سؤالك هذا الربع أين جوابه — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

سُؤالُكِ هذا الربعَ أين جَوابُهُ

ومن لا يعي للقول كيف خطابُهُ

Your questioning of this dwelling—where is its answer?

And how can one address what cannot understand speech?

وقفتِ وما يغنيكِ في الدار وقفة

سقى الدار غيث مستهل سحابُهُ

You stood, but standing in the dwelling avails you nothing;

may rain water the dwelling, its clouds pouring down.

غناؤكِ في تلك المنازل ناظر

بدمع توالى غربُه وانسكابه

Your gain in those abodes is a gazing eye,

with tears whose torrents and outpouring follow one another,

إلى طلل أقوى فلم يك بعدها

بمغنيك شيئاً قربه واجتنابه

turned toward a deserted ruin; thereafter,

neither its nearness nor avoiding it was of any use to you.

ذكرتِ كأيام الشبيبة عهده

وهل راجع بعد المشيب شبابه

You recalled its days, like the days of youth;

and will its youth return after gray hair?

وقد كانَ ذاك العيش والغصن ناعم

يروق ويصفو كالرحيق شرابه

That life once was, while the branch was tender,

delightful, its drink as clear as nectar.

وجدت لقلبي غير ما تجدينه

أسىً في فؤادي قد أناخ ركابه

I found in my heart something other than what you find:

grief that has made its camels kneel within my breast.

يفض ختام الدمع يا ميَّ حسرة

ذهاب شباب لا يرجّى إيابه

What breaks the seal of tears, O Mai, is anguish

at youth's departure, whose return cannot be hoped for,

ودهرٍ أعاني كل يوم خطوبه

وذلك دأبي يا أميم ودأبه

and at an age whose calamities I suffer every day;

that is my habit, O Umaym, and its habit too.

مسوقٌ إلى ذي اللب في الناس رزؤه

ووقفٌ على الحر الكريم مصابه

Its calamity is directed at the discerning among men,

and its affliction is reserved for the noble, free-born.

وحسبك مني صبر أروع ماجد

بمستوطن ضاقت بمثلي رحابه

Enough from me is the patience of a splendid, noble man,

in a dwelling whose expanses are too narrow for one like me.

يبيتُ نجيَّ الهم في كل ليلة

يطول مع الأيام فيها عتابه

Each night he passes as sorrow's confidant,

his reproaches lengthening there as the days pass.

قضى عجباً منه الزمان تجلُّداً

وما ينقضي هذا الزمان عجابه

Time has marveled at his steadfastness,

yet this age's marvels never end.

تزاد عن الماء النمير أسوده

وقد تلغ العذب الفرات كلابه

Its lions are driven from the pure water,

while its dogs may lap the sweet, refreshing water.

ألم يحزن الآبي رؤوس تطامنت

وفاخر رأس القوم فيها ذنابه

Does it not grieve the unbowed man that heads have stooped,

and their tail vies for glory with the people's head?

وأعظِمْ بها دهياء وهي عظيمة

إذا اكتنف الضرغامَ بالذل غابه

How tremendous a calamity it is—and tremendous indeed—

when his forest surrounds the lion with humiliation!

متى ينجلي هذا الظلام الَّذي أرى

ويكشف عن وجه الصباح نقابه

When will this darkness that I see disperse,

and the veil be lifted from the face of morning,

وتلمع بعد اليأس بارقة المنى

ويصدق من وعد الرجاء كذابه

and a flash of wishes gleam after despair,

and the lies in hope's promise become truth?

ومن لي بدهر لا يزال محاربي

تُفلُّ مواضيه وتنبو حِرابُهُ

Who will help me against an age that never ceases warring with me,

its keen blades blunted, its spears glancing aside?

عقور على شِلوي يعضُ بنابه

وتعدو علينا بالعوادي ذئابه

Savage toward my body, it bites with its fang,

and its wolves assail us with calamities.

رمته الروامي بالسباب مذمَّة

وما ضرّ في عِرضِ اللئيم سبابُه

The assailants have pelted it with insults in censure,

but abuse does not wound a base man's honor.

تصفحت إخواني فلم أر فيهمُ

قويماً على نهج الوفاء اصطحابه

I scrutinized my brethren, but saw among them none

whose companionship stood upright on the path of fidelity.

أفي الناس لا والله من في إخائه

تُشدُّ على العظم المهيض عصابه

Is there among men—no, by God—one whose brotherhood

binds a bandage firmly about a broken bone?

يساورني كأس الهموم كأنّما

يمجُّ بها السمَّ الزعاف لعابه

The cup of cares assails me, as though

its spittle were spewing deadly poison into that cup.

وأبعد ما حاولت حرًّا دنوُّه

دنوك مما يرتضي واقترابه

The farthest thing you seek is a free man's nearness—

your nearness to what he approves, and his drawing near.

نصيبك منه شهده دون صابه

إذا كانَ ممزوجاً مع الشهد صابه

Your share from him is his honey, without his bitter sap,

even if his bitter sap is mingled with the honey.

يريك الرضا والدهر غضبان معرض

وترجوه للأمر الَّذي قد تهابه

He shows you contentment while the age is angry and turns away,

and you look to him for the matter that you may fear.

ورأيك ليست في المشارع شرعة

ولا منهل عذب يسوغ شرابه

And, in your judgment, among the watering places there is no approach,

nor any sweet spring whose drink goes down easily.

وما الناس إلاَّ مثلما أنت عارف

فلا تطلبنَّ الشيء عز طلابه

People are nothing but what you already know;

so do not seek the thing that is hard to win.

بَلَوتُ بهم حلوَ الزمان ومرَّه

فسيّان عندي عذبه وعذابه

Through them I have experienced time's sweetness and bitterness;

its sweetness and its torment are alike to me.

كأنّي أرى عبد الغني بأهله

غريب من الأشراف طال اغترابه

It is as though I see Abd al-Ghani among his own people,

a stranger among the nobles, whose estrangement has lasted long.

يميّزه عنهم سجايا منوطة

بأروع من زهر النجوم سخابه

Traits set him apart from them, bound

to a splendid man whose necklace is of shining stars.

ثمين لئالي العقد حالية به

من الفضل أعناق الحجى ورقابه

A precious pearl in the necklace; with him are adorned

through excellence, the necks and throats of wisdom.

إذا ناب عن صرب الغمام فإنه

إذا لم يصب صوب الغمام منابه

If he stands in for the clouds' downpour, indeed,

then the clouds' rainfall does not reach his station.

تألق فانهلّت عزاليه وارتوى

به حزن راجيه وسالت شعابه

He flashed, and his rain-spouts poured; watered

by him was his supplicant's rough ground, and its ravines flowed.

أتعرف إلاَّ ذلك القرم آبياً

على الدهر يقسو أو تلينُ صلابه

Do you know anyone but that noble chief, defiant

toward the age, whether it is harsh or its hard places soften?

تسربل فضفاض الأبوة كلَّها

وزُرَّت على الليث الهصور ثيابه

He donned the ample robe of all his ancestry,

and his garments were buttoned upon the rending lion.

ولم ينزل الأرض الَّتي قد تطامنت

ولو أن ذاك الربع مسكاً ترابه

He never alighted on land that had sunk low,

even if that dwelling's dust were musk.

لقد ضربت فوق الرواسي وطنَّبَتْ

على قُلَل المجد الأثيل قبابه

Indeed, pitched above the mountains and secured by ropes

upon the peaks of ancient glory were his pavilions.

فأصبحتِ الشُّم العرانين دونه

وحلَّق في جوّ الفخار عُقابه

Thus the lofty-nosed chiefs stood beneath him,

and his eagle soared through the air of glory.

أبى الله والنفس الأبيَّة أن يُرى

بغير المعالي همُّه واكتئابُه

God and the unbowed soul refused that he be seen

with his concern and grief fixed on anything but lofty pursuits.

فدانت له الأخطار بعد عتوِّها

وذلّت له من كل خطب صعابه

So dangers submitted to him after their rebellion,

and the hardships of every calamity bowed before him.

ولو شاء كشف الضرّ فرّق جمعه

وما فارق العضبَ اليماني قرابه

Had he wished to dispel affliction, he would have scattered its host,

without the sharp Yemeni blade leaving its sheath.

ومجتهدٍ في كلّ علم أبيّةٍ

فلا يتعداها لعمري صوابه

And diligent in every science's intractable problem,

his sound judgment, by my life, never misses it.

بفكرٍ يرى ما لا يرى فكر غيره

يشقّ جلابيب الظلام شهابه

with thought that sees what another's thought cannot;

its shooting star cleaves the cloaks of darkness.

مقيم على أنْ لا يزال قطاره

يصوب وهذا صوبه وانصبابه

Steadfast that his showers should never cease

to fall—this is his rain and its pouring forth.

وإمّا خلا ذاك الغمام فمقلع

وعمّا قليل يضمحل ضبابه

And if that cloud is spent, it ceases raining,

and before long its mist dissolves.

وناهيك بالندب الَّذي إنْ ندبته

كفاك مهمّات الأمور انتدابه

Enough for you is the gallant man: if you summon him,

his ready response relieves you of the gravest affairs.

ذباب حسام البأس جوهر عضبه

وما الصارم الهندي لولا ذبابه

The point of valor's sword is the essence of his keen blade,

and what would an Indian sword be without its point?

عليم بما يقني الثناء وعامل

وداعٍ إلى الخير العظيم مجابه

Knowing what wins praise, and acting upon it,

and a caller to great goodness, whose call is answered.

إذا انتسب الفعل الجميل فإنَّما

يكون إلى رب الجميل انتسابه

When a beautiful deed claims descent,

its descent is only from the master of goodness.

هل الفضل والإحسان إلاَّ صنيعة

أمْ الحمد والشكران إلاَّ اكتسابه

Are virtue and beneficence anything but his handiwork,

or praise and gratitude anything but what he has earned?

وإنّي متى أخليتُ من ثروة الغنى

وأغلق من دون المطامع بابه

Whenever I am emptied of the abundance of wealth,

and its door is shut against my hopes,

بدا لي أن أعشو إلى ضوء ناره

وأصبو إلى ذاك المريع جنابه

I think to grope toward the light of his fire,

and yearn for that fertile precinct of his.

فأصدرني عنه مصادر وارد

من اليمّ زخّار النوال عبابه

Then he sends me forth as one returning from water

from a sea whose surge overflows with bounty.

وأصبحُ مرموق السعادة بعدما

خَلَتْ ثُمَّ لا زالت ملاءً وطابه

And I become admired for my good fortune, after

his skins were emptied—may they always remain full!

إذا ذهب المعروف في كل مذهب

إليك برغم الحادثات مآبه

If kindness wanders in every direction,

to you it returns, despite all calamities.

فلست تراني ما حييت مؤملاً

سواك ولم يعلق بي النذل عابه

You will not see me, as long as I live, hoping

in anyone but you; no base man's disgrace has clung to me.

ولا مستثيباً من دنيٍّ مثوبةً

حرام على الحرِّ الأبيّ ثوابه

nor seeking recompense from a lowly man,

whose reward is forbidden to the free and unbowed.

وغيرك لم أرفع إلى شيم برقه

ولا غرّني في الظامئين سرابه

For no one else have I lifted my eyes to watch his lightning,

nor has his mirage deceived me among the thirsty.