ألمع برق أم ضرم — Alsharif Alradi

أَلمَعَ بَرقٍ أَم ضَرَم

بَينَ الحِرارِ وَالعَلَم

Is that a lightning-flash, or a blaze

between the lava plains and the mountain?

تَضحَكُ عَن وَميضِهِ

لَمّاعَةٌ مِنَ الدِيَم

Baring its flash, there laughs

a gleaming cloud of steady rain,

كَما اِستَشَبَّ نارَهُ

قَينٌ بِضالٍ وَسَلَم

as though its fire had been kindled

by a smith with wild lote and acacia.

قَد هَدَلَت شِفاهَها

عَلى القِنانِ وَالأَكَم

Its lips have drooped

over the peaks and hills.

تَهدُرُ عَن رُعودِها

هَدرَ الفَنيقِ ذي القَطَم

It roars with its thunder,

like the bellowing of a lustful camel stallion.

لَها فَساطيطٌ عَلى

ذُرى الرَوابي وَخِيَم

It has pavilions upon

the hilltops, and tents.

أَشيمُهُ لِفِتيَةٍ

تَضَرَّعوا عَلى اللِمَم

I watch its lightning for young men

who slumped forward over their locks.

قَد سَوَّروا أَكُفَّهُم

بِلَيِّ أَطرافِ الخُطُم

They have ringed their hands

with coils of the halters' ends,

وَجَلَّلوا مَيسَ الرِحا

لِ بِالشُعورِ وَالجُمَم

and covered the wooden saddle-frames

with their hair and thick locks.

أوقِظُهُم وَلِلكَرى

فيهِم خَبالٌ وَلَمَم

I wake them, while slumber

has them bewildered and half-mad.

كَأَنَّما يَجذِبُهُم

مِنَ الرِقابِ وَالقِمَم

It is as though it drags them

by their necks and crowns:

مِن كُلِّ مَعروقِ العِظا

مِ أَملَسٍ وَلّى الزُلَم

each a lean-boned man,

smooth and slender as a divining shaft.

يَلوكُ فوهُ مَضغَةً

ضَعيفَةً عَنِ الكَلِم

His mouth chews on a morsel

too feeble to become words.

إِذا أَرادَ قَولَ لا

مِن سُكرِهِ قالَ نَعَم

When he means to say no,

in his stupor he says yes.

وَالرَكبُ في مَضَلَّةٍ

لا نَضَدٌ وَلا عَلَم

The riders are in a trackless waste,

with neither cairn nor landmark.

ما اِنتَعَلَت بِأَرضِها

خُفُّ بَعيرٍ أَو قَدَم

Never has its ground been trodden

by a camel's pad or a foot.

أَقولُ لَمّا أَن دَنا

مِنَ المَصابِ وَعَزَم

I say, when it draws near

its place of pouring, firmly resolved:

يا بَرقُ إِن صُبتَ الحِمى

فَلا تَصُب إِلّا بِدَم

O lightning, if you rain upon the sanctuary,

then rain down nothing but blood

عَلى دِيارِ مَعشَرٍ

خانوا العُهودَ وَالذِمَم

upon the homes of a people

who betrayed pledges and covenants.

تَجَهَّموا ضَيفَ العُلى

وَاِمتَهَنوا زَورَ النِعَم

They scowled at nobility's guest

and slighted bounty's visitors:

مِن كُلِّ راعي أُمَّةٍ

أَجهَلَ مِن راعي غَنَم

each a shepherd of a people,

more ignorant than a shepherd of sheep.

ما بَينَهُم في المَكرُما

تِ نَسَبٌ وَلا رَحِم

No ties bind them in noble deeds—

neither lineage nor kinship.

وَما بِهِم إِلى النَدى

لا ظَمَأٌ وَلا قَرَم

For generosity they feel

neither thirst nor appetite.

كَم أَذكَروني مَعشَراً

كانوا قَراراتِ الكَرَم

How often they have made me recall a people

who were the very abodes of generosity.

ما حَمَلَت أَمثالَهُم

يَوماً غَوارِبُ النَعَم

Never were their like borne

on any day upon the withers of camels.

كَم فيهِمُ لِمُطرَدٍ

مِن وَزَرٍ وَمِعتَصِم

How often an outcast found in them

a shelter and a strong refuge.

كانوا إِذا الخَطبُ دَجا

وَجَلجَلَت إِحدى الغُمَم

When calamity grew dark

and one of its afflictions thundered,

مَأمَنَةً مِنَ الرَدى

وَنَجوَةً مِنَ العَدَم

they were a haven from death

and a refuge from destitution.

إِذا هُمُ تَيَقَّظوا

فيها فَقُل لِلجارِ نَم

When they kept watch

amid it, tell their neighbor, 'Sleep.'

هُم وَسَموا ما أَغفَلَ ال

ناسُ عَلى طولِ القِدَم

They branded what was left unbranded by

people throughout the long ages past.

إِذا أَذَمّوا ضَمِنوا

عَلى الزَمانِ ما اِجتَرَم

When they pledged protection, they answered

for whatever wrongs Time committed.

وَأَمَّنوا حَتّى عَلى ال

قُلوبِ مِن طارِقٍ هَم

They brought security even to

hearts against sorrow coming by night.

أَهلُ النُصولِ وَالقَنا

وَالمُعطِياتُ في اللُجَم

Masters of blades and spears,

and steeds responsive to their bridles,

وَالسامِرِ الهَبهابِ في

الظَلماءِ وَالشِربِ العَمَم

and the flickering night-fire

in darkness, and stately drinking companions.

جِنٌّ إِذا تَعانَقَ ال

أَبطالُ بِالبيضِ الخُذُم

Jinn, when there grapple the

champions with keen white blades,

في حَيثُ لا يَلَذُّنا

مُعتَنِقٌ وَمُلتَزِم

where no pleasure comes to us

from an embrace or a clasp.

مِن كُلِّ مَطوِيٍّ عَلى

عَظيمَةٍ مِنَ الهِمَم

Each man enfolds within himself

a mighty resolve.

مِن عِشقِهِ يَومَ الوَغى

يَرى الطِعانَ في الحُلُم

So in love is he with the day of battle

that he sees spear-thrusts in his dreams.

مُحتَمِلُ الأَعباءِ لا

يَجُرُّها مِنَ السَأَم

He shoulders burdens, never

dragging them from weariness.

عَفٌّ فَإِن لَم يَحمِهِ ال

ضَيمَ الظُلمِ ظَلَم

Upright; yet if he is not shielded

from the oppression of injustice, he wrongs in turn.

صاحَت بِهِم عَلى الرَدى

مُسمِعَةٌ عَلى الصَمَم

A caller summoned them to death,

making herself heard despite deafness,

وَاِنتَزَعَت مِن عِزِّهِم

تِلكَ العِمادَ وَالدُعُم

and wrenched from their glory

those pillars and supports,

باطِشَةً بِلا يَدٍ

واعِظَةً بِغَيرِ فَم

striking without a hand,

admonishing without a mouth.

وَقَبلَ ما كُبَّت لَها

قِبابُ عادٍ وَإِرَم

Before her had already fallen

the domes of ‘Ad and Iram.

فَاليَومَ مَرمى دارِهِم

لا كَثَبٌ وَلا أَمَم

Today the distance to their home

is neither short nor near.

قُل لِلعَدُوِّ هَرَباً

قَد زَخَرَ الوادي وَطَم

Tell the enemy, 'Flee!

The valley has surged and overflowed,

وَشافَهَت أَمواجُهُ

ذُرى القِلالِ وَالأُطُم

and its waves have reached

the crests of peaks and strongholds.

وَمَن يَكُن تَحتَ مَجَ

رِ السَيلِ يَوماً لا يَقُم

Whoever lies beneath the course

of the torrent one day will not rise.'

تَسومُني الضَيمَ لَقَد

نَفَختَ في غَيرِ ضَرَم

You would subject me to oppression; indeed,

you have blown where no embers burn.

أَما عَلِمتَ أَنَّهُ

مَن كانَ حُرّاً لَم يُضَم

Did you not know that

whoever is free cannot be oppressed?

أَبِالمَخازي أَبَداً

مُدَرَّعٌ وَمُلتَثِم

Are disgraces forever

your armor and your face-veil?

ثِيابَ عارٍ أَبَداً

فَضفاضَةً عَلى القَدَم

Robes of shame, forever

ample down to your feet,

تَجزيكَ في الصُبحِ وَتَس

تَغني بِها عَنِ الظُلَم

suffice you in the morning, and

leave you no need of darkness.

قُبِّحتِ مِن خَلائِقٍ

لَئيمَةٍ وَمِن شِيَم

Accursed be such dispositions,

so base, and such traits!

يُريدِ جَهلاً أَن يُسي

ءَ عامِداً وَلا يُذَم

Ignorantly, he wishes to do wrong,

deliberately, and not be blamed.

هَيهاتَ أَعيا ما يُري

دُ قَبلَهُ عَلى الأُمَم

Far from it! His wish proved impossible

for nations before him.

سِيّانِ مَن قَبَّلَ عُض

واً مِنكُمُ وَمَن عَذَم

Alike are those who kiss a limb

of yours and those who bite it,

وَمَن سَما بِهامِكُم

إِلى العُلى وَمَن وَقَم

and those who raise your heads

to greatness and those who crush them.

جَوامِحاً في العارِ لا

بُقيا وَلا رَعيَ ذِمَم

Headlong in disgrace, with no

mercy and no regard for covenants.

أَحرَجتَني فَهاكَها

بِنتَ عِناقٍ وَالرَقَم

You drove me to extremity; take it,

daughter of ‘Anaq and the speckled serpent.

وَاللَيثُ لا يَخرُجُ إِل

لا مُحرَجاً مِنَ الأَجَم

The lion does not come out

from the thickets unless driven to bay.

كَلَذعَةِ الميسَمِ في

شُواظِ نارٍ وَضَرَم

Like the sear of a branding iron

amid blazing fire and flame.

وَالحَيَّةُ الرَقطاءُ تُر

دي أَبَداً بِغَيرِ سُم

And the speckled serpent kills

always, without venom.

حَقّاً عَلى أَعراضِكُم

تَعُطُّها عَطَّ الأَدَم

Rightly it falls upon your reputations,

rending them as hides are rent.

فَاِستَنشِقوها نَفحَةً

تَجدَعُ مارِنَ الأَشَم

So inhale it—a blast

that severs the proud man's tender nose-tip.

تَقرِضُ مِن جُنوبِكُم

طَمَّ اللِمامِ بِالجَلَم

It cuts away at your flanks

as locks are cropped with shears,

كَأَنَّما تَضرِبُ في العِر

ضِ الأَعَزِّ بِالقُدُم

as though it hews into the

proudest honor with adzes.

مَذكورَةٌ ما بَقِيَت

مِن غَيرِ عَقدٍ لِرَتَم

Remembered so long as it endures,

without a knot tied in broom-twigs.

تَرى عَلى عاري العِظا

مِ وَسمَها وَهيَ رِمَم

You see upon bare bones

its brand, though they are decayed remains.

فَلَو نَزَعتَ الجِلدَ كا

نَ رَقمُها كَما رُقِم

Even if you stripped off the skin,

its mark would remain as it was inscribed.

كَم جَرَّدَت شِفارَها

لَحمَ فَتىً بِلا وَضَم

How often its blades have stripped

a young man's flesh, without a butcher's block,

خابِطَةً لا تَتَّقي

صَدمَ أَخٍ وَلا اِبنَ عَم

lashing blindly, not shrinking from

striking brother or paternal cousin.

تَبيتُ مِن سَماعِها

تَئِنُّ مِن غَيرِ أَلَم

From hearing it, you spend the night

groaning without bodily pain.

لَتَندَمَنَّ بَعدَها

هَيهاتَ حينَ لا نَدَم

You shall surely rue it afterward—

far too late, when regret is useless.

كَم سَقَمٍ مِنكَ أَتى

عَلى عَقابيلِ سَقَم

How many an ill from you has come

upon the lingering aftereffects of an ill!

سَلَكتَ في مَحَجَّةٍ

لا نَهَجاً وَلا لَقَم

You have set out along a road

with neither clear course nor broad way:

صَلعاءُ لا يُعطى الهُدى

دَليلُها فَلا جَرَم

a barren waste, where no guidance is granted

to its guide—no doubt of that.