رأيتُ نوار قد جعلت تجنى — Farazdaq

رَأَيتُ نَوارَ قَد جَعَلَت تَجَنّى

وَتُكثِرُ لي المَلامَةَ وَالعِتابا

I saw that Nawar had begun to make unjust accusations,

And heap blame and reproach upon me.

وَأَحدَثُ عَهدِ وَدَّكَ بِالغَواني

إِذا ما رَأسُ طالِبِهِنَّ شابا

Your last experience of love with fair women

Comes when their suitor's head has turned gray.

فَلا أَسطيعُ رَدَّ الشَيبِ عَنّي

وَلا أَرجو مَعَ الكِبَرِ الشَبابا

I cannot ward gray hair off from myself,

Nor hope for youth in old age.

فَلَيتَ الشَيبَ يَومَ غَدا عَلَينا

إِلى يَومِ القِيامَةِ كانَ غابا

Would that gray hair, the day it came upon us,

Had stayed away until the Day of Resurrection!

فَكانَ أَحَبَّ مُنتَظَرٍ إِلَينا

وَأَبغَضَ غائِبٍ يُرجى إِيابا

For it was the dearest thing awaited by us,

And the most hated absentee whose return is hoped for.

فَلَم أَرَ كَالشَبابِ مَتاعَ دُنيا

وَلَم أَرَ مِثلَ كِسوَتِهِ ثِيابا

I have seen no worldly pleasure like youth,

Nor seen clothes like its garment.

وَلَو أَنَّ الشَبابَ يُذابُ يَوماً

بِهِ حَجَرٌ مِنَ الجَبَلَينِ ذابا

And if ever youth were used to melt

A stone from the two mountains, it would melt.

فَإِنّي يا نُوارُ أَبى بَلائي

وَقَومي في المَقامَةِ أَن أُعابا

For, Nawar, my proven valor has refused,

And my people in the assembly, to let me be disparaged.

هُمُ رَفَعوا يَدَيَّ فَلَم تَنَلني

مُفاضَلَةً يَدانِ وَلا سِبابا

They raised my two hands, so no pair of hands could reach me,

In rivalry for merit, nor in exchanges of abuse.

ضَبَرتُ مِنَ المِئينَ وَجَرَّبَتني

مَعَدٌّ أُحرِزَ القُحامَ لِرِغابا

I amassed hundreds, and have been tested by

Ma'add, winning perilous contests for rich prizes,

بِمُطَّلِعِ الرِهانِ إِذا تَراخى

لَهُ أَمَدٌ أَلَحَّ بِهِ وَثابا

With a steed that wins the stakes; whenever there stretches

A long course before it, it presses onward in leaps.

أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ وَقَد بَلَونا

أُمورَكَ كُلَّها رُشداً صَوابا

Commander of the Faithful, we have tested

All your affairs, finding them rightly guided and sound.

تَعَلَّم إِنَّما الحَجّاجُ سَيفٌ

تُجَذُّ بِهِ الجَماجِمَ وَالرِقابا

Know that al-Hajjaj is but a sword

With which skulls and necks are severed.

هُوَ السَيفُ الَّذي نَصَرَ اِبنَ أَروى

بِهِ مَروانُ عُثمانَ المُصابا

He is the sword with which the son of Arwa was championed—

Stricken Uthman—by Marwan.

إِذا ذَكَرَت عُيونُهُمُ اِبنَ أَروى

وَيَومَ الدارِ أَسهَلَتِ اِنسِكابا

When their eyes remember the son of Arwa

And the day of the house, they pour forth freely.

عَشِيَّةَ يَدخُلونَ بِغَيرِ إِذنٍ

عَلى مُتَوَكِّلٍ وَفّى وَطابا

That evening when they entered without permission

Upon a man who trusted in God, kept faith, and was good,

خَليلِ مُحَمَّدٍ وَإِمامِ حَقٍّ

وَرابِعِ خَيرِ مَن وَطِئَ التُرابا

Muhammad's close friend and a rightful imam,

And fourth among the best who trod the dust.

فَلَيسَ بِزايِلٍ لِلحَربِ مِنهُم

شِهابٌ يُطفِؤونَ بِهِ شِهابا

Thus in war there never departs from their ranks

A firebrand with which they extinguish another firebrand.

بِهِ تُبنى مَكارِمُهُم وَتُمرى

إِذا ما كانَ دِرَّتُها اِعتِصابا

Through it their noble deeds are built and milked forth,

When their milk-flow requires tight binding.

وَخاضِبِ لِحيَةٍ غَدَرَت وَخانَت

جَعَلتَ لِشَيبِها دَمَهُ خِضابا

And many a dyer of a beard that betrayed and broke faith—

You made his blood a dye for its gray hairs.

وَمُلحَمَةٍ شَهِدتَ لِيَومَ بَأسٍ

تَزيدُ المَرءَ لِلأَجَلِ اِقتِرابا

And many a bloody battle you witnessed on a day of fury,

Bringing a man closer to his appointed end.

تَرى القَلعِيَّ وَالماذِيَّ فيها

عَلى الأَبطالِ يَلتَهِبُ اِلتِهابا

There you see Qal'i blades and Madhi mail,

Blazing fiercely upon the warriors.

شَدَختَ رُؤوسَ فِتيَتَها فَداخَت

وَأَبصَرَ مَن تَرَبَّصَها فَتابا

You crushed the heads of its youths, and it was subdued;

And whoever had awaited it took heed and repented.

رَأَيتُكَ حينَ تَعتَرِكُ المَنايا

إِذا المَرعوبُ لِلغَمَراتِ هابا

I saw you when deadly fates clashed,

When the terror-stricken feared the engulfing dangers,

وَأَذلَقَهُ النِفاقُ وَكادَ مِنهُ

وَجيبُ القَلبِ يَنتَزِعُ الحِجابا

And hypocrisy unnerved him, and almost, within him,

The pounding of his heart tore away its covering:

تَهونُ عَلَيكَ نَفسُكَ وَهوَ أَدنى

لِنَفسِكَ عِندَ خالِقِها ثَوابا

You hold your own life lightly, and that brings you nearer

To reward for your soul in its Creator's sight.

فَمَن يَمنُن عَلَيكَ النَصرَ يَكذِب

سِوى اللَهِ الَّذي رَفَعَ السَحابا

Whoever claims to have granted you victory lies,

Except God, who raised the clouds.

تَفَرَّد بِالبَلاءِ عَلَيكَ رَبٌّ

إِذا ناداهُ مُختَشِعٌ أَجابا

The Lord alone has bestowed His favor upon you;

When a humble supplicant calls upon Him, He answers.

وَلَو أَنَّ الَّذي كَشَّفتَ عَنهُم

مِنَ الفِتَنِ البَلِيَّةَ وَالعَذابا

And if, for what you cleared away from them—

The affliction and torment of strife—

جَزوكَ بِها نُفوسَهُمُ وَزادوا

لَكَ الأَموالَ ما بَلَغوا الثَوابا

They repaid you with their lives and added

Their wealth for you, they would not repay you fully.

فَإِنّي وَالَّذي نَحَرَت قُرَيشٌ

لَهُ بِمِنىً وَأَضمَرَتِ الرِكابا

For I swear by Him for whom Quraysh sacrificed

At Mina, and made their riding camels lean,

إِلَيهِ مُلَبَّدينَ وَهُنَّ خوصٌ

لِيَستَلِموا الأَواسِيَ وَالحِجابا

Toward Him, with their hair matted, the camels sunken-eyed,

To touch the supporting pillars and the covering:

لَقَد أَصبَحتُ مِنكَ عَلَيَّ فَضلٌ

كَفَضلِ الغَيثِ يَنفَعُ مَن أَصابا

A bounty from you has indeed come upon me,

Like rain's bounty, benefiting whomever it reaches.

وَلَو أَنّي بِصينِ اِستانَ أَهلي

وَقَد أَغلَقتُ مِن هَجرَينِ بابا

Even if I were with my people in Chinistan,

And had shut a gate from Hajrayn

عَلَيَّ رَأَيتُ يا اِبنَ أَبي عَقيلٍ

وَرائي مِنكَ أَظفاراً وَنابا

Upon myself, I would see, son of Abu Aqil,

Your claws and a fang behind me.

فَعَفوُكَ يا اِبنَ يوسُفَ خَيرُ عَفوٍ

وَأَنتَ أَشَدُّ مُنتَقِمٍ عِقابا

Your pardon, son of Yusuf, is the best of pardons,

And you are the fiercest avenger in punishment.

رَأَيتُ الناسَ قَد خافوكَ حَتّى

خَشوا بِيَدَيكَ أَو فَرَقوا الحِسابا

I saw that people feared you so much that

They felt fear at your hands, or dreaded the reckoning.