أحن الى العلياء في طلب الحمد — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

أَحِنُّ الى العلياءِ في طلبِ الحمدِ

حنينَ الأَعاريبِ الجُفَاةِ الى نَجْدِ

I yearn for the heights of glory in pursuit of praise,

as the rough Bedouins yearn for Najd.

وكل هوىً الاَّ هَواىَ وصالها

يكون وانْ طالَ اللجاجُ الى حَدِّ

And every passion, save my longing for union with her,

comes to a limit, however long stubborn pursuit lasts.

غَبيٌّ عن السَّراءِ لوني وناجزى

ولا تبلغُ الضَّراءُ آخرَ ما عندي

My complexion and my ready resources are heedless of prosperity;

and adversity cannot reach the end of what I possess.

لَويتُ ديونَ الغَانياتِ وعُطِّلَتْ

رسائلُ يُستَشفى بِهَنَّ من الوَجْدِ

I deferred my debts to the beauties, and left unused

letters through which one seeks relief from love's anguish.

وقلنَ وقد أَنكرننى بعدَ صَبْوَةٍ

صَددْتَ وشيءٌ ما دعاكَ الى الصَّدِّ

And they said, having found me changed after infatuation:

'You turned away; something has prompted your aversion.'

ولما رأَيتُ الأُعطياتِ قَلِيْلَةً

زَهِدْتُ لعلَّ الدَّهْرَ يأنفُ من زُهْدِي

And when I saw that gifts were few,

I renounced desire; perhaps fate would resent my renunciation.

وأَزمعْتُ يأساً لا طَماعةَ بَعْدَهُ

ولا رغبةً حتى أُغَيَّب في اللَّحْدِ

And I resolved on despair, with no covetousness after it,

and no desire, until I am hidden in the grave.

ولم أَنْسَ عَيِشاً بالجَزيرِ وَلَذَّةً

اذا العيشُ أَنسى طِيبَهُ قِدَمُ العَهْدِ

I have not forgotten life in al-Jazir and its delight,

when the long passage of time makes life's sweetness forgotten.

قَضى حَاجَةَ الزوراءِ سارٍ كأَنَّهُ

يزورُ اذا جَنَّ الظلامُ على وَعْدِ

A night-traveler fulfilled al-Zawra's need, as though

he visited, when darkness fell, by appointment.

ولا بَرحَتْ تلكَ الأَباطحُ والرُّبى

يُضاحِكها البرقُ النَّمومُ على الرَّعْدِ

And may those gravelly valleys and hills never cease

to have lightning laugh with them, telling tales on thunder.

تَمرُّ بها هُوجُ الرياحِ مريضةً

كأَنَّ بها ما بالقلوبِ من الوَجْدِ

The wild gusts of wind pass through them ailing,

as though they bore the same love-longing as hearts.

اذا هى لَفَّتْ رَندها بِعَرَارِهَا

فَتَقْنَ فتيتَ المِسْكِ بالعَنْبرِ الوَرْدِ

When they enfold its laurel in its wild narcissus,

they blend powdered musk with rose-colored ambergris.

سَلي الركبَ عنّي هل أَجُمُّ نِطافَهم

وأَطوى كما يُطوى الاصمُّ من الرُبْدِ

Ask the caravan about me: do I spare their water

and go hungry as the deaf gray ostrich goes hungry?

بَلوني غَداةَ الزادِ والزادُ فاضِلٌ

وعندَ هُجُوم الخَامِسَاتِ على الوِرْدِ

They tested me at the morning meal, with provisions to spare,

and when camels on their fifth-day watering rushed to the water.

ولله يوم لم أُطعْ فيهِ رَغبةً

وقد بَلَغَتْ حبلَ الوريدِ من الجَهْدِ

And what a day, by God, when I refused to heed desire,

though hardship had driven it to the cord of my jugular vein.

أَفِرُّ كأَنّي رهبةَ الضيمِ جارمٌ

أَصاب دماً في الاقربينَ على عَمْدِ

I flee, for fear of humiliation, as though a criminal

who had deliberately shed blood among his nearest kin.

وثقتُ بأَنَّ العَصْبَ يُحرجُ نائِلى

وذلكَ مسٌّ لا يلينُ له جِلْدِيِّ

I knew that privation would constrain my generosity;

and that is a touch to which my skin will not yield.

أُسامُ وكفى تَعْرِفُ السيفَ ريبةً

كأنى أَسيرٌ في الحديدِ وفي القِيدِّ

I am subjected to suspicion, though my palm knows the sword,

as though a captive in iron and in fetters.

وما ضَاقَتِ البيداءُ عن مُتَغَلْغِلٍ

على الجورِ يَطوى بُعْدَها وعلى القَصدِ

And the desert has never been too narrow for one who presses onward,

who folds up its distance on winding paths and straight.

رأَيتُ أَبا نَصْرٍ وما اسوَدَّ خَدُّهُ

قَضَى فَضْلُه على الكُهولة للمُرْدِ

I saw Abu Nasr, his cheek not yet dark with beard;

his excellence ruled for beardless youth against mature age.

فما بضَعيفِ العزم لَبَّستُ أَحبُلى

ولكننى صَاولتُ بالحَازم الجَلْدِ

So I did not entwine my ropes with one of weak resolve;

but fought with the aid of a prudent, stouthearted man.

وأَروعَ لا تَثْنى البوارحُ هَمَّهُ

على النَّحسِ يَقْضي أَمرَهُ وعلى السَّعْدِ

And a formidable man whose purpose ill omens cannot bend,

he carries out his purpose in ill fortune as in good.

مُناوشِ أَطرافِ الأَسنَّةِ ماجدٍ

يَرى الحَزْمَ أَولى بالرِّجَالِ من الجَدِ

A noble man who does battle at the points of spears,

who deems prudence more fitting for men than luck.

اذا أَنتَ يوماً خِفتَهُ ورجوتَهُ

لَقِيتَ المنايا أو غنيتَ عن الكَدِّ

If one day you fear him and place your hopes in him,

you meet death, or have no further need for toil.

له النظرةُ الشَّوسَاءُ في البشْرِ شيمةٌ

وقُربُ المدى في البعدِ والهَزلُ في الجِدِّ

His nature is a fierce sidelong glance amid smiles,

and nearness of reach despite remoteness, and playfulness amid gravity.

وأَبيضَ بالابصارِ يفعلُ لونُهُ

فِعالَ شُعَاعِ الشَّمْسِ بالأعينِ الرمْدِ

And a fair-faced man whose complexion acts upon the sight

as the sun's rays act upon inflamed eyes.

أَشارَ بعينِ الصقرِ عاينَ صَيدَهُ

وأَطرقَ اطراقَ الحيى من الأُسْدِ

He signaled with the eye of a falcon that has sighted its prey,

and lowered his gaze like the bashful one among lions.

وكيفَ أُؤدى شكرَ طرفٍ ثَنَيتَه

الىَّ على بُعدٍ الزيارةِ والعَهْدِ

And how can I render thanks for a glance you turned

toward me, though our visits and acquaintance lay far in the past,

وقولك لى ما جئتَ الاَّ لحاجةٍ

وهل حاجتى الاَّ بقاؤك للمَجْدِ

and for your saying to me, 'You came only for a need'?

And what need have I but that you live on for glory?

أَعدتَ وأَبديتَ الذي أَنتَ أَهلُه

وكنتَ جديراً أَنْ تُعيدَ كما تُبدِي

You have renewed and initiated what befits you,

and were worthy to repeat it just as you begin it.

تأَملتُ أَبلو مَّنةً النَّاسِ أَيُّهُمْ

يُعينُ على صَرفِ النوائبِ أو يُعْدِي

I reflected, testing men's mettle: which of them

helps to turn aside calamities or gives aid?

فما كان فيهم ناهضٌ لصنيعَةٍ

سِواكَ ولا والٍ يَهشُّ الى الحَمدِ

Yet among them none rose to do a kindness

except you, nor any ruler eager for praise.

وغيرُكَ غَرَّ الظنَّ حُسْنُ مقالهِ

وَحُسْنُ المواضي لا يدكُ على الحَدِّ

And another's fine speech deceived my expectations;

and the beauty of blades delivers no crushing stroke with the edge.

نبا عن مَقيلِ الهَامِ حينَ هَزَتُهُ

بكفي كأَني كنتُ أضرِبُ بالغِمْدِ

It glanced off the resting-place of heads when I brandished it

in my palm, as though I were striking with the scabbard.

وقاكَ من الأَسواءِ كلُّ منافسٍ

يَرى الغِيَّ أَهدى في الأمُور الى الرشْدِ

May every rival shield you from evils—

who thinks error a surer guide in affairs to sound judgment.

رماكَ فلما لم يَجِدْ لكَ عَورةً

تجاوزَ غيظَ الحَاسدينَ الى الحِقْدِ

He shot at you, and when he found no weak spot in you,

he passed beyond the anger of the envious into rancor.

فان تكُ مَلْكاً من مُلوكٍ كثيرةٍ

فانكَ فيهم أَوحدُ الحَلِ والعَقْدِ

If you are a king among many kings,

then you are peerless among them in loosening and binding.

نجومٌ بآفاقِ السَّماءِ طَوالعٌ

وليسَ بها فردٌ سِوى الكوكبِ الفَرْدِ

Stars rise on the horizons of heaven,

yet none there is solitary save the Solitary Star.

أَبوك دَعانى والجَيزةُ بَيْنَنَا

دُعاءَ كريمٍ لا يُعَرضُ للردِّ

Your father summoned me, with Giza between us,

with a generous man's summons, not open to refusal.

وانّيَ لمَّا فَتَّشَ النَّاسَ راغباً

بنفسي عن بذلِ الرغائبِ والرِفْدِ

And indeed I, when he searched among men, was prized

for my own person, above the bestowal of coveted gifts and largesse.

وما ضرَّنى انْ كنتُ آخرَ واردٍ

وأَنْ لم أكن يومَ الوفادةِ في الوَفْدِ

It did me no harm that I was the last to arrive,

and that on the day of the audience I was not among the delegation.

وما زلتُ عند الحلمِ واليأسِ والنَّدى

اذا حَضَرَ الاقوامُ مفتقدَ الفَقْدِ

And I have always, in forbearance, despair, and generosity,

when men assemble, been one whose absence is felt.

سَقَى قبرَ تاجِ الملةِ الغيثُ واستوى

بِعَقْوَتَةٍ سيلُ المَخَارمِ والوَهدِ

May rain water Taj al-Milla's grave, and may there spread evenly

over its grounds the flood from mountain passes and lowlands.

فقد كانَ عضداً للمكارمِ والعُلا

وأنتَ اليدُ البَيْضاءُ من ذلكَ العَضْدِ

For he was the supporting arm of noble deeds and greatness,

and you are the generous white hand of that arm.