أتعتبني والهوى ذو عتب — Roba Bin Al Ajaj

أَتَعْتُبَنِّي وَالهَوَى ذُو عَتْبِ

لَوّامَةٌ هاجَتْ بِلَوْمٍ سَهْبِ

Do you reproach me, when passion itself brings reproach?

A relentless reproacher burst into lengthy blame;

باتَتْ تُذَكِّي كَاللَّظَى فِي العَطْبِ

لا تَرْفَئِنّ أَبَداً عَنْ رُعْبِ

she spent the night kindling, like flame in cotton,

never settling down from her dread.

تَخْشَى عَلَيَّ وَالشَّفِيقُ مُشْبِ

وَالمَوْتُ قِرْنٌ مُولِعٌ بِالْغَصْبِ

She fears for me; the tender-hearted kindle the fire,

while death is an adversary bent on forcible seizure.

مِنْ سُعْرِها النارَ الَّتِي لا تُخْبِي

وَلا تَحَرَّي بِالرُقَى وَالصَخْبِ

From her kindling the fire that is never quenched—

and do not seek me with spells and clamor!

قَبْلَكِ أَعْيَا الحارِشِين ضَبِّي

لا تَعْذُلِينِي وَاسْتَحِي بِاِزْبِ

Before you, my lizard baffled those who tried to lure it.

Do not blame me; feel shame before a squat fellow,

كَزِّ المُحَيَّا آنحٍ إِرْزَبِّ

وَغْلٍ وَلاَ هَوْهَاءَةٍ نِخَبِّ

grim-faced, groaning, burly,

an intruder—not a weak-hearted coward,

وَلا بِبِرْشاعِ الوِخامِ وَغْبِ

عَلَى الضِجَاعَيْنِ انْضِجاعَ الوَطْبِ

nor a hulking, sluggish fool,

lying on both sides like a milk-skin.

وَيْحَكِ إِنْ وَعَّرْتِ كُلَّ نَقْبِ

فَالْتَمِسِي ضَرْبِي وَأَيْنَ ضَرْبِي

Woe to you, if you roughen every pass,

then seek my match—and where is my match?

لِحَسَبٍ أَو لخَصِيمٍ شَغْبِ

مُقْتَصِد أَوْ فِي اشْتِقَاقٍ لَحْبِ

for lineage, or for a quarrelsome opponent,

taking a middle course or cleaving a broad way.

أَبْقَى فَعِنْدِي مِنْ زَماعٍ حَسْبِي

وَتَحْتَ كَشْحِي وَرِدَاءِ العَصْبِ

I endure: I have determination enough for me.

And beneath my flank and my striped mantle

هَمٌّ كَتَصْمِيمِ الحُسَامِ العَضْبِ

عاذِلَ هَلْ قَصْبٌ بِغَيْرِ قَصْبِ

is resolve like the unhesitating stroke of a keen sword.

Reproacher, will abuse without answering abuse

شَافِيك أَوْ لَدْغٌ بِقَوْلٍ لَسْبِ

لَمَّا رَأَتْنِي طَارَ عَنِّي لِعْبِي

cure you, or a sting from biting words?

When she saw that my playfulness had flown from me,

وَانْعاجَ شَيْطانُ التَّصَابِي المُصْبِي

وَصَارَ فَيْنانُ اللِّمامِ الهُدْبِ

and the beguiling demon of feigned youth had turned aside,

and the luxuriant, drooping locks had become

قَزْعاً كَمِرْعِزَّى الفِراخِ الزُغْبِ

قُلْتُ أُعَزِّيها وَشَجْبِي شَجْبِي

scattered tufts, like the down of downy chicks,

I spoke to console her, though my grief remained my grief:

لا تَحْسِبِينِي حَجَراً مِنْ هَضْبِ

يَكْسِرُ ما يُرْدي بِهِ وَيُنْبِي

Do not think me a stone from a mountain

that shatters whatever is struck with it, and deflects

عَنْ مَتْنِهِ مِرْداةَ كُلِّ صَقْبِ

وَقَدْ تَطَوَّيْتُ انْطِوَاءَ الحِضْبِ

from its back every tall man's stone-pounder.

I have curled up as a serpent curls,

بَيْنَ قَتادِ رَدْهَةٍ وَشِقْبِ

بَعْدَ مَدِيدِ الجِسْمِ مُصْلَهِبِّ

among thorn-trees in a hollow and a rock-cleft,

after being long-bodied and towering,

كَالرُمْحِ فِي حَدِّ السِنانِ الذِرْبِ

ذاكَ وَإِنْ عَبَّى لِيَ المُعَبِّي

like a spear with a keen-edged point.

So it is, though the marshaler has marshaled against me,

وَطَحْطَحَ الجِدُّ لِحَاءَ القِشْبِ

أَلْقَيْتُ أَقْوال الرِجَال الكُذْبِ

and fortune has battered the fresh bark.

I have discarded the words of lying men;

ولَسْتُ أُضْوِي وَبِلالٌ حِزْبِي

فَأَنَا مُبْدٍ لِلأَمِير أَدْبِي

I do not grow feeble, with Bilal as my ally.

So I reveal my good breeding to the emir.

غَيَّرَ بالِي وَأَطالَ ذَبِّي

ناجِيَةُ الرَامي بِقَوْلٍ صَعْبِ

My state was disturbed and my defense prolonged

by Najiya, who hurls harsh words.

وَلَيْسَ عِرْضِي بِطَرِيقِ السَبِّ

وَالعَبْدُ حَيَّانُ بْنُ ذات القُنْبِ

My honor is no road for abuse.

And the slave Hayyan, son of the woman with the genital sheath—

يَا عَجَباً مَا خَطْبُهُ وَخَطْبِي

وَأَنَا يُبْدِي لِلأَمِيرِ قَلْبِي

how strange! What has his affair to do with mine?

And I—my heart lays me open to the emir,

لِفَرْطِ إِشْفاقِي وَفَرْطِ حُبِّي

نَصِيحَةً لاقَتْ لُبابَ اللُبِّ

through the depth of my concern and my love:

sincere counsel reaching the innermost core of understanding.

فَقُلْتُ وَالأَقْوالُ ذات غِبِّ

إِنِّي وَرَبِّ مَشْرِقٍ وَغَربِ

Then I said—and words have an aftermath—

I swear by the Lord of east and west,

وَحَرَمِ اللَّهِ وَبَيْتِ الحُجْبِ

بِحَيْثُ يَدْعُو الطائِفُ المُلَبِّي

and God's sanctuary and the curtained House,

where the circling pilgrim calls the pilgrimage response:

لاَقَيْت أَعْجَاباً فَهِجْنَ عُجْبِي

لَاقَيْتُ مَطْلاً كَنُعَاسِ الكَلْبِ

I have met wonders that stirred my astonishment.

I have met delay like a dog's dozing,

وَعِدَةً عُجْتُ عَلَيْهَا صَحْبِي

كَالنَّحْلِ بِالْماءِ الرُضَابِ العَذْبِ

and a promise toward which I turned my companions,

like bees at fresh, honey-sweet water,

حَتَّى خَشِيت أَنْ يَكُونَ رَبِّي

يَطْلُبُنِي مِنْ عَمَلٍ بِذَنْبِ

until I feared that my Lord

was calling me to account for a sinful deed.

فَأَنَا أَرْجُو عِنْدَ عَضّ اللّزْبِ

قَبْلَ التَّنَائِي وَافْتِرَاقِ الشَعْبِ

So I hope, when hardship bites,

before distance and the dispersal of our company,

سُقْيَاكَ مِنْ سَيْبِ الفُرَاتِ الثَغْبِ

إِذْ عَضَّ دَيْنٌ مَسَّنِي بِكَرْبِ

for your draught from the flow of the sweet-water pool,

when biting debt touched me with anguish,

مُعْتَمِدُ الحِنْوِ مُلِحُّ القِتْبِ

كَأَنَّ وَسْقَ جَنْدَلٍ وَتُرْبِ

pressing on the saddle-bow, bearing hard on the pack-saddle,

as though a load of stones and earth

عَلَىَّ مِنْ تَنْحِيبِ ذاكَ النَحْبِ

وَأَخْذِنَا دَيْناً بِدَيْنٍ يُرْبِي

lay upon me from binding myself to that pledge,

and our taking one debt for another that grows,

وَعَضَّ بِالكاهِلِ شَرُّ جِلْبِ

وَنَحْن أَسْآر السِنِين الجُدْبِ

and the worst burden bit into the shoulders.

We are the remnants of the barren years,

تَبْرِي مَبَارِيهِنَّ بَعْدَ الشَذْبِ

مِنْ عِضَةِ الخَشْبِ لحَاءَ الخُشْبِ

whose rasps, after lopping the branches, scrape

the wood's bark from its thorn-trees,

حَتَّى تُرِكْنَا جَزَراً لِلذِّئْبِ

وَحَطَّ هَزْلِي منْ بِلادٍ جُرْبِ

until we were left as carcasses for the wolf.

My wasting brought me down from scabbed lands,

تَقْطَعُ بَيْنَ صَرَدٍ وَشَعْبِ

حَتَّى اسْتَغاثُوا بَعْدَ عَيْشٍ جَشْبِ

straddling rocky heights and ravines,

until, after a coarse and meager life, they cried for help

بِمُسْتَغاثٍ مِنْكَ غَيْرِ جَدْبِ

وَأَنْتَ وَالأَزْمانُ ذاتُ عَتْبِ

to a source of aid in you that is never barren.

You, while the times are full of rebuke,

ذو نَجَبِ عِنْدَ انْتِجابِ النَجْبِ

أَرْوَعُ وَهّابٌ جَزِيلُ الوَهْبِ

possess nobility when the noblest are chosen:

a splendid giver, lavish in gifts.

تُوري وَبَعضُ القادِحِينَ يُكْبِي

فَلا تَرُدَّنْ مِدْحَتِي وَنَدْبِي

You kindle fire, while some spark-strikers fail.

So do not reject my praise and my appeal,

وَرَغْبَتِي فِي وَصْلِكُمْ وَحَطْبِي

في حَبْلِكُمْ لا أَئْتَلِي وَرَغْبِي

my longing for your fellowship, and my gathering wood

into your rope—I do not slacken—and my longing

إِلَيْكَ فَارْبُبْ نِعْمَةَ المُرْتَبِّ

وَاذْكُرْ أُمُوراً خَيْرُهَا فِي العَقْبِ

for you; nurture the favor shown to your dependent.

Recall affairs whose good comes in the aftermath.

فَإِن أَبَى مِنْ مَنْعِك التَأَبِّي

وَأَخْرَجَ الضِغْنَ ضَغِينَ الخِبِّ

And if obstinacy refuses to heed your restraint,

and the rancorous schemer brings his hatred out,

وَدارَ دَوَّارُ الرَحَى في القُطْبِ

فَإِرْبُكَ الغالِبُ كُلَّ إِرْبِ

and the millstone's wheel turns on its spindle,

your cunning overcomes every cunning,

وَطِبُّكَ الغالِبُ كُلَّ طِبِّ

قَدْ عَلِمَ المُوقِدُ نارَ الحَرْبِ

and your skill overcomes every skill.

The kindler of the fire of war already knows

أَنَّكَ وَثَّابٌ مَخُوفُ الوَثْبِ

تَعْتَز أَعْناق الرِقاب الرُقْبِ

that you spring fiercely, and your leap is feared:

you pierce the napes of thick, massive necks

مِنَ القُرُومِ وَالأُسُودِ الغُلْبِ

بِمِقْصَلِ النابِ حَدِيدِ الخَلْبِ

among the great chiefs and thick-necked lions,

with a shearing fang and a sharp claw,

يَجْذِب أَوْ يَصْرَعُ قَبْل الجَذْبِ

وَاعْلَمْ بِأَنِّي دائِبٌ لِدأْبِي

that drags, or fells before dragging.

Know that I persevere in my customary pursuit,

وَالوَجْهِ مِن أَبَابَة المُؤْتَبِّ

حَانَ انْطِلاقِي وَأَجَدَّ صَحْبِي

and my course springs from a ready traveler's longing.

My departure is due, and my companions press on

لأَرْضِ قَوْمِي أَوْ جِبال الدَرْبِ

فأَنَا رامٍ عَرْضَ كُلِّ سَهْبِ

to my people's land, or the mountains of the pass.

I aim to cross the breadth of every open plain,

إِنْ شاءَ رَبُّ القُدْرَة المُسَبِّي

إِمَّا بِأَعْناقِ المَهَارَى الصُهْبِ

if the Lord of power, the Captor, wills,

either on the necks of tawny Mahri camels—

وَالعِيسُ قَدْ يَنْأَيْنَ بَعْدَ القُرْبِ

أَوْ يَطَّلِعْنَ جانِباً عَنْ جَنْبِ

the pale camels sometimes going far after coming near—

or coming into sight, flank by flank:

كُلُّ سَرَنْداةٍ نَعُوبِ النَعْبِ

عَيْرَانَةٍ كَالمِسْحَلِ الأَقَبِّ

each long-bodied camel, swift in her stride,

a strong she-camel like a lean wild ass.

أَلْحَقَ طَيَّ بَطْنِهِ بِالقُصْبِ

تَعْداؤُهُ مِقْرَاةَ كُلِّ عَلْبِ

The fold of its belly is drawn against its entrails

by its racing through the hollows of every hard tract,

في أَرْبَعٍ مِثْلِ عِجام القَسْبِ

مَعْلاً بِتَقْرِيبٍ وَشَدٍّ نَهْبِ

on four feet like the pits of dried dates,

speeding at a canter and a snatching gallop,

نَهْدٍ كَكَرِّ الأَنْدَرَانِ الشَطبِ

أَجْرَدَ بَصْباصٍ خَفِيفِ الهُلْبِ

powerful, like the ridged rope-coil of al-Andaran,

smooth-coated, lively, light in tail-hair,

دُمَالِجِ البُدْنِ جَرِيمِ الشَذْبِ

يَرْمِي جَلاذِيَّ الصُوَى بِوَأْبِ

rounded in body, massive in frame,

bounding past the hard stones of the waymarks,

بِمُكْرَبِ القَيْنِ قَرُوعِ القَعْبِ

صُلْبِ الحَوَامِي في دَخِيسِ الجُبِّ

with tightly wrought, smith-like hooves, striking with their cups,

hard at the hoof-rims, dense within the hoof-hollow.

وَرُبَّما زَعْزَعْتُ لَيْلاً رَحْبِي

بِشَوْقَبِيَّاتِ الصُدورِ حُقْبِ

Often at night I have set my broad-chested mount in motion

with great-chested, white-girthed she-camels,

أَسْحَجْنَ تَسْحِيجَ قِداحِ القُضْبِ

مُنْصَلِتاً كَالأَجْدَلِ المُنْصَبِّ

worn smooth like shafts scraped from branches,

darting like a plunging falcon,

حَتَّى يَثُوبَ المالُ بَعْدَ النَكْبِ

مِنْ رِبْحِ بَيْع أَوْ يَكُونَ كَسْبِي

until wealth returns after misfortune,

from profit in trade, or my gain comes

مِنْ مَلِك أَزْهَرَ غَيْرِ لِصْبِ

بَلْجٍ يُحْيِّي ضَيْفَهُ بِالرُحْبِ

from a radiant king, no miser,

bright-faced, gladly welcoming his guest,

مُتَّسِعِ الذَرْعِ رَخِيِّ السَرْبِ

بِالخَيْرِ يُعْطِي وَهوَ غَيْرُ جَأْبِ

ample in capacity, at ease in his life,

giving generously, never a coarse brute,

كَالمَشْرَفِيِّ المُهرَاقِ الغَرْبِ

وَرُبَّمَا عِنْدَ الأُمُورِ النُصْبِ

like a Mashrafi sword with a free-flowing edge.

And often, amid arduous affairs,

مَنْجَاتِهَا وَعِنْدَ خَوْفِ الرَهْبِ

ثَبَّتَّ نَعْلِي ورَفَعْتَ كَعْبِي

at their place of escape, and amid fearful dread,

you steadied my sandal and raised my heel.

فَاجْبُرْ جَنَاحِي يَسْتَقِمْ لِي صُلْبِي

وَلَيْسَ رِيشٌ رِشْتَهُ بِلَغْبِ

So mend my wing, that my backbone may straighten;

no feather you have supplied is a poor one.

وَاخْتِمْ مِطالِي بِنَجَاز وَجْبِ

أشْكُرْ لِنُعْماكَ وَيَكْرَعْ ثِلْبِي

End my postponement with certain fulfillment:

I shall thank your favor, and my old camel will drink,

مُنْغَمِسَ العُثْنُونِ فِي مَعَبِّ

فِي غَرِقِ الحَوْضِ رَوِيِّ الشِرْبِ

its chin-tuft immersed in a drinking-place,

in the trough's deep water, drinking its fill.

وَمَنْ تَرَجَّى مِنْ جَدَاكَ الخِصْبِ

أُسْقِيَ بُوقاتِ الرَبِيعِ السَكْبِ

Whoever hopes for abundance from your bounty

is watered with spring's pouring downbursts,

وَانْكَشَفَتْ عَنْهُ نُحُوسُ الشَصْبِ

and the ill fortunes of hardship are lifted from him.