غلس الشيب أو تعجل ورده — Albohtry

غَلَّسَ الشَيبُ أَو تَعَجَّلَ وِردَه

وَاِستَعارَ الشَبابَ مَن لا يَرُدُّهُ

Gray hair came before dawn, or hastened its arrival,

And youth was borrowed by one who will not return it.

لا تَسَلني عَنِ الصِبا بَعدَ ما صَوَّحَ

رَوضُ الصِبا وَأَنجَزَ بُردُه

Do not ask me of youth after the withering of

Youth's garden and the wearing out of its mantle.

وَمَغاضُ المَشيبِ يَغدو فَيَستَخ

لِقُ مِن عَيشِنا الَّذي نَستَجِدُّهُ

And the ebb brought by gray hair goes forth each morning to wear out

What we deem new in our life.

قاتَلَ اللَهُ قاتِلاتِ الغَواني

بِالغَرامِ المُنبي عَنِ الغَيِّ رُشدُه

May God smite the beauties who slay

With passion whose guidance speaks of error,

وَالعُيونِ المِراضِ يوقِدُ عَنهُنَّ

جَوىً يُمرِضُ الجَوانِحَ وَقدُه

And languid eyes, from which flares up

A longing whose blaze sickens the breast;

وَالخُدودِ الحِسانِ يَبهى عَلَيها

جُلَنّارُ الرَبيعِ طَلقاً وَوَردُه

And lovely cheeks, upon which glow

Spring's radiant pomegranate blossoms and its roses.

يَتَخَلّى السالي عَنِ الحُبِّ بِالشُغ

لِ وَيَغلو بِصاحِبِ الوَجدِ وَجدُه

The untroubled man frees himself from love by keeping

Busy, while the lover's passion drives him to excess.

وَمِنَ الضَيمِ في هَوى البيضِ عِندي

أَن يَوَدَّ المَتبولُ مَن لا يَوَدُّه

And to me, an injustice in loving fair-skinned women

Is for the love-stricken to love one who does not love him.

لي صَديقٌ أَعدَدتُهُ لِصُروفٍ

مِن زَمانٍ يُربي عَلى مَن يُعِدُّه

I have a friend whom I have readied for the vicissitudes

Of an age that overmatches whoever prepares for it.

سَيِّدٌ مِن بَني الحُسَينِ بنِ سَعدٍ

شادَ بُنيانَهُ الحُسَينُ وَسَعدُه

A lord of the descendants of al-Husayn ibn Sa'd,

Al-Husayn and Sa'd raised his edifice.

وَهُوَ المَجدُ لَيسَ يَحويهِ مَن لَم

يَتَقَدَّم فيهِ أَبوهُ وَجَدُّه

And that is glory: none can possess it unless

His father and grandfather preceded him in it.

ما نُبالي أَيَّ الحُظوظِ فَقَدنا

ما تَراخى عَنّا فَأُمهِلَ فَقدُه

We care not which blessings we have lost,

So long as losing him stays far from us and is deferred.

لا تَقيسَنَّ حاتِمَ الجودِ في الجو

دِ إِلَيهِ فَحاتِمٌ فيهِ عَبدُه

Never compare Hatim the generous, in generosity,

With him: for in that, Hatim is his slave.

هَزلُهُ لِلسَماحِ شيمَتُهُ وَال

بَذلُ وَالحَزمُ وَالكِفايَةُ جِدُّه

His playful disposition is toward generosity; and

Giving, resolve, and competence are his earnest work.

تَتَكافا الحالانِ مِنهُ وَمَتنُ ال

سَيفِ سَيّانِ في الغِناءِ وَحَدُّه

His two states are equal, and the back of the

Sword and its edge are alike in usefulness.

لا يَزَل يُفتَدى بِقَومٍ أَراهُم

غاضَ مَعروفُهُم وَأُترِعَ رِفدُه

May he ever be ransomed with men whom I see

With their kindness drained away, while his bounty is brimful.

ما تَجارى الأَجوادُ إِلّا شَآهُم

سابِقاً واحِدَ التَطَوُّلِ فَردُه

Whenever the generous race, he outstrips them,

Leading, unrivalled and alone in munificence.

خَيرُ ما لِلمُطالِبينَ لَدَيهِ

راحَةُ اليَأسِ مِن جَداهُم وَبَردُه

The best that petitioners can find with him

Is the relief and coolness of despairing of their bounty.

مَن يُشِن وَعدَهُ المِطالُ يُناجِز

مُنجِحاً أَو يُزانُ بِالنُجحِ وَعدُه

He whose promise delay would tarnish acts at once,

Granting success, or his promise is graced with fulfillment.

وَمِنَ الناسِ مَن يُناكِدُ حَتّى

إِنَّ فَنّاً مِنَ النَسيئَةِ نَقدُه

And among men is one so vexatious

That even his ready payment is a kind of deferment.

حادَ عَنهُ المُساجِلونَ وَهابوا

حَفلَةَ البَحرِ وَالبِحارُ تَمُدُّه

His rivals in generosity turned aside from him and feared

The sea's swelling fullness, with the seas replenishing it.