غدا الدهر مفترا أغر المضاحك — Abn Rumi

غدا الدهرُ مفترّاً أغرَّ المضاحِكِ

عن ابن عبيد اللَّهِ تاج الممالِكِ

Time has dawned smiling, its smiling teeth gleaming white,

revealing the son of Ubayd Allah, crown of kingdoms,

عن الكوكبِ الدُّرِّيِّ في كلِّ حِندسٍ

عن اللَّمعةِ البيضاء في كُلِّ حالكِ

revealing the pearl-bright star in every darkness,

revealing the white radiance in every murky gloom,

عن القاسمِ المقسومِ في الناسِ رفدُهُ

إذا لم تطب عن ملكها نفسُ مالك

revealing Qasim, whose bounty is shared among the people,

when an owner cannot bear to part with his possessions,

عن ابن سليمان بن وهبٍ فتى العُلا

على رغم أوغادٍ كُهولِ الحسائك

revealing the son of Sulayman ibn Wahb, a youth of high distinction,

despite base men grown old in their grudges.

أغرُّ يُكنَّى بالحسين مُسلِّمٌ

له الحُسْنَ والإحسانَ كلُّ مُماحك

Radiant, with a byname invoking al-Husayn, he is conceded

beauty and beneficence by every disputant.

وزيرُ ولي العهد وابن وزيره

أخو المجدِ ركَّابُ الأمورِ التوامك

Minister to the heir apparent, and son of his minister,

a brother to glory, a rider of towering affairs.

تُكشّفُ منه محنةُ المُلكِ شيمةً

مهذَّبةً والتبرُ عند السبائك

The ordeal of kingship reveals in him a disposition

refined—as raw gold is revealed in casting.

وإن سترَتْ وجهَ الحقائِق شبهةٌ

رمى سِترها بالصائباتِ الهواتك

And if a doubt veils the face of truths,

he shoots its veil with unerring, rending shafts.

ويُفزَعُ في الجُلَّى إلى عَزَماتِهِ

فيستلُّ منها كالسيوف البواتِك

In the gravest crisis, refuge is sought in his firm resolves,

and he draws from them the like of cleaving swords.

يعارِكُ بالتدبير كلَّ شديدةٍ

فيصرعُها لا هُدَّ ركنُ المُعارِك

With planning he wrestles every hardship,

then throws it—may the wrestler's strength never fail!

فتىً عَطِرتْ ذكراهُ وانهلَّ جُودُهُ

تهلَّلَ باكٍ من حيا المُزنِ ضاحك

A youth whose remembrance is fragrant, whose generosity pours down;

a weeper brightens, laughing, at the clouds' life-giving rain.

فعافيه في نَضْحٍ من الغيث صائبٍ

ومُطريه في نضح من المسكِ صائك

His petitioner stands amid a spray of falling rain,

and his praiser amid a spray of clinging musk.

ذكا وزكا فالعُرفُ من وبلِ ديمةٍ

سماكيةٍ والعرف من طِيبِ ذانك

Fragrant and flourishing: his kindness comes from a raincloud's downpour,

under Simak, and his fragrance from the sweetness of those two qualities.

ألاحَ بُروق البشرِ تدعُو عُفاتَهُ

فجاءوا فأعفى بالرغابِ الوشائك

He flashes the lightnings of cheerfulness, calling his petitioners;

they come, and he effaces paltry gifts with ample ones.

فنُفّلتِ الأيدي غِناها بمدحِهِ

ونُفِّلتِ الأفواهُ طيب المساوِك

Hands receive riches as a bonus for praising him,

and mouths are granted the sweetness of toothsticks.

أقولُ لسئّالٍ به مُتجاهلٍ

مَحِلتَ وقد آنت إنابةُ ماحك

I say to one who keeps asking about him, feigning ignorance:

You have schemed; it is time for a wrangler to repent.

توهَّمْ مصابيحَ السماءِ سبائكاً

وصُغْ مثله من صفو تلك السبائك

Imagine the lamps of heaven as ingots,

and fashion his like from the purest of those ingots.

فتىً أسهلتْ خيراتُهُ لعفاتِهِ

فأحزَنَ في تلك المعاني السَّوامك

A youth whose good gifts lie on easy ground for his petitioners,

yet he makes those lofty achievements rugged ground.

ومن كثُرتْ في ماله شركاؤهُ

غدا في معاليه قليلَ المُشارك

He whose wealth has many sharers

has few sharers in his lofty virtues.

فتىً لا يُبالي حين يحفظُ مَجده

متى هلكتْ أموالُه في الهوالِكِ

A youth who does not care, while safeguarding his glory,

when his wealth perishes amid ruinous hazards.

له راحةٌ روْحاءُ يسفكُ ماءَها

وليس لماء الوجهِ منه بسافك

His palm is broad and open, pouring out its water,

yet he never spills his face's water—his honor.

مُقَبَّلُ ظهرِ الكفِّ وهَّابُ بطنِها

مواهبَ ليستْ بالخِساس الركائك

His hand's back is kissed, its palm lavishly bestowing

gifts neither paltry nor feeble.

يسوقُ إلى تقبيلها القومَ أنها

غِياثٌ لهم بل عِصمةٌ في المهالك

What draws the people to kiss it is that it is

relief for them, indeed protection amid mortal dangers.

نرحِّلُ آمالاً إلى باب قاسمٍ

فيرجعنَ أموالاً عِراض المبارك

We dispatch hopes to Qasim's gate,

and back they come as wealth, filling broad resting grounds.

حباني بما يعيا به كُلُّ رافدٍ

وحبَّرتُ ما يعيا به كلُّ حائك

He gifted me what defeats every benefactor,

and I embroidered what defeats every weaver.

فأعدَمتُه مدحَ الغِثاثِ مدائحاً

وأعدمني رفدَ الأكُفِّ المسائك

With my poems I spared him the praise of insipid poets,

and he spared me the bounty of miserly hands.

وما لربيعٍ ممطرٍ من مُجاوِدٍ

وما لبقيع مُزْهر من مُحاوِك

A raining spring has no rival in generosity,

and a flowering meadow no rival in weaving.

وهبْتُ له نفسي ووُدِّي ونُصرتي

ولو صكَّ وجهي حدُّ أبيضَ باتِك

I gave him myself, my affection, and my support,

even were the edge of a white, cleaving sword to strike my face.

أقولُ لأقوامٍ تعاطوْا علاءَه

فأعيَتهُمُ الخضراءُ ذاتُ الحبائك

I say to people who reached for his eminence,

only to be thwarted by the green sky with its woven paths:

دعوا آل وهْبٍ للمعالي فإنَّهُمْ

بقايا اللَّيالي الآخذاتِ التوارِكِ

Leave the house of Wahb to lofty honors, for they are

survivors of the nights that take and leave.

أناسٌ يسوسُون البلادَ وأهلها

بشدَّةِ أركانٍ ولينِ عرائك

People who govern the lands and their inhabitants

with firm pillars and gentle temperaments.

سراةٌ إذا ما الناسُ أضحتْ سراتُهم

لنا ضُحكاً أضْحوا لنا كالمضاحك

Leaders who, when other people's leaders become

our laughingstocks, become for us like gleaming smiling teeth.

يودُّ الورى لو يشترون شهورهم

بأحوال أعوامٍ سواهُم دكائك

People wish they could buy their months

with cycles of years under others, flat and barren.

وشاهد زُور للكَفور ابن بلبلٍ

فقُلت له أطغَيْتَ أطغى البوائك

And to a false witness for the ingrate Ibn Bulbul,

I said: You have emboldened the most insolent of fat she-camels.

وقد كنتُ من مُدّاحِهِ غير أنني

تناوكْتُ مضطراً مع المتناوِك

I was indeed among his panegyrists, except that

I played the fool, compelled to join that fool.

فلم يجزُني إلا مواعيدَ أعصفتْ

بهنَّ أعاصيرُ الرياحِ السواهِك

He rewarded me with nothing but promises swept away

by hurricanes of scouring winds.

بلى قد جزاني لو شكرتُ جزاءَه

جزاءَ مَنيكٍ في استِه غير نائك

Yes, he did reward me, if only I thanked him for his reward:

the reward of a man fucked in his arse, not one doing the fucking.

وليس جزاءً أنْ عفا إذ مَدَحْتُه

وقد كنتُ أهلاً للعِصيِّ الدَّمالك

It was no reward that he pardoned me when I praised him,

though I deserved stout, smooth cudgels.

ولستُ بهجَّاءٍ ولكن شهادةٌ

لديَّ أُوَدِّي حقَّها غيرَ آفِك

I am no satirist, but there is testimony

in my keeping whose due I discharge without lying.

وما أنا للَّحمِ الخبيثِ بآكلٍ

وإنّ له منّي للَوْكةَ لائكِ

I am no eater of foul flesh,

yet he shall certainly have from me a chewer's mouthful.

إذا استمسكَتْ كفّي بعروة قاسمٍ

فلسْتُ على صرْفِ الزمانِ بهالك

If my hand grips Qasim's handle firmly,

I shall not perish despite time's reversals.

أرانا عِياناً كلَّ عفوٍ ونائلٍ

سمعْنا بمذكورَيْهما في البرامِكِ

He showed us with our own eyes every unasked bounty and gift

whose celebrated examples we had heard of among the Barmakids.

تداركَني مِنْ عثرةِ الدهرِ قاسمٌ

بما شئتُ من معروفِهِ المتدارك

Qasim rescued me from time's stumbling blow

with whatever I wished of his unremitting kindness.

فأصبحْتُ في أيكٍ من العيشِ مثمرٍ

وأمسيْتُ في عيشٍ من العزِّ شائك

So I awoke in a fruit-bearing grove of livelihood,

and reached evening in a life thorn-armored with might.

فتىً في نثاهُ شاغلٌ عن سؤالهِ

سبوقُ العطايا للطَّلوب المُواشك

A youth whose renown leaves no need to ask him,

whose gifts outrun even the eager, hasty petitioner.

فليس لأبشارِ الوجوه بمُخْلقٍ

وليس لأستارِ الخفايا بهاتِك

He does not wear out the skin of faces,

nor rend the veils of hidden matters.

فتىً لا أُسمّيه فتىً لحداثةٍ

ولكن لهاتيك السجايا الفواتك

A gallant—I call him gallant not because he is young,

but because of those formidable qualities.

سجايا أبت إلا انتصافاً لجارِها

من الدهر إما عضَّ رحْلٌ بِحارك

Qualities that insist on securing justice for their neighbor

from time whenever a saddle bites into the withers.

يُواحِكُ عند العذل في بَذْلِ مالهِ

وعندَ ارتيادِ الحقّ غيرُ مُواحك

He argues when reproached for giving away his wealth,

but is never argumentative when seeking what is right.

وسائلةٍ عن قاسمٍ ومكانِهِ

فقُلْتُ لها إن العلاءَ هنالك

And to a woman asking about Qasim and his place,

I said: Loftiness is there.

كريمٌ تفي أفعالُه بانتسابهِ

وذو نسب في آلِ ساسانَ شابك

A noble man whose deeds measure up to his ancestry,

with a lineage intertwined with the house of Sasan.

أظلُّ إذا شاهَدْتُ يومَ نعيمِهِ

كأنّي في الفردوسِ فوقَ الأرائك

When I behold his day of bliss, I spend the day

as though in paradise upon its couches,

بمرأى من الدنيا جميلٍ ومَسْمعٍ

لدى ملكٍ بالحق لا مُتمالك

amid beautiful sights and sounds of the world,

beside a king in truth, no would-be monarch,

مقابلَ وجهٍ منه أبيضَ مشرقٍ

كبدر الدجى بين النجوم الشوابك

facing his white, radiant face,

like the full moon of darkness among intertwined stars.

يحيّيه أترجُّ تسامى حياله

وشاهَسْفَرمٌّ تحته كالدَّرانك

Citron rises before him in greeting,

and shahisfaram basil beneath it lies like thick carpets,

وفاكهةٍ فيها مشمٌّ ومطعمٌ

تردُّ موداتِ النساءِ الفوارِك

and fruit with fragrance and flavor

that restores the affections of estranged women.

ولو عُدم الريحانُ حَيَّاهُ نشرُهُ

بمثلِ سحيقِ المسكِ فوقَ المداوك

Even were sweet basil absent, his fragrance would greet him

like powdered musk upon grinding stones.

بنفسي وأهلي ذاك وجهاً مباركاً

تلقَّى بأوفى الشكرِ نُعمَى المبارك

I would ransom that blessed face with my life and family;

it received the blessed one's bounty with the fullest thanks.

تحثُّ الحسانُ المُحسِناتُ كؤوسَهُ

بِمَدْحٍ له قد سار جمَّ المسالِك

Beautiful, accomplished women urge him to drink his cups

with praise of him that has traveled countless roads.

فيهتزُّ للجدوَى على كل مجتد

وكانتْ ملاهي مثلِه كالمناسك

He sways eagerly to bestow gifts upon every petitioner;

the diversions of one like him are like sacred rites.

له مَجْلِسٌ ما إن يزال مُصدَّراً

بأحسنَ من بَيْض النعام الترائك

He has a gathering whose foremost seats are always filled

with beauties lovelier than ostrich eggs left behind.

يُغنّينَهُ فيه بما سيَّرت له

لُهاهُ من الأمداحِ غيرِ الأوافكِ

There they sing to him the verses spread on his behalf

by his largesse: panegyrics that tell no lies.

ولم يتغنَّ المحسناتُ لمحسنٍ

بمثلِ مديحٍ ذامِلٍ فيه راتكِ

Never have accomplished women sung for a benefactor

such praise, trotting and racing in his name.

شهدْنا له يوماً أغرَّ محجَّلاً

أقام لنا اللذاتِ فوق السنابك

We witnessed for him a day white-blazed and white-stockinged;

he set our pleasures upon hooves.

لأمِّ عليٍّ رَبْرَبٌ فيه آنِسٌ

من العِين مثلِ العين حُفَّتْ بعانِك

Umm Ali had there a tame herd of gazelles,

of wide-eyed beauties, like wild cows ringed by heaped sand,

من الوُضَّح اللُّعْس الشّفاه كأنما

يَفُهْنَ بأفواه الظباءِ الأوارك

fair-skinned, with dusky lips, as though

they spoke with the mouths of arak-browsing gazelles.

يُرفّعْنَ أصواتاً لِداناً وتارةً

يُنَمنمنَ وشْياً غيرَ وشي الحوائك

They raise supple voices, and at times

embroider a brocade unlike the weavers' work.

كفلْنَ لنا لمَّا اصطفَفْنَ حيالنا

بترحيل أضيافِ الهُمومِ السّوادك

When they lined up before us, they pledged

to send away the lingering guests of care.

فما برحتْ تُهدي إلينا عجائبٌ

عجائبَ تُصبي كلَّ صابٍ وناسك

Aja'ib never ceased to offer us

marvels that enchanted every lover and ascetic:

فتاةٌ من الأتراكِ ترمي بأسهُمٍ

يُصِبْنَ الحَشا في السّلم لا في المعارك

a girl of the Turks, shooting arrows

that strike the heart in peace, not in battles.

كأنَّ زميرَ القاصياتِ أعارَها

شجاهُ وسجعَ الباكيات الضواحك

As though the piping of far-off creatures had lent her

its pathos and the cooing of the weeping, laughing ones.

وبستان بستانٌ يُقِرُّ عيونَنا

بما فيه من نُوَّاره المتضاحك

And Bustan is a garden that delights our eyes

with the laughing blossoms it contains.

غناءٌ ووجهٌ مونقانِ كلاهما

يهيلانِ جُولَيْ ذي الحِجى المتماسك

Singing and a face, both enchanting,

crumble both walls of the steadfast man's reason.

ظللنا لها نَصْباً تشكُّ قلُوبنا

بذاك الشجا الفتَّانِ لا بالنيازك

We remained her target; she pierced our hearts

with that bewitching pathos, not with short spears.

وما جُلَّنارٍ بالمُقَصِّر شأوُها

ولا المتعدِّي قصد أهدى المسالك

Nor does Jullanar fall short in her course,

or overstep the middle course of the best-guided paths.

لطيفةُ قدّ الثدي تُسند عودَها

إلى ناجمٍ في ساحةِ الصدر فالك

Her breasts are delicately shaped; she rests her lute

against a rounded bud rising on the plain of her chest.

تطامَنَ عن قدّ الطوالِ قوامُها

وأربى على قدّ القصارِ الحواتك

Her stature falls below that of tall women,

and rises above that of short, close-stepping women.

ورقاصةٍ بالطبلِ والصنجِ كاعبٌ

لها غُنْجُ مِخناثٍ وتَكريهُ فاتك

And a budding-breasted dancer, with drum and cymbals,

has an effeminate man's coquetry and a ruthless assailant's menace.

أُتيحَ لها في جسمها رفدُ رافدٍ

وإن نالها في خصرها نَهْك ناهك

Her body was granted a benefactor's bounty,

though her waist was afflicted by a waster's wasting.

إذا هي قامَتْ في الشُّفوفِ أضاءها

سناها فشفّتْ عن سبيكة سابك

When she stands in gauzy robes, she is lit

by her own radiance, and they reveal a caster's ingot.

تخطَّى اسمَ عَيَّارٍ إلى اسمِ مؤاجَرٍ

مُسمٍّ لها ما شئتَ من مُتفاتِك

Past the name Ayyar to the name Mu'ajar stepped

her namer, as daring as you could wish.

فدتْ تلكم الأسماءَ بل حاملاتِها

زيانبُ أرضِ اللَّهِ بعد العواتك

May those names—rather, their bearers—be ransomed by

the Zaynabs of God's earth, after its Atikas.

وجوهٌ كأيامِ السُّعودِ تشبُّها

لنا طُرَرٌ مثلُ الليالي الحوالك

Faces like days of good fortune are set aglow

for us by forelocks like pitch-dark nights.

سبايا إليهنَّ استباءُ عقولِنا

مماليك مُلّكْن اقتدارَ الممالك

Captives to whom the capture of our minds belongs,

slave women endowed with the dominion of kingdoms.

نوازلُ بين الانبساطِ إلى الخنا

وبين انقباضِ المُخبتاتِ النواسك

Poised between abandon to lewdness

and the restraint of humble, devout women.

موالكُ يسفُكْنَ الدماءَ ولا تَرى

لهُنَّ اكتراثاً بالدموعِ السوافك

Mistresses who spill blood; you will not see

in them any concern for flowing tears.

إذا هُنَّ أزْمْعَن الفراقَ فكلُّنا

أسِيٌّ على تلك الشموس الدوالك

When they resolve upon departure, all of us are

grieving for those setting suns.

أقاسمُ ما تتركْ فلستَ بآخذٍ

أبَيْتَ وما تأخذْ فلستَ بتارك

O Qasim, whatever you leave, you will not take;

you refuse to yield, and whatever you take, you will not leave.

فلا تتركنّي أيُّها الحرُّ عُرضةً

لدهرٍ غدا للحرّ غير متارك

So do not leave me, noble man, exposed

to time, which has ceased to leave the noble alone.