لئن ثلمت حدي صروف النوائب — Safi Al Din Al Hilli

لَئِن ثَلَمَت حَدّي صُروفُ النَوائِبِ

فَقَد أَخلَصَت سَبكي بِنارِ التَجارِبِ

Though the vicissitudes of calamity have nicked my edge,

they have purified my metal in the fire of trials.

وَفي الأَدَبِ الباقي الَّذي قَد وَهَبنَني

عَزاءٌ مِنَ الأَموالِ عَن كُلِّ ذاهِبِ

And in the enduring learning they have bestowed on me

lies solace for every portion of wealth that passes away.

فَكَم غايَةٍ أَدرَكتُها غَيرَ جاهِدٍ

وَكَم رُتبَةٍ قَد نِلتُها غَيرَ طالِبِ

How many a goal I have reached without striving,

and how many a rank I have attained without seeking it.

وَما كُلُّ وانٍ في الطِلابِ بِمُخطِئٍ

وَلا كُلُّ ماضٍ في الأُمورِ بِصائِبِ

Not every laggard in pursuit misses the mark,

nor does everyone pressing ahead in affairs hit it.

سَمَت بي إِلى العَلياءِ نَفسٌ أَبِيَّةٌ

تَرى أَقبَحَ الأَشياءِ أَخذَ المَواهِبِ

A proud soul has borne me up to the heights,

deeming the acceptance of gifts the ugliest of things,

بِعَزمٍ يُريني ما أَمامَ مَطالِبي

وَحَزمٍ يُريني ما وَراءَ العَواقِبِ

with resolve that shows me what lies before my aims,

and prudence that shows me what lies beyond the outcomes.

وَما عابَني جاري سِوى أَنَّ حاجَتي

أُكَلِّفُها مِن دونِهِ لِلأَجانِبِ

My neighbor finds no fault in me save that my needs

I entrust to strangers rather than him.

وَإِنَّ نَوالي في المُلِمّاتِ واصِلٌ

أَباعِدَ أَهلِ الحَيِّ قَبلَ الأَقارِبِ

Yet my bounty in afflictions reaches

the clan's distant members before my close kin.

وَلَيسَ حَسودٌ يَنشُرُ الفَضلَ عائِباً

وَلَكِنَّهُ مُغرىً بِعَدِّ المَناقِبِ

An envious man who spreads word of merit is no detractor,

but one compelled to count virtues.

وَما الجودُ إِلّا حِليَةٌ مُستَجادَةٌ

إِذا ظَهَرَت أَخفَت وُجوهَ المَعائِبِ

Generosity is nothing but a prized adornment:

when it appears, it conceals the faces of flaws.

لَقَد هَذَّبَتني يَقظَةُ الرَأيِ وَالنُهى

إِذا هَذَّبَت غَيري ضُروبُ التَجارِبِ

Keen judgment and reason have refined me,

while others are refined by manifold trials.

وَأَكسَبَني قَومي وَأَعيانُ مَعشَري

حِفاظَ المَعالي وَاِبتِذالَ الرَغائِبِ

My people and the notables of my community have taught me

to guard lofty honors and freely spend treasured possessions.

سَراةٌ يُقِرُّ الحاسِدونَ بِفَضلِهِم

كِرامُ السَجايا وَالعُلى وَالمَناصِبِ

Nobles whose merit even the envious acknowledge,

noble in disposition, eminence, and lineage.

إِذا جَلَسوا كانوا صُدورَ مَجالِسٍ

وَإِن رَكِبوا كانوا صُدورَ مَواكِبِ

When they sit, they head the assemblies;

when they ride, they lead the processions.

أُسودٌ تَغانَت بِالقَنا عَن عَرينِها

وَبِالبيضِ عَن أَنيابِها وَالمَخالِبِ

Lions whose spears stand in place of their lairs,

and whose bright swords replace their fangs and claws.

يَجودونَ لِلراجي بِكُلِّ نَفيسَةٍ

لَدَيهِم سِوى أَعراضِهِم وَالمَناقِبِ

They give the hopeful seeker every precious thing

they possess, save their honor and virtues.

إِذا نَزَلوا بَطنَ الوِهادِ لِغامِضٍ

مِنَ القَصدِ أَذكَوا نارَهُم بِالمَناكِبِ

When they settle in the depths of lowlands for some hidden

purpose, they kindle their fire on the hill-shoulders.

وَإِن رَكَزوا غِبَّ الطِعانِ رِماحَهُم

رَأَيتَ رُؤوسَ الأُسدِ فَوقَ الثَعالِبِ

And when, after spear-combat, they plant their spears,

you see lions' heads above the spear-fittings called 'foxes.'

فَأَصبَحتُ أُفني ما مَلَكتُ لِأَقتَني

بِهِ الشُكرَ كَسباً وَهوَ أَسنى المَكاسِبِ

So I spend away all I own to acquire

gratitude with it—a gain that is the loftiest of gains.

وَأَرهُنُ قَولي عَن فِعالي كَأَنَّهُ

عَصا الحارِثِ الدُعمِيِّ أَو قَوسَ حاجِبِ

And I pledge my word for my deeds, as though it were

the staff of al-Harith al-Du'mi or the bow of Hajib.

وَمَن يَكُ مِثلي كامِلَ النَفسِ يَغتَدي

قَليلاً مُعاديهِ كَثيرَ المُصاحِبِ

Whoever, like me, is whole of soul comes to have

few enemies and many companions.

فَما لِلعِدى دَبَّت أَراقِمُ كَيدِهِم

إِلَيَّ وَما دَبَّت إِلَيهِم عَقارِبي

What ails my foes, that the speckled serpents of their guile have crept

toward me, when my scorpions have not crept toward them?

وَما بالُهُم عَدّوا ذُنوبي كَثيرَةً

وَما لِيَ ذَنبٌ غَيرَ نَصرِ أَقارِبي

Why have they reckoned my sins so many,

when I have no sin save defending my kin?

وَإِنّي لَيُدمي قائِمُ السَيفِ راحَتي

إِذا دَمِيَت مِنهُم خُدودُ الكَواعِبِ

Indeed, the sword's hilt makes my palm bleed

when the cheeks of the maidens among them bleed.

وَما كُلُّ مَن هَزَّ الحُسامَ بِضارِبٍ

وَلا كُلُّ مَن أَرى اليَراعَ بِكاتِبِ

Not everyone who brandishes a sword can strike,

nor everyone who displays a reed pen can write.

وَما زِلتُ فيهِم مِثلَ قِدحِ اِبنِ مُقبِلٍ

بِتِسعينَ أَمسى فائِزاً غَيرَ خائِبِ

Among them I have always been like Ibn Muqbil's gaming arrow,

which ended victorious with ninety, not empty-handed.

فَإِن كَلَّموا الجُسومَ مِنّا فَإِنَّها

فُلولُ سُيوفٍ ما نَبَت في المَضارِبِ

If they have wounded our bodies, those wounds are

nicks in swords that have never failed to strike.

وَما عابَني أَن كَلَّمَتني سُيوفُهُم

إِذا ما نَبَت عَنّي سُيوفُ المَثالِبِ

It is no disgrace that their swords have wounded me,

so long as the swords of disgrace glance off me.

وَلَمّا أَبَت إِلّا نِزالاً كُماتُهُم

دَرَأتُ بِمُهري في صُدورِ المَقانِبِ

When their champions would accept nothing but combat,

I drove my colt into the breasts of their squadrons.

فَعَلَّمتُ شَمَّ الأَرضِ شُمُّ أُنوفِهِم

وَعَوَّدتُ ثَغرَ التُربِ لَثمَ التَرائِبِ

I taught their lofty noses to smell the earth,

and accustomed the mouth of dust to kissing breastbones,

بِطَرفٍ عَلا في قَبضِهِ الريحُ سابِحٌ

لَهُ أَربَعٌ تَحكي أَنامِلَ حاسِبِ

with a swimming steed that outruns the wind even in a gathered stride,

whose four legs resemble a reckoner's fingertips.

تَلاعَبَ أَثناءَ الحُسامِ مُزاحُهُ

وَفي الكَرِّ يُبدي كَرَّةً غَيرَ لاعِبِ

Its frolic toys with the curves of the sword,

yet in a charge it attacks in earnest, not in play.

وَمَسرودَةٍ مِن نَسجِ داوُدَ نَثرَةٍ

كَلَمعِ غَديرٍ ماؤُهُ غَيرُ ذائِبِ

And with ample, linked mail of David's weaving,

like the shimmer of a pool whose water is not liquid,

وَأَسمَرَ مَهزوزَ المَعاطِفِ ذابِلٍ

وَأَبيَضَ مَسنونِ الغِرارَينِ قاضِبِ

and a dusky, slender spear with quivering bends,

and a bright, cutting sword sharpened on both edges.

إِذا صَدَفَتهُ العَينُ أَبدى تَوَقُّداً

كَأَنَّ عَلى مَتنَيهِ نارَ الحُباحِبِ

When the eye catches it, it shows a blaze,

as though al-Hubahib's fire lay on its two flats.

ثَنى حَدَّهُ فَرطُ الضِرابِ فَلَم يَزَل

حَديدَ فِرِندِ المَتنِ رَثِّ المَضارِبِ

Excessive striking has bent its edge, yet it remains

hard in its blade's watered steel, worn at its striking edges.

صَدَعتُ بِهِ هامَ الخُطوبِ فَرُعنَها

بِأَفضَلِ مَضروبٍ وَأَفضَلِ ضارِبِ

With it I split calamities' heads and struck them with terror,

with the finest weapon wielded and the finest wielder.

وَصَفراءُ مِن رَوقِ الأَواري نَحيفَةٍ

إِذا جُذِبَت صَرَّت صَريرَ الجَنادِبِ

And a slender yellow bow made from wild-goat horn:

when drawn, it creaks like grasshoppers.

لَها وَلَدٌ بَعدَ الفِطامِ رَضاعُهُ

يُسِرُّ عُقوقاً رَفضُهُ غَيرُ واجِبِ

It has a son whose suckling comes after weaning,

who conceals an unfilial defiance one need not reject.

إِذا قَرَّبَ الرامي إِلى فيهِ نَحرَهُ

سَعى نَحوَهُ بِالقَسرِ سَعيَ مُجانِبِ

When the archer draws the son's throat toward his mouth,

he moves toward him by force, like one keeping away.

فَيُقبِلُ في بُطءٍ كَخُطوَةِ سارِقٍ

وَيُدبِرُ في جَريٍ كَرَكضَةِ هارِبِ

He approaches slowly, like a thief's step,

and departs at a run, like a fugitive's dash.

هُناكَ فَجَأتُ الكَبشَ مِنهُم بِضَربَةٍ

فَرَقتُ بِها بَينَ الحَشى وَالتَرائِبِ

There I surprised the ram among them with a blow

that parted his entrails from his breastbones,

لَدى وَقعَةٍ لا يُقرَعُ السَمعُ بَينَها

بِغَيرِ اِنتِدابِ الشوسِ أَو نَدبِ نادِبِ

at a battle where the ear is struck

by nothing but fierce warriors rallying or a mourner's lament.

فَقُل لِلَّذي ظَنَّ الكِتابَةَ غايَتي

وَلا فَضلَ لي بَينَ القَنا وَالقَواضِبِ

Tell him who thought writing was my utmost attainment,

and that I had no merit among spears and cutting swords:

بِحَدٍّ يَراعي أَم حُسامي عَلَوتُهُ

وَبِالكُتبِ أَردَيناهُ أَم بِالكَتائِبِ

was it with the edge of my reed pen or my sword that I overcame him?

And did we slay him with books or with battalions?

وَكَم لَيلَةٍ خُضتُ الدُجى وَسَماؤُهُ

مُعَطَّلَةٌ مِن حَليِ دُرِّ الكَواكِبِ

How many a night I plunged through darkness, its sky

bare of the adornment of starry pearls.

سَرَيتُ بِها وَالجَوُّ بِالسُحبِ مُقتِمٌ

فَلَمّا تَبَدّى النَجمُ قُلتُ لِصاحِبي

I traveled through it by night, the air dark with clouds,

and when a star appeared, I said to my companion:

أَصاحِ تَرى بَرقاً أُريكَ وَميضَهُ

يُضيءُ سَناهُ أَم مَصابيحَ راهِبِ

Friend, do you see lightning, whose flash I show you,

its radiance shining, or the lamps of a monk?

بِحَرفٍ حَكى الحَرفَ المُفَخَّمَ صَوتُها

سَليلَةِ نُجبٍ أُلحِقَت بِنَجائِبِ

On a lean she-camel whose voice mimicked an emphatic consonant,

born of noble camels and numbered among noble mounts,

تَعافُ وُرودَ الماءِ إِن سَبَقَ القَطا

إِلَيهِ وَما أَمَّت بِهِ في المَشارِبِ

she disdains approaching water if sandgrouse have preceded her

to it; she never follows them to watering places.

قَطَعتُ بِها خَوفَ الهَوانِ سَباسِباً

إِذا قُلتُ تَمَّت أَردَفَت بِسَباسِبِ

I crossed vast wastes upon her, fearing abasement;

whenever I said they were done, further wastes followed.

يُسامِرُني في الفِكرِ كُلُّ بَديعَةٍ

مُنَزَّهَةِ الأَلفاظِ عَن قَدحِ عائِبِ

In thought, every exquisite poem keeps me company by night,

its words untouched by a detractor's censure.

يُنَزِّلُها الشادونَ في نَغَماتِهِم

وَتَحدو بِها طَوراً حُداةُ الرَكائِبِ

Singers set it in their melodies,

and at times camel-drivers urge their mounts onward with it.

فَأَدرَكتُ ما أَمَّلتُ مِن طَلَبِ العُلا

وَنَزَّهتُ نَفسي عَن طِلابِ المَواهِبِ

Thus I attained what I hoped for in seeking the heights,

and kept my soul above seeking gifts.

وَنِلتُ بِها سُؤلي مِنَ العِزِّ لا الغِنى

وَما عُدَّ مَن عافَ الهِباتِ بِخائِبِ

Through it I gained the honor I desired, not riches,

and whoever spurns gifts is not counted a failure.