تجنى علينا طيفها حين أرسلا — Alabywrdy

تَجنّى علَيْنا طَيْفُها حينَ أُرْسِلا

وهَلْ يتجَنّى الحِبُّ إلا ليَبْخَلا

Her phantom falsely accused us when it was sent;

and does the beloved invent charges except to withhold?

يَعُدُّ ولم أُذْنِبْ ذُنوباً كَثيرَةً

تلَقَّفَها منْ كاشِحٍ أو تمَحّلا

It counts many faults, though I have done no wrong,

picked up from a spiteful foe or contrived outright.

ولي هِمّةٌ تأبى وللحُبِّ لوْعَةٌ

أضُمُّ علَيها القَلبَ أن أتَنصّلا

I have a proud spirit that will not yield, and love has a burning ache;

I close my heart around it, refusing to plead innocence.

أتَحْسَبُ تلكَ العامِريّةُ أنني

أَذِلُّ ويأبى المَجْدُ أن أتَذَلّلا

Does that Amiriyya woman suppose that I

would be abased, when glory forbids me to abase myself?

وتَزْعُمُ أني رُضْتُ قَلبي لسَلْوَةٍ

إذاً لا أقالَ اللهُ عَثْرَةَ مَنْ سَلا

And she claims I have tamed my heart into forgetting;

then may God never pardon the stumble of one who forgets!

أمَا عَلِمَتْ أن الهَوى يَستَفِزُّني

إذا الرَّكْبُ منْ نَحوِ الجُنَيْنَةِ أقْبلا

Has she not learned that passion rouses me

when the caravan approaches from the direction of al-Junayna?

وأرْتاحُ للبَرْقِ اليَماني صَبابَةً

وأنْشَقُ خَفّاقَ النّسيمِ تَعَلُّلا

And I thrill with longing at lightning from Yemen,

and inhale the fluttering breeze to soothe myself.

حَلَفْتُ لرَعْيِ الوُدِّ لا لِضَراعَةٍ

يُكَلِّفُها الحُبُّ الغَويَّ المُضَلَّلا

I swore to preserve affection, not from abasement

that love imposes on the erring, deluded man,

بصُعْرٍ تَبارَتْ في الأزِمّةِ شُمَّذٍ

تَؤُمُّ بنا فَجّاً منَ الأرضِ مَجْهَلا

by crooked-necked, fleet camels racing against their reins,

bearing us toward an unknown pass through the land.

طلَعْنَ بُدوراً بالفَلا وهْي بُدَّنٌ

وعُدْنَ كأشْباحِ الأهِلّةِ نُحَّلا

They set out through the wastes like full moons, stout-bodied,

and returned lean, like the silhouettes of crescents.

عليهنّ شُعْثٌ من ذُؤابَةِ غالِبٍ

ضَمِنْتُ لهُمْ أن نَمسَحَ الرُّكْنَ أوّلا

Upon them were tousled men of Ghalib's noblest stock;

I pledged to them that we would touch the Corner first.

يُميلُ الكَرى منهمْ عَمائِمَ لاثَها

على المَجْدِ أيْدٍ تَخْلُفُ الغَيْثَ مُسْبِلا

Drowsiness tilts their turbans, wound by hands

around glory—hands that take the place of pouring rain.

فلَسْنا نَرى إلا كَريماً يَهزُّهُ

حُداءٌ سَرى عنهُ رِداءَ مُهَلْهَلا

So we see only a noble man stirred by

a camel-song that strips his threadbare cloak away.

لَئِنْ صافَحَتْ أخرى على نأي دارِها

يَميني فلا سَلَّتْ على القِرْنِ مُنصُلا

If ever another should clasp, despite her distant home,

my right hand, may it draw no blade against a foe.

وقُلْتُ ضِياءُ المِلّةِ اخْتَطَّ عَزْمُهُ

لهِمَّتِهِ دونَ السِّماكِيْنِ مَنْزِلا

And I said: Diya al-Milla's resolve has marked out

a station for his ambition beneath the two Simak stars.

ولم يَتْرُكِ الضِّرْغامَ في حَوْمَةِ الوَغى

جَباناً ولا صَوْبَ الغَمامِ مُبَخَّلا

Nor has it left the lion in battle's thick

a coward, or the clouds' downpour ungenerous.

ولا اخْضَرَّ وادِيهِ على حينَ لا تَرى

مَراداً لعِيسٍ شَفّها الجَدْبُ مُبْقِلا

Nor has his valley greened when you can find no

lush pasture for pale camels wasted by drought.

فتًى شَرِقَتْ بالبِشْرِ صَفْحَةُ وَجْهِهِ

كأنّ عليها البَدْرَ حين تَهلّلا

A youth whose face is suffused with gladness,

as though the full moon rested there, beaming.

هوَ الغَيْثُ يُرْوي غُلّةَ الأرضِ مُسبِلاً

هو اللّيثُ يَحْمي ساحَةَ الغابِ مُشْبِلا

He is the rain, quenching the earth's thirst as it pours;

he is the lion with cubs, guarding the forest's expanse.

يُلاذُ بهِ واليَومُ قانٍ أديمُهُ

ويُدعى إذا ما طارِقُ الخَطبِ أعْضَلا

Refuge is sought with him when the day's skin is crimson,

and he is called upon when a visiting calamity becomes intractable.

لهُ إمْرَةٌ عندَ المُلوكِ مُطاعَةٌ

ورأيٌ بهِ يَسْتَقْبِلُ الأمرَ مُشْكِلا

He has authority, obeyed among kings,

and judgment with which he confronts a perplexing affair.

كأنّ نُجومَ الأفقِ يَتْبَعْنَ أمْرَهُ

فلَوْ خالَفَتْهُ عادَ ذو الرُّمْحِ أعْزَلا

It is as if the stars on the horizon follow his command;

were they to defy him, the Spear-Bearer would become unarmed.

لَقًى دونَ أدنى شأْوِهِ كلُّ طالِبٍ

وهلْ غايَةٌ ضَمَّتْ حُبارى وأجْدَلا

Every pursuer lies cast aside short of his least advance;

and can one finish line hold a bustard and a falcon?

فحَظُّ مُجاريهِ إذا جَدَّ جَدُّهُ

على إثْرِهِ أنْ يَملأَ العَينَ قَسْطَلا

So his rival's lot, even when fortune favors him,

is to fill his eyes with dust in his wake.

أتى العيدُ طَلْقَ المُجْتلى فتلَقَّهُ

بوجْهٍ يَروقُ النّاظِرَ المُتَأمِّلا

The feast has come, bright to behold; welcome it

with a face that delights the attentive beholder.

وضَحِّ بمَنْ يَطْوي على الحِقْدِ صَدْرَهُ

فإنّكَ مَهْما شِئتَ ولاّكَ مَقْتلا

And sacrifice whoever folds his breast over spite,

for whenever you wish, he exposes a fatal spot to you.

وأَرْعِ عِتاباً تَحْتَهُ الوُدُّ كامِنٌ

مَسامِعَ يَمْلأَْ الثّناءَ المُنَخَّلا

And lend to reproach, beneath which affection lies hidden,

ears filled with finely sifted praise.

أرى مَلَلاً حيثُ التَفَتُّ يُهيبُ بي

وما كُنتُ أخْشى أن أُفارِقَ عنْ قِلى

Wherever I turn, I see weariness urging me away;

nor had I feared I would leave because of aversion.

فلَقَّيْتَني سُوْءاً لَقيتَ مَسرَّةً

وخَيَّبْتَ آمالي بَقيتَ مُؤمَّلا

So you dealt me harm—may you encounter joy;

and dashed my hopes—may you remain a source of hope.

أمِنْ كَذِبِ الواشي وتَكْثيرِ حاسِدٍ

إذا لمْ يَجِدْ قَوْلاً صَحيحاً تَقَوّلا

Was it for a slanderer's lies and an envier's exaggerations—

one who fabricates a tale when he finds no truthful word—

رَمَيْتَ بِنا مَرْمَى الغريبةِ جُنِّبَتْ

على غُلَّةٍ تُدْمي الجَوانِحَ مَنهَلا

that you cast us into a stranger she-camel's lot, barred

from a watering-place, though thirst makes her ribs bleed?

وأطْمَعْتَ في أعْراضِنا كُلَّ كاشِحٍ

يُجرِّعُهُ الغَيْظُ السِّمامَ المُثمَّلا

And you emboldened every spiteful foe against our honor,

whom rage makes swallow poisons steeped to strength.

وراءَكَ إني لستُ أغْرِسُ نَخْلَةً

لأجْنيَ منها حينَ تُثْمِرُ حَنْظلا

Stand back! I do not plant a palm-tree

to harvest colocynth from it when it bears fruit.

أيَجْمُلُ أنْ أُجْفى فآتيَ مُغْضَباً

وتأتيَ ما لا تَرتَضيهِ لنا العُلا

Is it fitting that I be shunned and come in anger,

and that you do what nobility does not approve for us,

وأسهَرُ في مَدْحي لغَيرِكَ ضَلّةً

وأدْعو سِواكَ المُنعِمَ المُتطَوِّلا

and I lose sleep, misguidedly, praising someone other than you,

and call someone other than you the generous benefactor?

وكُلُّ امْرئٍ تَنْبو بهِ الدّارُ مُطْرِقٌ

على الهُونِ ما لَمْ يَنوِ أنْ يتحوّلا

And every man whose dwelling rejects him bows his head

in humiliation, unless he resolves to move away.

وها أنا أزْمَعْتُ الفِراقَ وفي غَدٍ

نَميلُ بصَدْرِ الأرْحَبيِّ إِلى الفَلا

And now I have resolved on parting; tomorrow

we shall turn the Arhabi camel's breast toward the wastes.

فمَنْ ذا الذي يُهْدي إليكَ مَدائِحاً

كَما أسْلَمَ السِّلْكُ الجُمانَ المُفَصَّلا

Then who is there to offer you praises

as a string releases its pearls set at intervals,

بنَثْرٍ يمُجُّ السِّحْرَ طَوْراً وتارَةً

بنَظْمٍ إذا ما أحْزَنَ الشِّعْرُ أسْهَلا

in prose that pours forth magic at times, and at others

in verse that turns smooth when poetry turns rugged?

فمُصْبَحُهُ يَجْلو بهِ الفَجْرُ مَبْسِماً

ومُمْساهُ تُلْقى عندَهُ الشّمْسُ كَلْكَلا

So in its morning, dawn unveils a smiling mouth,

and at its evening the sun is laid down there, breast first.

ونِعْمَ المُحامي دونَ مَجْدِكَ مِقْوَلي

بهِ أُلْقِمَتْ قَسْراً أعاديكَ جَنْدَلا

And fine indeed is my tongue as defender of your glory;

with it your enemies were forcibly fed stones.

بَقِيتَ لمَنْ يَبْغي نَوالَكَ مَلْجَأً

ودُمْتَ لمَنْ يَرجو زمانَكَ مَؤْئِلا

May you remain a refuge for whoever seeks your bounty,

and endure as a haven for whoever looks with hope to your days.