قف بالديار المقفرات — Sharif Al Murtaza

قِف بِالدّيار المقفراتِ

لَعِبتْ بها أيدي الشّتاتِ

Stop at the desolate dwellings,

where the hands of dispersal have played.

فَكأنهنّ هَشائِمٌ

بمرور هُوجِ العاصفاتِ

So they seem like shattered brushwood

as fierce storm winds sweep past.

فَإِذا سألتَ فليس تس

ألُ غيرَ صُمٍّ صامتاتِ

So when you ask, you question

none but deaf and silent ruins.

خُرْسٍ يُخَلْن من السّكو

تِ بِهنّ هام المصغياتِ

Mute, their silence makes them seem

like the heads of listening women.

عُجْ بِالمَطايا الناحلا

تِ على الرّسومِ الماحلاتِ

Turn aside with your lean riding camels

toward the parched traces,

الدّارساتِ الفانيا

ت شبيهةً بالباقياتِ

the worn-away, vanishing remnants,

resembling those that still endure.

وَاِسأَل عنِ القَتلى الأُلى

طُرِحوا على شطِّ الفراتِ

And ask about the slain, those

cast upon the bank of the Euphrates.

شُعْثٌ لهمْ جُمَمٌ عصي

نَ على أكفّ الماشطاتِ

Disheveled, with locks that have defied

the hands of women who comb hair.

وعهودُهنَّ بعيدةٌ

بدهانِ أيدٍ داهناتِ

And long ago was their last acquaintance

with oil from hands that anoint.

نَسجَ الزّمانُ بهمْ سرا

بيلاً بحوك الرّامساتِ

Time wove garments about them

with the weaving of burying winds.

تُطوى وتُحمى عنهُمُ

محواً بهطلِ المُعْصراتِ

Folded away and withheld from them,

erased by the rain clouds' downpour.

فهُمُ لأيدٍ كاسيا

تٍ تارةً أو مُعْرَياتِ

So they are left to hands that clothe

at one time, or strip them bare.

ولهمْ أكفٌّ ناضرا

تٌ بين صُمٍّ يابساتِ

Their hands are fresh and radiant

among hard, dry stones;

ما كنّ إلّا بِالعَطا

يا والمنايا جارياتِ

they flowed with nothing but gifts

and death.

كمْ ثَمَّ من مُهَجٍ سَقي

نَ الحتفَ للقومِ السَّراةِ

How many souls there were made to drink

death—the souls of noble men!

وَمُثقّفٍ مثلِ القنا

ةِ أتى المنيّةَ بالقناةِ

And many a well-honed man, like a spear,

met his death by a spear.

أو مُرهَفٍ ساقت إلي

هِ ردىً شفارُ المُرهَفاتِ

Or a keen-edged man to whom

the edges of keen swords brought death.

كَرِهوا الفرارَ وَهُم على

أقتادِ نُجْبٍ ناجياتِ

They loathed flight, though mounted

on the saddles of swift, noble camels,

يَطْوينَ طيَّ الأتْحَمِي

يِ لهنَّ أجوازَ الفلاتِ

that fold, like Atḥamī cloth,

the desert's expanses before them.

وَتَيقَّنوا أَنّ الحَيا

ةَ مع المذلّةِ كالمماتِ

And they knew for certain that life

with humiliation is like death.

وَرَزيّةٍ للدّين لي

ستْ كالرّزايا الماضِياتِ

And what a calamity for the faith,

unlike the calamities of the past!

تركتْ لنا منها الشَّوى

ومَضتْ بما تحت الشَّواةِ

It left us only the outer parts,

and carried off what lay beneath the scalp.

يا آل أحمدَ والذّي

نَ غداً بحُبِّهُمُ نجاتي

O family of Ahmad, and those

through love of whom lies my salvation tomorrow!

وَمَنيّتِي في نَصرِهمْ

أشهى إليَّ من الحياةِ

And my death in their defense

is sweeter to me than life.

حَتّى مَتى أَنتم عَلى

صَهَواتِ حُدْبٍ شامصاتِ

How long will you remain upon

the backs of hump-backed, unruly mounts,

وَحقوقُكمْ دون البري

يَةِ في أكفٍّ عاصياتِ

while your rights, unlike other people's,

lie in rebellious hands?

وسروبُكمْ مذعورةٌ

وأديمُكُمْ للفارياتِ

Your flocks are terror-stricken,

and your skin is prey to those who rend it.

ووليّكمْ يُضحِي ويُم

سِي في أمورٍ مُعضلاتِ

Your loyal follower spends his mornings

and evenings in intractable troubles.

يُلْوى وَقَد خبط الظّلا

مَ على اللّيالي المُقمراتِ

He is thwarted, groping through darkness

even on moonlit nights.

فَإِذا اِشتَكى فَإِلى قلو

بٍ لاهياتٍ ساهياتِ

When he complains, it is to hearts

distracted and heedless,

وإلى عَصائب سارِيا

تٍ في الدّآدِي عاشياتِ

and to bands traveling by night,

dim-sighted through moonless nights.

غرثانَ إلّا مِن جوىً

عُريانَ إلّا مِن أذاةِ

Famished, save for burning grief,

naked, save for injury.

وَإِذا اِستمدَّ فَمِن أَكُف

فٍ بِالعَطايا باخِلاتِ

And when he seeks aid, it is from hands

miserly with gifts.

وَإِذا اِستَعان على خُطو

بٍ أو كروبٍ كارثاتِ

And when he seeks help against hardships

or crushing afflictions,

فَبِكلِّ مَغلولِ اليدي

نِ هناكَ مفلولِ الشَّباةِ

it is from each man with fettered hands,

his point blunted there.

قل للأُلى حادوا وقد

ضلَّوا الطّريقَ عن الهُداةِ

Say to those who turned aside and

lost the path, away from the guides,

وسَرَوْا على شُعَبِ الرّكا

ئبِ في الفلاةِ بلا حُداةِ

and traveled by night on camel saddle-forks

through the desert without camel-drivers:

نامتْ عيونُكُمُ ول

كِنْ عن عيونٍ ساهراتِ

Your eyes slept, but

other eyes remained awake.

وظننتُمُ طولَ المدى

يمحو القلوب من التِراتِ

And you thought the length of time

would wipe blood-feuds from hearts.

هيهاتَ إنّ الضِّغنَ تو

قِدُهُ اللّيالي بالغَداةِ

Far from it! Rancor is set aflame

by the nights when morning comes.

لا تَأمَنوا غضّ النّوا

ظِرِ مِن قلوبٍ مُرصِداتِ

Do not trust the downcast gaze

of hearts that lie in wait.

إِنّ السّيوفَ المُعْرَيا

تِ من السّيوف المُغمَداتِ

Indeed, unsheathed swords arise

from sheathed swords;

والمثقِلاتِ المُعْييا

تِ من الأمور الهيّناتِ

and burdensome, exhausting troubles

arise from easy matters;

والمُصميات من المقا

تِلِ هنّ نفسُ المخطئاتِ

and death-dealing strokes among the blows

are the very ones that missed.

وكأنّني بالكُمْتِ تَرْدِي

في البسيطةِ بالكُماةِ

And I seem to see bay horses galloping

over the broad earth, bearing armored warriors,

وبكلّ مِقدامٍ على ال

أهوالِ مرهوبِ الشَذاةِ

and every warrior bold against

terrors, dreaded for his sting,

قَرِمٍ فلا شِبَعٌ له

إلّا بِأَرواحِ العُداةِ

ravenous, with no satiety

except in the souls of his foes.

وكأنّهُ متنمّراً

صَقْرٌ تشرّف من عَلاةِ

As though, in his leopard-like fierceness,

he were a falcon peering down from a high rock.

وَالرّمحُ يَفتق كلَّ نج

لاءٍ كأردانِ الفتاةِ

And the spear tears open each gaping wound,

like a maiden's sleeves,

تهمِي نجيعاً كاللُّغا

مِ على شدوقِ اليَعْملاتِ

streaming fresh blood like foam

on the mouths of hardy she-camels.

تُؤْسى ولكنْ كَلْمُها

أبداً يبرِّح بالأُساةِ

It is tended, but its wound

forever torments the healers,

حَتّى يَعود الحقُّ يَقْ

ظاناً لنا بعد السِّناتِ

until justice returns wide awake

to us, after its drowsiness.

وَلَكمْ أَتى مِن فُرجَةٍ

قد كان يُحسب غير آتِ

And how often has relief come

that was thought never to arrive!

يا صاحِبي في يومِ عا

شوراءَ والحَدِبِ المواتي

O my companion on the day of

Ashura, my caring, obliging friend,

لا تَسقنِي باللَّه في

هِ سوى دموعِ الباكياتِ

by God, give me nothing to drink on

that day but the tears of weeping women.

ما ذاكَ يَوماً صيّباً

فَاِسمَحْ لنا بالصيّباتِ

That was no day of rainfall,

so grant us pouring showers.

وَإِذا ثَكِلْتَ فلا تزرْ

إِلّا دِيار الثّاكلاتِ

And if you are bereaved, visit

only the homes of bereaved women.

وَتَنحَّ في يَومِ المصي

بةِ عن قلوبٍ سالياتِ

And on the day of calamity, turn away

from hearts no longer grieving.

وَمَتى سَمِعتَ فَمِنْ عَوي

لٍ للنّساءِ المُعْولاتِ

And whenever you listen, let it be to wailing

from women crying out in grief.

وَتَداوَ مِن حزنٍ بِقل

بِكَ بالمراثِي المحزناتِ

And treat the sorrow in your heart

with elegies that stir sorrow.

لا عُطّلتْ تلك الحفا

ئرُ من سلامٍ أو صلاةِ

May those graves never be left

without greeting or prayer.

وسُقين من وكْفِ التحي

يَةِ عَن وكيفِ السّارياتِ

And may they drink the shower of greetings,

in place of the drizzle of night-traveling clouds.

ونُفِحْنَ من عَبَقِ الجنا

نِ أريجهُ بالذّاكياتِ

And may they be perfumed with the scent of Paradise,

its fragrance borne on sweet-scented breezes.

فَلَقد طَوَين شموسَنا

وبُدورَنا في المشكلاتِ

For they have enfolded our suns

and our full moons in times of trouble.