إن يظعن الشيب الشباب فقد ترى — Farazdaq

إِن يُظعِنِ الشَيبُ الشَبابَ فَقَد تُرى

لَهُ لِمَّةٌ لَم يُرمَ عَنها غُرابُها

If gray hair drives youth away, yet once one could see

him with a mane whose raven had not been driven off.

لَئِن أَصبَحَت نَفسي تُجيبُ لَطالَ ما

أَقَرَّت بِعَيني أَن يُغيمَ سَحابُها

If my soul has now grown compliant, for long

it delighted my eye to see its clouds grow dark.

وَأَصبَحتُ مِثلَ النَسرِ أَصبَحَ واقِعاً

وَأَفناهُ مِن كَرِّ اللَيالي ذَهابُها

And I have become like a vulture, now grounded,

worn away by the passing of nights that return again and again.

وَمايِرَةِ الأَعضادِ قَد أَجهَضَت لَها

نَتيجَ خِداجٍ وَهيَ ناجٍ هَبابُها

And a she-camel with swaying forelegs, who had miscarried

a premature calf of hers, yet swift in her rush—

تَعالَلتُها بِالسَوطِ بَعدَ اِلتِياثِها

بِمُقوَرَّةِ الأَعلامِ يَطفو سَرابُها

I kept her going with the whip after she had faltered,

across a plain of rounded hills, where its mirage floats.

فَقُلتُ لَها زوري بِلالاً فَإِنَّهُ

إِلَيهِ مِنَ الحاجاتِ تُنضى رِكابُها

So I said to her, “Visit Bilal, for he is the one

to whom the mounts of need are ridden until worn thin.”

حَلَفتُ وَمَن يَأثَم فَإِنَّ يَمينَهُ

إِذا أَثِمَت لاقيهِ مِنها عَذابُها

I swore—and whoever sins in swearing, his oath,

if false, brings its punishment to meet him—

لَئِن بَلَّ لي أَرضي بِلالٌ بِدَفقَةٍ

مِنَ الغَيثِ في يُمنى يَدَيهِ اِنسِكابُها

if Bilal wets my land for me with a gush

of rain whose outpouring is in his right hand,

أَكُن كَالَّذي صابَ الحَيا أَرضَهُ الَّتي

سَقاها وَقَد كانَت جَديباً جَنابُها

I shall be like one whose land was visited by rain,

which watered it when its surroundings had been barren.

فَأَصبَحَ قَد رَوّاهُ مِن كُلِّ جانِبٍ

لَهُ مَطَراتٌ مُستَهَلٌّ رَبابُها

So now he has been drenched on every side,

with showers for him, their cloudbanks pouring rain.

فَتىً تَقصُرُ الفِتيانُ دونَ فَعالِهِ

وَكانَ بِهِ لِلحَربِ يَخبو شِهابُها

A youth whose deeds other youths cannot reach,

and through him war's firebrand would grow dim.

هُوَ المُشتَري بِالسَيفِ أَفضَلَ ما غَلا

إِذا ما رَحى الحَربِ اِستَدَرَّ ضِرابُها

He buys with the sword the finest of all that is costly,

when the blows of war's millstone pour thick and fast.

أَبى لِبِلالٍ أَنَّ كَفَّيهِ فيهِما

حَيا الأَرضَ يَسقي كُلَّ مَحلٍ حَبابُها

Bilal cannot be equaled: his two palms contain

the earth's rain, whose foam waters every parched place.

هُوَ اِبنُ أَبي موسى الَّذي كانَ عِندَهُ

لِحاجاتِ أَصحابِ الرَسولِ كِتابُها

He is the son of Abu Musa, who kept with him

the record of the needs of the Messenger's companions.

رَأَيتُ بِلالاً إِذ جَرى جاءَ سابِقاً

وَذَلَّت بِهِ لِلحَربِ قَسراً صِعابُها

I saw Bilal, when he raced, come in first,

and through him war's hardships were forcibly tamed.

بِهِ يَطمَئِنُّ الخائِفونَ وَغَيثُهُ

بِهِ مِن بِلادِ المَحلِ يَحيا تُرابُها

Through him the fearful find peace; and his rain—

through it, the soil of drought-stricken lands comes alive.

أَبَيتَ عَلى الناهيكَ إِلّا تَدَفُّقاً

كَما اِنهَلَّ مِن نَوءِ الثُرَيّا سَحابُها

Despite the one who would restrain you, you insist on pouring forth,

as the clouds of the Pleiades' rain-season pour down.

رَحَلتُ مِنَ الدَهنا إِلَيكَ وَبَينَنا

فَلاةٌ وَأَنياهٌ تَعاوى ذِئابُها

I journeyed from al-Dahna to you, while between us

lay a desert and wastes whose wolves howled to one another,

لِأَلقاكَ وَاللاقيكَ يَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

سَيَملَأُ كَفَّي ساعِدَيهِ ثَوابُها

to meet you; whoever meets you knows that

its reward will fill both palms at the ends of his forearms.

نَماكَ أَبو موسى أَبوكَ كَما نَمى

وُعولاً بِأَعلى صاحَتَينِ هِضابُها

Abu Musa, your father, raised you, as

Sahatayn's uplands raised ibexes on their heights.

وَكُلُّ يَمانٍ أَنتَ جُنَّتُهُ الَّتي

بِها تُتَّقى لِلحَربِ إِذ فُرَّ نابُها

And every Yemeni has you as his shield,

with which war is warded off when its fang is bared.

وَأَنتَ اِمرُؤٌ تُعطي يَمينُكَ ما غَلا

وَإِن عاقَبَت كانَت شَديداً عِقابُها

And you are a man whose right hand gives what is costly;

and if it punishes, its punishment is severe.