ما أرادت إلا الجفاء ظلوم — Sharif Al Murtaza

ما أَرادتْ إلّا الجفاءَ ظَلومُ

يوم رامتْ عنّا ولسنا نَرِيمُ

Zalum desired nothing but estrangement,

the day she moved away from us, while we would not move.

روّعتْ بالفراقِ قلباً إذا رِي

ع بِذكر الفراق كاد يهيمُ

She terrified a heart with parting—a heart that, when alarmed

by mention of parting, nearly went mad.

وأرادتْ قصدَ الغَمِيمِ ولو أن

نا اِستَطَعنا كان المحلَّ الغميمُ

She wished to head for al-Ghamim; and had

we been able, al-Ghamim would have been our abode.

وكتمنا وَجْداً بها ساعةَ البَيْ

نِ ولكنْ دَمْعُ العيونِ نَمومُ

We concealed our longing for her at the hour of parting,

but the eyes' tears betray secrets.

لم يَطُلْ بيننا غداةَ اِفترقنا

من حِذارٍ ضمٌّ ولا تسليمُ

On the morning we parted, nothing lingered between us:

out of fear, neither an embrace nor a farewell.

ضاعَ مِنّا بينَ الوشاةِ ببينٍ

ما اِحتَسبناه سِرُّنا المكتومُ

Amid the tale-bearers, there slipped from us, through a parting

we had not foreseen, our concealed secret.

أيُّ دمعٍ جرى ونحن بنَجْرا

نَ لنا والدّيارُ ثَمَّ رسومُ

What tears flowed while we were at Najran,

for us, with the dwellings there mere traces!

دِمَنٌ لو رَنَتْ إليهنّ عينا

كَ قُبَيْلَ الفراقِ قلت النُّجومُ

Abandoned campsites: had your eyes gazed upon them

just before parting, you would have said, 'The stars!'

ومغانٍ من النّحولِ كأروا

حٍ ولكنْ ليستْ لهنّ جُسومُ

And dwellings, so wasted they seemed like spirits,

yet they had no bodies.

ما مررنا إلّا بهنّ ومنهن

نَ قفاراً سِيقتْ إلينا الهُمومُ

We passed only by them; and from them,

lying desolate, sorrows were driven toward us.

ما على مَن ينامُ ليلَ مُحبِّي

ه طويلاً لو كان فيه يُنيمُ

What would it cost one who sleeps through his lovers' night

for so long, to let them sleep in it too?

وَعَجيبٌ وهْوَ المَلِيء ثراءً

كيف يُلوي عن جانبيه الغَريمُ

And strange it is, though he is abundantly wealthy,

how the creditor turns away from either side of him.

طلعتْ فالهلالُ يُبصَرُ منها

ورَنَتْ نحونا فقيلَ الرِّيمُ

She appeared, and the crescent moon was seen in her;

she gazed toward us, and they said, 'The gazelle!'

وشككنا في دمعها وهو منهل

لٌ أَدَمْعٌ أم لؤلؤٌ منظومُ

We were uncertain about her tears as they poured down:

were they tears, or pearls upon a string?

رحل النّاكثون بالعهد عن دا

ر حفاظٍ وأنتَ فيها مقيمُ

The pledge-breakers departed from an abode

of fidelity, while you remained within it.

وتناهَوْا عن الوفاء وهذا الْ

غَدْرُ داءٌ بين الأنام قديمُ

They forbade one another fidelity; and this

treachery is an ancient disease among humankind.

وملامٌ سمعته لا يُرى في

ه لَجوجاً إلّا المُريبُ المُليمُ

In the reproach I heard, none is seen

obstinate but one who arouses suspicion and deserves blame.

لا أُبالي متى اِستَقمتُ إذا كا

ن جميعُ الأنامِ لا يستقيمُ

I do not care, so long as I am upright, if

all humankind is not upright.

وإذا كنتُ لا يطورُ بِيَ الذّم

مُ فما ضرّني مَنِ المذمومُ

And if blame never circles about me,

what does it matter to me who is blamed?

وَإِذا سُمتُها كما اِشترط المج

دُ فنادِ الرّجالَ لا لا تسوموا

And if I seek it as glory has stipulated,

then call to the men: 'No—do not seek it!'

قلْ لفخر الملوك عَنِّيَ والقو

لُ صحيحٌ بني الورى وسقيمُ

Tell Fakhr al-Muluk on my behalf—and speech

is sound, O sons of humankind, or unsound—

قد رأينا بك الملوك وإنْ رُمْ

تَ من المأثُراتِ ما لم يروموا

in you we have seen the kings, though you sought

among noble deeds what they never sought.

لك من فوقهمْ إذا نحن قسنا

همْ إلى مجدك المحلُّ العظيمُ

Yours, above them, when we compare

them with your glory, is the exalted station.

إنّ في بلدة السّلامِ هُماماً

لَيس يُهدى إلّا له التّسليمُ

Indeed, in the City of Peace there is a noble man

to whom alone salutations are offered.

من أُناسٍ لهمْ إلى سَوْرَة الجه

لِ أَناةٌ وفي السَّفاهِ حُلومُ

One of a people who meet the surge of ignorance

with patience, and folly with forbearance.

ونراهم لا يعزفون عن العِبْءِ

كَما يعزف الملولُ السَّؤومُ

We see them never turn away from a burden,

as the easily bored and wearied turn away.

وإذا ما دُعوا لحومةِ حربٍ

وطيورُ الرّدى هناك تحومُ

And when they are summoned to the thick of battle,

while the birds of death circle there,

وهبوا العذرَ للجبانِ وعاصوا

مَن على مكرعِ الحِمامِ يلومُ

they grant the coward his excuse, and defy

whoever reproaches them for approaching death's drinking-place.

وأتَوْا في ظهور هُوجٍ كما هِي

جَ على صَحْصَانِ أرضٍ ظَليمُ

They came on the backs of headstrong steeds, as when

a male ostrich is roused on a level stretch of land.

قد لبسن الدّماءَ فالبُلْقُ كُمْتٌ

ما توضّحْنَ والأغرُّ بَهيمُ

They wore blood: the piebalds were dark bays,

showing no white, and the white-blazed steed wholly dark.

والرّدى بالظُّبا الرّقاقِ وبالسُّمْ

رِ العوالي بين العدا مقسومُ

Death, by slender sword-edges and by dusky

lofty spears, is apportioned among the foes.

زار أرضَ الزَّوْراءِ لمّا اِقشعرّتْ

مثلما زارتِ المُحولَ الغيومُ

He visited the land of al-Zawra when it shuddered,

just as clouds visit drought-stricken lands.

جاءَها حين لا يمرّ بها السّا

ري دُثوراً ولا يُسيم المُسيمُ

He came to it when no night-traveler passed through it:

it lay desolate, and no herdsman pastured there.

ليس يُغضي عنها وتَمضي قضايا

ه عليها إلّا الغَشومُ الظَّلومُ

None turns a blind eye to it while his decrees

take effect upon it, except the ruthless oppressor.

فهي الآن كالصَّفاةِ اِستَدارتْ

ليس فيها لمجتليها ثُلومُ

It is now like a smooth rock, rounded,

with no chips for its beholder to see.

روضةٌ غَضّةٌ فأمّا نداها

فرذاذٌ وريحُها فنسيمُ

A lush garden; as for its moisture,

it is drizzle, and its wind a gentle breeze.

فَإِلى بابهِ مُناخُ المطايا

وعليه وَفْدُ الرّجاء مقيمُ

So at his gate is the kneeling-place of riding camels,

and there the delegation of hope resides.

حرمٌ آمنٌ به يُنصَفُ المظ

لومُ عفواً ويُمنحُ المحرومُ

A secure sanctuary: there the oppressed receive justice

freely, and the deprived are provided for.

بلغوا عنده الرّجاء وكم با

توا وأُمُّ الرّجاءِ فيهمْ عقيمُ

With him they attained their hope; how often they had

spent the night with the mother of hope barren among them!

دَرّ دَرٌّ الّذي فَضَلْتَ به النّا

سَ عطاءٌ دَثْرٌ وخُلْقٌ كريمُ

Blessed be that by which you surpassed mankind:

abundant giving and a noble character.

وسجايا مَلَكْنَ كلَّ فؤادٍ

هنّ فيه عند الصَّميمِ صَميمُ

And qualities that took possession of every heart:

within its very core, they are the core itself.

أيّها المنعمُ الّذي أعوزَ الفق

رُ على جوده وأعيَا العديمُ

O benefactor, whose bounty has made poverty

scarce, and the destitute hard to find.

لك مِن شكرِ كلِّ مَنْ سَطَرَ الشكْ

رَ قديماً خُصوصُهُ والعُمومُ

Yours is the thanks of everyone who recorded gratitude

of old, its particular and its universal forms.

أنت تُعنى به وإنْ لم يَقُلْ في

ك ومَن قيل فيه فَهوَ المَلومُ

You are meant by it, even if he did not speak

of you; whoever it was said of is blameworthy.

وإذا ما مدائحُ المرءِ لم يَصْ

دُقن في نعته فهنّ خصومُ

And if a man's praises do not speak truth

in describing him, they are adversaries.

وإذا ما أُعيرَ وصفاً محالاً

فهو قذفٌ لعِرضِه ورُجومُ

And if he is lent an impossible description,

it is a slander against his honor, a shower of stones.

إنّ هذا التّحويلَ جاء وقد عا

هَدَنا أنّه الدُّهورَ يدومُ

Indeed, this turning has come, having pledged

to us that it will endure through the ages.

وهوَ يُهدِي إليك ما أنتَ تهوا

ه وما نحن في هواك نرومُ

It presents you with what you desire,

and what we seek in our love for you.

فخذِ السّعدَ منه فالفَلَكُ الدَّو

وارُ منه سُعودُه والنُّجومُ

So take good fortune from it; the revolving firmament

derives from it its good fortunes and stars.

لا قَلاك الّذي علاك من السَّعْ

دِ ملالاً ولا جفاك النَّعيمُ

May the good fortune that rose over you never spurn you

out of weariness, nor may bliss forsake you.

وَاِبقَ مستخدِمَ الزّمان فخير ال

عيشِ عيشٌ به الزّمان خَدومُ

And live on, employing time as your servant; for the best

life is a life in which time is a willing servant.