ما لي حفظت العهد من آسماء — Mohammed Al Hamdani

ما لي حفِظتُ العهدَ من آسماءِ

وهوى ابنةِ البكري غير هوائي

Why have I kept my pledge to Asma,

while al-Bakri's daughter's passion differs from mine?

ما رمتُ صاحبةً سِواها إنما

أسماءُ حاولت البديل سوائي

I sought no companion other than her; it was only

Asma who sought another in my place.

أترى أحوطُ لها الهوى وأصونه

وتخُون فانْظر عهدها ووفائي

Do you see? I guard her love and preserve it,

while she betrays it—look at her pledge and my fidelity!

ميّالةُ الأعطاف بل مُنهالة الأرداف

بل مهظومةُ الأحشاء

Swaying of flanks—rather, full of hips,

rather, slender of waist;

كالظبية الأدماء بل كالبانة الم

لداء أو كالرملة الوَعساء

like a white gazelle, or rather like the bān-tree,

pliant, or like a soft sand dune.

جَلتِ الصَباحَ على الأقاح وبُرُدها

فيه قنا ونقاً من الانقاء

She unveiled dawn over daisies, and her robes

contain spear-shafts and a dune among dunes.

لم تدر عن ليلي الطويل ولا بها

ما بي من الأشواقِ والبُرحاء

She knew nothing of my long night, nor did she share

my longings and anguish.

كَبدٌ يحرقه النسيمُ ببرده

وأضالع طويت على الرمضا

A liver that the breeze burns with its coolness,

and ribs folded around scorching ground.

ولقد سأمت على الزّمَان تعتبي

ومَلِلْتُ في أرضِ الهوانِ ثوائي

I have wearied of reproaching Time,

and tired of dwelling in the land of humiliation.

وأدرت طرفي في البلاد فلم أجد

حُراً إذا أدعو يجُيبُ دعائي

I cast my gaze across the lands, but found no

noble man who answers my call when I call.

يا رَكْبُ بالجَنَد الخصِيبة بارقُ

تهْمي سحائبَهُ صَباحَ مسائي

O riders, in fertile al-Janad there is a lightning-flash

whose clouds pour rain at the dawn of my evening.

وبحُصْنِ دملوة المنيع ذِمارهُ

مَلكٌ يسمى أكرمَ الكرماءِ

And in Dumluwa's fortress, impregnable in its precincts,

is a king called the most generous of the generous.

ميلوا إلى المنصور لا تتحدثوا

عن برمك وأبي عدي الطائي

Turn toward al-Mansur; do not speak

of Barmak or Abu Adi al-Ta'i.

نادوا أبا الفتح الذي فتحت له

عدنُ الدعاة ومكةُ البطحاء

Call upon Abu al-Fath, to whom were opened

Aden of the preachers and Mecca, the broad vale,

والهندُ والسند البعيد ثناؤه

منهم وأيّمُ الله خير ثناء

and India and distant Sind; their praise of him,

by God, is the finest praise.

إن يشكرون نعماه زادوا أو طغوا

صَبحَ الطغاة بغارةٍ شعواء

If they thank him for his bounty, they gain more; but if they rebel,

he strikes the rebels at dawn with a fierce raid.

ذا ثالث القمرين هذا ثالث العمرين

هذا أعظمُ العظماء

This is a third beside the two moons, a third beside the two Umars;

this is the greatest of the great.

في حيثُ سَار رأيت وابل عسجدٍ

في حيثُ صَال رأيت بحر دماء

Wherever he goes, you see a downpour of gold;

wherever he charges, you see a sea of blood.

اللهُ ملّكهُ وليس بسالبٍ

منه الذي أولاه من نعماء

God made him king, and will not take away

the blessings He bestowed upon him.

اللهِ مَلّكَه أمور عباده

لما رأه أرحم الرحماء

God entrusted him with His servants' affairs,

when He saw him to be the most merciful of the merciful.

ما بال علوانٍ نُبَحْنَ كلابُه

وعَوى عَوِي الذئب في البيداء

What ails Alwan? His dogs have barked,

and he has howled like the wolf in the wilderness.

تالله لو تومي إليه بأصْبِع

لكسرتُ قادمتيه بالأيماء

By God, if you point a finger toward him,

I would break his two foremost wing-feathers at the gesture.

ما حالُه ما نابُه ما ظفره

والكبش يَعْرفُ مطبخَ الشواء

What is his standing, his fang, his claw?

And the ram knows the roasting kitchen.

المُلْكُ من قبلِ الآله ومَا عَسى

حسَدُ الحسود وقدرةُ الضعفاء

Kingship comes from God—what can

the envious man's envy and the weak men's power achieve?

لو شئت طبقتَ البلادَ أَعنَّةً

وأسنَّةً وملأتَ كلَّ فَضاء

Had you wished, you would have covered the lands with reins

and spearheads, and filled every open space.

ويهونَ عندَكَ من تجبّر انَّه

فصٌّ لراحةِ كفّكَ البيضاء

The arrogant man is of little account to you: he is

a gemstone in the palm of your white hand.

أشرافُ بيشٍ والحجاز تواضَعَتْ

لك هيبةً وهم بنو الزهرء

The nobles of Baysh and the Hijaz humbled themselves

before you in awe, though they are sons of al-Zahra.

وكنانةٌ سكانُ حلي أصْبحَتْ

خدماً لهذي الدولة الغراء

And Kinana, the inhabitants of Haly, have become

servants of this glorious state.

قضيتَ حاجة كلِّ طالب حاجةٍ

وكشفتَ ما في الكلّ من عمياء

You fulfilled the need of every seeker in need,

and removed the dark affliction from them all.

وسهَامُ أهْلَك أهلَها وأخافني

وأباد ما لَك كاتبُ الكدراء

And Siham—he ruined its people and frightened me,

and destroyed what is yours: the scribe of al-Kadra.

كم قد شددتُ إلى فِناك ركائبي

فاتي ورسمُ الأربعين ورائي

How often I have harnessed my riding camels for your court,

and come, with the trace of the forty behind me.

خرِبتْ سهامُ ولست تعلم ماجرى

والمال دُسّ تحتَ ألف كساء

Siham lies ruined, and you do not know what happened,

and the money was hidden beneath a thousand cloaks.

ضمنّتها الرجلَ الأمينَ وإنّما

كُتّابُ حاصلِها سوى أمناء

You entrusted it to the trustworthy man; yet

its revenue scribes are anything but trustworthy.

كم يحرقون وكم ترقَّع مَا عَسى

قيراط مِسْكٍ في بُهَار خراء

How much they burn, and how much you patch up—what can

a carat of musk do in a load of shit?

حلّفتَه إن لا يشاركُ إنَّما

خفيَت عليه دقائق الشركاء

You made him swear not to collude; yet

the subtle dealings of the partners escaped him.

تصطاد صدَ الوحش وهي سليمة

وتسلّم ابنَ الحيةِ الرّقطاء

You hunt the wild game though it is innocent,

and spare the son of the speckled serpent.

الفي مَعَادٍ في سهام أغلّها

كُتِبتْ باسم صهورة الفقهاء

Two thousand maʿād land-units in Siham, its most productive,

were registered in the names of the jurists' in-laws.

وقضيةُ المعقاب يأخذ وقره

ويُبدّلُ الْبيضاء بالحَمْراء

And in the matter of the miʿqāb, he takes its load,

and exchanges the white for the red.

وجوامك الأجناد يبدل ريعها

لهم ويصرفهم بغير وفاء

And the soldiers' stipends—he alters their yield

for them, and sends them away without full payment.

كَثُرت مكاسبه وتاه كأنه

ملكُ السرير وصَاحب الزعلا

His gains have multiplied, and he struts as though

he were king of al-Sarir and lord of al-Zaʿla.

عَلِيتْ مناكِبه وطال سَنامُه

فتراه مثلَ الناقةِ العُشراء

His shoulders have risen, and his hump has grown tall,

so you see him like a she-camel ten months pregnant.

خذ بعض ما لَك منه قبلَ فواته

فالحزمَ والإهمالُ غيرُ سواء

Take some of what is yours from him before it is lost,

for resolve and neglect are not alike.

أدرك بلادَك إنّها مِن جوره

فَنيتْ وكم أنصفتَ ذا شكوآء

Rescue your lands: through his injustice they

have perished; how often you have given justice to a complainant!

عُوّقتَ عن تطهير يوسف مثلَ ما

مُنعَ الحسينُ ورود عذبِ الماء

You were kept from Yusuf's circumcision, just as

al-Husayn was barred from drinking sweet water.

وبرغمِ أنفَى يومَ ذلك إنّهم

حضروا ولم أحضر مع الشعراء

And to my chagrin, on that day they

attended, while I did not attend with the poets.

ولَئن تعبتُ لوآءهم في مَرّةٍ

فلطَالما تِبعَ الجميعُ لوائي

And though I once followed their banner [probable reading],

for long they all have followed mine.

ولئن أتيت وراءَهم فمحمَدُ

وهو الأخيرُ مقدَّمُ الأنباء

And though I came after them, Muhammad,

though last, is foremost among the prophets [probable reading].

ولاَ زلت يا فرد الملوك مخلّداً

في الأمرِ محفوظاً من الأسواء

May you ever remain, peerless among kings, immortal

in command, protected from misfortunes,

ما دارَ في الحنكِ اللّسانُ وما سرت

زُهرُ النجومِ تلوحُ في الظلمآء

as long as the tongue moves within the mouth, and as long as

the bright stars travel, gleaming in the darkness.