هي الديار فعج في رسمها العاري — Ibn Al Khayyat

هِيَ الدِّيارُ فَعُجْ فِي رَسْمِها الْعارِي

إِنْ كانَ يُغْنِكَ تَعْرِيجٌ عَلَى دارِ

These are the dwellings; turn aside among their bare traces,

if turning aside to a dwelling can avail you.

إِنْ يَخْلُ طَرْفُكَ مِنْ سُكَانِها فَبِها

ما يَمْلأُ الْقَلْبَ مِنْ شَوْقٍ وَتَذْكارِ

If your gaze finds none of their inhabitants, within them is

what fills the heart with longing and remembrance.

يا عُمْرُو ما وَقْفَةٌ فِي رَسْمِ مَنْزِلَةٍ

أَثارَ شَوْقَكَ فِيها مَحْوُ آثارِ

O Amr, what a halt beside a dwelling's traces,

where the effacement of its marks has stirred your longing!

أَنْكَرْتَ فِيها الْهَوى ثُمَّ اعْتَرَفْتَ بِهِ

وَما اعْتِرافُكَ إلاّ دَمْعُكَ الْجارِي

There you denied love, then acknowledged it;

your acknowledgment is nothing but your flowing tears.

تَشْجُو الدِّيارُ وَما يَشْجُو أَخا كَمَدٍ

مِنَ الْهَوى مِثْلُ دارٍ ذاتِ إفْقارِ

The dwellings stir sorrow; nothing saddens one burdened with grief

from love like a dwelling left deserted.

يا حَبَّذا مَنْزِلٌ بالسَّفِحِ مِنْ إِضَمٍ

وَدِمْنَةٌ بِلوى خَبْتٍ وَتعِشْارِ

How dear a dwelling on the slope of Idam,

and campsite remains at the sand-bend of Khabt and Ta'shar!

وَحَبَّذا أُصُلٌ يُمْسِي يَجَرُّ بِها

ذَيْلُ النَّسِيمِ عَلَى مَيْثاءِ مَعْطارِ

How dear those late afternoons, when at dusk there trails

the breeze's hem across soft, fragrant ground.

لُوْ كُنْتُ ناسِيَ عَهْدٍ مِنْ تَقادُمِهِ

نَسِيتُ فِيها لُباناتِي وَأَوْطارِي

Were I to forget a past time because it had grown old,

I would have forgotten there my yearnings and desires.

أَيّامَ يَفْتِكُ فِيها غَيْرَ مُرْتَقَبٍ

طَبْيُ الْكِناسِ بِلَيْثِ الْغابَةِ الضّارِي

Those days when, unsuspected, a deadly ambush was sprung there

by the covert's gazelle upon the forest's ravening lion.

يَصْبُو إِليَّ وَيُصْبِي كُلِّ مُنْفَرِدٍ

بِالدَّلِّ وَالْحُسْنِ مِنْ بادٍ وَمِنْ قارِ

He yearns toward me and enchants every solitary soul

with coquetry and beauty, nomad and settler alike.

لا أُرْسِلُ اللَّحْظَ إلاّ كانَ مَوْقِعُهُ

عَلَى شُمُوسٍ مُنِيراتٍ وَأَقْمارِ

I never cast a glance but it would fall

upon radiant suns and moons.

ما أَطْيَبَ الْعَيْشَ لَوْ أَنِّي وَفَدْتُ بِهِ

عَلَى شَبابٍ وَدَهْرٍ غَيْرِ غَدّارِ

How sweet life would be, if I could bring it

to youth and an age that did not betray!

اَلآنَ قَدْ هَجَرَتْ نَفْسِي غَوايَتَها

وَحانَ بَعْدَ حُلُولِ الشِّيْبِ إِقْصارِي

Now my soul has abandoned its folly,

and with gray hair's arrival, the time has come for me to desist.

وَالْعَيْشُ ما صَحِبَ الْفِتْيانُ دَهْرَهُمُ

مُقَسَّمُ بَيْنَ إِحْلاءٍ وإِمْرارِ

Life, as long as young men keep company with their days,

is divided between sweetness and bitterness.

يا مَنْ بِمُجْتُمُعِ الشَّطَّيْنِ إِنْ عَصَفَتْ

بِكُمْ رِياحِي فَقَدْ قَدَّمْتُ إِعْذارِي

O you where the two banks meet, if there rage

against you my winds, I have offered my excuse beforehand.

لا تُنْكِرُنَّ رِحِيلِي عَنْ دِيارِكُمُ

لَيْسَ الْكَرِيمُ عَلَى ضَيْمِ بِصَبّارِ

Do not condemn my departure from your dwellings;

a noble man cannot patiently endure humiliation.

يَأْبى لِيَ الضَّيْمَ فُرْسانُ الْخِلاجِ وَما

حَبَّرْتُ مِنْ غُرَرٍ تُهْدى وَأَشْعارِ

The horsemen of al-Khilaj will not let me suffer wrong, nor will what

I have composed of brilliant pieces offered as gifts, and poems.

وَقَدْ غَدَوْتُ بِعِزِّ الدِّينِ مُعْتَصِماً

إِنَّ الْكِرامَ عَلَى الأَيّامِ أَنْصارِي

I have taken refuge in Izz al-Din;

the noble are my helpers against the days.

مَلْكٌ إِذا ذُكِرَتْ يُوْماً مَواهِبُهُ

أَثْرى الرَّجاءُ بِها مِنْ بَعْدِ إِقْتارِ

A king whose gifts, whenever they are mentioned,

enrich hope after its poverty.

يُعْطِيكَ جُوداً عَلَى الإِقْلال تَحْسَبُهُ

وافاكَ عَنْ نَشَبٍ جَمٍّ وَإِكْثارِ

He gives you bounty despite scarcity, which you think

has come to you from vast wealth and abundance.

رَيّانُ مِنْ كَرَمٍ مَلآنُ مِنْ هِمَمٍ

كَأَنَّهُ السَّيْفُ بَيْنَ الْماءِ وَالنّارِ

Sated with generosity, filled with high aspirations,

he is like the sword between water and fire.

لَيْسَ الْجَوادُ جُواداً ما جَرى مَثَلٌ

حَتّى يَكُونَ كَحَسّانِ بْنِ مِسْمارِ

No generous man is truly generous, as long as a saying endures,

until he is like Hassan ibn Mismar.

الْواهِبُ الْخَيْل إِمّا جِئْتَ زائِرَهُ

أَقَلَّ سَرْجَكَ مِنْها كُلُّ طَيّارِ

The giver of horses: whenever you come to visit him,

each flying steed among them bears your saddle aloft.

اَلطّاعِنُ الطَّعْنَةَ الْفَوْهاءَ جائِشَةً

تَرُدُّ طاعِنَها عَنْها بِتَيارِ

He strikes a gaping wound, seething

with a torrent that drives its striker back.

يَكادُ يَنْفُذُ فِيها حِينَ يُنْفِذُها

لُوْلا عُبابُ دَمٍ مِنْ فُوْرِها جارِ

He almost passes through it as he drives his thrust home,

but for the swelling blood pouring from its surge.

تَلْقى السِّنانَ بِها وَالسَّرْدَ تَحْسَبُهُ

ما ضَلَّ منْ فُتُلٍ فِيها وَمِسْبارِ

You find spearhead and mail within it, and take them

for stray twisted threads within it and a probing rod.

فِي كَفِّهِ سَيْفُ مِسْمارَ الَّذِي شَقِيَتْ

هامُ الْمُلُوكِ بِهِ أَيّامَ سِنْجارِ

In his palm is Mismar's sword, which afflicted

the heads of kings in the days of Sinjar.

لاَ يَأْمُلُ الرّزْقَ إلاّ مِنْ مَضارِبِهِ

فَرْسُ الْهُمامِ بِأَنْيابٍ وَأَظْفارِ

He looks for livelihood only from its striking edges,

as a lion takes prey with fangs and claws.

نِعْمَ الْمُناخُ لِشُعْثٍ فَوْتِ مَهْلَكَةٍ

أَرْماقِ مَسْغَبَةٍ أنْضاءِ أَسْفارِ

What a fine stopping-place for disheveled men escaped from destruction,

bare survivors of hunger, worn thin by journeys!

لا يَشْتَكُونَ لَدَيْهِ الْمَحْلَ فِي سَنَةٍ

يَشْكُو بِها السَّغَبَ الْمَقْرِيُّ وَالقَارِي

In his presence they do not complain of drought in a year

when both guest and host complain of hunger.

سَحابُ جُوْدٍ عَلَى الرّاجِينَ مُنْهَمِلٍ

وَبَحْرُ جُودٍ عَلَى الْعافِينَ زَخّارِ

A cloud of generosity pouring upon the hopeful,

and an ocean of bounty surging over supplicants.

إذا تَرَحَّلَ عَنْ دارٍ أَقامَ لَهُ

مِنَ الصَّنائِعِ فِيها خَيْرُ آثارِ

When he departs from a dwelling, there remain for him

the finest traces of good deeds within it.

كَالْغَيْثِ أَقْلَعَ مَحْمُوداً وَخَلَّفَ ما

يُرْضِيكَ مِنْ زَهَرٍ غَضٍّ وَنُوّارِ

Like rain that ceased, praised, and left behind what

pleases you of fresh flowers and blossoms.

تَبْقى الذَّخائِرُ مِنْ فَضْلاتِ نائِلِهِ

كَأَنَّها غُدُرٌ مِنْ بَعْدِ أَمْطارِ

Treasures remain from the surplus of his bounty,

like pools left after rains.

مُظَفَّرُ الْعَزْمِ ما تَأْلُو مُوَفَّقَةً

آراؤُهُ بَيْنَ إِيْرادٍ وَإِصْدارِ

Victorious in resolve, with never-faltering, successful

counsels in undertaking and concluding.

سامٍ إلى الشَّرَفِ الْممْنُوعِ جانِبُهُ

نامٍ إِلى الْحَسَبِ الْعَارِي مِنَ الْعارِ

Rising toward honor whose precinct is unassailable,

tracing his descent to ancestry untainted by shame.

مُخَوَّلٌ فِي جَنابٍ يَيْتَ مَمْلَكَةٍ

عَزُّوا بِهِ وَأَذَلُّوا كُلَّ جَبّارِ

With maternal kin in the precincts of a royal house,

they rose to might through it and humbled every tyrant.

أَيّامَ كَلْبٌ لَها ما بَيْنَ جُوسِيَةٍ

وَبَيْنَ غَزَّةَ مِنْ رِيفٍ وَأَمْصارِ

In the days when Kalb possessed all between Jusiya

and Gaza, of countryside and cities.

يَقُودُها مِنْ سِنانٍ عَزْمُ مُتَّقِدٍ

أَمامَها كَسِنانِ الصَّعْدَةِ الْوارِي

A blazing resolve from Sinan led them,

before them like the flashing point of a lance.

تَرْمِي بأَعُيُنِها فِي كُلِّ داجِيةٍ

مِنْهُ إلى كَوْكَبٍ بِالسَّعْدِ سَيّارِ

They cast their eyes in every dark night

toward him, a star moving with good fortune.

يَبِيتُ كلُّ ثَقِيلِ الرُّمْحِ حامِلُه

فِي سَرْجِ كُلِّ خَفِيفِ اللِّبْدِ مِغْوارِ

Every bearer of a heavy lance spends the night

in the saddle of a lightly padded raiding steed.

مُجْدٌ تَأَثَّلَ فِي نَجْدٍ أَوائِلُهُ

وَشِيد بِالشّامِ مِنْهُ الطّارِفُ الطّارِي

Glory whose beginnings took root in Najd,

and whose newly won gains were built high in al-Sham.

يَا بْنَ الْكرِامِ الأُلى ما زالَ مَجْدُهُمُ

مُغْرىً بِقِلَّةِ أشْباهٍ وَأَنْظارِ

O son of the noble, whose glory has never ceased

to be intent on having few equals or peers.

اَلْمانِعِينَ غَداةَ الْخَوْفِ جارهُمُ

وَالْحافِظِينَ بِغَيْبٍ حُرْمَةَ الْجَارِ

Those who protect their neighbor on the morning of fear,

and preserve a neighbor's inviolability in his absence.

بِيضُ الْعَوارِفِ أَغْمارٌ إِذا وَهَبُوا

جُوداً وَلَيْسُوا إِذا عُدُّوا بِأَغْمارِ

White in their benefactions, seas when they bestow

bounty, yet not simpletons when men are reckoned.

لا يَصْحَبُ الدَّهْرُ مِنْهُمْ طُولَ ما ذُكِرُوا

إِلاّ الثَّناءُ وَإلاّ طِيبُ أَخْبارِ

Time carries from them, as long as they are remembered,

only praise and pleasant accounts.

إِنَّ الْعَشائِرَ مِنْ أَحْياءِ ذِي يَمَنٍ

لَمّا بَغَوْكَ جَرَوْا فِي غَيْرِ مِضْمارِ

Indeed, the tribes among the clans of Dhu Yaman,

when they assailed you, ran on a course not theirs.

أَصْحَرْتَ إِذْ مَدَّ بِالْمِدّانِ سَيْلُهُمُ

وَاللَّيْثُ لا يُتَّقى مِنْ غَيْرِ إِصْحارِ

You came into the open when their torrent swelled at al-Middan,

and a lion cannot be warded off except in the open.

سالُوا فَأَغْرَقَهُمْ قطر نضحت به

ما كل سبل على خيل بجرار

They flowed forth, but a shower you sprinkled drowned them;

not every rain upon horses pours in torrents.

مالوا فقوم منهم كل مناظر

طَعْنٌ يُعَدِّلُ مِنْهُمْ كُلَّ جُوّارِ

They swerved; every opponent among them was straightened

by a thrust that set every wrongdoer among them aright.

حَتّى إِذا نَهَتِ الأُولى فَما انْتَفَعُوا

بِالنَّهْي وَالْبَغْيُ فِيهِمْ شَرُّ أَمّارِ

Until, when the first encounter warned them, they gained nothing

from the warning; rebellion was their worst commander.

أَبَحْتَها وَحَمَيْتَ الشّامَ معْتقِداً

أَنْ لَيْسَ يَنْفَعُ إِلاّ كُلُّ ضَرّارِ

You laid them open to plunder and protected al-Sham, believing

that only one who can inflict harm is of use.

قَدْ نابَكَ الدَّهْرُ أَزْماناً بِغَيْرِهِمِ

فَظَلَّ يَغْمِزُ عُوداً غَيْرَ خُوّارِ

Time had assailed you often through others besides them,

and kept pressing an unyielding shaft.

وَكَمْ أَبَتَّ عَلَى ثَأْرٍ ذَوِي ضَغَنٍ

وَلَمْ تَبِتْ قَطُّ مِنْ قُوْمٍ عَلَى ثارِ

How often you made the resentful spend the night nursing vengeance,

yet never slept with blood-vengeance still to claim from any people.

إِنْ زُرْتُ دارَكَ عنْ شَوْقٍ فَمَجْدُكَ بِي

أَوْلى وَما كُلُّ مُشْتاقٍ بِزَوّارِ

If I visit your house from longing, your glory has

the greater claim on me; not every yearning soul comes visiting.

لَيْسَ الْمُطِيقُونَ حِجَّ الْبَيْتِ ما تَرَكُوا

فَرِيضَةَ الْحَجِّ عَنْ زُهْدٍ بِأَبْرارِ

Those able to make pilgrimage to the House are not, when they abandon

the duty of pilgrimage out of indifference, righteous.

وَقَدْ أَتَيْتُكَ أَسْتَعْدِي عَلى زَمَنٍ

لا يَشْرَبُ الْحُرُّ فِيهِ غَيْرَ أَكْدارِ

I have come to you seeking aid against an age

when the free man drinks nothing but dregs.

مُوَكِّلُ الْجُوْرِ بِالأَحْرارِ يَقْصِدُهُمْ

كَأَنَّهُ عِنْدُهُمْ طَلاّبُ أَوْتارِ

It sets oppression upon free men and pursues them,

as though among them it were seeking blood-debts.

وَالْحَمْدُ أَنْفَسُ مَذْخُورٍ تَفَوزُ بِهِ

فَخُذْ بِحظِّكَ مِنْ عُونِي وَأَبْكارِي

Praise is the most precious treasure you can gain;

so take your share of my matrons and my maidens,

مِنَ الْقَوافِي الَّتِي ما زِلْتُ أُودِعُها

عُلالَةَ الرَّكْبِ مِنْ غادٍ وَمِنْ سارِ

among the rhymes in which I have continually placed

solace for riders, traveling by morning or by night.

إِنَّ السِّماحَةَ َأُولاها وَآخِرَها

فِي كَفِّ كُلِّ يَمانٍ يَا بْنَ مِسْمارِ

Generosity, its beginning and its end,

lies in every Yemeni's palm, O son of Mismar.

لا تَسْقِنِي بسِوى جَدْوى يَدَيْكَ فَما

يُرْوِي مِنَ السُّحْبِ إِلاّ كُلُّ مِدْرارِ

Give me no drink but the bounty of your hands, for

only an abundantly raining cloud can quench thirst.

وَلَسْتُ أَوَّلَ راج قادَهُ أَمَلٌ

قَدْ راحَ مِنْكَ عَلَى شَقْراءَ مِحْضارِ

Nor am I the first hopeful man led by hope

who has left you on a swift-running chestnut mare.