لما وصلت أسماء من حبلنا شكر — Albohtry

لِما وَصَلَت أَسماءُ مِن حَبلِنا شُكرُ

وَإِن حُمَّ بِالبَينِ الَّذي لَم نُرِد قَدرُ

For what Asma has maintained of our bond, thanks are due,

though fate decreed the parting we did not desire.

إِذا ما اِستَقَلَّت زَفرَةٌ لِفُراقِهِم

فَما عُذرُها أَلّا يَضيقَ بِها الصَدرُ

When a sigh rises at their departure,

what excuse has it for not making the breast grow tight?

نَصيبِيَ مِن حُبّيكِ أَنَّ صَبابَةً

مُبَرِّحَةً تَبري العِظامَ وَلا تَبرو

My lot in loving you is a longing,

agonizing, that wears away the bones and never abates.

وَتَحتَ ضُلوعي مِن هَواكَ جَوانِحُ

مُحَرَّقَةٌ في كُلِّ جانِحَةٍ جَمرُ

And beneath my ribs, through love of you, lie inner ribs,

scorched, with embers in every one.

وَقَد طَرَفَت عَيناكِ عَينَيَّ لا قَذى

أَصابَهُما مِن عِندِ عَينَيكِ بَل سِحرُ

Your eyes have struck my eyes; it was no mote

that struck them from your eyes, but sorcery.

وِصالٌ سَقاني الخَبلَ صِرفاً فَلَم يَكُن

لِيَبلُغَ ما أَدَّت عَقابيلَهُ الهَجرُ

Union made me drink pure madness; never could

estrangement match what that union's aftereffects brought.

وَباقي شَبابٍ في مَشيبٍ مَغَلَّبٍ

عَلَيهِ اِختِتاءُ اليَومِ يَكثُرُهُ الشَهرُ

And a remnant of youth amid gray hair, overpowered

by the day's stealthy theft, which the month outdoes.

وَلَيسَ طَليقَ القَومِ مَن راحَ أَو غَدا

يَسومُ التَصابي وَالمَشيبُ لَهُ أَسرُ

No free man among his people is he who, evening or morning,

seeks youthful dalliance while gray hair holds him captive.

تَطاوَحَني العَصرانِ في رَجَوَيهِما

يُسَيِّبُني عَصرٌ وَيَعلَقُني عَصرُ

Day and night have tossed me between their two shores;

one time lets me loose, another holds me fast.

مَتاعٌ مِنَ الدَهرِ اِستَبَدَّ بِجِدَّتي

وَأَعظَمُ جُرمِ الدَهرِ أَن يُمتَعَ الدَهرُ

A spell of time has claimed my freshness;

and time's greatest crime is that it should be prolonged.

سَتَرتُ عَلى الدُنيا وَلَو شِئتُ لَم يَكُن

عَلى عَيبِها مِن نَحوِ ذي نَظَرٍ سِترُ

I covered the world's faults; had I wished, there would be

no veil over its flaw before a discerning eye.

وَخادَعتُ رَأيِي إِنَّما العَيشُ خُدعَةٌ

لِرَأيِكَ تَستَدعي الجَهالَةَ أَو سُكرُ

I deceived my judgment: life is only a trick

played on your reason, calling for ignorance—or else intoxication.

وَما زِلتُ مُذ أَيسَرتُ أَسمو إِلى الَّتي

يُرادُ لَها حَتّى يُسادَ بِهِ اليُسرُ

Ever since I grew prosperous, I have aspired to the end

for which wealth is sought: to gain lordship through it.

إِذا ما الفَتى استَغنى فَلَم يُعطِ نَفسَهُ

تَعَلِّيَ نَفسٍ بِالغِنى فَالغِنى فَقرُ

If a young man grows wealthy but does not grant his soul

a soul's elevation through wealth, then wealth is poverty.

وَيُرثى لِبَعضِ القَومِ مِن بَعضِ مالِهِ

إِذا ما اليَدُ المَلأى شَأَتها اليَدُ الصِفرُ

Some men deserve pity on account of some of their wealth,

when the empty hand outstrips the full.

أَرَقَّت جِناياتُ المُضَلَّلِ ثَروَتي

فَلا نَشَبٌ بَعدَ العُبَيدِ وَلا وَفرُ

The misguided man's misdeeds have thinned my fortune;

after al-ʿUbayd, neither property nor plenty remains.

وَقَد زَعَموا مِصرٌ مَعانٌ مِنَ الغِنى

فَكَيفَ أَسَفَّت بي إِلى عَدَمٍ مِصرُ

They claimed Egypt was an abode of wealth;

how, then, has Egypt brought me so low into destitution?

سَيَجبُرُ كَسري المَصقَلِيّونَ إِنَّهُم

بِهِم تُدفَعُ الجُلّى وَيُجتَبَرُ الكَسرُ

The Masqalis will mend my broken fortunes; indeed,

through them great calamity is averted and fractures mended.

فَما تَتَعاطى ما يَنالونَهُ يَدٌ

وَلا يَتَقَصّى ما يُنيلونَهُ شُكرُ

No hand can aspire to what they attain,

nor can thanks encompass what they bestow.

عَريقونَ في الإِفضالِ يُؤتَنَفُ النَدى

لِناشِئِهِم مِن حَيثُ يُؤتَنَفُ العُمرُ

Deep-rooted in beneficence: generosity begins anew

for their young where life itself begins.

إِذا تَجَروا في سُؤدَدٍ وَتَزايَدوا

فَأَنفَقُ ما أَبضَعتَ عِندَهُمُ الشِعرُ

When they trade in lordly honor and outbid one another,

poetry is the best-selling merchandise you consign to them.

يُجازي القَوافي بِالأَيادي مُبِرَّةً

تَضاعيفُها في كُلِّ واحِدَةٍ عَشرُ

He rewards rhymes with bountiful favors,

their multiples ten for every one.

غَدَوا عَبِقي الأَكنافِ تَأرَجُ أَرضُهُم

بِطيبِ ثَناءٍ ما يُواثى بِهِ العِطرُ

They have grown fragrant all around; their land breathes

the sweetness of praise no perfume can match.

وَما سَوَّدَ الأَقوامُ مِثلَ عُمارَةٍ

إِذا نُسِيَ الأَقوامُ شاعَ لَهُ ذِكرُ

No peoples have made a chief of anyone like ʿUmara;

when peoples are forgotten, his renown spreads.

تَجَنَّب سُراهُم لِلعُلا وَاِبتِغائِها

بِسَعيٍ وَعَرِّس حَيثُ أَدرَكَكَ الفَجرُ

Shun their night-march toward greatness and the quest for it

through striving; make camp wherever dawn overtakes you.

فَما لَكَ في أَطوادِ شَيبانَ مُرتَقىً

وَلا مِنكَ في حَوزٍ جَماجِمُها الكُبرُ

You have no ascent up Shayban's mountains,

nor are its mighty clan-heads within your grasp.

وَقَد مُلِّيَت فَخراً رَبيعَةُ أَن سَعى

لَها مِن سِوى بَكرِ بنِ وائِلِها بَكرُ

Rabiʿa has been granted lasting pride, since there strove

for her a Bakr besides her own Bakr ibn Waʾil.

وَما أَشرَفُ البَكرَينِ مَن لَم يَكُن لَهُ

حَبيبٌ أَباً يَومَ التَفاضُلِ أَو عَمرُو

The nobler of the two Bakrs is not one who cannot claim

Habib or ʿAmr as a father when merit is weighed.

وَيَحمِلُ إِسماعيلُ عَنّا اِبنَ بُلبُلٍ

مِنَ المَحلِ عِبئاً لَيسَ يَحمِلُهُ القَطرُ

Ismaʿil, Ibn Bulbul, bears away from us

a burden of drought that rain itself cannot bear.

بِغُزرِ يَدٍ مِنهُ تَقولُ تَعَلَّمَت

يَدُ الغَيثِ مِنها أَو تَقَيَّلَها البَحرُ

With such abundance in his hand that you would say

rain's hand learned from it, or the sea took it as its model.

وَكَم بَسَطَ الخِضرُ بنُ أَحمَدَ غايَةً

مِنَ المَجدِ لا يَقفو مَسافَتَها الخِضرُ

How often al-Khidr ibn Ahmad has set a goal

of glory whose course al-Khidr cannot follow.

لَهُ الفَعَلاتُ الدَهرُ أَقطَعُ دونَها

أَشَلُّ وَظَهرُ الأَرضِ مِن مِثلِها قَفرُ

His are deeds before which Time is maimed,

palsied; earth's surface is barren of their like.

مُقيمٌ عَلى نَهجٍ مِنَ الجودِ واضِحٍ

وَنَحنُ إِلى جَمّاتِ نائِلِهِ سَفرُ

He keeps to a clear path of generosity,

and we are travelers toward the pools of his bounty.

يُدَنّي لَنا الحاجاتِ مَطلَبُها نَوىً

شَطونٌ وَمَأتاها عَلى نَأيِها وَعرُ

He brings our needs close, though their quest lies far away,

remote, and their approach, for all its distance, is rugged.

مُضيءٌ يَنوبُ اليُسرُ عَن ضَحِكاتِهِ

وَلا رَيبَ في أَنَّ العُبوسَ هُوَ العُسرُ

Radiant, with ease standing in for his laughter;

and there is no doubt that frowning is hardship itself.

وَلَو ضُمِنَ المَعروفَ طَيُّ صَحيفَةٍ

تُكادُ عَلَيهِ كانَ عُنوانَها البِشرُ

Were beneficence enclosed in the fold of a scroll

devised to hold it, cheerfulness would be its heading.

فَتىً لا يُريدُ الوَفرَ إِلّا ذَخيرَةً

لِمَأثُرَةٍ تَرتادُ أَو مَغرَمٍ يَعرو

A youth who desires wealth only as a reserve

for a noble deed to pursue, or an expense that befalls him.

وَأَكثَرُهُم يَهوى الإِضافَةَ كَي يُرى

لَهُ في الَّذي يَأتيهِ مِن طَبَعٍ عُذرُ

Most men yearn for poverty, so there may be found

an excuse for the baseness of their behavior.

رَبيعٌ تُرَجّيهِ رَبيعَةُ لِلغِنى

وَتَبكَرُ اِتباعاً لِأَبوابِهِ بَكرُ

A springtime Rabiʿa looks to for prosperity,

and Bakr comes early in pursuit of his gates.

أَبا عامِرٍ إِنَّ المَعالي وَأَهلَها

يَوَدّونَ وَدّاً أَن يَطولَ بِكَ العُمرُ

O Abu ʿAmir, high honors and their people

fondly wish that your life may be long.

إِذا جِئتُمُ أُكرومَةً تَبهَرُ الوَرى

فَما هِيَ بِدعٌ مِن عُلاكُم وَلا نُكرُ

Whenever you perform a noble deed that dazzles mankind,

it is no novelty in your greatness, nor anything strange.

وَمازالَ مِن آبائِهِ وَجُدودِهِ

لَهُ أَنجُمٌ في سَقفِ عَليائِهِم زُهرُ

From his fathers and grandfathers there have always been

for him bright stars in the roof of their eminence.

وَأُكرومَةٍ جَلّى أَبو الصَقرِ طامِحاً

إِلَيها كَما جَلّى طَريدَتَهُ الصَقرُ

Many a noble deed Abu al-Saqr has sighted, aspiring

toward it, as the falcon sights its quarry.

يُجاوِزُها المَغمورُ لا يَنثَني لَها

بِعِطفٍ وَيَنحو نَحوَها النابِهُ الغَمرُ

The obscure man passes it by, never turning toward it

with any inclination; the renowned, bountiful man makes for it.

مَتى جِئتُموها أَو دُعيتُم لِمِثلِها

فَما هِيَ مِن بَكرِ بنِ وائِلِكُم بِكرُ

Whenever you achieve it, or are summoned to its like,

it is no maiden deed from your Bakr ibn Waʾil.

إِذا نَحنُ كافَأناكُمُ عَن صَنيعَةٍ

أَنِفنا فَلا التَقصيرُ مِنّا وَلا الكُفرُ

When we repay you for a kindness,

we disdain shortfall: neither neglect nor ingratitude is ours—

بِمَنقوشَةٍ نَقشَ الدَنانيرِ يُنتَقى

لَها اللَفظُ مُختاراً كَما يُنتَقى التِبرُ

with a poem engraved like dinars; selected

for it are choice words, as gold dust is selected.

تَبيتُ أَمامَ الريحِ مِنها طَليعَةٌ

وَغَدوَتُها شَهرٌ وَرَوحَتُها شَهرُ

Its vanguard spends the night ahead of the wind;

its morning journey a month, its evening journey a month.

تُوَفّى دُيونُ المُنعِمينَ وَيُقتَنى

لَهُم مِن بَواقي ما أَعاضَتهُمُ فَخرُ

The debts to benefactors are paid in full, and there is won

for them, from the surplus of its recompense, glory.