تلك الديار برامتين همود — Sharif Al Murtaza

تِلكَ الدّيارُ برامَتين همودُ

دَرَسَتْ ولم تدْرسُ لهنّ عُهودُ

Those dwellings at Ramatayn are lifeless.

They have faded, but the memories of them have not faded.

حَيثُ اِلتَوى ذاكَ اللّوى ثمَّ اِستَوى

وَاِلتفَّ مِن شَملِ الأراكِ بَدِيدُ

Where that sand-ridge curved, then ran straight,

and the scattered arak trees drew together.

أَوَ ما رأيتَ وُقوفَنا بمُحَجَّرٍ

والدّمعُ مِنْ جَفْنِي عليه يجودُ

Did you not see us standing at Muhajjar,

while tears from my eyelid poured upon it?

مُترنّحينَ منَ الغرامِ كأنّنا

قُضُبٌ تميلُ مع الصِّبا وتميدُ

Swaying with passionate love, as though we were

boughs bending and swaying with the east wind.

والرّكبُ إمّا سادِرٌ مُتَهالكٌ

أو راكبٌ ثَبجَ السُّلوِّ جَليدُ

The riders were either heedless and undone,

or steadfast, riding the crest of forgetfulness.

وعلى أهاضيب المُشقَّرِ غادةٌ

للرّيمِ منها طَرفُهُ والجيدُ

And on the hills of al-Mushaqqar stood a graceful maiden,

from whom the gazelle takes its gaze and neck.

صَدّتْ ولم تُرِدِ الصُّدودَ وربّما

جاء العناءُ ولم يُرِدْه مريدُ

She turned away without intending to shun me; sometimes

suffering comes though no one wishes it.

ولقد طَرقتَ وما طَرقتَ صبابةً

عيني ونحن إلى الرّحالِ هُجودُ

You visited by night—not out of longing did you visit—

my eyes, while we slept beside the saddles.

في ظلِّ خوصٍ كالقسيِّ طلائحٍ

أخَذَتْ عَوارِيَهُنَّ منها البيدُ

In the shade of sunken-eyed she-camels, weary and bow-bent,

the deserts had taken from them what they had borrowed.

أَنّى اِهتَديتَ وَكيفَ زُرتَ وَبَينَنا

دون الزّيارةِ مُرْبخٌ وزَرودُ

How did you find the way, and how did you visit, when between us,

barring the visit, lie Murbikh and Zarud,

ومفاوزٌ مِنْ دونهنّ مفاوزٌ

وتهائِمٌ مِنْ فوقهنّ نُجودُ

and wastelands, with more wastelands on this side of them,

and lowlands, with highlands rising above them?

وغرائرٍ أنكرنَ شيبَ ذوائبي

والبيضُ مِنَّي عندهنّ السُّودُ

And many guileless maidens disdained my graying locks,

and the white hairs on me were black in their eyes.

أنكرنَ داءً ليس فيه حيلةٌ

وَذَممْنَ مفْضىً ليس عنه مَحيدُ

They rejected an ailment for which there is no remedy,

and censured an end from which there is no escape.

يُهْوى الشّبابُ وَإِنْ تَقادم عهدُه

ويُمَلُّ هذا الشّيبُ وهو جديدُ

Youth is loved, even when its days are long past,

yet this gray hair is found tiresome, though it is new.

لا تَبْعُدَنْ عهدَ الشَّبابِ ومِنْ جوىً

أَدعو لَهُ بِالقربِ وَهوَ بعيدُ

May you not grow distant, O time of youth! In heartache

I pray for its nearness, though it is far away.

أَيّامَ أُرمَى بِاللّحاظِ وأرتمِي

وأصادُ في شَرَكِ الهوى وأصيدُ

Those days when glances struck me, and I shot back,

and I was caught in love's snare, and caught others.

قد قلتُ للرّكب السِّراعِ يحثُّهمْ

مترنِّمٌ بحُدائه غِرَّيدُ

I said to the swift riders, urged onward

by a melodious singer chanting his camel-song,

في سَبْسَبٍ خافي المعالمِ والصُّوى

فكأنّما موجودُهُ مفقودُ

in a level waste whose landmarks and cairns were hidden,

so that what was there seemed absent:

مَنْ مبلغٌ فخرَ الملوكِ رسالةً

أَعيَتْ عليَّ يقولُها المجهودُ

Who will convey to Fakhr al-Muluk a message

that has taxed my strength, uttered by one worn out?

أتَرى ليالِيَّ اللواتي طِبنَ لي

في ظلّكَ الوافي عليَّ تعودُ

Do you think the nights that were sweet to me,

beneath your ample shelter, will return to me?

وَمَتى أَزور ربيعَ أرضِك زَوْرَةً

وعليَّ من نَسْجِ الرّبيعِ بُرودُ

And when shall I visit the springtime of your land,

clad in robes woven by spring?

وأنا الّذي من بعد نَأْيِكَ نازحٌ

عن كلِّ ما فيه الهوى مطرودُ

I am the one who, since your departure, is far removed,

banished from everything in which delight is found.

أُضحِي أَرى ما غيرُهُ عندي الرِّضا

وأُريدُ كُرهاً ما سواه أُريدُ

I spend my days beholding what is not to my liking,

and unwillingly seek what is contrary to my desire.

للَّهِ حِلْمُك والرِّواقُ يُرى بهِ

للسائلين من الوفود وفودُ

How wondrous your forbearance, and the portico where one sees

delegation after delegation of petitioners!

والقول يُرزَقُهُ الشّجاعُ ويمتري

منه ويُحرَمُ نُطقَه الرِّعديدُ

And speech is granted to the brave, who draws benefit

from it, while the trembling coward is denied its utterance,

في مَوقفٍ ينتاب تامورَ الفتى

للرّعبِ إقرارٌ بهِ وجُحودُ

in a station where the young man's heart is visited

by acknowledgment of terror and denial of it.

وعلى الأسرّةِ من ضيائك بارقٌ

أو كوكبٌ جَهَر النّجومَ فَريدُ

And upon the couches is a flash of your radiance,

or a peerless star that outshines the stars.

وكأنَّ وجهَك قُدَّ من شَمسِ الضُّحى

أم مِنْ سَنا قمر الدّجى مقدودُ

And your face seems cut from the forenoon sun,

or hewn from the glow of the moon in darkness.

لاذوا بمن ثَمَرُ المروءَة يانعٌ

منه وأُمُّ المَكْرُماتِ وَلودُ

They sought refuge with one whose fruit of nobility is ripe,

and in whom the mother of noble deeds is prolific,

والمنهلُ العِدُّ النميرُ وحيثما

يُدنى المَذود ويُمنحُ المحدودُ

and who is the unfailing, sweet watering place, where

the outcast is brought near and the deprived is given gifts.

يا فخرَ مُلكِ بني بويه ومَنْ له

ظِلٌّ على هذا الورى مَمْدودُ

O pride of the realm of the sons of Buwayh, whose

shade stretches over all these people,

وَالمُعتلي قِمم العَلاء بهمّةٍ

قامَتْ وهمّاتُ الرّجالِ قُعودُ

you who climb the peaks of eminence with an ambition

that stands while the ambitions of men sit,

وَالمُنشئ الغُرِّ الغرائبِ في النّدى

حتّى تُعلّم منه كيف الجودُ

and create dazzling wonders of generosity,

until one learns from him what generosity is.

هيَ دولةٌ مازلتَ تَرْأبُ شعبَها

وتذُبُّ عنها كالئاً وتذودُ

It is a state whose rifts you have never ceased to mend,

shielding it, watchful, and defending it.

تُنمى إِذا اِنتَسَبتْ إِليك وما لها

إِلّاكَ آباءٌ لها وجُدودُ

When it names its lineage, it is traced to you; it has

no fathers or grandfathers other than you.

وَرَدَدْتها بالأَمسِ ثلَّةَ قَفْرةٍ

شَطَّتْ فأحْرزَها علينا السّيدُ

You brought it back yesterday, a flock from the wilderness;

it had strayed far, and the wolf had seized it to our loss.

أَوْقَدتها بعدَ الخبوِّ فما لها

أَبَدَ الزّمانِ تطامنٌ وخمودُ

You rekindled it after its fading; never shall it

dwindle or go out, for all time.

مَنْ ذا الّذي يَرنو إِلَيها طالباً

ولها ببابك عُدّةٌ وعديدُ

Who is there to gaze at it covetously,

when at your gate it has arms and hosts?

لَولا دِفاعُك ما اِستَقَرّ بمَفْرَقي

ذاك المتوَّجِ تاجُهُ المعقودُ

Without your defense, there would not rest upon the head

of that crowned man his firmly fastened crown;

ولَزال هذا الملكُ بعد مماتِهِ

وَلمالَ عنهُ دعِامُه المعمودُ

and this sovereignty would have vanished after its death,

and its firmly planted pillar would have fallen away.

كَم ذا صَليتَ وِقايةً لِنَعيمِهِ

يَوماً يَذوبُ بحَرِّهِ الجلمودُ

How often, protecting its comfort, have you endured

a day whose heat melts solid rock,

في ظهرِ مُستَلبِ الفُتورِ كأنّه

هَيْقٌ بأجواز الفلاةِ شَرُودُ

on the back of a tireless steed, as though it were

a skittish male ostrich in the heart of the wasteland?

وكأنّه ينسابُ في خَلَلِ القنا

يومَ الكريهةِ أرْقمٌ مَزؤودُ

And it was as though, gliding between the spears,

on the day of battle, it were a startled speckled serpent,

في غِلمةٍ سلكوا طريقَك في الوغى

والبيضُ منهمْ رُكّعٌ وسجودُ

among young men who followed your path in battle,

their bright swords bowing and prostrating,

مُتَسرّعينَ إِلى القِراعِ كأنّهمْ

وعليهمُ زُبَرُ الحديد حَديدُ

rushing toward the clash as though they,

with iron plates upon them, were themselves iron.

يُرْدُون مَنْ شاؤوا بِغَيرِ منيّةٍ

فَهُمُ وَإِنْ غَلَبوا الأسودَ أُسودُ

They fell whomever they wish without a decree of death;

they are lions, even when they overcome lions.

لا يَأخُذونَ المالَ إِلّا بِالقَنا

تَحمرّ مِنه ترائبٌ ووريدُ

They take wealth only with spears,

which redden chests and jugular veins,

أَو مِنْ ظُبا لم تَعْرَ يومَ كريهةٍ

إِلّا وَهاماتُ الكُماةِ غُمودُ

or by sword-edges never bared on a day of battle

unless warriors' heads become their sheaths.

لا تَحقرنَّ منَ العدوِّ صغيرةً

وَاِرْدُد مكيدَةَ مَنْ تراه يكيدُ

Never belittle even a small thing from an enemy,

and repel the plot of anyone you see plotting.

وَإِذا اِسْتَرَبْتَ بِمنْ خَبَرْتَ فلا تَنَمْ

فَالدّاءُ يُعدِي والقليلُ يزيدُ

When you suspect someone you have tested, do not sleep:

for illness is contagious, and what is little grows.

إِنَّ الحَسودَ هوَ العدوُّ وإنّما

سَتَروا قَبائِحَهُ فَقيل حسودُ

The envious man is the enemy; it is only that

they hid his vices, and so he was called 'envious.'

وَالضِّغنُ تَطْمُرُهُ الأناةُ فتعترِي

حِزَقاً إليه ضغائنٌ وحقودُ

Forbearance buries rancor, and then there swarm

toward it bands of resentments and hatreds.

وَالعودُ إِنْ طَرَحَ التقادُم قادحاً

فيهِ وَلم تدلكه ظلَّ العودُ

And wood, if age has lodged a wood-borer

within it, remains wood while you leave it unrubbed.

لَولا الصّلاحُ بِأنْ يُعاقَبَ مجرمٌ

ما كان وَعدٌ مُطمِعٌ وَوَعيدُ

Were it not for the good in punishing an offender,

there would be neither a hope-giving promise nor a threat.

ضَمِنَتْ لك الأقدارُ كلّ محبّةٍ

وَأحَلَّكَ الرّحمَن حيثُ تريدُ

May fate guarantee you all that you love,

and may the Merciful place you where you wish.

وَنَعِمْتَ بِالنّيروزِ نعمةَ ناشدٍ

أضحى وَحشوُ يمينِهِ المنشودُ

May you rejoice in Nowruz with the joy of a seeker

who finds his right hand filled with what he sought.

وَعَرَتْكَ فيه جلالةٌ وإدالةٌ

وأتَتْكَ منه مَيامنٌ وسُعودُ

May majesty and ascendancy come upon you during it,

and may blessings and good fortune come to you from it,

حَتّى يَقولَ المستزيدُ لكَ العُلا

ما فَوقَ هَذا في العَلاءِ مَزيدُ

until one who seeks greater eminence for you says,

'Beyond this there is no greater eminence.'