رنت إلي وظل النقع ممدود — Alabywrdy

رَنَتْ إليّ وظِلُّ النَّقْعِ مَمدودُ

سَوابِقُ الخَيلِ والمَهريُّ القُودُ

They gazed toward me while the dust's shadow stretched wide:

the swift horses and the long-necked Mahri camels.

فَما غَمَدْنَ عنِ الأسيافِ أعيُنَها

إلا وَسْلولُها في الهامِ مَغمودُ

So they never closed their eyes to the swords

except when the drawn blades were sheathed in skulls.

أفعالُنا غُرَرٌ فوقَ الجِباهِ لَها

وللحُجولِ دمُ الأعداءِ مَورودُ

Our deeds are white blazes above their foreheads,

and the enemies' blood is a watering place for their white stockings.

أنا ابنُها ورِماحُ الخَطِّ مُشرَعَةٌ

وللكُماةِ عنِ الهَيجاءِ تَعْريدُ

I am her son, with the spears of al-Khatt leveled,

while armored warriors shrink from the fray—

منْ كُلِّ مرتَعِدِ العِرْنينِ يَحفِزُهُ

رَأيٌ جَميعٌ وطِيّاتٌ عَبابيدُ

each with a quivering nose, spurred on

by a firm resolve and widely scattered aims.

صَحِبْتُهُ حينَ لا خِلٌّ يؤازِرُهُ

ولا يَخُبُّ إِلى واديه مَنجودُ

I accompanied him when no close friend supported him,

nor did a man in distress trot toward his valley.

إذا ذَكرْناه هَزَّ الرُّمْحَ عامِلَهُ

والسّيفُ مُبتَسِمٌ والبأسُ مَشهودُ

When we mentioned him, the spearhead set the spear quivering,

while the sword smiled and valor was witnessed.

نأى فأنْكَرْتُ نَصْلي واتَّهَمْتُ يَدي

وفاقِدُ النّصرِ يومَ الرّوعِ مَفقودُ

He went far away; I mistrusted my blade and doubted my hand,

and whoever lacks victory on the day of terror is lost.

كادَتْ تَضيقُ بأنفاسي مَسالِكُها

كأنّ مَطلَعَها في الصّدْرِ مَسدودُ

My breaths' passageways almost grew too narrow for them,

as though their outlet in my breast were blocked.

ما فاتَ عارِمَ لَحظي رَيْثَ رَجْعَتِهِ

إلا وجَفني على ما ساءَ مَردودُ

He had scarcely slipped from my fierce gaze for the moment of its return,

when my eyelid was turned back upon what grieved me.

يا عامِرُ بنَ لُؤَيٍّ أنتُمُ نَفَرٌ

شوسٌ إذا توثّبَ الدّاعي صَناديدُ

O ʿAmir ibn Luʾayy, you are a company of men,

fierce, mighty champions when the caller springs up.

أرَحْتُمُ النَّعَمَ المَشلولَ عازِبُهُ

وقَدْ تكنَّفَهُ القَوْمُ الرّعاديدُ

You brought home the livestock whose far-grazing beasts had been driven off,

though cowardly men had surrounded it.

فَما لجارِكُمُ لِيثَ الهَوانُ بهِ

وعِزُّكُمْ بمَناطِ النّجْمِ مَعقودُ

Why, then, is your neighbor wrapped in humiliation,

while your might is bound where the star hangs?

يَرنو إِلى عَذَباتِ الوِرْدِ مِنْ ظَمأٍ

لَحظَ الطّريدةِ حيثُ الماءُ مَثمودُ

He gazes thirstily toward the watering place's edges,

with a hunted creature's glance, where the water is depleted.

وللرّكائِبِ إرْزامٌ تُرَجِّعُهُ

إذا أقَمْنا ولمْ تَشْرَقْ بِها البيدُ

The riding camels have a rumbling cry they keep repeating,

when we halted, though the deserts were not choked with them.

كنّا نَحيدُ عنِ الرِّيِّ الذّليلِ بها

وهلْ يُرَوّي صَدى الأنضاءِ تَصْريدُ

We steered them away from a draught of humiliation,

and can scant watering quench the thirst of worn-out camels?

فاسْتَشْرَفَتْ لِمَصابِ المُزنِ طامِحةً

وهُنّ مِنْ لَغَبٍ أعناقُها غِيدُ

So they craned up, gazing toward the rain-clouds' outpouring,

their necks bowed and swaying with exhaustion.

وزُرْنَ أروَعَ لا يَثني مَسامِعَهُ

عنْ دَعوَةِ الجارِ تأنيبٌ وتَفنيدُ

And they visited a splendid man whose ears are never turned

from a neighbor's plea by rebuke or fault-finding.

فلِلْحُداةِ على أرجاءِ مَنهَلِهِ

بما تَحمّلْنَ منْ مَدْحي أغاريدُ

So the camel-drivers, around his watering place,

have songs of the praise of mine the camels bore.

ألقَيْتُ عِبءَ النّوى عنهُنّ حينَ غَدَتْ

تُلقى إِلى ابنِ أبي أوفى المَقاليدُ

I cast off their burden of distant travel when

the keys came to be handed to Ibn Abi Awfa.

مُحَسَّدُ المَجْدِ لم يَطلُعْ ثَنيّتَهُ

إلا أغرُّ على العَلياءِ مَحسودُ

Much envied for his glory—none has climbed its mountain pass

save a radiant noble, envied for his lofty station.

يَستَحْضِنُ اللّيلَ أفكاراً أراقَ لها

كأسَ الكَرى واعتِلاجُ الفِكرِ تَسهيدُ

Through the night he cradles thoughts, for which he has poured away

the cup of sleep; the turmoil of thought brings sleeplessness.

للهِ آلُ عَديٍّ حينَ يَرمُقُهُمْ

لَحظٌ يُرَدِّدُهُ العافونَ مَزؤودُ

God be praised for the house of ʿAdi, when they are watched

by a fearful gaze repeatedly cast by seekers of bounty.

تَشكو إليهمْ شِفارَ البيضِ مُرهَفَةً

غُرٌّ مَناجيدُ أو أُدْمٌ مَقاحيدُ

To them come complaints of the keen edges of gleaming blades

from white-blazed, high-humped camels or pale, massive-humped ones.

فتلكَ أيديهمُ تُدْمي سَماحَتُها

والسّؤدَدُ الغَمْرُ حيثُ البأسُ والجودُ

Such are their hands, bloodied by their generosity,

and abundant nobility is found where valor and generosity meet.

بُشرى فقد أنجَزَ الأيامُ ما وَعَدَتْ

وقلّما صَدَقَتْ مِنها المَواعيدُ

Glad tidings! The days have fulfilled what they promised,

and seldom have their promises proved true.

إنّ الإمارةَ لا تُمطي غَوارِبَها

إلا المَغاويرُ والشمُّ المَناجيدُ

Rulership lets none mount its withers

except daring raiders and proud, mighty champions.

إن يَسْحَبِ النّاسُ أذيالَ الظّنونِ بِها

فلا يُخاطِرُ لَيثَ الغابَةِ السّيدُ

If people trail the hems of their suspicions about it,

then the wolf will not risk challenging the forest's lion.

وقد دَعاكَ أميرُ المؤمنينَ لَها

والهَمُّ مُنتَشِرٌ والعَزْمُ مَكدودُ

And the Commander of the Faithful has summoned you to it,

while care was widespread and resolve worn down.

فكُنتَ أوَّلَ سَبّاقٍ إِلى أملٍ

على حَواشيهِ للأنفاسِ تَصْعيدُ

So you were the foremost racer toward a hope

around whose edges breaths rise in labored sighs.

وهلْ يُحيطُ منَ الأقوامِ ذو ظَلَعٍ

بغايَةٍ أحْرَزَتْها الفِتيَةُ الصّيدُ

Can any man among the peoples, hampered by a limp,

reach a goal won by proud young men?

ورضْتَ أمراً أطافَ العاجِزونَ بهِ

وكادَ يَلوي بشَمْلِ المُلْكِ تَبديدُ

And you tamed an affair around which the helpless circled,

while disarray nearly swept away the unity of the realm.

فأحْجَموا عنهُ والأقدامُ ناكصَةٌ

وللأمورِ إذا أخلَقْنَ تَجديدُ

So they recoiled from it, their feet turning back,

but affairs, when worn out, have their renewal.

كذلكَ الصُّبحُ إن هزّتْ مَناصِلَهُ

يدُ السّنا فقَميصُ الليلِ مَقْدودُ

So too the dawn: when its blades are brandished

by radiance's hand, the shirt of night is rent.

لولاكَ رُدَّتْ على الأعقابِ شارِدَةٌ

تمُدُّ أضْباعَها الصّيدُ المَجاويدُ

But for you, a wanderer would have been turned back on her tracks,

whose forelegs the proud and generous stretch forward.

ولمْ تَرِدْ عَقْوَةَ الزّوراءِ ناجيةٌ

تُدمي السّريحَ بأيديها الجَلاميدُ

Nor would a swift she-camel have reached al-Zawraʾ's precincts,

with boulders staining her forefeet's leather thongs with blood.

فُقْتُ الأعاريبَ في شِعْرٍ نأمْتُ بهِ

كأنّه لُؤلُؤٌ في السِّلْكِ مَنضودُ

I surpassed the Bedouin Arabs in the poetry I intoned,

as though it were pearls strung in order upon a thread.

إنْ كان يُعجِزُهُمُ قَولي ويَجمَعُنا

أصْلٌ فقدْ تَلِدُ الخَمرَ العناقيدُ

If my speech baffles them, though we are united by

a common root, grape clusters can indeed give birth to wine.

وهذهِ مِدَحٌ دَرَّتْ بِها مِنَحٌ

بيضٌ أضاءَتْ بهِنَّ الأزْمُنُ السّودُ

And these are praises through which gifts have flowed,

white gifts that have brightened dark times.

إذا التَفَتُّ إِلى ناديكَ مُمْتَرِياً

نَداكَ طُوِّقَ منْ نَعمائِكَ الجيدُ

When I turn toward your assembly, seeking

your bounty, my neck is garlanded with your favors.