هبني أقصر بالخطا — Alarjani

هَبْني أُقَصِّرُ بالخُطا

مُتَعلِّلاً بالاِعْتِلالِ

Grant that I fall short in my steps,

pleading illness as my excuse.

لا عُذْرَ عندي للخُطو

طِ وَمشْقِها إن قَصَّرا لي

I have no excuse for the written lines

and their tracing, if both fail me.

قَلمي صَحيحٌ إنْ غَدا

قَدمي لسُقْمي في اعْتِقال

My pen is healthy, even if

my foot is confined by my sickness.

ما إن على قَلْبي تَطو

لُ يَدٌ بسُلطانِ اللَّيالي

No hand reaches over my heart

by the power of the nights.

كلاً ولا في خُلَّتي

لأكابري خَوْفُ اخْتِلال

No indeed; nor is there in my friendship

for my superiors any fear of impairment.

شَيْئانِ منّي يَسْلَما

نِ مدَى الزّمانِ لمَنْ أُوالي

Two things in me remain unharmed

throughout time, for those I befriend.

في القُربِ منّي والبِعا

دِ يُصادَفانِ على مِثال

Whether near me or far away,

both are found unchanged.

أَمُؤيّدَ الدّينِ الّذي

لم يَعْدُه كَرَمُ الخِلال

O Mu'ayyid al-Din, whom

nobility of character has never passed by,

مَن نال مِن درَج العُلا

ما كان مُمتَنِعَ المَنال

who attained among the ranks of eminence

what had been beyond reach,

ومَنِ اغتَدَى وُدّي له

أصفَى من الماء الزُّلال

and for whom my affection has become

purer than limpid water:

أمّا العِتابُ فإنّه

مُتوَجِّهٌ في كُلِّ حال

as for reproach, it

has grounds in every circumstance.

لكنْ أُعُاتَبُ أو أُعا

تِبُ أيّما عن ذا سُؤالي

But am I to be reproached, or to reproach?

Which of the two? That is my question.

مالي فَدتْكَ النّفْسُ مُنْ

ذُ مَرِضْتُ هَجْري منكَ مالي

What ails me—may my soul ransom you—since

I fell ill? Your forsaking me—what ails me?

أيُطاقُ معْ قٌرْبِ الجِوا

ر كذا الجَفاءُ على اتِّصال

Can one endure, despite such close neighboring,

estrangement like this without cease?

وتَوقُّعي لكَ زَورةً

في صِحّتي عَيْنُ المُحال

And my expecting a visit from you

while healthy is impossibility itself.

لكِنْ إذا ما عِلّةٌ

كَشفَتْ منَ الإعْلالِ بالي

But when an illness

lays bare my condition through sickness,

لم أرْضَ عندَ الاِعْتِلا

لِ بمثْلِ هذا الاِعْتِلال

I am not content, when ill,

with an excuse such as this.

ومنَ السِّيادةِ بالعِيا

دة أن يُشَرَّفَ مَن يُوالي

It is part of noble leadership, through visiting the sick,

to honor those who are loyal.

وقد أُخِّرَتْ عاداتُ أبْ

ناء المكارمِ والمَعالي

Yet deferred are the customs of the sons

of noble deeds and lofty distinction.

وإذا مَرِضْتُ ولم يَعُدْ

ني مَن أوَدُّ مِنَ المَوالي

And when I fall ill and am not visited

by one I love among my friends,

وإذا بَرأْتُ وجَدْتُ في

وُدّي له مثْلَ السُّلال

when I recover, I find in

my affection for him something like consumption.

فكأنّما مَرَضي يَصي

رُ إلى وِدادي ذا انْتِقال

It is as though my illness passes

into my affection, transferred there.

والأمرُ أمرُك لا اخْتِيا

رَ على اخْتِيارِك في فَعالي

The decision is yours; no choice

outranks your choice in my actions.

وأعودُ إن أرعَيْتَ سَمْ

عَك شارحاً لك بعضَ حالي

And I return, if you lend your ear,

to explain to you some of my condition.

أرأيتَ عَزْماً كان لي

كالنّارِ من فَرْطِ اشْتِعال

Have you seen a resolve I once possessed,

like fire in the intensity of its blaze?

ومَطِيّةً ألقَيْتُ فَو

قَ سَراتِها أحدَ الرِّحال

And a mount upon whose

back I cast one of the saddles?

ما ذاكَ إلاّ أنّه

والاِختيارُ لذي الجَلال

That was only because it—

the choice belonging to the Lord of Majesty—

مُتَوَقّفاً يُصْغِي لِيُسْ

معَ حاديَ الرَّكْبِ العِجال

paused, listening to hear

the driver of the hastening caravan.

عَبثاً يُديرُ لها الزِّما

مَ من اليمنِ إلى الشّمال

In vain he turns her rein

from right to left.

فغدا سَقامي آخِذاً

بخِطامِها يَبْغي انْفِتالي

Then my sickness began taking hold

of her halter, seeking to turn me away.

وأثَرْتُها شَطْرَ العِرا

قِ تَجُرُّ فَضْلاتِ الحِبال

And I urged her toward Iraq,

dragging the trailing ends of ropes,

نحوَ ارْتحالٍ قد تَحَوْ

ولَ لي إلى نَوْعِ ارتِحال

toward a departure that has turned

for me into another kind of departure,

ومَحلِّ صدْقٍ أو غُرو

رٍ بعدُ يَعْمُرُه احْتلالي

and a dwelling of truth or illusion

which my settling there will later fill.

والحُكْمُ حُكْمُ اللهِ لا

يُغْني إذا نَزل احْتيالي

The decree is God's decree; nothing

my contrivance does avails when it descends.

إن مِتُّ لم يَمُتِ الّذي

سَيّرْتُ من كَلِمٍ غَوال

If I die, it will not die—

the precious words I have sent forth.

وغَدَتْ حَياةُ الذِّكرِ لي

بالفَضْلِ تُرغِمُ كُلَّ قال

And the enduring life of my remembrance

through merit will humble every hater.

ورَجَوْتُ لي من بَعْدِ ذا

ك برَحْمةِ اللهِ اتِّصالي

And I hoped for myself, after that,

for union through God's mercy.

لو عِشْتُ لاقَيْتُ الوزي

رَ ونلْتُ من جاهٍ ومال

Were I to live, I would meet the vizier

and obtain prestige and wealth.

وركَضْتُ خيلَ القَوْلِ بي

ن يَديهِ واسعةَ المَجال

And I would gallop the horses of speech before

him, across a spacious field.

واخْتالَ لي طِرْفُ النَّبَا

هةِ وهْو مُنتَعِلُ الهِلال

And the steed of distinction would prance for me,

shod with the crescent moon.

يا سفرةَ الدَّركاةِ جا

دَكِ وابلٌ واهي العَزالي

O journey to al-Darkah, may

a downpour drench you, its waterspouts loosened!

فكأنّني بكِ قد أرَحْ

تُ ركائبي بَعْدَ الكَلال

Through you, I seem already to have rested

my mounts after their exhaustion.

ورأيتُ حاجاتي بكَفْ

فِكِ وهْي تَنشُطُ من عِقال

And I saw my needs in your

hand, being released from their tether,

بجَديدِ نَظْم للمَصا

لِح فيك في سِلْكِ اعتِدال

through a fresh ordering of affairs

within you, on a thread of just balance.

فلقد غَدَتْ مَقْسومةً

بينَ اغتصابٍ واخْتِزال

For they had indeed been divided

between usurpation and misappropriation.

وسَماعِ أخبارِ الثّرا

ء وَهزْمِه حَدَّ الضَّلال

And hearing tidings of prosperity,

and of his breaking error's edge,

وبناءِ مَشْهدِه الشَّري

فِ وكَعْبُ مَن يَبْنيهِ عال

and the building of his noble shrine—

high is the standing of the one who builds it.

ولقد عَلِمْتُ بأنّنِي

ألقَى لِذاكِ أَحَقَّ وال

And I know full well that I

shall be found its most deserving guardian.

وأنا ابنُ أنصارِ الهُدَى

بالبيضِ والسُّمْرِ الطِّوال

I am a son of the champions of guidance

with bright swords and long brown spears,

ومُقاتلٌ في الخَزْرَجَيْ

نِ إذا انتَمَى عَمِّي وخالي

and a warrior among the two Khazraj clans,

when my paternal and maternal uncles declare their descent.

أمّا النّبِيُّ فقد رأَى

تأميرَنا يومَ النِّزال

The Prophet himself saw fit

to place us in command on the day of combat.

واللهُ فوقَ سَمائه

مِمَّن دَعانا بالرِّجال

And God, above His heaven,

is among those who called us men.

فارجِعْ وراءك يا حَسو

دُ فما الأسافِلُ كالأعالي

So turn back, O envious one:

the lowly are not like the lofty.

يا ابْنَ الّذي سادَ الورَى

والعَصْرُ جَوٌّ غَيرُ خال

O son of him who led mankind,

when the age was an expanse not empty,

وجَرى فأصبَحَ سابِقاً

فَرْداً وليس سِواكُ تال

he raced and became the foremost,

alone, with none but you to follow.

ونَظَرْتُ من فَرْطِ السُّمُوْ

وإلى الكَواكبِ من تَعال

And I gazed, through sheer loftiness,

toward the stars from on high.

في خُوزِرازانَ القدي

مةِ رَغْبَتي للوَقْفِ لا لِي

In ancient Khuzrazan,

my desire is for the endowment, not for myself.

ولَربّما طَلَبوا هُنا

كَ لأجلِها إخراجَ حالي

And perhaps they requested there,

for its sake, a statement of my circumstances.

فاسْطُرْ بِكَفِّكَ أسطُراً

تُشْبِهْنَ من حُسْنِ المِثال

So write with your hand lines

resembling, in beauty of form,

نَقْشَ الخدودِ من الغَوا

ني بالخُطوطِ منَ الغوالي

the decoration of fair women's cheeks

with lines of precious perfume.

فمِثالُ كَفِّكَ لا يُقا

بَلُ ثَمَّ إلاّ بامتِثال

For your hand's written decree is not met

there with anything but compliance.

واهْزُزْ أثيرَ الدّينِ لي

هَزَّ المُهنَّدِ ذي الصِّقال

And stir Athir al-Din for me

as one shakes a polished Indian sword.

وأَشِرْ عليه إشارةَ النْ

نصحاءِ في تَشْريفِ حالي

And advise him with the counsel of

sincere advisers, to honor my condition,

مُسترخِصاً رِقّي وفي

مِثْلي حَقيقٌ أن تُغالي

deeming my servitude cheaply bought—yet

for one like me, you ought to pay dearly.

مِئةٌ وخَمسونَ الجَدي

دُ معَ القديمِ بلا مِطال

A hundred and fifty—the new

along with the old, without delay—

حتّى أَسيرَ إلى الوزي

رِ بما حَباني من نَوال

so that I may travel to the vizier

with what he has granted me in bounty,

وأُقَرِّطَ الأسماعَ شُكْ

راً مثْلما نُظِمَ الّلآلى

and adorn listening ears with

thanks, like pearls strung together.

ولِمَنْ أتَى حُسنَ الفِعا

لِ من الورى حُسْنُ المَقال

For whoever performs good deeds

among mankind, there is fine praise.

وإليكَ فاجْتَلِ غادةً

قد زَفَّها كَفُّ ارْتجالي

And here for you: behold a maiden

whom the hand of my improvisation has brought as a bride.

حَسناءُ إلاّ أنّها

تُجْلَى بمَهرٍ غيرِ غال

A beauty, save that she

is unveiled for a dowry not costly,

عُطْلاً ليُصبِحَ جِيدُها

بعِناقِ مَجْدِك وهْو حال

unadorned, so that her neck may become,

through embracing your glory, adorned.

جاءتْك تُهْدِي عُذْرَ إغْ

بابِ الزّيارةِ والوِصال

She comes to you offering an excuse for

infrequent visits and contact.

وإذا انقطَعْتُ لِمدْحةٍ

تُهْدَى فَعْنك بِها اشْتِغالي

When I withdraw to compose a praise-poem

to be offered, it is that which keeps me from you.

لا زلتَ مُختالاً منَ النْ

نَعْماء في بُرْدٍ مُذال

May you ever stride proudly because of

good fortune, in a trailing mantle,

وممَّتعاً أبداً بما

أُوتيتَ مِنْ غُرِّ الخِصال

and forever enjoy what

you have been given of radiant qualities,

ومُمنَّعاً من طارِقِ ال

حدَثانِ في أَحْمَى الظِّلال

and be safeguarded from the night-visitor of

time's calamities, beneath the best-protected shade,

لِتُزانَ في عَيْنِ الكَمالِ

وتُصانَ من عَيْنِ الكمال

that you may be adorned in the eye of perfection,

and guarded from the eye of perfection.