Siyar Aʿlām al-Nubalāʾ - Shams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi - (19/287)

Siyar Aʿlām al-NubalāʾShams al‑Din al‑Dhahabi

and the riders pressed on while the darkness lay motionless,
as though they were but secrets lodged in the heart of night.
They hurried on, the long necks bending
toward the place where, for the sleepers, pillows are their saddle-packs. (1)

Another of his poems:
My era turned against me, unaware
that I am held in honor and the events of time are trifling.
All night it showed me the full extent of its assault,
while I spent the night showing it what patience means. (2)

And another:
We halted at Nuʿmān of the arak trees, where the dew
fell till our cloaks were soaked.
I passed the night wrestling with yearning while the caravan slept,
worn down by the night march and the empty wastes.
I remember a maiden; when distance calls me to her,
my flowing tears answer her love.
She has a dwelling among the camps in that ravine;
though the eye may deny it, the heart still knows. (3)

Muḥammad ibn Ṭāhir the ḥāfiẓ said: Abū al-Muẓaffar al-Abīwardī recited to us from his own verse:
O you who would compete with me yet can never match my stride—
how could you attain the majesty of my station?
Spare yourself; easier than what you seek
would be stripping a qatad thorn or mounting a star.
Glory itself knows which of us has the nobler sire—(4)
ask it and you will learn(5) whose lineage is truly mine.

(1) These verses are not recorded in his collected Diwan. (2) Main sources: Diwan, 2/55; Yaqut, Mu jam al-udaba, 17/246; Ibn Khallikan, Wafayat al-a yan, 4/446; al-Safadi, al-Wafi bi-l-wafayat, 2/92; Ibn al-Adim, Uyun al-tawarikh, 13/146/1; Sibt Ibn al-Jawzi, Mirat al-zaman, 8/49; Ibn al-Jawzi, al-Muntazam, 9/177; Ibn Taghri, al-Nujum al-zahira, 5/207; al-Subki, Tabaqat, 6/83; Ibn Kathir, al-Bidaya wa-l-nihaya, 12/176. (3) Wafayat al-a yan, 4/447, and Uyun al-tawarikh, 13/146/2. The piece belongs to his so-called Najdiyyat and is likewise missing from the Diwan. (4) The manuscript reads khayran, which is erroneous; the correct wording is established from the Diwan and the Tabaqat. (5) The manuscript has “ya lam”; the reading adopted here follows the Diwan and the Tabaqat.

وَالرَّكْبُ يَسرُوْنَ وَالظَّلْمَاء رَاكِدَةٌ ... كَأَنَّهُم فِي ضَمِيْرِ اللَّيْلِ أَسرَارُ فَأَسرَعُوا وَطُلا الأَعْنَاقِ مَائِلَةٌ ... حَيْثُ الوَسَائِدُ لِلنُّوَّامِ أَكْوَارُ (١) وَلَهُ: تَنَكَّرَ لِي دَهْرِي وَلَمْ يَدْرِ أَنَّنِي ... أَعِزُّ وَأَحْدَاثُ الزَّمَانِ تَهُونُ فَبَاتَ يُرِينِي الخَطْبَ كَيْفَ اعتِدَاؤُهُ ... وَبِتُّ أُرِيهِ الصَّبْرَ كَيْفَ يَكُوْنُ (٢) وَلَهُ: نَزَلْنَا بِنُعْمَانِ الأَرَاكِ وَلِلنَّدَى ... سَقِيْطٌ بِهِ ابْتَلَتْ عَلَيْنَا المَطَارِفُ فَبِتُّ أُعَانِي الوَجْدَ وَالرَّكْبُ نُوَّمٌ ... وَقَدْ أَخَذَتْ مِنَّا السُّرَى وَالتَّنَائِفُ وَأَذْكُرُ خُوْداً إِنْ دَعَانِي عَلَى النَّوَى ... هَوَاهَا أَجَابَتْهُ الدُّمُوعُ الذَّوَارِفُ لَهَا فِي مَغَانِي ذَلِكَ الشِّعْبِ مَنْزِلٌ ... لَئِنْ أَنْكَرَتْهُ العَيْنُ فَالقَلْبُ عَارِفُ (٣) قَالَ مُحَمَّدُ بنُ طَاهِرٍ الحَافِظُ: أَنشدنَا أَبُو المُظَفَّرِ الأَبِيوَرْدِي لنَفسِهِ: يَا مَنْ يُسَاجِلُنِي وَلَيْسَ بِمُدْرِكٍ ... شَأوِي وَأَيْنَ لَهُ جَلاَلَةُ مَنْصِبِي لاَ تَتْعَبَنَّ فَدُوْنَ مَا حَاوَلْتَه ... خَرْطُ القَتَادَةِ وَامْتِطَاءُ الكَوْكَبِ وَالمَجْدُ يَعْلَمُ أَيُّنَا خَيْرٌ (٤) أَباً ... فَاسْأَلْهُ تَعْلَمْ (٥) أَيُّ ذِي حَسَبٍ أَبِي

(١) لم ترد الابيات في ديوانه. (٢) ديوانه: ٢ / ٥٥، ومعجم الأدباء: ١٧ / ٢٤٦، ووفيات الأعيان: ٤ / ٤٤٦، والوافي بالوفيات: ٢ / ٩٢، وعيون التواريخ: ١٣ / ١٤٦ / ١، ومرآة الزمان: ٨ / ٤٩، والمنتظم: ٩ / ١٧٧، والنجوم الزاهرة: ٥ / ٢٠٧، وطبقات السبكي: ٦ / ٨٣، والبداية والنهاية: ١٢ / ١٧٦. (٣) وفيات الأعيان: ٤ / ٤٤٧، وعيون التواريخ: ١٣ / ١٤٦ / ٢، وهي من نجدياته، ولم ترد في الديوان. (٤) في الأصل خيرا وهو خطأ، والتصويب من الديوان، والطبقات. (٥) في الأصل " يعلم " والمثبت من الديوان والطبقات.