لغير الغواني ما تجن الأضالع — Sharif Al Murtaza

لِغَيرِ الغَواني ما تُجِنّ الأضالعُ

وَغير التّصابي ما أرَتْهُ المدامعُ

What the ribs conceal is for others than fair women,

and what the tearful eyes have shown is not amorous dalliance.

وَيا قَلب ما أزمعتَ عَوْداً إلى الصِّبا

فتطمعَ في أنْ تَزْدَهِيك المطامعُ

O heart, you have not resolved to return to youth,

that you should hope for desires to beguile you.

تَضيق لأنْ أَرسى بِساحتك الهَوى

وَأنت على ما أحرج الدّهرُ واسعُ

You grow constrained because love has anchored in your courtyard,

though you remain expansive despite all that Time has made oppressive.

وَيوم اِختَلسنا من يد الحذْرِ لحظةً

وَقَد آذَنَتنا بِالفراقِ الأصابعُ

And on a day when we stole a moment from caution's hand,

though fingers had already signaled our parting,

عَذرتَ اِمرَءاً أَبدى الأَسى وَهوَ حازِمٌ

وَصمّ عَلى عُذّالِهِ وهو سامعُ

you excused a man who showed sorrow, though he was resolute,

and turned deaf to his reprovers, though he could hear.

خَليليَّ إنّ الدهرَ جَمٌّ عديدُهُ

ولكنّه ممّنْ أُحِبُّ بلاقعُ

My two friends, Time's company is plentiful,

yet it is a wasteland empty of those I love.

وخُبِّرتما أنّ الوفاءَ تقارضٌ

فما لي أُعاطي صفوَهُ مَن يُمانعُ

And you two were told that fidelity is reciprocal giving,

so why do I offer its purity to one who withholds it?

أَلا في بَشاشاتِ الرّجال ودونها

جوانحُ في أثنائها الغيظُ ناقعُ

Indeed, within men's smiles—and beneath them—

lie breasts with anger steeping in their folds.

وما زالتِ الأيّامُ مَثْنى ومَوْحَداً

يراوِدْن مِنِّي شيمةً لا تُطاوعُ

Days have never ceased, in pairs and singly,

trying to coax a disposition in me that will not yield.

رَضيت بِميسورِ الحظوظ قناعةً

إِذا اِمتدَّ في غيِّ الطّماعةِ قانعُ

I was content with such fortune as lay within reach,

when a petitioner pressed on in greed's delusion.

وَعوراءَ يستدعي النفوسَ اِقتِرافُها

تَنكّبها ناءٍ عَن السّوءِ نازعُ

And a shameful act whose commission beckons souls

was shunned by one far from evil, drawing away.

تَحيّزتُ عنها لا أهمُّ بوَصلِها

كَما اِنحاز عَن ضمنِ العِذارين خالعُ

I withdrew from it, with no thought of joining it,

as one casting off the bridle slips from between its cheek-straps.

وَشُمٍّ منَ الفتيانِ حصّنتُ سرّهمْ

وَسِرُّ الفَتى ما بينَ جنبيهِ ذائعُ

And proud youths whose secret I safeguarded—

though a youth's secret is abroad while still between his sides.

سَرَوْا يَسأَلونَ الدّهرَ ما في غُيوبِهِ

وَليسَ لَهمْ غيرَ التّجاربِ شافعُ

They traveled by night, asking Time what lay in its hidden realms,

and had no intercessor but experience.

إِذا صُدّ عن نُجحِ المَطالبِ جاهدٌ

تَخلّف عَن كَسبِ المَحامدِ وادِعُ

If one striving is barred from success in his pursuits,

one at ease falls behind in earning praise.

إِلَيك ذعرتُ الهِيمَ عن كلّ بُغيَةٍ

أَسِفُّ إِلى أَمثالِها وأُسارعُ

Toward you I drove the thirst-maddened camels away from every aim

whose like I would swoop toward and hasten after.

وَسوَّمتُها يسترجفُ الأرضَ مرُّها

وتُحيي سوادَ اللّيلِ والفجرُ طالعُ

And I sent them racing, their passage setting the earth trembling,

and they kept vigil through night's blackness as dawn rose.

وَلَولاك لَم تنفُضْ حشايَ مَسرَّةٌ

ولو كثرتْ منها إلىَّ الذّرائعُ

Were it not for you, no joy would have shaken my heart,

even if its means of reaching me had multiplied.

وَأَنتَ الّذي لَو لَم أفِضْ في ثنائِهِ

تحمّل عنّي القولَ ما هو صانعُ

And you are the one: had I not poured forth his praise,

his deeds would have spoken in my stead.

شَديدُ ثَباتِ الرّأي بين مواطنٍ

رياحُ الخطوبِ بينهنّ زعازعُ

Firmly steadfast in judgment amid circumstances

where the winds of calamity blow in violent gusts.

وَقورٌ فإنْ لاذتْ به أرْيحيّةٌ

فلا الحِلمُ مغبونٌ ولا الجَدُّ خاشعُ

Grave; yet if generous ardor takes refuge in him,

neither his forbearance is diminished nor his earnestness humbled.

ويقظانُ ما ضامَ التفرّدُ حزمَه

ولا قبضتْ من بَسْطَتيْهِ المجامعُ

Vigilant: standing alone has never impaired his resolve,

nor have assemblies curtailed his twofold reach.

تقصّتْ نهاياتِ المعالِي أُصولُه

وساعفها فرعٌ على النّجمِ فارعُ

His roots have reached the furthest heights of honor,

and a branch towering above the stars has aided them.

كريمٌ إذا هزّ الرّجاءُ عطاءَهُ

تقاصر باع الغيثِ والغيثُ هامعُ

Generous: when hope stirs his giving,

the rain's reach falls short, even as the rain pours down.

رَمى وَلهَ الحُسّادِ قَرْمٌ مُصَمِّمٌ

بِيَأسٍ تحرَّته النّفوسُ النّوازعُ

A resolute lord struck the frenzy of the envious

with despair that aspiring souls had courted.

إِذا بادَروه المأثَرُاتِ شآهمُ

ودونَ المَدا منهمْ طليحٌ وظالعُ

When they race him in glorious deeds, he outstrips them,

while short of the finish, some are exhausted and some limp.

وَدونَ بلوغِ الطّالبين مكانَه

طريقٌ على ربِّ الحفيظة شاسِعُ

And before seekers can attain his station

lies a road far-stretching even for a man of fierce zeal.

وَكَم بَحثوه عَن خَفايا عيوبِه

فَشاعتْ مَعانٍ تصطفيها المسامعُ

How often they searched him for his hidden flaws,

only for qualities that ears cherish to spread abroad.

وَما النّاسُ إلّا واحِدٌ غيرَ أنّهمْ

تفاوَت منهمْ في الفِعال الطّبائعُ

All people are but one, except that

their natures differ in their deeds.

فِداؤك مَن يَتلو النّدى بِنَدامةٍ

وَقَد مَرَقَتْ من راحتيه الصّنائعُ

May one who follows generosity with regret be your ransom,

when favors have flown from his two palms.

بَعيدٌ عَنِ الآمالِ لا يستخفّه

سؤالٌ ولا يرجو عطاياه طامعُ

Far from hopes, he is not stirred

by a request, nor does any hopeful seeker expect his gifts.

وَقَد علم الأقوامُ أنّك فيهمُ

سِنانٌ إلى قلبِ المُلِمّاتِ شارعُ

The peoples have indeed learned that among them you are

a spearhead leveled at the heart of calamities.

وَهزّوك مسنونَ الغِرارين أُخلصتْ

نَواحيهِ وَاِجتاحَتْ قَذاه الوقائعُ

They brandished you, honed on both edges, purified

in every part; battles swept your dross away.

وَلَمّا نَبَتْ آراؤهمْ وأَظَلَّهم

مِنَ الأمرِ مسوَدُّ المخايِلِ رائعُ

And when their counsels failed and they were overshadowed

by a frightening turn of affairs, dark in its portents,

تَداركتَهمْ والشّملُ قد رثّ حبلُهُ

وَأَضربَ عن مُستشرِي الخَرقِ راقعُ

you rescued them when unity's rope had worn thin,

and a mender had abandoned the ever-spreading tear,

بِعَزمٍ به مُستَسلَفُ النّصرِ كافلٌ

وَحزمٌ به مستأنَفُ النُّجحِ تابعُ

with resolve, for which victory won beforehand stands as surety,

and prudence, which success yet to come follows.

كَفيتَهمُ الدّاني وشَيّعتَ ما مضى

برأيٍ توخّاه الذي هو واقعُ

You shielded them from what was near and saw off what had passed,

with judgment that the coming event itself sought out.

وَمُنكتم الأضغان أوْلاكَ بِشْرَه

وفي صدره غِلٌّ لحقّك مانعُ

And one concealing grudges gave you his smiling face,

while rancor in his breast denied you your due.

يَجرُّ أَباطيلَ الحديثِ إذا اِرتَقى

إلى فَهمِهِ ذكرٌ لمجدك شائعُ

He drags out false tales whenever there rises

to his mind widespread mention of your glory.

إِذا أبهتَته من مساعيك خلَّةٌ

تمنّى لها أنّ العيون هواجعُ

When one quality of your endeavors confounds him,

he wishes that eyes were asleep to it.

نَدبتَ لَهُ حِلْماً يداوي شرورَه

وَبعضُ الحِجى في مُلتَوِي الجَهلِ ضائعُ

You enlisted for him a forbearance to heal his evils,

though some wisdom is wasted in ignorance's twists.

تَراخَ وَخَفّضْ مِن همومك فالّذي

تطالبُهُ الآمالُ ما أنتَ جامعُ

Take your ease and lessen your cares, for what

hopes demand is what you will gather.

وَقَد راجَعَتْ تلكَ الأمور وأقبلتْ

إِليك بما تهوى سنون رواجعُ

Those affairs have indeed returned, and there have come

to you, with what you desire, returning years.

وَخلفُ الّذي أَرخى به الدّهرُ كفَّهُ

حُقوقٌ لَها هذي الوفودِ طلائعُ

And behind what Time has released from its hand

lie dues, for which these delegations are the vanguard.

نَضوتَ زمانَ الصّومِ عنك كما نضا

رداءَ الحَيا سبطٌ من الرّوضِ يانعُ

You shed the season of fasting, just as

a lush, flourishing meadow growth sheds its cloak of rain.

وما العيدُ إلّا ما صبحتَ طلوعَه

وَبلّجهُ فجرٌ بوجهك ساطعُ

The feast is only one whose rising you greet at dawn,

and which a dawn radiant with your face has brightened.

وهُنِّيتَهُ عُمْرَ الزّمانِ مُسَلّماً

يَفوت الرّدى أَو تَختَطيكَ الفجائعُ

May you be blessed in it for all time, kept safe,

eluding death, or passed over by calamities.