أقلا فشأنكما غير شاني — Sharif Al Murtaza

أقِلّا فشأنُكما غيرُ شاني

ولَستُ بطَوْعكما فاِتركاني

Desist, you two: your concern is not mine.

I am not at your bidding, so leave me.

ولا تجشما عَذْلَ من لا يُصيخ

فما تُعدِلاني بأنْ تَعذُلاني

Do not burden yourselves with reproving one who will not listen;

you will not turn me aside by reproaching me.

غرامي يغير ذوات الخدود

ووجدي بغير وِصالِ الغَواني

My passion is for other than fair-cheeked women,

and my ardor is not for union with beauties.

ولِي شُغُلٌ عن هوى الغانياتِ

وَما الحبُّ إلّا فَراغُ الجَنانِ

I have pursuits apart from love of beautiful women;

love is nothing but the heart's idleness.

ومن أجلِ وَسْواسِ هذا الغرامِ

أقام العزيزُ بدار الهَوانِ

Because of the obsessive whisperings of this passion,

the mighty man dwelt in the abode of humiliation.

ولولا الهوى ما رأيتَ الشّجا

عَ يَقنِصُ في حومةٍ للجبانِ

But for desire, you would not see the brave man

hunted in a coward's arena.

ولِي عِوَضٌ بوجوهِ الصّوا

بِ مُشرقةً عن وجوه الحِسانِ

I find a substitute in the faces of sound judgment,

radiant, in place of the faces of beauties.

فأغنى من البِيض بِيضُ الضّراب

وأغنى من السُّمرِ سُمْرُ الطّعانِ

The white blades of combat spare me white-skinned women,

and brown thrusting-spears spare me brown-skinned women.

دعاني إليهِ فلَبَّيْتُهُ

مليكُ الورى والعُلا والزّمانِ

He summoned me to him, and I answered:

the sovereign of humankind, of glory, and of time.

دعاني ولولا ولائي الصّريح

لدولتِهِ وَجْدُها ما دعاني

He summoned me; but for my sincere allegiance

to his realm—my ardor for it—he would not have summoned me.

أَتَتْهُ ولم يأتها رِيبةً

يَغارُ على مثلها الفَرقدانِ

It came to him; he did not seek it through doubtful means,

and even the two Farqad stars are jealous of its like.

وكنتُ أراها له بالظُّنونِ

فقد صرتُ أُبصرها بالعيانِ

I once saw it as his only in conjecture;

now I have come to see it with my own eyes.

فدونَكَها دولةً لا تَبيدُ

كما لا يبيدُ لنا النَّيِّرانِ

So take it: a dominion that will not perish,

just as our two luminaries do not perish.

بَناها لَك اللَّهُ في شامِخٍ

بعيدِ الرِّعانِ رفيعِ القِنانِ

God built it for you upon a towering height,

with far-reaching spurs and lofty summits.

فقد علم المُلكُ ثمّ الملو

كُ أنّك أوْلاهمُ بالرِّهانِ

For kingship knows, and then the kings,

that you are the worthiest of them to win the stakes;

وأنّك أضرَبُهُمْ بالحُسامِ

وأنّك أطعنُهمْ بالسِّنانِ

that you strike hardest with the keen sword,

and thrust hardest with the spearhead;

وأنّك أبذَلُهمْ للبدُورِ

وأملاهُمُ في قِرىً للجِفانِ

that you are most generous with purses of money,

and fill the guest-feasting bowls most fully;

وأنّك سِلْماً وحرباً أحقُّ

بظهر السّرير وظهرِ الحِصانِ

that in peace and war you are most entitled

to the throne's seat and the horse's back;

وأنّك في خَشِناتِ الخطو

بِ أبعدُهُمْ عن محلِّ اللِّيانِ

and that amid the harshest calamities

you are farthest of them from any place of yielding.

فللّهِ دَرُّك يوم اِلتَوَتْ

عليك الخطوبُ اِلتِواءَ المثاني

How splendid you were on the day when

calamities twisted around you like doubled cords!

وَقَد ذَهَبوا عَن طَريقِ الصّوابِ

وأنتَ عليه وما ثَمَّ ثانِ

They had strayed from the path of right judgment,

while you remained upon it, with no second beside you.

دعوك إليها دعاءَ الرَّكوبِ

سُرَى اللّيل للقمرِ الأَضحَيانِ

They called you to it as riders call,

on their night journey, to the brilliantly shining moon.

وقالوا هَلُمَّ إلى خُطَّرٍ

تُقَعقِعُ بالشَّرّ لا بالشِّنانِ

They said, 'Come to perils

that rattle with harm, not with dried waterskins,'

عشيّةَ لاكوا ثِمارَ النُّكولِ

وذاقوا جَنى عجزهمْ والتّواني

on the evening when they chewed the fruits of retreat

and tasted the yield of their weakness and delay.

ولاحتْ شواهدُ مشنوءَةٍ

ودلّ على النّارِ لونُ الدُّخانِ

Signs of something hateful appeared,

and the smoke's color pointed to the fire.

وأشعرنا الحزمُ قبلَ اللّقاءِ

بيومٍ يسيل ردىً أرْدَنانِ

Prudence warned us before the encounter

of a day when Ardanan would flow with death.

وأنتَ على ظَهر مجدولةٍ

من الشّدِّ والطّرْدِ جَدْلَ العِنانِ

You were upon the back of a tightly knit mare,

woven by galloping and pursuit like a braided rein,

كأنَّ الّذي فَوقها راكبٌ

قَرَا يَذْبُلٍ أوْ سَراتَيْ أبانِ

as though the man upon her rode

the ridge of Yadhbul or the twin heights of Aban,

إلى أن حذبتَ صِعابَ الرّقابِ

وشُمَّ المخاطمِ جَذْبَ العِرانِ

until you pulled in the stubborn necks

and haughty noses, as one tugs a camel's nose-peg.

وغيرُك يندم في فائتٍ

وليس له غيرُ عضِّ البَنانِ

Another regrets what has passed,

with nothing left but to bite his fingertips.

وغرّهُمُ منك طولُ الأناةِ

وكم غرَّ في السَّرْعِ من بُعْدِ دانِ

Your long patience deceived them;

how often one swiftly coming from afar proves deceptively near!

فلا تستغرّوا بإطراقةٍ

تهابُ كإطْراقةِ الأُفعوانِ

Do not be deceived by a lowered head

that inspires dread like a viper's lowered head.

ولا تحسبوا حِلْمَهُ دَيْدَناً

فكم نزع الحِلْمَ إصرارُ جانِ

Do not think his forbearance a fixed habit:

how often an offender's persistence has stripped forbearance away!

وإنّك في معشرٍ شأنُهمْ

إذا شهدوا معركاً خيرُ شانِ

You stand among a people whose conduct,

when they enter battle, is the finest conduct.

لهمْ رُمَمٌ كلّما رُجِّلَتْ

فبالسّائل العَصْبِ لا بالدِّهانِ

They have [locks] which, whenever combed,

are dressed with flowing [fresh blood], not with oils.

وأيْمانُهمْ خُلقتْ في الهِياجِ

لضربٍ يقطُّ الطُّلى أو طِعانِ

Their right hands were made, in battle's clash,

for blows that sever necks, or for spear-thrusts.

يحلُّون في كلّ مرهوبةٍ

محلَّ الغِرارِ الحُسامِ اليماني

In every dreaded encounter they take

the place of the edge of a keen Yemeni sword.

وإنْ أنتَ طاعَنْتَ أغنَوْك في ال

قناةِ وقد حضروا عن سِنانِ

And if you fight with lances, they suffice you, on the

spear-shaft, in place of a point, once they are present.

فيا رُكنَ أدياننا والجمالُ

لِملَّتنا في نأىً أو تَدانِ

O pillar of our faiths, and adornment

of our creed, whether far away or close:

أَبوك الّذي سامني مَدحَه

وما زلتُ عنه طويلَ الحِرانِ

your father was the one who demanded my praise,

and I long persisted in stubborn refusal,

إلى أنْ ثناني إليه الوِدا

دُ منه وكرّمني فَاِشتراني

until affection turned me toward him,

coming from him; he honored me, and so bought me.

وما زال يجذبني باليدي

نِ حتّى عطفتُ إليهِ عِناني

He kept drawing me with both hands

until I turned my rein toward him.

ولمّا رَقاني ولم أعيهِ

وأعيَيْتُ مِنْ قبله مَنْ رَقاني

When he charmed me, I did not baffle him,

though I had baffled those who charmed me before him.

فسيّرتُ فيه من الصّائباتِ

دِراكاً نحورَ العدا والمعاني

So I sent forth in his praise well-aimed shafts,

in swift succession, at enemies' throats and at meanings.

وأطربتُهُ بغناءِ المَديحِ

فأغنيتُهُ عن غِناءِ القِيانِ

I delighted him with the song of praise,

and spared him the songs of singing slave-women.

فخذْ منّيَ اليومَ ما شئتَ مِنْ

صنيعِ الضّمير ونسجِ اللّسانِ

So take from me today whatever you wish of

the mind's workmanship and the tongue's weaving:

كلاماً يغور إليه البليدُ

وينقلُهُ مُسرعاً كلُّ وانِ

speech toward which even the sluggish rush,

which every laggard carries swiftly;

شَموساً يُبرِّحُ بالهاتفين

ولمّا هَتَفْتُ به ما عصاني

unruly speech that torments those who call it,

yet when I called it, it did not disobey me;

غنيّاً بصنعتِه لم يَطُفْ

بلفظِ فلانٍ ومعنى فلانِ

self-sufficient in its craft, never roaming

after this man's wording and that man's meaning.

فلو رامه الأفقُ ما ناله

ولولاك كفواً له ما عداني

Even if the horizon sought it, it could not attain it;

were you not its equal, it would not have passed beyond me.

ولي خدمةٌ سلفتْ في الزّمان

صدعتُ بها غرّةً في زماني

I have a service rendered in times past,

which I proclaimed, a shining blaze in my age.

ولمّا رأتْنِيَ منك اللِّحاظُ

حَمَتْني هنالك منك اليدانِ

When your glances saw me,

your two hands protected me there.

وأُسكِنْتُ عندك ظلّاً أقول

كفانِيَ ما نلتُ منه كفاني

I was lodged with you in a shade where I say:

'What I have gained from it suffices me—suffices me.'

وما زلتُ مذْ ذاك تحنوا على

ودادك في الصّدرِ منِّي الحواني

Ever since then, there have bent protectively over

my love for you the curved ribs within my breast.

يَهابُ مراسِيَ مَن رامني

ويُخطئني خِيفةً من رماني

Whoever seeks to attack me fears contending with me,

and whoever shoots at me misses out of fear.

ولولا دفاعُك عنّي لَما

تغَيَّبَ عن رَيْبِ دهري مكاني

But for your defense of me, my whereabouts would not

have been hidden from the vicissitudes of my time;

ولا كنتُ ممّنْ يرى سيّئاً

بغيري ومقلتُهُ لا تراني

nor would I be one who sees misfortune

befall another while its eye does not see me.

ولمْ لا أتِيهُ وأنت الّذي

تَنَخّلَنِي خِبرةً واِصطفاني

Why should I not glory, when you are the one

who sifted me with discernment and selected me?

ولمّا اِنتَسبتُ إلى عزّهِ

حَميتُ الّذي كان قِدْماً حماني

When I attached myself to his might,

I protected the one who had protected me long ago.

فلا زِلْتَ من تَبِعاتِ الخُطوبِ

ومن كلّ طارقةٍ في أمانِ

May you always be safe from the consequences of calamities,

and from every night-visiting misfortune.

وأصبحتَ مصطبحاً ما تَبيت

تُرامقُهُ من مُنىً أو تراني

May you rise at dawn drinking what you spend the night

watching for among your wishes—or [unclear: 'you see me'].

ولا فارقَتْكَ ضُروبُ السّرورِ

ولا صارمَتْك فنونُ التَّهاني

May the varieties of joy never leave you,

and may the kinds of felicitation never forsake you.