نصيب عينيك من سح وتسجام — Albohtry

نَصيبُ عَينَيكَ مِن سَحٍّ وَتَسجامِ

وَحَظُّ قَلبِكَ مِن بَثٍّ وَتَهيامِ

Your eyes' share is pouring, streaming tears,

and your heart's portion is anguish and love's delirium.

أَشجى وَأُرمى بِوَجدٍ مُنصِبٍ وَهَوىً

مُبَرِّحِ الخَبلِ في شاجي وَفي رامي

I grieve and am struck by exhausting longing and passion

of agonizing madness, for my saddener and my archer:

جارِيَتا رَبرَبٍ حُوٍّ مَحاجِرُهُ

وَظَبيَتا عُقُلٍ عُفرٍ وَآرامِ

two maidens of an oryx herd with dark-ringed eyes,

and two gazelles among dark-legged, tawny gazelles and white antelope.

مِن باعِثاتِ هَوىً تَجري مَزاهِرُها

عَلى المُدامِ وَلا تَجري عَلى الذامِ

Among love's awakeners, whose lutes sound

over wine, and never over reproach.

مَصبوبَتانِ إِلى سُخطي وَمُعتَبَتي

وَصَبَّتانِ بِتَكليفي وَإِغرامي

Both are bent on stirring my anger and reproach,

and both enamored of making me lovesick and enthralled.

أَلِلشَبيبَةِ لَمّا كانَ آخِرُها

خَلفي وَلِلشَيبِ لَمّا كانَ قُدّامي

Is it for youth, now that its end lies

behind me, and for gray hair, now that it lies ahead?

هَلِ الشَبابُ مُلِمٌّ بي فَراجِعَةٌ

أَيّامُهُ لِيَ في أَعقابِ أَيّامي

Will youth visit me, bringing back

its days to me at the close of my days?

لَو إِنَّهُ نائِلٌ غَمرٌ يُجادُ بِهِ

لَقَد تَطَلَّبتُهُ عِندَ بنِ بِسطامِ

If it were an abundant gift that could be freely bestowed,

I would surely have sought it from Ibn Bistam,

كافِيَّ كُلَّ نَآدٍ لا أَقومُ لَها

إِلّا بِعارِفَةٍ مِنهُ وَإِنعامِ

my protector against every calamity I cannot withstand

except through kindness and bounty from him,

وَناصِرٌ ثَروَتي حَتّى يُقَلِّبَها

أُخرى اللَيالي عَلى عُسري وَإِعدامي

and champion of my wealth, till he makes it triumph,

to the last of nights, over my hardship and destitution.

جَرى العِراقُ بِسَجلٍ مِن سَحائِبِهِ

كُنّا نُؤَمِّلُ أَن نُسقاهُ بِالشامِ

Iraq flowed with a bucketful from his clouds,

which we had hoped would water us in Syria.

مُستَصحِباً قَصَباً مِنهُ قَناً سُلُبٌ

صُمُّ الكُعوبِ وَمِنهُ جَوفُ أَقلامِ

Bearing reeds: from them slender spear-shafts,

solid-jointed, and from them hollow pens.

زَعيمُ حِزبَينِ مِن كُتّابِ أَندِيَةٍ

وَمِن فَوارِسِ إِسراجٍ وَإِلجامِ

Leader of two companies: the scribes of councils,

and the riders who saddle and bridle.

مِن هَؤُلاءِ لَهُ حَزمٌ وَتَجرِبَةٌ

وَهَؤُلاءِ شَذا كَرٍّ وَإِقدامِ

From the former he has prudence and experience,

and from the latter, the fierceness of charge and bold assault.

لَم يُبقِ خِلداً غَداةَ المَخلَدِيَّةِ إِذ

يَشفي حَزازاتِ أَوتارٍ وَأَوغامِ

He spared no soul on the morning of al-Makhladiyya, as

he healed the bitterness of blood debts and grudges,

في طَخيَةٍ مِن سَوادِ الحَربِ مُظلِمَةٍ

تَهمي سَماواتُها ضَرباً عَلى الهامِ

in a dark pall of war's blackness,

whose skies poured blows upon heads.

صَمصامَةُ الرَأيِ صَمصامُ الجَنانِ ثَنى

تِلكَ الصُفوفَ بِماضي الحَدِّ صَمصامِ

A keen sword in judgment, a keen sword in heart, he turned

those ranks back with a sharp-edged sword.

وَإِن تَأَخَّرَ ما رُمنا تَقَدُّمِهُ

فَعَن حُظوظٍ أَزَلَّتنا وَأَقسامُ

And if what we wished to advance was delayed,

it was through fortunes that tripped us, and allotted fates.

إِذا الرِجالُ تَعالَوا بَيعَ مَكرُمَةٍ

أَربى عَلى مُشتَرٍ مِنهُم وَمُستامِ

When men bid high at the sale of a noble deed,

he outbids every buyer and bidder among them.

أَو عَدَّدوا صالِحَ الأَيّامِ كاثَرَ أَح

دانَ الفُذوذِ الَّتي عَدّوا بِأَتوامِ

Or, if they count their glorious days, he outnumbers the single

solitary days they count with pairs of his own.

كَأَنَّهُ مُستَمِدٌّ مِن كُنوزِ عُلاً

لِمَعشَرٍ أَو مُباحٌ مَجدَ أَقوامِ

As though he draws upon treasures of eminence

of a people, or has been granted the glory of nations.

تَرقى رِياشُ جَناحَيهِ إِذا نَهَضَت

بِهِ قَوادِمُ أَخوالٍ وَأَعمامِ

His wings' plumage soars whenever he is lifted

by the flight-feathers of maternal and paternal uncles.

كَأَنَّما أَنجُمُ الأُفقَينِ تُرفِدُهُ

مِن مُستَقِلٍّ بِهِ في الفَخرِ أَو سامِ

As though the stars of both horizons support him,

some bearing him aloft in glory, others rising high.

أَسقى الغَمامُ عَلى الجِسرَينِ مَنزِلَهُ

لِواضِحٍ في ضِياءِ البِشرِ بَسّامِ

May the clouds water his dwelling at the two bridges,

the dwelling of a man radiant with cheer, ever smiling.

جارٌ لِدِجلَةَ يَجري مِن نَدى يَدِهِ

تَيّارُ بَحرٍ عَلى تَيّارِها طامِ

A neighbor to the Tigris: from the dew of his hand flows

a sea's torrent, surging above her current.

لَم يَصطَحِب في طَريقٍ وَالبَخيلُ وَلَم

يولَد وَجِبسٌ مِنَ الأَقوامِ في عامِ

Never did he travel one road with a miser, nor

was he born in the same year as any base fellow.

مَوارِدٌ مِن نَداهُ غَيرُ وانِيَةٍ

في الغُزرِ تُلحِقُ أَصراماً بِأَصرامِ

Watering places of his bounty, never slackening

in abundance, joining band to band.

تَصفو وَقَد خَبَطَتها كُلُّ طارِقَةٍ

وَتَغتَدي جَمَّةً مِن غَيرِ إِجمامِ

They stay clear though every night-visitor has stirred them,

and dawn brimming, without a pause to replenish.

ما لي أَرى القَومَ لا يَخشَونَ عادِيَتي

وَقَد أَشادَ بِها صُبحي وَإِظلامي

Why do I see the people unafraid of my onslaught,

though my dawn and my nightfall have proclaimed it?

يَتلو عُقوقي عُقوقُ الوالِدَينِ وَإِن

عَزّا وَيُكرِمُ عِرضَ الحُرِّ إِكرامي

Wronging one's parents follows wronging me, even if

they are dear; and honoring me honors a freeborn man's good name.

أَمّا العُداةُ فَقَد آلوا إِلى صُغُرٍ

وَهُم طَرائِدُ تَسيِيري وَإِحكامي

As for the enemies, they have sunk to abasement,

and they are prey to the verses I circulate and perfect.

في كُلِّ جَوٍّ سَنا نارٍ تُرى عَجَباً

أَو مِشقَصٌ في رَمِيٍّ مِنهُمُ دامِ

In every sky, a fire's glow is seen—a marvel—

or an arrowhead in one of them, struck and bleeding.

وَلَو هُدوا لِصَوابِ الرَأيِ أَقنَعَهُم

مِن وابِلي في غَداةِ الشَرِّ إِرهامي

And had they been guided to sound judgment, they would have been content

with my drizzle rather than my downpour on the morning of evil.

لا تَخلُوَنَّ أَبا العَبّاسِ مِن نِعَمٍ

مَوصولَةٍ أَبَدَ الدُنيا وَإِنعامِ

May you never lack blessings, Abu al-Abbas,

unbroken for as long as the world lasts, and generous bounty.

تَشاهَرَ الناسُ إِغذاذي إِلَيكَ وَمَن

أَلفَيتُهُ مِن ذَوي وُدّي وَأَرحامي

People spread word of my haste to you, as did those

I found among my friends and my kinsmen.

وَإِن هَزَزتُكَ لِلجَدوى فَقَبلُ رَأى

هَزَّ الحُسامِ كَمِيُّ الفيلَقِ الحامي

And if I shake you for bounty, this has been witnessed before:

a keen sword's brandishing, by the armored warrior of the defending host.