حماها بأطراف الرماح حماتها — Mihyar Al Daylami

حماها بأطراف الرماحِ حُماتُها

فلا حَفلُها منَّا ولا خَلواتُها

Her defenders protected her with spearpoints;

neither her gatherings nor her seclusion are ours.

وذبّب عنها من عُقَيلِ بن عامرٍ

أراقمُ لا تَحوي شَباها رُقاتُها

From Uqayl ibn Amir, there warded off intruders

vipers whose sharp fangs no charmers can master.

عشيرةُ مكلوءِ البيوتِ محصَّنٍ

يَعِزُّ بنوها أن ترام بَناتُها

A clan with guarded, fortified homes,

whose sons cannot bear their daughters being sought.

معودة طردَ العيوب غيوبُها

إذا حفِظتْ عوارتِها أسَلاتُها

Its hidden places are accustomed to repelling dishonor,

when its spearpoints guard its vulnerabilities.

وحرمَّم واليها الوُلوعَ بذكرها

وإن عَبت أخرى عليها سِماتُها

Her guardian forbade obsession with mentioning her,

even if you fault another woman for her traits.

فهل مغمَزٌ في جانبٍ من ورائه

سلامةُ يا قلبي وهذي حَصاتُها

Is there a vulnerable flank beyond which

lies safety, my heart, with such discernment as hers?

فكم في بيوت العامريّات من هوىً

يُناط كما نيطت بها خالفاتُها

How much love hangs in the homes of the Amiri women,

attached as their rear tent-poles are attached!

ومثلُكَ أَسرَى لا يُسام فداؤها

هوانا وقتليَ لا تُساق دياتُها

Captives like you have no ransom negotiated,

out of contempt, and their slain receive no blood-money.

بلى لكَ منها في الكرى إنْ وفَى الكرى

وفي الريح حظٌّ إن جرت نفحاتُها

Yet you have a share of her in sleep, if sleep keeps faith,

and in the wind, if her fragrant breaths flow.

وليلٍ بذي ضالٍ قصيرٍ طويلُه

على البُدْن تَطوي دَرجَه ناجياتُها

And a night at Dhu Dal, whose long stretch was short

for stout camels whose swift ones folded up its stages.

ترى العيسُ في أجوازه بقلوبها

إلى قصده ما لا ترى لحظاتُها

In its midst, the pale camels see with their hearts,

toward its destination, what their glances cannot see.

بها من حنينٍ تحته ما بركبها

وإن نطقوا الشكوى وطال صُماتُها

Their longing exceeds the longing of their riders,

though the riders voice complaints and the camels remain silent.

إذا الريح قَرّت فاستهزّت ضلوعَهم

تصلَّوا بما تُذكي لهم زفراتُها

When the wind grows cold and shakes their ribs,

they warm themselves with what the camels' sighs kindle.

سَرتْ بنشاوَى من مُعاقرة السُّرى

وسائدُهم فوق الثرى رُكُبَاتُها

The camels traveled with men drunk on night-travel,

their pillows above the earth being the camels' knees.

نضَوا ما نضَوا من ليلهم ثم هَوَّموا

غِراراً وقد حاط العيونَ سِناتُها

They stripped away what they could of their night, then dozed

briefly, while drowsiness encompassed their eyes,

على ساعةٍ جِنُّ الفلاةِ ووحشُها

تريها الشخوصَ الزُّورَ عنا فلاتُها

at an hour when the wilderness's jinn and beasts

were shown by its wastes shapes turned away from us.

تخطَّت إلينا الغَورَ فالعرضَ فالحمى

وما ذاك مَمشاها ولا خُطُواتُها

She crossed to us al-Ghawr, then al-Ard, then al-Hima,

though that was neither her walking nor her footsteps.

فبتنا لها في نعمةٍ شُكِرتْ لها

وما هي جَدواها ولا أعطِياتُها

Through her we passed the night in bliss credited to her,

though it was neither her bounty nor her gifts.

عواطفُ دُنيَا في الكرى لو أردتُها

على مثلها يقظانَ عَزَّ التفاتُها

The world's kindnesses in sleep—if I sought them

awake, its regard for such things would be hard to win.

فلم أرها وعند قومٍ أداتُها

من العيش إلا وهْيَ عندي أداتُها

I have never seen it, with others holding its resources

for living, but those same resources were its weapons against me.

سقى اللّه شرّاً دوحةً لي سَيالُها

وللناس مُلْقَى ظلِّها وجنَاتُها

May God water with evil a great tree whose thorny growth is mine,

while others have its spreading shade and fruit.

ولوداًن ولِي من حظِّها بطنُ حائلٍ

معنَّسةٍ شابت وشابَ لِداتُها

Prolific—yet my allotted share is the womb of a barren woman,

a spinster grown gray, whose peers have also grayed.

أغامز منها صخرةً إرميّةً

تفُلُّ النيوبَ وهي جَلْدٌ صَفاتُها

I press upon a rock of Iram within it,

which blunts fangs, its stone face remaining hard.

وكيف تسامُ النَّصْفَ أمٌّ تلوَّنتْ

مَعارِفُها إن حُوشيتْ مُنكَراتُها

How can fairness be demanded of a mother whose

kindnesses change, even if her wrongs are overlooked?

تُرِي الوكَلَ المغمورَ كُحلَ لحاظِها

وكحلُ اخي الهمِّ البعيد قَذاتُها

She shows the helpless nobody the kohl of her glances,

but for the man of far-reaching ambition, her kohl is grit.

هوت برءوس الناسِ سُفْلاً وحلَّقتْ

بأذنابها مجنوبةً طائراتُها

She cast people's heads low, while her fliers soared,

towed along by her tails.

فعندك منها أن ترى ببُغَاثِها

كواسبَ جوٍّ حُصَّ فيه بُزاتُها

Enough of her for you: see her feeble birds

winning a sky in which her falcons have been plucked bare.

ركبتُ من الأيّامِ ظهرَ ملوِّنٍ

صبائغَهُ والخيلُ شتَّى شِياتُها

Of the days I mounted a steed that changes

its colors; horses have varied markings.

وقلَّبتها يوماً فيوماً مجرِّباً

فلا سوءُها يَبقَى ولا حسناتُها

I turned them over, day after day, testing them;

neither their evil nor their goodness lasts.

سأحملها حتَّى تخِفَّ وُسُوقُها

وأحلمُ حتى ترعوِي جَهَلاتُها

I shall bear them until their burdens lighten,

and remain patient until their follies are restrained.

لعلَّ مميتَ الحظِّ يُحييه آنفاً

فإنَّ الحظوظَ موتُها وحياتُها

Perhaps the killer of fortune will soon revive it;

fortunes have their dying and their living.

فلا يؤيِسَنْكَ صدُّها من وصالها

ولا مَطلُها من أن تَصحَّ عِداتُها

Let her rejection not make you despair of union,

nor her delays of her promises coming true.

ألم تر مُلك المكرَمِييِّن نارُهُ

خبت غَلَطاً ثم اعتلتْ وَقَداتُها

Have you not seen the rule of the Mukarramiyyin, whose fire

went out by mistake, then its flames rose high?

هفا الدهرُ فيهم مستغرَّاً بغيره

فخاضوا وشاكَتْ رِجلَه عَثراتُها

Time stumbled against them, misled by another;

they plunged in, and those stumbles pricked its foot.

بغَى نقلَ ما اُعطُوا سفاهاً ولم تكن

هضابُ شَرَوْرَى زائلاً راسياتُها

Foolishly it sought to transfer what they were given, though

the rooted heights of Sharawra's hills were not to move.

هم السحبُ ملء الأفقِ والدهرُ تحتها

جُفاءٌ إذا سالتْ به سائلاتُها

They are clouds filling the horizon, and Time beneath them

is foam when their torrents carry it away.

علا السيلُ حتى الصينُ يُفعَمُ بَحرُها

فيطغَى وفي بغدادَ يجري فُراتُها

The flood rose until China's sea was filled

and overflowed, while their Euphrates flows in Baghdad.

حمى ناصرُ الدين العلا بعد من مضى

فضُمَّتْ قَواصيها ولُمَّ شَتَاتُها

Nasir al-Din guarded high honor after those who passed;

its distant reaches were gathered and its scattered parts reunited.

وأضحى بتاج الدولةِ العزُّ مفرِقاً

لها تتلظَّى أن تُرتَجَى خَطَفَاتُها

Through Taj al-Dawla, glory became a crown

for it, blazing lest anyone hope to snatch it.

رعاها أبو الأشبالِ حتى دنا بها

لها من شميمِ سَرِحها حسراتُها

Abu al-Ashbal tended it, until there drew near to it

its yearnings for the fragrance of its sarh trees.

أخو عزماتٍ لا يُراع صديقُها

كما لم ينم ولا تنامُ عُداتُها

A man of firm resolves, whose friend is not frightened,

just as he has not slept, nor do their enemies sleep.

كريمُ المحيَّا رطبةٌ قَسَماتُهُ

إذا ما الليوثُ استجهمتْ عابساتُها

Noble of visage, his features fresh,

when the scowling lions grow grim.

على الصدرِ منه هيبةٌ تملأ الحشا

ممرَّرةٌ أخلاقه مُحلِياتُها

From him comes an awe upon the breast that fills the heart;

even his sweet traits have a bitter edge.

ومن رأيه في الحربِ عَضبٌ وذابلٌ

وما الحرب إلا سيفُها وقَناتُها

His judgment in war yields a keen sword and a slender spear;

war is nothing but its sword and spear.

كريمٌ فما الأحسابُ إلا اقتناؤها

لديه ولا الأموالُ إلا هِباتُها

Noble: distinctions mean only acquiring them

for him, and wealth means only giving it away.

إذا اعترضَتْهُ هِزة الجود ساكناً

نزت بالندَى في كفّه نَزَواتُها

When generosity's thrill assails him in repose,

its impulses leap with bounty in his palm.

أفاد الندَى فلم تزل برياضه

رياحُ العلا أو صَوَّحت شَجراتُها

He bestowed bounty, so his gardens never lacked

the winds of glory—or their trees would have withered.

من القوم فضَّوا عُذرة الأرض سادةً

وشابت وهم أربابُها وولاتُها

Of a people who broke the earth's virginity as masters;

it grew old while they remained its lords and governors.

فمن حلمهم أركانُها وجبالُها

ومن جودهم أمواهُها ونباتُها

From their forbearance come its pillars and mountains,

and from their generosity its waters and plants.

وليسوا كمن جُنَّ الزمانُ برفعه

وجاءت به من دولةٍ فَلَتاتُها

They are not like one whom Time madly exalted,

brought forth by a dynasty's accidents,

ولا كذباً طارت به الريح طيرةً

فأقعصه أن طأطأتْ عاصفاتُها

nor a falsehood whom the wind carried aloft once,

then killed when its gales bent low.

تقيَّلتُهم والنفس يَكرُمُ أصلُها

على عِرقها السارِي فَتكرُمُ ذاتُها

I followed their example; a soul's source grows noble

through its coursing root, and so its own essence grows noble.

بك اهتزَّ فرعاها وأينعَ ظلُّها

وطاب جَنَاها وانتهت بَرَكاتُها

Through you its two boughs stirred and its shade ripened;

its fruit grew sweet and its blessings reached fullness.

جمعتَ لَهَا شُذّانَ كلِّ فضيلة

تعزّ على من رامها مفرَداتُها

You gathered for it the scattered parts of every virtue,

whose separate parts elude those who seek them.

فمن كان من قومٍ سَفاً في أديمهم

وزِعنفةً تُزْرَى فأنتَ سَراتُها

If someone among a people is an awn upon their hide,

a despised fringe, you are their noblest.

لئن عَركتْ في جنب طودِك نبوةٌ

من الدهر لا تُمحَى بعذرٍ هَناتُها

If a setback chafed against your mountain's flank,

from Time, whose faults no excuse can efface,

وهزَّ العِدا من حسنِ صبرِك صعدةً

فقد عَلِموا بالهزِّ كيفَ ثباتُها

and enemies shook a spearshaft made of your fine patience,

by shaking it they learned how firmly it stood.

وما كنتَ إلا الشمسَ لِيثَتْ جَهَامةٌ

على خدِّها ثم انجلت غاشياتُها

You were only the sun, with a dark cloud wound

across its cheek; then its coverings cleared away.

تنصَّل منها الملكُ لمّا تبيَّنتْ

لعينيه أُخْراها ومتعتقبِاتُها

The king disavowed it when there became apparent

to his eyes its outcome and aftermath.

وأبصرها شنعاءَ يبقَى حديثُها

ذميماً ولا تبقَى له عائداتُها

He saw it as shameful, its story remaining

blameworthy, while its benefits would not remain for him.

فردّد ردَّ السيفِ في الغِمدِ لم تُعب

مَضَاربُهُ إن ثُلِّمتْ شَفَراتُها

He restored you like a sword to its sheath; no blame touched

its striking parts, even if their edges were chipped.

فكيف يَليقُ الحسنُ أوجُهَ دولةٍ

إذا عدِمتْ تيجانَها خَرزاتُها

How can beauty befit the faces of a state

when its beads have lost their crowns?

رعى اللّه نفساً لا الغني زادها عُلاً

ولا فقرُا حُطَّت له درجاتُها

May God guard a soul whose loftiness wealth did not increase,

nor whose ranks were lowered by poverty;

معظَّمةً في حدِّها وسنانِها

وسلطانِها لا ما حوت مَلَكاتُها

exalted in its sharp edge and spearhead,

and its authority, not in what its possessions contain.

إذا قزعتْ يوماً من الدهرِ نكبةٌ

إليها عَسَتْ فلم تُسغْها لَهاتُها

If one day a calamity sped from Time

toward it, it hardened, and its throat would not swallow the blow.

وأنت الذي تُعْطى وعامُك أشهبُ

عطاءَ رجالٍ خُضِّرتْ سنواتُها

You are endowed, even when your year is ash-gray,

with the bounty of men whose years have turned green.

مع الجود أنَّى مِلتَ غير مصرِّفٍ

يمينَك إلا حيثُ شاءت عُفاتُها

With generosity wherever you turn, directing

your right hand only where its supplicants wish.

أقلني أقلني جفوةً ما اعتمدتُها

وهجرةَ أعوامٍ خَلَت ما ابتدَأتُها

Pardon me, pardon me an estrangement I never intended,

and a separation of years gone by that I never began,

وسعياً بطيئاً عن مقامي من العلا

لديك إذا الأقدام فازت سُعاتُها

and striving too slow for my lofty station

before you, while the feet of those who strive succeed.

فما كان إلا الحظُّ منكم حُرِمتُهُ

ودنيا كثيرٌ بالغنى فلتاتُها

It was only my allotted share of you that I was denied,

and a world whose caprices concerning wealth are many.

تريد بنفسي كلَّ ما لا تريده

وتمنعها ما تقتضي شهواتُها

It wants for my soul everything my soul does not want,

and denies it what its desires demand.

وإنّي لكم ذاك الذي لا حبالُه

تَرثُّ ولا يُخشَى عليه انتباتُها

I am, for you, that man whose bonds never

grow worn, nor is their severance feared.

مقيمٌ على نعمائكم حافظٌ لها

مُضِبٌّ على ما أوجبت حُرُماتُها

Abiding in your benefactions, preserving them,

clinging to what their sanctity requires.

يُنقِّلُ قوماً قربُهم وبعادُهم

ونفسيَ لا تهفو بها مُبْدِلاتُها

Nearness and distance shift some people,

but my soul is not swayed by changing circumstances.

تحنُّ إلى أيّامكم في ذراكُمُ

وتحْفزها من عهدهك مُذكرِاتُها

It longs for your days beneath your shelter,

spurred by reminders of your former days.

وعندي لكم إن أسخطتكم سوالفي

عوائدُ تُرضِي مجدَكم آنفاتُها

I have for you, if my earlier works displeased you,

renewed offerings whose fresh ones satisfy your glory.

تسيرُ على عاداتِها بِصفاتِكم

طوالعَ تمشي بالعلا مُثقَلاتُها

They travel in their accustomed ways with your qualities,

rising poems that walk laden with high honor,

نوازلَ في عرض الفلا وصواعداً

تُرَدُّ على رَوْحاتِها غُدُواتُها

descending across the breadth of the wastes and ascending;

their morning journeys retrace their evening paths.

تُخالُ هواديها بنشرِ علائكم

بُرودَ زُبَيدٍ نُشِّرتْ حِبراتُها

Their leading pieces, spreading your high honor, seem

robes of Zubayd, their striped cloths unfurled.

يَقُصُّ بها تحت الظلام سميرُها

وتَرجُزُكم وجهَ النهارِ حُداتُها

Their night-companion recounts them beneath the darkness,

and their camel-drivers chant you in rajaz in broad daylight.

تَطرَّبُها الأسماعُ فيكم كأنما

عزيفُ الملاهي ما تقولُ رواتُها

Ears delight in them, praising you, as though

what their reciters say were the music of instruments.

كأنّ الأولى دارتْ عليهم بيوتُها

بنو نشوةٍ دارت عليهم سُقاتُها

As though those around whom their verses circulate

were sons of intoxication, their cupbearers circling them.

مبشِّرة أيامَكم باتصالها

تُرِي الحسن قبلَ أن تُرَى أخرياتُها

Heralding the continuance of your days,

they show beauty before their endings are seen.

خوالد ما لبَّى الحجيجُ وطوَّفوا

وعَجَّتْ بسفحَيْ مَكّةٍ عَرفاتُها

Immortal as long as pilgrims chant and circumambulate,

and Arafat cries aloud at Mecca's two slopes,

وما عقروها واجباتٍ جُنوبُها

تَفَجَّر من لَبَّاتِها فاجراتُها

and as long as they slaughter them, their sides falling,

their streams gushing from their throats.

تزوركم الأعياد مجلوَّةً بها

تحلَّى بما صاغت لكم عاطِلاتُها

Festivals visit you, polished by these poems;

their unadorned ones wear what the poems crafted for you.

إذا لَعَنْت قوماً لئاماً فإنما

على ذكركم تسليمُها وصَلاتُها

When they curse a baseborn people, it is only

at your mention that they offer greeting and prayer.