ويلي على هذي الجوائب

جآت عليّ من النوائب

Woe is me over this al-Jawa’ib!

She has come upon me as one of the calamities.

هاجت عليّ الناس من

خل ومعرفة وصاحب

She stirred the people up against me—

intimate, acquaintance, and companion.

فتألبوا لخصامها

زمرا كأنهم كتائب

So they banded together to quarrel with her,

in throngs, as though they were battalions.

اودعتها من كل ما

شاق الاديب من الغرائب

I filled her with all

the marvels that captivate the man of letters.

ولها سهرت ليالي اعتكرت

باحلاك المصائب

For her I kept vigil through nights grown murky

with the blackness of calamities.

وصرفت فيها الجهد

اجمع صرف نقاد محاسب

And on her I expended my effort,

all of it, as a discerning accountant spends.

وكسوتها من نسج نظمي

محكما حلل المناقب

And clothed her, from the weave of my verse,

in finely wrought robes of virtues.

وجلوتها بكرا على الخطباء

جلت عن شوائب

And unveiled her, a virgin, before the suitors,

exalted above all blemishes.

لكنها من سوء حظي

لم تفز منهم بخاطب

Yet, through my ill fortune,

she won no suitor among them.

فتباعدوا عنها تبا

عد من يخاف من المعاطب

So they drew away from her,

like one who fears deadly perils.

وتجسسوا عن ذأمها

وهي البراء من المعايب

And they pried into her faults,

though she was free of blemishes.

قال المشاغب انها

بدع وحظر البدع واجب

The troublemaker said, “She is

innovation, and banning innovations is a duty.

وبها عويص اللفظ مجهدة

لخاطر كل كاتب

Her wording is abstruse, taxing

the mind of every writer.

ما ان عهدنا مثلها

من قبل في احد المكاتب

Never have we known her like

before in any office.

وبها كلام في السيا

سة بين مغلوب وغالب

And she contains political discussion,

of the vanquished and the victor;

واصول اشتملت على

فقه المراتب والمناصب

and principles encompassing

knowledge of ranks and official posts;

ورسوم ارض لم تطأ

اقدامنا فيها مناكب

and maps of lands where never have

our feet trodden the slopes.

انا اذا جدنا بدينار

على ذا فهو ذاهب

If we lavish a dinar

on this, it is money lost.

ان الحوادث عندنا

هي ان تبين عن العجائب

For news, to our minds,

consists in telling of wonders,

وعن الخزائن والدفا

ئن والمعادن والمكاسب

and of treasuries and buried

hoards, mines, and gains;

وعن الطلاسم والرقى

والنفث في عقد المطالب

and of talismans and incantations,

and blowing upon the knots of desires;

وعن المنادم والمسا

مر والاحبة والحبائب

and of the boon companion and the evening

companion, loved ones, and beloved women;

وعن الجرائد والكوا

عب والمحاجر والمشانب

and of newspapers and full-breasted

maidens, eye sockets, and pearly-toothed mouths.

فتكون كل مقالة فيها

فيها تعد من الغرائب

So every article in her

should be reckoned there among wonders;

وتكون أول فقرة

منها تدل على العواقب

and the first paragraph

in her should reveal the outcomes.

وتكون تغني السامعين

عن المآكل والمشارب

And she should spare her listeners

the need for food and drink,

وعن المفارش والملا

بس والملاهي والملاعب

and for bedding and

clothing, amusements, and games;

وتكون للمقرور دفئا

ثم سلسلات للائب

and give the shivering person warmth,

then sweet, flowing draughts to the thirsty;

وتكون خذروف الصبا

يا ثم عكاز الشهارب

and be the spinning top of young

girls, then the staff of hoary elders;

وتكون اكوانا والوانا

على عدد الكواكب

and be worlds and colors

as numerous as the stars.”

هذا الذي عيبت به والعيب

من قبل المعايب

This is what she was faulted for; the fault

lies with the faultfinder.

اني وحقك لست ذا

صلف ولا للوتر طالب

Indeed, by your honor, I am no man

of arrogance, nor a seeker of revenge.

واذا قدرت على عقا

ب أخ فما انا بالمعاقب

And if I have the power to

punish a brother, I will not punish him.

بل لو اساء اليّ من

خالك لم اك بالمعاتب

Indeed, were I wronged by one who

befriended you, I would not reproach him,

اذ كنت اعلم انه

عن كل مسألة يجاوب

for I knew that he

would answer every question.

ولربما آل الجدا

ل الى جلاد بالقواضب

And many a time debate

has led to combat with keen swords,

واعادة الكلم التي

تنكى القروح من المثالب

and a repetition of words

of reproach that reopen wounds.

لكنني رجل اغا

ر على جوائبي الغوائب

But I am a man, jealously

protective of my far-roaming Jawa’ib.

اني ارى عرض الجو

ائب ان يصان من الوجائب

I hold the honor of al-Jawa’ib

to be among the things one must protect.

عاهدتها ان لا تعو

د إلى عوض معاد خائب

I pledged to her that she would not

ever return as one whose hopes had failed.

ولها ضمنت الفوز في

جوب المشارق والمغارب

And for her I guaranteed success in

journeying through East and West.

وهي التي عنى تنو

ب لدى الاباعد والاقارب

She is the one who represents me

among strangers and kin.

وعلى المنيب الحران

يقي الذي هو عنه نائب

And a noble principal is bound

to protect the one who acts on his behalf.

فعلى حفظ ذمارها

عن كل عياب وثالب

So I must guard her honor

against every faultfinder and detractor.

فالطعن فيها نافذ

في الخلب مني والترائب

For a thrust at her pierces

my liver’s membrane and my breastbones.

ويسؤني ما ساءها

وخصيمها خصمي المحارب

What grieves her grieves me,

and her adversary is my warring foe.

ما بال من يهوى العجا

ئب لا يرى فيها عجائب

Why does one who loves the marvelous

see no marvels in her?

عربية سبكا ولكن

تبرها تبر الاجانب

Arabic in her casting, yet

her raw gold is the raw gold of foreigners.

ما شم منها عجمة

انف المراغم والمراقب

No foreignness in her has been scented

by the nose of rival or observer;

حتى كأن نقيبتي

ام لها دون النقائب

so that it is as though my own innate gift

alone, of all such gifts, were her mother,

مع صون معنى الاصل عما

لا يلائم او يناسب

with the original meaning safeguarded from whatever

does not accord or fit.

وبذاك من جهد القريحة

ما تشيب به الذوائب

And in that is such strain upon the creative mind

as turns forelocks gray,

ويعيد يومي غيهبا

يخفى به وجه المطالب

and turns my day to blackest night,

in which the face of my aims is hidden.

تالله ان بياض شعري

نصفه من ذي الغياهب

By God, the whiteness of my hair—

half of it comes from these dark depths.

افبعد هذا من ملا

م او خصام من مشاغب

After all this, is there still

reproach, or a troublemaker’s quarrel?

لو كان هذا الخلق

مثلي كان كلهم اقارب

If this human race were

like me, they would all be kin.