أينما كنت تمني وتعد — Al Tutili

أَيْنَما كنتَ تُمَنَّي وَتَعِدْ

جارَ بي فيكَ هوايَ وَقَصدْ

Wherever you are, you hold out hopes and promise.

My passion for you has treated me unjustly—and fairly too.

يا جليداً لم يَدَعْ لي جَلَداً

هل لِيَوْمِ الصبِّ مِنْ بُعْدِكَ غَدْ

O unyielding one, who has left me no endurance,

does the lover's day have a tomorrow after your estrangement?

لا أشاجيك وقد بَرَّحْتَ بي

دُوْنَكَ اليومَ فَذَرْني والسَهَد

I will not vie with you in sorrow, since you have tormented me.

Keep the day for yourself; leave me with sleeplessness.

اتئدْ مِنْ قبلِ أنْ توديَ بي

ثم لا يَنْفَعُنِي أَنْ تَتَّئِد

Go gently, before you bring me to my death;

then your gentleness will no longer help me.

نَقَضَ العهدَ الذي كانَ عَهِدْ

لم أَقُلْ وَاصَلَ حتى قُلْتُ صَدْ

He broke the pledge that he had given;

no sooner did I say, 'He granted union,' than I said, 'He turned away.'

مرحاً بين النصابي والصبا

كلما لا عتبه بالحب جد

Merry between [affected youth] and youth itself,

whenever [I played with him] in love, he grew earnest.

هزَّ منه الحسنُ يثني عطفه

لو يكونُ الغصنُ لدناً لم يَزِد

Beauty set him swaying, bending his side;

even a supple branch could not surpass him.

وجلا الإدلالُ منه منظراً

قام بالعُذَّالِ فيه وقعد

His coquettish pride revealed a sight

that set the reproachers rising and sitting in agitation.

وَأَدارَ الموتَ في لحظِ رشاً

كلما شاءَ انْتَحى قلبَ أَسَد

And he set death circling in a young gazelle's glance;

whenever he wished, he aimed at a lion's heart.

يا شقيقَ النَّفْسِ رأياً وهوىً

أنتَ في قلبيَ رُوْحٌ وجسد

O twin of my soul in thought and desire,

you are spirit and body within my heart.

أَمُضِيْعِي بينَ هَجْرٍ ونَوىً

وعلى ذاك فمالي عَنْكَ بُد

Will you let me waste away between estrangement and separation?

Yet despite that, I cannot do without you.

علَّمَتْ عيناكَ عينيَّ الهوى

فأنا منكَ ومني في كمد

Your eyes taught my eyes love;

so I am in sorrow because of you and myself.

رامَ من أُبْغِضُ مني خُطَّةً

طال ما ناضلت عنها مَنْ أوَد

One I hate sought a concession from me

over which I long struggled against those I love.

دونَ سِرّي منْ حِفاظي عَزْمَةٌ

صَدَرَ المِقْدَارُ عنها وَوَرَدْ

Before my secret stands a resolve born of my loyal vigilance;

from it destiny has departed, and to it returned.

قد رميتُ الدَّهْرَ منْ حيثُ رَمَى

فَسَلِيهِ أيُّنا كانَ أشد

I have shot at time from the very place it shot at me;

so ask it which of us was stronger.

وأخذتُ الناسَ عن هاكَ وها

بالتي إلا تُجَوَّزْ لا تُرَد

And I dealt with people through 'take this' and 'here you are,'

with what, if not allowed through, cannot be turned back.

وطويلِ الليلِ مُسْتَوْفِزِهِ

يَتَلظَّى بين خَوْفٍ وومد

And many a man with a long night, restless through it,

burns between fear and stifling heat.

كلما حدث عني نفسه

حل أثناء حباه وعقد

Whenever he spoke to himself about me,

he loosened the folds of his knee-binding and tied them again.

قد تَعاطَاني وَدُوني حَتْفُهُ

رُبَّما أوْدَى الفتى منْ حيثُ ود

He sought to grapple with me, with his death barring the way;

a young man may perish through the very thing he loves.

يا خليليَّ ولا واللهِ ما

طِبْتُ نفساً قطُّ عنها لأحد

O my two friends—no, by God, never

have I willingly given her up to anyone.

أدركاني ما أرى أن تُدْرِكا

سَدَّت البَلْوى مناديحَ الجسد

Rescue me, you two—though I do not think you can reach me;

affliction has blocked the body's avenues of escape.

وأعِدَّاني لأُخْرى مِثلِها

ليس للإنسان إلا ما أعَد

And prepare me for another ordeal like it:

a person has nothing but what he has prepared.

لا يَغُرَّنكَ شيءٌ بائدٌ

إنه لو كانَ شيئاً لم يَبِدْ

Let nothing perishing deceive you;

for if it were truly anything, it would not perish.

سدَّدَ الموتُ لأعمارِ الورى

فَلْيَعِشْ مَنْ شاءَ ما عاشَ لُبَد

Death has taken aim at the lifespans of humankind;

let whoever wishes live as long as Lubad lived.

أنا من عزِّكَ يا يَنَّاق في

ذِرْوَةِ العَلْيَا إلى الرُكْنِ الأَشَد

Through your might, O Yannaq, I am upon

the summit of glory, beside the strongest pillar.

أُقْتُلُوا أَنْفُسَكُمْ يا حُسَّدي

قد نَمَى المالُ وقد أَثْرَى العدد

Kill yourselves, you who envy me:

wealth has grown, and numbers have multiplied.

وكفاني نُوَبَ الدهرِ فتىً

لم يزلْ منهُ عليهنَّ رَصَد

A young man has spared me time's vicissitudes,

his watch over them never ceasing.

طلبَ السؤددَ حتى نالَهُ

بطلٌ شَيحْانُ أو خَصْمٌ أَلَدْ

He sought lordship until he attained it—

a towering champion, or a relentless adversary.

قلْ لمن أَذْعَنَتِ الدُّنيا لهُ

لا تَمَتَّعْتَ بِها إنْ لم تَسُد

Say to the one to whom the world has yielded:

'May you find no joy in it if you do not rule.'

نعمَ رِدْءُ الموتِ بأسٌ أو ردى

كلما أوعدَ خَطْبٌ أو وعد

Valor—or doom—is a fine ally of death,

whenever calamity threatens or promises.

فإذا لذَّ لك العيشُ فَصُلْ

وإذا أَعْجَبَكَ المالُ فَجُد

If life tastes sweet to you, strike boldly;

and if wealth pleases you, be generous.

وإذا تُدْعَى لمجدٍ فاحْوِهِ

إنما العَاجِزُ مَنْ لا يَسْتبد

When you are summoned to glory, win it;

only he who cannot take command is helpless.

كاعتزامِ ابنِ عبيد اللهِ لا

هَوَّنَ القُرْبَ ولا هابَ البُعُد

Like the resolve of Ibn Ubayd Allah—he neither

made light of what was near nor feared what was distant.

طبَّقَ الآفاقَ منهُ عَارِضٌ

ذو شآبيبَ تَهَادَى أو تَهُد

A raincloud from him has covered the horizons,

bearing downpours that descend gently or shatter.

فإذا شيتَ فشُؤْبُوبُ حياً

وإذا شيتَ فشؤبوبُ بَرَدْ

If you wish, a downpour of life-giving rain;

and if you wish, a downpour of hail.

ألمعيٌّ والقضايا شُبَهٌ

أوْحَدِيٌّ وصروفُ الدهر حُد

Keen-witted when affairs are ambiguous,

peerless when time's reversals are fierce;

قُلَّبِيُّ القلبِ مشدودُ القُوَى

لم يَغِبْ غائبُهُ إلا شَهِدْ

versatile of heart, firmly braced in strength,

even when absent, he remains present.

رابطُ الجأشِ وقد جَدَّتْ به

عَزَماتُ الدهر منْ هَزْلٍ وَجِد

Steady of heart, even when there press upon him

time's stern resolves, in jest and earnest.

ارْجُهُ يوماً وَخَفْهُ حِقْبَةً

فبأَخطار العدا راش الأوَد

Hope in him for a day, and fear him for an age;

for with his enemies' treasures he has eased hardship.

وادْعُ نَجْلَيهِ إذا لم تَدْعُهُ

فَعَلى ذلك أَنْشَا مَنْ وَلد

Call on his two sons if you do not call on him;

for he raised those he begot to follow that path.

أَسدا عرِّيسةٍ بدرا دُجىً

بلغا كُنْهَ النُّهى قَبْلَ الأشُد

Two lions of a lair, two full moons in darkness,

they reached wisdom's full depth before maturity.

شدَّ هذا في المعالي أزْرَ ذا

مثلما نِيطَتْ ذراعٌ بِعَضُد

This one strengthened that one's back in lofty deeds,

as a forearm is joined to an upper arm.

لستُ للسُّبَّاق إن لم يَسبقا

في مدى كلِّ طِرادٍ مَنْ طَرَد

I am not of the front-runners if these two do not outstrip

every pursuer over the course of every chase.

وطئا تُرْبك إنْ لم يَرثا

مجدك الموروثَ عن جَدٍّ فجد

May they tread your dust if they do not inherit

your glory, passed down from forefather to forefather.

هذه شِنْشِنَةٌ من أَخْزَم

وسواءٌ مَنْ نَفَى أو مَنْ جَحَد

This is a trait from Akhzam;

it is all the same who denies it or disowns it.

اقضِ مُشْتطاً على كلِّ هوىً

واجرِ مُسْتَولٍ على كلِّ أمد

Pass judgment, even harshly, over every desire,

and race triumphant to every goal.

إن أُصِبْنَا فإليكَ المُشْتَكى

أو أَصَبْنَا فعليكَ المُعْتَمد

If we are stricken, to you we bring our complaint;

or if we hit the mark, on you we rely.

أوْ نَبَتْ دنيا على عادتها

فعلى دنياك نَعْلُو وَنُعَد

Or if the world turns harsh, as is its habit,

through your world we rise and are reckoned.

وَفِدَاكَ اليومَ من أَرْشَدْتَهَ

فأَبَى إلا عِنَاداً أَوْ فَنَد

Today let him be your ransom, whom you guided,

but who would accept only stubbornness or folly.

كلُّ مغلوبٍ على أَكثرِهِ

لا رأى حَزْماً ولا قال سَدَد

Every man who is largely overpowered

has neither thought prudently nor spoken soundly.

غاظَهُ أَنْ لم يَنَلْ ما نلتَهُ

حيثُ لم يجهدْ ومن حيثُ جهد

It enraged him that he did not attain what you attained,

whether he made no effort or labored hard.

يا سراجَ الفخرِ يا غايتَهُ

دعوةً لم تُبْقِ في العَيْشِ نكد

O lamp of glory, O its utmost height!

An invocation that has left no misery in life.

هذه فانشطْ إليها مِدَحي

تَنْفُثُ الآدابَ سِحْراً في العُقَد

These are my praises: turn eagerly toward them;

they breathe literary arts as magic into knots.

كلُّ عذراءَ إذا أَهْدَيْتُهَا

لم تَرِدْ قوماً ولم تَخْصُصْ بلد

Each is a virgin, when I present her as a gift,

who has visited no people and singled out no land.