حي المعاهد والمنازل — Abn Rumi

حيّ المعاهدَ والمنازلْ

المقفراتِ بل الأواهلْ

Greet the familiar haunts and dwellings,

the deserted—no, the inhabited ones.

بُدِّلنَ آراماً خوا

ذلَ بعدَ آرامٍ خواذلْ

They were given solitary gazelles

in place of faithless, gazelle-like women.

حرَّكنَ شجْوك للسؤا

لِ وما أحَرْنَ جوابَ سائلْ

They stirred your grief to questioning,

yet returned no answer to a questioner.

فابعثْ بهنّ من الدمو

عِ وقِفْ بهن من الرواحلْ

So send tears flowing over them,

and halt your riding beasts beside them.

وسلِ الملائحَ بالملا

ئِحِ والعطابلَ بالعطابِلْ

Ask the lovely ones about the lovely ones,

and the long-necked beauties about the long-necked beauties—

اللائي أشْبَهنَ الغصو

نَ المستقيماتِ الموائلْ

those who resembled branches,

straight-standing, yet swaying.

وكَملْنَ كلَّ وسامةٍ

في غير أسنانٍ كواملْ

They perfected every charm,

though their years were not yet mature.

حُلّين حَلياً خِلقةً

مجبولة لا نحلَ ناحلْ

Adorned with beauty from birth,

innate, not a giver's gift.

فإذا عطلْن من الحُلْي

ي فلسْن منه بالعواطلْ

So when they go without jewelry,

they are not without adornment.

وإذا غدونَ يمِسْن في

تلك الغلائِل والمراسلْ

And when they go out swaying

in those delicate gowns and long necklaces,

غارت عليهن الثُّديْ

يُ هناك من مس الغلائلْ

their breasts grow jealous over them

there, of the gowns' caress.

وإذا لبسْنَ خلاخِلاً

كذَّبْن أسماء الخلاخلْ

And when they put on anklets,

they give the anklets' name the lie.

تأبى تخلخلَهُنَّ أسْ

وُقُ مُرجحنّاتٍ بخادلْ

Their shanks refuse to let them rattle,

heavy, soft, and plump.

لكنهنّ بخائِلٌ

لهْفي على تلكَ البخائلْ

But they are stingy;

how I pine for those stingy ones!

قد غُلِّظتْ تلك القلو

بُ ولُطّفتْ تلك الأناملْ

Those hearts have been made hard,

and those fingers delicate.

لي شاغلٌ في حبهنْ

نَ عن التي تدعى بشاغلْ

I am occupied with loving them,

away from her who is called Shaghil.

بظراء تُمسخُ لامُها

راءً إذا رأتِ الفياشِلْ

That long-clitorised woman's l is transformed

into r whenever she sees cocks.

ولربما جُنَّتْ لها

فترى عواليها سوافلْ

And often she goes mad for them,

so you see her upper parts brought low.

عجباً لبردِ غنائها

وغناؤها ثُكْلُ الثواكلْ

Strange, how cold her singing is,

and her singing is the grief of bereaved mothers!

ما باله كالزمهري

رِ مُهيّجاً وجَعَ المفاصلْ

Why is it like bitter cold,

rousing pain in the joints?

هلّا استحرَّ لأنه

ثكلٌ وللشّبَقِ المُدَاخلْ

Why does it not burn hot, since it is

bereavement, with lust stealing in?

حُلقتْ ذوائبُها التي

خُلقت لصُنَّاع المناخِلْ

May her tresses be shaved, those

created for sieve-makers—

بل لحيةُ الرجلِ الذي

أضحى بها جَمَّ البلابلْ

no, the beard of the man who

through her has become laden with troubles!

ماذا يُضيعُ من الوسا

ئِلِ في هواها والرسائلْ

What overtures he squanders

on loving her—and what letters!

لكن شهوته اللِّبا

ءُ فما يُحبُّ سوى الحواملْ

But his craving is for colostrum,

so he loves none but pregnant women.

وهي التي قد أقسمتْ

أن لا تُعَدَّ مع الحوائلْ

And she is the one who has sworn

never to be counted among women not pregnant.

أتراك تسلمُ يا سلا

مةُ أن تكون من الثيَاتلْ

Do you think you will escape, Salama,

being one of the male ibexes,

وقد احتملْتَ بها قرو

ناً لا ينوء بهنّ حاملْ

when through her you bear horns

beneath which no bearer could rise?

كنْتَ القصيرَ فقد غدوْ

تَ بطولهنّ من الأطاولْ

You used to be short; now you have become,

through their length, one of the tallest.

لا تَخْلونَ بشاغلٍ

حتى تُعِدَّ لها قوابلْ

Never be alone with Shaghil

until you have midwives ready for her.

إن التي عُلّقْتَها

تَزْنِي الفرائضَ والنوافلْ

The woman you have fallen for

fornicates as duty and extra devotion.

قالوا تُعاهِرُ في الدرو

بِ فقلتُ كلا بل تُعاظلْ

They said she whores in the alleyways;

I said, no—she couples like a beast.

لكن أراك تُحِبُّها

حُبَّ المُشاكلِ للمشاكلْ

But I see you love her

as like loves like.

أشْبهتها في بردِ أع

لاها أو في حَرّ الأسافلْ

You resemble her in the coldness of her upper part,

or in the heat of the lower parts.

كم قد سترْتُ معايباً

لمعتْ بها فيكَ المخائلْ

How many faults I have concealed

whose telltale signs gleamed in you!

ووقفتُ دونك للخصو

مِ بموقفِ الخَصْم المُجادلْ

And I stood in your defense against foes,

as an opponent ready to argue.

قالوا صديقك سيدٌ

بادي النباهةِ غيرُ خاملْ

They said your friend is a lord,

plainly distinguished, not obscure.

نمَّتْ بذاك شواهدٌ

فيه أنمُّ من الجلاجلْ

Signs betrayed that,

in him, more telling than jingling bells.

ولربَّ عيبٍ قد تَبَيْ

يَنَ بالشواهدِ والدلائلْ

Many a fault has become evident

through testimony and proofs.

صدقُوا وما كذبوا عليْ

ك فلم أناضح أو أُناضلْ

They told the truth and did not lie about you,

so I neither defended nor fought.

إني لأعلم أنك ال

مطعونُ في غيرِ المقاتلْ

I know full well that you are

the one pierced, but not in vital spots.

ما إنْ تزال فريسةً

في خَلْوةٍ تحت الكلاكلْ

You never cease to be prey

in seclusion, beneath heavy chests.

وإن استترتَ بقحبةٍ

لك عند ناكتها طوائلْ

And even if you hide behind a whore,

you have old scores with her fucker.

أنشأتَ تَخدَعُنا وأمْ

رُكَ بيّنٌ بادي الشَّواكلْ

You set about deceiving us, yet your case

is clear, its outlines exposed.

وعدلتَ من طبلٍ إلى عو

دٍ وأنت من الطوابلْ

You switched from drum to lute,

though you yourself belong among the drums.

بل ليتَ كنتَ من الطوا

بِل أنت من سَقْط الزَّواملْ

No—would that you were one of the drums!

You are the refuse of pack beasts.

وخضبْتَ خُنْثَك بالتغزْ

زُلِ والبغاءُ هناك ناصلُ

You dyed your effeminacy with love-verse,

but your whoring shows through the faded dye.

مثل التي أضحت تكا

تمُ حَملها والضَّرعُ حافلْ

Like a woman who sets about concealing

her pregnancy while her udder brims.

تتنحَّلُ المتعشِّقا

تِ وأنت بغَّاءٌ حُلاحِلْ

You pose as one of the lovestruck women,

though you are a mighty male whore.

أنَّى يصلنك لا وصلْ

نَ ولو بقين بلا مُواصِلْ

How could they embrace you? May they never,

even if they remain without a lover!

أنت الذي فاق الورى

في القُبح من حافٍ وناعلْ

You surpass all mankind

in ugliness, barefoot and shod alike.

وتُناك غيرَ مُساترٍ

للغانيات ولا مخاتلْ

You get fucked, not hiding it

from the beauties, nor deceiving them.

فعلامَ يمنحنَ الهوى

غيرَ الجميل ولا المجاملْ

Why, then, should they grant their love

to one neither handsome nor courteous?

ولقد شهدنك راكباً

فوق الغِلاظ من الغراملْ

They have indeed seen you riding

atop the thickest cocks,

تبغي بها تقويمَ أيْ

رِك وهو كالسكران مائلْ

trying through them to straighten your cock,

which leans like a drunkard.

فبصُرْن فيك بفارسٍ

يغْشى الحروبَ ولا يُقاتلْ

So they discerned in you a horseman

who enters wars but does not fight.

وأرى غِناءك في المجا

لسِ مثلَ ذكرك في المحافلْ

I find your singing in gatherings

like your cock in assemblies.

وأراك فيه ناهقاً

وتظنّ أنك فيه صاهلْ

I see you braying there,

while you think you are neighing.

وتُراكَ فيه فارساً

والحق أنك فيه راجلْ

You fancy yourself a horseman there,

but in truth you are on foot.

وتُراكَ فيه عالياً

والحق أنك فيه سافلْ

You fancy yourself high there,

but in truth you are low.

وأراكَ تعملُ صالحاً

تُعتدُّ فيه أضلَّ عامِلْ

I see you doing a good deed

in which you count as the most misguided doer.

أكفلْتَ نَغْلَي شيخةٍ

ولدتهما من غيرِ طائلْ

Have you taken charge of an old woman's two bastards,

whom she bore for no worthwhile purpose?

ولدتْهُما من غيرِ شي

خِك ذي الفضائل والفواضلْ

She bore them by someone other than your father,

that man of virtues and bounties.

وكذا الكريمُ ابنُ الكرا

مِ يعولُ أيتامَ القبائلْ

Thus does a noble son of noble men

support the orphans of the tribes!

اذهبْ فإنك بعدَها

كهفُ اليتامَى والأراملْ

Go, for after this you are

a refuge for orphans and widows.

أقسمتُ أنك جاهلٌ

والمُمتري في ذاك جاهلْ

I swear that you are a fool,

and whoever doubts it is a fool.

أتعولُ ويحك إخوةً

لا من أبيك وأنت غافلْ

Do you support—woe to you—brothers

not begotten by your father, all unaware?

ويُريبُني كلَّ الإرا

بةِ منك تأنيثُ الشمائلْ

And it fills me with utter suspicion:

the femininity of your manners.

قد كان شيخُك باسلاً

بطلاً فما لَكَ غيرُ باسلْ

Your father was brave,

a hero—why are you not brave?

إني لأحسبُ أن أُمْ

مَك لبَّستْ حقّاً بباطلْ

I do suspect that your mother

confounded truth with falsehood,

واغتالت الشيخَ الشقيْ

يَ فقيَّرتْه وهْو غافلْ

and betrayed the wretched old man,

tarring him while he was unaware.

خذها إليك تحيةً

تَلقى المعاطس بالجنادلْ

Take this as a greeting for you,

one that meets noses with boulders.

يا معشرَ السفهاءِ وال

متمردين ذَوي المجاهلْ

O company of fools and

rebels steeped in ignorance,

أنذرتكم قبل الخسو

فِ بما ترون من الزلازلْ

I warned you before the earth sinks

through the earthquakes that you see.