مرت بجمع ليلة النفر — Sibt Ibn Altaawithy

مَرَّت بِجَمعٍ لَيلَةَ النَفرِ

تَجمَعُ بَينَ الإِثمِ وَالأَجرِ

She passed through Jam‘ on the night of departure,

bringing sin and reward together.

أَدماءُ غَرّاءُ هَضيمُ الحَشا

واضِحَةُ اللَبّاتِ وَالنَحرِ

A tawny beauty, radiant, slender-waisted,

bright of breast and throat.

مَرَّت تُهادي بَينَ أَترابِها

كَالنَجمِ بَينَ الأَنجُمِ الزُهرِ

She passed, swaying gently among her companions,

like a star among the shining stars.

نَفَّرَ مِن ساكِنِ وَجدي بِها

دُنُوُّها في ساعَةِ النَفرِ

Roused from repose was my passion for her

by her approach at the hour of departure.

لَم أَحظَ مِنها بِسِوى نَظرَةٍ

خالَستُها مِن جانِبِ الخِدرِ

I gained nothing from her but a glance

that I stole from beside her curtained retreat.

أَومَت بِتَسليمٍ وَجاراتُها

يَرمينَنا بِالنَظَرِ الشَزرِ

She gestured a greeting, while her companions

cast sidelong looks at us.

يا بَردَها تَسليمَةً قَلَّبَت

قَلبَ أَخي الشَوقِ عَلى الجَمرِ

How cool that greeting was, yet it turned

the yearning lover's heart upon live coals!

وَلَيلَةٍ باتَ سَميري بِها

بَيضاءَ تُحمى بِالقَنا السُمرِ

And many a night my companion was

a fair woman guarded by dusky spears.

واهاً لَها مِن خَصرِ ريقِها

واهِيَةِ الميثاقِ وَالخَصرِ

Ah, for her, for the coolness of her saliva,

weak of pledge and slender of waist!

مالَ بِها سُكرُ الهَوى وَالصِبا

مَيلَ الصَبا بِالغُصُنِ النَضرِ

The drunkenness of love and youth swayed her

as the east wind bends a fresh branch.

باتَت تُعاطيني جَنا ريقَةٍ

رَقَّت فَأَغتَني عَنِ الخَمرِ

She spent the night offering me the fruit of her saliva,

so delicate that I had no need of wine.

إِذ مَزَجَت لي كَأسَ بَينٍ بِهِج

رانِ فَمِن سُكرٍ إِلى سُكرٍ

When she mixed me a cup of separation with

estrangement—from one drunkenness to another!

يا حُلوَةَ الريقِ بَرودَ اللِمى

رَوضَ الصِبا باسِمَةَ الثَغرِ

O sweet of saliva, cool of dusky lips,

garden of youth, smiling of mouth!

أَما كَفاكِ البَينُ لي قاتِلاً

حَتّى شَفَعتِ البَينَ بِالهَجرِ

Was separation not enough for you to kill me,

that you coupled separation with estrangement?

ما هُوَ إِلّا أَن نَبا الدَهرُ بي

فَمِلتِ يا ليلى مَعَ الدَهرِ

No sooner had fortune turned against me

than you, Layla, sided with fortune.

ذَنبي إِلى الأَيّامِ حُرِّيَّتي

وَلَم تَزَل أَلباً عَلى الحُرِّ

My offense against the days is my freedom,

and they have always banded against the free.

ما لي أَرى الناسَ وَحالي عَلى

خِلافِ أَحوالِهِم يَجري

Why do I see mankind, while my condition

runs contrary to theirs?

دَهرِيَ مَأمورٌ وَمُستَعبَدٌ

وَالناسُ في نَهيٍ وَفي أَمرِ

Throughout my life I am commanded and enslaved,

while others forbid and command.

وَلِلَّيالي دُوَلٌ بَينَهُم

تَنقُلُ مِن زَيدٍ إِلى عَمرِو

The nights have turns of fortune among them,

transferring them from Zayd to ‘Amr.

تَجولُ مِن بُؤسٍ إِلى نِعمَةٍ

طَوراً وَمِن عُسرٍ إِلى يُسرِ

They roam from misery to prosperity

at times, and from hardship to ease.

فَكَم نَبيهٍ قَد رَأَيناهُ بِال

أَمسِ وَضيعاً خامِلَ الذِكرِ

How many a distinguished man we have seen

yesterday, lowly and unknown!

وَكَم فَقيرٍ باتَ ذا عُسرَةٍ

أَصبَحَ وَهوَ الموسِرُ المُثري

And how many a poor man spent the night in hardship,

then rose in the morning prosperous and wealthy!

وَرُبَّ هاوٍ في حَضيضِ الثَرى

طارَ بِهِ الجَدُّ مَعَ النَسرِ

And many a man fallen into the depths of the dust

was borne by fortune aloft beside the eagle.

تَختَلِفُ الأَيّامُ في أَهلِها

مِثلَ اِختِلافِ المَدِّ وَالجَزرِ

The days vary in their dealings with their people

like the alternation of flood and ebb.

وَما أَرى لي بَينَهُم دَولَةً

تَرفَعُ مِن شَأني وَمِن قَدري

Yet I see no turn of fortune for me among them

that raises my standing or my worth.

كَأَنَّني لَستُ مِنَ الناسِ في

شَيءٍ وَلا دَهرُهُمُ دَهري

As though I had no share in mankind

at all, nor were their times my times.

وَما لِإِنسانِيَّتي شاهِدٌ

عِندي سِوى أَنِّيَ في خُسرِ

I have no witness to my humanity

except that I suffer loss.

أَعيشُ في الدُنيا عَلى حالَةٍ

واحِدَةٍ أَصحَبُها عُمري

I live in this world in a condition

unchanging, my companion all my life.

فَلَيتَ شِعري يا زَماني مَتى

أَخرُجُ مِن دائِرِةِ الشِعرِ

If only I knew, O my time, when

I shall escape poetry's circle!

كُنتَ تُداجيني فَما لي أَرى

صَرفَكَ قَد صَرَّحَ بِالشَرِّ

You once concealed your enmity; why do I now see

your vicissitudes openly declaring harm?

فَرَدَّ آمالِيَ مَقبوضَةً

وَكَسَّرَ الحاجاتِ في صَدري

They sent my hopes back thwarted

and shattered the needs within my breast.

لَم تَرضَ أَيّامُكَ لي لا رَأَت

يَومَ رِضىً بِالضَنكِ وَالعُسرِ

Your days were not content to give me—may they never see

a day of contentment—distress and hardship,

حَتّى رَمَتني رَميَةً بِالأَذى

بِنَكبَةٍ قاصِمَةٍ ظَهري

but struck me a hurtful blow,

a calamity that broke my back.

وَتَرتَني في مُقلَةٍ قَلَّما

أَعلَمُها نامَت عَلى وَتَرِ

You bereaved me of an eye that seldom

I knew to sleep upon an unavenged wrong.

أَصَبتَني فيها عَلى غِرَّةٍ

بِعائِرٍ مِن حَيثُ لا أَدري

You struck me in it unawares

with an eye affliction from an unknown quarter.

جَوهَرَةٌ كُنتُ ضَنيناً بِها

نَفيسَةُ القيمَةِ وَالقَدرِ

A jewel I had guarded jealously,

precious in value and worth.

إِن لَم أَكُن أَبكي عَلَيها دَماً

فَضلاً عَنِ الدَمعِ فَما عُذري

If I do not weep blood over it,

let alone tears, what excuse have I?

وَاِرتَجَعَت ما رَشَحَت لي بِهِ

صِفاتُها مِن تافِهٍ نَزرِ

And it reclaimed what had trickled to me

from its rock, a trifling, scant amount.

فَيا لَها طارِقَةً هَدَّني

طُروقُها في آخِرِ العُمرِ

Ah, what a visiting calamity! It crushed me—

its arrival at the end of life.

طارِقَةً مَثَّلَ بي مَسُّها

يَعجَزُ عَن أَمثالِها صَبري

A calamity whose touch mutilated me;

against its like my patience fails.

فَلا رَعاها اللَهُ مِن حالَةٍ

ثالِثَةٍ لِلشَيبِ وَالفَقرِ

May God not preserve such a condition,

a third beside gray hair and poverty!

غادَرَ جِسمي حَرِضاً غَدرُها

ما أَولَعَ الأَيّامَ بِالغَدرِ

Its betrayal left my body wasted;

how devoted the days are to betrayal!

كَأَنَّني يَعقوبُ في الحُزنِ بَل

أَيّوبُ في البَأساءِ وَالضُرِّ

As though I were Jacob in grief—rather,

Job in affliction and suffering.

أَسيرُ هَمٍّ لا أَرى فادِياً

يَفُكُّ مِن قَبضَتِهِ أَسري

A captive of worry, I see no ransomer

to release my captivity from its grip.

حَبيسُ بَيتٍ مُفرَداً مُسلَماً

فيهِ إِلى الأَحزانِ وَالفِكرِ

A prisoner of a house, left alone, surrendered

within it to sorrows and thoughts.

تَضيقُ عَن خَطوِيَ أَقطارُهُ

وَهوَ رَحيبٌ واسِعُ القُطرِ

Its bounds are too narrow for my steps,

though it is spacious and broad.

كَأَنَّني في قَعرِهِ جاثِماً

مَيتٌ وَما أُلحِدَ في قَبرِ

As though, crouching in its depths, I were

dead, though laid in no grave;

ناءٍ عَنِ الأَحياءِ في بَرزَخٍ

مُنقَطِعٌ عَن بَينِهِم ذِكري

far from the living, in an in-between realm,

the memory of me cut off from their midst.

لَيلُ حِجابٍ لا أَرى فَجرَهُ

يا مَن رَأى لَيلاً بِلا فَجرِ

A night of concealment whose dawn I cannot see—

who has ever seen a night without dawn?

لَأَرفَعَنَّ اليَومَ حالي إِلى

ذي إِمرَةٍ يَنظُرُ في أَمري

Today I shall surely present my plight to

a man of authority who attends to my affair.

تَشكو فَيَشكيني نَداهُ وَإِن

شَكَرتُهُ أَطرَبَهُ شُكري

My plight complains; his bounty grants me redress; and if

I thank him, my thanks delight him.

أُهدي إِلَيهِ مِثلَ أَخلاقِهِ ال

حُسنى ثَناءً أَرِجَ النَشرِ

I offer him, like his own virtues—

so fair—praise fragrant in its diffusion.

حَبائِراً جَهَّزتُ أَعلاقَها

إِلى الأَجَلِّ الفَاضِلِ الحَبرِ

Embroidered pieces, whose precious treasures I dispatched

to the most august, virtuous scholar,

أَبي عَلِيٍّ وَاِبنِهِ وَأَخي ال

سَماحِ وَالإِحسانِ وَالبِرِّ

Abu ‘Ali and his son, and the companion of

generosity, beneficence, and goodness,

عَبدِ الرَحيمِ الغُرِّ آباؤُهُ

مَولى النَدى وَالنِعَمِ الغُرِّ

‘Abd al-Rahim, whose forebears are illustrious,

master of bounty and resplendent blessings.

المُسمِحِ الصَعبِ الرَحيبِ القِرى

في المَكرُماتِ الضَيِّقِ العُذرِ

The generous, formidable man, ample in hospitality,

who allows himself scant excuse in noble deeds.

لا حَصِرٍ يَومَ جَدالٍ وَلا

آلاؤُهُ تُدرَكُ بِالحَصرِ

Not tongue-tied on a day of argument; nor

can his blessings be encompassed by counting.

ماضي شَبا العَزمِ خَليقٍ إِذا

ما خَلَقَت كَفّاهُ أَن تُفري

Sharp-edged in resolve, well fitted, whenever

his hands measure out, to cut through.

نَجمُ الثُرَيّا كَفُّهُ فَهيَ لا

تَنجُمُ إِلّا عَن حَياً ثَرِّ

His palm is the star of the Pleiades; it never

rises except with copious rain.

سَريرَةٌ صادِقَةٌ طالَما

تَصَدَّقَت بِالمالِ في السِرِّ

A true inner nature that has so often

given money in charity, in secret.

شِفارُهُ تَقطُرُ مُحمَرَّةً

في سَنَواتِ الإِزَمِ الغُبرِ

His blades drip, reddened,

in the dust-gray years of famine.

باهَت عَلى الأَلقابِ أَسماؤُهُ

تَكَبُّرَاً مِنهُ عَلى الكِبرِ

His names outboast mere titles,

a pride in him that defies pride itself.

يَقطُرُ ماءُ البِشرِ مِن وَجهِهِ

لا خَيرَ في وَجهٍ بِلا بِشرِ

The water of cheerfulness drips from his face;

there is no good in a face without cheer.

إِحسانُهُ يَتبَعُ إِحسانَهُ

تَتابُعَ القَطرِ عَلى القَطرِ

His beneficence follows his beneficence

as raindrop follows raindrop.

لا مِثلَ مَن مَعروفُهُ فَلتَةٌ

وَالجودُ مِنهُ بيضَةُ العُقرِ

Unlike one whose kindness is a rare occurrence,

whose generosity is the single egg of barrenness.

مُجرٍ إِلى السودَدِ آراؤَهُ

تَفُلُّ عَزمَ العَسكَرِ المَجرِ

He sends his counsels racing toward lordship;

they blunt the resolve of a vast army.

وَكاتِبٌ ما فَتِئَت كُتبُهُ

طَلائِعاً لِلفَتحِ وَالنَصرِ

A secretary whose letters have never ceased to be

vanguards of conquest and victory.

تَنوبُ يَومَ الرَوعِ أَقلامُهُ

عَن قُضُبِ الهِندِيَّةِ البُترِ

On the day of terror his pens stand in place

of the severing blades of Indian swords.

رَسائِلٌ كَالسُحبِ شِم بَرقَها الس

ساري وَبِت مِنها عَلى ذُعرِ

Letters like clouds: watch their lightning

travelling by night, and spend the night in fear of them.

تَطوي عَلى ضُرٍّ وَنَفعٍ فَمِن

صَواعِقٍ تُردي وَمِن قَطرِ

They enfold harm and benefit: there are

thunderbolts that kill, and showers,

سَوارِياً في الحَزنِ وَالسَهلِ أَو

شَوارِداً في البَرِّ وَالبَحرِ

travelling by night over rugged ground and smooth, or

roaming far over land and sea.

يَسيرُ في الآفاقِ أَبناؤُها

كَأَنَّها اللَيلُ إِذا يَسري

Their offspring travel across the horizons,

as though they were the night as it journeys.

تُزهي عَلى الأَصدافِ أَدراجُها

لِأَنَّها أَوعِيَةُ الدُرِّ

Their scrolls boast over shells,

for they are vessels of pearls.

قارِئُها يَنظُرُ في رَوضَةٍ

مَوشِيَّةِ الأَقطارِ بِالزَهرِ

Their reader gazes into a garden

whose borders are embroidered with flowers.

وَرُبَّما أَوطَأَهُ تارَةً

وَعيدُهُ مِنها عَلى جَمرِ

Yet sometimes he is made to tread

on live coals by the threats within them.

كَأَنَّهُ فَضَّ وَقَد فَضَّها

لَطائِمَ العِطرِ عَلى العِطرِ

As though, when he unsealed them, he had opened

stores of perfume upon perfume.

تُحدِثُ في أَعطافِهِ نَشوَةً

كَأَنَّها جاءَت عَلى خَمرِ

They kindle rapture in his limbs,

as though they had come borne on wine.

يا سائِراً تَحمِلُهُ هِمَّةٌ

ضَليعَةٌ مُحكَمَةُ الأَسرِ

O traveller borne along by an ambition

mighty and firmly knit,

يَسيرُ في البَرِّ عَلى حَسرَةٍ

مِنها وَفي البَحرِ عَلى خُسرِ

who journeys over land in anguish

from it, and over sea in loss,

يَمِّم حِمى عَبدِ الرَحيمِ الَّذي

يَقتُلُ إِعسارَكَ بِاليُسرِ

head toward the sanctuary of ‘Abd al-Rahim, who

kills your poverty with ease.

أُحلُل بِهِ وَاِسرَح مَطاياكَ في

مَنبِتِ رَوضِ المَجدِ وَالفَخرِ

Alight with him, and pasture your mounts in

the growing-place of glory's and pride's garden.

وَقُل لَهُ يا أَفضَلَ الناسِ إِن

أَفاضَ في نَظمٍ وَفي نَثرِ

And tell him: O best of men when

you pour forth in verse and prose;

يا حاكِماً يَبذُلُ إِنصافَهُ

في الحُكمِ لِلفاجِرِ وَالبَرِّ

O judge who dispenses his fairness

in judgment to the wicked and the righteous!

تَمضي قَضاياهُ عَلى سُرعَةٍ

واحِدَةٍ في اّلسِرِّ وَالجَهرِ

His judgments are carried out with a speed

uniform in private and in public.

وَالعَدلُ في حُكمٍ دَليلٌ عَلى

طَهارَةِ المَولِدِ وَالنَجرِ

Justice in judgment is a sign of

purity of birth and lineage.

إِسمَع تَخَطَّتكَ الرَزايا وَلا

جَرَت لَها يَوماً عَلى ذِكرِ

Listen—may calamities pass you by, and may they

never enter your remembrance—

دَعوَةَ عانٍ وَعَداكَ الأَذى

يَسمَعُها مِن كانَ ذا وَقرِ

to an afflicted man's plea—may harm pass you by—

which even the deaf can hear.

أَلَستُ عَبداً لِأَياديكَ مَو

قوفاً عَلى التَقريظِ وَالذِكرِ

Am I not a servant to your favors, wholly

devoted to praise and commemoration?

كَم حُرمَةٍ أَكَّدَها الفَضلُ بي

وَخِدمَةٍ قَدَّمَها شِعري

How many a claim to respect merit has confirmed for me,

and a service my verse has offered!

مَلَكتَ رِقّي وَأَبو خالِدٍ

في واسِطٍ بَعدُ عَلى المَجرِ

You own my servitude, while Abu Khalid

is still in Wasit, upon the watercourse,

في فَمِ سِريا يُنفِذُ الحُكمَ في

بَضائِعِ التُجّارِ وَالسَفرِ

at the mouth of Siriya, enforcing his rule over

the goods of merchants and travellers.

يَأخُذُ مِنها الرُبعَ وَالمَكسُ لا

يَزيدُ في الدُنيا عَلى العُشرِ

He takes a quarter of them, though the tax

nowhere in the world exceeds a tenth.

مُحتَكِراً لِلمَجِّ وَالرُزِّ وَال

حِنطَةِ وَالشَعيرِ وَالتَمرِ

Monopolizing mung beans, rice, and

wheat, barley, and dates,

وَكُلَّما يَصلُحُ لِلقوتِ أَو

تُطلَقُ فيهِ لَفظَةُ البُرِّ

and all that serves for nourishment, or

to which the name of wheat is applied.

يَبيعُها بِالعَينِ وَالحِليِ وَالث

ثِيابِ وَالفِضَّةِ وَالتِبرِ

He sells them for cash, ornaments, and

clothing, silver, and raw gold,

حَتّى رَماهُ الناسُ مِن سوءِ ما

أَتاهُ بِالإِلحادِ وَالكُفرِ

until people charged him, for the evil of what

he committed, with impiety and unbelief.

غادَرَتِ الأَعمالَ أَعمالُهُ

خالِيَةً كَالبَلَدِ القَفرِ

His deeds have left the districts

deserted, like a barren wasteland.

تَجَبُّراً لَم يَرمِ أَهلَ القُرى

بِمِثلِهِ آلُ أَبي الجَبرِ

A tyranny unlike any inflicted on villagers

by the house of Abu al-Jabr.

ضاهى اِبنَ عِمرانَ وَأَيّامُهُ

قَد دَثَرَت في مالِهِ الدَثرِ

He rivaled Ibn ‘Imran, while his days

have fallen into ruin amid his abundant wealth.

وَباعَ أُخراهُ وَصُفرٍ غَداً

يَخرُجُ مِنها بِيَدٍ صِفرِ

He sold his hereafter; and from his brass, tomorrow

he will depart with an empty hand.

ثُمَّ أَتاكُم عارِياً مالِئاً

حُضنَيهِ مِن عارٍ وَمِن وِزرِ

Then he came to you bare, filling

both his sides with shame and sin.

فَاِنصِت لِأَخباري فَإِنّي بِما

عانَيتُ مِنهُ قَبلُ ذو خِبرِ

So listen to my account, for about what

I suffered from him before I have knowledge.

وَذَر مَلامي في هِجاءِ اِمرِئٍ

لَحِقتُ فيهِ بِأَبي ذُرِّ

And spare me blame for satirizing a man

in whose case I have caught up with Abu Dhurr.

وَاِنهَض إِلى حَربِ أَبي غالِبٍ

عَلياءَ لا تَقعُدُ عَن نَصري

Rise to wage war against Abu Ghalib,

a lofty war; do not hold back from supporting me.

وَاِستَوفِ لي بِالعُنفِ وَالعَسفِ ما

حَواهُ بِالخَدعَةِ وَالمَكرِ

Recover for me, by force and coercion, what

he took through deceit and guile.

وَاِقسِرهُ في حُكمِكَ بِالحَقِّ لا

يُنالُ مِنهُ بِسِوى القَهرِ

Compel him by justice in your judgment; nothing

can be obtained from him except by force.

وَاِزجُرهُ عَن مَطلي فَأَخلاقُهُ

تَحتاجُ في المَطلِ إِلى الزَجرِ

Rebuke him for delaying my repayment; his habits

of delay require reprimand.

وَاجبُرهُ فَالمَجهولُ يَقوى عَلى اِس

تِخراجِهِ مَسأَلَةُ الجَبرِ

Compel him: the unknown may be drawn

out by a problem of algebra.

وَاِشدُد بِها إِزري فَما كُلُّ مَن

أَرجوهُ يَشتَدُّ بِهِ إِزري

Strengthen my support through it, for not everyone

I hope in strengthens my support.

فَأَنتَ ذُخري وَأَرى أَنَّني

أَحوَجُ ما كُنتُ إِلى ذُخرُ

You are my reserve, and I see that I am