ألا يا أيها الحادي — Sharif Al Murtaza

ألا يا أيّها الحادي

قفِ العِيسَ على الوادي

Listen, O camel-driver!

Halt the pale camels at the valley.

قفِ العِيسِ ففي كفّ

كَ إسعافِي وإسعادِي

Halt the pale camels, for in your hand

lie my relief and my happiness.

وفي الأظعانِ أبّاءٌ

علينا غيرُ مُنقادِ

Among the departing litters is a defiant one,

unyielding toward us:

كثيبٌ غيرُ مُنهالٍ

وغُصنٌ غيرُ ميّادِ

a dune that never crumbles,

a branch that never sways,

وَفرعٌ أجعدُ الشّعرِ

ولكنْ أيُّ إجعادِ

and a head of curly hair—

but what curls!

يُرامينِي فأشويهِ

ولا يرضى بإقصادِي

He exchanges arrows with me; I only graze him,

yet even killing me outright does not satisfy him.

أَلا قولوا لِمَنْ يَملِ

كِ تقريبِي وإبعادِي

Now say to him who controls

my nearness and my distance;

ومَنْ لو شاء يومَ الجِزْ

عِ ما ضنّ بميعادِي

And to him who, had he wished on the day at al-Jizʿ,

would not have withheld an appointed meeting from me;

ومَنْ يُبدلُ إصلاحِ

يَ في الحبِّ بإفسادِي

And to him who exchanges my well-being

in love for my ruin:

متى ينقعُ من ريقِ

كَ إنْ جُدتَ به صادِي

When will some of your saliva quench

this thirsty one, if you grant it?

أَبِنْ لِي هل على الجَرْعا

ءِ في أهلك من غادِ

Tell me: on al-Jarʿāʾ,

is any of your people departing at dawn?

وَهَلْ زالَتْ خيامُ الحَي

يِ عن أحْقافِ أعقادِ

Have the tribe's tents moved

from the curved dunes of Aʿqād?

وهلْ مُحَّتْ رُباً كنتُ

بها أسحبُ أبرادِي

And have the hillocks been effaced where

I used to trail my robes?

وأينَ الطّيف من ظَميْا

ءَ أمسى وهو معتادِي

And where is the phantom of Ẓamyāʾ,

once my accustomed evening visitor?

جفا صبُحاً ووافانِي

صريعاً بين رقّادي

It shunned me by morning, but came to me

as I lay prostrate among my sleeping companions.

وأعناقُ المطايا مِنْ

كلالٍ بين إعضادِ

While the mounts' necks, from

weariness, drooped in exhaustion.

تلاقينا بأرواحٍ

وفارقنا بأجسادِ

We met in spirit,

and parted in body.

ولوّامٍ يُرينِي الغِش

شَ في مَعْرِضِ إرشادِ

And many a reproacher shows me deceit

in the guise of guidance.

وقد لامَ ولكنْ لي

سَ يعدو عن هوى عادِ

He has reproached me, but does not

depart from a foe's desires.

دعِ العذلَ فغيرُ العذْ

لِ أضحى وهو مُقتادِي

Leave off reproach: something other than reproach

has become my guide.

وغبراءٍ كظهرِ التُّرْ

سِ أكّالةِ أزوادِ

And many a dust-gray waste, like a shield's back,

a devourer of provisions,

وَساريها يَبيع الغم

ضَ مغبوناً بتَسْهادٍ

whose night traveler sells his sleep

at a loss for sleeplessness;

وللرّيحِ بها أنٌّ

حكى غَمغَمَةَ الشادِي

The wind has a groan there

that echoes a singer's murmur.

كأنّ الرَّبْعَ والخِرِّي

تَ يهديهمْ بلا هادِ

As though the company, despite the expert

leading them, were without a guide—

تعسّفتُ بوجّافٍ

على الإعياءِ وخّادِ

I crossed it tracklessly on a swift mount,

long-striding despite exhaustion,

كَهَيقِ الدَّوِّ لولا وض

عُ أنساعِي وأقتادِي

like a desert ostrich, but for

the girths and saddle-frames I laid upon it.

لِفَخرِ المُلك إنعامٌ

على الحاضرِ والبادي

Fakhr al-Mulk bestows favors

on the settled and the nomadic alike,

وُجودٌ يَدَعُ الأجوا

دَ قِدْماً غيرَ أجوادِ

and has a generosity that makes the generous

of old seem ungenerous;

وأبوابٌ يُفتّحْن

لطُلّابٍ وقُصّادِ

And doors are thrown open

to seekers and visitors,

وأموالٌ يُسَوَّقْنَ

إلى حاجةِ مُرْتادِ

and riches are conveyed

to meet a seeker's need.

فَتىً لا يركبُ الخُلْفَ

قرا وعْدٍ وإيعادِ

A young man who never mounts broken faith

on the back of a promise or a threat;

ولا يُرضيهِ في المأْزَ

قِ إلّا ضربةُ الهادِي

Nor does anything please him in battle's straits

but a blow to the neck;

ولا يبذلُ للأضيا

فِ إلّا صفوةَ الزَّادِ

Nor does he offer guests

anything but the choicest provisions;

ولا يوردُ إلا العِد

دَ ممدوداً بأعدادِ

Nor does he lead to water save at a perennial spring,

replenished by other springs;

ولا يُزوى لدَى الهمّ

بأرْدامٍ وأسدادِ

Nor, when resolve stirs, is he hemmed in

by barriers and obstructions.

إِذا لُذتَ به لُذْتَ

بِطَودٍ بين أطوادِ

If you seek refuge in him, you seek refuge

in a mighty peak among peaks;

وإن صُلتَ به صُلْت

بِلَيثٍ بين آسادِ

And if you attack with his aid, you attack

with a lion among lions.

ويومٍ كمحلّ القِدْ

رِ حشّوهُ بإيقادِ

And on many a day like a cauldron's hearth,

which they stoked with fire,

تراهُ أبداً يَضرِ

بُ أنجاداً بأنجادِ

you see him ceaselessly striking

champions with champions.

تَسَرْبَلْتَ بنسجِ الطّع

نِ فيه ثوبَ فِرْصادِ

You donned the weave of spear-thrusts,

a mulberry-red robe that day;

وأبدلت الظُّبا بالها

مِ أغماداً بأغمادِ

And you gave the sword-blades heads

as sheaths in place of their sheaths.

حِذاراً يا بني الإشفا

قِ ليثَ الغابةِ العادِي

Beware, sons of timidity,

the attacking lion of the thicket!

ثوى الخِيسَ وإن كان

من القاع بمرصادِ

He abides in the thicket, though

he lies in ambush by the open plain;

عزيز الطّعمِ ما كان

لخوّارٍ بمصطادِ

His flesh is beyond reach; he has never been

a quarry for a coward.

وَمَطويّاً كطَيِّ الم

رَسِ التفَّ على وادِ

And beware one coiled like a rope,

wound about a valley;

له في كلِّ إشراقٍ

لديغٌ بين عُوّادِ

At every sunrise he has

a bitten victim surrounded by visitors.

وَكَم مِنْ نِعَمٍ تُؤمٍ

له عندِي وأفرادِ

And how many favors, paired

and single, he has bestowed on me—

مُنيفاتٍ على الحاجِ

مَروقاتٍ عن العادِ

towering above my needs,

beyond a counter's reach,

يُعارِضنَ سيولَ الما

ء إمداداً بإمدادِ

rivaling torrents of water,

outpouring against outpouring!

فقد طُلنَ مدَى شكرِي

وبرّحنَ بأحمادِي

They have exceeded the reach of my thanks

and overtaxed my praises.

أَأَنساكَ وَإِدْناؤ

ك يُعلينِيَ في النّادِي

Could I forget you, when your drawing me near

raises me in the assembly,

وَتَخصيصي بِنَجواكَ

مِنَ القوِم وإفرادِي

And your singling me out for private counsel

from among the people, setting me apart,

وَإِخراجُك أَضغاني

من القلبِ وأحقادِي

And your removing my grudges

and resentments from my heart,

وتكثيرُكَ بالنَّعْما

ءِ أعدائي وحُسّادِي

And your multiplying, through your favors,

my enemies and enviers?

وَيَفديكَ منَ الأقوا

مِ سَيّارٌ بلا حادِ

And may your ransom, from among men, be

a traveler without a camel-driver,

أَبى الخيرَ فما يرتا

دُ إلّا شَرَّ مُرتادِ

who refuses good and seeks

only the worst of things to seek;

وَمَن يأتِي إذا آتى

بإنزارٍ وإزهادِ

And one who, whenever he gives, brings

scant and paltry gifts;

وَمَن يَهفو بإِصدارٍ

كما يهفو بإيرادِ

And one who errs in sending away

as he errs in bringing in,

بأغلالٍ من العُرفِ

إذا سِيل وأقيادِ

with shackles of beneficence,

and fetters, whenever he is asked.

أتمَّ اللَّهُ ما أعطا

كَ من عزٍّ ومن آدِ

May God perfect what He has granted you

of glory and strength;

وهُنّيتَ بنيروزِ

كَ هذا الرّائحِ الغادي

And may you be blessed on your Nowruz,

this day that goes at dusk and comes at dawn;

وعشْ حتّى تَمَلَّ العي

شَ عُمْراً غيرَ معتادِ

And live until you grow weary of life—

a lifespan beyond the ordinary.