لو لم يعاجله النوى لتحيرا — Sharif Al Murtaza

لَو لَم يُعاجله النّوى لَتحيّرا

وقَصارُه وقد انتأوْا أن يُقصِرا

Had separation not overtaken him, he would have been bewildered.

And with them gone far away, his utmost was to desist.

أَفَكلّما راعَ الخليطُ تصوّبتْ

عبراتُ عينٍ لم تقلَّ فتكثُرا

Must tears stream down whenever the companions alarm me—

tears from an eye whose tears were never few, that they might multiply?

قَد أوقدتْ حُرَقُ الفراق صبابةٍ

لَم تَستعرْ ومَرَيْنَ دمعاً ما جرى

The burning pangs of parting have kindled a longing

that had not blazed, and drawn forth tears that had not flowed.

شَعَفٌ يُكتّمه الحياءُ ولوعةٌ

خفيتْ وحُقّ لمثلها أن يظهرا

A passion modesty conceals, and an anguish

kept hidden, though such feeling deserves to appear.

وأبي الركائبِ لم يكن ما عُلنه

صبراً ولكن كانَ ذاك تصبّرا

By the sire of the riding camels, what they carried was not

patience, but patience forced.

لَبَّيْنَ داعيةَ النّوى فأريننا

بين القِبابِ البيض موتاً أحمرا

They answered separation's summons and showed us

among the white pavilions a crimson death.

وَبعدن بِالبينِ المشتّت ساعةً

فكأنّهنّ بعدن عنّا أشهُرا

They went away for an hour through sundering separation,

yet seemed to have been away from us for months.

عاجوا على ثَمدِ البِطاحِ وحُبّهمْ

أجرى العيونَ غداة بانوا أبحُرا

They turned aside to the scant pools of the valley flats, while love for them

set eyes flowing as seas the morning they departed.

وَتَنكّبوا وَعْرَ الطّريق وخلّفوا

ما في الجَوانحِ من هَواهمْ أوعرا

They avoided the rugged road, but left

the love for them within my breast more rugged still.

أمّا السّلوُّ فإنّه لا يهتدِي

قصد القلوب وقد حُشِينَ تذكّرا

As for forgetfulness, it cannot find its way

to hearts already filled with remembrance.

قد رُمتُ ذاك فلم أجده وحقُّ مَنْ

فقدَ السّبيلَ إلى الهُدى أن يُعذَرا

I sought it but did not find it; it is right that one

who has lost the path to guidance should be excused.

أهلاً بطيفِ خيالِ مانعة الحِبَا

يَقْظى ومُفضلةٍ علينا في الكرَى

Welcome to the dream-vision of her who withholds gifts

awake, but lavishes favors upon us in sleep.

ما كان أنعمنا بها من زَورَةٍ

لو باعدتْ وقتَ الورودِ المصدَرا

How happy that visit would have made us,

had it kept departure far from the moment of arrival.

جزعتْ لوخْطاتِ المشيب وإنّما

بلغَ الشّبابُ مدى الكمال فنوّرا

She was distressed by the flecks of gray; yet it was only

youth reaching full perfection and blossoming.

وَالشيب إِنْ فكّرتَ فيه مَورِدٌ

لا بدّ يوردَهُ الفتى إن عُمِّرا

Gray hair, if you reflect on it, is a watering place

to which a young man must be brought if his life is prolonged.

يَبيضُّ بَعدَ سَواده الشّعرُ الّذي

لو لم يزره الشّيبُ واراه الثّرى

Hair turns white after its blackness—hair that,

had grayness not visited it, the earth would have covered.

زَمنَ الشبيبةِ لا عدَتْك تحيّةٌ

وسقاك مُنهمِرُ الحَيا ما اِستُغزِرا

O time of youth, may no greeting pass you by,

and may pouring rain water you whenever its bounty is sought.

فَلَطالَما أَضحى رِدائي ساحباً

في ظلّك الوافي وعودِيَ أخضرا

For often my cloak trailed

beneath your ample shade, and my branch was green.

أَيّامَ يَرمُقنِي الغَزالُ إِذا رنا

شَعَفاً ويطرُقني الخيالُ إذا سرى

In days when the gazelle watched me as it gazed,

passionately, and the phantom visited me as it traveled by night.

وَمرنّحٍ في الكُورِ يُحسَبُ أنّه اِصْ

طبح العُقار وإنّما اِغتبق السُّرى

And a rider swaying in the camel-saddle, thought to have drunk

wine at dawn, though his evening drink was only night travel.

بَطلٌ صَفاهُ للخداع مَزلّةٌ

فَإِذا مَشى فيه الزّماعُ تَغَشمَرا

A hero whose smooth rock is slippery ground for deceit;

but when resolve walks upon it, it strides fiercely.

إمّا سألتَ به فلا تسألْ بِهِ

ناياً يناغِي في البَطالة مِزْمَرا

If you ask about him, do not ask

a flute murmuring to a pipe in idle play.

وَاِسأَلْ بِهِ الجُرْدَ العِتاقَ مغيرةً

يخبطن هاماً أو يَطأن سَنَوَّرا

And ask about him the sleek, noble steeds on the charge,

battering heads or trampling coats of mail.

يَحمِلنَ كلَّ مُدجَّجٍ يَقرِي الظُّبا

عَلَقاً وأنفاسَ السّوافي عِثيَرا

They bear each armored warrior who feeds the blades

blood, and fills the dust-sweeping winds' breaths with dust.

قَوْمِي الّذين وَقَد دَجَتْ سُبُلُ الهدى

تركوا طريقَ الدّين فينا مُقمِرا

My people, who, when the paths of guidance darkened,

left religion's road among us moonlit.

غَلبوا على الشّرَفِ التّليد وجاوزا

ذاك التّليدَ تَطرُّفاً وتخيُّرا

They mastered ancestral honor and surpassed

that ancient honor by seeking the new and choosing the finest.

كم فيهمُ من قسْوَرٍ مُتخمّطٍ

يُردِي إذا شاء الهِزَبْرَ القَسْوَرا

How many a proud, raging lion is among them,

who, whenever he wills, fells the mighty, fierce lion.

متنمّرٍ والحربُ إن هتفت به

أدّته بسّامَ المُحيّا مُسفِرا

One fierce as a leopard: when war calls to him,

it brings him forth smiling, with a radiant face.

وملوَّمٍ في بذلهِ ولطالما

أضحى جديراً في العُلا أن يُشكرا

And one much reproached for his generosity, though often

he deserved to be thanked for his lofty distinction.

ومُرَفَّعٍ فوق الرّجال تخالُه

يوم الخطابة قد تسنّم مِنبرا

And one so exalted above men that you would think,

on the day of oratory, he had mounted a pulpit.

جَمعوا الجَميلَ إلى الجمالِ وإنّما

خَتَموا إِلى المرأى المُمدَّحِ مَخبَرا

They joined noble conduct to beauty, and indeed

sealed their praised outward appearance with inner worth.

سائلْ بهمْ بَدْراً وأُحداً والّتي

ردّتْ جبينَ بني الضّلال مُعفَّرا

Ask Badr and Uhud about them, and the battle that

sent the brow of the sons of error back smeared with dust.

للَّه دَرُّ فَوارسٍ في خيبرٍ

حملوا عن الإسلام يوماً منكرا

God bless the horsemen at Khaybar,

who bore a dreadful day away from Islam.

عَصَفوا بِسُلطانِ اليهودِ وأَوْلجوا

تلكَ الجَوانح لوعةً وَتحسُّرا

They swept away the power of the Jews and thrust

anguish and regret into those breasts.

وَاِستَلحموا أَبطالهمْ وَاِستَخرَجوا ال

أَزلامَ من أيديهمُ والمَيسِرا

And they slaughtered their champions and wrested the

divining arrows and the game of chance from their hands.

وَبِمرحبٍ أَلوى فتىً ذو جمرةٍ

لا تُصطلى وبسالةٍ لا تُعتَرى

A youth brought Marhab low, bearing an ember

too fierce to warm oneself by, and courage beyond assault.

إِنْ حزّ حزّ مُطبّقاً أو قال قا

لَ مصدَّقاً أو رام رام مطهَّرا

If he cut, he cut through the joints; if he spoke,

he spoke and was believed; if he sought, he sought in purity.

فَثَناهُ مُصفرَّ البَنان كأنّما

لطخ الحِمامُ عليه صِبْغاً أصفرا

Then he brought him down, his fingers yellow, as though

death had smeared him with a yellow dye.

تهفو العُقابُ بشِلوِهِ ولقد هَفَتْ

زمناً به شُمُّ الذّوائبِ والذُّرا

The eagle flutters with his remains; once

lofty forelocks and summits had fluttered with him for a time.

أمّا الرّسولُ فقد أبان ولاءَه

لو كان ينفع جائراً أن ينذرا

As for the Messenger, he made his allegiance clear,

if only being warned could benefit a wrongdoer.

أمضى مقالاً لم يقله معرِّضاً

وأشاد ذكراً لم يشده مُغَرِّرا

He affirmed a declaration, not speaking by allusion,

and proclaimed renown without seeking to mislead.

وَثَنى إليهِ رِقابهمْ وأقامهُ

عَلَماً على باب النّجاة مشهَّرا

He turned their necks toward him and raised him

as a standard, openly displayed at salvation's gate.

ولَقد شَفى يومُ الغديرِ مَعاشراً

ثَلِجَتْ نفوسُهُمُ وأدوى معشرا

Indeed, the day of Ghadir healed groups

whose souls found cool relief, and made another group ill.

قَلِقَتْ بهمْ أحقادهمْ فَمُرجّعٌ

نَفَساً ومانعُ أنّةٍ أن تجهرا

Their grudges stirred restlessly within them: one kept repeating

a sigh, another stifled a groan lest it sound aloud.

يا راكباً رقصتْ به مَهْرِيَّةٌ

أشِبَتْ بساحته الهمومُ فأصحرا

O rider borne by a dancing Mahri she-camel,

cares grew tangled in his courtyard, so he took to the open desert.

عُجْ بالغَرىِّ فإنّ فيه ثاوياً

جبلاً تطأطأ فاِطمأنّ به الثّرى

Turn aside to al-Ghari, for there rests

a mountain that bowed down, and in him the earth found peace.

وَاِقرا السّلامَ عليه من كَلِفٍ به

كُشفتْ له حجبُ الصّباح فأبصرا

Convey greetings to him from one enamored of him,

for whom dawn's veils were lifted, so that he saw.

فَلو اِستَطعتُ جعلتُ دار إقامتِي

تلكَ القبور الزُّهرَ حتّى أُقبرا

If I could, I would make my dwelling

those radiant graves, until I am buried.