16
Abu al-ʿAtāhiyah praised al-Mahdī, the caliphs who followed him, and the viziers; and how truthful are his lines:
(1) Youth, leisure, and abundant wealth—
they ruin a man, and what a ruin!
(2) Let the food that keeps you alive suffice you;
how plentiful is the food of one who must die.
(3) These are decrees already fixed—so blame me or excuse me;
if I have erred, destiny has not.
He also said:
(4) A fair woman needs no jewelry when she appears,
for her Creator has adorned her with beauty.
She rose and strolled—would that God had made me
the very dust her two feet trod upon.
And he said:
(5) People remain in their heedlessness
while the millstone of death is grinding on.
(1) See his Diwan, p. 448; al-Aghani, vol. 4, p. 19.
(2) His Diwan, p. 446; al-Aghani, vol. 4, p. 36.
(3) His Diwan, p. 449; al-Aghani, vol. 4, p. 36.
(4) These two verses do not appear in the printed Diwan edited by Dr. Shukri Faisal.
(5) Al-Aghani, vol. 4, pp. 52 and 98; Tarikh Baghdad, vol. 6, p. 252.
مَدَحَ أَبُو العَتَاهِيَةِ المَهْدِيَّ، وَالخُلَفَاءَ بَعْدَهُ، وَالوُزَرَاءَ، وَمَا أَصْدَقَ قَوْلَهُ:
إِنَّ الشَّبَابَ وَالفَرَاغَ وَالجِدَه ... مَفْسَدَةٌ لِلْمَرْءِ أَيُّ مَفْسَدَه (١)
حَسْبُكَ مِمَّا تَبْتَغِيهِ القُوْتُ ... مَا أَكْثَرَ القُوْتَ لِمَنْ يَمُوْتُ (٢)
هِيَ المَقَادِيرُ فَلُمْنِي أَوْ فَذَرْ ... إِنْ كُنْتُ أَخْطَأْتُ فَمَا أَخْطَا القَدَرْ (٣)
وَهُوَ القَائِلُ:
حَسْنَاءُ لاَ تَبْتَغِي حَلْياً إِذَا بَرَزَتْ ... لأَنَّ خَالِقَهَا بِالحُسْنِ حَلاَّهَا
قَامَتْ تَمَشَّى، فَلَيْتَ اللهُ صَيَّرنِي ... ذَاكَ التُّرَابَ الَّذِي مَسَّتْهُ رِجْلاَهَا (٤)
وَقَالَ:
النَّاسُ فِي غَفَلاَتِهِم ... وَرَحَى المَنِيَّةِ تَطْحَنُ (٥)
(١) انظر " ديوانه " ص ٤٤٨، و" الاغاني " ٤ / ١٩.
(٢) " ديوانه " ص ٤٤٦، و" الاغاني " ٤ / ٣٦.
(٣) " ديوانه " ص ٤٤٩، و" الاغاني " ٤ / ٣٦.
(٤) لم يرد هذان البيتان في " ديوانه " المطبوع بتحقيق الدكتور شكري فيصل.
(٥) " الاغاني " ٤ / ٥٢ و٩٨، و" تاريخ بغداد " ٦ / ٢٥٢.