عرج على الدارسة القفر — Sharif Al Murtaza

عرّجْ على الدّارسة القَفْرِ

ومُرْ دموعَ العين أن تجري

Turn aside at the effaced, desolate dwelling,

and bid the eye's tears flow.

فلو نهيتُ الدّمعَ عن سَحِّهِ

والدّار وحشٌ لم تُطِعْ أمري

For if I forbade the tears to pour,

while the dwelling lies desolate, they would not obey my command.

منزلةٌ أسلمها للبِلى

عَبْرُ هبوبِ الرّيح والقَطْرِ

A dwelling surrendered to decay

by the passage of gusting wind and rain.

فُجِعْتُ في ظلمائها عنوةً

بطلعةِ الشّمسِ أو البَدرِ

In its darkness I was forcibly bereft

of the face of the sun or the full moon.

لهفانُ لا من حرّ جمرِ الجَوى

سكرانُ لا من نَشْوَةِ الخَمرِ

Distraught, but not from the heat of longing's embers;

drunk, but not from wine's intoxication.

كأنّنِي في جاحمٍ من شجىً

ومن دموع العين في بحرِ

As though I were in a blaze of sorrow,

and in a sea of the eye's tears.

عُجتُ بها أُنفِقُ في آيِها

ما كان مذخوراً من الصّبرِ

I turned aside there, spending amid its traces

what patience I had stored away,

في فِتْيَةٍ طارتْ بأوطارهمْ

في ذيلهمْ أجنحةُ الدَّهرِ

for young men whose hopes were carried away

by time's wings in their wake.

ضِيموا وسُقّوا في عِراص الأذى

ما شاءت الأعداء من مُرِّ

They were wronged and made to drink, in suffering's courtyards,

whatever bitterness their enemies wished.

كلِّ خميصِ البطن بادي الطَّوى

ممتلئِ الجلد من الضُّرِّ

Each gaunt of belly, his hunger showing,

his skin laden with suffering;

يَبْرِي لِحا صَعْدَتِهِ عامداً

بَرْيَ العَصا من كان لا يبري

he deliberately shaves the bark of his spear-shaft,

as one unused to whittling whittles a staff.

كأنّه من طول أحزانِهِ

يُساق من أمنٍ إلى حِذْرِ

As though, from the long duration of his sorrows,

he were driven from safety into fear.

أو مفردٌ أبعده أهلُهُ

عن حَيّهِ من شَفَقِ العُرِّ

Or a solitary man whom his kin have banished

from his clan for fear of scabies.

يا صاحبي في قعر مطويّةٍ

لو كان يرضى لِيَ بالقَعْرِ

O my friend, I am at the bottom of a stone-lined well—

if only it were content to leave me at the bottom!

أما ترانِي بين أيدي العِدا

ملآنَ من غيظٍ ومن وِتْرِ

Do you not see me in the enemies' hands,

filled with rage and unavenged grievance?

تسري إلى جلدِيَ رُقْشٌ لهمْ

والشَّرُّ في ظلمائها يسري

Their mottled serpents creep toward my skin,

and evil creeps through their darkness.

مردّدٌ في كلّ مكروهةٍ

أُنقلُ من نابٍ إلى ظُفرِ

Tossed about through every calamity,

I am passed from fang to claw.

كأنّني نَصْلٌ بلا مِقْبَضٍ

أو طائرٌ ظلّ بلا وَكْرِ

As though I were a blade without a hilt,

or a bird left without a nest.

بالدّار ظلماً غيرُ سكّانها

وقد قرى من لم يكن يَقْرِي

Others than its dwellers are in the house, unjustly,

and one who never hosted has offered hospitality.

والسَّرحُ يرعى في حميم الحِمى

ما شاء من أوراقه الخُضْرِ

And the herd grazes in the heart of the preserve,

on whatever it wishes of its green leaves.

وقد خبا لِي الجمرَ في طيّهِ

لوامعٌ يُنذرنَ بالجَمْرِ

And the embers have died down for me within its folds;

glimmers warn of burning coals.

لا تَبكِ إنْ أنتَ بكيتَ الهدى

إلّا على قاصمةِ الظَّهرِ

Do not weep, if you weep for guidance,

except over the back-breaking calamity.

وَاِبكِ حُسَيناً والأُلى صُرِّعوا

أمامَه سطراً إلى سطرِ

And mourn Husayn and those who were struck down

before him, rank beside rank.

ذاقوا الرّدى مِن بعد ما ذوّقوا

أمثالَهُ بالبيضِ والسُّمْرِ

They tasted death after making others taste

its like with gleaming swords and dark spears.

قتلٌ وأسْرٌ بأبي منكُمُ

من نيل بالقتل وبالأسرِ

Killing and captivity! My father be ransom for those of you

who suffered killing and captivity.

فقلْ لقومٍ جئتَهم دارَهمْ

على مواعيدٍ من النَّصرِ

So say to a people whose dwelling you entered,

on promises of support:

قَرَوْكُمُ لمّا حللتُمْ بها

ولا قِرى أوعيةَ الغَدْرِ

They served you, when you alighted there,

vessels of treachery—no hospitality at all.

وَاِطّرحوا النَّهْجَ ولم يَحفِلوا

بما لكمْ في محكم الذّكرِ

And they cast aside the path and paid no heed

to your due in the Revelation's unambiguous text.

وَاِستَلبوا إِرْثَكُمْ منكُمُ

من غير حقٍّ بيدِ القَسْرِ

And they wrested your inheritance from you,

without right, by the hand of force.

كسرتُمُ الدّين ولم تعلموا

وكسرةُ الدّين بلا جَبْرِ

You shattered the faith, without knowing,

and the faith's fracture is beyond repair.

فيا لها مَظْلَمَةً أُولِجَتْ

عَلى رَسولِ اللَّه في القبرِ

Ah, what an injustice has been thrust

upon God's Messenger in the grave!

كَأنّهُ ما فكّ أعناقكمْ

بكفّهِ من رِبَقِ الكُفرِ

As though he had not freed your necks

with his hand from the halters of unbelief,

وَلا كَساكمْ بَعد أَن كنتُمُ

بلا رِياشٍ حِبَرَ الفَخرِ

nor clothed you, after you had been

without finery, in the ornate robes of glory.

فَهو الّذي شادَ بِأَركانِكمْ

من بعد أن كنتم بلا ذِكْرِ

For he is the one who raised your pillars,

after you had been without renown.

وَهوَ الّذي أَطلَعَ في لَيلكمْ

من بعد يَأْسٍ غُرّةَ الفجرِ

And he is the one who brought forth in your night,

after despair, the bright brow of dawn.

يا عُصُبَ اللَّه وَمَن حبُّهمْ

مخيّمٌ ما عشتُ في صدرِي

O bands of God, and you whose love

is encamped in my breast for as long as I live,

وَمَن أَرى وُدَّهُمُ وحدَهُ

زادي إذا وُسّدتُ في قبري

and you whose love alone I deem

my provision when I am laid to rest in my grave—

وَهوَ الّذي أعددتُهُ جُنَّتِي

وعصمتي في ساعةِ الحَشرِ

and it is what I have prepared as my shield

and my safeguard at the hour of the Gathering,

حَتّى إذا لم أكُ في نصرَةٍ

من أحدٍ كان بكمْ نصري

so that, when I have no support

from anyone, my support will come through you,

بموقفٍ ليس به سلعةٌ

لتاجرٍ أنفقُ من بِرِّ

at a station where no merchandise

is more marketable to a merchant than righteousness.

في كلّ يومٍ لكُمُ سيّدٌ

يُهدى مع النِّيبِ إلى النَّحْرِ

Every day, a leader of yours

is led with aged she-camels to slaughter.

كم لكُمُ من بعد شِمْرٍ مرى

دماءَكمْ في التربِ من شِمْرِ

How many have you had, after Shimr, who milked

your blood into the dust—each a Shimr!

وَيْحَ ابنِ سَعْدٍ عُمَرٍ إِنَّهُ

باع رسولَ اللّهِ بالنَّزْرِ

Woe to Umar ibn Sa'd! He indeed

sold God's Messenger for a pittance.

بَغى عليهِ في بنِي بنتِهِ

وَاِستلّ فيهم أنصُلَ المَكْرِ

He transgressed against him through his daughter's sons,

and drew against them the blades of guile.

فهْوَ وإنْ فازَ بِها عاجلاً

مِن حَطَبِ النّار ولا يدري

So he, though he gained it for now,

is fuel for the Fire, and does not know.

متى أرى حقَّكُمُ عائداً

إليكُمُ في السّرِّ والجَهْرِ

When shall I see your right returning

to you, in private and in public?

حَتّى مَتى أُلْوى بموعودكمْ

أُمطَلُ من عامٍ إلى شهرِ

How long shall I be put off over what is promised you,

kept waiting from year to month?

لولا هَناتٌ هنّ يلويننِي

لبُحتُ بالمكتومِ من سرّي

Were it not for troubles that hold me back,

I would reveal what is concealed of my secret,

وَلَم أَكُن أَقنع في نَصركمْ

بنَظْمِ أبياتٍ من الشّعرِ

and would not, in supporting you, be content

with composing verses of poetry.

فَإِنْ تَجلَّتْ غُمَمٌ رُكَّدٌ

تَركنني وَعْراً على وَعْرِ

If the motionless clouds of gloom clear,

having left me rugged on rugged ground,

رَأَيتُمونِي وَالقنا شُرَّعٌ

أبذُلُ فيهنَّ لكمْ نَحْرِي

you would see me, with spears leveled,

offering my throat for you among them,

على مَطا طِرْفٍ خفيفِ الشَّوى

كأنّه القِدْحُ من الضُّمْرِ

upon the back of a steed light of limb,

like an arrow-shaft in its leanness.

تَخالُهُ قَد قدَّ مِن صَخرةٍ

أو جِيبَ إذْ جِيبَ من الحَضْرِ

You would think it had been hewn from a rock,

or carved, when carved, from galloping itself.

أعطيكُمُ نفسي ولا أرتضِي

في نصركمْ بالبذل للوفْرِ

I give you my life and am not content,

in supporting you, to give wealth alone.

وَإِنْ يَدُمْ ما نَحنُ في أَسرِهِ

فاللّهُ أَولى فيهِ بِالعذرِ

And if what holds us captive endures,

then God is best placed to excuse us for it.