زوروا أمامة طال ذا هجرانا — Al Qatami Al Taghlibi

زُوروا أُمامَة طالَ ذا هِجرانا

وحقيقةٌ هي أن تُزارَ أَوانا

Visit Umāmah: this estrangement has lasted long.

And she deserves a visit from time to time.

كيفَ المزارُ ودونَها متمنّعٌ

صَعبٌ يَرِنُّ حِمامُه إرنانا

How can one visit, with an inaccessible barrier before her,

Formidable, its death-call ringing aloud?

شَمسٌ يفوزُ بنو الحصينش بِجَنبِها

وتُضيءُ دورُهم لها أحيانا

A sun: the sons of al-Ḥuṣayn thrive at her side,

And their homes shine because of her at times.

تَبضَع المجاسِدَ عن صفائحَ فِضةٍ

ذُلقٍ ترى صفحاتِهِنَّ حسانا

She parts her saffron-dyed garments, revealing plates of silver,

Smooth, whose surfaces you see are beautiful.

وترى النَّعيمَ على مفارِقٍ فاحِمٍ

رَجلٍ تَعُلُّ اصولَه الأدهانا

You see luxuriance upon the partings of coal-black hair,

Wavy, whose roots she repeatedly moistens with oils.

فكأنما اشتملَ الضجيعُ بريطَةٍ

لا بَل تزيدُ وثارةً ولَيانا

It is as though her bedfellow wrapped himself in a fine cloth—

No, rather, she surpasses it in softness and suppleness.

وترى لها بشَراً يعودُ خَلوقُه

بعد الحميمِ خدلّجاً رَيَانا

You behold her skin, its saffron perfume returning,

After the hot bath, plump and lush.

وكأنَّ طَعمَ مُدامَةٍ عانِيَّةٍ

شَمِلَ الرياقَ وخالَطَ الأسنانا

And as though the taste of wine from ʿĀnah

Had pervaded her saliva and mingled with her teeth.

أَبَت الخروجَ من العراق وليتَها

رَفَعَت لنا بقُطيقطٍ أَظعانا

She refused to leave Iraq; would that she

Had set her traveling litters in motion for us at Quṭayqiṭ.

فَتَحِلُّ حيثُ تقر أعينُنا بها

ونرى أُمامَةَ تارةً وَتَرانا

Then she would settle where our eyes delight in her,

And we would sometimes see Umāmah, and she see us.

رَمتِ المقاتلَ من فؤادِك بَعدَما

كانت جنوبُ تُدِينكَ الأديانا

She struck the vital spots within your heart, after

Janūb had held you in every kind of subjection.

وأرى الغوانيَ إنما هي جِنَّةٌ

شِبهُ الرَياح

I find beautiful women to be nothing but jinn,

Like the winds.

وإذا دَعَونَك عَمَّهُنَّ فلا تُجب

فهناك لا تجدُ الصَّفاءَ مكانا

If they call you their uncle, do not answer,

For there you find no room for sincere affection.

نَسَبٌ يَزيدُك عِندَهُنّ حقارَةً

وعلى ذَوَاتش شبابِهنَّ هَوانا

A kinship that makes you more contemptible to them,

And more despised by those of them still young.

وإذا حَلَفنَ فَهُنَّ أكثرُ واعدٍ

خُلفاً واكثرُ حالِفٍ أَيمانا

When they swear, they surpass all promisers

In broken promises, and all swearers in oaths.

وإذا رَأَينَ من الشَّباب لُدونةً

فعسى حِبالُك أن تكونَ مِتانا

But if they see the suppleness of youth,

Then perhaps your bonds may be strong.

بَل ليتها سُئِلَت جَنوبُ فلم تَقُل

كَذِباً عليَّ ولم تُعَمِّ بَيانا

Rather, would that Janūb had been asked and had not spoken

Falsely about me, nor obscured a clear account.

أخبرتِني وَلقد علمت شَمائلي

أذَرُ الخَنا وأُكارِمُ الأخدانا

You told me, though you knew my character:

I forsake obscenity and treat my companions generously.

وتكون فيَّ على العَدوِّ شكاسَةٌ

وألينُ حينَ أرى أَخاً ليَ لانا

There is harshness in me toward an enemy,

And I soften when I see a brother of mine grow gentle.

ورقيقةِ الحُجُراتِ باديةِ القَذى

كدَمِ الغزالِ صَبِحتُها نَدمانا

And many a wine, delicate at its edges, with visible specks,

Like gazelle's blood, I served at dawn to a drinking companion.

وإذا تُعانِيني الهمومُ قريتُها

سُرُحَ اليَدينِ تُخالسُ الخَطَرانا

When worries beset me, I entertain them with

A camel swift of forelegs, taking quick, swaying strides,

حَرجاً كانَّ من الكُحيل صَبابةً

نضَحت مغابنها بها نَضَحانا

Lean, as though a remnant of pitch

Had dripped copiously from her skin-folds.

تَصِلُ المَخِيلَةَ بالذراعةِ بعدما

جعل الجنادِبُ تَركبُ العِيدانا

She combines proud strutting with long strides, after

The grasshoppers begin mounting the stalks.

وجرى السَّراب على الإكام كانَّه

نسجُ الولائِدِ بينها الكَتّانا

And the mirage flows over the hills as though

Maidservants were weaving linen among them.

وكأنّ نمرُقتي فويقَ مولَّعٍ

يَرعى الدَّكادِكَ من جَنوبِ قَطانا

My saddle-cushion seems to rest just above a dappled bull,

Grazing the low hills to the south of Qaṭān,

بعوازِبِ القَفَراتِ بين شقيقةٍ

وكثيبِها يتنظّرُ الحَدَثانا

In the wilderness's remote reaches, between a sandy tract

And its dune, keeping watch for misfortune.

لَهَقٌ سَقَته من المحرم ليلةً

هَتَلَت عليه بديمةٍ هَتَلانا

White, watered by a night of Muḥarram,

That poured steady rain upon him in torrents.

فثنى اكارِعَه وباتَ تجُمُّه

رِهَمٌ تسيلُ تِلاعُه إمعانا

He folded his shanks and spent the night refreshed by

Fine rains that sent his gullies flowing far.

أَرِقاً تضاحكُهُ البروقُ براجفِ

كسنى الحريقِ ولامعٍ لَمَعانا

Sleepless, with lightning smiling at him in quivering flashes,

Like a blaze's radiance, and bright, glittering light.

فغدا صبيحَةَ صَوبها متوجّساً

شَئزَ القيام يُقَضِّبُ الأغصانا

He set out the morning after its downpour, wary,

Restless on his feet, cropping the branches.

بحضيضِ رابِيةٍ يَهزُّ مُذلّقاً

صَلباً يكونُ له الطِلالُ دِهانا

At a hill's foot, he shakes a sharp-pointed horn,

Hard, with dew serving it as ointment.

فترى الحُبابَ كأنما عبثت به

تقفيَّتانِ تُنَظّمانِ جُمانا

You see the droplets as though they had been played with

By two Thaqafī women stringing pearls.

فَليَيَنما هو غافِلٌ إذ راعَهُ

يَحمون أرسَلَهُم بنو ذَكوانا

Then, while he was heedless, he was suddenly startled by

Dark hunters sent by the sons of Dhakwān.

مَعَهُم ضوارٍ مِن سَلوقَ كأنها

حُصنٌ تجول تُجرِّرُ الأَرسانا

With them were hunting hounds from Salūq, as though they were

Stallions wheeling about, dragging their halters.

فطلبنَهُ شَأواً تخالُ غبارَهُ

وغبارَهُنَّ إذا التَهَبنَ دُخانا

They chased him over a stretch: you would take his dust

And theirs, as they blazed into speed, for smoke.

وَهلاً مخافَتُهنَّ ثُمَّتَ رَدَّه

ذِكرُ القتالِ وحينَ آخَرُ حانا

Frightened by them; then he was turned back

By the thought of battle, and another doom whose hour had come.

فسما وقامَ يذودُهُنَّ بِمُرهَفٍ

صَلبِ القناةِ كأنّ فيها سِنانا

He rose and stood driving them off with a sharpened horn,

Stiff of shaft, as though it bore a spearhead.

فإذا خَنَسنَ مضى على مُضوائِهِ

وإذا لَحِقنَ به أصَابَ طِعانا

When they drew back, he went on his course,

And when they caught him up, he struck with stabbing thrusts.

حَرِجاً وكَرَّكرورَ صاحبِ نَجدَةٍ

خَزِيَ الحرائرَ أن يكونَ جبانا

Hard-pressed, he charged back like a man of valor,

Ashamed before freeborn women to be a coward.

ويكون حَدُّ سِنانه لأشدِّها

قَرَماً وأكثرِها له غَشيانا

The edge of his spearpoint was for the fiercest of them

In hunger, and the one most often assailing him.

فَحَسَرنَ غيرَ مخدّشاتِ أديمه

وغداً يروحُ ترَوُّحاً عَجلانا

They fell back exhausted, without scratching his hide,

And tomorrow he departs, hurrying along.

أبَني زُهيرِ لامرىءٍ ذي عِزّةٍ

يتنفسُ الصُعَداءَ حينَ يرانا

O sons of Zuhayr, surely a man of might

Heaves deep sighs when he sees us.

وحَسَبتِنا نَزَعُ الكتيبةَ غُدوَةً

فيغيّفون ونرجِعُ السَّرَعانا

And you thought we drew back the battalion at dawn,

They wheel aside, while we rally the swift vanguard.

وَنحِلُّ كُلَّ حِمىً نُخبَّرُ أنَّهُ

مَنَح البروقَ وما يُحَلُّ حِمانا

We enter every protected pasture we are told

Has been favored by lightning; our own preserve is never entered.

وإذا تَسَعسَعَت الحروبُ فمالكٌ

منها المطاعِنُ والأشدُّ سنانا

And when wars waver, Mālik is

Their spear-fighter, the strongest with the spear.

ونُطيع آمِرَنا ونجعلُ أمرَنا

لذوي جَلادتِنا وحَزمِ قِوانا

We obey our commander and entrust our affairs

To men who embody our endurance and firm strength.

وَكَلت فقلت لها النَّجاءَ تناولي

بي حاجَتي وتنكَّبي هَمدانا

She grew weary, so I told her: make haste, and reach

My goal with me, and avoid Hamdān.

وعليكِ اسماءَ بنَ خارجةَ الذي

عَلِمَ الفِعالَ وعَلَّمَ الفِتيانا

And make for Asmāʾ ibn Khārijah, who

Knows noble deeds and has taught the young men.

فستعلمينَ أصادِقٌ روّادُهُ

عنه وأيُّ فتىً فتى غَطَفانا

Then you will know whether his scouts speak truth

About him, and what a man Ghaṭafān's man is.

قَرماً إذا ابتدرَ الرجالُ عظيمةً

بَدَرَت إليه يمينُهُ الأَيمانا

A chief: when men rush to a great undertaking,

His right hand outraces their right hands toward it.

فاخترتَ أسماءَ الجوادَ فلم تَخِب

يَدُ راغِبٍ عَلِقَت أبا حَسَّانا

So you chose generous Asmāʾ, and no disappointment befell

A petitioner's hand that clung to Abū Ḥassān.

نِعمَ الفتى عَمِلَت اليه مَطيّتي

لا نَشتكي جَهدَ السِفارِ كِلانا

A fine man, to whom my mount has journeyed!

Neither of us complains of the hardship of travel.

إنَّ الأبوَّةَ والدانِ تراهما

مُتقابلَينِ قَسَامياً وهِجانا

For fatherhood has two fathers, whom you see

Facing each other: one handsome, the other baseborn.

فأبٌ يكونُ إِلى القيامة مَجدُهُ

وأبٌ يكونُ على بَنيهِ ضمانا

One father's glory endures until the Resurrection,

While another is an affliction upon his sons.

وَترى الرِفقاَ يوجِّهونَ رِكَابهم

نحو العريضِ مَنادِحاً وخُوانا

You see traveling companions directing their mounts

Toward a man of spacious grounds and a broad dining board.

يَلِجونَ من ابوابِ دَارَةِ ماجدٍ

لَيست تَهِرُّ كلابُه الضيفانا

They enter through the doors of a noble man's dwelling,

Whose dogs do not growl at guests.

وتراه يَفخَرُ أَن تَحِلَّ بيوتُه

بمحلة الزمنِ القصير عينانا

And you see him boast that his houses stand

In an infirm man's station, with reins kept short.

غَطَفان سيِّدُهم أبوك وخيرُهم

ولدوك حين تذكروا الإحسانا

Ghaṭafān—your father is their chief and their best;

They begot you when they had benevolence in mind.