ديار الحي بالرس — Ibn Duraid Al Azde

دِيارُ الحَيِّ بِالرَسِّ

إِلى العمرَينِ فَالأَبرَق

The tribe's dwellings at al-Rass,

stretching to al-ʿAmrayn, then al-Abraq,

كَرَجعِ النَقشِ في الطِرسِ

إِذا نُمِّقَ لَم يَنمَق

are like retraced script upon a palimpsest,

embellished, yet never becoming fair.

عَفاها كُلُّ رَجّاسٍ

مُلِثٍّ وَبلُهُ مودِق

Every rumbling raincloud has effaced them,

lingering, its heavy rain pouring down,

وَهَوجاءَ خَجوجِيٍّ

تَصُلُّ الغَربَ بِالمَشرِق

and a violent, fiercely blowing wind,

joining the west to the east.

أَمُستَصبينِيَ الدارَ

وَقَد أَوفى عَلى المَفرق

Do the dwellings lure me back to youthful folly,

though over my hair's parting there has spread

بَياضٌ نَهنَهَ اللَهوَ

وَدانى قَيدَهُ المُطلَق

a whiteness that has restrained amusement

and tightened its once-loosened fetter?

شَنَيتُ الكَلِمَ المَدخو

لَ وَالشِعرَ إِذا اِستَغلَق

I have loathed corrupt speech

and poetry when it grows obscure;

بَلِ السَهوَ الَّذي يُشبِ

هُ نورَ الرَوضَةِ المونَق

rather, give me the easy kind that resembles

the lovely blossom of a garden.

أَجَل إِنَّ البَيانَ الرَج

زَ يُدعى حِليَةَ المَنطِق

Yes, eloquent rajaz

is called the adornment of speech.

وَما أَغرَبتُ بَل أَفلَق

تُ إِنَّ المُغرِبَ المُفلِق

I have not spoken strangely; rather, I have excelled—

the extraordinary speaker is indeed the brilliant master.

وَلِلمَرءِ قِوامانِ

مَتى لَم يُغمَ لَم يخرَق

A man has two mainstays,

so long as he is not senseless or bewildered.

فَما يَنطِقُ لا يَسمَ

عُ وَالسامِعُ لا يَنطِق

The one that speaks does not hear,

and the listener does not speak.

فَذا يوحي إِلى القَلبِ

وَذا يَفتِقُ ما اِستَرتَق

One conveys to the heart,

the other opens what was closed.

فَيا لِلناسِ ما الزَيمُ

إِذا فُصِّلَ أَو دُهدِق

So, people, what is the zaym-meat,

when portioned out or crushed fine?

وَما التَتميمُ في المَيس

ران جُمِّعَ أَو فُرِّق

And what is completion in the maysarān,

whether gathered together or divided?

وَما الكَهدَلُ في الخَيع

لِ وَالكافِرُ في اليَلمُق

And what is the old woman in the sleeveless tunic,

and the armored man in the long coat?

وَما الأَسناخُ في الأَرعا

ضِ وَالأَرصافُ إِذ يَلزَق

And what are the tangs in the arrowhead sockets,

and the sinew bindings, when glued fast?

وَما النَعوُ وَما البَغوُ

وَما المَعوُ إِذا يُفرَق

And what are naʿw and unripe fruit,

and soft dates when separated?

وَما البَعلُ وَالجَعلُ

وَما الجَبّارُ إِذ نُبِّق

And what are the rain-fed palm and the jaʿl,

and the towering palm when planted in rows?

وَما الجامورُ وَالساجو

رُ في السِكَّةِ فَالزَردَق

And what are the jāmūr and the wooden neck-yoke

in the plough, and then the zardaq?

وَما النَهرُ في الهَيش

رِ يَأدو غَفلَةَ الخِرنِق

And what is the nahr among the hayshar shrubs,

stalking the leveret unawares?

وَما الدُهدُنُّ وَالدَهدا

هُ وَالهِلقامَةُ الهِدلِق

And what are the worthless fellow and the little ones,

and the wide-mouthed glutton?

وَما الإِعليطُ في المَرخِ

وَما الإِخريطُ وَالعِشرِق

And what is the seedpod on the markh shrub,

and what are the ikhriṭ shrub and wild senna?

وَما العَندَلُ وَالبُرعو

مُ وَالرَهدَنُ في البَروَق

And what are the nightingale and the flower-bud,

and the rahdan-bird among the asphodel?

وَما العُسلوجُ في الخَضخَ

ضِ ذي المَزرَعِ وَالمَلثَق

And what is the tender shoot in the soft, wet ground,

with its cultivated patch and muddy soil?

وَما الصَهصَلِقُ الدِفنِ

سُ وَالكَهكاهَةُ الأَخرَق

And what is the loudmouthed fool,

and the bungling weakling?

وَما الخِنَّوتُ لا يُرجى

لَدى حَفلٍ وَلا مَصدَق

And what is the base fellow, not to be relied upon

in assembly or in battle?

وَما البَيذارَةُ العَيزا

رُ ذو الأَلسِ وَذو الأَولَق

And what is the baydhāra, the ʿayzār,

possessed of derangement and madness?

وَما البوهُ عَلى الجَله

ةِ إِن هَيَّجتَهُ وَقوَق

And what is the male owl upon the riverbank,

hooting if you rouse it?

وَما الجوبُ وَما الحوبُ

وَما المُترَصُّ وَالمُطرَق

And what are the shield and sin,

and the close-fitted shield and the hide-layered one?

وَما الشَوبُ مَعَ الذَوبِ

وَما الشَريُ مَعَ العِسبِق

And what is admixture with clarified honey,

and colocynth with the ʿisbiq herb?

وَما العَسقَلُ ذو الرَقرا

قِ فَوقَ الريعَةِ الدَيسَق

And what is the shimmering mirage,

glittering above the hillock?

وَما الأَغفارُ في الشِنعا

فِ من ذي الشَعَفِ الأَخلَق

And what are the ibex-kids among the mountain crags

of the smooth, bare, lofty-crested height?

وَما الحِسلُ عَلى الكُدي

ةِ وَالعُلجومُ في الغَلفَق

And what is the young monitor lizard on the rocky mound,

and the frog among the waterweed?

وَما السَكِّيُّ في البَلق

ةِ إِذ دَمَّقَهُ الفَيتَق

And what is the nail in the door-panel,

when the carpenter drives it in?

وَما الشُغنوبُ في الدَوح

ةِ مِمّا حَولَهُ أَسمَق

And what is the topmost bough in the spreading tree,

loftier than everything around it?

وَما الدِندِنُ في الخَبرا

ءِ تَحتَ الوابِلِ المُغدِق

And what are the decayed tree-roots in the water-gathering hollow,

beneath the copious downpour?

وَما الهَجهاجُ كَالقَرِّ

وَما الحَقّانُ وَالدَردَق

And what is the hajhāj, like the qarr,

and what are the ḥaqqān and the little children?

وَما اللِهميمُ وَالصِهمي

مُ وَالمُستَبقِلُ الزِهلِق

And what are the fleet steed and the sturdy steed,

and the sleek one grazing on herbage?

وَما الصُعرورُ في العُسلو

جِ تَحتَ العارِضِ المُبرِق

And what is the acacia gum on the tender shoot,

beneath the lightning-flashing raincloud?

وَما المُقلةُ في الصحنِ

وَما الحَقلةُ إِذ تُعزَق

And what is the water-measuring pebble in the bowl,

and the cultivated plot when it is hoed?

وَما الفُرزومُ ذو المطرَ

قِ وَالقُرزومُ ذو المنطق

And what is the firzūm, holder of the hammer,

and the qurzūm, endowed with speech?

وَما الثُغبوبُ في الوَعفَ

ةِ في ذي لَقِفٍ مُتأَق

And what is the deep pool in the rugged ground,

in a brim-full basin with crumbling sides?

وَما الدِرحايَةُ الجلحا

بُ فَوقَ الهَوزَبِ الأَورَق

And what is the bulky, massive man

upon the great grayish camel,

يَفي الإِمساءُ بِالإِصبا

حِ فَوقَ المَهمَهِ الأَخوَق

evening matching morning,

over the wide, pathless desert?

وَخَبِّرني عَنِ السَبت

وَسَعمِ الحُرَّةِ الخَيفَق

And tell me about the tanned hide

and the swift, noble she-camel's gait.

وَما الجَبهَةِ في الكَوك

بِ ذي الرَجراجَةِ الفَيلَق

And what are the horses in the host,

with its surging, mighty battalion?

وَما ذَبُّ الرِيادِ النا

شِطِ المُؤتَنِفِ المُحنِق

And what is the restless, roaming bull, so lively,

seeking fresh pasture, lean?

وَما الجارِحُ إِذ أَورَ

قَ ذاكَ الطالِبُ المُخفِق

And what is the earner when he comes back empty-handed,

that unsuccessful seeker?

وَخَبِّرني عَنِ الحانِ

طِ وَالوارِسِ إِذ يَبسُق

And tell me of the ripening grain

and the yellowing ramth shrub when it grows tall.

وَما المُقمِلُ وَالمُدبي

وَما الباقِلُ إِذ أَورَق

And what are the small-leafed and newly sprouting plants,

and the green shoot when it puts out leaves?

وَما أَعظُمُ وَضّاحٍ

يُنادى وَالدُجى يَغسِق

And what is 'Bones of Waḍḍāḥ!'

called out as the night grows dark?

وَهَل تَعرِفُ بِاللَيلِ

حَوِيَّ الخَبتِ إِذ يَطرُق

And do you know, at night,

the lowland's jinn when they come visiting?

وَما الدَهداهُ في المَلع

بِ وَالزُحلوقُ إِذ زُحلِق

And what are the little children in the playground,

and the slide when made slippery?

وَما الذَوطُ الشَفارِيّا

تُ في الدَوِيَّةِ السَملَق

And what are the cats, the shufāriyya kind,

in the broad, bare desert waste,

تُراعي التَدمِرُيّاتِ

فَمُستَخفٍ وَمُستَنفِق

watching the Tadmurian jerboas—

some hiding, some entering their burrows?