صحا القلب عن سلمى وأقصر باطله — Zuhair Bin Abi Salma

صَحا القَلبُ عَن سَلمى وَأَقصَرَ باطِلُه

وَعُرِّيَ أَفراسُ الصِبا وَرَواحِلُه

The heart has sobered from Salma, and its folly has ceased.

And youth's steeds and riding-camels have been unsaddled.

وَأَقصَرتُ عَمّا تَعلَمينَ وَسُدِّدَت

عَلَيَّ سِوى قَصدِ السَبيلِ مَعادِلُه

I have ceased from what you know, and barred

to me are its byways, save the road's straight course.

وَقالَ العَذارى إِنَّما أَنتَ عَمُّنا

وَكانَ الشَبابُ كَالخَليطِ نُزايِلُه

The maidens said, 'You are only our uncle.'

And youth was like a company we were parting from.

فَأَصبَحتُ ما يَعرِفنَ إِلّا خَليقَتي

وَإِلّا سَوادَ الرَأسِ وَالشَيبُ شامِلُه

Now they recognize nothing of me but my nature,

and my head's black hair, though gray has spread over it.

لِمَن طَلَلٌ كَالوَحيِ عافٍ مَنازِلُه

عَفا الرَسُّ مِنهُ فَالرُسَيسُ فَعاقِلُه

Whose is this campsite, like writing, its dwellings fading?

Its traces have faded at al-Rass, then al-Rusays, then 'Aqil;

فَرَقدٌ فَصاراتٌ فَأَكنافُ مَنعِجٍ

فَشَرقِيُّ سَلمى حَوضُهُ فَأَجاوِلُه

then Raqd, then Sarat, then the outskirts of Man'ij;

then eastern Salma, its basin, then its outlying tracts;

فَوادي البَدِيِّ فَالطَوِيُّ فَثادِقٌ

فَوادي القَنانِ جِزعُهُ فَأَفاكِلُه

then Wadi al-Badi, then al-Tawi, then Thadiq;

then Wadi al-Qanan, its bend, then its Afakil.

وَغَيثٍ مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ حُوٍّ تِلاعُهُ

أَجابَت رَوابيهِ النِجا وَهَواطِلُه

And many a pasture watered by autumn rain, its valleys dark green,

whose hills answered the rain-clouds and their downpours,

هَبَطتُ بِمَمسودِ النَواشِرِ سابِحٍ

مُمَرٍّ أَسيلِ الخَدِّ نَهدٍ مَراكِلُه

I rode down into on a steed with corded sinews, swimming in his stride,

tightly knit, smooth of cheek, with prominent flanks.

تَميمٍ فَلَوناهُ فَأُكمِلَ صُنعُهُ

فَتَمَّ وَعَزَّتهُ يَداهُ وَكاهِلُه

Perfectly formed: we reared him, and his making was perfected;

so he matured, strengthened by his forelegs and withers.

أَمينٍ شَظاهُ لَم يُخَرَّق صِفاقُهُ

بِمِنقَبَةٍ وَلَم تُقَطَّع أَباجِلُه

Sound in his splint-bones, his belly's lining never pierced

by a piercing tool, nor his leg-veins severed.

إِذا ما غَدَونا نَبتَغي الصَيدَ مَرَّةً

مَتى نَرَهُ فَإِنَّنا لا نُخاتِلُه

When once we ride out in the morning seeking game,

whenever we see it, we do not take it by stealth.

فَبَينا نُبَغّي الصَيدَ جاءَ غُلامُنا

يَدِبُّ وَيُخفي شَخصَهُ وَيُضائِلُه

While we were seeking game, our lad came,

creeping, hiding his figure and making it small.

فَقالَ شِياهٌ راتِعاتٌ بِقَفرَةٍ

بِمُستَأسِدِ القُريانِ حُوٍّ مَسائِلُه

He said, 'She-asses are grazing in a barren tract,

amid luxuriant valley channels, their watercourses dark green:

ثَلاثٌ كَأَقواسِ السَراءِ وَمِسحَلٌ

قَدِ اِخضَرَّ مِن لَسِّ الغَميرِ جَحافِلُه

three, like bows of sara wood, and a braying wild ass,

whose lips have turned green from nibbling fresh undergrowth.

وَقَد خَرَّمَ الطُرّادُ عَنهُ جِحاشَهُ

فَلَم يَبقَ إِلّا نَفسُهُ وَحَلائِلُه

The hunters have cut off his foals from him,

so none remain but himself and his mates.'

فَقالَ أَميري ما تَرى رَأيَ ما نَرى

أَنَختِلُهُ عَن نَفسِهِ أَم نُصاوِلُه

My leader said, 'What is your judgment of what we see?

Shall we trick him out of his life, or confront him openly?'

فَبِتنا عُراةً عِندَ رَأسِ جَوادِنا

يُزاوِلُنا عَن نَفسِهِ وَنُزاوِلُه

So we spent the night stripped, at our steed's head,

he struggling to free himself from us, and we struggling with him.

وَنَضرِبُهُ حَتّى اِطمَئَنَّ قَذالُهُ

وَلَم يَطمَئِنَّ قَلبُهُ وَخَصائِلُه

We struck him until his poll grew still,

but his heart and temperament were not calmed.

وَمُلجِمُنا ما إِن يَنالُ قَذالَهُ

وَلا قَدَماهُ الأَرضَ إِلّا أَنامِلُه

Our bridler scarcely reached his poll,

nor did his feet touch the earth except for his toes.

فَلَأياً بِلَأيٍ ما حَمَلنا وَليدَنا

عَلى ظَهرِ مَحبوكٍ ظِماءٍ مَفاصِلُه

Only with hardship upon hardship did we mount our lad

on the back of a tightly built horse with lean, dry joints.

وَقُلتُ لَهُ سَدِّد وَأَبصِر طَريقَهُ

وَما هُوَ فيهِ عَن وَصاتِيَ شاغِلُه

I told him, 'Guide him straight, and watch his path,'

though what occupied him distracted him from my counsel.

وَقُلتُ تَعَلَّم أَنَّ لِلصَيدِ غِرَّةً

وَإِلّا تُضَيِّعها فَإِنَّكَ قاتِلُه

I told him, 'Know that game has a moment of heedlessness,

and if you do not miss it, you are sure to kill it.'

فَتَبَّعَ آثارَ الشِياهِ وَليدُنا

كَشُؤبوبِ غَيثٍ يَحفِشُ الأُكمَ وابِلُه

Our lad followed the tracks of the she-asses,

like a burst of rain whose downpour lashes the hillocks.

نَظَرتُ إِلَيهِ نَظرَةً فَرَأَيتُهُ

عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ مَرَّةً هُوَ حامِلُه

I glanced toward him and saw him:

in every circumstance, he bore him onward at each turn.

يُثِرنَ الحَصى في وَجهِهِ وَهوَ لاحِقٌ

سِراعٌ تَواليهِ صِيابٌ أَوائِلُه

They scattered pebbles into his face, while he followed close;

his hind legs were swift, his forelegs shot straight.

فَرَدَّ عَلَينا العَيرَ مِن دونِ إِلفِهِ

عَلى رُغمِهِ يَدمى نَساهُ وَفائِلُه

He drove the wild ass back to us, away from its mate,

against its will, its thigh-sinew and haunch bleeding.

فَرُحنا بِهِ يَنضو الجِيادَ عَشِيَّةً

مُخَضَّبَةً أَرساغُهُ وَعَوامِلُه

At evening we returned with him, wearing out the swift steeds,

his pasterns and legs stained.

بِذي مَيعَةٍ لا مَوضِعُ الرُمحِ مُسلِمٌ

لِبُطءٍ وَلا ما خَلفَ ذالِكَ خاذِلُه

On a steed full of vigor: where the spear rests does not yield

to sluggishness, nor does what lies behind it fail him.

وَأَبيَضَ فَيّاضٍ يَداهُ غَمامَةٌ

عَلى مُعتَفيهِ ما تُغِبُّ فَواضِلُه

And a fair, lavish giver, whose hands are a rain-cloud

over those seeking his gifts—his bounty never ceases.

بَكَرتُ عَلَيهِ غُدوَةً فَرَأَيتُهُ

قُعوداً لَدَيهِ بِالصَريمِ عَواذِلُه

I visited him early one morning and found him

with his reproaching women seated beside him at daybreak.

يُفَدّينَهُ طَوراً وَطَوراً يَلُمنَهُ

وَأَعيا فَما يَدرينَ أَينَ مَخاتِلُه

They offered themselves as his ransom one moment, and reproached him the next.

He baffled them; they knew not where he could be beguiled.

فَأَقصَرنَ مِنهُ عَن كَريمٍ مُرَزَّءٍ

عَزومٍ عَلى الأَمرِ الَّذي هُوَ فاعِلُه

So they left him be—a generous man much called upon for gifts,

resolute in the matter he undertakes.

أَخي ثِقَةٍ لا تُتلِفُ الخَمرُ مالَهُ

وَلَكِنَّهُ قَد يُهلِكُ المالَ نائِلُه

A trustworthy man, whose wealth wine does not squander,

though his giving may destroy his wealth.

تَراهُ إِذا ما جِئتَهُ مُتَهَلِّلاً

كَأَنَّكَ تُعطيهِ الَّذي أَنتَ سائِلُه

You see him beaming when you come to him,

as though you were giving him what you ask him for.

وَذي نَسَبٍ ناءٍ بَعيدٍ وَصَلتَهُ

بِمالٍ وَما يَدري بِأَنَّكَ واصِلُه

And many a man of distant, far-off kinship you have aided

with wealth, though he did not know that you were helping him.

وَذي نِعمَةٍ تَمَّمتَها وَشَكَرتَها

وَخَصمٍ يَكادُ يَغلِبُ الحَقَّ باطِلُه

And many a man's favor you have completed and repaid with thanks,

and an adversary whose falsehood nearly overpowered truth

دَفَعتَ بِمَعروفٍ مِنَ القَولِ صائِبٍ

إِذا ما أَضَلَّ الناطِقينَ مَفاصِلُه

you repelled with fitting, well-aimed words,

when his argument's turning points bewildered the speakers.

وَذي خَطَلٍ في القَولِ يَحسِبُ أَنَّهُ

مُصيبٌ فَما يُلمِم بِهِ فَهوَ قائِلُه

And a man of reckless speech, who thought himself

right—whatever he touched upon, he would utter—

عَبَأتَ لَهُ حِلماً وَأَكرَمتَ غَيرَهُ

وَأَعرَضتَ عَنهُ وَهوَ بادٍ مَقاتِلُه

you marshaled forbearance against him and honored others,

and turned away from him, though his vulnerable places lay exposed.

حُذَيفَةُ يُنميهِ وَبَدرٌ كِلاهُما

إِلى باذِخٍ يَعلو عَلى مَن يُطاوِلُه

Hudhayfah and Badr both raise his lineage

to a towering height above whoever vies with him.

وَمَن مِثلُ حِصنٍ في الحُروبِ وَمِثلُهُ

لِإِنكارِ ضَيمٍ أَو لِأَمرٍ يُحاوِلُه

And who is like Hisn in battle, or like him

in rejecting oppression, or pursuing a purpose?

أَبى الضَيمَ وَالنُعمانُ يَحرِقُ نابُهُ

عَلَيهِ فَأَفضى وَالسُيوفُ مَعاقِلُه

He refused humiliation while al-Nu'man ground his fang

against him; he came into the open, swords his strongholds.

عَزيزٌ إِذا حَلَّ الحَليفانِ حَولَهُ

بِذي لَجَبٍ لَجّاتُهُ وَصَواهِلُه

Mighty when the two allies encamp around him

with a clamorous host, its din and its neighing steeds.

يُهَدُّ لَهُ ما دونَ رَملَةِ عالِجٍ

وَمَن أَهلُهُ بِالغَورِ زالَت زَلازِلُه

All this side of the sand tract of 'Alij is shaken before him,

and whoever has his folk in al-Ghawr is rocked by tremors.

وَأَهلِ خِباءٍ صالِحٍ ذاتُ بَينِهِم

قَدِ اِحتَرَبوا في عاجِلٍ أَنا آجِلُه

And many a tent's people, sound in their mutual bonds,

had fought over a sudden matter of which I was the cause.

فَأَقبَلتُ في الساعينَ أَسأَلُ عَنهُمُ

سُؤالَكَ بِالشَيءِ الَّذي أَنتَ جاهِلُه

So I came among the mediators, asking about them

as you ask about something of which you know nothing.