يا هال ذات المنطق النمنام — Roba Bin Al Ajaj

يا هالَ ذاتَ المَنْطِقِ النَمْنامِ

كَأَنَّ وَسْواسَكِ بِالنُمَامِ

O Hal, you of murmuring speech,

as though your tale-bearing whispers

وَسْواسُ شَيْطانَي بَنِي هِنّامِ

إِنِّي فَمُوتِي كَمَداً أَوْ نامِي

were the whispers of the two devils of Banu Hinnam.

I—so die of grief, or sleep—

مُنْتَجِعٌ مَسْلَمَةَ الإِسْلامِ

يا صاحِ ما شاقَكَ مِنْ مَقامِ

am seeking bounty from Maslama of Islam.

My friend, what stirred your longing for a dwelling

بِأَسْمَحَانَ الجَبَلِ السُحامِ

بَعْدَ البِلَا وَالزَمَنِ القُدامِ

at Asmahan, the black mountain,

after decay and ancient time?

قَدْ مَحَّ إِلَّا رِمَمَ الرِمَامِ

وَارْفَضَّ باقِي شَذَبِ الخِيامِ

It has worn away, save for remnants of remnants,

and the remaining fragments of the tents have scattered.

أَمسَت بِهِ مَعاهِدُ الأَصرامِ

وُرقاً أَثافيهِنَّ كالحَمامِ

The encampments of the departed bands have become

ashen, their hearthstones like pigeons,

كَأَنَّهَا مَسْطُورَةُ الإِعْجامِ

ناطِقَةٌ بِالْقافِ أَوْ بِاللَّامِ

as though inscribed with distinguishing dots,

speaking with qaf or lam.

وَحَيِّ أُخْرَى دُرَّسِ الوِشامِ

رَقْماً بِحُزْوَى سُعَفاً كَالشامِ

And greet other traces, their tattoo-marks faded:

markings at Huzwa, frond-like, like beauty spots,

لِكُلِّ رَيَّا فَعْمَةِ الخِدامِ

تَسْبِي بِهُونِ الطَرْفِ وَالكَلامِ

belonging to every lush woman whose anklets are filled,

who captivates with gentle glances and speech

وَخَبْلِ أَدْواءِ الرُقَى النَوامِي

تَمِيحُ بِالإِسْحِلِ وَالبَشامِ

and the madness of maladies from growing spells.

She brushes her teeth with ishil and basham,

كَمَا جَلَا عَنْ بَرَدٍ بَسّامِ

بَرْقٌ أَغَرَّ طَيِّبَ الأَنْسامِ

as there flashed from smiling hailstones

a bright gleam, sweet of breath.

كَأَنَّ مِسْكاً ذاكِيَ الفُغَامِ

خالَطَ بَعْدَ وَسَنِ المَنامِ

As though musk with piercing fragrance

had mingled, after the drowsiness of sleep,

رَيَّا العِظامِ عَذْبَةَ اللُغامِ

عَرَّتْ مَطَاياكَ عَنِ الإِرْسامِ

with that full-boned woman, sweet of saliva.

Your mounts have been stripped of their brisk pace,

بَعْدَ الصِبا وَالغَزَلِ التَيّامِ

تَسْفِيرُ مُوسَى الصَلَعِ الجُلامِ

after youth and enslaving love-talk,

by the close-shearing razor's baring of baldness

وَبَرْيُها عَنْ هامَةٍ صُتامِ

فِي جانِبَيْها الشَيْبُ كَالثَغامِ

and its shaving over a solid skull,

with gray hair at its sides like thagham.

يا هالَ قَدْ أُولِعْتِ بِاتِّهامِي

وَنُمْتِ عَنْ باطِنَة الأَهْمامِ

O Hal, you have become obsessed with accusing me,

and slept unaware of my hidden cares.

لِلَّهِ عَفْوِي عَنْكِ وَاظِّلَامِي

قَبْلَكِ ما أَغْبَا ذَوِي الخِصامِ

To God belong my pardoning you and bearing injustice.

Before you, it never escaped men of contention

نَقْضِي حِبالَ الخَصْمِ وَانْتِقامِي

وَعِلْمِيَ العُقْمِيَّ وَاعْتِقامِي

how I unravel an adversary's cords and take revenge,

my abstruse knowledge and my ingenuity.

إِنْ أُمْسِ يا عَذّامَةَ العِذَامِ

بَعْدَ اكْتِسائِي كِسْوَةَ الوِسامِ

If, O reproacher above all reproachers, I come to be,

after clothing myself in the garb of handsome men,

كَالنَّصْلِ أَوْ كَخَلَقِ اللِجامِ

قَد خِفْتُ أَوْ شَفَّنِيَ احْتِمامِي

like a blade or a worn-out bridle,

fearing—or wasted by my distress—

بَغْياً مِنَ الأُمَّةِ ذا عُرَامِ

فِي فِتْنَةٍ تُسْعَرُ بِالإِضْرامِ

a fiercely violent outrage from the community,

in a rebellion stoked into flame,

أَوْ أَنْ تَصِيحَ هامَتِي فِي الهامِ

وَلَمْ يَقُمْ قَوْمِي عَلَى مَقامِي

or that my death-owl should cry among the death-owls,

without my people having taken my stand,

مُخْزِي الأَعادِي مُدْرِك الأَوْغامِ

قَوْمٌ أَجازوا مِحْنَة العَبامِ

shaming enemies and exacting vengeance:

they are men who overcame the fool's ordeal.

لَمّا شَفَى الشافِي مِنَ الأَسْقامِ

أَحْساسِها وَالرَسِّ وَالبِرْسامِ

When the Healer healed the illnesses,

their pangs, incipient fever, and pleurisy,

وَعُتَهِيِّ الجِنِّ ذِي الفُحَامِ

أَسْكَتَ أَهْلَ الكَمَدِ الوَجّامِ

and the jinn's derangement that chokes the breath,

he silenced those struck dumb with grief,

وَكَسَعُوا الفِتْنَةَ بِالنَدامِ

وَاعْتَزَّ أَوْقَ الثِقَل اعْتِكامِي

and they followed rebellion with remorse.

My compact packing overcame the load's weight.

إِنْ زَمَّ شَيْطان امْرِئٍ زَمّامِ

أَوْ خُزَمِيٌ طامِحُ الخِزامِ

If a bridling man's devil leads him by the rein,

or a nose-ringed one tosses his nose-ring high,

يَوْماً تَوَقَّمْنَاهُ بِالوِقامِ

لَوْ حُزَّ جَدْعاً لَمْ يَقُلْ هَمامِ

we will one day quell him with subjugation.

Even maimed by cutting, he would not say, 'I'll act!'

فَاقْرِ الهَوَى الطارِقَ بِالإِلْمامِ

عَوَّامَةً كَالخَشَبِ العَوّامِ

So entertain the love that visits briefly

with a swimming camel, like floating timber.

وَمَنْهَلٍ مُعَرِّدِ الجِمامِ

طامٍ مِن الأَجْنِ وَغَيْرِ طامِ

And a watering place whose pools draw back,

brimming with stagnant water, or not brimming:

أَفْضَتْ إِلَى عادِيَّةِ الأَسْدامِ

بِنا القِلاصُ العِيدُ وَالتَرامِي

there came to its ancient, silted pools

with us the young 'Id camels, through far-ranging travel,

قُدّامَ ذِئْبِ القَفْرَةِ السَمْسامِ

وَقَبْل أَوْراد القَطا النَأَّامِ

ahead of the swift wolf of the wasteland,

and before the noisy sandgrouse came to drink.

وَلَوْ تَرَى إِذْ جَدَّ بِي إِجْذامِي

وَانْحَلَّ بَعْدَ لَزْمِهِ كِعامِي

If only you could see when my haste drove me hard,

and my muzzle loosened after its tight binding:

جَوبِي إِلَيْكَ الخَرْقَ وَائْتِمامِي

عَطْشَى الصَدَى خاشِعَةَ الآرامِ

my crossing the waste toward you and seeking you out,

parched with thirst, its cairns bowed low,

عَلَى صُوىً مُسْتَرْعِفِ الشِمامِ

يَدُرْنَ غَرْقَى غَرَقَ الدُوامِ

over cairns with lofty projecting tops.

They whirl, drowned like spinning tops,

بَعْدَ ارْتِفاعٍ فِيهِ وَانْكِثامِ

فِي آلِ خَرْقٍ كاهِب الأَطْسامِ

after rising within it and sinking down,

in the mirage of a waste with dusky, faded traces,

أَعْبَرَ ذِي خَوَالِجٍ نَهّامِ

وَإِنْ هَوِيُّ القَرَبِ الهَمْهامِ

dust-colored, full of flickering currents, roaring.

Though the headlong, rumbling rush toward water

رَمَى بِأَيْدِيهِنَّ في انْقِحامِ

كَذَّبَ عَنِّي وَجَع الأَوْصامِ

hurled their forelegs into plunging strides,

the ache of bodily strains was driven from me,

وَعُدَوَاءَ الأَيْنِ وَالسَآمِ

ذِكْراكَ إِلّا أَنْ تَرَى اسْلِهْمامِي

and the assault of exhaustion and weariness,

by thoughts of you—unless you saw my dejection,

وَنَقْضِيَ العِمَّةَ وَاعْتِمامِي

وَنَصْبَ وَجْهِي سافِرَ اللِثامِ

my undoing my turban and winding it anew,

and my holding my face forward, its veil removed,

فِي أَرْكُبٍ يَرْمُونَ بِالأَجْرامِ

لَيْلاً كَجُلِّ الفالِجِ الدُهَامِ

amid riders flinging their bodies onward,

through a night like the blanket of a huge black camel,

بِذُبَّلٍ يَخْرُجْنَ كَالسَمامِ

مِنْ هَوْلِ كُلِّ غَمْرَةٍ غُمامِ

on lean camels that dart out like swifts

from the terror of every cloud-dark depth.

لَوْ لَمْ يَلِجْ ضَوْؤُكَ مِنْ أَمامِي

لَمْ يَسْتَقِمْ بِجَسَدِي عِظامِي

Had your light not entered from before me,

my bones would not have stood upright in my body.

مَسْلَمَةُ القائِدُ وَهوَ سامِ

كَالبَدْر أَجْلَى عَنْ دُجَى الغِيامِ

Maslama is the commander, exalted,

like the full moon clearing the darkness of clouds.

فَنِعْمَ غَيْثُ الوافِدِ المُعْتامِ

أَغَرْتَ بَعْدَ الفَتْلِ وَالإِبْرامِ

What excellent rain for the needy visitor!

You tightened the twist, after winding and binding,

قُوَى مُمَرٍّ غَيْرِ ذِي انْفصِامِ

فِدىً لِأَيّامِكَ مِن أَيَّامِ

of a firmly twisted rope's strands that never part.

Let other days be sacrificed for your days,

طَيِّبُ طَعْمِ النَوْمِ وَالطَعامِ

مِنْهُنَّ شَيْبٌ غَيْرُ ذَي وِخَامِ

days sweet with sleep and food.

Among them is gray hair without harmful weakness,

سَحٌّ إِذا قَلَّ نَدَى الجَهامِ

وَاغْبَرَّ لَوْنُ السَنَةِ الصُحامِ

a downpour when dry clouds yield little moisture

and the dark drought-year turns ashen;

وَخُلْعَ تاجُ المَلِكِ الهُمامِ

غَصْباً وَتَثْبِيتُكَ لِلأَقْدَامِ

and the stripping of the mighty king's crown

by force, and your steadying of feet,

إِذَا مَقَامُ الصابِرِ الأُزامِ

لَاقَى الرَدَى أَوْ عَضَّ بِالإِبْهامِ

when the steadfast man's station

met death, or he bit his thumb,

وَأَفْظَعَتْ داهِيَةٌ صَمَامِ

ذَبَّبْتَ تَذْبِيبَ امْرِئٍ مُحامِ

and a deaf, relentless calamity brought terror.

You drove it off as a defender drives off threats,

بِاللَّهِ عَنَّا وَعَنِ الإِسْلامِ

وَلَمْ تَزَلْ قائِدَ ذِي قُدّامِ

with God's aid, from us and from Islam.

You have always led a bold host,

عَلَيْهِ نَسْجُ الحَلَقِ التُؤَامِ

كَأَنَّهُ كِثْفٌ مِنَ اليمامِ

clad in a weave of doubled rings,

as though it were a dense flock of doves

أَوْ حَرَّةٌ مُسْوَدَّةُ الإِكَامِ

إِلَي عِراقِ الشَرْقِ أَوْ شَآمِ

or a lava field with blackened hills,

toward eastern Iraq or Sham.

وَذُدْتَ عَنْ غائرةِ التَهامِي

وَالعامَ جَلَّيْتَ وَكُلَّ عامِ

You warded danger from Tihama's lowlands.

This year, and every year, you have swept away

عَجاجَةً وَهَبْوَةَ القَتامِ

عَنْ دِينِ كُلِّ لُبَدٍ جَثَّامِ

a dust-cloud and the haze of dust

from the faith of every heavy-crouching, maned lion.

لَوْ لَمْ تُجِرْهُ دانَ لِلأَصْنامِ

وَنَحْنُ أَنْصارُكَ فِي الذِمامِ

Had you not protected him, he would have worshiped idols.

We are your helpers, bound by covenant.

وَلَمْ تَجِدْ في عَرَكِ الزِحامِ

تَمِيمَنَا إِلّا إِلَى تَمامِ

You have never found, in the grinding press of battle,

our Tamim doing anything but seeing things through.

تُدْنِي لِيَوْمِ القَذفِ وَالرِجامِ

صَوادِماً يَبقَينَ لِلصِدامِ

You draw up for the day of missiles and stones

charging forces that endure for the clash.

لا بُدَّ أَن تُمْسِكَ بِالأَكْظامِ

أَوْ يَرْجِعَ الأَمْرُ إِلَى الإِحكامِ

They must seize throats,

or the affair must return to firm control.

وَقُلْتُ جَهْداً أَلْوَة الأَقْسامِ

يَكْفِيكَ وَالمُقَدَّسِ العَلّامِ

I spoke earnestly, with the strongest of oaths:

he will spare you—by the Holy, All-Knowing One—

تَحزِيبُ أَمْرِ الفِتَنِ الأَحْزامِ

مِنَ العِدَى وَالجِدُّ ذُو اغْتِرامِ

the resolute men's organizing of rebellion

among the foes; earnest struggle exacts a price.

أَبْدَى بَنِي مَرْوانَ بِالخِصامِ

راسِي المَرَاسِي خالِدُ الدِعامِ

He brought Banu Marwan forward in the contest,

firmly anchored, enduring in his supports,

أَعْجَسُ أبَّاءٌ عَلَى المُرامِي

يَبْقَى بَقاءَ الجَبَلِ الدُلامِ

stout, defiant against the attacker,

lasting as the dark mountain lasts,

مِنْ مُضَرَ الحَمْراءِ فِي قَمْقامِ

يَزِيدُ لَوْ سُقْتَ بَنِي خُمامِ

from Red Mudar, amid a vast throng.

Yazid, if you drove Banu Khumam forward

وَسُقْت أَلْفَيْ ساحِر أَثّامِ

لاقَيْتَ نَجْماً نَكِدَ النِجامِ

and drove two thousand sinful magicians,

you would meet a star of ill-starred rising

فِي عارِضٍ مِنْ مُضَرَ الصِلْخامِ

إِذَا اتَّقَى برَأْسِهِ الصِلْقامِ

within a massive host of Mudar.

When he wards them off with his massive head,

شَظَّى العِدَا عَنْ خالِدٍ أُزامِ

أَو سِرتَ وَسطَ أَسدِكَ الطَغامِ

he shatters the foes away from resolute Khalid.

Or if you marched amid your rabble of Azd,

دَحمَةَ قَبلَ الطَلقِ والإِرزامِ

فَطَرَّقَتْ بِسَبْعَةٍ تُؤَامِ

a swollen mass before labor pains and groaning,

and she then bore seven twins,

أَوْ ثامِنٍ رِدْنَا عَلَى الوِئَامِ

غُولاً وَأُمَّ الجَذَاعِ الزُنَامِ

or an eighth—we sought like for like—

a ghoul and the Mother of Short-Bodied Young Beasts,

وَذاتَ وَدْقَيْنِ جَنُوحَ الدَامِي

أَوْجَرْنَكَ المَوْتَ عَلَى اتِّخامِ

and the twin-downpour calamity, leaning toward bloodshed:

they would force death down your throat until you were glutted.

رَبِيعَ هَذِي عَرْكَةُ الفِطامِ

عَلَيْكِ إِنَّ الغَيْطَ ذُو احْتِدامِ

Rabi'a, this is the weaning struggle.

Beware: the thicket burns fiercely.

هَلْ تَمْنَعَنَّ الأَسْدَ أَن تُضامِي

وَالأَسْدُ خُدّامٌ مِنَ الخُدّامِ

Will Azd prevent your being oppressed,

when Azd are servants among servants?

فِي الغَيِّ مَهْوَى سَيْفِكِ الكَهَامِ

أُعْطِيتِ سِلْماً حِينَ لَا سلامِ

Into error falls your blunted sword.

You were given peace when there was no safety,

عارِفَةً لِلذُلِّ وَالآلامِ

خِنْدِفَ وَالأَوْلَيْنَ بِالإِمِامِ

knowing humiliation and pain:

Khindif, and those most entitled to the imam.

إِنّا رَأَيْنَا أَكْبَرَ الإِئْثامِ

مَعَ الشَقا لِلأَسْدِ وَالغَرَامِ

We have seen the gravest sin,

with misery and ruin for Azd,

مَرْمَىً لِغَيْرِ الأَسْدِ إِذْ يُرامِي

مَرْمَى امْرِئٍ لِنَفْسِهِ ظَلّامِ

in shooting at others than Azd in a contest of shafts:

the shooting of a man cruelly wronging himself.

كَمَا رَمَى فِرْعَوْنُ بِالسِهامِ

نَجْماً بَدَا مِنْ جُوَبِ الغَمامِ

As Pharaoh shot arrows at

a star that appeared through gaps in the clouds,

وَقَدْ رَأَى وَاللَّهُ ذُو انْتِقامِ

فِرْقَةَ مُوسَى ذِرْوَةَ العِظامِ

having seen—and God takes vengeance—

Moses' company, the pinnacle of the mighty,

وَالسَحْلُ يَرْمِي البَحْرَ بِالعَوّامِ

حَتَّى هَوَى فِي حَوْمَة الأَحْوامِ

while the shore hurled swimmers into the sea,

until he plunged into the whirlpools' midst.

يَزِيدُ قَدْ غَرَّكَ فِي التَسامِي

عِزٌّ لِأَمْثالِكَ ذُو ادِّعَامِ

Yazid, what deceived you in striving for greatness

was supported power such as men like you possess.

أَعْيَتْكَ صُلْباتٌ عَلَى العُجَّامِ

أُفٍّ لِمَا جَمَّعْتَ مِنْ قُمامِ

Hard things have baffled your testing teeth.

Fie on the rubbish you have gathered!

كابَرْتَ أَهْلَ الجاهِ وَالأَحْزامِ

بِأَعْبُدٍ عَبَّدْتَهُمْ لِئَامِ

You challenged men of standing and resolve

with base slaves whom you had enslaved.

وَلَمْ يَزَلْ قَلْبُكَ فِي كِمَامِ

يَهْوِي إِلَى مَوْتٍ أَوِ انْهِزامِ

Your heart has remained shrouded,

rushing toward death or defeat.

ضَيَّعْت أَمْر أَسْدِك الأَبْرامِ

وَغابَ عَنْهُمْ رَشَدُ الفِهامِ

You ruined the cause of your miserly Azd,

and the wisdom of the discerning deserted them.

إِنَّا إِذَا الحَرْبُ خَبَتْ حَوامِ

وَامْتُرِيَتْ بَعْدَ أَنَى الإِعْتامِ

We, when war dies down—circling Death—,

and is milked after prolonged delay,

كَرْهاً قُلاسَ السَمِّ وَالبِرْسَامِ

وَلَبَّسَتْ كُلَّ كَمِيٍّ كامِ

against its will, for vomits of poison and pleurisy,

and clothes every brave, concealed fighter

دِرْعاً وَحَكَّتْ مَدْلَكَ اللُغَامِ

وَحَمَى شَفَيْنَاها مِنَ الوِحامِ

in mail, and chafes the place where froth gathers,

and grows hot—we cure her of her pregnancy cravings.

نَحْنُ تَرَكْنَا الأسْدَ في الحُطامِ

أَجزارَ كُلِّ أَسَدٍ ضِرْغامِ

We left Azd amid the wreckage,

as slaughter-meat for every fierce lion,

دَلَهْمَسٍ هَوَّاسَةٍ دِلْهامِ

يُصْبِحُ بَعْدَ غَلَثِ الآضامِ

a dark, roaming, massive beast,

awakening after rancors have mingled,

يَسُنُّ أَنْيابَ شَبَا الضِغامِ

أَرْأَسَ شَدَّاخٍ عَلَى اللِكامِ

whetting the keen fangs of his bite,

huge-headed, a crusher in striking.

يا هُلْبَ قَدْ صِرْتُمْ إِلَى انْقِصامِ

مَعَ اخْتِفارٍ وَإِلَى اهْتِضامِ

O Hulb, you have come to breaking,

with broken covenants, and to humiliation.

مَنْ يَمْنَعُ الخائِنَ ذا الحِمامِ

وَالقَدَرَ النازِلَ بِالأَحْتامِ

Who can shield the traitor doomed to death,

and from fate descending with irrevocable decrees?

رَأَوْا وَقَدْ حَفَّ قَنَا الآجامِ

دَحْمَتُهُمْ أَعْيَتْ عَلَى الدِحامِ

They saw, with the thicket's spears all around,

that their mass was too much for the press,

وَضَاقَ فَرْجُ مَهْبِلِ الخِجَامِ

عَنْ مَوْجِ ذِي دَوَّارَةٍ طُحامِ

and the mouth of the vast passage narrowed

against the waves of a swirling, massive host,

دَهْمٍ بِهِ يَرْوَى صَدَى الحُوّامِ

فَاسْأَلْ غَداتَ مَأْزِقِ اللِحامِ

dark, wherein the circling drinkers' thirst is quenched.

So ask, on the morning of the strait of close combat,

وَالنَقْرِ وَالتَأْيِيِهِ وَالإِجْدامِ

مِمَّنْ أَبُو رَبِيعَة الأَيْتامِ

and of striking, shouting, and rushing forward,

what stock Abu Rabi'a of the orphans comes from,

إِذْ حَسِبُوا مِنْ سَفَه الأَحْلامِ

الأَسْدَ أَدْنَى مِنْ ذَوِي الأَرْحامِ

when, through foolish judgments, they thought

Azd nearer than blood-kin.