لعمري وما دهري بتأبين هالك — Mutamam Al Yarboui

لعمري وما دهري بتأبين هالكٍ

ولا جَزِعٍ مما أصابَ فأَوجعا

By my life, it is not my habit to lament the dead,

nor to despair at what has struck and caused pain.

لقد كفّنَ المنهالُ تحت ردائهِ

فتىً غيرَ مِبطانِ العشياتِ أروعا

Al-Minhal has indeed shrouded beneath his cloak

a splendid young man, no glutton at evening,

ولا بَرماً تهدي النساء لعرسه

اذا القشع من برد الشتاء تقعقعا

nor a miser whose wife receives gifts from other women

when worn furs rattle in the winter cold.

لبيبٌ أعانَ اللُّبَّ منه سماحَةٌ

خصيبٌ اذا ما راكبُ الجدب أوضعا

A discerning man whose generosity strengthened his wisdom,

bountiful when drought's rider sped along.

تراه كصَدرِ السيفِ يهتزُ للندى

اذا لم تَجد عند امرىءِ السَّوءِ مطمعا

You see him, like a sword's forepart, quivering to give,

when you find no hope with an ignoble man.

ويوماً اذا ما كظَّكَ الخَصمُ ان يكن

نصيركَ منهم لا تكن انتَ أضيعا

And one day, when an adversary presses you, if he is

your champion among them, you will not be left helpless.

وان تَلقَهُ في الشَربِ لا تَلقَ فاحشاً

على الكأسِ ذا قاذورةٍ مُتَزَّبعا

If you meet him among drinking companions, you find no foul-mouthed man

over the cup, ill-tempered and swaggering.

وإن ضَرَّسَ الغزوُ الرجالَ رأيتَهُ

أخا الحربِ صَدقاً في اللِّقاءِ سَمَيدَعا

When raiding gnaws at men, you see him

war's true brother, a noble chief in the clash.

وما كان وقّافاً اذا الخيلُ أَحجمت

ولا طائشاً عند اللّقاءِ مُدَفّعا

He was no laggard when the horses shied away,

nor reckless in combat, easily driven back.

ولا بكَهامٍ بَزّه عن عدوّهِ

اذا هو لاقى حاسراً أو مقنّعا

Nor was his weaponry ineffectual against his enemy,

when he faced his foe, bareheaded or helmeted.

فعينيَّ هلاّ تبكيانِ لمالكٍ

اذا أذرَتِ الريحُ الكنيفَ المرفَعا

Then, my two eyes, will you not weep for Malik

when the wind blows apart the raised shelter,

وهَبّت شمالاً من تجاه أظايفٍ

اذا صادفَت كفَّ المفيض تقفعا

and blows from the north, from the direction of Azayif,

when the lot-caster's hand contracts at its touch?

وللشَربِ فابكي مالكاً ولبُهمَةٍ

شديد نواحيه على من تَشَجَّعا

For the drinking companions, weep for Malik, and for a formidable warrior,

fierce on every side against whoever dares.

وضيفٍ اذا أرغى طروقاً بعيرَه

وعانِ ثوى في القدِّ حتى تكنّعا

And for a guest who makes his camel bellow on arriving by night,

and a captive lying in hide bonds until his limbs contract,

وأرملةٍ تمشي بأشعَثَ مُحثلٍ

كفَرخِ الحُبارى رأسه قد تصوَعا

and a widow walking with an unkempt, ill-nourished child,

like a bustard chick, his head all tousled.

اذا جَرّدَ القومُ القداح واوقدت

لهم نارُ ايسارٍ كفى من تضجعا

When the men brought out the gaming arrows and kindled

their gamblers' fire, he provided for those who held back.

وإن شَهِدَ الايسار لم يُلفَ مالكٌ

على الفَرثِ يحمي اللحم ان يتوزَعا

When he joined the gamblers, Malik was never found

beside the entrails, withholding the meat from distribution.

أبي الصبرَ آياتٌ أراها وانني

أرى كلَّ حبلٍ دون حبلكَ اقطعا

The reminders I see forbid patience, and I

see every bond beside yours as easier to sever.

وقد كان مجذاماً الى الحرب ركضه

سريعاً الى الداعي اذا هو أفزَعا

He was resolute in his gallop toward war,

swift to the caller whenever he raised the alarm.

وانّي متى ما أدعُ باسمكَ لا تُجِب

وكنتَ جديراً ان تجيبَ وتُسمِعا

Whenever I call your name, you do not answer,

though you were well fitted to answer and make yourself heard.

وكان جناحي ان نَهضتُ أقلّني

ويحوي الجناحُ الريشَ ان يتنَزعا

He was my wing: when I rose, he bore me up,

and a wing protects its feathers from being torn away.

وعشنا بخيرٍ في الحياة وقبلنا

أصابَ المنايا رهطَ كسرى وتبّعا

We lived well in this life; and before us

death struck Kisra's clan and Tubbaʿ.

وكنا كندماني جذيمةَ حقبةً

من الدهر حتى قيل لن يتصدعا

For a span of time we were like Jadhima's two drinking companions,

until it was said they would never be parted.

فلما تَفَرّقنا كأني ومالكاً

لطول اجتماعِ لم نَبت ليلةٌ معا

But when we parted, it was as though Malik and I,

for all our long companionship, had never spent a night together.

فان تكن الايامُ فَرَّقنَ بيننا

فقد بان محموداً أخي حين ودَعا

If the days have parted us,

my brother departed praised when he took his leave.

فتىً كان أحيا من فتاةٍ حييةٍ

واشجعَ من ليثٍ اذا ما تَمتَعا

A young man more modest than a bashful maiden,

and braver than a lion when it rears up.

أقول وقد طار السنا في ربابه

وجون يَسُحُ المَاءَ حين تريّعا

I speak as lightning's brilliance flies through its low clouds,

and a dark cloud pours down water as it billows:

سقى الله أرضاً حلِّها قبرُ مالكٍ

ذهابَ الغوادي المدجناتِ فأمرَعا

May God water the land where Malik's grave lies

with downpours from dark morning clouds, making it lush,

وآثَرَ سيلَ الواديين بديمةٍ

تُرشِحُ وسمياً من النَبتِ خِروعا

and favor the watercourse of the two valleys with steady rain,

bringing forth tender growth nourished by autumn showers;

فمجتمعَ الاسدامِ من حول شارعٍ

فروّى جبال القريتينِ فَضَلفَعا

then the meeting-place of al-Asdam around Shariʿ,

and drench the mountains of al-Qaryatayn, then Dalfaʿ.

فوا اللهِ ما أُسقي البلادَ لحبِّها

ولكنني أسقي الحبيبَ المودَّعا

By God, I do not call down rain on the lands for love of them,

but on the beloved I have bidden farewell.

تحيتُهُ مني وان كان نائياً

وأمسى تراباً فوقَهُ الارضُ بلقعا

This is my greeting to him, though he is far away

and has become dust, with barren earth above him.

تقول ابنةُ العمريِّ ما لكَ بعد ما

أراكَ حديثاً ناعمَ البالِ أفرَعا

The daughter of al-ʿUmari says, "What ails you, after

I saw you lately carefree and full-haired?"

فقلتُ لها طولُ الاسى اذ سألتني

ولوعةُ حزنٍ تتركُ الوجهَ اسفعا

I told her, when she asked me: Long sorrow,

and grief's burning pain, which darkens the face,

وفقدُ بني أمٍّ تَداعَوا فلم أكن

خِلافَهُمُ أن استكين وأضرَعا

and loss of brothers born of one mother, who fell one after another; I would not

yield and abase myself after them.

ولكنني أمضي على ذاك مُقدماً

اذا بعضُ من يلقى الحروب تكعكعا

Rather, despite that, I press onward boldly

when some who face war shrink back.

وغَيّرني ما غالَ قيساً ومالكاً

وعمراً وجَزءً بالمُشَقَّرِ ألمعا

What carried off Qays and Malik has changed me,

and ʿAmr and keen-witted Jazʾ at al-Mushaqqar,

وما غال نُدماني يزيد وليتني

تمليته بالأهلِ والمالِ أجمعا

and what carried off my drinking companion Yazid; would that I

could have enjoyed his company longer, at the cost of all my family and wealth.

وإنّي وإن هازلتني قد أصابني

من البثّ ما يُبكي الحزين المفجَعا

Though you jest with me, I have been struck

by sorrow that makes a grief-stricken mourner weep.

ولستُ اذا ما الدهرُ أحدثَ نكبةً

ورزءً بزوّار القرائبِ أخضعا

I am not, when time brings calamity

and bereavement, an abject visitor to my kinswomen.

قعيدكِ الاّ تُسمعيني ملامَةً

ولا تَنكثي قَرحَ الفؤادِ فييجعا

I adjure you: do not let me hear reproach,

and do not reopen the heart's wound and make it ache.

فَقَصرَكِ انّي قد شهدتُ فلم أجد

بكفيّ عنهم للمنية مَدفعا

Enough from you! I was there, and found

no way for my hands to ward death off from them.

فلا فَرِحاً إن كنتُ يوماً بغبطة

ولا جَزِعاً مما أصاب فأوجعا

So I will not exult if one day I enjoy good fortune,

nor despair at what has struck and caused pain.

فلو أن ما ألقى يصيب مُتالعاً

أو الركن من سلمى اذا لتضعضعا

If what I suffer were to strike Mutaliʿ,

or the flank of Salma, it would surely crumble.

وما وَجدُ أظَآرٍ ثلاث روائمٍ

أصبَنَ مجَراً من حوار ومَصرعَا

Nor is the grief of three tender foster-camels,

who found a calf's drag-trail and the place where it fell,

يذكرَن ذا البثّ الحزينَ ببثِّه

اذا حَنّت الاولى سَجعنَ لها معا

recalling to the sorrowful man his own grief—

when the first moans, they answer her together;

اذا شارف منهنّ قامت فرجَعت

حنينا فابكى شجوها البَركَ أجمعا

when an aged she-camel among them rises and repeats

her yearning call, and her grief makes the entire kneeling herd weep—

بأوجدَ مني يوم قامَ بمالكٍ

منادٍ بصير بالفراق فأسمعا

deeper than mine that day, when Malik's death was announced

by a herald who knew of the parting and made it heard.

فان يكُ حزن أو تتابعُ عبرةٍ

أذابت عبيطاً من دم الجوفِ مُنقَعا

If there is grief, or an unbroken flow of tears

that melts fresh blood pooled deep within,

تجرعتها في مالكٍ واحتسيتها

لاعظم منها ما احتسى وتجرَّعا

I have swallowed it for Malik and drunk it down;

what he drank and swallowed was surely greater than it.

ألم تأتِ أخبارُ المحلّ سراتكم

فَيغضَب منكم كلُ من كان موجعا

Have reports of the violator not reached your chiefs,

so that each of you who is wounded should be angered

بمشمته إذ صادفَ الحتفُ مالكاً

ومشهده ما قد رأى ثم ضَيّعا

by his gloating when death struck Malik,

and by his witnessing what he saw, then forsaking it?

أأَثرتَ هِدماً بالياً وسويّةً

وجئتَ بها تعدو بريداً مُقَزَّعا

Did you prefer a worn, tattered garment and a saddle pad,

and come racing with them, a lightly equipped courier?

فلا تَفرحَن يوماً بنفسك انني

ارى الموتَ وقّاعاً على من تَشَجّعا

Do not ever rejoice over yourself; I

see death falling hard upon the brave.

لعلَّكَ يوماً ان تُلِمَّ مُلّمَةٌ

عليك من اللآئي يدعنك أجدَعا

Perhaps one day a calamity will descend

upon you, one of those that leave you with your nose cut off.

نعيتَ امرءً لو كان لحمُك عندَه

لآواه مجموعاً له أو مُمَزَّعا

You announced the death of a man who, had your flesh been with him,

would have sheltered it, brought to him whole or torn to pieces.

فلا يُهنيء الواشين مقتلُ مالكٍ

فقد آبَ شانيه إياباً فوَدّعا

Let Malik's killing bring no joy to the slanderers,

for his hater has returned, then bidden farewell.