يا عاتبا وعتابه افراق — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

يا عاتباً وعتابُه افْرَاقُ

ما هكذَا يَتَحَاسبُ العُشَّاقُ

O reproacher whose reproach is parting,

lovers do not settle accounts like this.

ما كِدتُ اعرفُ عيبَ من احببتُهُ

حتى سلوتُ فصرتُ لا أَشْتَاقُ

I could hardly see a fault in the one I loved

until I ceased loving and no longer yearned.

واذا افاقَ الوجدُ وأَندَمَلَ الهَوى

رأَتِ القلوبُ ولم ترَ الأَحدَاقُ

And when passion regains its senses and love's wound heals,

hearts see, though eyes do not.

سَقياً لعيشٍ بالمَطِيْرَةِ غافِلٍ

لم ينسِنيهِ الأَسرُ والاطْلاقُ

May rain bless a carefree life at al-Matira,

which neither captivity nor release has made me forget,

ومسارحِ الالحاظ بينَ حَدائِقٍ

يستنُّ فيها ماؤُها الرَقْرَاقُ

and the roaming grounds of glances among gardens,

where their shimmering water runs swiftly,

وهَواجرٍ اظلالُهنَّ صَفيقَةٌ

ونواسمٍ أَنفاسَهُنَّ رِقَاقُ

and scorching noons whose shade is dense,

and breezes whose breaths are gentle.

وعلى الغُصونِ من الحَمامِ هواتفٌ

يَصْدَحْن في اعناقِها الاطْوَاقُ

And on the branches are calling doves,

singing, with collars around their necks.

عَجباً عجبتُ لمن تَضيقُ فِجاجُهُ

والشَّامُ شامٌ والعراقُ عِرَاقُ

How strange! I marvel at one whose paths grow narrow,

when al-Sham is al-Sham and Iraq is Iraq!

طيَّانَ يلصقُ بالحَصِيْرِ حصيرَه

شرُّ المهادِ العَجزُ والامْلاقُ

Hungry, he presses his flank against a mat.

The worst bedding is helplessness and destitution.

حَاولْ جَسيماتٍ الامور ولا تَقُلْ

انَّ المحامدَ والعُلا أَرزَاقُ

Strive for great undertakings, and do not say

that praiseworthy deeds and eminence are allotted gifts.

وارغبْ بنفسكَ أَنْ تكونَ مقصراً

عن غايةٍ فيها الطِلابُ سبَاقُ

And deem yourself too worthy to fall short

of a goal whose pursuit is a race.

لا تَشفِقنَّ فانَّ يومكَ انْ أَتى

مِيْقَاتُهُ لم ينفعِ الاشفَاقُ

Never fear, for if your day reaches

its appointed time, fear will not help.

واذا عَجَزْتَ عن العَدُوِّ فَدَارهِ

وامزج له انَّ المِزَاج وِفَاقُ

And if you cannot defeat your enemy, conciliate him;

and mingle with him, for mingling brings concord.

فالنارُ بالماءِ الذي هو ضِدُّهَا

تُعطِي النضاجَ وطبعُها الاحْرَاقُ

For fire, with water, which is its opposite,

cooks things through, though its nature is to burn.

بأَبى وأُمى من حَلا في ناظرِي

من بَيْنَهِنَّ وللعيونِ مَذَاقُ

May my father and mother be ransom for the one sweet to my eye

among them—for eyes, too, have a sense of taste.

يا مَنْ يُعَلّلُ نفسَهُ بلقائِنا

يَفنى الحنينُ ويُذْهَلُ المُشَاقُ

O you who console yourself with thoughts of meeting us,

longing perishes, and the yearning lover grows dazed.

لا كانَ آخِرَ عهدِكم ووصالِكم

يومَ التَّفرُّقِ وَقْفَةٌ وعِنَاقُ

May our last encounter and union with you not be

a halt and an embrace on the day of parting.

بينى وبينكم بلادٌ أهلُها

عُوذُ النِّعاجِ سِلاحُها الأَروَاقُ

Between me and you lie lands whose inhabitants

are newly calved wild cows, with horns for weapons.

فيها البديلُ من الأوانس كالدُّمى

عينُ المها ومن النِّعَاجِ نِيَاقُ

There, in place of maidens like dolls, are

wide-eyed oryx, and, instead of ewes, she-camels.

أُزجي بها قُلُصاً سُيُورُ رحالِها

ونِعَالِها وسِجَالِها ارباقُ

I drive young she-camels through them; their saddle-straps,

their sandals and their water-buckets are tethering cords.

تعتادها بعدَ القيادِ سَلاهبٌ

من آل أَعوجَ والصريحِ عِتَاقُ

After being led, long-bodied steeds revisit them,

thoroughbreds of the stock of A'waj and al-Sarih.

يَرقُمنَ بالبيداءِ كلَّ مضلّةٍ

بسنابِكٍ آثارُهُنَّ حِقَاقُ

They mark every trackless place in the desert

with hooves whose prints are small round vessels.

وعلى المَخَارم والصُوى من وَقْعِهَا

مُلُسُ الجَلامِدِ والحَصى افْلاَقُ

And on passes and cairns, from their pounding,

smooth boulders and pebbles lie split into fragments.

وكأَنهنَّ صَوارمٌ هِنديةٌ

يَسْتَلُّها من ليلهِ الاشْرَاقُ

And they seem like sharp Indian swords

that daybreak unsheathes from its night.

وركبتُ بعدَكم السَّفينَ مُدَبِّراً

لي من نواتِئِهِ النَّبيطِ رفَاقُ

And after leaving you, I boarded a ship, turning away;

I had companions among its Nabataean boatmen.

أَنْمى الى شَرفِ الرجاءِ واحتمى

بأجلِّ من تُنمى بهِ الأعْرَاقُ

I climb toward the heights of hope and seek shelter

with the noblest one through whom lineages rise.

وأَزوُر في دارِ الخِلافةِ مَنْزلاً

كلُّ البلادِ لِرّبِّهِ رُسْتَاقُ

And I visit a dwelling in the seat of the caliphate,

to whose lord all lands are but a rural district.

تَرمى بنا الهِمَمُ العظامُ الى الذي

تَرمى اليهِ بأهلها الآفَاقُ

Great ambitions propel us toward him

toward whom the horizons cast their peoples.

بالقادرِ المُعْطى أَزَمَّةَ أمرِنا

عادتْ الى عيدانِها الاورَاقُ

Through al-Qadir, entrusted with the reins of our affairs,

the leaves have returned to their branches.

ومَحى الالهُ به الضَّلالةَ والعَمىَ

وشَفى قلوباً حَشْوُهُنَّ نِفَاقُ

Through him God erased error and blindness

and healed hearts filled with hypocrisy.

ملك تضيقُ به الخيامُ فماله

الا ظِلالُ المُرهَفاتِ رُوَاقُ

A king whom tents cannot contain; for him there is

no canopy but the shadows of sharpened swords.

يُخْشَى تَباعُدُهُ ويُرهَبُ قُربُهُ

ويُهابُ منه اللحْظُ والاطْرَاقُ

His remoteness is feared, and his nearness dreaded;

and his glance and lowered gaze inspire awe.

في كفِّهِ السيفُ الذي يُحَيي به

ويُميتُ فهو السَمُّ والدِّرياقُ

In his palm is the sword with which he gives life

and deals death: it is poison and antidote.

ياأيها الملكُ الذي عن أَمْرِهِ

تَتَصَرفُ الآجالُ والارْزَاقُ

O king, at whose command

lifespans and livelihoods are disposed!

بعداتكَ الارعادُ والابْرَاقُ

ولكَ الصَّوارمُ والدَّمُ المُهْرَاقُ

With your foes are thunder and lightning,

and yours are sharp swords and spilled blood.

ولكَ النبوةُ والخِلافةُ والهُدَىٍ

كل الفضَائلِ غيرهنَّ دِقَاقُ

And yours are prophethood, the caliphate, and guidance;

all virtues besides these are trifling.

فُتحتْ ثغورُ بنى الأُصيفرِ عَنْوَةً

وبيمْنِ جَدِّك تُفتحُ الأغْلاقُ

The frontier forts of Banu al-Usayfir were taken by force,

and through your blessed fortune, locks are opened.

أَبشرْ أَميرَ المؤمنينَ فانَّه

قمرٌ بدا والبدرُ فيه مُحَاقُ

Rejoice, Commander of the Faithful, for it is

a moon that has risen, before which the full moon fades to darkness.

من بعدِ ما عَنَتِ البلادُ وأَذْعَنَتْ

طاعاتُ أَهلِ الأَرضِ وهي شِقَاقُ

After the lands had bowed and submission was pledged

by earth's peoples, once divided,

ما كانَ فيهم للاسنَّةِ مَطْمَعٌ

حتّى استَطارَ لواؤُكَ الخَفَّاقُ

there was no opening for spearpoints among them

until your fluttering banner flew high.

ورأى مساهمُك الكريهةَ أَنَّهُ

لم ينجُ منكَ تَوقُّرٌ ونِزَاقُ

And your adversary in battle saw that

neither composure nor rashness could escape you.

ولَّوا بهم ما بالقَنا من أَفكَلٍ

لكنَّ ذا خببٌ وذاكَ وثاقُ

They fled, trembling as the spears tremble,

yet theirs was from trotting, the spears' from being held fast.

وكأنَّما تلكَ الظُّبى باكفِّهمْ

فيهم وذاكَ النزاعُ والاغْرَاقُ

It was as though those weapon-points in their hands

were in their own bodies—such was their pulling and full draw.

عَلِقَتْ باسهُمِها القِسيُّ كأَنما

أَوتارُها لرقابِهم أَرْهَاقُ

The bows clung to their arrows, as though

their strings were oppressive burdens on their necks.

لو يُنصتُونَ الى العلا قالتْ لهم

انَّ الفِرارَ من الحِمامِ ابَاقُ

If they listened to glory, it would tell them:

"Fleeing from death is a slave's running away."

عاداتُ ربكَ في العدوِّ اذا طغَى

ودمٌ بكفكَ لا يَزالُ يُرَاقُ

Such are your Lord's ways with an enemy who rebels,

and blood is ever spilled by your hand.

ونصرتَ قوماً ليس بينَ نفوسِهم

وفُواقها بدمِ القُلوبِ فَواقُ

And you aided a people: between their souls

and their departure with heart's blood there was not a moment.

ايامُ ابناءِ الديالمِ بينَهم

كأسٌ تُدارُ من المَنُونِ دِهَاقُ

The days of the Daylamites' sons among them

were a brimming cup of death passed round.

بكَ بعد ما رجفت قواعدُ عزِّها

ثَبَتَتْ وقامتْ بالخلافةِ سَاقُ

Through you, after the foundations of its glory shook,

they stood firm, and the caliphate stood on its feet.

انْ ضَلَّ رأيُهم فانتَ شِهابُهم

وثِمالُهم انْ عَزَّتِ الأورَاقُ

If their judgment strays, you are their blazing star,

and their sustainer when silver coins grow scarce.

واليكَ مفزعُهم اذا باقَتْهُمُ

بالشرِّ بائقةٌ وضاقَ خِنَاقُ

To you they turn for refuge when they are struck

by an evil calamity and the noose tightens.

ضَمِنَ الحمايةَ والكفايةَ ماجدٌ

فيهِ الشجاعةُ والندى اخلاقُ

A noble man has pledged protection and provision,

in whom courage and generosity are innate virtues.

وأجَارنا حينَ الجوارُ غنيمةٌ

ماضٍ على غلوائِه سَبَّاقُ

He sheltered us when shelter was a prize,

unyielding in his ardor, ever racing ahead.

مَنْ عنده الذِممُ المضاعةُ عندَهم

محفوظةٌ والعَهدُ والميثَاقُ

One with whom the pledges they neglected

are preserved, along with promise and covenant.

وُصِلَتْ حبالُ عَطائِهِ بوفائِهِ

وبمثلها فليعلَق العلاقُ

The cords of his bounty are joined to his fidelity;

and to cords like these let attachments cling.

يعتاضُ من قدرى بما هو دونهِ

والدر ليس يشينُه الانفاقُ

My worth is exchanged for something beneath it,

yet spending does not blemish pearls.

ما فيَّ الاَّ أَنْ يقالَ حميةٌ

سَبَقَتْ ذُبابَ السيفِ ليس تُطاقُ

There is nothing in me but, one might say, a fierce pride

that has outstripped the sword's point and cannot be withstood.

لا أَطمئِنُ ولا أَتوقُ الى هَوىً

ولكل حَيٍّ في الحياةِ مَتَاقُ

I find no peace, nor yearn toward any passion,

though every living being has a longing in life.

واعيش بالبَلَلِ الذي لو أَنَّهُ

دَمْعٌ لما رَويَتْ بهِ الآمَاقُ

I live on a mere dampness which, if it were

tears, could not moisten the corners of the eyes.

وَيَزِيدُني عُدْمُ الدَّراهمِ عِفَّةً

وعلى الدَّراهِمِ تُضربُ الأَعنَاقُ

Lack of dirhams increases my self-restraint,

yet for dirhams necks are struck.