دعوت رب العزة القدوسا — Roba Bin Al Ajaj

دَعَوْتُ رَبَّ العِزَّةِ القُدُّوسَا

دُعَاءَ مَنْ لا يَقْرَعُ الناقُوسَا

I called upon the all-holy Lord of might,

with the prayer of one who does not ring the church bell,

حَتَّى أَرانَا وَجْهَك المَرْغُوسا

وَالدَيْنُ يُحْمِي هاجِساً مَهْجُوسا

until He showed us your abundantly blessed face,

while debt inflames a haunting thought,

مَغْسَ الطَبِيبِ الطَعْنَةَ المَغُوسا

شَدَّ بَعَشْرٍ حَبْلَهُ المَخْمُوسا

like a physician probing a deep stab-wound.

It tightened its five-ply rope with ten fingers,

فِي قَتَبٍ لَمْ يَتَّخِذْ حُلُوسا

أَشْكَى المَطَا وَأَوْجَعَ الدَخيسا

on a packsaddle with no saddlecloths,

making the back ache and hurting the deep flesh.

بَلْ أَيُّها المُوعِدُ أَنْ يَرِيسا

وَالمُتَمَنِّي الفِتْنَةَ البَسُوسا

But you, threatening to swagger,

and longing for Basus-like, ill-omened strife,

عَرِّسْ وَلَمّا تُمْنَعِ التَعْرِيسا

مِنْ صَكِّ أُخْرَى أَوْ تَقَعْ فَرِيسا

halt, while your rest has not yet been denied

by another blow—or you fall as prey.

ما إِنْ أُبالِي مَأْسَكَ المَؤُوسا

وَشَانِىءٍ أَرْأَمْتَه التَوْكِيسَا

I care nothing for your sneering mockery.

And a hater whom I forced to accept humiliation—

صَلَمْتُهُ وَأَجْدَعُ الفِنْطِيسا

أَلّاْ تَخاف الأَسَدَ النَهُوسا

I cropped his ears, and I cut off his great nose.

Do you not fear the biting lion?

كَأَنَّ وَرْداً مُشْرَباً وُرُوسا

كَانَ لِحَيْدَيْ راسِهِ قُنُوسا

As though roses, steeped in yellow wars-dye,

formed crests on the two ridges of his head.

يَخْشَى شَذَاهُ المُوئِلاتُ الخِيسا

مِنْ أُسْدِ ذِي الخَبْتَيْنِ أَنْ يَحُوسا

Those seeking refuge in thickets fear his ferocity,

the lions of Dhu al-Khabtayn, lest he prowl through

أَغْيالَهُ وَالأَجَمَ العِرِّيسا

لا يَمْتَنِعْنَ الدَوْسَ أَنْ يَدُوسا

his wooded dens and the thickets of his lair.

They cannot resist his trampling them down.

لَيْثٌ يَدُقُّ الأَسَدَ الهَمُوسا

وَالأَقْهَبَيْنِ الفِيلَ وَالجامُوسا

A lion that crushes the soft-stepping lion,

and the two gray beasts—the elephant and the buffalo.

يُوهِي إِذَا لاقَى الشِدادَ الحُوسا

بَعْدَ الصَمِيمِ العَصَبَ المَدْخُوسا

When he meets the strong and fearless, he weakens

their interwoven sinews after their solid bones.

إِذَا أَمَرَّ المَنْكِبَ الرَدُوسا

ذا الرُكْنِ وَالخَبّاطَةَ اللَطُوسا

When he braces his battering shoulder,

strongly built, and his striking, smashing paw,

وَكَاهِلاً ذا بِرْكَةٍ هَرُوسا

لاقَيْنَ مِنْهُ حَمِساً حَمِيسا

and a shoulder-ridge with a crushing chest,

they encounter in him a fierce and fiery foe.

وَإِنْ لَقِيتُ العُلَجَ الرَفُوسا

مُسْتَصْعِباً ذا شاهِقٍ شَمُوسا

And if I meet a burly brute, quick to kick,

intractable, with a loud bray, unruly,

هَدَرْتُ هَدْراً يُسْكِتُ الجُرُوسا

بَخْباخَهُ وَالبَذِخَ الرَجُوسا

I roar a roar that silences the loud voices,

his blustering and the haughty, clamorous one.

هَدْراً تَرَى مِنْهُ العُدَا جُلُوسا

صُرْعاً وَصَقْعاً يَدْمَغُ الرُؤُوسا

A roar that leaves the enemies sitting,

felled, and a blow that smashes heads.

يَرَيْنَ رَحْبَ الشَجْرِ عَلْطَمِيسا

لا يَتَشَكَّى النَطْحَةَ الفَطُوسا

They see a hulking creature, broad in the jaws,

who does not complain of a flattening head-butt,

وَيَعْتَلِي ذا البُعْدَةِ البَخُوسا

بِمِخْنَقٍ لا يُرْسِلُ التَنْفِيسا

and overpowers the unfriendly, oppressive man

with a stranglehold that grants no breath.

يَعْدِلُ عَنِّي الجَدِلَ الشَخِيسا

بَعْدَ النُزَى وَالمُتْرَفَ العِتْرِيسا

It turns away from me the stubborn, ill-tempered disputant,

after his lunging, and the pampered, hulking man,

حَتَّى يُذِل الأَشْرَسَ الشَرِيسا

وَالخَصْمَ ذا الأُبَّهَة الشَطُوسا

until it humbles the fierce and vicious,

and the adversary, pompous and overbearing.

صَكَّ العِدَى أَخْلَقَ مَرْمَرِيسا

لا يَمْلِكُ الناسُ لَهُ تَأْيِيسا

He battered the foes, smooth and rock-hard;

no one has the power to make him despair.

أَمْسَى الغَوَانِي بَعْدَ وُدٍّ شُوسا

لَجْلَجْنَ دُونِي مَنْطِقاً مَوْهُوسا

The lovely women, once affectionate, have grown disdainful.

They muttered apart from me in muffled speech,

خالَطَ مِنْهُ غَزَلٌ تَفْجِيسا

لَمّا رَأَيْنَ لحْيَتِي خَلِيسا

in which flirtation mingled with haughtiness,

when they saw my beard streaked with gray.

رَأَيْنَ سُوداً وَرَأَيْنَ عِيسا

فِي سابِغٍ يَكْسُو اللِمامَ الغِيسا

They saw black hairs, and they saw white,

in a full growth clothing the luxuriant locks,

ضَرْجَ المُذَكِّي الشَعَلَ المَقْبُوسا

وَالشَيْبُ حِين أَدْرَك التَقْوِيسا

like the fire-kindler's spreading of a borrowed flame.

And gray hair, when it brought the bending of age,

وَالحَبْرُ مِنْهُ خَلَقاً مَعْفُوسا

بَدَّلَ ثَوْبَ الجِدَّةِ المَلْبُوسا

with its beauty worn and crumpled,

replaced the garment of freshness once worn.

وَقَد أَكُونُ مَرَّةً نِطِّيسا

بِخَبْء أَدْواءِ الصِبَا نَقْرِيسا

Yet once I was a skilled physician,

a master of the hidden ailments of youthful passion.

أُخْرِجُ خَبْءَ العُقَدِ المَدْسُوسا

وَالنَشْرَةَ الغَبْراءَ وَالتَلْبِيسا

I brought out the secret of hidden knots,

and obscure counter-spells, and deception.

وَقَدْ يَرَيْنَ بِالصِبَا طَاوُوسا

وَمُذْهَباً عِشْنَا بِهِ حُرُوسا

And in my youth they could see me as a peacock,

and golden splendor in which we lived for ages.

لَوْ كُنْتُ بَعْضَ الشارِبِينَ الطُوسا

ما كانَ إِلَّا مِثْلَهُ مَسُوسا

Had I been one of the cup-drinkers,

it would only have been the same, well tended:

لِينَ الشَبابِ الحُسْنَ وَالتَمْلِيسا

أَحْدُو المُنَى وَأَغْبِطُ العَرُوسا

youth's softness, beauty, and smoothness.

I drove my wishes onward and envied the newlywed.

لا أَسْتَحِي القُرَّاء أَن أَمِيسا

أَحْسِبُ يَوْمَ الجُمْعَةِ الخَمِيسا

I felt no shame before the reciters at swaggering;

I thought Friday was Thursday.

فَحَيِّ عَهْداً قَدْ عَفَا مَدْرُوسا

مَحَّى التَمَحِّي نِقْسَهُ المَنْقُوسا

So salute an age now faded and effaced.

Fading has erased its inked inscription,

كَما رَأَيْتَ الوَرَقَ المَطْرُوسا

رَسْماً يُعَفِّيهِ البِلَى مَدْرُوسا

as you have seen sheets with writing rubbed away:

a trace effaced by decay, worn out,

بِبُرْقَتَيْ مُلْقَى عَصَا لَمِيسا

لَمْ تَرَ مِنْ حِسٍّ بِهِ حَسِيسا

in the two stony tracts where Lamis laid her staff.

You see there no faint stir,

رَوْعاً مِن الجِنِّ وَلا أَنِيسا

أُسْقِيَ نَضّاخَ الصَبَا بَجِيسا

no terror from the jinn, nor any human companion.

May it be watered by the east wind's gushing, bursting rain,

أَوْطَفَ يَهْدِي مُسْبِلاً عَجُوسا

كافَحَ بَعْدَ النَثْرَةِ البِرْجِيسا

from a thick-fringed cloud bringing slow, streaming rain,

meeting Jupiter head-on after al-Nathra.

وَقَدْ تَرَى الأَبْكارَ وَالعُنُوسا

ذاكَ وَأَتْراباً بِهَا أُنُوسا

And you once could see maidens and mature unmarried women,

then, and companionable age-mates there.

لا تُمْكِنُ الخَنّاعةَ النامُوسا

وَتَحْصِبُ اللَعَّابَةَ الجاسُوسا

They gave the cringing spy no chance,

and pelted the playful spy,

بِعَشْر أَيْدِيهِنَّ وَالضُغْبُوسا

حَصْبَ الغُواةِ العَوْمَجَ المَنْسُوسا

with their hands' ten fingers—and the weakling—

as rascals pelt a snake driven from hiding.

ذُو النَبْلِ ما كانَ المَهَا كُنُوسا

يَرْمِي وَيَرْجُو المُمْكِناتِ اللِيسا

The archer, while the oryx shelter in coverts,

shoots and hopes for slow-moving beasts within reach.

بَلْ جَوزِ خَرْقٍ يَكْتَسِي الطَلُوسا

تَرَى عَلَيْهِ الرَقْرَقَ المَأْلُوسا

Rather, the heart of a vast waste, clothed in obliteration—

you see above it the wildly quivering mirage.

يَجْتابُ مِنْهُ طامِساً مَطْمُوسا

يَنْضِي الوَأَى وَالصَلْهَبَ اللَدِيسا

It crosses a trackless, effaced stretch of it,

wearing out the sturdy camel and the tall, stout one.

وَجُلُّ لَيْلٍ يُحْسَبُ السَدُوسا

يَسْتَسْمِعُ السارِي بِهِ الجُرُوسا

And the cloak of night, seeming a green mantle—

the night traveler listens there for sounds:

هَمَاهِماً يُسْهِرْنَ أَوْ رَسِيسا

قَرْعَ يَدِ اللَعّابَةِ الطَسِيسا

murmurs that keep him awake, or a faint undertone,

like a woman-player's hand striking a basin.

عَلَوْتُ حِينَ يُخْضِعُ الرَعُوسا

أَغْيَدَ يَسْقِي مَوتَهُ النَعُوسا

I rode through it when it bowed the nodding traveler,

languid, giving the drowsy his death to drink,

مِنْ طُولِ تَسْهِيدِ الكَرَى لَؤُوسا

أَشْكَلَ غَرْبِيّاً وَخَنْدَرِيسا

from long banishment of slumber—a small draught

of dark-red western wine and aged khindaris.

وَالصُهْبُ تَمْطُو الحَلَقَ المَعْلُوسا

بِناصِلاتٍ تُحْسَبُ الفُؤُوسا

And the tawny camels stretch their worn throats,

with lean limbs that look like axes.

إِلَيْكَ جُبْنَا القَفْرَةُ القَمُوسا

فِي آلِها وَالغَمْرَةَ القَلُوسا

To reach you we crossed the engulfing wilderness,

through its mirage and its surging depths,

زَجْلاً وَمَرّاً عَنَقاً مَرُوسا

بِسامِيَاتٍ تُعْجِلُ التَعْرِيسا

with noisy urging and onward travel, at a practiced amble,

on tall mounts that hasten the night-halt.

يَرِدْنَ جُنْحَ اللَيْلِ أَوْ تَغْلِيسا

أَخْضَرَ يُغْشِي دِمْنَهُ التَسْجِيسا

They reach water at nightfall or in dawn's darkness:

a green pool, its sediment shrouded in murk.

بِمُسْنَفاتٍ تَخْبِطُ الشَسِيسا

مِنَ الصُوَى وَالأَخْشَبَ الشَريسا

On breast-girt camels that tread the rugged ground,

among cairns, and the rough, harsh rock,

بَعدَ الحَذارى وَالرِمالَ الكُوسا

يَدهَسنَ مِنهُ عَقِداً مَدهوسا

after the rugged heights and the sloping sands.

They tread its compacted, already-trodden sands,

أَعْرافَهُ وَالأَوْعَسَ المَوْعُوسا

قَدْ أُكْذِبُ العَذَّالَةَ اليَؤُوسا

its crests, and the soft sand-covered reaches.

I can prove the despairing reprover wrong,

بِالجِدِّ حَتَّى تَخْفِضَ التَعْلِيسا

قالَتْ لِمَاضٍ لَمْ يَزَلْ حَدُوسا

through earnest effort, until she lowers her muttering.

She said to a resolute man, ever driving onward,

يَنْضُو السَرَى وَالسَفَرَ الدَعُوسا

أَلَا تَخافُ اللُّجَمَ العَطُوسا

wearing out night travel and relentless journeys:

Do you not fear the suffocating wells?

فَقَالَ إِذْ قَالَتْ لَهُ تَعْمِيسا

لَنْ تَمْلِكِي طَوْعاً وَلا تَأْيِيسا

He answered, when she spoke to bewilder him:

You will gain neither my obedience nor my despair.

أَرْجُو بِإِذْنِ اللَّهِ أَنْ يَؤُوسا

فَتىً يُجَلِّي المَحْلَ وَالبَئِيسا

I hope, by God's permission, for the bounty of

a young man who dispels drought and distress,

بِمُسْفِرَاتٍ تَكْشِفُ النُحُوسا

إِذا شَكَوْنَا سَنَةً حَسُوسا

with radiant gifts that drive away ill fortune,

when we complain of a devastating year,

تَأْكُلُ بَعْدَ الخُضْرَة اليَبِيسا

وَلَمْ يُدِرُّوا جَلْدَةً برْعِيسا

devouring dry growth after the green,

and no udder yields even a little milk,

وانْحَطَّ ثَلْجٌ يُخْدُرُ القَرِيسا

يُضْحِي الأَضَا مِنْ مائِهِ جَمِيسا

and snow descends with numbing, freezing cold,

leaving the pools frozen from its water.

باعَدَ عَنْكَ العَيْبَ وَالتَدْنِيسا

ضَرْحَ الشِماسِ الخُلُقَ الضَبِيسا

Fault and defilement are kept far from you,

banishing unruliness and the surly temper,

فَحْشاءَهُ وَالكَذِبَ المَنْدُوسا

وَالشّرَّ ذا النِمِيمَةِ المَقْسُوسا

its foulness, and hidden lies,

and evil spread through slanderous gossip.

أَبَانُ يا ابْنَ الأَطْوَلِينَ قِيسا

فِي المَجْدِ حَتَّى تَبْلُغَ النَفِيسا

Aban, son of those loftiest in measure

in glory, until you reach the choicest height.

شَرَّفَ بَانِي عَرْشِكَ التَأْسِيسا

الْمَحْضُ مَجْداً وَالَكَرِيمُ النَفِيسا

The builder of your throne ennobled its foundation,

pure in glory, noble and precious.

إِذا المُلمَّاتُ اعْتَصَرْنَ السُوسا

لَمْ يَثْنِ حَدَّادُونَ بِي إِبْلِيسا

When calamities wring out one's inner nature,

no gatekeepers turned Iblis against me.

وَبلاً وَسيْلاً لَمْ يَكُنْ مَخْسُوسا

مِنْ جُودِ كَفَّيْكَ وَلا مَنْحُوسا

A downpour and a torrent, never diminished,

from your hands' bounty, nor ill-starred.

أَنْتَ المُروِّي مَن سَقَى تَغْمِيسا

إِنْهالَهُ وَالعَلَلَ التَقْمِيسا

You are the thirst-quencher, who gives a drenching draught:

his first drink and his second, plunging him deep,

نَقْعاً بِعَذْبٍ يَبْلُغُ النَسِيسا

تَسْهِيلُكَ المَعْرُوفَ وَالسَلِيسا

slaking thirst with sweet water that reaches the life-breath.

Your making kindness easy and smooth

عَطاءَ طَلْقٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ مَحْبُوسا

لَيْسَ كَنَزْعِ النازِعِ الضُرُوسا

is free-handed giving, never withheld,

not like a tooth-puller's wrenching out molars.

إِذا البَخِيلُ آمَرَ الخَنُوسا

شَيْطانَهُ وَأَكْثَرَ التَهْوِيسا

When the miser consults the slinking one—

his devil—and multiplies his confused imaginings

في صَدْرِهِ واكْتَنَّ أَنْ يَخِيسا

آمَرْتَ نَفْساً تَكْرُمُ النُفُوسا

in his breast, hiding his intent to break his word,

you consult a soul that honors other souls,

لَيْسَتْ لِخَبٍّ يَرْهَبُ التَفْلِيسا

وَلا لِنِكْسٍ يَعْمُرُ التَنْكِيسا

not a cheat's soul, afraid of bankruptcy,

nor a weakling's, perpetuating abasement,

لَوْ سَأَلَتْهُ أُمُّهُ لَؤُوسا

أَوْ أُخْتُهُ لَمْ يَكْسُها دَرِيسا

who, if his mother asked him for a morsel,

or his sister, would not clothe her even in a worn garment.

يا لَيْتَهُ لَمْ يُعْطَ هَلْبَسِيسا

وَعاشَ أَعْمَى مُقْعَداً سَرِيسا

Would that he had never been given even a scrap,

and had lived blind, crippled, and impotent,

يُلْحَى وَيُبْقِي مالَهُ المَنْحُوسا

حَتَّى يَضُمَّ الوارِثُونَ الكِيسا

reviled, preserving his ill-starred wealth,

until the heirs gather up the purse.