يا ابن الوزيرين سمعا من أخي طلب — Abn Rumi

يا ابْن الوزيرَيْن سمعاً من أَخي طَلَبٍ

بيْنَ الرجاء وبين اليأس مَكْدُودِ

O son of the two viziers, give ear to a petitioner

worn out between hope and despair.

لا تَبْخَلَنَّ على منْ لستَ كافِيَهُ

بأنْ تقولَ تَزحْزَحْ غير مطرودِ

Do not begrudge one whose needs you do not meet

the words, 'Move on, without being driven out.'

فإن خَشِيتَ هجائي فاخْشَ حينئذٍ

من كلِّ شيء مُحَالِ الكَوْنِ مفقودِ

If you fear my satire, then fear

every nonexistent thing whose existence is impossible.

واللّه لا قلتُ فيكم ما أكيدُ به

نفْسِي وقد كنتُ في سِرْبَال محسودِ

By God, I shall not say of you anything that would harm

myself, having worn the robe of one envied.

ولا أفَضْتُ بحرْفٍ في ملامكُمُ

يا آل وهْبٍ طَوَال البِيضِ والسُّودِ

Nor shall I pour forth one letter in reproach of you,

O house of Wahb, throughout white days and black nights.

إنِّي لأعْلَمُ أنِّي لا أفُوتُكُمُ

على مَطَايَا سُليْمان بن داودِ

I know full well that I cannot escape you,

even on the mounts of Solomon son of David.

ولَوْ أمِنْتُكُمُ أَمْنِي يَدي وفمي

لَمَا نَشَدتُمْ وفائي غيْرَ مَوْجودِ

Even if I trusted you as I trust my hand and mouth,

you would not seek my loyalty and find it missing.

لَكُمْ عَلَى منْطقي سلطانُ مُرْتَقبٍ

أضحَى يؤيِّدُهُ سُلطانُ مَوْدُودِ

You wield over my speech the authority of one watched with fear,

now strengthened by the authority of one beloved.

فَمَا وفائي بِمَدْخُولٍ لكم أبداً

لكنَّه كَوَفَاءِ العِرقِ لِلْعُودِ

My loyalty to you is never tainted,

but is like the root's loyalty to the trunk.

سَدَّ السَّدَادُ فَمي عَمَّا يُرِيبُكُمُ

لكنْ فَمُ الحالِ مني غيرُ مسدودِ

Prudence has sealed my mouth against what might trouble you,

but the mouth of my condition is not sealed.

وفي ضَميرِيَ نُصحٌ لستُ أغمدُهُ

عنكم وما نصح ذي نصح بمغمودِ

And in my heart is counsel I do not sheathe

from you; a counselor's counsel is never sheathed.

حلي تصيح بما أوليْت مُعْلِنَة

وكلُّ ما تدَّعيه غيرُ مَرْدودِ

My condition cries out, openly proclaiming what you bestowed,

and none of its claims can be denied.

وقصَّتي معَكُمْ نارٌ على عَلَمٍ

لا فطنةٌ بطَنَتْ في قلْب جُلْمُودِ

And my story with you is a fire upon a mountain,

not an insight hidden in a boulder's heart.

فكَيفَ يخْفَى وأُخفي ما جرى لكُمُ

عَلَيَّ من طول ظلمٍ غير معدودِ

So how can it be hidden, or I conceal what you have done

to me—prolonged injustice beyond counting?

وألسُنُ الناس شتَّى لستُ أمْلكُها

إذا رأَوْا مُحْسناً في حال مَصْفودِ

And people's tongues are various; I cannot command them

when they see a benefactor in a fettered man's plight.

منْ يبْذُلُ العُذْرَ في مثْلي لمثلِكُمُ

أوْ يَذْخَرُ النُّصحَ عن لهْفَانَ مجهودِ

Who would offer someone like you excuses concerning someone like me,

or withhold counsel from one distressed and exhausted?

بَلْ من يرى فضْلَ مسْكين على مَلكٍ

فلا يقولُ مقالاً غيْرَ محمودِ

Indeed, who sees a poor man's merit above a king's

without uttering some unpraiseworthy words?

كم آنِفٍ لكُمُ من أن تُرَى مِدَحي

مَنْقُودَةً وَجَداكم غيْر مَنْقُودِ

How many resent, on your behalf, seeing my praises

critically examined, while your bounty remains unpaid!

كُلِّي هجاء وقتْلِي لا يَحلُّ لَكمْ

فما يُداويكُمُ منِّي سوى الجُودِ

My whole being is satire, and killing me is not lawful for you;

nothing can cure you of me except generosity.

ورُبَّ ذَمٍّ أتى من غَيْرِ مُجْتَرمٍ

ورُبَّ قذْفٍ جرى من غير محْدُودِ

And many a reproach has come from one guilty of no offense,

and many a slander has issued from one not punished for it.

صَدَقْتُكُمْ وجوابُ الصِّدقْ يَلزَمُكُمْ

وما جَوابُ أخي صدقٍ بمردودِ

I have spoken truth to you, and you owe truth an answer;

and an honest man must not be denied an answer.

فأحسنُوا بي كإحْسان الإله بكُمْ

مُلِّيتُمُ حَظَّ مَحْقُوقٍ ومَجْدُودِ

So be kind to me, as God has been kind to you;

may you long enjoy the lot of one deserving and fortunate.

أَجدُوا جَداً غيْرَ منكودٍ لأشْكُره

أو صَرِّحُوا لي بيَأسٍ غير منكودِ

Bestow unstinted bounty, that I may give thanks for it,

or plainly declare to me a despair free of torment.

وبَيِّنُوا ليَ أمْرِي إنَّني مَعكُمْ

في سَرْمَدٍ من ظلام الشكِّ ممدودِ

And make my position clear to me; with you I am

in an unending, protracted darkness of doubt.

وما انْصِرافيَ عنكم إنْ حُرِمْتُكُمُ

إلا انْصرافُ شقيٍّ غير مَسْعودِ

And if I am deprived of you, my departure from you is

only that of an unfortunate man, without good fortune,

مُدَفَّعٍ حين يغْشَى النَّاسَ مُجْتَنَبٍ

مُخَيَّبٍ حين يَبْغي الخيْرَ محدودِ

rebuffed and shunned when he approaches people,

disappointed and unlucky when he seeks good.

ومَنْ قَبِلتُمْ فَمَقْبُولٌ لكمْ أبداً

ومنْ أبَيْتُمْ فَبِلْوٌ غَيْرُ معهودِ

Whoever you accept remains accepted by you forever,

and whoever you reject is a worn-out wretch, unacknowledged:

إنْ كان حيّا أباهُ كلُّ مضْطَربٍ

أو كان مَيْتَاً أباهُ كلُّ مَلْحُودِ

if alive, every place of activity rejects him;

or, if dead, every grave rejects him.

لَكنَّ في اليأس لي عَفْواً وعافية

واليأْسُ رفْدٌ لِعافٍ غَيْرُ مَرْفودِ

Yet in despair I find relief and well-being;

and despair is succor for a supplicant left unaided.

بَلْ لا أغُرُّكَ منْ خِيمي ولا شيَمي

إنِّي لَجَلْدٌ صبُورٌ غير مهدودِ

Rather, I will not mislead you about my nature or my character:

I am stout-hearted and patient, unbroken.

قُلْ ما تَشَاءُ فإنِّي منهُ مُعْتَصمٌ

بِمُدْمَجٍ من حبال العزِّ ممْسُودِ

Say what you will; against it I am protected

by a close-woven braid, twisted from the cords of dignity.

لا والذي قَدُمَتْ عنْدي صنَائِعه

لا بِتُّ إلّا على صَبْرٍ ومجلودِ

No, by Him whose favors to me are of old,

I shall pass no night except in patience and fortitude.

ما أنْتَ رزْقي ولا عُمْري وعافيتي

فاجْهَدْ بِصُرْمكَ إني غيْرُ معمودِ

You are not my sustenance, nor my life or well-being;

so do your utmost in cutting me off: I am not stricken.

منْ رَدَّني غير مَصْفُودٍ فإنَّ له

عندي عَفَافاً وعزْماً غيْرَ مَصْفُودِ

Whoever turns me away ungifted has

in me self-restraint and an unfettered resolve.

في رَاحة اليأس لي من بُغْيَتِي عوَضٌ

وحسْبيَ اللَّهُ مَدْعَى كلِّ مَنْجودِ

In the ease of despair I find a substitute for what I seek,

and God suffices me, the One invoked by all the distressed.

فلَنْ أرَى اليأس نَعْياً حين يُؤيسُنِي

من سَيْب كفِّك بل بشرى بمولودِ

I shall not see despair as a death announcement when it cuts off my hope

of your hand's bounty, but as glad tidings of a newborn.

ولستُ أوَّلَ صادٍ صَدَّهُ قَدَرٌ

فذيد عن رود صافي الماء مورودِ

Nor am I the first thirsty man whom fate has turned back,

then driven from seeking the clear water others reach.

وقَبْلَ برِّك بي ما بَرَّني مَلكٌ

لا تملِكُونَ عليه حَلَّ معْقُودِ

And before your kindness to me, a King was kind to me

whose bindings you have no power to undo.

مازال يَضمَنُ رزْقي منذ أَنْشأَني

بفضله وهْو حَيٌّ غير مَأْمودِ

He has always guaranteed my sustenance since He created me,

by His grace; He lives with no appointed end.

هذا على أنَّ سُخْطي لا يُخَلِّفُني

عن مشْهَدٍ من مَآل الخير مشهودِ

This is so; yet my resentment does not hold me back

from the visible prospect of a good outcome.

وما أَحَارُ على أنِّي تُحَيَّرني

أطْبَاقُ ليل كَثيف السُّد مَنْضُودِ

Nor am I at a loss, though I am bewildered by

layers of night, dense with barriers and piled high.

أشْيَاء منك تحرَّاني لتُورطَني

والحزُم يعْدل بي عن كل أُخْدُودِ

Things from you target me to ensnare me,

but prudence turns me aside from every trench.

مُشكِّكاتٌ تُعَنِّيني وتُتْعبُني

ما زالَ دائيَ منها داءَ مفئودِ

Doubt-raising things afflict and exhaust me;

my illness from them has always been that of one stricken at heart:

مَنْعٌ ومَنْحٌ وإصْغارٌ وتكرِمةٌ

وشَدُّ عَقْد وطوْراً نقْضُ مَشْدُودِ

withholding and giving, humiliation and honor,

tying a knot, then at times undoing what was tied.

فإنَّما أنا في لَبْسٍ وذَبْذَبَةٍ

وخَوْف جانٍ بمُرِّ النَّقْم مَرْصُودِ

Thus I am left in confusion and wavering,

and the fear of an offender marked for bitter vengeance,

حتى كأني وما أسْلَفْتُ سيِّئَةً

مُطَالَبٌ تحْت حقدٍ منْك محقودِ

until I seem—though I have committed no wrong—

to be called to account under a grudge harbored by you.