يا معلم الأحباب نعم المعلم — Mohammed Al Hamdani

يا معْلَمَ الأحبابِ نعم المُعْلمُ

أتراك عَمّا في ضميري تَعْلَمُ

O landmark of the loved ones, what a fine guide!

Do you, I wonder, know what is in my heart?

يا مُعْلمَ الأحباب خبرني بهم

أيُّ المواطن مِن تهامةٍ خيموا

O guide to the loved ones, tell me of them:

In which part of Tihamah did they pitch their tents?

هم شرقوا في سيرهم أم عرّبوا

أم أنجَدوا في بينهم أم اتهموا

Did they travel eastward on their journey, or westward?

Or did they head for Najd on departing, or for Tihamah?

ما أنصفوني يرقدونَ وسَاهِرٌ

طرْفي ومَا كالسَّاهرينِ النُّوَمُ

They have treated me unfairly: they sleep, while wakeful

Is my eye; sleepers are not like those who keep vigil.

وبكلِّ حالٍ إن جفوا أو إنْ وفوا

لا أوحش اللهُ المنازلَ منْهم

And whatever the case, whether they are cold or keep faith,

May God never leave the dwellings bereft of them.

قالوا بكيت دماً ونحن مَدَامعاً

قُولوا لهم ما الدمعُ يشبهه الدم

They said, 'You wept blood, while we wept tears.'

Tell them, 'Blood is nothing like tears.'

قالوا كتمت الحبَّ حينَ أذعتَه

مَن سِرّهُ في جفنِه هل يكتم

They said, 'You concealed love when you divulged it.'

Can one whose secret lies in his eyelid conceal it?

ولو أنني أخفيتُ حُبّ رفاقتي

نَمَّ السّقامُ وفارعٌ لا يسقم

And even if I had concealed my love for my companions,

Sickness would betray it—and a tall one does not fall ill.

واهاً لهُم عربٌ إذا مَا بارق

شاموه حنّوا للرحيل وارزموا

Ah, for them—Arabs who, whenever lightning flashes,

Sight it, yearn to depart, and moan with longing.

يتتبّعون العُشبَ حيث هَمَى الحَيا

شدوا ظعاينَهم إليه وألْجَمُوا

They follow the grass wherever the rain has poured;

They strap on their camel-litters to go there and bridle their mounts.

مَا كان لي أسف على ترحالهم

لولا غزالٌ في الهوادج أحومُ

I would have felt no sorrow at their departure,

But for a dark-eyed gazelle in the howdahs.

يمشي به غُصنٌ ويقعده نقاً

وينيرُ مِنْ تحت القناع ويظلم

A bough bears him as he walks, and a sand dune seats him;

He shines from beneath the veil, yet acts unjustly.

لم أنس قولَهم بجَرْعا الحِمَى

والعِيسَ تُحْدي والقلايصُ سُهّمُ

I have not forgotten their words on al-Hima's sandy ground,

While the pale camels were urged on by song, and the young she-camels were lean:

شابَ ابنُ حمير وهو ربّ قصائدٍ

عُرَبٍ كواعب مثلُها لا ينظم

'Ibn Humayr has gone gray, though he is master of poems—

Amorous, full-breasted maidens, whose like none can compose.'

مَاذا يضرُّ البازَ شهبة لَوْنِه

وبما ترى افتخر الغرابُ الأسْحُمُ

What harm does its ashen color do the hawk?

And what, do you think, has the jet-black raven to boast of?

أنا مادحُ المَلْكِ الرسولي الذي

يَمْنَى يديه مِنْ السحائِب أكرم

I praise the Rasulid king whose

Right hand is more generous than the clouds.

وخدَمت منصورَ الملوك وبعدَه

أنا لابنه الملِك المظفِر أخدمُ

And I served Mansur, the victorious one among kings; after him,

I serve his son, King al-Muzaffar.

سلمانُ هذا البيت لاَ مُتاخِرٌ

لي عن محبته ولا مُتقدمُ

I am this house's Salman; none comes after me

In loving it, nor comes before me.

ولئنْ نبا عَنّي الغُويرُ وأهلُهُ

وعَدِمتُ مَنء فيه يُزار ويُنْعِمُ

And even if al-Ghuwayr and its people shun me,

And I find no one there to visit who grants favors,

فتعز بل حبٌ أمامَ ركائبي

فهناك يوسف والغنا والمَغْنَمُ

Then Ta'izz—rather, Habb—lies ahead of my riding camels;

For there are Yusuf, wealth, and spoils.

الخيْلُ تصْهَلُ في المرابط حوله

هاتيكَ شيْظَمُة وهذا شيظمُ

The horses neigh in the tethering places around him:

That is a towering mare, and this a towering stallion.

ودروعُ داودَ لديه مُفاضَةٌ

والبيْضُ تلمعُ والسيّوف تقوَّمُ

And David's coats of mail are with him, long and ample;

And the helmets gleam, and the swords are straightened.