نام الخلي وما أحس رقادي — Alosaud Alnhishla

نامَ الخليُّ وما أُحسّ رُقادي

والهمُّ مُحتَضرٌ لَدَي وِبادي

The carefree man has slept, but I feel no slumber.

And grief is present beside me, and apparent [uncertain reading].

من غير ما سَقمٍ ولكن شفّني

همٌّ أراهُ قد أصابَ فؤادي

Not from any illness, but I am wasted by

A grief I see has struck my heart.

وَمن الحوادث لا أبالك أنني

ضُربت عليَّ الأرضُ بالأسدادِ

And among calamities—no father to you!—is this:

The earth has been closed against me with barriers.

لا أهتدي فيها لِموضع تَلعَةٍ

بينَ العراق وبين أرض مُرادِ

I cannot find my way there to the site of a ravine,

Between Iraq and the land of Murād.

ولقد علمتُ سِوى الذي نبأتِنى

أنَّ السبيلَ سبيلُ ذي الأعوادِ

And I have learned, apart from what you told me,

That the path is the path of one upon the wooden bier.

إن المنيّةَ والحتُوفَ كلاهما

يُوفي المخارمَ يرقيان سوادي

Surely death and fatal dooms, both of them,

Loom over the mountain passes, climbing toward my dark form.

لن يَرضيا مني وفاءَ رَهينةٍ

من دُونِ نَفسي طارفي وتِلادى

They will not accept from me, in redemption of a pledge,

My newly gained and inherited wealth instead of my own life.

ماذا أُؤملُ بَعدَ آلِ مُحرِّقٍ

تَركوا مَنازِلَهُم وبعدَ أيادِ

What can I hope for after the house of Muḥarriq,

Who left their dwellings—and after Iyād?

أهل الخَوَرنق والسدير وبَارقٍ

والقصر ذي الشُرُفاتِ من سندادِ

The people of al-Khawarnaq, al-Sadīr, and Bāriq,

And the palace with its battlements at Sindād.

أرضاً تخيّرها لدار أبيهم

كعبُ بنُ مامَة وابنُ أمِّ دُؤادِ

A land chosen for their father's dwelling by

Kaʿb son of Māma and the son of Umm Duʾād.

جَرت الرياحُ على مكان ديارهم

فكأنما كانوا على ميعادِ

The winds swept over the site of their dwellings,

As though they had been there by appointment.

ولَقد غَنوا فيها بأنعَم عيشةٍ

في ظلِّ مُلكٍ ثابت الأوتادِ

And indeed they had lived there the most blissful life,

In the shade of a kingdom with firmly planted stakes.

نَزلوا بأنقرة يسيلُ عليهمُ

ماءُ الفراتِ يجيءُ من أطوادِ

They settled at Anqara; toward them flowed

The water of the Euphrates, coming from lofty mountains.

أين الذَين بنوا فطال بناؤهم

وتَمتّعوا بالأهل والأولادِ

Where are those who built, whose buildings rose high,

And delighted in family and children?

فإذا النعيمُ وكلُّ ما يُلهى به

يوماً يَصيرُ إِلى بِلى ونفَادِ

Then behold: bliss and all that gives diversion

One day pass into decay and depletion.

في آل غَرف لو بَغيتَ لي الأسى

لوجدتَ فيهم أسوةَ العُدّادِ

If you sought consolation for me in the house of Gharf,

You would find among them an example for those who count.

ما بَعد زَيد في فتاةٍ فُرّقوا

قتلاً ونفياً بعدَ حُسنِ تآدي

What remains after Zayd, in a young woman [unclear phrase]? They were scattered,

By killing and exile, after their fine preparedness.

فتخيَّروا الأرض الفضاءَ لِعزّهم

ويَزيدُ رافدُهم على الرُفادِ

So they chose the open land because of their might,

And their benefactor surpasses other benefactors.

أما تَريني قد بَليتُ وغاضَني

ما نيل من بَصَري ومن أجلادي

Do you not see me worn out and diminished by

What has been taken from my sight and my strength?

وعَصيتُ أَصحابَ الصَّبابةِ والصّبا

وأطعتُ عاذلتي ولانَ قِيادي

And I disobeyed the companions of longing and youth,

And obeyed my female reprover; my reins grew pliant.

وَلقد أروُح عَلى التّجار مُرَجِّلاً

مَذِلاً بِمالي لَيِّناً أَجيادي

And I would visit the merchants at evening, my hair combed,

Lavish with my wealth, my neck supple.

ولقد لَهوتُ وللشباب لذاذةٌ

بسُلافَةٍ مُزجَت بماءِ غَوادي

And I made merry—youth has its sweetness—

With choice wine mixed with water from morning rains,

من خَمر ذي نَطف أغَنَّ مُنطق

وافى بها لدراهِم الأسجادِ

Wine from an earringed, nasal-voiced, belted man,

Who brought it in exchange for image-stamped dirhams.

يَسعى بها ذو تُومتين مُشَمِّرٌ

قنَأَت أناملُهُ منَ الفُرصادِ

A man with two pearl earrings hastens with it, his garments tucked up,

His fingertips reddened by mulberries.

والبيضُ تَمشي كالبدُورِ وكالدُّمى

ونواعمٌ يَمشينَ بِالأَرفادِ

And fair women walk like full moons and statues,

And delicate women walk with great goblets.

والبيضُ يَرمينَ القلوبَ كأنَّها

أُدحِيُّ بينَ صَريمةٍ وجَمَادِ

And fair women shoot at hearts, as though they were

An ostrich's nest between a sand dune and barren ground.

يَنطقنَ مَعرُوفاً وهُنَّ نَواعِمٌ

بيضُ الوُجوهِ رقيقةُ الأكبادِ

They speak graciously, and they are delicate,

Fair of face and tender of liver.

يَنطقنَ مخفوضَ الحديثِ تَهامُساً

فَبلَغنَ ما حاوَلنَ غَير تَنادي

They speak in lowered voices, whispering,

Thus they attained what they sought without calling aloud.

ولَقَد غَدوتُ لِعازبٍ مُتَناذِرٍ

أَحوَى المَذانبِ مُؤنَق الرّوادِ

And I went at dawn to a remote pasture, one people warn against,

Its watercourses dark green, delighting pasture-seekers.

جادَت سَواريهِ وآزرَ نبتُهُ

نُفأً مِن الصَّفراءِ والزُّبادِ

Its night rainclouds poured generously, and its vegetation strengthened

Clumps of ṣafrāʾ and zubād plants.

بالجو فالأموات حَول مغامرٍ

فبِضارج فقصيمَة الطُّرادِ

At al-Jaww, then al-Amwāt, around Maghāmir,

Then at Ḍārij, then the hunters' sandy thicket,

بمُشَمرٍ عِند جَهيز شدُّهُ

قيد الأوابدِ والرهانِ جوادِ

On a fleet, sturdy mount, swift in its gallop,

A fetter for wild beasts and racing rivals, a noble steed.

يشوي لنا الوحَدَ المُدلَّ بحُضرهِ

بشريج بين الشدِّ والإيرادِ

It makes roast meat for us of the solitary beast, proud of its swift running,

With a mixed gait, between full gallop and an easier pace.

ولَقد تلوتُ الظاعِنينَ بجسرةٍ

أجد مهاجرةِ السقَاب جَمادِ

And I followed the departing travelers on a sturdy she-camel,

Strong-bodied, shunning young male camels, dry of milk,

عَيرانةٍ سَدّ الربيعُ خصاصَها

ما يَستبين بها مَقيلُ قُرادِ

Wild-ass-like, spring had filled the hollows of her body,

No midday resting place for a tick is visible upon her.

فإذا وذلك لا مهاهَ لذِكرهِ

والدهرُ يُعقبُ صالِحاً بفسادِ

Then behold—and that is no joy to recall—

And time replaces what is good with decay.