ود جرير اللؤم لو كان عانيا — Farazdaq

وَدَّ جَريرُ اللُؤمِ لَو كانَ عانِياً

وَلَم يَدنُ مِن زَأرِ الأُسودِ الضَراغِمِ

Base Jarir wished he were a captive,

and had not approached the roar of fierce lions.

فَإِن كُنتُما قَد هِجتُماني عَلَيكُما

فَلا تَجزَعا وَاِستَسمِعا لِلمُراجِمِ

If you two have provoked me against yourselves,

then do not flinch; hear the stone-hurler out:

لَمِردى حُروبٍ مِن لَدُن شَدَّ أَزرَهُ

مُحامٍ عَنِ الأَحسابِ صَعبِ المَظالِمِ

a crusher in wars since first he girded his loins,

a defender of ancestral honor, hard to wrong;

غَموسٍ إِلى الغاياتِ يُلفى عَزيمُهُ

إِذا سَإِمَت أَقرانُهُ غَيرَ سائِمِ

one plunging toward the farthest goals, whose resolve is found

unwearied when his peers grow weary.

تَسورُ بِهِ عِندَ المَكارِمِ دارِمٌ

إِلى غايَةِ المُستَصعَباتِ الشَداقِمِ

Through him, in noble deeds, Darim vaults upward

to the utmost of daunting, broad-jawed challenges.

رَأَتنا مَعَدٌّ يَومَ شالَت قُرومُها

قِياماً عَلى أَقتارِ إِحدى العَظائِمِ

Ma'add saw us, the day her stallion-chiefs reared up,

standing on the brink of a mighty calamity.

رَأَونا أَحَقَّ اِبنَي نِزارٍ وَغَيرِهِم

بِإِصلاحِ صَدعٍ بَينَهُم مُتَفاقِمِ

They judged us, of Nizar's two sons and all the rest, most worthy

to mend the widening breach between them.

حَقَنّا دِماءَ المُسلِمينَ فَأَصبَحَت

لَنا نِعمَةٌ يُثنى بِها في المَواسِمِ

We spared the Muslims' blood, and thus there was

a favor credited to us, praised at the seasonal gatherings,

عَشِيَّةَ أَعطَتنا عُمانَ أُمورَها

وَقُدنا مَعَدّاً عَنوَةً بِالخَزائِمِ

the evening Oman entrusted us with her affairs,

and we led Ma'add by force with nose-rings.

وَمِنّا الَّذي أَعطى يَدَيهِ رَهينَةً

لِغارَي مَعَدٍّ يَومَ ضَربِ الجَماجِمِ

Among us was he who gave his two hands as a pledge

to Ma'add's two armies on the day when skulls were struck.

كَفى كُلَّ أُمٍّ ما تَخافُ عَلى اِبنِها

وَهُنَّ قِيامٌ رافِعاتُ المَعاصِمِ

He spared every mother what she feared for her son,

as they stood with wrists upraised,

عَشِيَّةَ سالَالمِربَدانِ كِلاهُما

عَجاجَةَ مَوتٍ بِالسُيوفِ الصَوارِمِ

the evening when the two Mirbads both flowed

with a dust-cloud of death from keen-edged swords.

هُنالِكَ لَو تَبغي كُلَيباً وَجَدتَها

بِمَنزِلَةِ القِردانِ تَحتَ المَناسِمِ

There, had you sought Kulayb, you would have found them

in the place of ticks beneath camel footpads.

وَما تَجعَلُ الظِربى القِصارَ أُنوفُها

إِلى الطِمِّ مِن مَوجِ البِحارِ الخَضارِمِ

How can you set short-snouted polecats

beside the flood of waves from vast seas?

لَهاميمُ لا يَسطيعُ أَحمالَ مِثلِهِم

أَنوحٌ وَلا جاذٍ قَصيرُ القَوائِمِ

Mighty chiefs: the burdens of their like cannot be borne

by a groaner, nor a stunted beast with short legs.

يَقولُ كِرامَ الناسِ إِذ جَدَّ جِدُّنا

وَبَيَّنَ عَن أَحسابِنا كُلُّ عالِمِ

The noblest people say, when our striving grows earnest

and every knowing man proclaims our ancestral honor:

عَلامَ تَعَنّى يا جَريرُ وَلَم تَجِد

كُلَيباً لَها عادِيَّةٌ في المَكارِمِ

Why weary yourself, Jarir, when you have never found

Kulayb with any ancient distinction in noble deeds?

وَلَستُ وَإِن فَقَّأتَ عَينَيكَ واجِداً

أَباً لَكَ إِذ عُدَّ المَساعي كَدارِمِ

Nor will I, though you gouge out both your eyes, find

a father for you like Darim, when noble deeds are counted.

هُوَ الشَيخُ وَاِبنَ الشَيخِ لا شَيخَ مِثلَهُ

أَبو كُلُّ ذي بَيتٍ رَفيعِ الدَعائِمِ

He is the chief and the chief's son; no chief is like him,

father of every man whose house has lofty pillars.

تَعَنّى مِنَ المَرّوتِ يَرجو أَرومَتي

جَريرٌ عَلى أُمِّ الجِحاشِ التَوائِمِ

He came toiling from al-Marrut, aspiring to my ancestral root—

Jarir, astride the mother of twin donkey foals.

وَنِحياكَ بِالمَرّوتِ أَهوَنُ ضَيعَةً

وَجَحشاكَ مِن ذي المَأزِقِ المُتَلاحِمِ

Your two butter-skins at al-Marrut are less grievous to lose,

and your two donkey foals, than the man in close-locked battle.

فَلَو كُنتَ ذا عَقلٍ تَبَيَّنتَ أَنَّما

تَصولُ بِأَيدي الأَعجَزينَ الأَلائِمِ

Had you any sense, you would realize that

you attack only with the hands of the feeblest and basest.

نَماني بَنو سَعدِ اِبنِ ضَبَّةَ فَاِنتَسِب

إِلى مِثلِهِم أَخوالِ هاجٍ مُراجِمِ

The sons of Sa'd ibn Dabba gave me my lineage; trace yours

to their equals—the maternal uncles of a missile-hurling satirist.

وَضَبَّةُ أَخوالي هُمُ الهامَةُ الَّتي

بِها مُضَرٌ دَمّاغَةٌ لِلجَماجِمِ

And Dabba, my maternal uncles, are the crown of the head

with which Mudar batters skulls.

وَهَل مِثلُنا يا اِبنَ المَراغَةِ إِذ دَعا

إِلى البَأسِ داعٍ أَو عِظامِ المَلاحِمِ

And who is like us, son of al-Maragha, when a caller calls

to war or to mighty battles?

فَما مِن مَعَدِّيٍّ كِفاءً تَعُدُّهُ

لَنا غَيرَ بَيتَي عَبدِ شَمسٍ وَهاشِمِ

For no man of Ma'add can you count our equal

save the two houses of Abd Shams and Hashim.

وَما لَكَ مِن دَلوٍ تُواضِخُني بِها

وَلا مُعلِمٍ حامٍ عَنِ الحَيِّ صارِمِ

You have no bucket with which to rival me at drawing water,

nor a marked warrior, resolute in defending the clan.

وَعِندَ رَسولِ اللَهِ قامَ اِبنُ حابِسٍ

بِخُطَّةِ سَوّارٍ إِلى المَجدِ حازِمِ

Before God's Messenger stood Ibn Habis,

with the resolve of a steadfast man leaping toward glory.

لَهُ أَطلَقَ الأَسرى الَّتي في حِبالِهِ

مُغَلَّلَةً أَعناقُها في الأَداهِمِ

For his sake he released the captives held in his bonds,

their necks shackled in black iron fetters.

كَفى أُمَّهاتِ الخائِفينَ عَلَيهِمُ

غَلاءَ المَفادي أَو سِهامَ المُساهِمِ

He spared the mothers who feared for them

the high price of ransoms, or the lot-caster's arrows.

فَإِنَّكَ وَالقَومَ الَّذينَ ذَكَرتَهُم

رَبيعَةَ أَهلِ المُقرَباتِ الصَلادِمِ

For you, beside the people you have named—

Rabi'a, keepers of stout, cherished steeds—

بَناتَ اِبنِ حَلّابٍ يَرُحنَ عَلَيهِمُ

إِلى أَجَمِ الغابِ الطِوالِ الغَواشِمِ

are like Ibn Hallab's daughters, coming to them at evening,

into thickets of tall, ruthless reeds.

فَلا وَأَبيكَ الكَلبِ ما مِن مَخافَةٍ

إِلى الشَأمِ أَدّوا خالِداً لَم يُسالِمِ

No, by your dog of a father, it was not from fear

that they conveyed Khalid to Syria, unreconciled.

وَلَكِن ثَوى فيهِم عَزيزاً مَكانُهُ

عَلى أَنفِ راضٍ مِن مَعَدٍّ وَراغِمِ

Rather, he dwelt among them, honored in his standing,

despite all of Ma'add, willing and unwilling alike.

وَما سَيَّرَت جاراً لَها مِن مَخافَةٍ

إِذا حَلَّ مِن بَكرٍ رُؤوسَ الغَلاصِمِ

Nor did she send away a protégé of hers out of fear,

once he had settled at Bakr's very throat.

بِأَيِّ رِشاءٍ يا جَريرُ وَماتِحٍ

تَدَلَّيتَ في حَوماتِ تِلكَ القَماقِمِ

By what rope, Jarir, and what water-drawer

have you lowered yourself into the depths of those vast seas?

وَما لَكَ بَيتُ الزِبرِقانِ وَظِلُّهُ

وَما لَكَ بَيتٌ عِندَ قَيسِ اِبنِ عاصِمِ

You have no claim to al-Zibriqan's house and its shade,

nor have you a house with Qays ibn Asim.

وَلَكِن بَدا لِلذُلِّ رَأسُكَ قاعِداً

بِقَرقَرَةٍ بَينَ الجِداءِ التَوائِمِ

Rather, your head stood exposed to humiliation as you sat

on a bare plain among twin-born goat kids.

تَلوذُ بِأَحقَي نَهشَلٍ مِن مُجاشِعٍ

عِياذَ ذَليلٍ عارِفٍ لِلمَظالِمِ

You seek shelter at Nahshal's loins from Mujashi',

like a humbled man seeking refuge, familiar with oppression.

وَلا نَقتُلُ الأَسرى وَلَكِن نَفُكُّهُم

إِذا أَثقَلَ الأَعناقَ حَملُ المَغارِمِ

We do not kill captives; instead, we set them free,

when the burden of debts weighs down their necks.

فَهَل ضَربَةُ الرومِيِّ جاعِلَةٌ لَكُم

أَباً عَن كُلَيبٍ أَو أَباً مِثلَ دارِمِ

Will the Roman's blow, then, give you

a father outside Kulayb, or a father like Darim?

فَإِنَّكَ كَلبٌ مِن كُلَيبٍ لِكَلبَةً

غَذَتكَ كُلَيبٌ في خَبيثِ المَطاعِمِ

For you are a dog of Kulayb, born of a bitch;

Kulayb nourished you on vile food.