يا طائر الأيك غرد لي على الفنن — Sharif Al Murtaza

يا طائرَ الأيْك غرّدْ لي على الفَنَنِ

وَداوِ ما بِيَ من همٍّ ومن حَزَنِ

O bird of the thicket, sing for me upon the bough,

And heal the care and sorrow that are in me.

وفي الفؤاد شجونٌ غيرُ زائلةٍ

إنْ كان قلبُك خِلْواً غيرَ ذي شَجَنِ

While my heart holds sorrows that never pass,

If your heart is empty, untouched by sorrow.

ما لي أراك بلا شَوْقٍ ولا كَلَفٍ

ولا حبيبٍ تُرَجِّيهِ ولا سَكَنِ

Why do I see you without longing or infatuation,

With no beloved to hope for, no source of solace?

إنْ كنتَ تُنصَف ممّنْ أنتَ تعشقه

فإنّني عاشقٌ من ليس يُنصفني

If the one you love treats you fairly,

Then I love one who does not treat me fairly.

وَما الشّقاوةُ إلّا فتنةٌ سكنتْ

قلباً وأفلح قلبٌ غيرُ مُفتَتنِ

Misery is nothing but an infatuation that has settled

In a heart; fortunate is the heart not enthralled.

وَفي الكثيب الّذي فارقتُهُ عجلاً

ما شاءتِ العينُ من حُسْنٍ ومن حَسَنِ

And in the sandhill I left in haste lies

All the eye could desire of beauty and the fair.

أُحبُّ فيه عَسوفاً ليس يرأفُ بِي

وقاسِيَ القلبِ فَظّاً ليس يرحمني

I love there a tyrant who has no pity for me,

A hard-hearted, harsh one who shows me no mercy.

ما الوعدُ منه بمألوفٍ لعاشقِهِ

فإِنْ يَعِدْ فهْوَ بالإنجاز يَمطُلُني

A promise from him is no familiar thing to his lover;

And if he promises, he puts me off in fulfilling it.

يسيءُ بي مالكاً رِقِّي ولستُ أَرى

حظّاً لنفسِيَ منه أنْ يُحرّرني

He wrongs me as master of my bondage, yet I see

No benefit for myself in his setting me free.

نفسي الفداءُ لخوّانٍ كلفتُ به

أظلُّ أُونِسُهُ دهراً ويوحشني

May my soul ransom the faithless one I am infatuated with;

For an age I keep him company, while he leaves me lonely.

وَهمّ نفسي خَلِيٌّ بات يشغلنِي

أو الصّحيحُ الّذي ما زال يُمرضني

My soul's care is a carefree one who occupies me all night,

Or a healthy one who never ceases to make me ill.

وكم ليالٍ مضتْ لي في خُناصِرَةٍ

ينام فيها قريراً مَنْ يُؤَرِّقُني

How many nights have passed for me in Khunasira,

While the one who keeps me sleepless sleeps at ease!

ظَبْيٌ تجافى الجَوى عنه فروّحه

يُقيمني حُبُّهُ طوراً ويُقعدني

A gazelle whom love's anguish has avoided, leaving him at ease;

His love now makes me rise, now makes me sit.

مُحيّرٌ وجهُهُ للشّمسِ إِن طلعتْ

ومُخجلٌ قَدُّه إنْ ماس للغُصُنِ

His face bewilders the sun when she rises,

And his figure, when he sways, puts the bough to shame.

أُطيعهُ وهو يَعصيني وأُنصِفُهُ

كما يحاول من نفسي ويظلمني

I obey him while he disobeys me, and I treat him fairly,

As he asks of me, while he wrongs me.

ما للخيالِ الّذي قد كان يطرقنا

أَيّامَ وَصْلكُمُ قد عاد يطرُقُني

Why has the phantom that once visited us by night,

In the days of union with you, returned to visit me?

نَفَتْ يقينِيَ عن قلبي أباطِلُهُ

فما لعينِيَ حقٌّ لا ولا أُذُني

Its falsehoods have driven certainty from my heart;

My eye has no claim to truth—no, nor my ear.

قُلْ لِلحُداة وقَد زَمّوا لِرحلَتِهمْ

يومَ الفراقِ خياشيماً من البُدُنِ

Tell the camel-drivers, who for their journey have bridled

On parting day the nostrils of full-fleshed camels—

دقّتْ وما زالتِ الأشطانُ تجذبُها

إلى المَهامِهِ حتّى صِرْن كالشَّطَنِ

They grew lean, the halter ropes ceaselessly drawing them

Into the trackless wastes until they became like rope—

حملتُمُ اليومَ قلبي في هوادِجكمْ

فليس ينفعُني أنْ تحملوا بدني

Today you have carried my heart in your howdahs;

It does me no good that you should carry my body.

ولستُ في وطنٍ فارقتموهُ وفي

رِحالكمْ حيثما يمَّمْتُمُ وطني

I am in no homeland you have left; in

Your travelling camps, wherever you head, is my homeland.

يا صاحبيَّ على ما الدّهرُ مُحدثُهُ

من مركبٍ لَيِّنٍ أَوْ مركبٍ خَشِنِ

O my two companions through whatever time brings,

Whether an easy ride or a rough one,

قولاً لملكِ ملوك الأرض كلِّهمُ

والرّكن للدّين والماضي على السُّنَنِ

Say to the king of all the kings of earth,

The pillar of the faith, who follows the established ways:

قد نِلتَ ما لم يَنل كسرى ولا بلغتْ

هِمّاتُ عمرٍو ولا سَيفِ بن ذي يَزنِ

You have attained what Khusrau never attained, what lay beyond

The ambitions of ʿAmr or Sayf ibn Dhi Yazan.

ما إنْ يكون لأخلاقٍ خُصصتَ بها

كريمةٍ في الورى شِبْهٌ ولم يكنِ

The traits with which you have been singled out have no equal,

Noble among mankind—nor have they ever had one.

تُغضي وما حاذر الأقوامُ كلُّهمُ

من الرّجالِ سوى إِغضاءِ ذي فِطَنِ

You overlook faults; yet all peoples fear

No man's forbearance save that of the discerning.

وَتتركُ القولَ لم تُحْمَد مواضعُهُ

وكم صَموتٍ وما يُدعى من اللَّكَنَ

You forgo speech where its use would earn no praise;

Many a silent man is not reckoned tongue-tied.

يَفديك كلُّ جَمودِ الكفِّ عن كرمٍ

للعرضِ مُطّرِحٍ للمالِ مُحتَجِنِ

May every man whose hand is frozen against generosity ransom you,

Heedless of honor and a hoarder of wealth,

ناءٍ عن الخير منحازٍ بناحيةٍ

عن المكارمِ صَبّارٍ عن الوَهَنِ

Far from good, withdrawn to a corner

Away from noble deeds, steadfast against weakness.

للّهِ دَرُّك في هولٍ نفضتَ به

عن الضّلوعِ مُرورَ الرُّعْبِ والجُبُنِ

God bless your prowess in a terror where you shook

From your ribs the passing touch of dread and cowardice!

والطَّعنُ يفتُقُ في كفَّيْك فاغرةً

كشِدْقِ أعْلَمَ أوْ لا فهي كالرُّدُنِ

And the spear-thrust in your hands tears a gaping wound,

Like a cleft-lipped man's mouth—no, rather like sleeves.

وَأَنتَ في معشرٍ شُمٍّ أُنوفُهُمُ

لم يرتضوا في هضابِ المجدِ بالقُنَنِ

You stand among men whose noses are proudly raised,

Who are not content with the summits on the heights of glory.

عارينَ إلّا مِن الحسناءِ قاطبةً

كاسِينَ إلّا منَ الشّنعاءِ والدَّرَنِ

Bare of all but goodness, every one,

Clothed in all but ugliness and stain;

ومشتري الحَمدِ لَمّا قلّصَت هِمَمٌ

عن غاية الحمد بالغالي من الثمَنِ

And you buy praise, when aspirations fall short

Of praise's furthest goal, at the dearest price.

لهم ثِيابٌ نَقيّاتٌ بلا دَنَسٍ

مَرَّ اللّيالي وعيدانٌ بلا أُبَنِ

Their garments are pure, without a stain

Through passing nights, and their branches have no knots.

وإنْ دَعَوْتَ بهمْ في يومِ مَلْحَمَةٍ

جاؤوك شدّاً على الأكوارِ والحُصُنِ

And if you call for them on a day of battle,

They come racing to you on camel-saddles and steeds,

بأَذرُعٍ لم تزلْ منهمْ معوَّدَةً

هزَّ الظُّبا البيضِ أو سُمرَ القنا اللّدِنِ

With arms of theirs that have always been accustomed

To brandishing white blades or brown, supple spears.

قُل للَّذي باتَ يَرمينِي وليس له

علمٌ بأنّك لِي أوْقى من الجُنَنِ

Tell the one who spends the night assailing me, unaware

That you protect me better than shields:

لا تَبغِ سَلبِي ولا تَمْدُدْ إلى سَلَبِي

منك اليدين ورُكْنُ الدّين يحرسني

Do not seek to rob me, nor stretch toward my spoils

Your two hands, while the Pillar of the Faith guards me.

قد كنت قبلك أهجو الدّهرَ مجتهداً

وقد رُزِقْتُك لا عَتْبٌ على الزَّمَنِ

Before you I used to satirize time with all my might;

Now that I have been granted you, I have no complaint against time.

فَأَنت أَحلى لقلبي من مُناهُ وفي

عيني عقيبَ السُّرى والأَيْنِ من وَسَني

You are sweeter to my heart than its wishes, and to

My eye, after night travel and weariness, than my slumber.

قدني إليك فما أعطيت معتصباً

بِالتاجِ قبلك رقّي لا وَلا رَسني

Lead me to you: I never gave a man wreathed

With a crown, before you, my bondage—no, nor my halter.

وَاِعلمْ بِأنِّيَ في يُمناك مُدَّخراً

خيرٌ من المالِ في أبياتِ مُختَزِنِ

Know that, stored in your right hand, I

Am better than wealth in a hoarder's chambers.

فإِن تجدني كما جرّبتَ ذا لَسَنٍ

فإِنَّ مدْحَك موقوفٌ على لَسَني

If you find me eloquent, as you have found through trial,

Then praise of you rests upon my eloquence.

وما رضيتُ سواكمْ آمراً أبداً

وقد رضيتُك تنهاني وتأمرني

I have never accepted anyone but you as master,

And I accept you forbidding and commanding me.

إذا مدحتُك لم أقرعْ بلائمةٍ

وبات يعذرني من بات يعذُلني

When I praise you, I am met with no reproach,

And he who once blamed me now excuses me.

قصائدٌ رقّصَتْ بالسّامعين كما

ترقّص الخمرُ في أحشاء ذي أَرَنِ

Poems that set their listeners dancing, just as

Wine stirs dancing in the innards of a merry man.

فالغَوْرُ كالنَّجدِ في نشر الرُّواةِ لها

والحيُّ مِن مُضَرٍ كالحيِّ من يَمَنِ

The Ghawr is like Najd in the reciters' spreading them,

And the clans of Mudar are like the clans of Yemen.

لِي في اِمتداحك أَسبابٌ تُقدّمني

وتارةً ليَ أسبابٌ تؤخّرني

I have reasons for praising you that urge me forward,

And at times I have reasons that hold me back.

فطَوْلُ فضلك عن قومي يُجنّبني

وعِظْمُ حلمك عن هَفْوي يشجّعني

For your excellence, towering above my people, holds me back;

The greatness of your forbearance toward my slips emboldens me.

فَاِسعَد بِذا العيدِ والإفطار إنّهما

والنُّجحَ في كلّ ما تَبغيهِ في قَرَنِ

Rejoice in this feast and the breaking of the fast, for these two

And success in all you seek are yoked together.

وقد مضى الصّومُ لم يكتبْ عليك به

ذنبٌ ولا ناله شيءٌ من الظِّنَنِ

The fast has passed; during it there was recorded against you

No sin, nor did any suspicion touch it.

يُثني عليك كما أثنى الرّياضُ وقد

جيدَتْ ضواحيه إصباحاً على المُزَنِ

It praises you as the meadows praised—once

Their borders were drenched at dawn—the rain clouds.

ودُمْ لمجدٍ تعلّيهِ ومُمْتَحَنٍ

أخرجتَه كَرَماً من قبضةِ المِنَنِ

Live on for glory you exalt, and for the afflicted one

Whom you have generously freed from the grip of indebtedness,

ما اِفتَرَّ فجرٌ وما لاحَتْ بشائرُهُ

وما تَرَنَّمَ قُمْرِيٌّ على غُصُنِ

As long as dawn smiles and its glad heralds shine,

And as long as a turtledove sings upon a bough.