قالوا ولم يلعب الزمان ببغداد — Al Khuraimy

قالوا وَلَم يلعبِ الزَمان بِبَغ

داد وَتعثُر بِها عَواثرُها

They spoke before time had toyed with Baghdad

and her stumbling blows had made her fall;

إِذ هيَ مثل العَروس باطِنُها

مشوّق لِلفَتى وَظاهرها

when she was like a bride, her inward beauty

enticing to a young man, and her outward beauty

جَنّةُ خلد وَدار مَغبَطةٍ

قلّ مِن النائِبات واترها

a garden of eternity, a dwelling of delight,

seldom assailed by the blows of calamity.

دَرّتُ خلوفُ الدنيا لِساكِنها

وَقَلَّ معسورها وَعاسرها

The world's udders flowed for her inhabitants,

and few were her hardships and those who caused them.

واِنفرجت بالنَعيم واِنتَجعت

فيها بِلَذَّاتها حواضرها

She opened wide with pleasure, and sought pasture

within her, amid her delights, her townspeople.

فالقَومُ منها في روضة أُنفٍ

أَشرق غِبَّ القِطار زاهرُها

Her people lived in an untouched meadow,

its blossoms shining after the rains.

من غَرَّهُ العَيش في بُلَهنيةٍ

لَو أَنَّ دنيا يَدوم عامرها

For those whom life beguiled with ease—

if only a world's prosperity could endure!

دارُ مُلوك رست قواعدها

فيها وَقَرَّت بِها مَنابرها

A dwelling of kings whose foundations stood firm

within her, and whose pulpits were established there:

أَهل العُلا وَالنَدى وَأَندِيَة ال

فخر إِذا عددت مَفاخِرها

men of eminence, generosity, and gatherings of

pride, whenever her glorious deeds were counted;

أَفراخُ نعمى في ارث مملكة

شدّ عراها لَها أَكابرها

chicks reared in luxury, inheriting a kingdom

whose elders had tightened its bonds for her.

فَلَم يَزَل وَالزَمان ذو غَيرٍ

يَقدح في ملكها أَصاغرها

Yet ceaselessly, while time brought change,

her lesser men undermined her sovereignty,

حَتّى تَساقَت كأساً مثمِّلَةً

مِن فتنة لا يُقالُ عاثِرها

until they shared an intoxicating cup

of strife whose fallen cannot be raised.

واِفتَرَقَت بعد أُلفة شيِعاً

مَقطوعَةً بَينَها أَواصرها

After fellowship, she split into factions,

their bonds with one another severed.

ياهل رأيت الأَملاكَ ما صنعت

إِذ لَم يَرعُها بالنصح زاجرها

Have you seen what the monarchs did

when their counselor's advice did not restrain them?

أَورد أملاكُنا نفوسَهُم

هُوَّةَ غيّ أَعيَت مَصادِرُها

Our monarchs brought themselves into

an abyss of error whose exits defeated them.

ما ضَرَّها لَو وفت بموثقها

واِستَحكَمَت في التُقى بَصائِرُها

What harm would she have suffered had she kept her covenant

and made her understanding firm in piety,

وَلَم تسافك دِماء شيعَتِها

وَتبتَعِث فتية تكابرها

and not shed the blood of her followers

or summoned young men to challenge her,

وَأَقنعَتها الدُنيا التي جمعت

لَها وَرُعبُ النُفوس ضائِرها

and been content with the worldly wealth gathered

for her, when terror in men's souls was her bane?

ما زال حوض الأَملاك يحفِره

مسجورها بالهَوى وَساجِرها

The monarchs' reservoir was continually being hollowed out

by those inflamed with desire and those who fed its fire.

تَبغي فُضول الدُنيا مكاثرةً

حَتّى أُبيحَت كَرهاً ذَخائرها

She sought the world's excesses, competing for abundance,

until her treasures were forcibly laid open.

تَبيع ما جمع الأبوّة لل

أَبناء لا أُربحت متاجرها

She sells what the fathers gathered for

their sons—may her dealings yield no profit!

يا هَل رأَيت الجِنانَ زاهِرَةً

يَروق عَين البَصير زاهرها

Have you seen the gardens flowering,

their blossoms delighting the discerning eye?

وَهَل رَأَيت القُصور شارِعَةً

تَكُنّ مثل الدُمى مقاصرها

And have you seen the palaces standing forth,

their chambers sheltering beauties like figurines?

وَهَل رأَيت القُرى الَّتي غرس ال

أَملاكُ مخضرّةً دساكرها

And have you seen the villages planted by the

monarchs, their estates green,

مَحفوفَةً بالكروم وَالنخل وَالرَي

حان ما يَستَقِلّ طائِرها

surrounded by vineyards, palms, and sweet

basil, where a bird could scarcely take flight?

فانها أَصبحَت خَلايا من ال

إِنسان قَد أُدميت مَحاجرها

They have become empty of

human beings, their eyes bloodied,

قَفراً خَلاءً تَعوى الكِلاب بِها

ينكر منها الرسوم زائِرها

desolate and vacant, with dogs howling in them;

their visitor no longer recognizes their outlines.

وَأَصبَحَ البؤس ما يُفارِقُها

إِلفا لَها وَالسُرور هاجرها

Misery has become inseparable from them,

their companion, while happiness has deserted them.

بزندوردَ وَالياسِريَّةِ وَالشط

طَينِ حَيث اِنتهَت مَعابرها

At Zandaward, al-Yasiriyya, and the two

riverbanks, where their crossings ended,

وَبِالرَحى وَالخَيزَرانيَّة ال

عَليا إِلي أَشرفت قَناطِرها

and at al-Raha and Upper al-Khayzuraniyya,

whose bridges rose high,

وَقَصر عَبدُوَيه عِبرَةٌ وَهُدىً

لِكُلِّ نفس زكت سَرائرُها

and at the palace of Abduwayh, there is a lesson and guidance

for every soul whose inward thoughts are pure.

فَأَينَ حُرّاسُها وَحارِسها

وَأَينَ مجبورها وَجابِرُها

Where are her guards and her guardian?

Where are those she sustained and those who sustained her?

وَأَين خِصيانها وَحشوَتِها

وَأَينَ سكّانها وَعامرها

Where are her eunuchs and her retinue?

Where are her inhabitants and those who kept her flourishing?

أَينَ الجَراديَةُ الصقالب وال

أَحبش تَعدو هدلاً مشافرها

Where are the Jaradiyya guards, the Slavs, and the

Abyssinians, running with their lips hanging loose?

يَنصدع الجند عَن مواكبها

تَعدو بِها سرّبا ضَوامرها

The army parts before their processions,

their lean horses carrying them in troops:

بالسند وَالهِند وَالصَقالِب وال

نوبة شَيبت بِها برابرها

Sindhis, Indians, Slavs, and

Nubians, with Berbers mingled among them,

طَيراً أَبابيلَ أُرسلت عبثاً

يقدَم سودانها أَحامرها

like birds in flocks, sent forth aimlessly,

their fair-skinned men advancing before their black men.

أَينَ الظِباءُ الأَبكارُ في رَوضَة ال

ملك تَهادى بِها غَرائرها

Where are the maiden gazelles in the garden of

kingship, its innocent beauties walking gracefully?

أَينَ غضاراتها وَلذّتها

وَأَينَ محبورها وَحابرها

Where are her comforts and her pleasure?

Where are her joyful ones and those who brought her joy?

بالمسك وَالعَنبَر اليَمانيّ وال

يلنجوج مشبوبة مجامرها

With musk, Yemeni ambergris, and

aloeswood, her censers were kindled.

يرفلن في الخَزّ وَالمَجاسِد وال

موشيّ محطومة مزامرها

They swept along in silk, saffron-dyed garments, and

embroidered cloth; her pipes now lie shattered.

فَأَينَ رقاصُها وَزامرها

يجبن حيث اِنتَهَت حَناجرها

Where are her dancers and her piper,

their voices ranging as far as their throats could carry?

تَكادُ أَسماعهم تُسَكُّ إِذا

عارض عيدانَها مَزاهِرُها

Their ears could almost be deafened when

her lutes answered her stringed instruments.

أَمسَت كَجَوفِ الحِمار خاليَةً

يُسَعِّرها بالجَحيم ساعرها

She has become deserted, like the Donkey's Hollow,

her kindler setting her ablaze with hellfire.

كَأَنَّما أَصبَحَت بساحتهم

عادٌ ومسَّتهُم صراصرها

It is as though, in their courtyards,

Ad had arisen and her roaring winds had struck them.

لا تَعلَم النَفس ما يُبايتها

مِن حادث الدهر أَو يُباكرها

The soul does not know what will visit it by night

of time's disasters, or what will greet it at dawn.

تُضحي وَتُمسي دَريّةً غَرَضاً

حيث اِستَقَرَّت بِها شراشرها

Morning and evening find it a living decoy, a target,

wherever its whole being has settled,

لأسهُمِ الدهر وَهوَ يَرشُقها

محنطها مَرّة وَباقرها

for time's arrows, which it shoots at her,

now killing her, now ripping her open.

يا بؤسَ بَغداد دار مَملَكة

دارَت عَلى أَهلِها دَوائرها

Alas for Baghdad, dwelling of sovereignty!

Her turns of disaster have come upon her people.

أَمهَلَها اللَهُ ثُمَّ عاقَبَها

لَمّا أَحاطَت بِها كَبائرها

God gave her respite, then punished her

when her grave sins encompassed her,

بالخسف وَالقَذف وَالحَريق وَبال

حرب الَّتي أَصبحت تساورها

with engulfment, bombardment, fire, and

war, which now assails her.

كَم قَد رَأَينا مِن المَعاصي بِبَغدا

دَ فَهَل ذو الجَلال غافِرُها

How many sins we have witnessed in Baghdad!

Will the Lord of Majesty forgive them?

حَلَّت بِبَغدادَ وَهيَ آمِنَةٌ

داهيَةٌ لَم تَكُن تُحاذرها

There descended upon Baghdad, while she was secure,

a calamity she had never feared.

طالعها السوء من مطالعه

وَأَدرَكَت أَهلَها جرائرها

Evil rose upon her from its places of rising,

and the consequences of her offenses overtook her people.

رقّ بِها الدين واسُخِف بِذي ال

فضل وعزَّ النسّاكَ فاجرها

Religion grew weak within her, and men of

virtue were scorned; her wicked overpowered the devout.

وَخطّم العَبدُ أَنفَ سَيِّده

بالرَغم وَاستُعبدت حَرائرها

The slave put a halter through his master's nose

in humiliation, and her freeborn women were enslaved.

وَصار ربَّ الجيران فاسقُهم

وابتَزَّ أَمرَ الدروب ذاعرها

The neighbors' profligate became their master,

and their terrorizer seized control of the streets.

مَن يَرَ بَغداد وَالجُنودُ بِها

قَد ربّقت حَولها عساكرها

Whoever sees Baghdad with the troops within her,

their armies drawn like a noose around her,

كُلَّ طحون شَهباءَ باسِلَةٍ

تُسقط أَحبالها زماجرها

each a grinding, iron-gray, fierce host

whose roars make pregnant women miscarry,

تلقي بغيّ الرَدى أَوانسها

يُرهقها للّقاء طاهرها

casting her gentle creatures into the abyss of death,

her Tahir driving them hard into battle,

وَالشَيخ يَعدو حزماً كَتائبه

يقدم أَعجازها يعاورها

while the elder hastens prudently among his battalions,

bringing their rear forward and moving among them,

وَلزهير بالفرك مأسدة

مرقومة صُلبَةٌ مكاسرها

and Zuhayr has at al-Fark a pride of lions,

distinctly arrayed, their strongholds firm—

كَتائب المَوت تَحتَ أَولية

أَبرَح منصورها وَناصرها

battalions of death beneath banners,

fearsome in their champion and their helper—

يَعلَم أَنَّ الأَقدار واقِعَة

وقعاً على ما أَحَبَّ قادرها

knows that decrees of fate descend

exactly as their Ordainer wills.

فَتِلكَ بَغداد ما تبنّى مِن الذّ

له في دورها عصافرها

Such is Baghdad: from humiliation, no nests are built

in her houses by her sparrows.

مَحفوفَة بِالرَدى منطّقة

بالصغر مَحصورة جَبابرها

Surrounded by death, girdled

with abasement, her mighty men besieged,

ما بَينَ شط الفُرات منه إِلى

دجلة حيث انتهت معابرها

from the bank of the Euphrates to

the Tigris, where her crossings end:

نار كَهادي الشَقراء نافرة

تَركُض مِن حَولِها أَشاقرها

fire like the neck of a startled chestnut mare,

its chestnut companions racing around it.

يُحرِقها ذا وَذاكَ يَهدِمها

وَيشتَفي بالنِهاب شاطرها

This man burns her, that man demolishes her,

and her rogue finds satisfaction in plunder.

وَالكوخُ أَسواقُها معطَّلة

يستنَّ عيّارُها وَعائرها

Al-Kukh's markets stand idle,

her marauders and wandering ruffians racing about.

أَخرجت الحَرب من سَواقطها

آسادَ غيل غُلباً تُساورها

War has brought forth from her outcasts

thick-necked lions of the thicket to assail her.

من البَواري تراسها ومن ال

خوص إِذا استلأمت مغافرها

Their shields are made of reed mats, and of

palm leaves their helmets when they arm themselves.

تَغدو إِلى الحَرب في جَواشنها ال

صوف إِذا ما عَدَّت أَساورها

They go to war in breastplates of

wool, when she counts her warriors.

كَتائِب الهرش تَحتَ رايَتَهِ

ساعد طرّارها مَقامرها

Battalions of brawling beneath its banner:

her pickpocket assists her gambler.

لا الرزق تَبغي وَلا العَطاء وَلا

يحشِرُها للّقاء حاشرها

They seek neither provisions nor military pay, nor

does any musterer summon them to battle.

في كُلِّ دَرب وَكُلِّ ناحيَة

خطّارَةٌ يستهلّ خاطرها

In every street and every quarter

stands a stone-thrower, its arm beginning to hurl

بمثل هام الرِجال من فلق الص

خر يزود المقلاع بائرها

chunks of rock as large as men's heads;

its deadly operator supplies the sling.

كَأَنَّما فَوقَ هامها فِرق

من القطا الكُدر هاج نافرها

Above their heads there seem to be flocks

of dusky sandgrouse, their startled birds driven up.

وَالقَوم مِن تَحتِها لَهُم زجل

وَهيَ ترامي بها خَواطرها

The people beneath them raise a clamor

as her throwing machines exchange their missiles.

بَل هَل رَأَيت السُيوف مصلتةً

أَشهَرَها في الأَسواقِ شاهرها

Have you seen the swords drawn,

their wielders brandishing them in the markets?

وَالخَيل تستنَّ في أَزِقّتها

بالتُركِ مسنونة خَناجرها

And the horses racing through her alleys

with Turks whose daggers are sharpened?

وَالنفط وَالنار في طرائقها

وهابياً للدخان عامرها

And naphtha and fire in her streets,

her inhabited quarters a rising cloud of smoke?

وَالنهب تعدو بِهِ الرِجال وَقَد

أَبدَت خَلاخيلَها حَرائرها

And plunder carried off at a run by men, while

her freeborn women have exposed their anklets,

معصوصبات وسط الأَزِقّة قَد

أَبرزها لِلعُيون ساتِرها

huddled together in the middle of the alleys,

those who sheltered them having exposed them to every eye?

كُلُّ رَقودِ الضحى مخبّأة

لَم تُبدِ في أَهلِها محاجرها

Every hidden woman who used to sleep until late morning,

who never showed her eyes even among her own people,

بيضةُ خدر مَكنونةٌ برزت

لِلناس مَنشورة غَدائرها

a cherished egg within a secluded chamber, has emerged

before the people, her braids loosened.

تعثُر في ثَوبِها وتعجلها

كبّةُ خَيل ريعت حَوافرها

She stumbles in her garment, hurried on by

a surge of horses whose hooves are startled.

تَسأل أَينَ الطَريقُ والهةً

وَالنارُ من خَلفِها تبادرها

Distraught, she asks where the road lies,

while fire behind her races to overtake her.

لَم تجتَلِ الشَمسُ حسنَ بهجتها

حَتّى اجتلتها حَربٌ تُباشرها

The sun had never beheld her lovely splendor

until war unveiled her and laid hands upon her.

يا هَل رَأَيت الثكلى مولولةً

في الطُرق تَسعى وَالجهد باهرها

Have you seen the bereaved mother wailing,

running through the streets, overcome by exhaustion,

في إِثرِ نَعش عليه واحدُها

في صدره طَعنَةٌ تساورها

following a bier bearing her only son,

a thrust in his chest assailing him:

فَرغاء ينقي الشنار مربدها

يَهُزّها بالسنان شاجرها

a gaping wound, its dark stain washing shame away,

the spear that opened it shaking it with its point?

تنظر في وَجهه وَتَهتف بالث

كل وَجاري الدُموع حادرها

She looks into his face and cries out in

bereavement, her tears streaming down.

غَرغَرَ بِالنَفس ثُمَّ أَسلمها

مَطلولةً لا يُخاف ثائرها

His breath rattled; then he surrendered his soul,

his death unavenged, with no avenger feared.

وَقَد رَأَيت الفِتيان في عَرصة ال

معرك معفورةً مناخرها

And you have seen young men on the field of

battle, their nostrils rubbed in dust,

كُلّ فَتىً مانع حَقيقتَه

تَشقى به في الوَغى مساعرها

each young man defending what was sacred to him,

making the kindlers of war suffer in battle.

باتَت عَليهِ الكِلابُ تَنهَشُه

مَخضوبةً من دَمٍ أَظافرها

Dogs spent the night tearing at him,

their claws dyed with blood.

أَما رَأَيتَ الخُيولَ جائِلَةً

بالقَوم مَنكوبَةً دَوائرها

Have you not seen the horses wheeling

among the people, their fortunes overturned,

تَعثُر بِالأَوجه الحِسان من ال

قَتلى وغلّت دماً أَشاعرها

stumbling over the beautiful faces of the

dead, their fetlock hair soaked in blood?

يَطأنَ أَكباد فتية نُجُدٍ

يَفلِقُ هاماتهم حَوافرها

They tread on the livers of brave young men,

their hooves splitting their skulls.

أَما رَأَيت النِساءَ تَحتَ المَجا

نقِ تعادى شعثاً ضَفائرها

Have you not seen the women beneath the siege

engines, running, their braids disheveled:

عَقائل القَوم وَالعَجائِز وال

عنَّس لَم تُحتَبر معاصرها

the people's noble women, the old women, and

the unmarried women, their young maidens unadorned,

يَحمِلنَ قوتاً مِن الطَحين عَلى ال

أَكتاف مَعصوبة معاجرها

carrying sustenance of flour upon their

shoulders, their headwraps tied tight?

وَذات عَيش ضنك ومقعسة

تشدَخها صَخرة تعاورها

And a woman living in hardship, and one bent with age,

crushed by a rock that strikes her?

تَسأل عَن أَهلِها وَقَد سُلِبَت

واتبُزّ عَن رأسها غَفائرها

She asks about her family, already robbed,

her head coverings snatched from her head.

يا لَيتَ شِعري وَالدَهر ذو دول

يرجى وَأُخرى تَخشى بوادرها

Would that I knew—time has turns of fortune,

one hoped for, another whose onset is feared—

هَل تَرجعن أَرضُنا كَما غَنَيت

وَقَد تَناهَت بِنا مَصائرها

will our land return to what it once was,

now that its destinies have brought us to this extremity?

من مبلغٌ ذا الرِياستين رَسا

لاتٍ تأتّى لِلنُصح شاعرها

Who will convey to Dhu al-Riyasatayn messages

whose poet has carefully fashioned them as counsel:

بأَنَّ خَيرَ الولاة قَد علم الن

اس إِذا عُدّدت مآثِرها

that the best of governors, as the people know

when their noble deeds are counted,

خَليفَةُ اللَه في بريته ال

مأمون منتاشها وَجابرها

is God's caliph among His creatures,

al-Mamun, their rescuer and restorer?

سمت إِلَيهِ آمال أُمَته

مُنقادةً بَرّها وَفاجرها

His people's hopes have risen toward him,

their righteous and wicked alike submitting.

شاموا حيا العدل من مخايله

وَأَصحرت بالتُقى بَصائرها

They discerned the rain of justice in its signs,

and their understanding shone clear with piety.

وَأحمدوا منك سيرَةً جَلَتِ ال

شَكَّ وَأُخرى صَحَّت مَعاذرها

They praised in you a conduct that dispelled

doubt, and another whose justifications proved sound.

واستَجمعت طاعَةً برفقك للمأ

مون نجديُّها وَغائرها

Through your gentleness, all gathered in obedience to al-Mamun,

those of the uplands and those of the lowlands.

وَأَنتَ سَمعٌ في العالَمين له

وَمُقلَةٌ ما يَكِلّ ناظرها

You are his hearing throughout the worlds,

and an eye whose sight never wearies.

فاشكر لذي العرش فضلَ نعمته

أَوجب فضل المَزيد شاكرها

So thank the Lord of the Throne for His gracious blessing;

its grateful recipient has earned the bounty of increase.

واحذر فداء لك الرَعيَّة وال

أَجنادُ مأمورها وآمرها

And beware—may the people be your ransom, and

the troops, their commanded and their commanders.

لا تَرِدَن غمرةً بنفسك لا

يَصدرُ عَنها بِالرأي صادرها

Do not plunge yourself into a deep flood from which

no one can emerge through judgment.

عليك ضحضاحها فلا تلج الغم

رة مُلتَجّةً زَواخِرُها

Keep to its shallows; do not enter the deep

water, its surging waves in tumult.

وَالقصد أَنَّ الطَريق ذو شعب

أشأمُها وَعثها وَجائرها

Keep to moderation, for the road has branches,

the most ill-omened being its rough and crooked ones.

أَصبَحتَ في أُمَّة أَوائِلُها

قَد فارقت هديها أَواخرها

You now stand among a people whose earliest generations

have had their guidance abandoned by their latest.

وَأَنت سَرسورها وَسائسها

فَهَل عَلى الحَقّ أَنتَ قاسرها

You are their leader and their governor:

will you compel them to follow the truth?

أَدّب رِجالاً رأيت سيرَتهم

خالف حكمَ الكتابِ سائرها

Discipline men whose conduct you have seen,

its whole course opposing the judgment of the Book.

واِمدُد إِلى الناس كفّ مرحمة

تُسَد منهم بِها مفاقرها

Extend to the people a hand of mercy

with which their needs may be met.

أَمكنك العَدلُ إِذ هَمَمتَ بِهِ

وَوافقت مدّه مقادرها

Justice became possible for you when you resolved upon it,

and its allotted measures matched its extension.

وَأَبصَرَ الناسُ قَصدَ وَجههم

وملّكت أُمّة أخايرها

The people saw the direction they should take,

and a nation placed its best in command.

تُشرِع أَعناقَها إِلَيكَ إِذا ال

سادات يَوماً جمّت عَشائرها

It stretches its necks toward you when the

chiefs' clans gather in strength.

كَم عِندَنا مِن نَصيحة لك في ال

لمه وَقُربى عزّت زَوافرها

How much counsel we have for you in

fellowship, and kinship whose supporters are strong,

وَحُرمَةٍ قَرّبت أَواصرها

منك وَأُخرى هَل أَنتَ ذاكرها

and a sacred bond whose ties have drawn close

to you, and another—do you remember it?

سَعي رِجال في العلم مطلبهم

رائحها باكر وَباكرها

The striving of men whose pursuit is learning,

its evening seeker arriving early, and its morning seeker likewise.

دونك غراءَ كالوَذيلة لا

تُفقَد في بلدة سَوائرها

Take this radiant poem, like a silver ingot:

its traveling verses will be absent from no town.

لا طَمَعاً قلتُها وَلا بَطَرا

لِكُلِّ نَفس هَوىً يؤامرها

I spoke it neither from greed nor from arrogance;

every soul has a desire that counsels it.

سيّرها اللَهُ بالنَصيحَة وال

خشية فاِستُدمجت مرائرها

God sent it forth with counsel and

reverent fear, its cords tightly twisted together.

جاءَتكَ تَحكي لَك الأُمور كَما

يَنشُر بزَّ التجار ناشرها

It came to you, recounting affairs for you as

one unfolds the merchants' fabrics.

حمّلتُها صاحِباً أَخا ثقة

يَظَلَّ عَجَباً بِها يُحاضرها

I entrusted it to a companion worthy of confidence,

who keeps presenting it with wonder.