هل عائد ينفع من علتي — Sharif Al Murtaza

هَل عائِدٌ يَنفع من عِلّتِي

أو مُسْعِدٌ ينقع من غُلَّتِي

Is there a sickbed visitor who can relieve my ailment,

or a comforter who can quench my burning thirst,

أو عادلٌ ينصفنِي حُكمهُ

من جور هذا الزّمن المُعْنِتِ

or a just man whose judgment grants me redress

against the injustice of this tormenting age?

أسعى ولا أدرِي إلى مُنيَتِي

وَإِنّما أَسعى إلى ميتتي

I strive toward my wish, not knowing,

yet I strive only toward my death.

كم نعمةٍ آلتْ إلى نِقمَةٍ

وفَرْحَةٍ حالت إلى تَرْحةِ

How many a blessing has turned into affliction,

and a joy has changed into sorrow!

وَغِبْطَةٍ لمّا اِستَوتْ للفتى

وَنالَ منها سُؤْلَهُ ولّتِ

And happiness, once it was secure for a man,

and he had gained his wish from it, departed!

إِنْ كانَ زادَ الدّهر في فِطنَتِي

فَبالّذي أنقصَ من فِطْرَتي

If time has increased my discernment,

it is at the cost of diminishing my natural constitution.

أَو قوّمتْ أيّامُهُ خِبْرَتِي

فبالّذي طَأْطأ من صَعْدَتِي

Or if its days have refined my experience,

it is at the cost of lowering my stature.

يُقِرُّ عَيْنَيَّ بما فقدُهُ

بعد قليلٍ مُسبلٌ عَبرتي

It gladdens my eyes with things whose loss

will soon make my tears flow.

في كلّ يومٍ أنَا في وقعةٍ

مَعْ نُوَبِ الدّهر وفي خُطّةِ

Every day I am in a battle

with the blows of time, and in an ordeal.

بَينا تَراهُ مُسِلفاً قرَّتي

حتّى تراه مُتلِفاً قوّتِي

No sooner do you see it lending me delight

than you see it destroying my strength.

يولِجُ حِرماني عَلى مُنْيَتِي

خَبْطاً وإيلامِي على لَذَّتِي

It thrusts my deprivation upon my desire,

blindly, and my pain upon my pleasure.

فَليتَهُ لَمّا طوى عَزمهُ

بميتتِي لم يُعطِنِي عِيشَتِي

Would that, when it fixed its resolve

upon my death, it had not granted me my life.

لَولايَ كان الدّهر من أهلِهِ

بغير أوضاحٍ ولا غُرّةِ

Were it not for me, time would have from its people

neither white markings nor a bright forehead-blaze.

وَقَد درى الأقوامُ أَنّي اِمرؤٌ

أواصلُ الصدَّ عن السَّوْأَةِ

The peoples know that I am a man

who continually shuns disgrace.

لا أضمرُ السّوءَ لذي خُلّةٍ

ولا أُرى في طُرُقِ التُّهمَةِ

I harbor no ill toward a friend,

nor am I seen upon paths of suspicion.

ولم تقُدْني في حِبالِ الهَوى

مَحاسِنُ البَهْكَنَةِ الطَّفلةِ

Nor have I been led into desire's snares

by the charms of a tender, full-figured woman.

ذو عَزْمةٍ ما نَشَزتْ ساعةً

واحدةً عن رِبْقَةِ العِفَّةِ

I possess a resolve that has not strayed for an hour,

even a single one, from chastity's halter.

وَلا ترى ميلاً إلى جانبٍ

لافى رِضاً منّي ولا سَخْطَةِ

And you see no leaning to either side,

neither in my approval nor in my displeasure.

لا فرق بُعداً مِن ركوبِ الهَوى

بينِيَ في الكِبْرَةِ والشِّرَّةِ

There is no difference, in keeping far from riding desire,

between me in old age and me in youthful ardor.

فَجانبُ الجِدِّ به صَبْوَتِي

وجانبُ الهَزْل به نَبْوتِي

Thus earnestness is the side toward which I yearn,

and frivolity the side from which I recoil.

كم لِيَ ي مُرِّ ثمارِ الهوى

من فكرةٍ رُضْتُ بها صَعْبتِي

How many, among desire's bitter fruits, have been mine—

thoughts by which I tamed my unruly self!

فالذُّلُّ للنَفسِ إذا ما عَصتْ

والعزّ للنّفسِ إذا ولّتِ

Humiliation, then, for the soul when it rebels,

and honor for the soul when it turns away.

فقلْ لُحسَّادِيَ لا زِلْتُمُ

في حَسَدٍ ثاوٍ على نعمَتي

So tell my enviers: May you never cease

to dwell in envy over my good fortune.

لا تعضِهوني بالّذي فيكُمُ

فَقدْ أَمنتمْ أبداً عَضْهتِي

Do not slander me with what is in yourselves,

for you are forever safe from my slander.

الذّنْب لِي عندكُمُ أنّكمْ

عجزتُمُ عمّا حَوَتْ قدرَتي

My offense, in your eyes, is that you

are incapable of what lies within my power,

وأنّني قد كنتُ من دونكمْ

أعقِرُ للأضيافِ في الأَزْمةِ

and that I, unlike you, have

slaughtered camels for guests in times of scarcity.

والطّارقُ النازل أدنى إلى

زادِيَ من أهلِي ومِن أُسرَتي

And the night guest is closer to

my provisions than my kin and my household.

وكلّ داعٍ بي إلى نُصرةٍ

سابقةٌ دعوتهُ نُصرتي

And everyone calling on me for support—

my support precedes his call.

لو جهدوا ما شَربوا من عَلٍ

إِلّا الّذي أسْأَرْتُ من فضلتِي

Had they tried their utmost, they would have drunk from on high

only what I left over from my surplus.

وَلا رأَوْا قطُّ بِأَيديهمُ

فضيلةً منِّيَ ما غُلَّتِ

Nor have they ever seen in their hands

a virtue of mine that was not shackled.

وَكم بغَوْا دهراً فلم يظفِروا

مِنِّي في المَزْلَقِ بالعَثْرةِ

How often they sought for ages, yet never found

a stumble in me upon slippery ground!

لَيستْ يدي مِنّيَ مردودةً

وليس لِي رجْلِيَ إِن زلَّتِ

My hand is not held back by me,

nor is my foot mine if it slips.

إِنْ تَفقدوني تَفقدوا منكُمُ

فرّاجَ ذاك المُبْهَمِ المُصْمَتِ

If you lose me, you lose from among you

the opener of that which is shut and sealed.

حقّرَ شأني أنّنِي ضائعٌ

عندكُمُ أَبكي عَلى ضيعتي

My standing is diminished because I am neglected

among you; I weep over my neglect.

أَقتاتُ غيظي فإذا عِفْتُهُ

خرجتُ من غيظٍ إلى عِفّةِ

I feed upon my anger; then, when I loathe it,

I leave anger for self-restraint.

بَينَ أُناسٍ أنَا ما بينهُمْ

في كَمدٍ باقٍ وفي حَسْرةِ

Among people, so long as I am in their midst,

I suffer lasting anguish and regret.

خَيرُهُمُ شرُّ اِمرِئٍ في الورى

وحيُّهُمْ بالنَّوك كالميِّتِ

Their best is the worst man among humankind,

and their living are, through folly, like the dead.

أنفقُ فما لستُ أرضى بِهِ

شرْخَ شبابي وشَبا مَيْعَتِي

I expend, on what does not please me,

the prime of my youth and the edge of my youthful vigor.

دَعْ جانبَ الذُلِّ لمنْ حَلَّهُ

فما به شيءٌ من الخيْرَةِ

Leave the realm of humiliation to whoever inhabits it,

for there is nothing good in it.

ولا تُقِمْ في منزلٍ تعْتَلِي

بهِ الأراذيل على العِلْيَةِ

And do not dwell in a place where

the base rise above the noble.

ولا مكانٍ يستوي عندَهُ

دَرادِقُ الذَّوْدِ مع الجِلَّةِ

Nor in a place that gives equal standing

to the herd's camel calves and its full-grown camels.

مَلِلْتموني والمُنى رَغْدَةٌ

إِنْ كَثُرتْ في معشرٍ مُلَّتِ

You have tired of me; wishes, though pleasant,

are wearied of when they abound among a people.

وَقَد عَلِمتمْ أَنّ أَموالكمْ

تضحِي وتُمْسي في حِمى جُرْأتِي

Yet you know that your wealth

lies morning and evening under my courage's protection.

سددتُ عنهنَّ فروقَ الرَّدى

بالطّعنةِ الفَوهاء والضّربةِ

I barred the pathways of destruction from it

with the gaping spear-thrust and the blow.

والخيلُ تنجو كسروبِ القطا

أو نَعَمٍ في غُرْبةٍ شُلَّتِ

As the horses flee like flocks of sandgrouse,

or livestock driven away in a strange land,

يَحفِزُها الطَّعنُ فلو سامَها

دخولَ خرقٍ ضيّقٍ مرّتِ

the thrusting drives them; were it to force them

into a narrow opening, they would pass through.

وفي القنا تُبدِل أجلادَها

مسودّةَ اللّوْنِ بمُحمَرّةِ

Amid the spears they exchange their hides,

black in color, for reddened ones.

فَوق قرا ضامرةٍ جَسْرَةٍ

ما شدّت الرّيحُ كما شَدَّتِ

Upon the back of a lean, sturdy mare—

the wind has never raced as she has—

ذاتِ وَقارٍ يوم سِلْمٍ فإنْ

رأت بعينيها وغىً جُنّتِ

dignified on a day of peace; but if

she sees battle with her own eyes, she goes mad.

هلْ أنهَلَتْهَا علقاً مائراً

إلّا يدي في الرَّوْعِ أو علَّتِ

Who gave her her first draught of surging blood,

or her second, but my hand in battle?

في موقفٍ دَحْضٍ كأنّ الفتى

مُستوقَفٌ فيه على جَمْرةِ

In a slippery position, as though a man

were held there upon a glowing coal.

تبتلُّ أرجاءٌ لهُ يَبْسَةٌ

رشائشَ الطّعن إذا بَلّتِ

Its dry reaches grow wet

with sprays from spear-thrusts as they drench them.

لا تُدنِنِي من عاقدٍ أنفَهُ

ملآنَ من تِيهٍ ومن نَخْوَةِ

Do not bring me near one who wrinkles his nose,

full of conceit and arrogance,

مُدامِجٍ همّتُهُ كلُّها

مصروفةٌ في نصبِ أُغلوطةِ

a dissembler whose entire concern

is devoted to setting a deceptive puzzle.

لَيس عن الغيِّ لهُ عَرْجَةٌ

ولا له في الرّشد من نهضةِ

He never turns away from error,

nor makes any move toward right guidance.

فَلن تَراني أبداً راغباً

في خَرِقٍ يزهدُ في رغبتي

So you will never see me desirous

of a fool who scorns my interest.

وما أُبالي بعد خُبْرٍ بهِ

صرّح أو صمَّمَ في خُلّتِي

Nor do I care, once I have known him,

whether he speaks openly or persists in friendship with me.

سَأَركَب الهَول فإمّا على

شامخةٍ أو أكرم الموتةِ

I shall ride into peril, either to

a lofty height or the noblest death.

فَربّما نلتُ الّذي أبتغي

مجتهداً أو بَرِئتْ ذمّتي

Perhaps I shall gain what I seek

through striving—or my duty will be discharged.