عتاب لدهر لا يمل عتابي — Sharif Al Murtaza

عِتابٌ لِدهرٍ لا يَمَلُّ عتابي

وشَكوى إِلى مَنْ لا يردّ جوابي

Reproach to Time, which never tires of my reproach,

and a complaint to one who never answers me.

وَأَطلُبُ ما أَعيا الرّجالَ طِلابُه

فَيا لِلحِجى كَم ذا يَكونُ طِلابي

I seek what has exhausted men in its pursuit.

So, O reason, how long will this quest of mine last?

وَبِي ما أَذودُ النّاسَ عن باب علمِهِ

وكلُّ أُساتي جاهلون بما بِي

I harbor something whose door of understanding I bar to others;

and all my physicians know nothing of what is within me.

فلِي كَبِدٌ تَصلى بغيرِ خريدةٍ

وَلِي جَسدٌ يبلي بغير كَعابٍ

For I have a liver that burns, but not for a maiden;

and a body that wastes away, but not for a budding-breasted girl.

إِذا لَم أُرَغْ عند الغوانِي تغزّلاً

فَمثلُ مشيبي بينهنَّ شَبابي

If I am not desired among beauties for amorous dalliance,

then my youth among them is just like my gray-haired age.

وَلَو كنتُ يوماً بالخِضاب موكَّلاً

خضبتُ لمَن يَخفي عليهِ خضابي

Were I ever charged with dyeing my hair,

I would dye it for someone from whom my dye would remain hidden.

فَإِن تعطِني أولى الخِضاب شبيبةً

فإنّي أُخيراه بغير شبابٍ

If the first application of dye grants me youth,

at its last I am without youth.

وَأَين منَ الإِصباحِ صِبغةُ غَيْهبٍ

وَأَين مِنَ البازيّ لون غُرابٍ

How far the tint of darkness is from daybreak,

and how far a raven's color is from a falcon's!

وقد قلّصتْ خَطْوِي الليالي وشمّرتْ

برَوْحاتها من جيئتِي وذهابي

The nights have shortened my stride and curtailed,

with their evening passages, my coming and going.

وَكَم ظَفر الأقوامُ في البيض كالدُّمى

بفُوفِ المنى منهنَّ لا بثيابِ

How many men, among fair women like figurines,

have gained from them the fine fabric of hopes, not clothes!

وَلِي هِممٌ لمّا طَمحْنَ إلي العُلا

طمحْنَ كثيراتٍ وقلّ صِحابي

I have ambitions that, when they aspired to the heights,

aspired in multitudes, though my companions were few.

فمِنْ عذْبِ أزوادِ النّزاهةِ مطعمِي

ومن ماءِ أحواض العَفاف شرابي

My food comes from the sweet provisions of integrity,

and my drink from the water in the pools of chastity.

فأيّ بلادٍ ما خرقتُ فِجاجها

وَفي أَيّ أَرضٍ لم تدُرَّ سحابي

What land's passes have I not traversed,

and over what earth have my clouds not rained?

وَأَيّ صَديقٍ لَم تُصبْه مثوبتي

وَأَيّ عدوٍّ لَم يَنلهُ عِقابي

What friend has not received my reward,

and what enemy has not felt my punishment?

أُريدُ الغنى مِن غيرِ ما جانب الغنى

فسهمِيَ لا يُصمى وسيفِيَ ناب

I seek wealth from a quarter other than wealth's own,

so my arrow does not kill outright, and my sword is blunt.

وَفي راحَتي أَسعى وَمن دونِ راحتِي

ركوبُ شِماساتِ المتون صِعابِ

I strive for my rest, but between me and rest

lies riding stubborn, unruly backs.

وَربّ أُناسٍ جارِعي مُرَّ بِغْضَتِي

وَأَضلُعُهم ملأى بخبّ ضَبابِ

And many men swallow the bitterness of hatred for me,

their ribs filled with the cunning of lizards.

بَطيئينَ عنّي ناكِصينَ عَنِ الّتي

رَقَيْتَ إِلَيها من قلالِ هضابِ

Lagging behind me, retreating from the heights

you climbed among the hilltops.

وَلَمّا جرَوْا يَرجونَ سَبْقي إِلى العُلا

مَضيتُ وَلَمّا يَلحَقوا بترابي

When they ran, hoping to precede me to the heights,

I pressed on while they had yet to reach my dust.

يريدونَ أَن أَشقى برَجْع خطابِهمْ

وَمنْ فيهم يستطيعُ رَجْعَ خطابي

They want me to suffer by answering their words,

but which of them can answer mine?

وَودّوا وأنّى ما يَودّون أنّهم

أصابوا معاباً لِي وأين معابي

They wished—how far-fetched their wish!—that they

might find a fault in me; but where is my fault?

وَمُذْ أَخطَأوا بابَ الصّواب ونكّبوا

عَنِ الرّشدِ باتوا حاسِدينَ صَوابي

Since they missed the gate of right judgment and turned aside

from sound guidance, they have spent their nights envying my rightness.

وَقَد صَفِرتْ مِن كُلّ مَجدٍ أكفّهُمْ

ولم تخلُ من مجدٍ حَوَتْهُ وِطابي

Their hands have been emptied of all glory,

while my milk-skins have never lacked the glory they hold.

ولمّا تناهبنا النّدى جئتُ راكباً

سنامَ النّدى في كلّ يومِ نِهابِ

When we competed to plunder bounty, I came riding

bounty's hump on every day of plunder.

وَقَد عَلِموا أنّي عَلى غيرِ ريبةٍ

تُلَطُّ سُجوفي ثمّ يُغلَق بابي

They know that, with no cause for suspicion,

my curtains are drawn shut and then my door is closed.

وإنّي وأَدناسُ الزّمان كَثيرةٌ

مَررتُ فَلم تَعلقْ بهنّ ثِيابي

And I—though the stains of Time are many—

have passed through, and my clothes caught none of them.

وَما كانَ جاري وَالقِرى يستفزّه

مَروعاً وقد وافى بِنَبحِ كلابي

My neighbor, drawn onward by hospitality, was never

frightened when he arrived amid my dogs' barking.

وَلا طارِقِي يرجو ثوابِيَ عائداً

بعسرٍ ولا يُسرٍ بغير ثوابِ

Nor does my night visitor, hoping for my bounty, return

in hardship or ease without a gift.

فَقلْ للعدى كونوا جميعاً بنجوَةٍ

إذا ماج تيّاري وجُنّ عُبابي

Tell my enemies: all of you, keep to high ground

when my current surges and my flood runs wild.

وَلا تَأمَنوا وَالشرّ ينتجُ بِالأَذى

وَقَد سَحَّ وَدْقِي أَنْ تَسيلَ شِعابي

Do not feel safe—evil breeds through harm—

from my ravines flooding once my rain has poured,

وَوثبة مَفتول الذّراعِ قُصاقِصٍ

يُساعد ظُفراً في الصّريع بنابِ

or from the leap of a mighty lion with a sinewy foreleg,

whose fang aids his claw against the fallen.

هجومٍ عَلى الأقرانِ لَم يَثنِ كيدَه

كَميٌّ بِإقدامٍ ولا بهِبابِ

An assailant of his rivals, whose attack has not been checked

by an armored warrior's bold advance or swift assault.

تَبوعٍ لحوقٍ في يديهِ طِلابه

وَما كلُّ باغٍ فائزاً بطِلابِ

A relentless pursuer and overtaker, his quarry in his paws;

not every seeker wins what he seeks.

ثَوى الغابَ مَرهوبَ المكانِ وما الرّدى

يُلاقيه إلّا في خبيئةِ غابِ

He dwells in the thicket, his abode dreaded, and death

meets him only in a thicket's hidden recess.

تَرى حولَهُ أَسلابَ قومٍ ولم يكنْ

ليحفل في مَنْ بزّه بسِلابِ

You see men's spoils around him, yet he never

cares for the plunder of those he has despoiled.

وَما لحظُهُ إلّا كَنجمَيْ دُجُنَّةٍ

وَلا بَطشُهُ إلّا كَمثل حِرابِ

His gaze is nothing but two stars in darkness,

and his striking nothing but the thrust of spears.

له زَفرةٌ مِن فوق جنب صريعهِ

كما صُكَّ صُلْبٌ يابسٌ بصِلابِ

He gives a groan above the flank of his fallen victim,

like a hard, dry stone struck with hard stones.

حَكتْ زَفرة المغلوب حزناً وخيبةً

وما هي إلّا زفرةٌ لِغلابِ

It mimics the defeated one's groan of grief and disappointment,

yet it is only a groan of triumph.

وَنهشةَ مَسموم اللِّثاثِ لعابُهُ

خَروقٌ إلى الأرداءِ كلّ حجابُ

And the bite of one with venomous gums, whose saliva

pierces every barrier to bring death.

تَراه لَصوقاً بالتّراب كأنّه

قطيعٌ طريحٌ أو سقيطُ حِقابِ

You see it clinging to the dust, as though it were

a severed strip cast aside, or a fallen waist-cord.

لَه مَلْمَسٌ لَيْنٌ وَحشو أديمِهِ

خشونةُ فرّاءٍ لكلِّ إِهاب

Its touch is soft, but within its skin

lies the harshness of one who rends every hide.

يَسدُّ على السّاري الطريقَ مجرُّهُ

وآثاره يحمين كلّ نِقابِ

Its trail bars the road to the night traveler,

and its tracks guard every mountain pass.

كأنّ عليه جبّةً وهو صائفٌ

وفي القُرِّ عُريانٌ بغيرِ ثيابِ

It seems to wear a robe in summer,

yet in the cold it is naked, without clothes.

يُمجّ سِماعاً في اللّديغِ كأنّه

لُغامُ نياقٍ أو نضيح حِبابِ

It spits venom into the bitten one, as though it were

the foam of she-camels or the seepage of water jars.

وما مشيُهُ إلّا تغضّنُ نِسْعَةٍ

تَلَوَّى على كوماء ذاتِ هِبابِ

Its movement is nothing but the folding of a plaited girth

twisting upon a high-humped she-camel in swift motion.

حُبابٌ بأعلى الواديين طريقُهُ

وَما المَوتُ إِلّا في طَريق حبُابِ

Hubab's path lies in the higher of the two valleys,

and death lies only in Hubab's path.

يَصمّ عنِ الرّاقي وَيحدُرُ ظامِئاً

لدانٍ إِلى مطواه كلّ وئابِ

It is deaf to the charmer and, thirsting, brings down

every bounding creature that draws near its coils.

فَشاكٍ تَشكّاهُ بِغَيرِ تَعِلَّةٍ

وماضٍ توخّاه بغير إيابِ

A sufferer complains of it without solace,

and one who goes forth to seek it never returns.

سَلِ البارقَ العلويّ ليلة شُمتَهُ

وأعشى الكرى رَكْبي معاً ورِكابي

Ask the lightning on high about the night you watched it,

when slumber blinded both my fellow riders and my mounts.

أَلستُ وَقَد خامَ الكماة عن الرّدى

لَبِستُ طعاني نَحوه وضِرابي

Was it not I, when armored champions shrank from death,

who clothed myself in spear-thrusts and sword-strokes to face it?

عَشِيّةَ هابَ الدّارعون تورُّدي

هُناك وَهمّ الطاعنون جنابي

That evening the armored men feared my plunge

there, and the spearmen sought my flank,

إِلى أَن رأوْا سَيفي وَرمحيَ في الطُّلى

بِغَير أَنابيبٍ وغير ذُبابِ

until they saw my sword and spear amid the throats,

with neither shaft-sections nor points showing.

وما حيلتِي أن كنتُ في سرّ أُسرَتي

ولم يشركوا في صفوتي ولُبابي

What can I do if I am the choicest of my family,

and they have shared neither my purity nor my essence?

ولم أكُ يوماً قانعاً في فضيلةٍ

بأصلي ولا في مَحتِدٍ بنصابي

I was never content, in any virtue,

with my ancestry, nor, in noble stock, with my pedigree.

وكنتُمْ وهاداً هابطاً ثمّ أنتُمُ

تسامون في العلياء أهلَ روابِ

You were low-lying valleys, yet now you

vie in the heights with those who dwell on hills.

وهيهات أن تستصبحوا في دُجُنَّةٍ

بغير مصابيحٍ وغير شهابِ

Far be it that you should find light in darkness

without lamps or flame.

وَهَل فيكمُ إلّا مَلومٌ مُفَنَّدٌ

ببذلِ أَساةٍ أو بمنع ثوابِ

Is any among you not blameworthy and foolish,

for giving harm or withholding reward?

وَهل درّ يوماً خيرُكمْ وهو نازحٌ

بشيءٍ سوى مسحي له وعِصابي

Has your bounty ever yielded milk, remote as it is,

through anything but my stroking it and binding it?

صحبتُكُمُ جهلاً بكم وملأتُ مِنْ

عهودكمُ وهْيَ الضعاف عِيابي

I kept your company, not knowing you, and filled, with

your pledges—feeble as they were—my bags.

وإنْ فُتّكُمْ فضلاً فكم فات قبلكمْ

سَبوقٌ على بُعد المدى لكوابِ

If I outstripped you in merit, how often before you

has a swift racer left faltering steeds behind over a long course!