أبقيت بالجزع ما أبليت من طلل — Alarjani

أبقَيتِ بالجِزْعِ ما أبلَيتِ من طَلَلِ

لِمُشْبِهاتِك بالأجيادِ والمُقَلِ

At the valley bend you left the ruined dwelling you wore away

to those resembling you in necks and eyes.

غِزْلان وَجْرةَ يَخلُفْنَ الحِسانَ بها

وليس كُلُّ غزالٍ صِيغَ للغَزَل

The gazelles of Wajra replace the beautiful women there,

but not every gazelle was fashioned for love.

وأين وَحْشُ الفلا منها إذا سنحَتْ

معَ الغداة لعَيْنٍ أو معَ الأُصُل

How can the desert's wild creatures compare with her when she appears

before an eye at dawn or in the late afternoon?

لو أنّ سالفةَ الأَدْماء حاليةٌ

لم تَحْكِ سالفةَ الحسناء في العَطَل

Were the pale gazelle's neck adorned,

it would not match the beauty's unadorned neck.

ولا المَهاةُ لها شِبْهاً إذا كُحِلَتْ

لوِ اكتفَتْ عينُها المَرهاءُ بالكَحَل

Nor would the oryx resemble her, even kohled,

even if its pale-lidded eye were satisfied with kohl.

كم أَدمُعٍ ذُلُلٍ فاضَتْ غداتَئِذٍ

فسايَرتْ ما حدَوْا من أَينُقٍ ذُلُل

How many free-flowing tears overflowed that morning,

traveling alongside the docile she-camels they urged onward!

وأنفُسٍ كَرُمَتْ منّا نَفائسُها

لو لم تَسِرْ ظُعْنُهمْ في الصُّبْح لم تَسَل

And souls whose finest treasures were precious to us

would not have flowed away had their camel-litters not departed at dawn.

أفدي الّتي رحلَتْ عنّا مُغاضِبةً

فقال وَجْدي لقَلْبي اثْرَها ارْتَحِل

I would ransom her who departed from us in anger;

my passion said to my heart, 'Depart in her wake.'

فَرُحْتُ أتبَعُ ظُعْنَ الحَيّ يَحْمِلُني

نَهْدٌ من الخَيل مثلُ البَرْقِ ذو خُصَل

I set off following the clan's camel-litters, carried by

a strong horse like lightning, with flowing locks of mane.

يَرْدي بذي صَبْوةٍ للخَوْفِ مُطّرِحٍ

بالسّيفِ مُتَّشحٍ للرُّمْحِ مُعْتَقِل

It gallops with a lovesick rider who has cast aside fear,

girded with a sword, holding his spear under his arm.

لمّا لَحِقْتُ بأُولَى العِيسِ سائرةً

عَلِقْتُ فضْلَ زِمامِ الرّاكبِ العَجِل

When I caught up with the foremost pale camels traveling onward,

I grasped the loose end of the hurrying rider's rein,

مُحاوِلاً ردَّها والخَيلُ مُعرِضَةٌ

وبينَ آذانِها سُمْرُ القَنا الذُّبُل

trying to turn her back, while the horses stood across my path

and slender brown spear-shafts rose between their ears.

حتّى إذا ما دَنَتْ منّي مَنالَ يَدٍ

لو مَدَّ صَبٌّ وإنْ عَزَّتْ فلم تُنَل

Until, when she drew near, within a hand's reach

if a lover stretched it out—though unapproachable and unattained—

قالَت وخَيلُ النّوَى للصّبر ناهبةٌ

وشمسُ غُرَّتِها في قَبْضةِ الطّفَل

she said, while separation's horses plundered patience

and the sun of her bright brow lay in twilight's grasp:

أأنت يُوشَعُ تَبْغي أن أُرَدَّ وقد

غَربْتُ في شَفَقٍ من حُمْرةِ الكِلَل

'Are you Joshua, seeking to bring me back, when already

I have set in an afterglow of crimson canopies?'

كم دونَ جَذْبِ جَديلٍ يومَ ذاك لها

من فارسٍ لسَراةِ الخَيْلِ مُنْجَدِل

Before I could tug her braided rein that day, how many

horsemen lay fallen from their horses' backs!

أحْلَلْتُ منه سِناني حيثُ حَلَّ به

منّي الهَوى فكلا القلبَيْنِ لم يَئل

I lodged my spearhead in him where

passion had lodged in me, and neither heart escaped.

وقلتُ خُذْ مَصْرَعاً في الحربِ من بطلٍ

بمَصْرَعٍ مثْلهِ في الحُبِّ من بَطَل

I said, 'Take death in battle at a champion's hand,

in exchange for a like death in love at a champion's hand.'

فاليومَ راجَعني لُبّي وشايَعَني

صَحْبي وأقْصَرتِ العُذَّالُ عن عَذَلي

Today my reason has returned, and I am supported

by my companions; my reprovers have ceased their blame.

زَررْتُ صَبْري على صَدْري مُضاعَفَةً

فما أُبالي برَشْقِ الأَعْيُنِ النُّجُل

I fastened patience over my breast, double-layered,

and care nothing for the volleys of wide eyes.

بنسِجِ داودَ منّي القَلْبُ مُدَّرعٌ

إن كان طَرْفُكِ أضحَى من بني ثُعَل

My heart is armored in David's weaving,

if your glance has become one of the sons of Thu'al.

ذَرى فؤادي وقد عَذَّبتِه زَمناً

بالمجدِ من بَعْدُ دونَ الوَجْدِ يَشْتَغِل

Leave my heart—you have tormented it for so long—

to busy itself henceforth with glory rather than longing.

يا صادياً ملأ الأحشاءَ من ظَمَأٍ

ناراً وقد خَلَتِ الآفاقٌ من بَلَل

O thirsty man, who has filled his entrails, through thirst,

with fire, while the horizons are empty of moisture,

دَعْ عنكَ يُمنَى ويُسرَى غيرَ مُجدِيةٍ

واقْصِدْ أَمامك فاطْلُبْ مُنتَهى السُّبُل

leave aside the unavailing right and left;

head straight before you and seek the ultimate end of the paths.

واعْلَمْ إذا قلتُ رِدْ بالعيسِ بَحرَ نَدىً

أنّي على غيرِ عزِّ الدّينِ لم أَحُل

Know, when I say, 'Bring your pale camels to a sea of bounty,'

that I have directed you to none but Izz al-Din.

فالبَحرُ أسماؤه شتّى وأَشْهَرُها

على اصطلاحِ بني الآمال كَفُّ عَلي

The sea has many names, and its best known,

in the language of the hopeful, is Ali's hand.

في كلِّ أنمُلَةٍ منها إذا انْتَجعَتْ

تَجْري بحارُ ندىً للمُعْتَفي خَضِل

In each of its fingertips, when sought for bounty,

flow copious seas of generosity for the petitioner.

تُروي الورَى قَطْرةٌ منها لوِ انفَردَتْ

لكنْ لها الدَّهْرَ فَيْضٌ غيرُ مُنْفَصِل

A single drop from it would slake mankind's thirst,

yet its overflowing bounty never ceases throughout time.

مَنِ اشتَهى أن يَرى شَخْصَ الكمالِ فقُلْ

له بوَجْهِ كمالِ الدَّولةِ اكْتَحِل

Whoever desires to see perfection embodied—tell

him, 'Anoint your eyes with the face of Kamal al-Dawla.'

أغَرُّ أشْرفَ سلطانُ الأنامِ به

على الممالِك مثلَ العارِضِ الهَطِل

A radiant man through whom the sovereign of humankind towers

over the kingdoms like a cloud pouring rain.

إذا سَما وسَم الدُّنيا وُسومَ نَدىً

يُحْيي بها الأرضَ من سَهْلٍ ومن جَبَل

When he rises, he marks the world with signs of bounty

that revive the earth, on plain and mountain.

يَحْمي بها مَجْدَهُ من كَفّ مُجْتَذِبٍ

ومالَ سُلطانِهِ مِن كَفِّ مُخْتَزِل

With them he guards his glory against a grasping hand,

and his sovereign's wealth against an embezzler's hand.

مهما تأمّلَ أعيا كُلَّ ذيِ عَمَلٍ

إخفاءَ حالٍ وأحيا كُلَّ ذي أَمَل

Whenever he considers affairs, he defeats every officeholder's attempt

to conceal his conduct, and revives every man of hope.

فحاطَك اللهُ يا مَن حاط مَكرمةً

عبادَهُ بِندىً كالقَطْرِ مُتّصِل

May God guard you, you who, as an act of honor, have sheltered

His servants with bounty continuous as rainfall.

من مُشْرِفٍ مُسْرفٍ في الجودِ تُبصِرُهُ

بالشِّينِ والسِّينِ يَغْدو غايةَ المَثَل

An overseer, lavish in generosity, whom you see

become, with shin and sin, the supreme example.

كم قلتُ حينَ ملأْتُ العَينَ من عَجَبٍ

لِما رأيتُ بأمرِ النّاسِ من خَلَل

How often I said, my eyes filled with wonder,

at the disorder I saw in people's affairs:

ما للممالكِ تَغدو وهْي مُهمَلَةٌ

وللكُفاةِ وهمْ فيهِنَّ كالهَمَل

'Why do the kingdoms remain neglected,

and capable men within them like untended herds?

فكم تَرى رجلاً فيها بلا عمَلٍ

وكم تَرى عَمَلاً فيها بلا رَجُل

How often you see a man there without a task,

and a task there without a man!

لو قَسَّم الماءَ ما بين الظِماء يَدٌ

بالعَدْلِ لم يَبْقَ فوق الأرضِ ذو غُلَل

If a hand apportioned water among the thirsty

with justice, no burning thirst would remain upon the earth.'

حتّى انجلَتْ عُقَبُ الأيامِ عن فَطِنٍ

برَأْيِه صَحّت الدُّنيا منَ العِلَل

Until the turns of days revealed a discerning man,

whose judgment cured the world of its ailments.

وجاءنا فكأنّ الشّرَّ ما خُلِقَتْ

أسبابُهُ وكأنَّ الخيرَ لم يَزُل

He came to us, as though evil had never had

its causes created, and goodness had never ceased.

لم يُرضِه آنِفاً من بُعْدِ هِمَّتهِ

تَقْويمُهُ عَصْرَه من ذلك المَيَل

His far-reaching ambition was not satisfied just now

by straightening his age from that crookedness,

حتّى أَبَتْ نَفْسُهُ إلاّ مُؤاخَذةً

بما جنَى الدَّهرُ في أيّامِه الأُوَل

until his soul insisted upon exacting an accounting

for the wrongs Time had done in its earliest days.

وأصبحَتْ دَولةٌ زادَتْ مَيامِنَها

لُقياه وهْي به من أكمَلِ الدُّوَل

And a state came to enjoy increased blessings

through meeting him; through him it is among the most perfect states.

يَسوسُها حَدِبٌ ماضٍ عزائمُه

أقلامُه دونها أمضَى مِن الأَسَل

A solicitous man governs it, unfaltering in his resolutions;

his pens, in their pursuit, are sharper than spears.

ومُقْبِلُ الجَدِّ مَأْمولٌ مواهبُه

أبوابُه أبداً للنَّاسِ كالقِبَل

Fortune favors him; his gifts are eagerly hoped for;

his doors forever draw people like prayer's focal points.

بادي الوقارِ يَراهُ مَن تَأمَّلَه

طَوداً ويَمْضي مَضاءَ السَّيفِ في القُلَل

Dignity is manifest in him; whoever studies him sees

a mountain, yet he cuts through heads with a sword's keenness.

كأنّه الفَلَكُ الدَّوّارُ حينَ يُرَى

وقد أظَلَّ الورَى عَجْلانَ في مَهَل

He seems the revolving celestial sphere when seen,

sheltering mankind, swift yet unhurried.

إن سارَ بالخَيلِ غَصَّ الجَوُّ من خَبَبٍ

نَقْعاً وإِن حَلَّ غَصَّ الأرضُ بالخَوَل

When he rides with the horses, the air chokes with their trotting

dust; when he alights, the earth chokes with retainers.

مُوفٍ على مُلْجَمٍ بالنَّجْمِ تَحسَبُه

للنّاظرِين وبالجَوزاء مُنْتَعِل

He towers on a steed seemingly bridled with a star

to those who gaze, and shod with Orion.

ذي غُرّةٍ وحُجولٍ وُضَّحٍ عَلِقَتْ

منها بأطرافِها خَمْسٌ من الشُّعَل

With a blaze and bright white stockings, there cling

at its extremities five flames from them.

كأنّما هو من ماء الصَّباحِ له

لمّا توضْأَ لم يُسْبِغْ على عَجَل

It is as though, using the water of dawn for itself,

it performed ablution hastily and left it incomplete.

ما إن رأى أحَدٌ من قَبْلِ فارسِه

شَمْساً مَطالِعُها أوْفتْ على زُحَل

Before its rider, no one had ever seen

a sun whose rising places towered over Saturn.

للهِ ملْثومُ ظَهْرِ الكَفِّ من شَرَفٍ

أَدْنَى نَداهُ يُريكَ البَحرَ كالوَشَل

How wondrous he whose hand's back is kissed for his nobility!

His least bounty makes the sea seem a trickle.

خِرْقٌ إذا جئْتَه تَرجو فواضِلَه

أعطاكَ فوقَ الأماني ثمّ قالَ سَل

A generous lord: if you come hoping for his favors,

he gives beyond your wishes, then says, 'Ask.'

عَجِبتُ من قَلَمٍ في كَفِّ ذي كَرَمٍ

في الجودِ مُنْسكِبٍ بالرَّأْيِ مُشْتَغِل

I marveled at a pen in a generous man's hand,

pouring forth in generosity, occupied with judgment.

رمَى فقَرطَس أغراضي بلا خَطأٍ

لمّا وشَى متْنَ قِرطاس بلا خَطَل

It shot and struck my targets without a miss,

when it adorned a sheet's surface without a foolish word.

وجال في ذلك المِضْمارِ يكتبُ لي

ما ذِكْرُه بَعدُ في الإضمارِ لم يَجُل

It raced about that course, writing for me

what had not yet even crossed my inward thoughts.

ولم يكُنْ من فمي يُمْلي على يَدِه

لكنّما جُودُه أمْلَى على أَملي

There was no dictation from my mouth to his hand;

rather, his generosity dictated to my hopes.

ألا فَحُيِّيتَ من ذي هِمّةٍ فعَلَتْ

بَنانُه ما لِساني بَعْدُ لم يَقُل

Ah, may you be saluted, man of high resolve, whose

fingers did what my tongue had not yet said!

أَبدَى صَنيعُكَ تَقصيرَ الزّمانِ ففي

خَدِّ الرّبيع طُلوعُ الوردِ من خَجَل

Your kindness revealed Time's shortcomings: on

spring's cheek roses bloom from embarrassment.

قَومٌ سأَلْنا فلم يُعْطُوا وإن قَدَروا

فِداءُ ذي كَرَمٍ أعْطَى ولم نَسَل

Those we asked, who gave nothing although they could,

are a ransom for a generous man who gave unasked.

لقد رقَيْتُ مُسيءَ الدَّهرِ لي بِرُقىً

فلَلْنَ عنّي شَبا أنيابِه العُضُل

I have charmed Time, my ill-doer, with spells

that blunted for me the points of its formidable fangs.

وكم تَعصَّبَ من جَهْلٍ عليَّ إلى

أن رُعتُه فأبَى إلاّ التَعصُّبَ لي

How often, in ignorance, it took sides against me, until

I overawed it, and it insisted on siding with me alone.

شَرَحْتَ صَدْريَ عنْد الصَّدْرِ في حُجَجٍ

أَوردْتَها لي ومَنْ يَسْمَعْ بها يَخَل

You cheered my heart before the chief with arguments

you advanced for me; whoever hears of them can imagine.

حتّى أَنلْتَنِيَ التَّشريفَ مُؤْتَنِفاً

منه وأيَّ نوالٍ أنتَ لم تُنِل

Until you obtained for me a fresh robe of honor

from him—and what gift have you failed to obtain?

جعَلْتَني ساحباً ذيلَ القشيبِ له

وكنتُ أقنَعُ لو مُتِّعْتُ بالسَّمَل

You made me trail the hem of his fresh garment,

when I would have been content to enjoy a worn rag.

وسَرَّ عِليةَ أهْلِ العَصْرِ قاطبةً

ما قد صنَعْتَ على رَغْمٍ منَ السَّفِل

All the distinguished people of the age rejoiced

at what you did, despite the displeasure of the lowly.

فدام دولةُ مولانا الوزيرِ لنا

ودُمتَ في ظِلِّ مُلْكٍ غيرِ مُنْتَقل

May the rule of our lord the vizier endure for us,

and may you endure beneath a kingship that never passes.

إن تَتْبَعِ العُرْفَ تَعْريفاً بدأْتَ بهِ

فلستَ بالرِّفدِ بعدَ الرِّفْدِ ذا بَخَل

If you add kindness to the recognition you began,

you are not one to begrudge gift after gift.

الجاهُ والمالُ إن واليتَ بينهما

كالجَمْعِ لِلرِّيِّ بينَ العَلِّ والنّهَل

Rank and wealth, if you join them together,

are like combining a second draught with the first to quench thirst.

جاءتْكَ مَشمولةً صِرْفاً سُلافَتُها

من كَفِّ فكْرٍ على حُبِّيكَ مُشْتَمِل

It comes to you cooled by the north wind, its choicest wine unmixed,

from the hand of a mind wrapped in love for you.

إذا أُديرَتْ على الأسماعِ مالَ لها

عِطْفُ الكريمِ كمَيْلِ الشّاربِ الثَّمِل

When it is passed around the ears, there inclines toward it

the noble man's frame, like a drunken drinker's sway.

فهاكَ من مادحٍ للشُّكْرِ مُرْتَجِلٍ

ما قال في ماجدٍ للبِرِّ مُرتَجِل

Take, then, from a praise-poet improvising thanks,

what he said of a noble man improvising kindness.

واسْمَعْ فذاكَ ثناءٌ غيرُ مُنتَحَلٍ

وانْظُرْ فهذا ولاءٌ غيرُ مُنتَحَل

Listen: that is praise that is not borrowed;

and look: this is loyalty that is not feigned.

بالشِّعْرِ يَفْخَرُ قَومٌ وهْو يَفْخَرُ بي

إن عُدَّ مِن قَوليَ المَشْهورِ أو عَمَلي

Some men boast of poetry, while poetry boasts of me,

whether counted among my famous sayings or my deeds.

أقسمْتُ لولا مَعانٍ يَخْتَصِصْنَ به

لم يَلتَفِتْ نحوَهُ طَبْعي ولم يَمِل

I swear: were it not for meanings unique to it,

my poetic nature would neither turn toward it nor incline.

فما يَقَرُّ بعيْني أن يُرَى أبداً

فِكْري بوَضْعِيَ عن فِعْلي له شُغُلي

It never gladdens my eyes to see

my thought absorbed in composing it, diverted from my deeds.

كما غدا قِبَلَ الأيّامِ لو سمَحوا

لي مَطْمعٌ فللأقوامِ غدا قِبَلي

As I came to look toward the days, if they were generous,

with hope for myself, so people came to look toward me.

حنّتْ جِمالي وحَثّتْ للرَّحيلِ بها

صَحبي ولم تَبْقَ إلاّ حَلّةُ العُقُل

My camels moaned; urging them to depart were

my companions, with nothing left but to undo the hobbles.

ولي تَفاصيلُ أوطارٍ بَقِينَ فقُمْ

بها عَليُّ كما قد قُمْتَ بالجُمَل

I still have details of needs remaining; attend

to them, Ali, as you have attended to the whole.

وراعِ في القُرْبِ أو في البُعْدِ أمْرَ فتىً

عليكَ وحدَك بعد اللهِ مُتَّكَلي

And tend, near or far, to the affairs of a young man

whose reliance, after God, rests on you alone.

أمّا الصِّيامُ فكالضّيفِ المُنيخِ إلى

ذُراكَ قد حانَ منه وَشْكُ مُرتَحَل

As for the fast, it is like a guest alighted at

your shelter, whose swift departure is now at hand.

فاسْعَدْ به راحلاً باليُمْنِ مُنقَضِياً

وعائداً ألْفُ عامٍ بَعْدُ في جَذَل

Rejoice in it as it departs, ending auspiciously,

and as it returns for a thousand years to come, in gladness.

واعْدُدْ بكَفّيْكَ أعياداً مُعاوِدةً

ما شاقَ ركباً بلَيْلٍ حَنّةُ الإبِل

With both hands count recurring festivals,

as long as camels' night cries stir longing in a traveling band.

ودُمْ دَوامَ مديحي فيكَ إنّ له

إذا اعتَنَيْتَ بهِ عُمْراً بلا أَجَل

Endure as long as my praise of you: it has,

if you care for it, a life with no appointed end.

شِعْرٌ تَناهبَهُ الأسماعُ من طَرَبٍ

لدى الرِّوايةِ إن أُقصِرْ وإنْ أُطِل

Poetry that ears eagerly snatch in delight

when recited, whether I am brief or speak at length.

والذِّكْرُ أحسَنُ ذُخْرِ المَرء فاغْدُ به

مُحَلِّياً لك مجْداً ليس بالعُطُل

Renown is a man's finest stored treasure; go forth with it,

adorning for yourself a glory that is not bare.

واجْعَلْ لكَ العَرَضَ المَبذولَ واقيةً

طُولَ الزّمانِ لعِرْضٍ غَيْرِ مُبْتَذَل

Make your freely bestowed worldly wealth a shield

for all time for an honor never debased.