ألا طرقت موهنا مهدد — Bashar Ibn Burd

أَلا طَرَقَت مَوهِناً مَهدَدُ

وَقَد غَوَّرَ الكَوكَبُ المُنجِدُ

Lo, Mahdad came visiting late at night,

when the high-rising star had already set.

أَلَمَّت بِمَلمومَةٍ كَالقَنا

وَفِتيانِ حَربٍ لَهُم توقَدُ

She visited a close-ranked troop, like spears,

and youths of war, which blazes for them.

فَبِتُّ أُحَيّا بِمَوجودَةٍ

مَعَ اللَيلِ تُصبِحُ لا توجَدُ

So I passed the night greeted by one present

with the night, but at morning nowhere to be found.

أُلاعِبُ غولاً هَداهُ الكَرى

إِلَينا تَشُطُّ وَتَستَورِدُ

I play with a ghoul that sleep has guided

to us; she strays afar and seeks the watering place.

فَلَمّا صَحَوتُ وَلَم أَلقَها

صَحَوتُ وَقَلبي بِها مُقصَدُ

Then, when I awoke and did not find her,

I awoke with my heart mortally struck by her.

أُقَلِّبُ هَمّاً بِها جاثِماً

وَعَينَينِ رِعيَتُها الفَرقَدُ

I turn over a grief for her that lies heavy,

and two eyes whose pasture is Farqad.

فَيا حَزَناً بَعدَ جِنِّيَّةٍ

عَلَيها القَلائِدُ وَالمِسجَدُ

Ah, the grief after a jinni woman,

wearing necklaces and a neck-ornament!

وَيا كَبِداً لَيسَ مِنها لَنا

نَوالٌ وَلا عِندَها لي يَدُ

And oh, my aching liver! From her we have no

gift, nor have I any claim of favor upon her,

سِوى شَوقِ عَيني إِلى وَجهِها

وَأَنّي إِذا فارَقَت أَكمَدُ

except my eye's yearning for her face

and that I pine in grief whenever she leaves.

بَكَيتُ مِنَ الداءِ داءِ الهَوى

إِلَيها وَأَن لَيسَ لي مُسعِدُ

I wept from sickness—the sickness of love—

to her, and because none would share my sorrow.

وَقَد وَعَدَت صَفَداً في غَدٍ

وَكَم وَعَدَتكَ وَلا تُصفَدُ

She has promised a gift for tomorrow;

how often she has promised you, yet you receive nothing!

وَإِنّي عَلى طولِ إِخلافِها

لَأَرجو الوَفاءَ وَلا أَحقُدُ

And I, despite her long promise-breaking,

do hope for fulfillment and bear no grudge.

إِذا أَخلَفَ القَومُ ظَنّي بِها

وَكانَ لَها في غَدٍ مَوعِدُ

When people belie my hopes of her,

and she has an appointment tomorrow,

صَبَرتُ عَلى طَلقِ آيايِها

حِفاظاً وَصَبرُ الفَتى أَعوَدُ

I endure her freely offered signs,

out of loyalty; a young man's patience is more rewarding.

وَما ضَنَّ يَومٌ بِداءِ الهَوى

مُحِبّاً إِذا ما سَقاهُ الغَدُ

And no day withholds the sickness of love

from a lover, when the morrow gives it him to drink.

وَلَيلَةِ نَحسٍ جُمادِيَّةٍ

إِذا نَسَمَت ريحُها تَبرُدُ

And on many an ill-starred night of Jumada,

whose wind chills whenever it stirs,

أَقَمنا لِأَضيافِنا مَرقَداً

وَما كُلُّ يَومٍ لَهُم مَرقَدُ

we prepared a resting place for our guests,

though not every day do they have a resting place.

وَإِنّي إِذا ما عَوى نابِحٌ

وَجاشَ لَهُ بَحرِيَ المُزبِدُ

And I, whenever a barker howls

and my foaming sea surges against him,

لَأَرمي نَوافِذَ يَشقى بِها

فِراخُ اللِئامِ وَلا تَسعَدُ

surely hurl piercing shafts by which

the fledglings of the vile suffer, finding no joy.

أَحَمّادُ لَستَ مِنَ اَكفائِنا

وَأَنتَ اِمرُؤٌ زَعَموا تَسفِدُ

O Hammad, you are not our equal;

you are a man who, they claim, copulates.

كَفى عَجَباً مُعجِباً أَنَّني

أَراكَ تَكَلَّمُ يا عَجرَدُ

It is marvel enough—an astonishing marvel—that I

see you speaking, O Ajrad!

وَما كُنتُ أَحسِبُ مَن داؤُهُ

كَدائِكَ يَنطِقُ لا يُخلِدُ

I never thought someone whose sickness

was like yours would speak rather than stay still.

جَلَستَ عَلى الخَزِّ بَعدَ الحَفا

وَأَصبَحتَ في حَفَدٍ تُحفَدُ

You sat on silk-and-wool cloth after going barefoot,

and now you are among servants, waited upon.

وَنازَعتَ قَوماً تُماريهِمُ

فَيا عَجَبَ الدَهرِ لا يَنفَدُ

And you challenged men, wrangling with them;

oh, the wonder of time that never ends!

وَما لَكَ لا تَحتَبي جالِساً

عَلى العَبقَرِيِّ وَتَستَوفِدُ

And why do you not sit with your knees clasped

upon the fine carpet, summoning delegations?

أَبوكَ شَبيرٌ فَأَكرِم بِهِ

وَفي اِستِكَ وِردٌ لِمَن تورِدُ

Your father is Shabir—how noble he is!

And in your arse is a watering place for those you lead to drink.

وَأُمُّكَ مِن نِسوَةٍ هَمُّهُنَّ

أَشيَبٌ وَمَفرِقُها يَجمُدُ

Your mother is one of those women whose concern is

a gray-haired man, while her hair-parting congeals.

إِذا سُئِلَت لَم تَكُن كَزَّةً

وَلَكِن تَذوبُ وَلا تَجمُدُ

When asked, she is never tight-fisted,

but melts and does not freeze.

لَيالي إِذا لَم يُرَد بَيتُها

أَقامَت تَذَكَّرُ مَن تُغمِدُ

On nights when her house is not sought out,

she stays recalling whom she would sheath.

إِذا قَدَّمَ الشَربُ إِبريقَهُم

ظَلِلتَ لِإِبريقِهِم تَسجُدُ

When the drinkers bring forward their jug,

you keep prostrating yourself before their jug.

وَتَعبُدُ رَأساً تُصَلّي لَهُ

وَأَمّا الإِلَهُ فَلا تَعبُدُ

And you worship a head, praying to it,

but God you do not worship.

وَتُظهِرُ حُبَّ نَبِيِّ الهُدى

وَأَنتَ بِهِ كافِرٌ تَشهَدُ

And you display love for the Prophet of guidance,

while, unbelieving in him, you bear witness.

وَتُشرِكُ لَيلَةَ شَهرِ الصِيام

حَلالاً كَما نَظَرَ الأَربَدُ

You commit idolatry on a night of the fasting month,

deeming it lawful, as the dusky one gazed.

وَبِنتُكَ بَلوا قَشَرتَ اِستَها

مُجوناً كَما يَنحِتُ المِبرَدُ

And your daughter—you scraped her arse as a test,

in debauchery, as a file rasps.

وَتَغشى النِساءَ تُوازي بِهِن

وَمِن هَمِّكَ الحَيَّةُ الأَسوَدُ

And you bed women, keeping abreast of them,

and among your concerns is the black snake.

وَإِن سَنَحَ الخِشفُ عارَضتَهُ

كَما اِندَفَعَ السابِحُ الأَجرَدُ

And if a fawn appears, you intercept it,

as a sleek galloping horse charges forward.

وَإِن قيلَ صَلِّ فَقَد أَذَّنوا

زَمَعتَ كَما يَزمَعُ المُقعَدُ

And if told, 'Pray; they have sounded the call,'

you tremble as a cripple trembles.

وَإِن قامَتِ الحَربُ عَرّاضَةً

قَعَدتَ وَحَرَّضتَ مَن يَقعُدُ

And if war rises in all its breadth,

you sit it out and urge others to sit.

وَإِن جِئتَ يَوماً إِلى زَلَّةٍ

أَكَلتَ كَما يَأكُلُ القُرهُدُ

And if one day you come to a feast,

you eat as a hulking glutton eats.

وَإِن كُتِمَ السِرُّ أَفشَيتَهُ

نَميماً كَما بَلَّغَ الهُدهُدُ

And if a secret is kept, you divulge it,

as a tale-bearer, as the hoopoe brought word.

فَأَنتَ المُشَقّى وَأَنتَ الَّذي

بِما قَد سَرَدتُ وَما أَسرُدُ

So you are the one made wretched, and it is you who,

by what I have recounted and what I recount,

سَتَعلَمُ لَو قَد بَدا مَيسَمي

عَلَيكَ وَغَنّى بِكَ المُنشِدُ

will know, if my brand appears

upon you and the reciter sings of you.

أَلومُ اِبنَ نِهيا عَلى أَنَّهُ

يُحِبُّ الرُقودَ وَلا يَرقُدُ

I reproach Ibn Nihya because he

loves sleeping, yet does not sleep.

وَكَيفَ أَلومُ اِمرَأً بِاِستِهِ

عَياءٌ مِنَ الداءِ لا يُفقَدُ

And how can I blame a man in whose arse

is an incurable disease that never goes away?

عَصانِي اِبنُ نِهيا فَبُعداً لَهُ

كَما بَعِدَ النازِحُ الأَعقَدُ

Ibn Nihya disobeyed me—away with him!

As the far-off, twisted one went away.

إِذا نالَ جاهاً كَبا تَحتَهُ

كَما يَزحَفُ الحَيَّةُ الأَربَدُ

When he gains rank, he stumbles beneath it,

as the dusky snake crawls.

وَيُعطيكَ ذُلّاً إِذا رُعتَهُ

كَما ذَلَّ لِلقَدَمِ المِربَدُ

And he submits to you when you frighten him,

as the date-drying floor yields to the foot.

وَيَأخُذُ شِرَّةَ إِخوانِهِ

مُفيداً كَما يَأخُذُ الأَبعَدُ

And he adopts his brethren's unruly zeal,

profiting, as the outcast takes.

وَتُبعَدُ أَن لَم أَنِك أُمَّهُ

وَأَمّا المُثَنّى فَلا يُبعَدُ

And it is ruled out that I did not fuck his mother;

but al-Muthanna is not ruled out:

لَقَد جالَ جُردانُهُ في اِستِها

كَما جالَ في المُقلَةِ المِروَدُ

indeed, his cock has roamed in her arse,

as the kohl-stick moves within the eye.