the joking of the playful winds.

وأَجرافُها رهْنٌ بكلِّ خيانةٍ

وغَدْرٍ ففيها كُلُّ عَيْبٍ لِعائبِ

Each flaw and defect, failings beyond count.

Its banks are hostage to every treachery

When gales excite its waters to great frenzy,

And betrayal; in it lies every fault for the fault-finder.

ترانا إذا هاجتْ بها الرِّيحُ هَيْجةً

نُزَلزَلُ في حَوماتها بالقواربِ

In its confounding vortexes boats are flung.

You see us, when the wind stirs up a storm in it,

Dizzying in its convulsions, we are hurled,

Being shaken in its whirlpools within the boats.

نُوائِلُ من زلزالها محو خسفها

فلا خيرَ في أوساطها والجوانبِ

Whelmed in its flood, no speck of land emerges.

We obtain from its shaking the erasure of its swallowing;

Waves heaving in a gloom of whale-like monsters,

So there is no good in its middle nor its sides.

زلازلُ موجٍ في غمارٍ زواخرٍ

وهدَّاتُ خَسْفٍ في شطوطٍ خواربِ

Seismic shudders into yawning deeps.

Earthquakes of waves in deep, swelling waters,

While the Euphrates in its calm has reasons

And tremors of sinking on ruined shores.

ولليمِّ إعذارٌ بعرضِ متونِهِ

وما فيه من آذيِّهِ المتراكبِ

For pardoning, with hazards piled atop.

But the sea has excuses in the breadth of its surface,

You'll never see it shake the land convulsive

And in the piling waves it contains.

ولستَ تراهُ في الرياحِ مزلزلاً

بما فيه إِلّا في الشداد الغوالبِ

Beyond what mighty winds and powers compel.

You do not see it shaken by the winds

If a fearsome wave rises, the shore provides

Despite its volume, except in the overwhelming storms.

وإنْ خيفَ موجٌ عيذ منه بساحلٍ

خليٍّ من الأجرافِ ذات الكَباكبِ

Shelter where flood and storm are meaningless.

And if waves are feared, refuge is sought in a coast

It disgorges what it swallowed, unlike seas

Free from cliffs possessing massive crowds.

ويلفظُ ما فيهِ فليس مُعاجلاً

غريقاً بغتٍّ يُزهقُ النفسَ كاربِ

That suck ships down and instantly ensnare.

It casts out what is in it, not rushing

It makes excuses for those nearly drowned

To stifle a drowning man with a breath-taking choke.

يعلِّلُ غرقاهُ إلى أن يُغيثَهم

بصنعٍ لطيفٍ منه خيرِ مصاحَبِ

Till rescued by some gracious blessing sent.

It distracts its drowned victims until it rescues them

Thus kindly waves restore to joyful throngs

With a gentle act; it is the best of companions.

فتُلفَى الدلافينُ الكريمُ طباعُها

هناك رِعالاً عند نَكبِ النواكبِ

Those stranded when calamity descends.

Thus dolphins, noble in their nature,

Ships wrecked are turned to planks, each signifying

Are found there in pods during the worst calamities,

مراكبَ للقومِ الذين كبا بهم

فهم وَسْطه غرقى وهم في مراكبِ

Some group or other plunged mid-voyage to doom.

Vehicles for the people whom the ships failed,

You've wearied me with fears of travel's dangers,

So they are drowning in the middle, yet they are on vessels.

وينقضُ ألواحَ السفينِ فكُلُّها

مُنَجٍّ لدى نَوْبٍ من الكَسْر نائبِ

Especially when waters rise like giants.

And if it shatters the planks of the ship, all of them

And monsters of the deep attack the land's

Become saviors during the crisis of a breaking vessel.

وما أنا بالراضي عن البحر مركباً

ولكنني عارضتُ شَغْبَ المشاغبِ

Fair regions - harm reaching even hermits' caves.

I am not satisfied with the sea as a mount,

As if true courage was to drown at sea,

But I have countered the argument of the arguer.

صدقْتُك عن نفسي وأنت مُراغمي

وموضعُ سري دون أدنى الأقاربِ

Or sink in rapids, lost without a trace!

I have been truthful with you about myself, though you oppose me,

This your command, while my allotted burden

And you are the keeper of my secret, closer than nearest kin.

وجرَّبتُ حتى ما أرى الدهرَ مُغرِباً

عليّ بشيءٍ لم يقعْ في تجاربي

Is wisdom and advice for people's needs.

I have experienced life until I do not see Time bringing

Reassure and raise me! Make my payment bounty,

Anything strange to me that has not occurred in my trials.

أرى المرءَ مذ يلقى الترابَ بوجهِهِ

إلى أن يُوارَى فيه رهن النوائبِ

And tireless be in growing benefits.

I see that man, from the moment he meets the dust with his face

Let your munificence continue perfect,

Until he is buried in it, is a hostage to misfortunes.

ولو لم يُصَبْ إِلّا بشرخِ شبابِهِ

لكان قد استوفى جميعَ المصائبِ

Flawless in its grace, envious reproach beyond.

Even if he were afflicted only by the passing of his youth,

On me the horrors of the journey weigh,

He would have exhausted all calamities.

ومن صَدَق الأخيارَ داوَوْا سقامَهُ

بصِحَّةِ آراءٍ ويُمْنِ نَقائبِ

Bleak winter, piercing winds and gloomy clouds.

Whoever is truthful with good men, they cure his sickness

Especially when the sea rose in its fury,

With sound opinions and blessed insights.

وما زال صدقُ المستشير معاوناً

على الرأي لُبَّ المستشار المحازِبِ

And the gales blustered, blew the sky to flame.

The honesty of the seeker of counsel continues to aid

Until a pall of dust engulfed the land,

The intellect of the partisan counselor in forming an opinion.

وأبعدُ أدواءِ الرجالِ ذوي الضّنى

من البرء داءُ المستطِبِّ المكاذبِ

Harming even hermits in their distant caves.

And the furthest of sick men from a cure

As if praise only comes by drowning in the sea

Is the ailment of the patient who lies to the doctor.

فلا تنصبنَّ الحربَ لي بملامتي

وأنت سلاحي في حروب النوائبِ

Or vanishing in rapids - what absurdity!

So do not set up a war against me with your blame,

By my life, if I'm arraigned for accepting gifts,

For you are my weapon in the wars of misfortune.

وأجدى من التعنيف حسنُ معونةٍ

برأيٍ ولينٍ من خطابِ المخاطبِ

Surely you have judged with reckoning unjust!

More useful than rebuke is good assistance

I know your sympathy presumes you now

With an opinion and gentleness in the speech of the speaker.

وفي النصح خيرٌ من نصيحٍ مُوادِعٍ

ولا خيرَ فيهِ من نصيحٍ مُواثبِ

My judge and writer, rising o'er all else.

In advice, there is more good from a gentle counselor,

Spare me your writer's sentence! It is still

And no good in it from a counselor who attacks.

ومثليَ محتاجٌ إلى ذي سماحةٍ

كريمِ السجايا أريحيِّ الضرائبِ

The verse's foe, with nothing held in common.

Someone like me is in need of a man of tolerance,

Else would the wisest sages not proclaim

Noble in character, generous in nature,

يلينُ على أهلِ التسحُّب مَسُّهُ

ويقضي لهم عند اقتراح الرغائبِ

Highest ranked, Ghassan's potent king of lore.

Whose touch is soft upon those who drag their feet,

Certainly, more blessings have been heaped

And who fulfills their needs when they propose desires.

له نائلٌ ما زال طالبَ طالبٍ

ومرتادَ مرتادٍ وخاطبَ خاطبِ

By Amr's father, never causing harm.

He has a bounty that remains the seeker of the seeker,

Nothing hurts more than severance; it strikes

The pursuer of the pursuer, and the suitor of the suitor.

ألا ماجدُ الأخلاقِ حُرٌّ فَعالُهُ

تُباري عطاياهُ عطايا السحائبِ

Between loved ones a lashing with two whips.

Verily, he is glorious in morals, free in his deeds;

Due to severance his prudent words proclaimed,

His gifts compete with the gifts of the rain clouds.

كمثل أبي العباس إنَّ نوالَهُ

نوال الحيا يسعى إلى كلِّ طالبِ

Gently chiding, O Ameemeh, unrequited lover.

Like Abu al-Abbas: indeed, his generosity

You refused customary grace to pardon

Is the generosity of rain that runs to every seeker.

يُسيِّر نحوي عُرْفَهُ فيزورني

هنيئاً ولم أركبْ صعابَ المراكبِ

And dismiss defects, a filtering required.

He sends his kindness towards me, so it visits me

Nay, glory spurns all but your noble self,

Enjoyably, without my having to ride difficult mounts.

يَسير إلى مُمتاحه فيجودُهُ

ويكفي أخا الإمحال زَمَّ الركائبِ

Raising you above the cited and the judge.

He travels to the one seeking him, showering him with bounty,

Have patience - 'tis expected you sustain

Saving the brother of famine from bridling the camels.

ومن يكُ مثلاً للحيا في عُلُوِّهِ

يكنْ مثلَهُ في جودهِ بالمواهبِ

The full weight - though the stalwarts find it taxing.

Whoever is a likeness of the rain in its height

No wonder men disdain the weary striving

Will be like it in his generosity with gifts.

وإنَّ نِفاري منه وهو يُريغني

لَشيءٌ لرأي فيه غيرُ مناسبِ

Of one who toys in comfort and blithe dalliance.

Indeed, my shying away from him while he seeks me

For one who leads must prove himself unmatched

Is a thing that does not suit my opinion of him.

وإن قعودي عنهُ خيفةَ نكبةٍ

لَلؤمُ مَهَزٍّ وانثناءُ مَضاربِ

In aiding lowliest ranks in time of sport and play.

And my sitting back from him for fear of disaster

He who ascends the stairs of glory still,

Is but the stiffness of a sword hilt and the bending of blades.

أُقرُّ على نفسي بعيبي لأنني

أرى الصدقَ يمحو بَيّنات المعايبِ

Attains the utmost rungs o'er pedestrian heads.

I admit against myself my own fault, for I

You see me labor using all my wits

See that truth erases the clear signs of defects.

لَؤُمْتُ لَعمر اللَّه فيما أَتيتُهُ

وإن كنتُ من قومٍ كرام المناصِبِ

To shine your name in verse and avoid trouble.

I have been ignoble, by God, in what I have done,

I've granted you poetic gifts, as though

Even if I am from a people of noble positions.

لهم حِلْمُ إنسٍ في عَرامة جِنّةٍ

وبأسُ أُسودٍ في دهاء ثعالبِ

Each phrase were a fair maiden's neck embrace.

They have the forbearance of humans in the fierceness of jinn,

Refinement manifest, each line inlaid

And the courage of lions in the cunning of foxes.

يصولون بالأيدي إذا الحربُ أَعملتْ

سيوفَ سُريجٍ بعد أرماح زاعبِ

With pearl, or cleavages of shapely waists.

They attack with hands when war puts to work

If you allow, for you they are most fit,

The swords of Surayj after the spears of Za'ab.

ولا بد من أن يَلؤُم المرءُ نازعاً

إلى الحَمَأ المسنونِ ضربة لازبِ

Else I'll abstain, untroubled and unleashing.

Inevitably, a man must act ignobly, reverting

Should any ask about you in reproach,

To the putrid black mud from which man was molded.

فقل لأبي العباس لُقِّيتَ وجهَهُ

وحَسْبُك مني تلك دعوةَ صاحبِ

I will confess I was ungrateful, blameworthy;

So say to Abu al-Abbas, may you meet his face,

Say you invited me to bask in plenty,

And let this suffice as a call from a companion:

أمَا حقُّ حامي عِرض مثلك أن يُرى

له الرفدُ والترفيهُ أَوْجَبَ واجبِ

And you withheld it not, you showered me instead.

Is it not the right of a protector of honor like you to see

No barriers or veils obscured your gifts,

That support and easing of burdens are the most obligatory of duties?

أَمِنْ بعدِ ما لم تَرْعَ للمالِ حرمةً

وأسلمتَهُ للجود غيرَ مُجاذبِ

But turning to my craft, I went away.

Is it that after you respected no sanctity of wealth,

So rightly you bestowed, I was unjust,

And surrendered it to generosity without contention,

فأعطيتَ ذا سلمٍ وحربٍ وَوُصلةٍ

وذنبٍ عطايا أدركتْ كلَّ هاربِ

Still fixed upon the path of glory's light.

And gave to those of peace, war, connection,

How miserable if my robe's hem trails

And sin, gifts that overtook every fleeing man,

ولم تُشخِصِ العافين لكنْ أتتهُمُ

لُهاك جَليباتٍ لأكرمِ جالبِ

In a misguidance charged to me, the faithless!

And you did not make the seekers travel, but rather your gifts

You are the noble soul whose nature marks

Came to them, brought by the most generous bringer,

عليماً بأنّ الظَّعْنَ فيه مشقّةٌ

وأنّ أَمرَّ الربح ربحُ الجلائبِ

True freemen, by no grasping talons marred.

Knowing that in travel lies hardship,

Not one whose words betray a robbed man's darkness

And that the bitterest profit is the profit of imported goods,

تُكلّفني هولَ السِّفارِ وغولَهُ

رفيقَ شتاءٍ مُقْفعِلَّ الرواجبِ

And the tyranny of one who steals by force.

You task me with the terror of travel and its ogres,

Impugning honor of worthy men, though innocent,

A companion of winter with frozen knuckles?

ولاسيّما حين ارتدى الماءُ كِبْرَهُ

وشاغَب أنفاسَ الصَّبا والجنائبِ

Transgressing against repute like slavering dogs.

Especially when the water has donned its pride,

Only to then decry all people in verse, penned as

And clashed with the breaths of the east and south winds,

وهرَّتْ على مُستطرِقي البَرَّ قَرَّةٌ

يَمسُّ أذاها دونَ لوثِ العصائبِ

The plaint of one despoiled, a bandit's accusation.

And a biting cold growls at those traversing the land,

My fate be not arraigned for accepting gifts,

Its harm touching them despite the wrapping of turbans.

كأن تمامَ الودِّ والمدح كلَّهُ

هُوِيُّ الفتى في البحر أو في السَّباسبِ

When I proved craven - courage was not my making.

As if the perfection of affection and all praise

Demand of stalwarts daring for the fray,

Is for a young man to fall into the sea or the wastelands!

لعمري لئن حاسَبْتني في مثوبتي

بخفضي لقد أجريتَ عادةَ حاسبِ

Those titled warriors, donning armor's weight.

By my life, if you account for my ease in my reward,

I have not walked the field, but lofty tents

You would be following the custom of a reckoning clerk.

حَنانَيْك قد أيقنتُ أنك كاتبٌ

له رتبةٌ تعلو به كلَّ كاتبِ

Dot its span, my spirit failed at heralds' martial call.

Have mercy! I have become certain that you are a scribe

As for a man of wisdom and eloquence,

Possessing a rank that elevates him above every scribe.

فدعني من حكمِ الكتابة إنهُ

عدوٌ لحكم الشعر غيرُ مقارِبِ

Demand he guide aright when fixed with questions.

So spare me the logic of bookkeeping, for it is

Confirm me, elevate me, magnify my reward,

An enemy to the judgment of poetry, nowhere near it.

وإِلّا فلَم يستعملِ العدلَ جاعلٌ

أَجَدَّ مُجدٍّ قِرْنَ أَلعبِ لاعبِ

Continue steadfast in your kindly graces.

Otherwise, no maker of justice has utilized

Let your munificence, preserved intact,

The most serious earnestness as a peer to the most playful player.

أيعزُبُ عنك الرأيُ في أن تُثيبني

مقيماً مصوناً عن عناء المطالبِ

Reach me without the flaws the critic cites.

Does the opinion escape you to reward me

And so no gossips say he recompensed

While I am resident, protected from the suffering of demands?

فتُلفى وأُلفَى بين صافي صنيعةٍ

وصافي ثناءٍ لم يُشَبْ بالمعاتِبِ

Then punished him, their loose words sharply stabbing.

So you are found, and I am found, between pure beneficence

Your noble ways require you overlook

And pure praise, untainted by reproaches.

وتخرج من أحكام قومٍ تشدّدوا

فقد جعلوا آلاءهم كالمصائبِ

Transgressions - be your bounty free in full.

And you exit from the judgments of a people who were harsh,

Your gifts give hope and lavish life again,

For they made their favors feel like calamities.

أيذهبُ هذا عنك يا ابن محمدٍ

وأنت مَعاذٌ في الأمور الحوازبِ

Vanquish the bitterest of calamities.

Does this escape you, O son of Muhammad,

They outweigh mere wealth; hopes of your petitioners,

When you are a refuge in difficult matters?

لك الرأي والجودُ اللذان كلاهما

زعيمٌ بكشف المطبِقات الكواربِ

Lavishing on suspect ambitions of the crowd.

You possess judgment and generosity, both of which

I wished your bounty's measure be no less,

Are guarantors for dispelling crushing distress.

وما زلت ذا ضوء نوءٍ لمجدبٍ

وحيرانَ حتى قيل بعضُ الكواكبِ

That you in cheerful mood be undiminished.

You remain a light of a star for the drought-stricken,

Lest wagging tongues say you rewarded, then,

And for the bewildered, until it is said you are one of the planets.

تغيث وتَهدي عند جدبٍ وحيرةٍ

بمحتفل ثَرٍّ وأزهر ثاقِبِ

Withheld your gifts - of all vile deeds the worst.

You aid and guide during drought and confusion,

Your noble ways require I keep far from

With a flowing assembly and a piercing brightness.

وأحسُن عرفٍ موقعاً ما تنالُهُ

يدي وغُرابي بالنوى غيرُ ناعبِ

Such gross ingratitude - do give your favors.

The best favor in its placement is that which my hand

Increase your bounty, O pillar of renown,

Attains while my crow does not croak of separation.

أراك متى ثَوَّبتني في رفاهةٍ

زففتَ إليَّ المُلْكَ بين الكتائبِ

Cement our pact with giving free and open.

I see that when you reward me in comfort,

God's pleasure crowns those noble attributes,

You have wedded me to the kingdom amidst the battalions.

وأنت متى ثوَّبتني في مشقّةٍ

رأيتك في شخصِ المُثيب المعاقِبِ

Wealth and delight abounding - joy to them!

But when you reward me in hardship,

Were I emboldened by your helping hand

I see you in the form of a rewarding punisher.

ولو لم يكن في العرف صافٍ مهنّأٌ

وذو كَدَرٍ والعرفُ شتَّى المَشاربِ

To face the strangest woes and darkness lifted,

If there were not in favors the pure and enjoyable,

I would praise your timely rescue of one lost,

And the turbid—for favors have diverse drinking places—

إذاً لم يقل أعلى النوابغِ رتبةً

لمِقوَلِ غَسّانِ الملوكِ الأَشايبِ

Like lightning's smile, friendly once distant and dim.

Then the highest of the geniuses in rank would not have said

In appealing to your noble ways lie traces

To the ruler of Ghassan, the kings of mixed tribes:

عليَّ لعمروٍ نعمةٌ بعدَ نعمةٍ

لوالِده ليستْ بذات عقاربِ

Of shining blades, gleaming wells, and flames enfolded.

"I owe to Amr a favor after favor,

I've clothed myself in brilliant verse, yet fear no assault,

To his father, which are not possessed of scorpions."

وما عقربٌ أدهَى من البين إنه

له لَسْعةٌ بين الحشا والترائبِ

Too coarse to feel the touch of piercing shafts.

And no scorpion is more cunning than separation, for it

No wonder generosity attends me

Has a sting between the entrails and the ribs.

ومن أجل ما راعى من البين قوله

كليني لهمٍّ يا أميمةَ ناصبِ

Though absent, for I sing your praise in place and time.

And because of what he feared of separation, he said:

The reins I hold are not a ship's, and my due right

"Leave me to a grief, O Umayma, that is exhausting."

أبيتَ سوى تكلِيفك العرفَ مُعْفِياً

به صافياً من مؤذيات الشوائبِ

Not what the sailor claims amidst the squalls.

You refused everything but burdening yourself with the favor,

Yet people are alert to worth, as eagles

Exempting it, pure from painful impurities.

بل المجدُ يأبي غيرَ سَوْمِك نفسَهُ

ورفعِك عن طود المُنيل المحاسبِ

Circling their prey, ever ready to defend.

Nay, glory refuses anything but your offering of yourself,

Saving those who stumble in misfortune's depths,

And your rising above the mountain of the calculating giver.

فصبراً على تحميلك الثِّقلَ كلَّهُ

وإن عزَّ تحميلُ القرومِ المَصاعبِ

Ensnared in grief and the untangling of life's knots.

So patience upon your bearing of the entire burden,

To God I make my plaint of gloom unending,

Even if the loading of difficulties is hard upon the strong camels.

ولا يعجبنَّ الناسُ من سعي متعَبٍ

مُشيحٍ لجدوى مستريح مُداعبِ

No dawn relieves its shroud or lifts its veil.

Let people not wonder at the striving of a weary man,

With bitter brine stuck in my throat beyond relief,

Zealous for the gift of one who is resting and joking.

فمن ساد قوماً أوجب الطولُ أن يُرى

مُجِدّاً لأدناهُمْ وهم في الملاعبِ

Neither palatable nor easy to spit out.

For whoever leads a people, his eminence requires that he be seen

Striving for the least of them, while they are at play.

ومن لم يزل في مَصْعَدِ المجد راقياً

صعابَ المَراقي نال عُليا المراتبِ

And whoever ceases not to ascend in the ascent of glory,

Climbing difficult steps, attains the highest ranks.

ألم ترني أتعبتُ فكري مُحكِّكاً

لك الشعرَ كي لا أُبتلى بالمتاعبِ

Do you not see me exhausting my thoughts, refining

The poetry for you, so that I am not tested with hardships?

نَحلتُك حَلْياً من مديحٍ كأنه

هَوى كلِّ صبٍّ من عِناق الحبائبِ

I have gifted you an ornament of praise, as if it were

The passion of every lover from the embrace of beloveds.

أنيقاً حقيقاً أن تكون حِقاقُهُ

من الدرّ لا بل من ثُدِيِّ الكواعبِ

Elegant, worthy that its small boxes be

Of pearls—no, rather from the breasts of young maidens.

وأنت له أهلٌ فإن تجْزني به

أزِدْك وإن تُمْسِكْ أقفْ غيرَ عاتِب

You are worthy of it; so if you reward me for it,

I will increase you; and if you withhold, I will stop without blaming.

فإن سَألتْنِي عنك يوماً عصابةٌ

شهدتُ على نفسي بسوء المناقبِ

For if a group asks me about you one day,

I will testify against myself with bad traits.

وقلت دعاني للندى فأتيتُهُ

فأمسكَهُ بل بثَّهُ في المناهبِ

And I will say: "He invited me to generosity, so I came to him,

But he withheld it—nay, he spread it in the plunder."

وما احتجزتْ مني لُهاهُ بحاجزٍ

ولا احتجبتْ عني هناك بحاجبِ

His gifts were not held back from me by a barrier,

Nor were they veiled from me there by a doorkeeper.

ولكن تَصدَّتْ وانحرفتُ لحرفتي

ففاءت ولم تظلِم إلى خيرِ واهبِ

But they appeared, and I turned away to my profession,

So they returned—without having wronged—to the best giver.

وما قلت إلا الحقَّ فيك ولم تزل

على منهجٍ من سُنّةِ المجد لاحبِ

I have said nothing but the truth about you, and you remain

Upon a clear path from the sunnah of glory.

وإني لأشقَى الناس إن زُرَّ ملبسي

على إثمِ أفَّاكٍ وحسرةِ خائبِ

I would indeed be the most wretched of people if my garment were buttoned

Over the sin of a liar and the regret of a failure.

وكنتَ الفتى الحرَّ الذي فيه شيمةٌ

تَشيم عن الأحرار حدَّ المَخالبِ

You were the free youth in whom there is a character

That sheathes the sharp claws away from the freeborn.

ولست كمن يعدو وفي كلماتِهِ

تظلُّمُ مغصوبٍ وعدوانُ غاصبِ

You are not like one who attacks, while in his words

Is the complaint of the usurped and the aggression of the usurper.

يحاول معروفَ الرجالِ وإن أَبوْا

تعدَّى على أعراضهم كالمُكالبِ

He attempts the favor of men, and if they refuse,

He transgresses against their honor like a rabid dog.

وأصبح يشكو الناسَ في الشعر جامعاً

شكايَة مسلوبٍ وتسليطَ سالبِ

He begins to complain of people in poetry, combining

The complaint of a victim and the domination of a thief.

فلا تَحرمنّي كي تُجِدَّ عجيبةً

لقومٍ فحسبُ الناس ماضي العجائبِ

So do not deprive me, that you may renew a wonder

For a people, for the past wonders are sufficient for people.

ولا تنتقصْ من قدر حظّي إقامتي

سألتك بالداعين بين الأَخاشبِ

And do not diminish the value of my luck by my staying;

I ask you by those praying between the mountains of Mecca.

وما اعتقلتني رغبةٌ عنك يَمَّمت

سواك ولكن أيُّ رهبة راهبِ

No desire away from you has detained me, such that I sought

Other than you; but rather, what a fear of a monk!

كأني أرى بالظعن طعنَ مُطاعِنٍ

وبالضرب في الأقطار ضربَ مضاربِ

As if I see in travel the stabbing of a lancer,

And in striking through the lands, the striking of swords.

وليس جزائي أن أَخيب لأنني

جَبُنْتُ ولم أُخْلَق عتادَ مُحارِبِ

My reward is not that I fail because I

Was cowardly and was not created with the gear of a warrior.

يُطَالبُ بالإقدام من عُدَّ مُحْرَباً

وسُمِّي مذ ناغى بقودِ المَقانبِ

Boldness is demanded of one who is counted as a warrior,

And named so since he cooed, leading the squadrons.

ولم يمشِ قيدَ الشبرِ إلا وفوقه

عصائبُ طيرٍ تهتدي بعصائبِ

Who has not walked the length of a span unless above him

Were flocks of birds guided by other flocks.

فأمَّا فتىً ذو حكمةٍ وبلاغةٍ

فطالبْهُ بالتسديد وسط المَخاطبِ

But as for a youth of wisdom and eloquence,

Demand of him correctness in the midst of speeches.

أَثبني ورَفِّهني وأَجزلْ مثوبتي

وثابرْ على إدرارِ بِرِّي وواظبِ

Reward me, grant me comfort, and make my recompense abundant,

And persist in flowing my charity, and persevere.

لتأتيني جدواك وهي سليمةٌ

من العيب ما فيها اعتلالٌ لعائبِ

So that your gift comes to me while it is safe

From defect; there is no illness in it for a fault-finder.

أثقِّلُ إدلالي لتحملَ ثِقْلَهُ

بطوع المُراضي لا بكرهِ المغاضبِ

I make heavy my imposition so that you bear its weight

With the obedience of a pacifier, not the hatred of an angry man.

وما طلبُ الرِّفْد الهَنيء ببدعةٍ

ولا عجبُ المُسترفدِيهِ بعاجبِ

Seeking a wholesome gift is not an innovation,

Nor is the wonder of one seeking it a marvel.

وذاك مَزيدٌ في معاليك كلُّهُ

وفي صدقِ هاتيك القوافي السواربِ

That is an increase in your high qualities, all of it,

And in the truth of those wandering rhymes.

وما حَقُّ باغيك المزيدَ انتقاصُهُ

ولاسيما والمالُ جَمُّ الحلائبِ

It is not right to diminish the one who seeks increase from you,

Especially when wealth has abundant milk-givers.

وأنت الذي يضحي وأدنى عطائِهِ

بلوغُ الأماني بل قضاءُ المآربِ

You are the one who enters the morning, and the least of his gifts

Is the attainment of wishes, nay, the fulfillment of needs.

وتوزَنُ بالأموال آمالُ وفدِهِ

وإرفادُ قومٍ بالظنون الكواذبِ

The hopes of his delegation are weighed against wealth,

While the support of others is with lying conjectures.

أقمتُ لكي تزدادَ نعماك نعمةً

وتَغْنَى بوجهٍ ناضرٍ غيرِ شاحبِ

I stayed behind so that your favors might increase in favor,

And so you might be rich with a fresh face, not pale.

وكي لا يقولَ القائلون أثابَهُ

وعاقَبَهُ والقولُ جَمَّ المَشاعِبِ

And so that the sayers might not say: "He rewarded him

And punished him," for speech has many branches.

وصَوْني عن التهجين عُرفَك موجِبٌ

مَزيدَك لي في الرفد يا ابن المَرازِبِ

My preservation of your favor from ugliness necessitates

Your increase to me in the gift, O son of the Marazib.

بوجهك أضحى كلُّ شيءٍ منوراً

وأبرزَ وجهاً ضاحكاً غيرَ قاطبِ

By your face, everything has become illuminated,

And has shown a laughing face, not frowning.

فلا تبتذلْهُ في المَغاضب ظالماً

فلم تؤتَ وجهاً مثله للمغاضبِ

So do not degrade it in anger, acting unjustly,

For you were not given a face like it for anger.

نشرت على الدنيا شعاعاً أضاءها

وكانت ظلاماً مُدلهِمَّ الغياهبِ

You spread over the world a beam that lit it up,

When it was darkness with gloomy depths.

كأنك تلقاءَ الخليقةِ كلّها

مشارقُ شمسٍ أشرقتْ لمغاربِ

As if you, facing all of creation,

Are sunrises that have shone for sunsets.

لِيَهنِ فتىً أطراك أنْ نال سُؤْلَهُ

لديك وأنْ لم يحتقِب وِزْرَ كاذبِ

Let the youth who praised you be congratulated that he attained his request

From you, and did not carry the burden of a liar.

رضا اللّهِ في تلك الحقائب والغنى

جميعاً ألا فوزاً لتلك الحقائبِ

The pleasure of God is in those bags, and wealth

Together; oh, what a victory for those bags!

كأني أراني قائلاً إنْ أعانني

نداك على ريب الخطوب الروائبِ

As if I see myself saying, if your dew aids me

Against the uncertainty of curdling misfortunes:

جُزيتَ العلا من مستغاثٍ أجابني

جوابَ ضَحوكِ البرقِ داني الهيادبِ

"You have been rewarded with high status by a succor-seeker; he answered me

With the answer of a laughing lightning bolt, low-hanging in fringes."

وفي مُستماحي العرفِ بارقُ خُلَّبٍ

ولامعُ رقراقٍ ونارُ حُباحبِ

And in the one whose favor is sought, there is a deceiving lightning,

And a shimmering mirage, and the fire of a firefly.

تسحّبتُ في شعري ولان لجلدتي

ثراه فما استخشنتُ مسَّ المسَاحبِ

I dragged my train in my poetry, and its soil

Softened my skin, so I did not find the touch of the dragging-places rough.

وليس عجيباً أن ينوبَ تكرُّمٌ

غذيتُ به عن آمِلٍ لك غائبِ

It is not strange that a generosity I was fed with

Should substitute for a hoper of yours who is absent.

أقمْهُ مُقامي ناطقاً بمدائحي

لديك وقد صدّرتها بالمنَاسبِ

Establish it in my place, speaking my praises

Before you, when I have prefaced them with lineages.

ذماميَ تَرْعَى لا ذمامَ سفينة

وحَقِّيَ لا حقَّ القِلاصِ الذَّعالبِ

You watch over my protection, not the protection of a ship,

And my right, not the right of the swift camels.

وفي الناس أيقاظٌ لكل كريمةٍ

كأنهمُ العِقبانُ فوقَ المَراقبِ

Among people are those awake to every noble deed,

As if they were eagles atop the watchtowers.

يُراعون أمثالي فيستنقذونهم

وهم في كروبٍ جمّةٍ وذَباذبِ

They watch over the likes of me, so they rescue them

While they are in immense distress and wavering.

إلى اللَّه أشكو غُمّةً لا صباحُها

يُنير ولا تنجاب عني بجائب

To God I complain of a grief whose morning does not

Shine, nor does it clear away from me with any clearing,

نُشوبَ الشَّجا في الحلق لا هو سائغ

ولا هو ملفوظ كذا كلُّ ناشِب

Like a bone stuck in the throat, neither swallowed

Nor spit out; such is the nature of every stuck thing.