#al-mutanabbi

Poet: Abul-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi

Era: Abbasid

Poem:

عِشِ ابْقَ اسْمُ سُدْ قُدْ جُدْ مُرِ انْهَ رِفِ اسْرِ نَلْ … غِظِ ارْمِ صِبِ احْمِ اغْزُ اسْبِ رُعْ زَعْ دِلِ اثْنِ نُلْ Live! Stay! Rise! Reign! Lead! Give! Rule! Halt! Soar! Ride! Gain! Wrath! Cast! Strike! Guard! Raid! Chase! Scare! Shake! Spoil! Praise! Grant! وَهٰذَا دُعَاءٌ لَوْ سَكَتُّ كُفِيتَهُ … لِأَنِّي سَأَلْتُ اللهَ فِيكَ وَقَدْ فَعَلْ 'Tis my prayer — if silent, it suffice; For I have verily asked God for thee, and He hath done.

Notes:

This poem is, as are many of al-Mutanabbi's, in praise of Ali ibn Abd-Allah ibn Hamdan al-Taghlibi, better known as Sayf al-Dawla al-Hamadani.

Sayf al-Dawla was a major player for a time in the Arab-Byzantine wars. During his stay in Aleppo, al-Mutanabbi fought alongside Sayf al-Dawla and wrote poetry for the prince.

al-Mutanabbi here is encouraging Sayf al-Dawla to be a ruler that the Byzantines fear, and one that his people love. Unfortunately for both, after the poet left Aleppo, Sayf al-Dawla began losing battles and land, eventually dying of sickness and having lost a large chunk of southern Anatolia to the Byzantines.

The entire first line of the poem is composed of imperatives. One may think that al-Mutanabbi is commanding Sayf al-Dawla, but this is more like a military encouragement of sorts, known in Arabic poetry as ḥamāsah (Ar: حَمَاسَة), a literary genre of Arabic poetry that details military or chivalrous exploits (usually battles and wars).

I attempted a somewhat archaically-styled translation of the poem. Hence, "wrath" was used as a verb, and "suffice" was kept without an s as it otherwise should have as per modern grammar.

“On March 5, 2007, a bomb went off in the centuries old Al Mutanabbi Street book sellers district in Baghdad. The explosion took the lives of thirty people and destroyed a large portion of the neighborhood. Al-Mutanabbi Street is named after the famous classical Arab poet Abu at-Tayyib al-Mutanabbi (915–965 CE), and it has been a thriving center of Baghdad’s bookselling and publishing for many years. 

The book sellers, who survived, rebuilt their stores and are once again in business. They sell works by Sunnis, Shiites, Christians, and Jews, children's books, and progressive publications from around the world. 

A coalition of poets, artists, writers, printers, booksellers, and readers was created within a short time of the bombing; broadsides of their writings and artwork about this tragic event were printed, and recitations were made in many cities.

The 2007 bombing and the destruction of Al-Mutanabbi Street resulted Al-Mutanabbi Street Starts here – book arts and festivals to commemorate the bombing of Baghdad’s historic bookselling street and celebrate freedom of expression.” - Excerpts from Al-Mutanabbi Starts Here website.

وَأسْمَعَتْ كَلِماتـي مَنْ بـهِ صَمَـمُ

الخَيْـلُ وَاللّيْـلُ وَالبَيْـداءُ تَعرِفُنـي

وَالسّيفُ وَالرّمحُ والقرْطاسُ وَالقَلَـمُ

— المتنبي

I am who makes the blind see my literature

And my words hear those who are deaf

The horse and the night and the desert know me

And the sword and the spear and the book and the pencil

إذا رَأيْتَ نُيُوبَ اللّيْثِ بارِزَةً فَلا تَظُنّنّ أنّ اللّيْثَ يَبْتَسِمُ وَمُهْجَةٍ مُهْجَتي من هَمّ صَاحِبها أدرَكْتُهَا بجَوَادٍ ظَهْرُه حَرَمُ رِجلاهُ في الرّكضِ رِجلٌ وَاليدانِ يَدٌ وَفِعْلُهُ مَا تُريدُ الكَفُّ وَالقَدَمُ وَمُرْهَفٍ سرْتُ بينَ الجَحْفَلَينِ بهِ حتى ضرَبْتُ وَمَوْجُ المَوْتِ يَلْتَطِمُ الخَيْلُ وَاللّيْلُ وَالبَيْداءُ تَعرِفُني وَالسّيفُ وَالرّمحُ والقرْطاسُ وَالقَلَمُ

-

When the lion bares his teeth, do not fancy that the lion shows to you a smile. I have slain the man that sought my heart’s blood many a time, Riding a noble mare whose back none else may climb, Whose hind and fore-legs seem in galloping as one, Nor hand nor foot requireth she to urge her on. And O the days when I have swung my fine-edged glaive Amidst a sea of death where wave was dashed on wave! The desert knows me well, the night, the mounted men The battle and the sword, the paper and the pen

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The Lion

Al-Mutanabbi  أبو الطيب أحمد بن الحسين المتنبّي الكندي  c.915–965

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ما كُنتُ أحسبُ قبل دفنك في الثرى

أنّ الكواكِبُ في التُرابِ تَغورُ

المتنبي

And I did not imagine before you were buried in the sand

That the planets upon the earth do roam.

Al-Mutanabbi

Full Poem/القصيدة الكاملة: