أقل ما تهب الأعمار والدول — Al Tutili

أقلُّ ما تهبُ الأعمارُ والدولُ

ودونَ ما تَتَعَاطى القولُ والعملُ

The least that lifetimes and turns of fortune bestow,

and less than what speech and action undertake.

وَمِنْ منايا الأَعَادِي إذْ فرغتَ لهم

ألا يواريهمْ سَهْلٌ ولا جَبَلُ

Among your enemies' dooms, once you turned upon them,

is that neither plain nor mountain can hide them.

ومن دلائلِ ما أُعْطِيْتَ من ظَفَرٍ

ألا يكونَ لهم رزقٌ ولا أجَل

And among the signs of the victory you have been granted

is that neither sustenance nor a term of life remains for them.

وَإنَّ سَيْفَكْ لا يثْنِي جَهَالَتَهُ

حتى يُبَيّنَ للجهّالِ ما جَهِلوا

Your sword does not restrain its reckless fury

until it shows the ignorant what they did not know.

نارٌ تسوقُ العِدا من حيثما حُشِرُوا

إلى الثرى وهو مَأوَاهُمْ إذا قتلوا

A fire that drives the foes, from wherever they are mustered,

into the dust, their refuge when they are slain.

هِنْدِيّةٌ لم يزلْ بالهندِ مغتربٌ

يَدْعُو بها كلمّا شَبّتْ وَيَبْتَهِلُ

An Indian fire: an exile in India has always

invoked it whenever it flared, and prayed fervently—

من نارِ كِسْرَى وكانتْ قَبلهُ سِمَةً

للبرق يُسْمَى بها الصمصامة النّمِلُ

born of Kisra's fire; before him it was a mark

of lightning, by which the notched Samsama is named.

رَبْداء تَضْحَكُ في الهيجاءِ عنْ لُمَعٍ

كما التقى الدَّمْعُ والأَجْفَانُ والكُحُل

Ash-grey, it smiles amid battle, revealing flashes,

as when tears, eyelids, and kohl meet.

مازال فيها لِصَاليها وَمُوقِدِهَا

سرٌّ به عُبِدَ المريخُ أو زُحَل

Within it, for those exposed to its heat and those who kindle it, there has always been

a secret through which Mars or Saturn was worshipped.

وربما انجابَ عنها الغمد فاضطرمتْ

زهراءَ يَعْشُو إليها الفارسُ البطل

Sometimes the scabbard falls away from it, and it blazes,

radiant, drawing the valiant horseman toward its light.

وَرُبَّما خالها رَقْراقَ غاديةٍ

فظل ينظر هل في عِطْفِهِ بَلَلُ

Sometimes he thinks it the shimmering water of a morning raincloud,

and keeps looking to see whether his side is wet.

أَعْيَا عليه أَنِهْيٌ في قَرَارَتِهِ

أمْ مارج من لظى ترْمي به شُعَل

He is baffled: is it a pool settled in its bed,

or a smokeless flame from a blaze, cast forth by flames?

وقد أَرَاهُ بها الضَديْنِ رَافِعُها

فإنما هي تَبْدُو ثم تَشْتكِلُ

Its wielder has shown him both opposites in it:

for it only appears, then grows obscure.

تخبو فلا غَرْوَ أن يرْوَى بريقَتِها

وَيَهْتَدِي بِسَنَاهَا حينَ تَشْتعل

It dies down—no wonder its moisture quenches his thirst,

and he finds his way by its radiance when it blazes.

فداؤك السيف في يمناه قاتله

فدونه ولأمِّ الحائنِ الهَبَلُ

May the sword be your ransom; in his right hand is his slayer.

Then let him take it—and bereavement to the doomed man's mother!

وإن رمْحَكَ لا يَثْنِي مَعَاطِفَهُ

إلا انْثَنَى القِرْنُ لا يألُو ولا يئل

Your spear never bends its sides

without the adversary bending, neither slackening nor escaping.

حُلْوُ المَجَسَّةِ لا عَبْلٌ ولا قَضِفٌ

قَصْدُ المهزَّةِ لا كَزٌّ ولا خَطِل

Pleasant to the touch, neither thick nor slender,

balanced when brandished, neither rigid nor unsteady.

مستحصد المتن إمّا هزَّه عجباً

يميل صَرْف الرَّدى فيهِ وَيعْتَدلُ

Firmly knit in its shaft: if he shakes it in admiration,

death's stroke sways within it and straightens.

تُزْهى به الطعنةُ النجلاءُ يطْعَنُها

كأنّما استعْملتها الأعينُ النُّجُلُ

The gaping thrust he delivers glories in it,

as though wide eyes had delivered it.

لا تُبْصرُ الموتَ إلا حيث تُبْصِره

موتاً يُسدِّدُ أحياناً ويعتقل

You see death only where you see it:

a death he sometimes aims and sometimes braces at his thigh.

أَذاكَ أم عَزْمَةٌ رُمْت الصليبَ بها

وقد أتت دونَهُ الغيطانُ والقُلَلُ

Is it that, or a resolve with which you sought the Cross,

though lowlands and summits stood before it?

فسائِلِ الرومَ هل كانتْ على ثقة

منْ غَزوِ أروَعَ يُعْطي الغزو ما يَسَل

Ask the Romans whether they felt secure

against the raid of an awe-inspiring warrior who gives warfare what it asks.

قادَ الجيادَ إليهم من مَرَابطِها

ماضٍ إذا عرَّد الهيابَةُ الوَكِل

He led the steeds toward them from their tethering grounds,

resolute when the fearful weakling fled.

يَغْشى القتالَ فإن تضللْهُ فالتَقِهِ

حيثُ الحتوفُ على الأرواح تقْتَتِل

He plunges into battle; if you lose track of him, meet him

where deaths contend for souls.

إياكَ من أسدٍ تشقى الأسودُ به

في كفِّهِ غُلَّةٌ تَرْوي بها الغلل

Beware a lion by whom lions are brought to grief:

in his palm is a burning thirst with which you quench thirsts.

ولا تَحدَّثْ عن الدنيا فذا مَلِكٌ

تَحُلُّ في جيشه الدنيا وترتحل

Do not speak of the world, for here is a king

with whose army the world camps and marches.

وقائدٌ تزدْهي الآفاقُ طَلْعَتَهُ

إذا ذُكاءُ زَهاها الثورُ والحمل

And a commander whose appearance the horizons admire

when Taurus and Aries adorn the sun.

إذا تَجَلى لها في حُجْبِ هَيْبَتِهِ

فَكُلّث شيءٍ يُوازِي ضَوْءَهَا خَجِلُ

When he appears to them through the veils of his awe,

everything that matches its light is abashed.

وبحرُ جودٍ إذا التجَّتْ غواربُهُ

فَأَبْلغِ البحرَ عنّي أَنه وَشَل

And a sea of generosity: when its wave-crests rage,

tell the sea from me that it is a mere trickle.

وباذخٌ لا تنالُ الطيرُ ذِرْوَتَهُ

حتى سَوَاءٌ به العِقْبَانُ والحجل

And a towering peak whose summit birds cannot reach,

so that eagles and partridges are equal before it.

ضخمٌ تَرَى للغوادي في جَوَانِبِه

مساحباً نَبْتُها الحَوْذانُ والنَّفَل

Massive: on its flanks you see the morning rainclouds'

trailing paths, where buttercups and clover grow.

بها مليكٌ بنورِ الحقِّ ممتزجٌ

وظلُّ أَمْنٍ بسترِ اللهِ مُتَّصِل

Within them is a sovereign mingled with the light of truth,

and a shade of safety joined to God's shelter,

وَعَزْمَةٌ في جهادِ الكُفْرِ ماضيةٌ

من غَرْبها لا الشبا الماضي ولا الأسَل

and a resolve pressing on in the struggle against unbelief,

through its own sharpness, not keen blade-points or spears.

يُدْعَى الأميرُ أبو يحيى بها ولها

إذا تَوَاكَلَ أقوامٌ أو اتَّكَلُوا

Through it and for it, the emir Abu Yahya is summoned

when peoples leave matters to one another or rely on others.

خفَّ الأعادي بها عن عُقْرِ دارهم

لقد عَجِلْتَ إليهمْ أوْ لقدْ عجلوا

The enemies fled their homeland's heart before it;

you surely hastened toward them—or surely they hastened.

شافهْ طليطلةً ماذا تريدُ بها

بِالعَطْفِ إنْ أشكَلَ التوكيدُ والبدل

Tell Toledo face to face what you intend for it,

by coordination, if emphasis and apposition prove unclear.

أَمْطَرْتَ ما حولها الموتَ الزؤامَ فهلْ

من عَوْدةٍ أيُّهذا العارضُ الهَطِل

You rained sudden death on all around it; is there

a return, O you pouring raincloud?

فإنْ تثُبْ أو تُقارِبْ والنَّوى أمَمٌ

فقد خَلَتْ قَبْلها الأمْثَالُ والمُثلُ

If you return or draw near—the distance is short—

for precedents and examples have already gone before it.

فإنْ أبتْ فالرَّدى رَهْنٌ بِمُعْضِلَةٍ

لا القارةُ انتصفتْ منها ولا عضَلُ

If it refuses, death is pledged to a dire ordeal

from which neither al-Qara nor Adal won redress.

أوْلى لهمْ ثم أولى للصّليبِ بها

منْ عارضٍ صَوبُهُ الأسْيافُ والأسل

Woe to them, then woe to the Cross within it,

from a cloud whose downpour is swords and spears.

وللعدا دُونَها من حَرِّ مَلْحَمَةٍ

يكادُ منها الهواءُ الرَّطبُ يشتْعل

And woe to the foes before it from a battle's heat,

from which the moist air almost bursts into flame,

ومن رحىً لمناياهمْ يَدورُ بها

يومٌ تضيقُ بهِ الآفاقُ والسُّبُلُ

and from a mill for their dooms, with which revolves

a day that constricts the horizons and the paths.

يومٌ شتِيمُ المحيّا لا يُزَيّنُهُ

حليٌ وإن كانَ لا يُزري به العَطَلُ

A grim-faced day, not adorned

by jewels, though bareness does not demean it;

وأعصلُ النابِ إن يُغْرَ الكماةُ به

كذلك الحربُ في أَنْيابِها عَصَل

and crooked-fanged, if champions are set upon it—

such is war: its fangs are crooked.

ومن مَكَرِّ أبي يحيى وَمَوقِفِهِ

بحيثُ يُؤمَنُ أو لا يُؤمَنُ الزَّلل

And from Abu Yahya's charge and his stand,

where one is safe from stumbling—or is not.

أَبِدْ فداكَ رجالٌ لو عرَضْتَ لهمْ

دونَ الحياةِ لما قَالوا ولا فعلوا

Annihilate! May men ransom you who, if you stood before them

between them and life, would neither speak nor act.

كيفَ السبيلُ إلى يومٍ أُؤَمّلُهُ

يكونُ لي ولحسَّادي به شُغُلُ

How can I reach a day I hope for,

when I and those who envy me will both be occupied,

حتى أُقبّلَ يُمْنَاكَ التي حَظِيَتْ

بها الظُّبَى قَبْلَ أَنْ نَحْظَى بها القُبَل

so I may kiss your right hand, whose favor was enjoyed

by sword-edges before we could enjoy it with kisses,

وأشتكي جَوْرَ أيَّامي إلى مَلِكٍ

لا يَحْضُرُ الجُبْنُ يوميه ولا البَخَل

and complain of my days' injustice to a king

whose two days know neither cowardice nor stinginess?

يا أيها الملكُ الميمونُ طَائِرُهُ

يا بدرُ يا بحرُ يا ضرغامُ يا رجل

O king of auspicious omen,

O full moon, O sea, O lion, O man!

أتاركي لصروفِ الدهرِ تلعبُ بي

وقد حَدَاني إليكَ الحبُّ والأمل

Will you leave me to the turns of time to toy with me,

when love and hope have driven me toward you?

شكرتُ نُعْماك لما قلَّ شاكرُهَا

إن الكريمَ على العلاَّتِ يَعْتَمِل

I gave thanks for your bounty when few thanked it;

the noble man strives despite infirmities.

وهاكها يقتضيكَ الحسنُ رَوْنَقَها

وإن لَوَتْهَا به الأعذارُ والعِلَل

And here it is: beauty claims its luster from you,

though excuses and infirmities have kept it waiting for that.

تَطَاوَلَ الدهرُ منها لو يُعَارِضُهُ

دهرٌ عُلاَكَ به الأسحارُ والأصُل

Time would grow proud through it, were it rivaled

by an age whose predawn hours and evenings were your glory.

سيارةٌ في أقاصي الأرضِ شاردةً

مما تُرَوِّي لكَ العَلْيَا وَترْتجِلُ

Traveling widely, wandering through the earth's farthest reaches,

among what lofty glory composes thoughtfully for you and improvises.