عزمت على المنازل أن تبينا — Albohtry

عَزَمتُ عَلى المَنازِلِ أَن تُبينا

وَإِن دِمَنٌ بَلينَ كَما بَلينا

I adjured the dwellings to speak clearly,

though they are ruins worn away as we are worn.

نُمَتَّعُ مِن تَداني مَن قَلينا

وَنُمنَعُ مِن تَداني مَن هَوينا

We are granted the nearness of those we loathe,

and denied the nearness of those we love.

فَكَم مِن مُنتَوىً لَهُمُ لَوَ أَنّا

نُعاني مُرَّهُ حيناً فَحينا

How many are their far-off sojourns—if only we

suffered their bitterness merely now and then!

جَمَعنا مِن لَياليهِ شُهوراً

وَمِن أَعدادِ أَشهُرِهِ سِنينا

We have gathered months from their nights,

and years from the tally of their months.

نُليحُ مِنَ الغَرامِ إِذا اِعتَرانا

وَأَبرَحُ مِنهُ أَلّا يَعتَرينا

We waste away when consuming love overtakes us,

yet worse than love is that it should not overtake us.

وَمِن سَقَمٍ مَبيتُ المَرءِ خِلواً

بِلا سَقَمٍ يَبيتُ لَهُ رَهينا

And it is a sickness for a man to pass the night heart-free,

without an illness to which he lies captive.

شَرَكنا العيسَ ما نَدَعُ التَصابي

لِواحِدَةٍ وَما تَدَعُ الحَنينا

We share the pale camels' state: we do not forsake youthful longing

for one woman, nor do they forsake their plaintive cries.

إِذا بَدَأَت لَنا أُسلوبَ شَوقٍ

رَأَينا في التَصابي ما تُرينا

When they begin a strain of longing before us,

we see in youthful passion what they show us.

بِعَمرِكَ كَيفَ نَرضى ما أَبانا

مِنَ الدُنيا وَنَسخَطُ ما يَجينا

By your life, how can we be pleased with what spurns us

in this world, yet resent what comes to us?

عَنانا ما عَساهُ يُزالُ عَنّا

وَأَنصَبَنا تَكَلُّفُ ما كُفينا

We are troubled by what may yet be removed from us,

and exhausted by undertaking what we have been spared.

يُقَيَّضُ لِلحَريصِ الغَيظُ بَحتاً

وَتَتَّجِهُ الحُظوظُ لِمَن قُضينا

Nothing but vexation is allotted to the covetous,

while fortune's shares go to those for whom they were decreed.

وَما هُوَ كائِنٌ وَإِنِ اِستَطَلنا

إِلَيهِ النَهجَ يوشِكُ أَن يَكونا

And what is to be, though we find long

the road toward it, will soon come to pass.

فَلا تُغرَر مِنَ الأَيّامِ وَاِنظُر

إِلى أَقسامِها عَمَّن زُوينا

So do not be deceived by the days; consider

their allotments, and from whom they are withheld.

كَفَلتُ بِنُجحِ سارِيَةِ المَطايا

إِذا أَسرَت إِلى أَذكوتِكينا

I guarantee success for the night-traveling mounts,

when they journey by night to Adhkutikin:

إِلى خَوفِ العِدى حَتّى يَبيتوا

عَلى ضِغنٍ وَأَمنِ الخائِفينا

to the terror of his foes, till they spend the night

in rancor, and to the safety of the fearful.

فَتى الفِتيانِ عارِفَةً وَبَأساً

وَخَيرُ خِيارِهِم دُنيا وَدينا

The foremost of young men in kindness and valor,

the best of their best in worldly life and faith.

أَباحَ حِمى الدَيالِمِ في حُروبٍ

سَقَت هيمَ القَنا حَتّى رَوينا

He laid open the protected lands of the Daylamites in wars

that gave drink to thirsty spears until they were sated.

إِذا طَلَبوا لَها الأَشباهَ كانَت

غَرائِبَ ما سُمِعنَ وَلا رُؤينا

When they seek parallels for those wars, they prove

wonders never heard of nor seen.

وَأَعهَدُ أَرضَهُم أَعدى سِباعاً

وَآشَبَ دونَ عادِيَةٍ عَرينا

And I remember their land as fiercer in its beasts,

and denser in thickets against an onslaught.

فَتِلكَ جِبالُها عادَت سُهولاً

وَكانَت قَبلَ مَغزاهُ حُزونا

Yet there are its mountains, turned to plains,

which before his campaign had been rugged ground.

وَكانوا جَمعَ مَملَكَةِ فَآلوا

طَوائِفَ في مَخابيهِم عَزينا

They had been a kingdom's united host, but became

factions, scattered bands in their hiding places.

وَلَم يَنجُ اِبنُ جَستانٍ لِشَيءٍ

سِوى الأَقدارِ غالَبَتِ المَنونا

Ibn Jastan escaped for no reason

save that fate's decrees overcame death.

وَكَم مِن وَقعَةٍ قَد رامَ فيها

ظُهورَ الأَرضِ يَجعَلُها بُطونا

In how many a battle did he seek

to turn the earth's back into its belly!

يَصُدُّ عَنِ الفَوارِسِ صَدَّ قالٍ

عَنِ العَشَراتِ يَحسِبُها مِئينا

He turns from the horsemen with a hater's aversion,

from mere tens that he reckons as hundreds.

يُلاوِذُ وَالأَسِنَّةُ تَدَّريهِ

شِمالاً حَيثُ وَجَّهَ أَو يَمينا

He seeks cover while the spearheads stalk him,

leftward, wherever he turns, or rightward.

سَما لِبَوارِهِ خِرقٌ إِذا ما

سَما لِلصَعبِ أَوجَبَ أَن يَهونا

A resourceful man rose to destroy him, one who, whenever

he rises against the difficult, makes it easy:

أَبو حَسَنٍ وَما لِلدَهرِ حَليٌ

سِوى آثارِهِ الحَسَناتِ فينا

Abu Hasan—and time has no adornment

save the good traces he has left among us.

يَقِلُّ الناسُ أَن يَتَقَيَّلوهُ

وَأَن يَدنوا إِلَيهِ مُشاكِلينا

Men fall short of emulating him

or drawing near him as his equals.

وَظَنُّكَ بِالضَرائِبِ أَن تَكافا

كَظَنِّكَ بِالأَصابِعِ يَستَوينا

To suppose that men's natures can be equal

is like supposing fingers are all alike.

وَلَم أَرَ مِثلَهُ حَشَدَت عَلَيهِ

صُروفُ الدَهرِ أَبكاراً وَعونا

I have never seen his like, when against him gather

time's reversals, maiden and mature:

أَقَرَّ عَلى نُزولِ الخَطبِ جَأشاً

وَأَوضَحَ تَحتَ حادِثَةٍ جَبينا

so steadfast of heart when calamity descends,

so bright of brow beneath misfortune.

نَسينا ما عَهِدنا غَيرَ أَنّا

يُذَكِّرُنا نَداهُ ما نَسينا

We have forgotten what we once knew, except that

his generosity reminds us of what we forgot.

وَلَولا جودُهُ الباقي عَلَينا

لَكانَ الجودُ أَنفَسَ ما رُزينا

Were it not for his bounty, still bestowed upon us,

generosity would be the most precious thing we had lost.

أُعينَ عَلى مُكايَدَةِ الأَعادي

مِنِ اِبنِ الشَلمَغانِ بِما أُعينا

He was aided in outwitting his enemies

by Ibn al-Shalmaghan—and what aid it was!—

بِأَزهَرَ مِن بَني ساسانَ يَلقى

بِهِ اللّاقونَ عِلقَهُمُ الثَمينا

by a radiant scion of Sasan, in whom

those who meet him find their precious treasure.

تُقَصِّرُ عَن مِثالِ يَدَيهِ عِلماً

فَقَصرُكَ أَن تَظُنَّ بِهِ الظُنونا

You fall short of knowing the measure of his two hands;

so your utmost is to form conjectures about him.

وَما هُوَ غَيرُ خَوضِ الشَكِّ يوما

إِلَيهِ حَيثُ لا تَجِدُ اليَقينا

It is never more than wading through doubt

toward him, where you can find no certainty.

وَقَد صَلُبَت عَلى ظَنِّ المُناوي

قَناةٌ آيَسَت مِن أَن تَلينا

And, defying the foe's expectations, there stands firm

a spear-shaft that leaves no hope it will bend.

وَلَمّا كَشَّفَتهُ الحَربُ أَعلى

لَها لَهَباً يَهولُ الموقِدينا

And when war laid him bare, he raised

for it a flame that terrifies those who kindle it.

تُريكَ السَيفَ هَيبَتُهُ مُذالاً

وَيَكني عَن حَقيقَتِها مَصونا

The awe he inspires shows you the sword in use;

and, kept safe, it hints at that awe's true nature.

مُثَبِّتُ نِعمَةٍ وَمُزيلُ أُخرى

إِذا أَمَرَت عَواذِلَهُ عُصينا

He secures one blessing and takes another away;

when his reprovers command, they are disobeyed.

تَتَبَّعَ فائِتاتِ الخَيرِ حَتّى

نُشِرنَ رَواجِعاً عَمّا طُوينا

He sought out vanished deeds of goodness until

they were unfurled again from where they lay folded.

يَرى دُوَلَ الصَلاحِ بِعَينِ راعٍ

يَكادُ يُعيدُهُنَّ كَما بُدينا

He watches virtue's reigns with a shepherd's eye,

almost restoring them as they first began.

مَتى لَم يَزكُ في العَرَبِ اِرتِيادي

حَطَتُ إِلى رِباعِ الأَعجَمينا

Whenever my seeking among the Arabs bears no fruit,

I alight at the dwellings of the non-Arabs.

نُوالي مَعشَراً قَرُبوا إِلَينا

وَنُثري مِن تَطَوُّلِ آخَرينا

We are loyal to people who have drawn near to us,

and grow rich through the bounty of others.

وَقُربى الأَبعَدينَ بِما أَنالوا

تَخُصُّكَ دونَ قُربى الأَقرَبينا

And kinship with the far-off, through what they bestow,

is especially yours, unlike kinship with the nearest.

بَنو أَعمامِنا الدانونَ مِنّا

وَواهِبَةُ النَوالِ بَنو أَبينا

Those close to us are sons of our paternal uncles;

but the givers of bounty are sons of our father.