إستقبلا الركب في أطلالهم وقفا — Albohtry

إِستَقبِلا الرَكبَ في أَطلالِهِم وَقِفا

وَإِن أَمَحَّ بِلىً مَأثورُها وَعَفا

You two, meet the caravan at their ruined dwellings, and halt,

though their surviving traces have worn away with age and vanished.

تَأبى المَنازِلُ أَن آبى الأَسى فَمَتى

أَبلَلتُ مِنهُ سُلُوّاً هِضنَني كَلَفا

The dwellings will not let me refuse grief; whenever

I recover from it through forgetfulness, they break me anew with longing.

يَستَشرِفُ الناسُ إِعوالي وَقَد جَزَعَت

أَحداجُهُم هَضَباتِ الجِزعِ مِن شَرَفا

People crane their necks at my wailing, while

their howdahs have crossed the hills of the valley bend from Sharafā.

وَفي الخُدورِ بُدورٌ قَلَّما طَلَعَت

إِلّا تَصَرَّمَ ضَوءُ البَدرِ أَو كُسِفا

Within the curtained chambers are full moons that seldom rise

without the full moon's light dying away or being eclipsed.

مَقسومَةٌ بَينَ أَردافٍ مُبَتَّلَةٍ

تَدعو الهَوى وَخُصورٍ أُرهِفَت هَيَفا

Divided between well-formed hips

that summon desire, and waists refined to slenderness.

قَد كُنتُ أَشكو تَمادي حُبِّها حَدَثاً

فَالآنَ أَطمَعُ في إِنصافِها نَصَفا

In youth I used to lament my enduring love for her;

now, in middle age, I hope she will treat me fairly.

وَلي فُؤادٌ إِذا نَهنَهتُ صَبوَتَهُ

أَبى وَدَمعٌ إِذا كَفكَفتُهُ وَكَفا

I have a heart that, when I restrain its longing,

rebels, and tears that flow whenever I wipe them back.

أَكادُ مِن كَلَفٍ أُعطي الحَمامَ يَداً

إِذا الحَمامُ عَلى أَغصانِهِ هَتَفا

In my lovesickness I nearly give death my hand,

whenever the doves cry upon their branches.

ماباشَرَ النارَ مَشبوباً تَضَرُّمُها

مَن لَم يُضِف تَحتَ أَحناءِ الحَشا كَلَفا

None has known fire with its blaze fiercely kindled

who has not harbored passion beneath the folds of his breast.

أَراجِعٌ مِن شَبابي قَيضُ مُبتَذَلٍ

أَنفَقتُهُ في لُباناتِ الهَوى سَرَفا

Will a replacement return for my squandered youth,

which I spent extravagantly on love's desires?

لِلَّهِ أَيّامُنا ما كانَ أَحسَنَها

لَو أَنَّ دَهراً تَوَلّى ذاهِباً وَقَفا

God bless our days—how beautiful they were,

if only time had halted instead of passing away!

لا تَكذُبَنَّ فَما الدُنيا بِراجِعَةٍ

مافاتَ مِن لَذَّةِ الدُنيا وَما سَلَفا

Do not deceive yourself: the world will not restore

the worldly pleasures that are lost and all that has passed.

لَولا الأَميرُ اِبنُ صَفوانٍ وَأَنعُمُهُ

ما لانَ ما لانَ مِن أَيّامِنا وَصَفا

Were it not for the emir, Ibn Safwan, and his favors,

our days would never have grown so gentle and clear.

غَمرٌ يَمُدُّ إِلى العَلياءِ مِنهُ يَداً

تُعطيهِ عادَتُها المَمنوعَ وَالسَعَفا

Boundlessly generous, he reaches toward eminence with a hand

whose wont wins him both the withheld and the freely granted.

إِن أَخلَفَ القَطرُ أَو أَكدَت مَخيلَتُهُ

كانَت يَداهُ لَنا مِن صَوبِهِ خَلَفا

If the rain fails, or its promising cloud proves barren,

his two hands make up to us for its downpour.

ماضي الحُسامِ إِذا حَدَّ الحُسامِ نَبا

ثَبتُ الجَنانِ إِذا قَلبُ الجَبانِ هَفا

Keen of sword when a sword's edge glances off,

steadfast of heart when a coward's heart falters.

رَبُّ العَزائِمِ لَو رادى بِأَصغَرِها

ذَوائِبَ الهَضبِ مِن رَضوى لَقَد رَجَفا

Master of resolve: were he to challenge, with the least of his resolves,

the hilltops of Radwa, they would surely quake.

سائِل سُلَيماً بِهِ إِذ ماقَ جاهِلُها

حيناً فَأَدرَكَهُ مَكروهُ ما اِقتَرَفا

Ask Sulaym about him, when their fool acted foolishly

for a time, and the evil of his deeds overtook him.

مِن حينِهِم أَن غَلَوا بَغياً فَغادَرَهُم

فَرطُ الغُلُوِّ لِأَطرافِ القَنا هَدَفا

Their doom was to overstep in rebellion; they were left

by their excess as targets for the spearpoints.

أَتَوكَ يُزجيهُمُ لِلحَينِ جاهِلِهُم

مُستَقدِماً بِهِمُ لِلبَغيِ مُزدَلِفا

They came at you, their fool driving them toward destruction,

bringing them forward and closer to rebellion.

في كُلِّ يَومٍ صُدورُ السُمرِ مُشرَعَةً

تَمري نَجيعاً عَلى أَعجازِهِم نُطَفا

Each day, the points of the brown spears are leveled,

milking out blood that drips upon their hindquarters.

أَمطَرتَ أَرؤُسَهُم ضَرباً تَرَكتَ بِهِ

مَأثورَةَ السُمرِ مُنآداً وَمُنقَصِفا

You rained blows upon their heads, and with them left

their heirloom brown spears bent and shattered.

يَستَنزِلُ القَونَسَ المَحبوكَ مُنبَتِراً

مِن وَقعِهِ وَيَخوضُ النَثرَةَ الزَعَفا

Each blow brings down the close-wrought helmet, sheared apart

by its impact, and plunges through the supple mail.

كَأَنَّ وَقعَ سُيوفِ الهِندِ سابِحَةٍ

في هامِهِم حَشُّ نارٍ تَحتَها سَعَفا

As if the blows of Indian swords swimming

through their skulls were a fire stoked from below with palm fronds.

كَم مُقعِصٍ مِنهُمُ تَدمى تَرائِبُهُ

وَلا حِجٍ في وَثاقِ الأَسرِ قَد رَسَفا

How many of them lie slain outright, their breastbones bleeding,

or caught fast, shuffling in the bonds of captivity!

أَولى لَهُم لَو بِغَيرِ الطاعَةِ اِعتَصَموا

لَاِستَمطَروا عارِضاً مِن سَطوَةٍ قَصَفا

Woe to them! Had they sought shelter in anything but obedience,

they would have summoned a crashing storm-cloud of might.

أَبوكَ أَطفَأَ نارَ الحَربِ إِذ كَشَرَت

شَنعاءَ مَذروبَةً أَنيابُها غَضَفا

Your father put out war's fire when it bared its teeth,

hideous, with keen, curved fangs.

عَمَّ الجَزيرَةَ عَدلاً شائِعاً وَنَدىً

غَمراً أَماطا ظَلامَ الظُلمِ فَاِنكَشَفا

He filled al-Jazira with widespread justice and bounty

overflowing; both dispelled oppression's darkness, and it vanished.

فَأَصبَحَت بَعدَ أَن غاضَت بَشاشَتُها

بِعَدلِهِ وَنَداهُ رَوضَةً أُنُفا

Thus, after its gladness had ebbed away, it became

through his justice and bounty a fresh, ungrazed meadow.

لَم يَتَّرِك وَسَطاً مِنها عَلى وَجَلٍ

إِلّا عَلى الأَمنِ مُطوِيّاً وَلا طَرَفا

He left no central district of it in fear,

nor any border, but enfolded each in safety.

ياناصِرَ الدينِ كافا اللَهُ سَعيَكَ عَن

مَعاشِرٍ شارَفوا أَن يَنفَدوا تَلَفا

O champion of the faith, may God reward your striving on behalf of

peoples who were on the brink of perishing utterly.

سَلَلتَ دونَ بَني الإِسلامِ سَيفَ وَغىً

أَبرا الجَوانِحَ مِن أَوغامِها وَشَفى

You drew, in defense of Islam's sons, a sword of battle

that cured their breasts of rancor and brought healing.

أَطفَأتَ نارَ العِدى عَنهُم وَقَد ذَكُوَت

وَذُدتَ نابَ الرَدى عَنهُم وَقَد صَرَفا

You put out their enemies' fire against them, already blazing,

and drove death's fang away from them, already gnashing.

حَتّى إِذا ما الهُدى مالَت دَعائِمُهُ

وَاِستَرجَفَ العَدلُ مِن أَقطارِهِ فَهَفا

Until, when guidance's pillars began to lean,

and justice shook at every edge and faltered,

دَلَفتَ مُستَنصِراً بِاللَهِ مُنتَصِراً

لِلَّهِ غَيرانَ تَحمي دينَهُ أَنِفا

you advanced, seeking God's aid and championing

God's cause, zealously guarding His faith in proud indignation.

لَمّا تَراءاكَ في دَيجورِ قَسطَلِهِ

تُزجي مِنَ المَوتِ فيها عارِضاً قَصَفا

When he saw you through the blackness of his battle-dust,

driving through it a thunderous cloud of death,

وَلّى وَخَيلُكَ تَحتَ اللَيلِ تَنشُدُهُ

مُستَعصِماً بِحِبالِ الرومِ مُعتَسِفا

he fled, while your horsemen sought him beneath the night,

clinging to the Romans' ropes of protection, wandering astray.

إِن يَنجُ مُنهَزِماً رَكضاً فَقَد وَطِئَت

مِنهُ الرِماحُ صَليفَي كاهِلٍ وَقَفا

If he escapes, routed and galloping, already

the spears have trodden both sides of his shoulders and his nape.

لَئِن أَقَمتَ قَناةَ الدينِ وَاِعتَدَلَت

فَما تَرى أَوَداً فيها وَلا جَنَفا

If you have straightened the faith's spear-shaft until it stands true,

and see in it neither bend nor crookedness,

فَلَم يَزَل مِنكُمُ حِصنٌ يُلاذُ بِهِ

إِذا عَجاجُ الرَدى في فِتيَةٍ عَصَفا

among you there has always been a fortress to shelter in,

when death's dust-storm rages among young warriors.

إِلَيكَ أَلقَت نِزارٌ ثِنيَ مِقوَدِها

طَوعاً فَأَصبَحَ مِنها الشَملُ مُؤتَلِفا

To you Nizar cast the loop of her rein,

willingly, and her people were brought into unity.

لَولا دِفاعُكَ كانَ المُلكُ مُهتَضِماً

وَالشَعبُ مُنفَرِجاً وَالأَمرُ مُختَلِفا

Without your defense, the kingdom would have been trampled,

the people divided, and all affairs at odds.

لِلَّهِ أَنتَ رَحى هَيجاءَ مُشعَلَةٍ

إِذا القَنا مِن صُباباتِ الطُلى رَعَفا

God bless you, the millstone of a blazing battle,

when spears bleed with the last drippings from throats.

لَمّا تَمادَت شَكاةُ الدينِ أَعجَزَهُ

إِلّا بِسَيفِكَ مِن تِلكَ الشَكاةِ شِفا

When the faith's affliction lingered, it could find

no cure for that affliction except through your sword.

أَمّا العُفاةُ فَقَد أَلقَوا عَصِيَّهُمُ

حَيثُ العَطايا بِداراً وَالنَدى سَرَفا

As for those seeking bounty, they have laid down their staffs

where gifts are prompt and generosity extravagant.

رَأَوكَ أَندى الوَرى كَفّاً وَأَمنَعَهُم

كَهفاً وَأَوطَأَهُم لِلمُعتَفي كَنَفا

They saw you as the most open-handed of men, and their strongest

cave of refuge, their gentlest shelter for a seeker of bounty.

ما كانَ مِنكَ الفِناءُ الرَحبُ إِذ نَزَلوا

ضَنكَ المَحَلِّ وَلا كانَ النَوالُ لَفا

Your spacious courtyard, when they alighted there, was never

a cramped lodging, nor was your bounty scant.

إِذا الرِجالُ تَعاطَوا ذِكرَ مَكرُمَةٍ

غَمَرتَهُم سُؤدُداً أَو طُلتَهُم شَرَفا

When men exchange accounts of noble deeds,

you overwhelm them in nobility or surpass them in honor.

أَمسى بِكَ المُصرَمُ المَحرومُ مُغتَبِطاً

مُعدىً عَلى الدَهرِ وَالمَظلومِ مُنتَصِفا

Through you, the destitute and deprived have become glad,

aided against time, and the wronged have gained redress.

بِطَولِكَ اِنحازَتِ الأَيّامُ راجِعَةً

عَن ساحَتي وَصُروفُ الدَهرِ مُنصَرَفا

Through your bounty, the days have drawn back,

from my courtyard, and time's reversals have turned away.

حَسبي بِجودِكَ فَذّاً أَستَعينُ بِهِ

عَلى الخُطوبِ إِذا ما اِعصَوصَبَت وَكَفى

Your generosity alone suffices me; I draw on it

against calamities when they crowd together—and it is enough.