يا ليت شعري والعيش أطوار — Ibn Nabata Al Saadi

يا ليتَ شِعري والعيشُ أطوارُ

والناسُ بعدَ العيانِ أخبارُ

Would that I knew, while life takes changing forms,

And people, once seen, become mere reports:

هل أغمس الركبَ غِبَّ هاجرةٍ

في جِنحِ ليلٍ كأنّه القارُ

Shall I plunge the caravan, after midday heat,

Into the shelter of a night as black as pitch?

أو أتغنى لهم بقافيةٍ

سماعها في الرؤوسِ سَوّارُ

Or sing them a rhymed verse

Whose sound sends heads reeling?

قد نلتُ عيشَ الفتى وشيعتي

وجدٌ بلبِّ الفَتاةِ عَيّارُ

I have tasted a young man's life, and my ally

Was passion roaming within the maiden's heart.

وحاسبتْ نِيقَتي مُبتَّلَةٌ

فناقشتُها والحُبُّ مِقدارُ

A shapely maiden called my fastidiousness to account;

I scrutinized her in turn, for love has its measure.

جاريتُها في عِنانِ شِرَّتِها

وقلتُ إنّ الشّبابَ غدّارُ

I matched her in giving rein to her impetuous ardor,

And said, “Youth is treacherous.”

كان خشوعُ الديارِ يطربُه

فاليومَ لا طَربَةٌ ولا دارُ

The humbled dwellings once delighted him;

Today there is neither delight nor dwelling.

لولا العُلا ما أُحِبُّ مكرُمَةً

والحُبُّ ضيمٌ كأنّه العارُ

Were it not for lofty ambition, I would love no noble deed;

Love is an abasement resembling shame.

لا زفرةٌ تحطِمُ الضلوعَ ولا

قلبٌ مع الظّاعنينَ طيّارُ

No sigh shatters the ribs, nor

Does a heart fly off with the departing,

في عضُدِ الدّولةِ الهُمامِ وما

أبدعَ شُغْلٌ لنا وإقصارُ

For the valiant Adud al-Dawla—and how

Wondrous are our occupation and our restraint!

قد طرقتْ بعدَكم معضِلةٌ

مؤذنة بالبنين مِذْكارُ

After your departure, a grievous problem came by night,

Heralding sons, a bearer of male offspring.

شمَّرَ من كَرَّكانَ مُنصلتٌ

على تنائي الدِّيارِ زَوّارُ

A resolute man set forth from Karrakan,

A frequent visitor despite the remoteness of the lands.

في يده للخطوبِ أقضيةٌ

وعندَه للغيوبِ أسرارُ

In his hand are judgments for calamities,

And with him are secrets of hidden things.

أكوعُ أفراسه بخُرَّمةٍ

لها على الهندوانِ إعصارُ

The foreleg joints of his horses at Khurramah

Raise a whirlwind over Hinduwan.

كتيبةٌ لا يزالُ يدفقُها

مخيمٌ بالعراءِ سَيّارُ

A battalion continually driven streaming onward by

One camping in the open, ever on the march.

بين العَوالي صوارمٌ قُضُبٌ

وفي خِلالِ السّروجِ أكوارُ

Among the tall lances are sharp, cutting swords,

And among the saddles are camel-saddles.

عدَّلَ في أهلهِ ممالكهِ

كلٌّ له كورةٌ وأمصارُ

He apportioned his kingdoms fairly among his family;

Each has a district and cities.

لا حقَّرَ العِجزةَ الصغيرَ ولا

مالَ بهِ للكبيرِ إيثارُ

He neither belittled the young, last-born son, nor

Did favoritism incline him toward the elder.

حتى إذا طاشَ من كنانَتِه

أفْوَقُ يومَ النضالِ خَوّارُ

Until, from his quiver, there flew astray

A feeble, split-nocked arrow on the day of archery.

لا ينكرُ الضميمَ وهو يعرِفهُ

ولا يفعادي صَفاهُ مِنقارُ

He does not disown the adopted outsider, knowing him,

Nor does a pickaxe assail his rock [verb uncertain].

حاذَرَ من خزينةٍ يسوغُها

وهل على المخزياتِ أقدارُ

He was wary of a treasure-store he might swallow;

And can decrees of fate govern disgraceful deeds?

يجحدُ أولادَه الفتى كرماً

وهم له لذّةٌ وأنصارُ

A noble man disowns his children out of honor,

Though they are his delight and supporters,

إذا موازينُهم طمحنَ بهم

والمجدُ بين الكرامِ مِعيارُ

When their scales lift them too high—

And glory is the measure among the noble.

قومُكَ عقّوكَ واستمرّ بهم

جهلٌ على ظلمهم وإصرارُ

Your people betrayed their duty to you; they persisted in

Ignorance and stubborn adherence to their wrongdoing.

لا رمضوا شفرةَ الصديقِ ولا

فلّوا شَباةَ العدوِّ إذ ساروا

They neither sharpened a friend's blade nor

Blunted the enemy's point when they marched.

سرتَ وفي سيركَ الحثيثِ لهم

آجالُ قومٍ تَسري وأعمارُ

You marched, and in your swift march, for them,

Men's appointed deaths and lifespans journeyed by night.

أعارضٌ جَلْجَلَتْ صواعقُه

أم فيلقٌ في الحديدِ جَرّارُ

Is it a rain cloud whose thunderbolts rumble,

Or an immense host arrayed in iron?

يستلبُ الرعب من أكُفّهمُ

إلا لَهُم والقلوبُ أصغارُ

Fear snatches from their hands—

Except for them [wording unclear], while hearts are abased.

لم تجفُ أجفانها السيوف ولا

قاستْ متونَ القسيّ أوتارُ

The swords had not forsaken their scabbards, nor

Had bowstrings tried the backs of bows,

حتى إذا خِفتَ أنْ تَنالَهُمُ

من عثراتِ الجنودِ أظفارُ

Until, when you feared they might be reached

By claws arising from the troops' mishaps,

أمرتَ بالكفِّ عن طِلبهمُ

وأنتَ بالمكرُماتِ أمّارُ

You ordered an end to pursuing them,

And you are ever commanding noble deeds.

مَقْدِرةٌ لم تَدَعْ لمُقْتَدرٍ

غيظاً وبالغيظِ يُدرَكُ النّارُ

Power that left no powerful man

Any wrath—and through wrath the fire is reached.

توهّمَ الغزوَ قهوةً مزِجَتْ

يحثُّها بَربَطٌ ومزمارُ

He imagined warfare to be blended wine,

Spurred on by a lute and a pipe.

حولَكَ صيدُ الكماةِ مُعلمةً

وحولَه قَينةٌ وسُمّارُ

Around you are proud champions bearing battle-insignia;

Around him, a singing-girl and evening companions.

مشتغلاً بالمنى يقدرُها

ودونَ تقديرِهنّ أقدارُ

Occupied with wishes, he calculates them,

But fate's decrees stand in the way of their fulfillment.

قد كانَ في طولِ ما سكنتُ له

وَحْيٌ وبعضُ السّكونِ إنذارُ

There was, in the long silence I kept toward him,

A veiled message; some silence is a warning.

ما كان ظنّي يخيبُ فيكَ وقد

خانتْ عيونٌ لهم وأبصارُ

My expectation of you could not fail, though

Their spies and eyes had betrayed them.

نمتَ لهم نومةً تُسهّدهُم

ما بقيت للعيونِ أشفارُ

You slept a sleep that robbed them of sleep,

As long as eyes still had lashes.

فدتْ تميماً أُمي وما وَلَدَتْ

يومَ فحولِ الرجالِ أغرارُ

May my mother and all she bore be Tamim's ransom,

On a day when champions among men were raw novices.

ما ضرّهم والسيفُ تَعدِمُهُم

عفتْ كُلومٌ والقومُ أحرارُ

What harm was it to them, though the sword cut them down?

Wounds vanished, and the men were freeborn.

كرّوا وبالبيضِ والقَنا وبهم

مَعالمُ جَمّةٌ وآثارُ

They charged, and on the bright swords, the lances, and themselves

Were numerous marks and traces.

يألفُهم حَدُّها وتألفُهُ

جماجمٌ منهم وأسْحارُ

Their edges grew familiar with them, and familiar with those edges grew

Their skulls and lungs.

أسنّةُ الجيشِ في نحورهم

كأنّها للدّروعِ أزرارُ

The army's spearheads in their throats

Were like buttons for their armor.

أدّبَهُم في الوَغى طِرادُكَ وال

كرَّةُ بينَ الخيلين أطْوارُ

Your jousting schooled them in battle, and the

Charge between the two cavalry forces took many turns.

وطعنةُ الفارسينِ واحدةٌ

كأنّ رمحَ الأخيرِ مِسْبارُ

The two horsemen's thrust was one,

As though the latter's lance were a probe.

قومتَهم والرماحُ عاسيةٌ

ورضتَهم والجيادُ أمهارُ

You straightened them while the lances were unyielding,

And trained them while the steeds were colts.

يا عضدَ الدولةِ الذي قَمَعَتْ

صَوْلَتُهُ الدهرَ وهو جَبّارُ

O Adud al-Dawla, whose

Onslaught subdued Time, tyrant though it is.

ترهبكَ الطيرُ في مواكبِها

ودونَها شاهِقُ وتيّارُ

The birds fear you in their flocks,

Though beneath them lie a towering peak and a torrent.

قد أفلحتْ أمةٌ تؤدّبها

ومذهبٌ أنتَ فيه نظّارُ

A nation whom you discipline has prospered,

And so has a doctrine in which you are a keen thinker.

أنتَ نهارٌ والعالمون دُجىً

وأنتَ طِرزٌ والناسُ أعيارُ

You are daylight; all other people are darkness.

You are an exemplar, while people are asses.

هُمُ غنمٌ في حِماكَ راتعةٌ

وصبيةٌ في يديكَ أغمارُ

They are sheep grazing in your protected pasture,

And inexperienced children in your hands.

لابدّ من سُنةٍ تُقيمُهُمُ

على طريقِ النّجاةِ إذْ حاروا

They must have a rule to set them straight

On the path of deliverance when they lose their way.

أنتَ لها حينَ ضلَّ قائدُها

في ليلِها والجُديُّ غَرّارُ

You are there for them when their guide goes astray

In their night, and al-Jady, the Pole Star, is deceptive.

كنتَ وقد سربلوكَ جاحِمَها

جندلةً لا تسيغها النّارُ

You were, when they clothed you in its blazing fire,

A rock that fire could not swallow.

ليس لنا في المديحِ محمدةٌ

فعلكَ غيثٌ والقولُ نُوّارُ

No credit is due to us for our praise;

Your deed is rain, and words are blossoms.

شُبَّتْ بأجدالِها الحروبُ فَما

يخبو لَظاها وأنتَ مِسْعارُ

Wars were kindled with their falcons, and never

Does their blaze fade while you are its stoker.

خيلُكَ في بابلٍ معطَّلَةٌ

تَودُّ أنّ المقامَ تَسيارُ

Your horses stand idle in Babylon,

Wishing that this halt were a march.

شاخصةٌ تَرتمي بأعيُنها

معاقِلُ الرومِ وهيَ أوْعارُ

They stare, and into their gaze fling themselves

The strongholds of Rum, rugged though they are.

كيفَ يقولُ الخليجُ يأمنُها

وهي على الدربِ مُخُّها رارُ

How can the Gulf claim it is safe from them,

When on the pass their marrow is thin and fluid?

متى أراها بأرضِ ساريةٍ

كما أفاضَ القِداح أيسارُ

When shall I see them in the land of Sariyah,

Like gaming-arrows cast forth by gamblers?

تمزُجُ أنفاسَها إذا حَمِيَتْ

شَمالُ لُبنانَ وهو هَرّارُ

When they grow hot, their breaths are mingled by

Lebanon's north wind, bitterly cold.

يَركُلُها كلّ حاسرٍ دَمُهُ

عليه تحت الغبارِ أطمارُ

Every bareheaded warrior spurs them; his blood

Is ragged clothing upon him beneath the dust.

كأنّه في وجارِ لبّته

أرْيٌ وصدرُ القناةِ مُشتارُ

As though, within the cavern of his upper chest, it were

Honey, and the spear's forepart a honey-gatherer.

قد عَدِمَتْ زادَها فوارسُه

فهي من الغوطتينِ تَمتارُ

His horsemen have run out of their mounts' provisions,

So they fetch supplies from the two Ghutahs.

إذا هبوطِ النّسرينِ واجهها

وضمّها والجَنوبُ مضمارُ

When the descent of the two Eagles faces them

And enfolds them, with the south their racecourse,

لم يبقَ من ساكنِ الصعيدِ ولا

بَرْقَةَ والقيروان ديّارُ

No inhabitant of Upper Egypt would remain, nor

A single dweller in Barqah or al-Qayrawan.

ليتَ ملوكَ البلادِ أنظرَهم

كيدُك لا عزَّ منكَ أنظارُ

Would that the kings of the lands were granted respite by

Your stratagem—no respite can withstand you.

لكلِّ راعٍ راعٍ يُجاوِرُهُ

وأنتَ كالليثِ ما لهُ جارُ

For every shepherd there is a shepherd beside him,

And you are like the lion, who has no neighbor.