عوجوا عليها أيها الركب — Alarjani

عُوجوا عليها أَيُّها الرّكْبُ

لا عَارَ أن يَتساعَدَ الصَّحْبُ

Turn aside toward her, O caravan!

There is no shame in companions helping one another.

كُلٌّ له قَلْب ولا ألَمٌ

عَجَباً ولِي ألمٌ ولا قَلْب

Each has a heart and no pain;

how strange: I have pain and no heart!

مالي سوى نَفَسٍ أُرَددُه

وَجْداً وَعيْنٍ دَمْعُا سَكْب

I have nothing but a breath I keep repeating

in longing, and an eye streaming tears.

للهِ يومَ الجِزْعِ مَوقفُنا

لمّا تَعرَّضَ للمَها سِرْب

How wondrous our stand at al-Jizʿ that day,

when a herd of oryx came into view!

مُتَطِلعاتٌ للعُيونِ ضُحىً

وأكُفُّها لوجوهِها نُقْب

They looked out toward watching eyes at forenoon,

their palms serving as veils for their faces.

يَرمُقْنَ من شَبَكِ البنانِ فما

يَرْنو حليمُ القومِ أو يَصبْو

They peer through the lattice of their fingers; no

sober man of the company gazes without growing lovesick.

مِن كُلِّ فاتنةٍ لمِعْصَمِها

تُبدِي فيَشجَى القَلْبُ والقُلب

Each enchantress, with her wrist

bared, makes heart and bracelet grieve.

يَستَعذِبُ السّمعُ الملامَ لها

إنّ الغرامَ عذابُه عَذْب

The ear finds reproach on her account sweet:

indeed, passion's torment is sweet.

مَدَّتْ إليَّ يداً تُودِعُني

فدَنا إليها المُغرَمُ الصّبّ

She stretched a hand toward me to bid farewell,

and the yearning lover drew near her.

كالسّهْمِ راميهِ يُقَرّبُه

ولأجْلِ بُعْدٍ ذلك القُرب

Like an arrow drawn close by its archer,

that closeness was only for the sake of distance.

كم ليلةٍ لي في الهوى سَلَفتْ

لم يَلْقَ لي هُدْباً بها هُدب

How many nights in love have passed for me

when none of my lashes met another!

كم فارقَ الأحبابُ فابتَعثوا

حُزْني إلى أن فارقَ الحُبّ

How often loved ones departed, awakening

my grief, until love itself departed!

فاليَومَ صُنْتُ حجابَ قلبيَ أن

تَسبيهِ بيضٌ صانَها الحُجب

Today I have guarded my heart's veil, lest

fair women sheltered by veils take it captive.

وإذا تَصافَن أدمُعي حِصصاً

وَفْدُ الهموم فهجْرُكم كَعْب

When my tears are shared out in portions

by the troop of cares, your estrangement is Kaʿb.

فلْيَهنأِ الواشينَ أنّهم

شَبّوا لنا ناراً فما تَخْبو

Let the slanderers rejoice that they

have kindled for us a fire that never dies.

ألْقَوا قذىً في عينِ أُلفتِنا

حتّى تَكَدّرَ ذلك الشِرب

They cast a mote into the spring of our affection,

until that draught turned turbid.

وبعَثْتُ للعُتْبَى نهايةَ ما

يُرضيهمُ فتَضاعَفَ العَتْب

For reconciliation I sent the utmost of what

would please them, yet their reproach redoubled.

ومضىَ بُجَيْرٌ باذلاً دَمَه

للصلْحِ فازدادتْ بهِ الحَرْب

Bujayr went forth, offering his blood

for peace, but through him the war only grew.

وإذا أتَى زمَنُ الفساد تَرَى

من حيث تُصِلحَ يَكبُرُ الخَطب

When a time of disorder comes, you see

trouble grow wherever you try to mend things.

وإذا انقضَى فأقَلُّ من نَفَسٍ

فيه يَعود ذليلاً الصَّعب

Once it passes, in less than a breath,

the intractable turns meek.

لايَنْتُ أيّامي وكم زَمَنٍ

تَرْكُ الغِلابِ به هو الغَلب

I dealt gently with my days; how many a time

is victory won by abandoning the struggle!

قد أغتدِي بالعِيسِ مُبتكِراً

والصبْحُ طِفْلٌ في الدجى يَحبو

Sometimes I set out early with the pale camels,

while dawn is a child crawling in the darkness.

والرّكبُ يَطلُع في أوائلهم

أنجابُ قومٍ تحتَهم نُجب

The caravan advances; in its foremost ranks

are noble sons of a people, with choice camels beneath them.

مِن كلِّ حَرْفٍ من حُروفِ سُرىً

مُتَعاقَباها الرَّفع والنّصب

Each lean she-camel is a letter of night travel,

alternating between lifting and planting its feet.

سارَتْ تُلاعبُ ظِلّها مَرَحاً

وكأنّ تابعةً لها سَقب

She travels, friskily playing with her shadow,

as though her follower were a camel foal.

دستِ العُلا والمكرماتِ بنا

ودَعا الجمالَ الماءُ والعُشب

Glory and noble deeds urged us on,

while water and grass called to the camels.

وتَخيّرتْ أرضاً يَحُلُّ بها

قاضي القُضاةِ فعَمّنا الخِصب

She chose a land where dwells

the chief judge, and abundance enfolded us.

رَحُبَتْ خُطاها في مَزارِ فتىً

للزّائرينَ فِناؤه رَحْب

Her strides broadened on a visit to a noble man

whose courtyard is spacious for visitors.

ركْنٌ به الإسلام شُدَّ فقد

حَجّتْ ذُراه العُجْمُ والعُرب

A pillar by whom Islam is strengthened: indeed,

non-Arabs and Arabs have made pilgrimage to his heights.

شَمسٌ فتَاويهِ أشِعَتُها

فبِها يَضيء الشَرْقُ والغرب

A sun whose legal rulings are its rays,

by which East and West are illumined.

وغدا القنا الخَطّيّ من قلَمٍ

فَرْدٍ يُخَطُّ بكَفّهِ رُعب

The spears of al-Khatt, before a pen

peerless and writing in his hand, stand terror-stricken.

ولَرأْيهِ الآراءُ تابِعةٌ

كالجِذْلِ يَستَشْفي به الجُرب

Other judgments follow his judgment,

as mangy beasts seek healing at a scratching-post.

يضَعُ الأمورَ به مَواضِعَها

فتُديمُ حَمْدَ هِنائهِ النُّقْب

With it he sets matters in their proper places,

so the mangy camels forever praise his healing tar.

يا ماجداً لذُيولِ هِمّتِه

شَرَفاً على أعلى السُها سَحب

O glorious man, the trailing skirts of whose ambition

sweep in honor above al-Suhā's highest reach!

ما أبصرتْ عينٌ له زَمناً

مِثْلاً ولا نَطقتْ به الكُتْب

No eye has ever, in any age, seen his

equal, nor have books spoken of one.

من مَعْشَرٍ بغَمامِ أنمُلِهمْ

عن آمليهم يُطْرَدُ الجَدْب

From a people whose fingertips are clouds

that drive drought away from those who hope in them.

بِيضُ الوجوهِ ففي الحباءهمُ

هِضَبٌ تَسُحُّ وفي الحُبا هَضب

Bright-faced, in giving they are

rain clouds pouring down; seated with knees clasped, mountains.

فلكٌ يَظَلُّ علىالعباد إذا

يَجْري وسامي رأيهِ القُطب

A heavenly sphere that remains above mankind when

it revolves, his lofty judgment its pole.

منه استنارَ شهابُ دينِ هُدىً

منهم نشا وله العُلا تِرب

From him shone Shihāb al-Dīn, a light of guidance,

grown among them, with eminence as his companion.

فلقد عَلا ما شاءَ طَودُ عُلاً

لشهابِ دينٍ فوقَه شَبّ

A mountain of glory rose as high as it wished,

for Shihāb al-Dīn blazed above it.

فَبقِيتُما مُتَسرْ بِلَىْ حُلَلٍ

للعِزِّ لا يُخشَى لها سَلب

May you both remain clad in robes

of honor, with no fear of their being stripped away,

حتّى تَرى هذا الشِّهابَ غدا

ووراءه من نَسْلِه شُهب

until in days to come you see this shooting star

with stars from his offspring following behind him.

يا ناصراً للدينِ تُبصرُهُ

ولسانه من دونه عضب

O defender of the faith, whom one beholds

with his tongue a keen blade in its defense!

بصوارم الآراء تنصره

والصّارمُ الهِنْدِيُّ قد ينْبو

You defend it with the sharp swords of judgment,

while the Indian blade may fail to cut.

ضرْبٌ من الأعمالِ تُعمِلُه

لا طَعْنَ يَعدِلهُ ولا ضرب

You perform a kind of deed

that neither thrust nor blow can equal.

يا عادلاً في حُكمِه أبداً

لم منك أدنَى نَظْرةٍ حَسْب

O ever just in his judgments,

the slightest glance from you would suffice for me.

بكَ جئْتُ أستَعدِي على زَمَني

وخضامُه إن لم تُعِنْ صَعْب

To you I came, seeking redress against my age,

for grappling with it is hard unless you help.

فإلى متى تَغْزو حوادثُه

وإلى متى قَلبي لها نَهب

How long will its calamities raid me?

How long will my heart remain their prey?

أوسَعْتُ قَوماً في الورى مِقةً

فإذا لِمَقْتٍ لي بها حَلب

I lavished love on a people among mankind,

yet hatred was the milk it yielded me.

وغرَسْتُ آمالاً لتَحْلوَ لي

ثَمَراتُهنّ فمازكا التُّرب

I planted hopes, that I might savor

their fruits; but the soil did not thrive.

والبَخْتُ ما لم يأتِ مُقبِلُه

طَبْعاً فما لزِمامِه جَذب

Unless fortune's favor comes

of itself, its reins cannot be pulled.

قد كان ظَنّي غيرَ ذا لهُمُ

والظّنُّ طِرْفٌ ربّما يَكبُو

My expectations of them had been otherwise,

but expectation is a steed that sometimes stumbles.

ولئن تَدارك منهمُ نَظَرٌ

وأُتيحَ إثْرَ تَصَدُّعٍ شَعب

Yet if a kindly glance from them makes amends,

and mending follows a rupture,

فلقد تُقصِّرُ دون غايتِه

أيدي الجوادِ ويُدرِكُ العَقب

the goal may lie beyond the reach of

a steed's forelegs, yet its hind feet reach it.

والفَجْرُ ليس بكائنٍ أبداً

صِدْقٌ له ما لم يَكُنْ كِذب

Dawn can never come to be

a true one unless a false one has preceded it.

يا صاحباً لو لا عِنايتُه

بَوليّه ضاقَتْ به الرُحب

O patron, were it not for his care

for his friend, the widest spaces would close in on him.

حالي عنِ المعَهود حائلةٌ

مَرِضَتْ وأنت بِبُرْئها طَبّ

My condition has changed from what it was;

it has sickened, and you are skilled in curing it.

وأشَدُّ ما بي أنّ مَرضتها

من حيث كان تَوقَّعَ الطِبّ

My worst affliction is that its sickness came

from the very quarter where a cure was expected.

خذْها تَهُزُّ العِطْفَ من طَرَبٍ

حتى كأنّ رُواتَها شَرب

Take it: it makes the shoulders sway with delight,

until its reciters seem a company of drinkers.

مَوشِيّةً وَشْيَ الرّياضِ وقد

سَحَبتْ عليها ذَيْلَها السُّحب

Embroidered like gardens, when

clouds have trailed their skirts across them.

تُجلَى عليك وأيُّ مَنقبَةٍ

إلا وأنت لِبكرِها خِطب

It is unveiled before you; is there any noble virtue

whose maiden form does not have you as its suitor?

وإليك لا منك اشتيكتُ بها

فاسمَعْ فشِعْبُك للهُدَى شَعب

Through it I complained to you, not of you;

so listen: your mountain pass is a gathering-place for guidance.

وإذا شَحذْتَ العزْمَ مُؤتنِفاً

نَصْري فحِزْبُ اللهِ لي حِزب

When you sharpen your resolve, taking up anew

my defense, God's party is my party.

فمتى يُقبِّضُ أن أقولَ وقد

تَمّتْ لديك مَطالبي الجُرب

When will it be granted me to say, once

you have fulfilled my mangy petitions:

كم بِتُّ ذا أرَقٍ وذا قَلَقٍ

فالآنَ قَرَّ الجَفْنُ والجَنب

How many nights I spent sleepless and restless!

But now eyelid and side alike are at rest.

جُدْلي بجِدٍّ منك أحْىَ به

فالدّهرُ دَهرٌ كُلُّه لعب

Give me earnest help from you, that I may live by it,

for the age is an age all made of play.

أمّا القريضُ فعَنْه يَشغلُني

زَمَنٌ خَبيئةُ صَدْرِه خِبّ

As for verse, I am kept from it by

an age whose breast conceals deceit.

فاليومَ لي من نظْمِه عَجَبٌ

ولقد عُمِّرْتُ ولي بهِ عُجب

Today I marvel that I compose it,

though I have long lived with pride in it.

شَبَكُ الكريم قصيدةٌ نُظِمتْ

وبديعُ بَيتٍ وَسْطَها الحَبّ

A composed poem is a net for a generous man,

and a wondrous verse within it is the grain used as bait.

فأصِخْ وأولِ من الصنائع ما

تَرضى المَبادىءُ منه والغِبّ

So listen, and bestow such favors

whose beginnings and aftermath are pleasing.

فالجودُ فِعْلٌ واحدٌ وبه

لك شاكرانِ العَبْدُ والرَّبّ

Generosity is a single deed, and for it

you have two who thank you: the servant and the Lord.