وفدت فلم أترك مقالا لوافد — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

وفدتُ فلم أترُكْ مقالاً لوافدِ

وقد تركَ الماضونَ لي كلَّ شاردِ

I came as a visitor, leaving nothing for another visitor to say.

Yet those gone before left me every wandering verse.

يمُرُّ بأفواه الرّواةِ كأنّه

جَنى النحلِ ممزوجاً بسُم الأساوِدِ

It passes through the mouths of reciters as though it were

the yield of bees mingled with black serpents' venom.

خَطَتْ إبلي عَرضَ الفراتِ بقاطعٍ

تمائمِ أوجاعِ الهَوى والعَوائدِ

My camels crossed the breadth of the Euphrates bearing one who severs

the amulets of love's pangs and recurring ailments.

وغيّرَ وُدّي يا بنة القومِ مطلبٌ

هجرت له ضَمَّ الثديِّ النّواهدِ

A quest has changed my affection, O daughter of the clan,

for whose sake I forsook embracing budding breasts.

تلومين في زيدٍ وقد مسّ جلدَه

على خطأٍ من فعله سوطُ عامدِ

You reproach me concerning Zayd, though his skin has felt,

for a fault he committed, the lash of a deliberate striker.

ولو كان يُغني الصفحُ عنه قُلامةً

صفَحنا ولكن شيمةٌ من مُعاودِ

Had pardon helped him so much as a nail-paring,

we would have pardoned; but his is a repeat offender's habit.

ألم أكُ قد حذرتُهُ يومَ دابِقٍ

سؤالَ المغاني والرسومِ البَوائدِ

Had I not already warned him, on the day at Dabiq,

against questioning the dwellings and their vanishing traces?

وقلتُ له لا تُتْبِعِ البرقَ نظرةً

ولا تعلُ أطرافَ القِنانِ الفواردِ

And told him: do not follow lightning with a glance,

nor climb the summits of solitary peaks.

ولمّا رأى عَبْساً تشُدُّ رحالَها

عَدا لؤلؤاً من عينهِ غيرَ جامدِ

When he saw 'Abs fastening their saddles,

pearls streamed from his eye, uncongealed.

فكيفَ إذا صاحَ الحُداةُ وراءَها

وقد قلّدوا أعناقَها بالمقاودِ

What, then, when the camel-drivers call behind them,

their necks already encircled with leading-reins?

دَنونا ولم تدنُ الجبالُ كأنّها

وقد طلبَتها الخيلُ إحدى الطرائدِ

We drew near, but the mountains did not, as though they were

some hunted quarry pursued by the horses.

فلمّا بدا الهِرْماسُ تنقشهُ الصَّبا

حَمى قطرةً من مائهِ ألفُ ذائدِ

When the Hirmas appeared, the east wind etching it,

a thousand defenders guarded a single drop of its water.

فلا تَرِدِ الهِرْماسَ يا راكبَ الحِمى

ورِدْ غيرَه صُم الصّفا والجلامدِ

So do not come to drink at the Hirmas, rider of the protected pasture;

water elsewhere instead—at solid rock and boulders.

أتمنعُنا غَنمٌ من الماءِ شربَة

وتسألُنا غنَمٌ فَضولُ المَراودِ

Does Ghanm deny us a drink of water,

while Ghanm asks us for surplus kohl-sticks?

فوَ اللهِ ما أدري أأكرهُ فيهمُ

صدورَ العَوالي أمْ صدورَ القصائدِ

By God, I know not which I dislike more for them:

the points of tall spears or the openings of poems.

على أنّ أطرافَ الأسنّةِ مَطْرَدٌ

لكل فتىً عن عِرضِه لم يُطاردِ

Yet spearhead tips are a means of driving off

every youth who has not fought in defense of his honor.

إذا وصلَ الوَسميّ بيني وبينكم

وعادَ إلى طَورَيْن صوبُ الرواعدِ

When the autumn rain joins me to you,

and the downpour of thunderclouds returns to Tawrayn,

فلا تأمَنوا أنْ تسمعوا صوتَ فتيةٍ

طِوالِ المَذاكي والقَنا والسّواعدِ

do not feel safe from hearing the cry of young warriors

with tall warhorses, long lances, and long forearms.

خُذوا اليومَ من إيماننا في رؤوسكم

عمائمَ إلاّ أنّها من حَدائدِ

Take today from our right hands upon your heads

turbans—except that they are made of iron—

بما وَرَدَتْ أنعامُكم ومطيُّنا

معذّبة الأكبادِ حولَ المَواردِ

because your livestock came to drink, while our riding camels

stood with tormented livers around the watering places.

ولو بِنَدى قاضي القضاةِ تعرّضَتْ

لما عُرّضَتْ آمالُها للمواعدِ

Had they sought the bounty of the chief judge,

their hopes would not have been left to promises.

وكان عبيدُ اللهِ أولَ قائمٍ

لمَكرمَةِ الدّنيا وآخرَ قاعدِ

Ubayd Allah was the first to rise

for a noble deed in this world, and the last to sit.

فتىً لا تَراهُ ماشياً فوقَ زَلّةٍ

ولا راكباً إلاّ ظهورَ الشّدائدِ

A man you never see taking a false step,

nor mounting anything but the backs of hardships.

جَمَعْتَ نظامَ الدّينِ بعدَ شَتاتِهِ

وأصلحتَ من آرائهِ كلَّ فاسدِ

You restored religion's ordered unity after its dispersal,

and set right all that was corrupt in its counsels,

على حين ناضلتَ العِدَى وتقلّبتْ

عليكَ اللّيالي في ثيابِ المكائدِ

even as you contended with foes, and the nights turned

against you, dressed in the robes of stratagems.

قدحتَ بزَنْدِ الرّأيِ والشّكُ سامرٌ

يُغازلُ أبصارَ العُقولِ الهَواجدِ

You struck sparks with judgment's fire-stick while doubt kept nightly company,

courting the eyes of slumbering minds.

وكنتَ إذا رضتْ همومُك عزمةً

رميتَ بِها خلفَ السُّها والفَراقدِ

And whenever your cares had schooled a resolve,

you cast it beyond al-Suha and the Farqad stars.

وكيف وجدتُم والسّفاهةُ كاسمِها

عقوبة جمِّ العفوِ في اللهِ حاقدِ

And how did you find—folly being true to its name—

the punishment of one abundant in pardon, yet wrathful for God's sake?

لعَمري لقد كاثرتُم بنعيمكم

لمُعتبرٍ في هذه الدارِ زاهدِ

By my life, with your luxury you tried to outdo

one who takes heed, an ascetic in this world.

وقد كنتُ أرسلتُ النذيرَ إليكُمُ

وقلتُ لكم نبهتُم غيرَ راقدِ

I had already sent you warning

and told you: you have roused one who was not asleep.

أخافُ من الليثِ المغَمِّضِ وثبةً

تُرَقِّصُ أحشاءَ الرجالِ الأجالِدِ

I fear a leap from the lion with closed eyes

that sets the innards of the hardiest men dancing.

أرى شُعَبَ الوادي تَسيلُ عليكُم

وأذرَعكم تَثنى متونَ الوسائدِ

I see the valley's branching streams pouring down upon you,

while your arms crease the backs of cushions.

فلو أنّكم إذْ صرّحَ الشّرُّ عُذتُمُ

ببُرْدَيْهِ أو ألقيتُم بالمَقالِدِ

Had you, when evil showed itself openly, sought refuge

in his two mantles, or surrendered the keys,

لردَّ إلى لِينِ الحشايا جُنوبكُم

وأطبقَ أجفانَ العُيونِ السّواهدِ

he would have returned your sides to the softness of mattresses

and closed the lids of wakeful eyes.

حَسدتُم مزيا نعمةِ اللهِ عِندَه

وما خَيرُ نُعمى لا تُعابُ بحاسدِ

You envied the distinctions of God's favor upon him;

yet what good is a blessing no envier faults?

أقيموا له عُوجَ الضّلوعِ فإنّما

زَرَعْتُمْ بِها شوكَ الفَسادِ لحاصدِ

Straighten for him your crooked ribs; for you have only

planted in them corruption's thorns for a reaper.

لجامُ الأعادي لا يذوبُ لباطلٍ

ولا هوَ للحقِّ المُبينِ بجامدِ

The bridle of enemies does not melt before falsehood,

nor is it rigid before manifest truth.

مَصائدُكم مكشوفةٌ لعيانِه

ويحفظُكم من خافياتِ المَصائدِ

Your snares lie exposed to his sight,

yet he protects you from hidden snares.

مُقيماً بدار الحزمِ يَرقُبُ عَوْدَكُمْ

ويسألُ عن أظعانِكم كُلَّ واردِ

Abiding in the house of resolve, he watches for your return

and asks every newcomer about your departing caravans.

يَعزُّ عليه أنْ تَثوبَ حُلومُكُمْ

وقد أُكِلَتْ أعراضُكم بالمَبارِدِ

It grieves him that your good sense should return

only after your reputations have been eaten away by files.

تجاوزْ تغمدْ أُعْفُ عن هَفواتِهم

أقِلْ زلل الأولادِ يا خيرَ والدِ

Overlook, cover over, pardon their lapses;

forgive the children's slips, O best of fathers.

فقد يلِدُ الإنسانُ غيرَ شبيهه

ويَصنَعُ معروفاً إلى غيرِ حامدِ

For a man may beget one unlike himself

and do a kindness to one who gives no thanks.

وأنتَ الذي لا يثلِمُ الجهلُ حِلمَه

ولو بينَ حِضنَي عَذبةِ الريقِ ناهدِ

You are the one whose forbearance folly cannot chip,

even in the embrace of a full-breasted maiden, sweet of saliva.

فلا تَتْركَني عُرضةً لمُضاغِنٍ

يُزخرفُ قولاً لا يقومُ بشاهدِ

So do not leave me exposed to a spiteful man

who gilds words unsupported by any witness.

تهضَّمني عِرضي وكاثرَ ناصري

وظَفّر أعدائي وشمَّتَ حاسدي

He assailed my honor and outmatched my champion,

gave my enemies victory and made my envier gloat.

وأطمَعَه خِذلانُ من كنتُ أرتجي

أبى الله خِذلاني وأنتَ مُعاضدي

He was emboldened by the desertion of one I had hoped in;

God will not permit my abandonment while you support me.

هَلُمَّ إلى قاضي القضاةِ فإنّه

سيأخذُ للمجحودِ من كلِّ جاحدِ

Come to the chief judge, for he

will exact the wronged man's due from every denier.

ويحكُم فينا حاكمٌ في يمينه

أزمةُ غاياتِ العُلا والمحامدِ

A judge will decide between us, in whose right hand

are the reins of the utmost heights and praiseworthy deeds.

تُصَوَّرُ منه المكرماتُ وتنتمي

إليه سُعودُ المُشتري وعُطاردِ

Noble deeds take shape from him; and tracing their lineage

to him are the good fortunes of Jupiter and Mercury.

أمِنْتُ وقد أبصرتُ ثغركَ ضاحِكاً

تجهُّمُ أحداثِ الخُطوبِ النّواكدِ

I felt safe, once I saw your smiling mouth,

from the scowling onsets of calamitous misfortunes.

وواللهِ لا أُعطي المذلّةَ طائِعاً

ولا كارِهاً حَدَّ السّيوفِ البواردِ

By God, I will not submit willingly to humiliation,

nor under duress beneath the edges of cold swords.

فإنّ شبيباً سنّ في العِزِّ سُنّةً

لكلّ كريمِ الأريحيّةِ ماجدِ

For Shabib established a precedent of honor

for every glorious man of noble, generous spirit.

مَضى لا يَظُنُّ الذُّلَّ يَحْرُسُ نفسَهُ

من الأجلِ الداني ولا المتباعدِ

He went forth, never thinking abasement could guard his life

from death, whether near at hand or far away.

يُفَلِّقُ هاماتِ الملوكِ حُسامُهُ

ويأخذُ من تيجانِها بالمَعاقدِ

His keen sword splits the heads of kings

and seizes their crowns by the fastenings.

فكلّ لئيمٍ بعدَه لمُهَيْرَةٍ

وكلُّ نجيبٍ بعدَه للولائدِ

Thus every base man after him is a freeborn wife's son,

and every noble man after him is a slave-woman's son.

وسهمُ بنُ كعبٍ خُيِّرَ الذُّلَّ والرّدى

فخافَ الرّدى واختارَ شرَّ القَلائدِ

Sahm ibn Ka'b was offered the choice of humiliation or death;

he feared death and chose the worst of necklaces.

وأعجبه شَمُّ النّسيمِ الذي تُرى

ولم يدرِ سهْمٌ أنُّ غيرُ خالدِ

He delighted in smelling the breeze that you perceive,

and Sahm did not know that he was not immortal.

وإنّ بَني كعبٍ تبيدُ جسومُها

وما كان من أفعالِها غيرُ بائدِ

The sons of Ka'b—their bodies perish,

but what they have done does not perish.

أصِبْ شكرَها يا سيدَ النّاسِ واغتَنم

ثناءَ بَواقٍ في الزّمانِ خَوالدِ

Win their gratitude, O lord of men, and gain

praises that remain through time, enduring forever.

فإنْ تَغمروني بالفوائدِ إنني

لأغْمركم من منطقي بالفَوائدِ

For if you overwhelm me with gifts, I

will surely overwhelm you with gifts from my speech.

سأهدي إليكُم كلَّ بيتٍ مُهذَّبٍ

صَقيلِ النّواحي في المناقبِ زائدِ

I shall offer you every finely fashioned verse,

polished on all sides, adding to your glories.

إذا قلتُه فيكُم رواهُ عدوّكم

فيمدحُكم عنّي لسانُ المعاندِ

When I compose it about you, your enemy will recite it,

and the adversary's tongue will praise you on my behalf.

ولو كان يومٌ فيه للفتكِ مَطْمَعٌ

كفيتُكم كيدَ العدوِّ المناجدِ

And were there a day that offered an opening for deadly attack,

I would shield you from the schemes of the valiant foe.