عجبت من قناعتي وقعودي — Kashajim

عَجِبْتُ من قَنَاعَتي وقُعُودي

غلب الجَدَّ عالياتِ الجُدُودِ

I marvel at my contentment and my sitting idle.

Lofty fortunes have overcome striving.

إن تَكُوني ذممت كَرَّ نُحُوسي

فلقد طَالَ ما حَمِدْتِ سُعُودي

If you have condemned the return of my ill fortune,

you have long praised my good fortune.

ما وَفَى لي بِوَعْدِهِ الدّهْرُ إلاَّ

لِيَفي عِنْدَ وَعْدِهِ بالوَعِيْدِ

Time has kept its promise to me only

to fulfill a threat when it promised.

إن ذَوَى عُودُ نِعْمَتي فَرُوَيْداً

وَعَسَى أَنْ يَثُوبَ نضرةُ عُودِي

If the stem of my prosperity has withered, have patience;

and perhaps my stem's freshness will return.

ما تَنَاهَتْ بي السُّنُونُ وَلا قا

رَبَ خَطْوي ولا تَحَانَى عَمُودي

The years have not worn me out, nor has

my stride grown short, nor has my backbone bent.

بَعُدَتْ هِمّتي وما أَنَا مِمّنْ

بَعُدَتْ فيه هِمَّةٌ بَبَعِيْدِ

My ambition reaches far, and I am not far removed

from one in whom ambition reaches far.

وَأَبَى لي القُنُوطُ أَنَّ غُدُوِّي

في رِدَاءٍ مِنَ الشَّبَابِ جَدِيْدِ

And what keeps me from despair is my morning departure

in a fresh robe of youth.

حُبِّيَ الحَمْدُ كَانَ أكْبَرُ أَسْبَا

بِ ذَهَابِي بِطارِفي وتَلِيْدي

My love of praise was the greatest of the causes

of my parting with my newly acquired and inherited wealth.

وَغَرَامِي بِلَذّةِ الجُوْدِ ما إنْ

زال حتَّى أتى على مَوْجُودي

And my passion for the delight of generosity never

ceased until it had consumed all I possessed.

واعتياضي من الغِنَى بالغَوَاني

واعتِقادي هَوَى ابْنَةِ العُنْقُودِ

And my exchanging riches for beautiful women,

and my embracing love of the grape-cluster's daughter.

أقسِمُ الدَّهْرَ بين وصلِ حبيبٍ

تحت ظِلِّ الصِّبا وَوَصْلِ وَدُودِ

I divide my time between union with a beloved

beneath youth's shade, and the company of a loving friend.

مُعْطِياً رِبْقَتي أَكُفَّ ظِبَاءٍ

مُطِئاً أَخْمَصي رِقَابَ أُسُودِ

Giving my halter into the hands of gazelles,

setting my foot's arch upon lions' necks.

لا يَزَالُ الغَرِيْرُ يَقْتَادُ من فض

لِ عناني قَوْدي لِتِلْكَ الجُنُودِ

The guileless one keeps leading me by the slack

of my rein, as I lead those troops.

بَيْنَمَا أَسْتَكْهِلُ في صدر ديوا

نٍ تَصَابَيْتُ بَيْنَ نايٍ وعودِ

While I act the elder at the head of a bureau,

I play the youth between flute and lute.

وَغُدُوِّي على غطارِفِ شُوسٍ

وَرَوَاحي إلى كواعِبَ غَيْدِ

And my mornings take me to haughty nobles,

and my evenings to graceful, full-breasted women.

قد لَعَمْرِي رأيتُ وجهَ رَشَادي

لاحَ لي إذْ رأيتُ وَجْهَ الرَّشِيْدي

Indeed, by my life, I saw the face of my right path;

it shone for me when I saw al-Rashidi's face.

صَفْوَةُ الأَكْرَمَيْنِ من آلِ عَبَّا

سٍ وَحَبْلُ المكارِمِ الممدُودِ

The choicest of the two noblest of the house of Abbas,

and the outstretched cord of noble deeds.

وعَقِيْدُ النَّدَى تُنَالُ به الآ

مالُ إذْ ليْسَ للنّدى من عَقِيْدِ

And generosity's sworn ally, through whom hopes are attained,

when generosity has no sworn ally.

وخطيبُ المهذَّبِيْنَ بَنِي العَبْ

اسِ في كلِّ مَحْفَلٍ مَشْهُودِ

And orator of the refined sons of al-Abbas,

in every well-attended assembly.

يَرِدُ المشْهَدُ الوُفُودُ وَيَاْتي

وحدَهُ من بيانِهِ في وُفُودِ

Delegations arrive at the gathering, and he comes

alone, yet by his eloquence as many delegations.

وَتَرَى نحوَهُ المسامِعَ تُصْغي

لحديثِ يَنُصُّهُ أو نشيدِ

And you see ears inclining toward him,

to a discourse he delivers or a chant.

وتَهَابُ العيونُ أَنْ تتملاَّ

هُ وَفِيه لها مُرادُ مريدِ

And eyes fear to gaze their fill

at him, though in him lies what a seeker desires.

وكأنّ الرؤوسَ من فوقِهَا الطي

رُ سُكُوناً إلى أَغرَّ نجيدِ

And it is as though birds sat upon their heads,

so still are they before a radiant, valiant man.

مِلْءُ صدرٍ ومِلْءُ عيْنٍ وسَرْجٍ

وفؤادٍ وَرَغْمُ أَنْفِ حَسُودِ

He fills the breast, the eye, and the saddle,

and the heart, and brings an envier's nose low.

بَحْرُ عِلْمٍ غَدَاةَ حُجّةِ خَصْمٍ

طُوْدُ حلمٍ هَلالُ ليلةِ عِيْدِ

An ocean of knowledge on the morning of an opponent's argument;

a mountain of forbearance, a crescent on a festival night.

لو يُبَاريَ سَحْبَانَ في مُحْكَمِ القوْ

لِ لأمْسَى سَحْبَانُ غَيْرَ سَدِيْدِ

If he rivaled Sahban in finely wrought speech,

Sahban would prove anything but apt.

أو يَنَاجِي عبدَ الحميد لِمّا أعْ

جَبَ مَرْوَانَ لفظُ عبدِ الحمِيْدِ

Or if he conversed privately with Abd al-Hamid,

Abd al-Hamid's words would not have impressed Marwan.

يا ابن مَوْلَى أبي نَصْرٍ السِّنْ

دِيِّ رُكْنِ الخِلاَفَةِ المشْدُودِ

O son of the lord of Abu Nasr al-Sindi,

the caliphate's firmly secured pillar,

جَامِعُ السَّيْفِ للخليْفِةِ والأق

لاَمِ أَعظِمْ بِسيِّدٍ ومَسُودِ

uniting sword and pens for the caliph—

how great the lord and the one he leads!

شَهدتْ غُرّةُ الرشيدِ على وج

هِكَ بالموْلدِ الزَّكِيِّ السَّعِيدِ

Al-Rashid's radiance upon your face attested

to your pure and auspicious birth.

شَبَهٌ منهُ فِيْكَ كان كإِرْثٍ

لسليمان حِيْزٌ عَنْ دَاوُدِ

A likeness of him in you was like an inheritance

received by Solomon from David.

كرُّ ألْحاظِهِ لنفعٍ وَضَرٍّ

وإشاراتُهُ لبأْسٍ وَجُودِ

The sweep of his glances is for benefit and harm,

and his gestures for might and generosity.

ولسان يَسْتَنْزِلُ العُصْمَ لِيْناً

فإذا اشتَدَّ قال للأَرْضِ مِيْدي

And a tongue that gently draws down the ibex;

but when it grows stern, it tells the earth, 'Sway!'

قُمْتَ فِيْنَا مَقَامَ جَدِّكَ عبد ال

لَّهِ أكْرِمْ بجدِّهِ في الجُدُودِ

You have taken among us your grandfather Abd Allah's place;

how noble his grandfather among grandfathers!

إنْ سألْنَاكَ عنْ حُدُودِ كتابِ ال

لَّهِ أوضحْتَ مُشْكِلاَتِ الحُدُودِ

If we ask you about the ordinances of God's Book,

you clarify the difficult points of those ordinances.

أو سَمِعْنا مِنْكَ الحديثَ فَإِسْنا

دُكَ لا بالوَاهي ولا المرْدُودِ

Or if we hear a tradition from you, your chain

of transmission is neither weak nor rejected.

أو طَلَبْنَا بِكَ الرِّيَاسَةَ والجا

هَ عُضِدْنا بالعِزِّ والتأبِيْدِ

Or if through you we seek leadership and prestige,

we are strengthened with honor and permanence.

ما تَرَى عُطْلَتي وكَثْرةَ قومٍ

شُغِلُوا بالخَرَاجِ أو بالبرِيْدِ

Do you not see my idleness, and the many men

employed in land-tax collection or the postal service?

وَلَو أنَّ الرِّهانَ يَحْسُنُ مِنَّا

وَتَمَادَى بِنَا المَدَى في صَعِيْدِ

And if racing were fitting for us,

and the course stretched far before us on an open plain,

لتَنَاوَلَتْ دونَهُمْ خَصْلَةَ السَّبْ

قِ وَجَاءُوا كأنَّهُمْ في قُيُودِ

I would seize the prize of victory ahead of them,

and they would arrive as though in fetters.

ودَوَاتي تَشْكُو الفَرَاغَ وأقلا

مي ظِمَاءٌ حوائِمٌ للوُرُودِ

And my inkwell complains of emptiness, and my pens

are thirsty, circling to reach water,

في سطورٍ أَعارَهَا جَدّي السِّنْ

دِيُّ من نقش نَفْسِهِ في النُّقُودِ

in lines to which my grandfather al-Sindi lent

something of his own engraving on coins.

كلُّ نونٍ كَعَطْفَةِ الصُّدْغِ تَقْفُو

أَلِفاً مِثْلِ قَامَةِ المَقْدُودِ

Each nun, like the curve of a temple-lock, follows

an alif like a shapely person's stature.

وَمَعَانٍ مِثْلِ الأهِلَّةِ بيضٍ

في مداد مِثْلِ الليالي السود

And meanings like white crescent moons,

in ink like black nights.

كُنْ شَفِيْعي فأنتُمُ شُفَعَائي

في الحَيَاةِ الدُّنْيَا وَدَارَ الخُلُودِ

Be my intercessor, for you all are my intercessors

in this worldly life and the abode of eternity.

سُدْتُ حتَّى لو ابْتَغَيْتَ مِزْيْداً

فوق ما سُدْتَ لَمْ تجد من مَزِيْدِ

I have gained supremacy, so that if you sought more

beyond the supremacy you have gained, you would find no more.