أيا ويل الشجي من الخلي — Abu Tammam

أَيا وَيلَ الشَجِيِّ مِنَ الخَلِيِّ

وَبالي الرَبعِ مِن إِحدى بَلِيِّ

Ah, the sorrowful one's woe at the carefree one's hands!

And the worn dwelling's woe at a woman of Balī's hands!

وَما لِلدارِ إِلّا كُلُّ سَمحٍ

بِأَدمُعِهِ وَأَضلُعِهِ سَخِيِّ

The dwelling has none but the generous,

lavish with his tears and his very ribs.

سَنَت عَبَراتُهُ الأَطلالَ حَتّى

نَزَحنَ غُروبَها نَزحَ الرَكِيِّ

His tears watered the ruins until

they drained their great buckets as wells are drained.

سَقى الشَرَطانِ جَزعَكِ وَالثُرَيّا

ثَراكِ بِمُسبِلٍ خَضِلٍ رَوِيِّ

May al-Sharaṭān water your valley bend, and the Pleiades

your soil, with streaming rain, wet and drenching.

فَكَم لي مِن هَواءٍ فيكِ صافٍ

غَذِيٍّ جَوُّهُ وَهَوىً وَبِيِّ

How much clear air I enjoyed in you,

its atmosphere wholesome—and love pestilential!

وَناضِرَةِ الصِباحَينِ اِسبَكَرَّت

طِلاعَ المِرطِ في الدِرعِ اليَدِيِّ

And a beauty, radiant in her twin dawns, stood tall,

filling her mantle, in an ample-sleeved shift.

تَشَكّى الأَينَ مِن نِصفٍ سَريعٍ

إِذا قامَت وَمِن نِصفٍ بَطِيِّ

She complains of weariness from one half swift

when she rises, and another half slow.

تُعيرُكَ مُقلَةً نَطِفَت وَلَكِن

قُصاراها عَلى قَلبٍ بَرِيِّ

She lends you a glance tainted with guilt, yet

its furthest reach is an innocent heart.

سَأَشكُرُ فَرجَةَ اللَبَبِ الرَخِيِّ

وَلينَ أَخادِعِ الدَهرِ الأَبِيِّ

I shall give thanks for the slack breast-strap's ease,

and stubborn Time's yielding neck-veins.

وَإِنَّ لَدَيَّ لِلحَسَنِ بنِ وَهبٍ

حِباءً مِثلَ شُؤبوبِ الحَبِيِّ

Indeed, I have for al-Hasan ibn Wahb

a gift like a downpour from a low-hanging cloud.

أَقولُ لِعَثرَةِ الأَدَبِ الَّتي قَد

أَوَت مِنهُ إِلى فَيحٍ دَفِيِّ

I say to fallen letters, which have already

found in him a spacious, warming refuge:

أَميلوا العيسَ تَنفَح في بُراها

إِلى قَمَرِ النَدامى وَالنَدِيِّ

Turn the pale camels, snorting through their nose-rings,

toward the moon of boon companions and the assembly.

فَقَد جَعَلَ الإِلَهُ لَكُم لِساناً

عَلِيّاً ذِكرُهُ بِأَبي عَلِيِّ

For God has given you a voice,

its renown exalted through Abu Ali.

أَغَرُّ إِذا تُمُرِّغَ في نَداهُ

تَمَرَّغنا عَلى كَرَمٍ وَطَيِّ

Bright-browed: when one rolls in his bounty,

we roll upon generosity, soft and yielding.

لَعَمرِ بَني أَبي دَيناً وَعَمري

وَعَمرِ أَبي وَعَمرِ بَني عَدِيِّ

By my father's sons' lives—a binding oath—and my own,

and my father's life, and the life of Banu Adi,

لَقَد جَلّى كِتابُكَ كُلَّ بَثٍّ

جَوٍ وَأَصابَ شاكِلَةَ الرَمِيِّ

your letter indeed dispelled every grief,

however aching, and struck the quarry's flank.

فَضَضتُ خِتامَهُ فَتَبَلَّجَت لي

غَرائِبُهُ عَنِ الخَبَرِ الجَلِيِّ

I broke its seal, and there shone out to me

its marvels, revealing the clear tidings.

وَكانَ أَغَضَّ في عَيني وَأَندى

عَلى كَبِدي مِنَ الزَهرِ الجَنِيِّ

It was fresher to my eye and more dewy

upon my liver than freshly gathered blossoms,

وَأَحسَنَ مَوقِعاً مِنّي وَعِندي

مِنَ البُشرى أَتَت بَعدَ النَعِيِّ

and more welcome to me and more treasured

than glad tidings coming after news of death.

وَضُمِّنَ صَدرُهُ ما لَم تُضَمَّن

صُدورُ الغانِياتِ مِنَ الحُلِيِّ

Its breast bore what was never borne

on beauties' breasts in the way of jewels.

فَكائِن فيهِ مِن مَعنىً خَطيرٍ

وَكائِن فيهِ مِن لَفظٍ بَهِيِّ

How many a weighty meaning it contains,

and how many a splendid expression!

وَكَم أَفصَحتَ عَن بِرٍّ جَليلٍ

بِهِ وَوَأَيتَ مِن وَأيٍ سَنِيِّ

How much great kindness you proclaimed

in it, and how lofty a promise you pledged!

كَتَبتَ بِهِ بِلا لَفظٍ كَريهٍ

عَلى أُذُنٍ وَلا خَطٍّ قَمِيِّ

You wrote therein with no expression offensive

to an ear, and no ugly handwriting.

فَأَطلِق مِن عِقالِيَ في الأَماني

وَمِن عُقُلِ القَوافي وَالمَطِيِّ

So free me from my tether amid hopes,

and from the tethers of rhymes and riding beasts,

وَفي رَمضاءَ مِن رَمَضانَ تَغلي

بِهامَةِ لا الحَصورِ وَلا التَقِيِّ

amid Ramadan's scorching heat, seething

upon the head of one neither abstinent nor pious.

فَيا ثَلَجَ الفُؤادِ وَكانَ رَضفاً

وَيا شِبَعي إِذا يَمضي وَرِيِّ

O coolness of the heart, once red-hot stones!

And O my fullness and my quenching, when it comes to pass!

رِسالَةَ مَن تَمَتَّعَ بَعدَ حينٍ

وَمَتَّعَنا مِنَ الأَدَبِ الرَضِيِّ

O letter of one who, after a time, found delight,

and delighted us with pleasing letters!

لَئِن غَرَّبتَها في الأَرضِ بِكراً

لَقَد جُلِيَت عَلى سَمعٍ كَفِيِّ

Though you sent her westward through the land a virgin,

she was indeed unveiled before a worthy ear.

وَإِن تَكُ مِن هَداياكَ الصَفايا

فَرُبَّ هَدِيَّةٍ لَكَ كَالهَدِيِّ

Even if she is among your choicest gifts,

many a gift for you is like a bride.

بَيانٌ لَم تَرِثهُ تُراثَ دَعوى

وَلَم تُنبِطهُ مِن حِسيٍ بَكِيِّ

Eloquence you did not inherit by mere claim,

nor draw from a scant-flowing sand-spring.

عَشَوتُ عَلى عِداتِكَ فيهِ حَتّى

خَطَوتُ بهِ عَلى أَمَلٍ مُضِيِّ

I steered through darkness by your promises in it, until

through it I stepped forward on a radiant hope.

فَناهِض بي مِنَ الأَسفارِ وَجهاً

مَهاريهِ ضَوامِرُ كَالحَنِيِّ

So help me set out upon a journey,

whose Mahri camels are lean as bows.

فَلَستَ تَرى أَقَلَّ هَوىً وَنَفساً

وَأَلزَمَ لِلدِنُوِّ مِنَ الدَنِيِّ

For you will find none lower in aspiration and spirit,

nor more attached to lowliness, than the base man.

نَبَتُّ عَلى خَلائِقَ مِنكَ بيضٍ

كَما نَبَتَ الحَلِيُّ عَلى الوَلِيِّ

I grew upon pure-white virtues of yours,

as feather-grass grows with rain following rain.

فَمِن جودٍ تَدَفَّقَ سَيلُهُ لي

عَلى مَطَرٍ وَمِن جودٍ أَتِيِّ

So, from bounty whose torrent poured forth for me,

outstripping rain, and from bounty flooding in,

وَمِن جودٍ لَهُ حَولي صَريفٌ

بِنابَيهِ وَمِن عُرفٍ فَتِيِّ

and bounty that gnashes all around me

with its two tusks, and from vigorous kindness.

وَمَحدودِ الذَريعَةِ ساءَهُ ما

تُرَشِّحُ لي مِنَ السَبَبِ الحَظِيِّ

And many a man of scant means resented what

you nurture for me: a favored bond.

يَدِبُّ إِلَيَّ في شَخصٍ ضَئيلٍ

وَيَنظُرُ مِن شَفا طَرفٍ خَفِيِّ

He creeps toward me in a puny frame,

and peers from the edge of a furtive eye,

وَيُتبِعُ نِعمَتي بِكَ عَينَ ضِغنٍ

كَما نَظَرَ اليَتيمُ إِلى الوَصِيِّ

and follows my blessing through you with a rancorous eye,

as an orphan looks upon his guardian,

رَجاءً أَنَّهُ يوري بِزَندي

إِلَيكَ وَأَنَّهُ يَفري فَرِيّي

hoping he can strike fire with my fire-stick

before you, and cut as I cut.

وَذاكَ لَهُ إِذا العَنقاءُ صارَت

مُرَبَّبَةً وَشَبَّ اِبنُ الخَصِيِّ

That will be his when the Anqa becomes

a tame pet, and a eunuch's son grows up.

أَرى الإِخوانَ ما غُيِّبتَ عَنهُم

بِمَسقَطِ ذَلِكَ الشَعبِ القَصِيِّ

I see the brethren, while you are kept from them

at the mouth of that far-off ravine,

وَمَردودٌ صَفاؤُهُمُ عَلَيهِم

كَما رُدَّ النِكاحُ بِلا وَلِيِّ

with their goodwill returned to them,

as marriage is rejected without a guardian.

وَهُم مادُمتَ كَوكَبَهُم وَساروا

بِريحِكَ في غُدُوٍّ أَو عَشِيِّ

But while you remain their star, and they travel

with your wind, at morning or evening,

فَحينَئِذٍ خَلا بِالقَوسِ بارٍ

وَأُفرِغَتِ الأَداةُ عَلى الكَمِيِّ

then a bowyer has the bow to himself,

and the armor is fitted to the warrior.

وَإِنَّ لَهُم لَإِحساناً وَلَكِن

جَرى الوادي فَطَمَّ عَلى القَرِيِّ

They do indeed show kindness, yet

the wadi ran in flood and overwhelmed the little channel.

وَهَل مَن جاءَ بَعدَ الفَتحِ يَسعى

كَصاحِبِ هِجرَتَينِ مَعَ النَبِيِّ

Can one who came striving after the Conquest

be like one who made two migrations with the Prophet?