دع بين أثوابي وبين وسادي — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

دَعْ بينَ أثوابي وبينَ وِسادي

شَبَحاً يَصُدُّ فوارسي وجِيادي

Leave between my clothes and my pillow

a wraith that holds back my horsemen and steeds.

إنّي أخافُ عليكَ إنْ أخرجتَهُم

يوماً كيومِ الحارثِ بنِ عُبَادِ

I fear for you, if you bring them out,

a day like the day of al-Harith ibn Abbad.

ما زلتُ أخشى أن أعادَ من الهَوى

حتى خَفِيَ جسَدي عن العُوّادِ

I kept fearing I would be visited for love's sickness,

until my body was hidden from the sickbed visitors.

أَمُمَلِّكَ الحادي عزيزَ قِيادِهِ

لمَ لا تُملِّكُني ذَليلَ قِيادي

O you who grant the camel-driver his unyielding reins,

why will you not grant me my yielding reins?

نادَى المُنادي بالرّحيلِ فخِلْتُهُ

بينَ الجوانحِ بالرحيلِ يُنادي

The herald cried departure, and I thought him

crying departure within my ribs.

واستبطنوا الوادي وماذا ضرَّهُمْ

ألاّ يجودَ الغيثُ بطنَ الوادي

They entered the valley's depths; what harm would it do them

if rain failed to water the valley's bed?

دَعهم وقلبي ما أريدُ رُجوعَهُ

أبَداً فقلبي كانَ أصلَ فَسادي

Leave them, and my heart; I do not want it back

ever, for my heart was the source of my undoing.

لو يَعلمونَ صلاحَ حالي عندهم

ما فرّقوا بيني وبينَ فُؤادي

If they knew what would restore my well-being with them,

they would not have parted me from my heart.

مَثَلٌ خلَعْتُ على الزّمانِ رِداءَهُ

عَوَزُ الدّراهِمِ آفَةُ الأجْوادِ

A proverb whose robe I cast upon Time:

lack of silver coins is the bane of the generous.

يا سعدُ سعدَ بني تميم شيخكم

لا يستقلُّ بظهرهِ في النّادي

O Sa'd, Sa'd of the sons of Tamim, your elder

cannot straighten his back in the assembly.

ولِعَتْ بصحةِ جِسمهِ أيامُهُ

ولعَ الهَوى بصحائِحِ الأكبادِ

His days fastened upon his body's health,

as passion fastens upon healthy livers.

فانهوا سفيهتكم فقد حذرتُها

ما تحذرُ الأيامُ من إيعادي

So restrain your foolish one; I have warned her

of what the days fear from my threats.

جعلتْ بحارَ الأرضِ مثلَ أناملي

ولو انصفتْ ما كنَّ من أنْدادي

She made the seas of the earth like my fingertips,

but had she been fair, they would not have been my equals.

ورأَتْ نجومَ الليلِ في أفْلاكِها

فتوَهّمَتْها من شِرارِ زِنادي

She saw the night's stars in their spheres,

and imagined them sparks from my fire-sticks.

أنا عبدُ من لو قال للشّمْسِ اغرُبي

غَرَبَتْ وقد طَلَعَتْ على الأشْهادِ

I am the servant of one who, if he told the sun, 'Set,'

it would set, though it had risen before all witnesses.

المُستَقِلُّ من الوَزارةِ رُتْبَةً

إشراقُها فوق الخلافةِ بادِ

He who holds a rank in the vizierate

whose radiance is manifest above the caliphate.

لا تَحسِبي أحَداً يمُجّدُ فِعلَهُ

والأزد في الدّنيا من الأمجادِ

Do not suppose anyone can glorify his deed,

for the Azd are among the world's illustrious.

قومٌ إذا هطَلَ السحابُ ببلدةٍ

هطَلَتْ أكفُّهم بكلِّ بِلادِ

A people who, when clouds pour upon one town,

have hands that pour upon every land.

لو قيل للأيامِ هاتي جائداً

ودعي الوزيرَ لما أتَتْ بجَوادِ

Were the days told, 'Bring a generous man,

and leave the vizier aside,' they would bring none.

الواهبُ الآدابِ مثلَ هِباتِهِ ال

أموالَ والرّفادَ للرفَادِ

The giver of learning, like his gifts of

wealth, and support to those who give support.

وفتى المكارمِ والأيادي مَنْ غدتْ

من عقلهِ عندَ العقولِ أيَادِ

And the champion of virtues and favors, whose

intellect has bestowed favors upon other intellects.

لا تأمَنوا آراءَهُ وظُنونَه

إنّ الغُيوبَ لها من الأمدادِ

Do not feel safe from his judgments and guesses:

the unseen is among their reinforcements.

وتعَوّذوا باللهِ من أقلامِهِ

إنّ السّيوفَ لها منَ الحُسّادِ

And seek refuge in God from his pens:

swords are among those that envy them.

لا تألفُ الأفكارُ ساحةَ همِّه

إلاّ كإلْفِ البرقِ للأرعادِ

Thoughts never frequent the field of his resolve

except as lightning keeps company with thunder.

كلُّ الملوكِ عبيدُه في أرضِهِ

لا فخرَ بالآباءِ والأجْدادِ

All kings are his slaves in his land;

there is no boasting of fathers and grandfathers.

أوَ مَا كَفاكُمْ أنه مولاكُم

هلْ من مَزيدٍ للفَتى المزدادِ

Is it not enough for you that he is your lord?

Is there further gain for the ever-advancing youth?

عقَّ الكُماةُ لخوفِه هيجاءَهُم

وهُمُ لطاعتِها منَ الأوْلادِ

For fear of him, the champions defied their battle,

though they are its obedient sons.

وتقنّعُوا بالنّزْرِ من أيامِهِمْ

حتى ظنناهُم من الزُّهادِ

And they contented themselves with few of their days,

until we thought them ascetics.

ومن الترابِ عَجاجُهُمْ وعَجاجُهُ

ممّا يُحَطّمُ من قَنا وجِيادِ

Their battle-dust comes from earth, but his

from the spears and steeds he shatters.

القابلُ الجردِ العِتاقِ كُماتُها

أُسْدٌ مخالِبُها صدورُ صِعادِ

He who confronts lean, thoroughbred steeds, whose warriors

are lions with the points of straight spears for claws.

قومٌ إذا طعَنوا الفوارِسَ في الوَغى

غرِقَتْ رِماحُهُم إلى الأعضادِ

A people who, when they thrust at horsemen in battle,

have spears that plunge in up to the upper arms.

سلبَ الكواكبَ نورَها وكأنّهُ

قومٌ بها فوقَ الكواكبِ صادِ

He robbed the stars of their light, as though he were

a people there above the stars, thirsting [reading uncertain].

قلْ لي فأينَ تُريدُ قد حُزْتَ المدى

وعلوتَ حتى صِرتَ بالمِرصادِ

Tell me, then, where do you aim? You have won the farthest reach,

and risen until you stand at the watchpost.

السّيفُ لحظُكَ والجبالُ ضَرائبٌ

والرمحُ خوفُكَ والنجومُ أعَادِ

Your glance is a sword, and mountains its targets;

fear of you is a spear, and the stars are enemies.

ما اسْتشرفتْ عيناكَ رأسَ مُدَجَّجٍ

إلا تحدَّرَ قبلَ ضَربِ الهادِي

Never did your eyes look upon an armored man's head

without its tumbling down before the neck was struck.

ما للطّوائِفِ يَمنعونَكَ طاعَةً

أعْطاكَها صرفُ الزّمانِ العادي

Why do the factions deny you obedience

that ravaging Time's vicissitudes have granted you?

لتُصَبِّحَنّ بك المَنايا أرضَهُمْ

في جحْفَلٍ يأتي بِلا ميعادِ

Through you, death's fates will surely assail their land at dawn,

in a vast army arriving without appointment.

تشكو إليكَ الشّمسُ حَرَّ صدورِه

فَرَقاً إذا زَفَرَتْ منَ الأحْقادِ

The sun complains to you of the heat within its breasts,

in terror when those breasts breathe out their rancor.

حتى يُقالَ إذا غدَتْ أسيافُهُ

تَرمي أعالي طيرِهِ بالزّادِ

Until it is said, when its swords begin

flinging provisions to its birds aloft:

أَجثوم طيرٍ طرنَ عن هاماتِهِم

أمْ هامُهم طارتْ عن الأجْسادِ

'Are these perched birds that flew from their heads,

or their heads that flew from their bodies?'

كذَبَ المحدثُ بالشّجاعةِ والنّدى

عن خِنْدِفٍ وربيعةٍ وإيادِ

The teller of courage and generosity lied

about Khindif, Rabi'ah, and Iyad.

لو أبصرتْ عيناكَ آل مهلّبٍ

والخيلُ راويةُ النحورِ صَوادِ

Had your eyes seen the house of Muhallab,

and the steeds with drenched throats, yet thirsty,

يخْرُجْنَ من رَهَجِ العَجاجِ كأنّها

أسْيافُهُمْ خرَجَتْ من الأغْمادِ

emerging from the haze of dust, as though they were

their swords drawn from their sheaths;

وضِرابَهم قُلَلَ الكُماةِ وفي القَنا

قِصَرٌ ولم يُسْفَكْ نَجيعُ قُرادِ

and their blows upon the champions' crests, while the spears

fall short, and not a tick's dark blood has been spilled;

أو لَوْ رأيتَ جَنابَهم متدفقاً

متوسّعاً لتضايُقِ الرُّوّادِ

or had you seen their precinct overflowing,

expanding as the seekers crowded together;

ووُجوهَهُمْ للبذلِ من إشراقِها

قد قنّعَتْ شمسَ الضُحى بسَوادِ

and their faces, through their radiance in giving,

had shrouded the forenoon sun in blackness;

لرأيتَ أو كلتَ جفونكَ أنْ تَرى

لُجَجَ البحارِ وآنفَ الأطْوادِ

you would have seen—or your eyelids wearied of seeing—

the depths of seas and the crests of mountains.

وعلِمتَ أنّهم على رغمِ العِدى

ذهبوا بكلِّ نَدى وكلِّ جِلادِ

And you would have known that, despite their foes,

they had claimed all generosity and all prowess in battle.

يا من نُصغِرُهُ إذا قلنا لهُ

ملِكَ الملوكِ وماجِدَ الأمجادِ

O you whom we belittle when we call you

'king of kings, and noblest of the illustrious!'

وتُجاوِزُ الفُلكَ المُدارَ إرادتي

وأرى عطاياه تَجوزُ مُرادي

My desire passes beyond the revolving sphere,

yet I see his gifts exceed my desire.

وذبابُ سيفكِ أنّهُ قَسَمُ الوَغى

والموتُ في ثوبٍ من الفِرْصادِ

By your sword's edge, the very oath of battle,

and by death in a robe of mulberry-red,

لأُطرِّزَنّ بكَ الزّمانَ مَدائِحاً

تَختالُ بينَ الشدوِ والإنشادِ

I shall embroider Time with praises of you,

that strut between song and recitation,

تَدَعُ المَسامِعَ والقُلوبَ لحُسْنِها

عِندَ الرُّواةِ تُشدُّ بالأصْفادِ

whose beauty leaves ears and hearts

bound in chains before the reciters.