قد عجلت لي عقوبة الخور — Abn Rumi

قد عُجِّلت لي عقوبة الخورِ

وأنت فاحذرْ عقوبة البطرِ

The punishment for weakness has already been hastened for me.

And you—beware the punishment for arrogance.

خِرْتُ فأملتُ ما لديك فعو

قِبْتُ بفوتِ النجاح والظفرِ

I faltered and hoped for what you had, so I was

punished by missing success and victory.

وأنت أيضاً بطرت إذ وردت

عليك دنيا وشيكة الصَّدرِ

You too grew arrogant when there came

to you worldly fortune, soon to depart.

فاصبر ستُجزَى بما بطرتَ من ال

سُوء كما قد جُزيتُ بالخور

So endure: your arrogance will be repaid with

harm, just as I was repaid for weakness.

ما آمنتْ نفسُ من رجاك بما

أنزل ربُّ السماءِ في السور

No soul that hoped in you believed in what

the Lord of Heaven sent down in the surahs.

هل كان راجٍ يراكَ عِصمتَهُ

لولا اتهام القضاءِ والقدر

Would any hopeful man have seen you as his safeguard,

had he not distrusted decree and destiny?

أسلمتني من يديك في يديَ ال

لَهِ وحَسْبي به من البشر

You surrendered me from your hands into the hands

of God; He suffices me in place of men.

قِدماً كفاني وما عرفتك في

بدوٍ من الأرض لا ولا حضر

Long ago He provided for me, when I had not known you in

desert lands—no, nor in towns.

رزقي لستَ الذي تُسبِّبهُ

مسبِّبُ الرزقِ مُنشئُ الصُّور

You are not the one who procures my sustenance.

The provider of sustenance is the Maker of forms.

فاركبْ طريقاً أراك راكبَهُ

يُفضى بركبانه إلى الغِيرِ

Then take the road I see you traveling,

which carries its riders to reversals of fortune.

نُعماك عندي التي أقرُّ بها

أنك أصبحت لي من العبر

The favor of yours that I acknowledge

is that you have become a lesson for me.

أصبحت لي عِبرة رأيت بها

رشدي وقد كنت زائغ البصرِ

You have become a lesson through which I saw

my right course, though my vision had been straying.

وشكر تلك اليد الدنيئة إع

فائيكَ مني يا تافه الخطر

My thanks for that base favor is to spare

you from me, you man of paltry worth.

بل ذاك حظي فلست أحسبُهُ

عليك شكراً يا شرّ مختبرِ

But that is my own good fortune; I do not reckon it

thanks owed to you, you worst of men put to the test.

والذم شُكرِيك إذ رأيتك ته

وى الذمّ فاصبر لشرّ منتظَر

Blame is your thanks, since I have seen you

crave blame; so endure the worst awaiting you.

وحبُّك الذمَّ لائق بك ما

أشبه خَطْم الخنزير بالقذر

Your love of blame befits you—how

a pig's snout resembles filth!

أنت الوزير الذي وزارتُهُ

معدودةٌ في الكبائر الكُبَر

You are the minister whose ministry

is numbered among the greatest of major sins.

فاذهبْ عليك العفاءُ من رجل

لا بل عليك الدَّبار في سَقر

Away with you—may oblivion befall you, man!

No: rather, may ruin befall you in Saqar.

آخر جهلي بك الغداةَ عِتا

بيك وما للعقابِ والحجرِ

My last folly toward you this morning was my rebuke

of you—but what has chastisement to do with a stone?

لا جهلَ لي بعده وكيف وقد

كَيَّسني ما وُهبتُ من حذر

I shall have no folly after that; how could I, when

the caution I was granted has made me shrewd?

لهفي لآصالي التي اتصلت

في غير شيء لديك بالبُكر

Alas for my evenings, which joined

the mornings at your side, all for nothing!

كدرتَ قبل استقاء آملك ال

خائب قبحاً للوجه والخبر

You grew turbid before your hopeful petitioner drew water,

that disappointed man—shame upon your face and repute!

ولو أثارتك دلوهُ رجعتْ

إليه مملوءةً من المدر

Had his bucket stirred you, it would have returned

to him filled with clods of earth.

وكيف يصفو الذي أثار به

من كُدِّرت عينه ولم يُثَر

And how could what he stirred with it run clear

from one whose spring was muddied even when unstirred?

أبديتُ في أُوليات لؤمك ما

قدرتُ في أخرياته الأخرِ

I revealed at the outset of your baseness

what I had expected only at its very end.

هلّا بدا الصفو منك ثم بدا

رنْقُك مِثل الطِلاءِ والسَّكر

Why did clarity not appear from you first, and then

your turbidity, like boiled wine and intoxicating drink?

أو كُدِّرَ البدءُ ثم أعْقبه

صفوٌ ففي ذاك وجه معتذَر

Or why was the beginning not muddied, followed

by clarity? In that there would be grounds for excuse.

بل كنتَ كالأسودِ الغليظ أخي ال

نَتْن لمن شمَّه وذي الوضَر

Instead, you were like thick black stuff, possessed of

stench to whoever smells it, and of greasy grime,

كالقَطِران الذي يُرى أبداً

في رأسهِ ما اقتنى من العكر

like tar, which is always seen

with the sediment it has gathered upon its surface.

وذاك يصفو لدى إماطةِ أع

لاهُ وما إن تزال ذا كدر

Yet that clears upon skimming away its

upper layer; but you never cease to be turbid.

أصبحتَ حزت النقيصتين معاً

تقصيرَ سعيٍ ضَوى إلى قِصَر

You have now combined both deficiencies:

failure in effort joined to shortness of stature.

دِنتَ بدينٍ من النذالة أد

دتْكَ إليه لطافةُ النظر

You embraced a creed of baseness, led

to it by refinement of thought.

يا لك من حكمةٍ ملعَّنةٍ

أمرِّ ما أثمرتْ من الثمرِ

What accursed wisdom you possess,

with the bitterest fruit it has borne!

وكيف يحلو جنىً مَطاعِمُهُ

منك بعودٍ من أخبث الشجر

And how can fruit taste sweet when its nourishment

comes from you, a bough of the foulest of trees?

فكَّرْ أبا البنت هل تُؤثِّل ما

تجمع إلا لناكحٍ ذَكر

Think, father of the daughter: do you build up what

you amass for anyone but a male to bed her?

تغْصبه أهلَهُ وتمنعُهُ

حقوقَهُ للقُمدِّ ذي العُجَر

You wrest it from its rightful owners and withhold

its rightful dues for the thick penis with its knobs.

واسوأتا للحكيمِ همتُهُ

إشباعُهُ بنتَهُ من الكمر

What shame upon the sage whose ambition

is to sate his daughter on penis-heads!

يجمع ما يخطِب الأيور به

غدا إذا غيَّبَتهُ في العَفَر

He amasses what will woo penises

tomorrow, when she has buried him in the dust,

مُطَّرَحاً حقّ من يلوذ به

إلا المُنى أو كواذبَ العِذر

casting aside the claims of those who seek his shelter,

offering nothing but hopes or lying excuses.

يا أيها الفيلسوف ذا الحكم ال

جمّةِ مما روى ذوو الفِكرِ

O philosopher, possessor of wisdom

in abundance, as transmitted by men of thought,

هل حكمةٌ أنَّ قفلَ كفك لا

يفتَح إلا بمِفتَح العُذَرِ

is it wisdom that the lock on your hand

opens only with the key of hymens?

تبخل إلا على القُمُدّ إذا

شقَّقَ ذاتَ الدلالِ والخفر

You begrudge everyone but the thick penis, when

it tears open the coy and bashful woman.

تُضحي وتمسي وأنت ملتمسٌ

أعيَطَ كالرمح من ذوي الطُّرر

You pass morning and evening seeking

a spear-like, long-necked man among men with forelocks.

ينزو عليها فتستمِيت لهُ

فيغتدي في النُّزاء والأشر

He mounts her, and she spends herself for him,

so he passes the morning in mounting and wanton glee.

يعجبُك الفحلُ في تراجعه

على عِجان الفتاةِ بالسَّحر

The stud delights you as he moves back and forth

against the young woman's perineum before dawn.

للَّه ماذا يكون بينهما

إذا تلاقتْ مداهن السّرَر

By God, what passes between them

when the oil-cup hollows of their navels meet!

لهفُك أنْ لا تكون عندهما

إذا أجابا الحقيقَ بالنُّخَر

Your regret is that you are not with them

when they answer the real thing with grunts.

ذلك أشهى إليك من نغم ال

شدو تناغيه غُنّةُ الوتَر

That is sweeter to you than the melodies

of singing, answered by the string's nasal hum,

وهي تفدِّيه بالأب الأحمق ال

مائق والرُّهزُ طائرُ الشَّرر

while she ransoms him with her foolish father,

that idiot, and the thrusting sends sparks flying.

لتِلك أثَّلتَ أو لذي هَوجٍ

أصبحت تُكنَى به أبا العبر

For that woman you amassed wealth—or for a fool

through whom you came to be called Abu al-‘Ibar.

يُكَنى أبا صالحٍ وصالحُهُ

تكثيرُهُ من يحُلّ في الحفر

He is called Abu Salih, and his goodness

lies in multiplying those who dwell in graves.

لا تدعُوَنْ بالبقاء ويك له

فموتُهُ من أخاير الخير

Never pray for his survival—woe to you!

For his death is among the best of blessings.

قفاه هول لمن تأمَّلهُ

ووجههُ طِيرةٌ من الطّيَر

His nape is a terror to whoever examines it,

and his face an omen among ill omens.

إذا تلَّوى على مُجالسِهِ

في الحفل عاينْتَ شُهرة الشُّهر

When he twists toward his companion

at a gathering, you behold the most notorious spectacle.

فإن تعاطى الحديث مات من ال

عيِّ وأبصرتَ عُرّةَ العُرر

And if he attempts to speak, he dies of

inarticulateness, and you behold the blemish of all blemishes.

يصفِر في السير ماله صَفِرَت

به دواعي المنون في صفر

He whistles as he walks—what ails him? May

death's callers whistle for him in Safar!

مُبثبِثاً مثلَ عمّه الأعور ال

معورِ أهلِ الإعوارِ والعَور

Babbling like his one-eyed uncle,

that defective man among people of flaws and one-eyedness.

يُتعِب جلاسَهُ ويُنصِبُهم

نَوْكاً فيودي بكل مصطَبر

He wears out his companions and exhausts them

with stupidity, destroying every patient soul.

أوْدِع سِواه الذي جمعتَ لهُ

إن كنت ترعاه يا أبا البقر

Entrust what you have gathered for him to someone else,

if you care for him, O father of cattle.

فلو جمعت الجبال أتلفها

في غير حقٍ يُقضى ولا وطر

Even if you amassed mountains, he would squander them

without fulfilling any duty or satisfying any need.

وإن وقفت الوقوفَ فاز بها

قاضٍ يرى ظلمَ كل ذي صِغر

And if you established endowments, they would fall to

a judge who deems it right to wrong every minor.

يأكلها تارة ويُؤكِلها

طوراً وكيلاً بأغلظ الأجر

Sometimes he devours them, and sometimes he feeds

them to an agent at the most exorbitant fee.

وابنك ممن يشيخ وهو من ال

أيتام يا لليتيم ذي الكِبر

Your son is one who grows old while remaining among

the orphans—alas for the orphan grown old!

ليس يراه امرؤ فينصِفَهُ

والظلم مُغرىً بكل محتقَر

No one looks at him and treats him fairly,

and oppression is enamored of everyone despised.

لا يرتجي المرتجون عدل أبي

بكرٍ على مثله ولا عمر

The hopeful expect neither the justice of Abu

Bakr toward his like, nor that of ‘Umar.

فاطلب لإرث الشقيّ عنك غداً

مستودِعاً إن أثرت أو فَذَر

So seek, for the wretch's inheritance from you tomorrow,

a trustee, if you choose—or leave it.

أودعْه أهلَ الوفاءِ في مِننٍ

تُعقَد لا في الصِّرار والبِدَر

Entrust it to loyal people as favors

that form bonds, not in purses and bags of coins.

أودِعْ له المال لا على جهة ال

إيداع بل كالجِباء والشَّبر

Set aside wealth for him, not by way of

depositing it, but as gifts and grants.

يحفظْك فيه المحافظون إذا

أضحى من الضارطين بالكِسر

The faithful will keep faith with you in his case when

he becomes one of those who fart at the tent's edge.

واهاً لها من نصيحةٍ صدرت

من صدرِ حُرٍّ عليك ذي وَحر

Ah, what counsel has come forth

from the breast of a noble man bearing rancor toward you!