أَلَمّا يَكفِ في طَلَلَي زَرودِ
بُكاؤُكَ دارِسَ الدِمنِ الهُمودِ
Has not your weeping at my two ruined camps in Zarūd yet sufficed?
Your weeping over effaced encampments, silent and still—
وَلَومُ الرَكبِ أَن حَيَّيتَ رَبعاً
تَغَيَّرَ بُعدَ مَعهَدِهِ الجَديدِ
And the caravan’s reproach because you greeted an abode
Changed since the days when its dwelling-place was new?
وَمَن يَدعُ المَنازِلَ لا يُحَيّا
وَلَو أَنهُجنَ إِنهاجَ البُرودِ
Whoever calls upon the dwellings receives no greeting,
Though they have been worn away as garments are worn.
تَجودُ بِأَدمُعٍ بَخُلَت رِجالٌ
بِهِنَّ وَما تُعارُ سَماعَ جودِ
You lavish tears that men have grudged,
Tears for them—for the renown of giving is not borrowed.
وَنُلحى في مُواصَلَةِ الغَواني
وَما تُلحى الغَواني في الصُدودِ
We are blamed for seeking union with the beauties,
Yet the beauties are not blamed for turning away.
عَجِبتُ لِحيرَتي وَضَلالِ رَأيي
وَكُنتُ أُرادُ لِلرَأيِ الرَشيدِ
I marvel at my bewilderment and my judgment’s error,
When once I was sought for prudent counsel.
وَمِن قَصضي لِرَأسِ العَينِ أَسعى
إِلى حَظِرٍ بِعَقوَتِها زَهيدِ
Among my purposes I strive toward Raʾs al-ʿAyn,
Toward some meager fortune in its precincts.
وَبَعضُ السَعيِ لِلمُرتادِ حَينٌ
وَبَعضُ الصُنعِ في بَعضِ القُعودِ
Some striving brings the seeker to his doom,
And sometimes wisdom lies in sitting still.
غُلِبتُ عَلى الصَوابِ وَصَفَّدَتني
ضَروراتُ المَطامِعِ وَالجُدودِ
I was overruled against sound judgment, and fettered
By the necessities of ambition and fortune.
وَما تَركي لِمَنبِجَ وَاِختِياري
لِرَأسِ العَينِ فِعلٌ مِن مَريدِ
My leaving Manbij and choosing
Raʾs al-ʿAyn was no act of willing choice.
وَما الخابورُ لي بَدَلاً رَضِيّاً
مِنَ الساجورِ لَو فُكَّت قُيودي
The Khabur is no pleasing substitute for me
For the Sajur, if only my fetters were loosed.
لَئِن أَكدى الشَآمُ فَلَستُ يَوماً
لِإِجداءِ العِراقِ بِمُستَزيدِ
Though Syria prove barren, never shall I
Ask Iraq to grant me still more bounty.
وَغَلّاتُ الضَياعِ إِنِ اِستُبيحَت
فَلَيسَ تُباحُ غَلّاتُ القَصيدِ
Though the revenues of estates be freely yielded,
The harvests of poetry are not freely taken.
أَلا أَنَّ اِبنَ عَبّاسٍ حَباني
بِنُعمى أَظهَرَت بُؤسَي حَسودي
Indeed, Ibn ʿAbbās bestowed upon me
A favor that exposed my envier’s misery—
فَتى العُربِ المُقَدَّمُ في المَعالي
عَلى مَدرِيِّها وَذَوي العَمودِ
The foremost youth of the Arabs in noble deeds,
Above its settled folk and its people of the tent-pole;
وَسَيِّدُها الَّذي أَعطَتهُ حَقَّ ال
مُسَوَّدِ في الرِجالِ عَلى المَسودِ
Its lord, to whom it granted the right to be—
Lord among men, above all those who are ruled.
تَراها حَيثُ كانَ إِذا رَأَتهُ
عُناةَ اللَحظِ خاضِعَةَ الخُدودِ
You see it wherever he may be, when it beholds him,
Captive to his glance, with cheeks bowed low.
لَها الكَنَفُ الرَحيبُ بِساحَتَيهِ
وَطولُ مُعَرِّسِ الظِلِّ المَديدِ
His is the spacious shelter with its two courtyards,
And the long resting-place of far-extended shade.
تَعوذُ بِقِدحِها مَعَهُ المُعَلّى
وَأَنجُمِها بِدَولَتِهِ السُعودِ
With him, the winning arrow shelters in its quiver,
And its stars grow auspicious through his rule.
لَنِعمَ مُناخُ أَنضاءِ المَطايا
عَسَفنَ إِلَيهِ بيداً بَعدَ بيدِ
Excellent is he as a resting-place for travel-worn camels
That crossed wilderness after wilderness to reach him,
وَحَشوُ كَتيبَةٍ جُعِلَت غِشاءً
لِعَينِ الشَمسِ مِن لَهَبِ الحَديدِ
And for the heart of a battalion made into a veil
Across the sun’s eye by the blaze of iron.
وَلَم أَرَ مِثلَهُ في الدَهرِ يَغدو
لِمُختَلِفاتِ صَوبٍ أَو صُعودِ
Never in all time have I seen his like advance
Through contrary courses, whether descent or ascent:
أَحَدُّ عَلى العَدُوِّ غِرارَ سَيفٍ
وَأَكرَمُ في الخُطوبِ نِجارَ عودِ
Sharper against the enemy than a sword’s keen edge,
And nobler in calamities, of nobler stock.
تَمَهَّلَ بَعدَ إِقصارِ المُسامي
وَتَسليمِ المُنافِسِ وَالحَسودِ
He advanced deliberately after his rival fell short,
And competitor and envier yielded to him,
إِلى شَرَفٍ تَسامى مُرتَقاهُ
وَمَطلَعُهُ إِلى أَمَدٍ بَعيدِ
Toward an honor whose ascent rises high,
Whose point of rising reaches a distant bound;
وَبَيتٍ في أَبي بَكرٍ مُنيفٍ
عَلى أَبياتِ جَعفَرَ وَالوَحيدِ
And toward a house in Abū Bakr, lofty
Above the houses of Jaʿfar and al-Waḥīd.
مَناقِبُ لا يَزالُ الشِعرُ فيها
طَوالَ الدَهرِ في شُغلٍ جَديدِ
Virtues in which poetry never ceases
Throughout the ages to find fresh occupation.
وَأَلفَيتُ القَوافي كَالأَواخي
ضَمَنَّ غَوابِرَ الشَرَفِ التَليدِ
I found the rhymes to be like binding pegs,
Securing the surviving glory of ancient honor.
تُضَيَّعُ في الحَديثِ عَلى أُناسٍ
إِذا قَدُمَت وَتُحفَظُ في النَشيدِ
They are squandered in conversation upon some people,
But when they grow old, they are preserved in song.
وَلَم يَدخَر لِأُسرَتِهِ كَريمٌ
عَتاداً مِثلَ قافِيَةٍ شَرودِ
No noble man has stored up for his household
Provision like an untamed, far-roaming rhyme.
تَمَيَّل وَزنُهُم بِبَني أَبيهِم
كَما مالَ المَوالي بِالعَبيدِ
Its weight inclines them toward their father’s sons,
As masters lean upon their servants.
أَبا موسى وَما بِكَ مِن نُبُوٍّ
عَنِ الحَقِّ المُلِمِّ وَلا جُمودِ
Abū Mūsā, there is no aversion in you
From an urgent right, nor any rigidity.
وَلا اِعتَدّوا عَلَيكَ بِخُلفِ وَعدٍ
وَلا نُقصانِ سَطوٍ عَن وَعيدِ
Nor have they charged you with breaking a promise,
Or with force that falls short of its threat.
فَأَينَ بِحاجَتي عَن وَشكِ نُجحٍ
وَقَد أَوشَكتَ حاجاتِ الوُفودِ
Why, then, is my need kept from swift fulfillment,
When you have nearly fulfilled the delegations’ needs?
يُدافِعُ مُسلِمٌ عَنها وَيَكني
عَنِ الإِقرارِ فيها بِالجُحودِ
Muslim keeps delaying it and speaking obliquely,
Meeting its acknowledgment with denial.
يُحيلُ عَلى سَعيدٍ وَاِعتِمادي
عَلى مِئَتَيكَ لا مِئَتَي سَعيدِ
He refers me to Saʿīd, though my reliance
Is on your two hundred, not Saʿīd’s two hundred.
