خلها إنها تريد الغميما — Sharif Al Murtaza

خلِّها إنّها تريد الغميما

طالما أنجد الصّحيحُ سقيما

Let them be; they seek al-Ghamim.

Often has the healthy aided the sick.

ليس ترعى حتّى تقيمَ بواد ال

حبّ إلّا وجيفَها والرَّسيما

They graze on nothing, until they settle in the valley of

love, but their galloping and swift trot.

ليسَ إلّا نجران إنّا نرى من

نا قلوباً بآلِ نجرانَ هِيما

Nowhere but Najran! We see among

us hearts madly in love with the people of Najran.

جنِّبوها التّعريسَ حتّى تروها

نازلاتٍ بحضرموتٍ جُثوما

Keep them from halting for night-rest until you see them

settled in Hadramawt, kneeling down.

يا ديارَ الأحبابِ لا أبصرَتْكِ ال

عينُ من بعد أن حللت رسوما

O dwellings of loved ones, may you never be seen by the

eye once you have become mere traces.

إنّ عيشاً لنا خلسناه من أَيْ

دِي الرَّزايا لديك كان نعيما

Truly, the life we stole from the hands

of calamities beside you was bliss.

أَينَ ظبيٌ عهدتُه في نواحي

كِ دَخولاً حَبَّ القلوب هَجوما

Where is the gazelle I knew in your environs,

ever entering and storming the very cores of hearts?

أقصدتني عيناه يوم تلاقي

نا بفسحِ الحِمى وراح سليما

His eyes struck me down on the day of our meeting

in the protected grounds' open spaces, while he left unharmed.

وَاِلتَقطنا من لفظه الدُّرَّ نثراً

وَرَأيناه باِبتسامٍ نظيما

And from his words we gathered pearls scattered loose,

and in his smile we saw them strung together.

وَاِعتَنقنا فكنتُ سقماً هضيماً

ذا نحولٍ وكان حُسناً هضيما

And we embraced; I was frail sickness,

worn thin, while he was slim-waisted beauty.

كَيفَ أبغي نَصْفاً وقلبِيَ ولّى

طائعاً للهوى عليَّ غَشوما

How can I seek fairness, when my heart has turned

obedient to passion, cruelly unjust toward me?

وإذا قلتُ قد سلوتُ وخلّي ال

حبّ عنّي لقيتُ منه عظيما

And whenever I say, 'I have forgotten, and

love has left me,' I suffer something grievous from it.

وشكوتُ الهوى وما صنع ال

حبُّ بقلبي فما وجدتُ رحيما

And I complained of passion and what

love had done to my heart, but found no one merciful.

ليس يجدي ودمعُ عيني نَمومٌ

بالهوى أنْ ترى اللّسانَ كَتوما

It is no use, while my eye's tears are telltales

of passion, for the tongue to keep its secrets.

ولقد قلتُ والجَوى يُخرس النُّطْ

قَ ذُهولاً وحَيْرَةً ووُجوما

And indeed I said, while heartache silenced speech

in bewilderment, perplexity, and stunned silence:

كيف أمسيتَ راحلاً بفؤادي

عن بلادي ولم أرِمْها مقيما

How have you come to depart with my heart

from my homeland, though I have stayed and never left it?

لستَ يا أيّها العَذولُ عن الحب

ب كَليماً منه وتَبَّ كليما

You, O reproacher, are not, where love is concerned,

wounded by it—may you perish wounded!

لا تلمني فكلُّ مَن حَمَلَ الأشْ

جانَ يرضى بأن يكون مَلوما

Do not blame me; everyone who bears

sorrows accepts that he will be blamed.

أيُّ شيءٍ منّي على راقدِ الطَّرْ

فِ خَلِيٍّ إنْ بتُّ أَرعى النُّجوما

What harm do I do one whose eyes are sleeping,

untroubled, if I spend the night watching the stars?

وَإِذا كنتُ بالهوى ذا اِعوجاجٍ

فاِهنَ دوني بأن تكون قويما

And if passion has left me crooked,

then rejoice, unlike me, in being straight.

لا تزدني بذا الزّمان اِختباراً

فلقد كنتُ بالزّمانِ عليما

Do not add to my experience of this age;

for I have already known time well.

أين أهلُ الصّفاءِ كنّا جميعاً

ثمّ ولَّوْا إلفَ الرّياح هشيما

Where are the true-hearted? We were all together,

then they departed, dry stubble consorting with the winds.

رُمتُهم بعد أن توفّاهُمُ الموْ

تُ فما أن أصبتُ إلّا رميما

I sought them after death had claimed them,

but found nothing except crumbling bones.

مَن عذيري مِنَ الزّمان أخي عَوْ

جاءَ أَعيا عليَّ أنْ يستقيما

Who will defend me against time, with its crooked ways,

whose straightening has proved beyond me?

لَيسَ يُعطِي البقاءَ إلّا لِمَن يس

لُبنه ذلك البقاء حميما

It grants long life only to those from whom

that long life will take a beloved friend.

كم أراني قصراً مشيداً فما لب

بثَ حتّى رأيتُه مهدوما

How often it showed me a lofty palace, and scarcely

had time passed before I saw it demolished.

وغنيّاً ما زال صَرْفُ اللّيالي

يعتريه حتّى ثناه عديما

And a rich man, whom the turns of the nights never ceased

to assail until they made him destitute.

وسُعوداً جرّتْ إلينا نحوساً

وسروراً جنى علينا هموما

And good fortunes that dragged ill fortunes to us,

and joy that reaped worries for us.

نَحنُ قومٌ إذا دُعي النّاس للفخ

رِ إفالاً نُدعى إليه قُروما

We are a people who, when others are called to glory

as camel calves, are called to it as full-grown camel sires.

وَإِذا ما ثَوَوْا لدى العزّ في الأطْ

رافِ كنّا عند الصّميم صميما

And when they dwell at glory's outer

edges, we dwell at its heart, its very core.

ومتى عدّدوا محلَّةَ فخرٍ

لم تكنْ تلك زَمْزَماً وحطيما

And whenever they enumerate an abode of glory,

that abode is neither Zamzam nor Hatim.

من أُناسٍ كانوا كما اِقترح المج

دُ جُنوحاً عند الحِفاظِ لزوما

From people who were, as glory demanded,

inclined to defend honor and steadfast in doing so.

لم يحلّوا دارَ الهَوانِ وكانوا

في المعالي فوق النّجوم نجوما

They never dwelt in the abode of humiliation, but were

at the heights of honor, stars above the stars.

فهُمُ للزّمانِ أوضاحُهُ الغُر

رُ ولولاهُمُ لكان بَهيما

For they are time's gleaming, radiant markings,

and without them it would be pitch-dark.

وإذا اِستُلّتِ الجيادُ وأبْكَيْ

ن جلوداً أَو اِعتَصرن حميما

And when the fine blades are drawn and make

skins weep, or wring out sweat,

ورأيتَ الرّماحَ يجعلن يوم ال

قرِّ بالطّعنِ في النّحورِ جحيما

and you see the spears turn a day of

cold into hellfire by stabbing throats,

لبسوا البِيض والرّماحَ دروعاً

لَم يَصونوا إلّا بهنّ الجسوما

they wear bright swords and spears as armor,

guarding their bodies with nothing else.

كلّ مُستبسلٍ تَراه لدى الحر

ب سفيهاً وفي النَّديِّ حليما

Every fearless fighter you see in

war is reckless, but in the council forbearing.

لا يحبّ الحياةَ إلّا لأنْ يُغ

ني فقيراً أو أنْ يصون حريما

He loves life only so that he may

enrich a poor man or protect those under his care.

وتراه مكلَّماً وصفيحُ ال

هند يزداد بالضِّراب ثُلوما

And you see him wounded, while the steel of

India grows ever more notched with blows.

قد حفظنا ما كان جِدَّ مضاعٍ

ودعمنا ما لم يكنْ مدعوما

We have preserved what was utterly neglected,

and supported what had no support.

وَبِنا اِستنتج الرّجاءُ وقد كا

ن رجاءُ الرّجال قبلُ عقيما

And through us hope bore offspring, though

men's hope had formerly been barren.

وإذا هبّت الخطوبُ ولم تك

فِ كَفَيْنا العظيم ثمّ العظيما

And when calamities blow and will not cease,

we ward off one great calamity after another.

سلْ بنا أيُّنا وقد وُزِن الأمْ

جادُ أسنى مجداً وأكرمُ خِيما

Ask about us: which of us, when glories are weighed,

is loftier in glory and nobler in character?

وإذا شانتِ القروفُ أديماً

من أُناسٍ من ذا أصحُّ أديما

And when accusations blemish the skin

of a people, who has sounder skin?

ولنا عزمةٌ بها نمطر المظ

لومَ عدلاً ونرزق المحروما

And ours is a resolve by which we shower the

oppressed with justice and provide for the deprived.

والفتى من إذا يهبّ على العا

في سَموماً قومٌ يهبّ نسيما

And the noble man is he who, when upon the

petitioner others blow a scorching wind, blows a gentle breeze.

كم أُداري وقلّما نفع التّعْ

ليلُ هَمّاً لا يبرح الحَيْزوما

How often I try to soothe—though consolation seldom helps—

a grief that never leaves my breast.

لم أجدْ مسعداً عليه ومن ذا

مسعدٌ في الورى الحُسامَ الخَذوما

I found no helper with it; and who is there

among mankind to aid the keen-cutting sword?

وإذا ما دعوتُ قوماً إلى الهب

بَةِ فيه لم أدعُ إلّا نَؤوما

And whenever I call people to rouse themselves

over it, I call upon none but a heavy sleeper.

ولَخَيْرٌ مِن أنْ تعيش غبيّاً

باخسَ الحَظِّ أن تموت كريما

And surely better than living as a fool,

with a meager lot, is to die noble.