مغاني سليمى بالعقيق ودورها — Albohtry

مَغاني سُلَيمى بِالعَقيقِ وَدورُها

أَجَدَّ الشَجى إِخلاقُها وَدُثورُها

Sulayma's haunts at al-Aqiq, and her dwellings—

their decay and effacement have renewed my grief.

وَما خِلتُها مَأخوذَةً بِصَبابَتي

صَحائِفُ تُمحى بِالرِياحِ سُطورُها

And I had not thought them—so bound up with my longing—

pages whose lines the winds erase.

تُخَشّى بِأَلّا يَخلَدَ الدَهرَ حُبُّنا

وَما كُلُّ ما تَخشى النُفوسُ يَضيرُها

She is made to fear that our love will not endure forever;

yet not all that souls fear can harm them.

عَذيرِيَ مِن بَينٍ تَعَرَّضَ بَينَنا

عَلى غَفلَةٍ مِن دَهرِنا وَعَذيرُها

Who will defend me against a parting that intruded between us,

at an unguarded moment in our lives—and who will defend her?

يَحُلُّ غُرورُ الوَعدِ مِنها عَزيمَتي

وَأَحلى مَواعيدِ النِساءِ غُرورُها

The deceit of her promise undoes my resolve;

and women's sweetest promises are their deceptive ones.

وَأُلحاظُ وَطفاوَينِ إِن رُمتُ نِيَّةً

أَجَدَّ فُتوراً في عِظامي فُتورُها

And the glances of two long-lashed eyes—if I form a resolve,

their languor renews a languor in my bones.

تَزيدُنِيَ الأَيّامُ مَغبوطَ عيشَةٍ

فَيَنقُصُني نَقصَ اللَيالي مُرورُها

The days add to my years, my life the envy of others;

yet their passage diminishes me as the nights wane.

وَأَلحَقَني بِالشَيبِ في عَقرِ دارِهِ

مَناقِلُ في عَرضِ الشَبابِ أَسيرُها

And I was brought to gray age, into its very home,

by stages I travel through the midst of youth.

مَضَت في سَوادِ الرَأسِ أولى بَطالَتي

فَدَعني يُصاحِب وَخطَ شَيبي أَخيرُها

My earliest revelry passed while my hair was black;

so let its last accompany the streaks of my gray.

وَما صارَعَتني الكَأسُ حَتّى أَعانَها

عَلَيَّ بِعَينَيهِ الغَداةَ مُديرُها

The cup did not grapple with me until it was aided

against me this morning by its server, with his eyes.

تُطيلُ سُهادي حِلَّةٌ ما أَريمُها

وَمَوعِدُ نَومي حِلَّةٌ ما أَطورُها

An encampment I never leave prolongs my wakefulness;

and sleep awaits me in an encampment I never approach.

وَأَطرَيتَ لي بَغدادَ إِطراءَ مادِحٍ

وَهَذي لَياليها فَكَيفَ شُهورُها

You praised Baghdad to me with a panegyrist's praise;

these are its nights—what, then, must its months be like?

وَما صاحِبي إِلّا الحُسامُ وَبَزُّهُ

وَإِلّا العَلَنداةُ الأَمونُ وَكورُها

I have no companion but the keen sword and its trappings,

and the sturdy, sure-footed she-camel and her saddle.

وَكُنتُ مَتى تُحطَط عِجالُ رَكائِبي

إِلى الأَرضِ لا يُحجَب عَلَيَّ أَميرُها

Whenever the loads of my riding camels were lowered

to the ground, no emir of that land was kept from me.

تَوَقَّعُني الدارُ الشَطونُ أَحُلَّها

وَيَبهَجُ بي أَهلُ البِلادِ أَزورُها

The distant dwelling awaits my coming to lodge in it;

and the people of the lands I visit rejoice in me.

حَنانَيكَ مِن هَولِ البَطائِحِ سائِراً

إِلى خَطَرٍ وَالريحُ هَولٌ دَبورُها

Mercy, mercy, as I travel through the terror of the marshlands

toward peril, while the westerly wind is terror itself.

لَئِن أَوحَشَتني جَبُّلٌ وَخِصاصُها

لَما آنَسَتني واسِطٌ وَقُصورُها

If Jabbul and its huts have made me desolate,

Wasit and its palaces have given me no solace.

وَإِنَّ المَهاري إِن تَعَوَّذ مِنَ السُرى

بِسَيبِ اِبنِ بِسطامٍ يُجِرها مُجيرُها

And the Mahri camels, if they seek refuge from night travel

in Ibn Bistam's bounty, will be sheltered by their protector.

أَخٌ لي مَتى اِستَعطَفتُهُ أَو حَنَوتُهُ

فَنَفسي إِلى نَفسي أَظَلُّ أَصورُها

A brother to me: whenever I seek his sympathy or draw him toward me,

it is only my own soul that I keep turning toward itself.

إِذا ما بَدا خَلّى المَعالي دَخيلُها

وَأَنسى صَغيرَ المَكرُماتِ كَبيرُها

When he appears, the pretender abandons the heights of honor;

and his greater noble deeds eclipse the smaller ones.

وَيَبيَضُّ وَجهاً لِلسُؤالِ وَأَحسَنُ ال

غُيومِ إِذا اِستَوفاهُ لَحظٌ صَبيرُها

His face brightens at requests; and the fairest of the

clouds, when a glance takes it in, is the massed white one.

وَإِن غُمَّ أَخبارُ العَطايا فَبِشرُهُ

مُؤَدٍّ إِلَينا وَقتَها وَبَشيرُها

Even if news of gifts is concealed, his cheerful face

conveys their time to us and heralds them.

إِذا ذُكِرَت أَسلافُهُ وَتُشوهِرَت

أَماكِنُها قُلتَ النُجومُ قُبورُها

When his forebears are named and word goes abroad

of their resting places, you say, 'The stars are their tombs.'

وَما المَجدُ في أَبناءِ جُرزانَ إِذ رَسا

بِعارِيَّةٍ يَنوي اِرتِجاعاً مُعيرُها

And glory, once rooted among the sons of Jurzan,

is no loan whose lender intends to reclaim it.

بَنو بِنتِ ساسانَ اللَطي أُمَّهاتُها

نِساءٌ رُؤوسُ الخالِعينِ مُهورُها

Sons of Sasan's daughter, whose foremothers

are women whose dowries are the heads of rebels.

مَتى جِئتُهُم مِن عُسرَةٍ رَفَعوا يَدي

إِلى اليُسرِ بِالأَيدي المِلاءِ بُحورُها

Whenever I came to them in hardship, they raised my hand

to ease, with hands whose seas are full.

إِذا ماتَتِ الأَرضُ اِبتَدَوها كَأَنَّما

إِلَيهِم حَياها أَو عَلَيهِم نُشورُها

When the earth dies, they are first to succor it, as though

its rain were in their keeping, or its resurrection their charge.

وَدونَ عُلاهُم لِلمُسامينَ بَرزَخٌ

إِذا كُلِّفَتهُ العيسُ طالَ مَسيرُها

Before their heights, those who would rival them face a barrier;

if pale camels are charged with crossing it, their journey grows long.

يَحُفّونَ مَرجُواً كَأَنَّ سُيوبَهُ

سُيوحُ العِراقِ غُزرُها وَوُفورُها

They surround one men look to, whose gifts seem

the flowing waters of Iraq in abundance and fullness.

تُناطُ بِهِ الدُنيا فَإِن مُعضِلٌ عَرا

كَفى فيهِ والي سُلطَةٍ وَوَزيرُها

The world is entrusted to him; if a hard problem arises,

he suffices for the holder of power and his minister,

بِتَدبيرِ مَأمونٍ عَلى الأَمرِ رَأيُهُ

ذَكيرٍ وَأَمضى المُرهَفاتِ ذَكيرُها

through the planning of one whose judgment in affairs is trusted,

keen and resolute—the sharpest blades are the steely ones.

تُحاطُ قَواصي المُلكِ فيهِ وَتَسكُنُ ال

رَعِيَّةُ مُلقاةً إِلَيهِ أُمورُها

Through him the kingdom's farthest reaches are guarded, and the

subjects rest secure, their affairs entrusted to him.

وَذو هاجِسٍ لا يُحجَبُ الغَيبُ دونَهُ

تُريهِ بُطونَ المُشكِلاتِ ظُهورُها

He is a man of intuition, from whom the unseen is not concealed;

the outward faces of difficult matters show him their depths.

تَعودُ إِلى المَأشورِ مِن فَعَلاتِهِ

فَتَأتَمُّها في الأَمرِ أَو تَستَشيرُها

You turn to the recorded examples of his deeds,

then follow them in an affair or ask their counsel.

وَتَكمي زِجاجَ الرَأيِ حَتّى أَوانَها

لَدَيهِ كَما يَكمي الزِجاجَ جَفيرُها

And you conceal the metal tips of counsel until their proper time

in his keeping, as their quiver conceals the metal tips.

إِذا اِغتَرَبَت أُكرومَةٌ مِنهُ لَم تَجِد

مِنَ الناسِ إِلّا قائِلاً ما نَظيرُها

If a noble deed of his travels abroad, you will find none

among men who does not ask, 'What is its equal?'

إِذا قُلتُ فُتَّ الطَولِ بِالقَولِ ثُنِّيَت

دَوافِعُ مِن بَحرٍ سَريعٍ كُرورُها

Whenever I claim that words have outstripped bounty, there return

surges from a sea, swift in their recurrence.

أَما وَمِناً حَيثُ اِرجَحَنَّ تَبيعُها

وَأَوفى مُطِلّاً فَوقَ جَمعٍ ثَبيرُها

Now, by Mina, where its following throng settles heavily,

and where its Thabir towers, overlooking Jam',

وَمَرمى الحَصى بِالجَمرَتَينِ وَقَد أَنى

وُجوبُ جُنوبِ البُدنِ تَدمى نُحورُها

and by the pebble-casting place at the two Jamras, when it is time

for sacrificial camels to fall on their sides, their throats bleeding—

لَقَد كوثِرَت مِنكَ القَوافي بِمُنعِمٍ

يُكايِلُها حَتّى يَقِلَّ كَثيرُها

indeed, in you my rhymes are rivaled by a lavish giver,

who matches them measure for measure until their abundance seems scant.

فَإِن حَسَرَت عَن فَضلِ نُعمى فَإِنَّها

مَطايا يُوَفّيكَ البَلاغَ حَسيرُها

If they fall short of a favor's full measure, they are

mounts whose weary ones still carry you all the way.

أُحِبُّ اِنتِظاراتِ المَواعِدِ وَالَّتي

تَجيءُ اِختِلاساً لا يَدومُ سُرورُها

I love awaiting promised gifts; those that

come suddenly bring joy that does not last.

وَإِنَّ جِمامَ الماءِ يَزدادُ نَفعُها

إِذا صَكَّ أَسماعَ العِطاشِ خَريرُها

And brimming pools of water grow more useful

when their murmur strikes the ears of the thirsty.

وَوَشكُ النَجاحِ كَالسُمِيِّ هَواطِلاً

يُضاعِفُ وَسمِيّاتِهِنَّ بُكورُها

And imminent fulfillment is like rainclouds pouring down:

their early coming doubles the worth of their autumn rains.