أهاجك بالملا دمن عوافي — Al Tirimmah

أَهاجَكَ بِالمَلا دِمَنٌ عَوافي

كَخَطِّ الكَفِّ بِالآيِ العِجافِ

Have faded campsite traces at al-Malā stirred you,

like a hand's writing in thin, faint marks?

تَعاوَرَهُنَّ بَعدَ مُضِيِّ حَولٍ

مَصايِفُ جُلُّها بَردُ وَسافي

After a year had passed, they were assailed in turn

by summer storms, mostly hail and drifting sand.

فَعَيناهُ لِصَرمِ حِبالِ سَلمى

وَطولِ فِراقِها بَعدَ اِئتِلافِ

So his eyes, for the severing of Salmā's bonds,

and long separation from her after union,

كَغَربَي شَنَّةٍ خَلَقينِ مَجّا

غَريضَ الماءِ مِن خُرَزِ الأَشافي

were like two worn buckets of old waterskin leather, gushing

fresh water through the awls' stitch-holes.

لَعَمرُكَ يَومَ بَينِ الحَيِّ إِنّي

لَذو صَبرٍ عَلَيهِ وَذو اِعتِرافِ

By your life, on the day the clan departed, I

had patience to bear it, and resignation,

عَلى صُعَداءَ مِن زَفَراتِ شَوقٍ

تَرَفَّعَ عَروُها تَحتَ الشَغافِ

despite a deep sigh born of longing's gasps,

whose shudder rose beneath the heart's sheath.

فَمَهلاً بَعضَ وَجدِكَ كُلُّ أَمرٍ

يَصيرُ وَإِن أَحَمَّ إِلى اِنكِشافِ

So ease some of your anguish; every trouble

ends in relief, even if it looms near.

كَذاكَ الدّارُ تُسقِبُ بَعدَ نَأيٍ

وَبَعدَ شَتاتِ أَمرٍ وَاِعتِرافِ

Likewise, a dwelling draws near after distance,

and after scattered affairs and resignation.

وَما صَهباءُ في حافاتِ جَونٍ

بِعانَةَ مِن خَراطيمِ السُلافِ

And no tawny wine within the sides of a dark jar

at ʿĀna, of the choicest first-pressed wine—

مَضَت حِجَجٌ لَها في الدَنِّ تِسعٌ

وَعامٌ بَعدَ مَرِّ التِسعِ وافي

nine years had passed for it in the wine-jar,

and a full year after those nine had elapsed;

فَلَمّا فُتَّ عَنها الطينُ فَاحَت

وَصَرَّحَت أَجرَدُ الَجَراتِ صافي

then, when its clay seal was crumbled off, it gave fragrance,

and became clear, its draughts free of sediment and pure—

بِأَطيَبَ نَكهَةً مِن أُمِّ سَلمى

إِذا مال الَيلُ آذَنَ بِاِنتِصافِ

is sweeter of breath than Umm Salmā,

when night inclines, announcing its midpoint.

أَنا اِبنُ المانِعينَ سَنامَ نَجدٍ

إِلى الجَبَلَينِ بِالبيضِ الخِفافِ

I am the son of those who defend Najd's crest

as far as the Two Mountains, with light, gleaming swords,

إِلى وادي القُرى فَرِمالَ خَبتٍ

فَأَمواهِ الدَنا فَلِوى جُفافِ

to Wādī al-Qurā, then the sands of Khabt,

then the waters of al-Danā, then Jufāf's winding dunes.

فِدىً لَفَوارِسِ الحَيَّينِ غَوثٍ

فَرَومانَ التِلادُ مَعَ الطِرافِ

A ransom for the horsemen of the two clans, Ghawth

and Rawmān—both inherited possessions and newly gained!

هُمُ تَرَكوا القَبائِلَ مِن مَعَدٍّ

لَما شاءوا قَليلاتِ العِيافِ

They left the tribes of Maʿadd,

whenever they wished, with little disdain.

وَهُم قادوا الجيادَ عَلَيَّ فَوجاً

إِلى الأَعداءِ كَالحِدَإِ الهَوافي

And they led the noble steeds up to me in a troop,

against the enemies, like swooping kites.

يُنازِعنَ المَطِيَّ بَكُلِّ فَجٍّ

كَجيدِ الرَألِ مُنفَسِحِ المَسافِ

They vied with riding-camels through every mountain pass,

like an ostrich chick's neck, its course far-reaching.

عَوارِفَ لِلسُرى مُتَحَنِّياتٍ

مَعَ الرُكبانِ أَعيُنُها طَوافي

Accustomed to night travel, bending forward

with the riders, their eyes prominent;

شَوازِبَ أُدمِجَت مِن غَيرِ ضُمرٍ

وَحُملِجَ مِن مَعاقِدِها اللِطافِ

lean, compactly formed without forced slimming,

and rounded at their delicate joints.

وَأُكبِبَتِ الحَوافِرُ وَاِحزَأَلَّت

دَوائِرُ قَلَّصَت بَعدَ الجَفافِ

Their hooves were cupped, and upright stood

the hair whorls, contracted after drying.

تَجَنَّبَها الكُماةُ بِكُلِّ يَومٍ

مَريضِ الشَمسِ مُحمَرِّ الحَوافي

Armored warriors kept them beside them on every day

of a sickly sun and reddened horizons.

إِذا نَصَبَت مَسامِعَها لِذُعرٍ

فَقالَ لَها الحُماةُ فَلا تَخافي

When they pricked their ears in fright,

the defenders told them, 'So do not fear.'

ألا أَبلِغ دَعِيَّ بَني حَرامٍ

قَواضي مَنطِقٍ بَعدَ اِعتِسافِ

Take heed: convey to the pretender to Banū Ḥarām

decisive words after reckless straying.

أَتَهجوا مَن رَوى جَزَعاً وَلُؤماً

كَساقي اللَيلِ مِن كَدَرٍ وَصافي

Do you, from panic and baseness, lampoon one who recites,

like a night-time cupbearer serving the turbid and the clear?

فَلا تَجزَع مِنَ النَقَماتِ وَاِترُك

رُواةَ الشِعرِ تَطَّرِدُ القَوافي

So do not despair at reprisals, and leave alone

the reciters of poetry; let the rhymes flow on.

أَتَحسَبُ يا اِبنَ يَشكُرَ أَنَّ شِعري

كَلَفتِ المُرتَدي طَرَفَ العِطافِ

Do you think, O son of Yashkur, that my poetry

is like a cloak-wearer's turning of his mantle's edge?

رُوَيدَكَ تَستَغِبَّ فَإِنَّ فيها

دِماءَ ذُرارِحِ السُمِّ الذُعافِ

Take your time: you will learn its aftermath, for in it

is the blood of blister beetles, laden with swift, deadly poison.

تَنَحَّل ما اِستَطَعتَ فَإِنَّ شِعري

تَلَقَّحَ بِالقَصائِدِ عَن كِشافِ

Claim as your own whatever you can, for my poetry

has conceived odes through breeding year after year.

وَفِيَّ إِذا تَرادَفَتِ المَوالي

عَلَيَّ بِمُنجِياتِ الشَتمِ كافي

And in me, when the clients throng one after another

against me with withering abuse, is strength enough.

نَزَلنا في التَعزُّزِ مِن مَعَدَّ

مَكانَ القِدرِ مِن وَسَطِ الأَثافي

We settled, in proud strength among Maʿadd,

in the pot's place amid the hearthstones.

وَيَشكُرُ كانَ مَنزِلُها قَديماً

بِمَنزِلَةِ الأَذِلّاءِ الضِعافِ

And Yashkur's station was, from of old,

at the rank of the abased and weak.

وَيَشكُرُ لا أَخو كَرَمٍ فَيُخثى

وَلا مُتَحَفِّلٌ بِالجارِ وافي

And Yashkur is no noble man to be feared,

nor a faithful man attentive to his neighbor.

قُبَيِّلَةٌ أَذَلُّ مِنَ السَواني

وَأَعرَفُ لِلهَوانِ مِنَ الخِصافِ

A petty tribe, more abased than water-drawing beasts,

and more used to humiliation than patches—

خِصافِ النَعلِ إِذ يُمشى عَلَيها

مُوَطَّأَةً مَطِيَّةَ كُلِّ حافي

patches of sandals, when people walk on them,

trampled down, a mount for every barefoot man.

أَضافَتكَ الحَرامُ وَهُم عَبيدٌ

وَقَد يَأوي المُضافُ إِلى المُضافِ

Ḥarām took you in, though they are slaves;

one taken in may indeed shelter with another taken in.

أَتفخَرُ يَشكُرٌ بِبَني لُجَيمٍ

خِلافاً ما يَكونُ مِنَ الخِلافِ

Does Yashkur boast of Banū Lujaym,

in contrariness—the utmost contrariness—

كَفاخِرَةٍ لِرَبَّتِها بِحِدجٍ

ضَعيفِ الأَسرِ مُنقَطِعِ السِنافِ

like a woman boasting to her mistress of a camel-litter,

weakly bound, its breast-girth snapped?

أَبى لَكَ أَنَّ يَشكُرَ وَسطَ سَعدٍ

بِمَنزَلَةِ الزَميلِ مِنَ الرِدافِ

Your claim is denied by the fact that Yashkur amid Saʿd

stands as a riding-mate among the rear-riders.

وَتَزعُمُ أَنَّهُم أَشرافُ بَكرٍ

وَمَن جَعَلَ القَوادِمَ كَالخَوافي

And you claim they are Bakr's nobles;

but who has made primary feathers like secondary ones?

أولو بَصَرٍ بِأَبوابِ المَخازي

وَعُميُ الرَأيِ عَن سُبُلِ العفافِ

Possessors of insight into the gates of disgrace,

but blind in judgment to the paths of upright restraint.