ولم أر مثل الخمر للهم شافيا — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

ولم أرَ مثلَ الخمرِ للهمِّ شافياً

إذا هي لم تلقَ الغيورَ المحامِيا

I have seen no healer of sorrow like wine,

if it does not encounter the jealous guardian;

ولا كحِذارِ العارِ للثارِ طالباً

ولا كذُبابِ السيفِ للجهلِ ناهيا

nor any seeker of vengeance like fear of disgrace,

nor any deterrent to folly like the sword's point.

يفوتُ ضجيعُ التّرّهاتِ طِلابُه

ويَدنو إلى الحاجاتِ من كانَ ساعِيا

His quest eludes the bedfellow of trifles,

while whoever strives draws near to what he needs.

وسرٍ إلى العلياءِ لم أتخذْ لهُ

صَديقاً ولم أُطلعْ عليهِ معاديا

And a secret leading toward eminence—for it I took

no friend, nor informed an enemy of it.

إذا كان دائي خافِياً لم أبحْ بهِ

فأيُّ طبيبٍ يخبرُ النّاسَ ما بِيا

If my ailment is hidden and I do not divulge it,

what physician can tell people what ails me?

تَخَيّرَ تاجُ المِلّةِ المَجْدَ واصْطَفَى

من العِزِّ أهْوالاً تُشيبُ النّواصِيا

Taj al-Milla chose glory and selected

from honor terrors that turn forelocks gray.

يُفارقُ فيها رأسَه كلُّ مُعْلَمٍ

فما تَعْلَمُ الراياتُ فيها العَوالِيا

There every marked warrior parts with his head,

so the banners there do not recognize the lofty spears.

طوى سِرَّهُ عن طَرفِه ولسانِهِ

وأصبحَ لا يرضى من العيْشِ فانيا

He concealed his secret from his gaze and his tongue,

and came to accept no fleeting life.

وشاغَبَ رَيْبَ الدّهْرِ يَثلِمُ حَدّهُ

ويَرجُم فيه منْ تَمنّى الأمانِيا

He contended with Time's vicissitudes, blunting its edge,

and whoever indulges in wishes conjectures about him.

فيوماً بحَمراء الهَواجرِ قائِظاً

ويوماً ببيضاء الصّنابِرِ شاتِيا

One day summering in the red of midday heat,

another wintering in the white of biting cold.

يُخبرُ عمّا في فؤادكَ ظنُّه

وكان لأسرارِ الضّمائرِ فاليا

His surmise tells what is in your heart,

and he was a prober of the heart's secrets.

وبين نجومِ القندَهار وبابِلٍ

وبرقَةَ كيدٌ لا يَقيلُ الأعادِيا

And between the stars of Qandahar and Babylon,

and Barqa, lies a stratagem that spares no enemies:

يَدا ضيغم ناشَ الرماحَ ونشنَه

وعاودَ مخضوبَ الذّراعينِ ضاريا

the two hands of a lion that seized the spears, and they seized him,

and returned, his forearms stained, ravening.

يعفُّ عن الصيدِ اللّئيمِ مَرامُهُ

إذا عَدِمَ الأقرانَ أصبحَ طاوِيا

His aim disdains ignoble prey;

when he lacks rivals, he goes hungry.

فباشرهم يَجلو صَفيحةَ وجهِه

على أذرعٍ تَجْلو الصّفيحَ اليَمانيا

So he confronted them, baring the plate of his face

against arms that polish Yemeni blades.

وما أنصفتْ عندَ القِراعِ كَتيبةٌ

مقنَّعةٌ تَلقى السّيوفَ العَواريا

And no battalion fights fairly in the clash

when helmeted, it faces naked swords.

حَلَفْتُ بأرْماحٍ تُعانِقُ صَبْوةً

نُحورَ كِرامٍ يَعْشَقونَ المَعاليا

I swore by spears that embrace in longing

the throats of noble men enamored of the heights,

رأَوا حَدّها أحلى من الذُّلِّ مطعماً

وأوفقَ من عيشٍ يكون تَلافيا

who found their edge sweeter to taste than humiliation,

and more fitting than a life spent making amends;

وبالزمنِ التّاجي أنّ حِذارَهُ

أراكَ ذِئابَ الرملِ تَحمي المَواشيا

and by the age of Taj, that fear of him

has shown you the wolves of the sands guarding livestock.

لَنَعْمَ مليكُ الأرضِ زاركَ راقياً

لرأيكَ من داءِ العقوقِ مداويا

How excellent the earth's king, who visited you reciting healing charms,

healing your judgment of the malady of ingratitude.

أخوكَ الذي يَحمي حِماكَ ويَبْتني

عُلاكَ ويَرعى منكَ ما لست راعِيا

Your brother, who guards your sanctuary and builds

your eminence, and tends in you what you yourself do not tend.

يَعِزُّ عليه أنْ تُلِمّ مُلِمّةٌ

يكونُ بها هَشَّ المكارمِ خاوِيا

It grieves him that a calamity should befall

through which the man eager for noble deeds is left bereft.

وإنْ تصحبِ العلياءَ ذرعُكَ ضيقاً

وهمُّكَ من كسْبِ المَحامِدِ خالِيا

And if you keep company with eminence, your capacity narrow,

and your ambition empty of earning praise,

رميتَ بها رطبَ الشّمائلِ مُعْجَباً

كأنّك ما أبصرتَ قبلَكَ راميا

you cast it away, soft of disposition and self-admiring,

as though you had seen no one cast before you.

فلا أنتَ فارقتَ الإمارةَ رغبةً

ولا أنا ودّعْتُ الشّبيبةَ قالِيا

You did not leave rulership by choice,

nor did I bid youth farewell out of hatred.

وفي كل يومٍ أنتَ راكبُ عَثْرةٍ

تُخادعُ عنها المُبْصِرَ المتغاضِيا

Every day you ride a stumble,

trying to deceive about it the keen-eyed man who looks away.

رعاكَ بعيني رقةٍ وفظاظةٍ

وماطلكَ البغضاءَ غضبانَ راضِيا

He watched over you with the two eyes of tenderness and harshness,

and delayed his hatred of you, angry yet content.

يُسَدّدُ قبلَ الطّعنِ رأياً مثقفاً

يَرُدُّ سنانَ الرّمحِ أبكَمَ نابِيا

Before thrusting, he straightens a well-honed judgment

that turns the spearhead back, mute and rebounding.

وتعدمُ في الجيشِ العَرَمْرَمِ حازماً

وإن كنتَ فيه لست تَعْدَمُ حامِيا

You lack a prudent man in the vast army,

though, when you are among it, you lack no protector.

ولمّا توقّتْ جمرةُ الحربِ نارها

وأصبحَ لا يرجو الأسيرُ مفاديا

And when war's ember shielded itself from its own fire,

and the captive no longer hoped for a ransomer,

عَفا مطرقُ الأحقادِ عن كلّ زلةٍ

لَها ناسياً في القومِ أو مُتناسيا

he who lowered his gaze over grudges forgave every slip,

forgetting it among the people, or pretending to forget.

وأعرضَ عن ذكرِ الضّغائنِ غالبٌ

على الحزمِ يمضي منه ما كان ماضِيا

And a victor turned away from mention of rancors,

firm in resolve, carrying through what was decisive in it.

إذا كنتَ تولي كل شيءٍ كرهتَه

عِتابكَ عاتبتَ الرياحَ الهَوافيا

If to everything you dislike you give

your reproach, you will reproach the blowing winds.

لعَمري لقد أذكى الهمامُ بأرضِهِ

مُشَهَّرَةً ينْتابُها الفخرُ صالِيا

By my life, the valiant man has kindled in his land

a famed blaze that glory visits to warm itself.

تغيبُ النجومُ الزهرُ عندَ طلوعِها

وتَحْسُدُ أيامُ الشّهورِ اللّيالَيا

The bright stars disappear when it rises,

and the days of the months envy the nights.

قِلادةُ مَجْدٍ أغفلَ الدّهْرُ نَظمَها

عليهِ وقد جرَّ السِّنينَ الخَوالِيا

A necklace of glory that Time had neglected to string

upon him, though it had dragged along the bygone years,

وقاسَ بني شَمْرٍ بآلِ مُحَرّقٍ

وغربلَ ألفاظَ الوَرى والمَعانيا

and compared the sons of Shamr with the house of Muharriq,

and sifted humankind's words and meanings.

هي الليلةُ الغَرّاءُ في كلِّ شَتْوَةٍ

تُغادِرُ جيدَ الليلِ أتلعَ حالِيا

It is the radiant night of every winter,

leaving night's neck lofty and adorned.

ولابدّ من شَعْواءَ يَبْرقُ خالُها

بغَيْرِ سَحابٍ يتركُ الجوَّ دامِيا

And there must be a fierce battle whose beauty-mark flashes

without clouds, leaving the air bloodied.

عسى وقعُها بعدَ التّعَلُّلِ والمُنى

على النأيِ يَشفى من كُتامَةَ دائيا

May its impact, after self-consolation and hopes,

despite the distance, heal one afflicted by Kutama.

وأعجَبكم من جانِبِ الرّملِ ماطِرٌ

تُراعي الغُرَيْرِيّاتُ فيه المَذاكِيا

And a rain-bringer from the side of the sands delighted you,

in which the Ghurayri she-camels watch the full-grown steeds.

أظنّ الطوالَ الشمَّ لا يتركونَها

سِوى العامِ تَرعى من قُراقِرَ وادِيا

I think the tall, aquiline-nosed men will not leave them

beyond this year to graze a valley of Quraqir.

ولا يقبلونَ النصفَ حتى يُعَجِّلوا

وفاءَ غَريمٍ يَجْعَلُ السّيفَ قاضِيا

Nor will they accept fair terms until they hasten

the payment of a debtor who makes the sword his judge.

ولو جفتِ الغُدرانُ دونَ مسيرِه

لأنبطَ نَهراً في السّماوةِ جارِيا

Even if the pools ran dry ahead of his march,

he would draw forth a flowing river in al-Samawa.

ببيضِ الظُّبى يَنْفي دُجى الليل رائحاً

وبالنّقْعِ يُبْهي مَطْلَعَ الشّمسِ غادِيا

With white blade-edges he drives away night's darkness, going out at evening,

and with dust he effaces the sun's rising, going out at dawn.

يُغيِّرُ آثارَ القرونِ التي خَلَتْ

ويَجعَلُ أخبارَ الملوكِ مَلاهِيا

He alters the traces of ages that have passed,

and makes the tales of kings diversions.