دمعي بتلك الطول مطلول — Abn Alsaati

دمعي بتلك الطُّول مطلولُ

لمَّا نأتْ عينها المطافيلُ

My tears at those ruins are shed unavenged,

since their wide-eyed does with young departed.

يبكي بها الغيث وهي باسمةٌ

بخدها للقبولِ تقبيل

The rain weeps upon them while they smile;

the east wind kisses their cheek.

لا تحسبوا الدارَ غيرَ ناطقةٍ

حديثها بالنسيم منقول

Do not suppose the dwelling cannot speak:

its speech is carried by the breeze.

لذاك أنفاسهُ معطرةٌ

وذيلهُ بالدموع مبلول

For that reason its breaths are fragrant,

and its hem is soaked with tears.

أيُّ جسومٍ ولا نفوسَ بها

أيُّ حنايا ولا تماثيل

What bodies, with no souls within!

What arches, yet no figures!

ففي جُفوني كسلوتي قصرٌ

وفي الليالي كلوعتي طول

Within my eyelids, as in my solace, is brevity;

within the nights, as in my anguish, length.

ولستُ أنسى خَيال خنساءَ والص

صبحُ لطرفِ الظلام تحجيل

Nor do I forget Khansa's apparition, while

dawn gives darkness's steed white leg-markings.

والفجرُ تهفو في الجو رايتهُ

والبرقُ سيفٌ عليه مسلول

Dawn's banner flutters in the sky,

and lightning is a sword unsheathed above it.

ما عقدتْ حبوة اللقاءِ بها

إلاّ وخيطُ الصَّباح محلول

The bond of meeting her was never tied,

but morning's thread was already unbound.

نومي وبرهانُ ذاك نعستها

في شعراتِ الجفون محبول

My sleep—the proof is her drowsiness—

is snared among the hairs of her eyelids.

أحبُّ رمحَ القوام عن ثقةٍ

أني بهِ إن حييتُ مقتولُ

I love the spear of her stature, certain

that, if I live, I shall be slain by it.

أصبو إلى ريقها وأرهبهُ

فآفتي عاسلٌ ومعسول

I yearn for her saliva, yet fear it:

my bane is a swaying spear and honeyed saliva.

ودونَ وادي أشيَّ رسمُ هوى

فيه لوحي الغرام تنزيل

Before Wadi Ushayy lies a trace of love;

there, passion's revelation is sent down.

غصونهُ للنسيم ساجدةٌ

وطيرهُ للقلى أبابيل

Its boughs bow before the breeze,

and its birds are flocks arrayed against estrangement.

مبتسمٌ والبلى يخامرهُ

تشابها سائلٌ ومسؤول

It smiles, though decay pervades it;

questioner and questioned have grown alike.

يدلني سقمهُ على أنه

مثلي بالظاعنين متبول

Its sickness tells me that it is,

like me, lovesick for those who departed.

كأنَّ ذاكَ الغديرَ سابغةٌ

والنَّهرُ سيفٌ بالريحَ مصقول

That pool is like a full coat of mail,

and the river a sword polished by the wind.

كلُّ مهاةٍ تضيءُّ طلعتها

وهنا وستُر الظلام مسدول

Every oryx-maiden's countenance shines

late at night, while darkness's veil hangs down.

شمسُ ضُحىً قلبها الهلال

لها زهر نجوم الدُّجى أكاليل

A forenoon sun whose bracelet is the crescent,

with the bright stars of night for garlands.

خمصانةٌ ينطق النطاق بها

ويصمت القلب والخلاخيل

Slender-waisted, her girdle speaks of her,

while her bracelet and anklets are silent.

فُروعها والوجوهُ سافرةٌ

حنادسُ الليل والقناديل

Her tresses, and faces left unveiled,

are night's black depths and its lanterns.

معتذراتٌ جفونهنَّ عن الفت

ك وعذر الجفون مقبول

Their eyelids plead pardon for their deadliness,

and the eyelids' excuse is accepted.

ما ضرَّني والكرامُ تعرفني

أني عند اللئام مجهول

It harms me not, since the noble know me,

that among the base I am unknown.

لحاسديَّ الدَّعوى ولي جمل ال

فضل كما شئتُ والتفاصيل

My enviers have their claims; mine are the broad outlines

of excellence, as I wish, and its details.

والقولُ تندى ألفاظهُ

ومعانيهِ وللجاحد الأقاويل

And utterance whose words are dewy,

and its meanings too; the denier has only idle talk.

تفرغتْ للأذى قلوبهمُ

وابن نظيفٍ بالمجد مشغول

Their hearts have freed themselves for harm,

while Ibn Nazif is occupied with glory.

لينُ عطفِ السَّماحِ قاسي فؤا

د البأس خافوه وهو مأمول

Gentle in generosity's embrace, stern of

heart in battle: they fear him, yet look to him with hope.

الواهبُ المنفساتِ حيثُ دمُ ال

خصب بسيف المُحول مطلول

Giver of precious things, where the blood of

plenty is shed unavenged by drought's sword.

زاكٍ كريمُ الجدّين كالسيف ذي ال

حدين نردى به الأضاليل

Pure, with two noble grandsires, like a sword with two

edges, by which we slay falsehoods.

منزهٌ أن تُرى بناديه أو

تنفق في سوقهِ الأباطيل

Too pure for his assembly to witness,

or his marketplace to trade in, falsehoods.

تنميه آباؤه الكرام إلى ال

مجد وأجدادهُ المفاضيل

His noble fathers trace his lineage to

glory, and so do his eminent forefathers.

أملسُ عرض القبيل أبيضهُ

لأنه بالثناء مغسولُ

His clan's honor is smooth and white,

for it is washed in praise.

النبلُ القادةُ اللَّهاميمُ في ال

لأواءِ والسادةُ البهاليل

The nobles, the leaders, the great-hearted champions in

adversity, and the noble-spirited lords.

لهم تحلّ الحبا إذا ما ان

تدوا في السلم أو تعقد الأكاليل

For them the sitting-wraps are loosed when they

assemble in peace, or crowns are fastened.

أكياسهُ من لهُاه مقفرةٌ

وربعهُ بالعفاةِ مأهول

His purses are bare of his largesse,

yet his dwelling is filled with supplicants.

أعذرَ في أنني أوحدهُ

وهو على الجود فيَّ معذول

He has justified my calling him peerless,

though reproached for his generosity toward me.

يبلغ اقصى منك معتذراً

والعذر ممَّن سواه تنويل

He grants your utmost wish, still apologizing,

while an apology from anyone else counts as a gift.

إن سرتَ عنهُ فؤادك الجو

دُ أو تنزل فرحبٌ منهُ وتأهيل

If you leave him, generosity fills your heart;

or if you alight, there is welcome and hospitality from him.

ما كان إلاّ كمزنةٍ نجمتْ

وأمحلَ العام وهو موبول

He was but a raincloud that appeared;

the year grew barren, yet he was drenched with rain.

نبيُّ جودٍ في الفضل آيتهُ

ليس لها بالجحود تأويل

A prophet of bounty, whose sign of excellence

cannot be explained away through denial.

طار فؤادي في جو غيبتهِ

وهو يبرح الفراق مشكول

My heart flew in the sky of his absence,

though shackled by separation's torment.

فليتَ وجدي ممَّا تحمَّله

إليه انضاؤنا المراسيل

Would that my longing were among the burdens carried

to him by our worn, swift camels!

كلُّ مغذٍ زمامه الشوقُ في

أكنافه بالسماح معقول

Every hastening mount, its rein longing, in

his shelter is tethered by bounty.

يثنيهِ ضخمَ السَّنام مخصبَ ما

عانق نسعٌ والعام مهزول

He turns it back huge-humped, well-fleshed wherever

a girth has clasped it, though the year is lean.

إذاً لشقتْ ثوبَ الدّجى وبسا

طُ الأرض في لحظ عينها ميل

Then they would rend night's robe, and

earth's carpet would seem one mile to their eye.

فلا حباها الحسام طوقاً ولا

صيغ لها من دمٍ خلاخيل

May no sword bestow a collar upon them, nor

anklets be fashioned for them from blood.

في حيثُ لا مجدهُ بوردِ معادي

ه ولا العرضُ منهُ مأكول

There, his glory is no watering-place for his enemy,

nor is his honor devoured.

مهذبَ الدين لي على عزمك

المأثور في النائبات تعويل

Muhadhdhab al-Din, upon your resolve

—renowned in calamities—I rely.

ودُّكَ صافٍ والعهد باقٍ

وإيثارك بادٍ والجاهُ مبذول

Your affection is pure, the covenant endures,

your favor is manifest, your influence freely offered.

أخصبتَ ربعي فالخيرُ متسعٌ

وضمَّ شملي فالحبل موصول

You made my dwelling fertile, so goodness abounds,

and my scattered life is gathered, the cord joined.

فلتمنعِ السحبُ فضل نائلها

فليس لي في نوالها سُول

Let the clouds withhold their surplus bounty,

for I have no wish for what they give.

إشفع إلى الظافر المليك يجب

وغير بدعٍ برٌ وتعجيل

Intercede with al-Zafir, the king; he will answer,

and kindness and swift response are nothing strange.

الطاعنُ الخيل شزباً وكماةُ ال

حرب أسدٌ لها القنا غيل

He who spears the lean horses, while the champions of

war are lions whose thickets are spears.

قصيرُ عمرِ الوعودِ ليس له

كغيرهِ بالمطال تطويل

His promises are short-lived; he does not

prolong them with delay as others do.

لا يعرفُ المنُّ في مواهبه

ولا المعاذيرُ والتَّعاليل

Boasting of favors is unknown in his gifts,

nor are excuses and pretexts.

تثملُ من جوده شمائلهُ

لأنه بالثناء مشمول

His qualities grow drunk upon his bounty,

for praise envelops him.

مبتسمٌ والخطوبُ عابسةٌ

وقاطعٌ والحسام مفلول

Smiling while calamities frown,

and cutting while the sword is blunted.

ملقومِ بيضُ الوجوهِ خضرُ ظلا

ل الجود سودُ الوغى مقاويل

Of a people white of face, green in the shades

of bounty, black in battle, eloquent.

همُ بحور النَّعماءِ زاخرةً

فلذْ بشم اليفاع إن سيلوا

They are overflowing seas of blessing;

seek refuge on lofty peaks if they flood.

في حيث جفنُ الصباح تبصرهُ

بإثمد النقع وهو مكحول

There, where you see morning's eyelid

kohl-painted with the antimony of battle-dust.

سماءُ حربٍ نجومها السُّمرُ إن

شيدتْ فعرشُ الأعداءِ مثلول

A sky of war whose stars are brown spears: if

it is raised, the enemies' throne is overthrown.

والمال نهبٌ وباطشُ الكفر مك

فوفُ الحواشي والسَّح مشلول

Wealth is plundered, and unbelief's strongman is

restrained at the extremities, the downpour paralyzed.

إذا سرى نحو ناكثٍ أظلمَ ال

يومُ وغالَ الضُّحى به غول

When he travels by night toward an oath-breaker, the

day darkens, and through him a ghoul steals the forenoon.

والبرُّ بحرق من الحديد طما

وسابحاتُ الوغى أساطيل

The land surges as a sea of iron,

and the swimming steeds of battle are fleets.

في حيثُ أعوادها مجالسهُ

الشُمُّ ولأعرافها مناديل

There, their timbers are his seats,

lofty, and kerchiefs adorn their manes.

يبكي من المنبر الصليبُ كما

تضحك للمصحفِ الأناجيل

The cross weeps from the pulpit, as

the Gospels smile upon the Qur'an.

وردهُ حين هبَّ يستنصرُ الأقدا

رَ لا هبَّ وهو مخذول

He came upon him when he rose to seek the Fates' aid—

may he never rise!—and he was forsaken.

مقلتهُ للسنان مغضيةٌ

وجيدهُ بالحسام مغلول

His eye is lowered before the spearhead,

and his neck is fettered by the sword.

من طينة الجودِ والسماح على ال

إحسان والمكرمات مجبول

From the clay of bounty and liberality, to

beneficence and noble deeds he is molded.

وهاكها جملةً لجوهرها الش

شفافِ نظمٌ مني وتفصيل

Take it whole: its translucent gems

are strung and set out by me.

لها وهذي إن شئتما حلبة ال

فضل على السابقات تفضيل

It—and this one, if you two wish—has in the race

of excellence precedence over earlier runners.

تسجدُ ديناً لها القلوبُ إذا

يقرأ ذكرٌ منها وترتيل

Hearts bow to it in devotion whenever

a passage from it is read and chanted.

عقودُ درٍ زانت محاسنها

وهي على الحاسدين سجيل

Necklaces of pearls have adorned its beauties,

and against its enviers it is stones of baked clay.

اليوسفياتُ في ملاحتها

وفكرةُ المحسنين راحيل

They are Joseph-like in their loveliness,

and the imagination of the skillful is Rachel.

كلُّ مهاةٍ كأَّنما نشرها في

ك بأنفاس فيك معلول

Each oryx-maiden's scent seems, within

you, imbued with the breath of your mouth.

ولا دهاك الزمان من رجلٍ

للدهر حسنٌ بهِ وتبجيل

And may time never afflict you, a man

through whom the age has beauty and honor.