يلوم عليك لا عدم الملامه — Mihyar Al Daylami

يلومُ عليكِ لا عدِمَ الملامَهْ

صحيحُ القلب غرّتْه السلامَهْ

He reproaches me for you—may reproach never leave him;

his heart unscathed, he is deceived by its safety.

أبى لؤمُ الطباع له وَلَوعاً

بمثلكِ أو ضُلوعاً مستهامَهْ

His mean nature denies him a passion

for one like you, or ribs distraught with love.

ولم تنبُلْهُ باللّحَظات عينٌ

ولم تطعَنْه بالخطرات قامه

No eye has pierced him with its glances,

nor has a figure stabbed him with its swaying.

ولاماتت له نفس وعاشت

مِراراً بالرحيل وبالإقامَهْ

Nor has a soul within him died and lived

again and again, through departure and through staying.

وما يُدْريه ما نَزَواتُ صدري

إليكِ وما الذي استدعى غرامَهْ

What does he know of my breast's surges

toward you, or what summoned its passion?

وما سرٌّ ملكتِ قيادَ قلبي

به فمضيتِ آخذةً زمامَهْ

Or of the secret by which you took command of my heart,

and went on grasping its reins?

وهل وصفَتْكِ أعجازُ الليالي ال

طوالِ له وأعوادُ البَشامَهْ

Have the latter hours of the long nights described you

to him, or the twigs of the balsam tree?

وأُوسِعه الإهانةَ ثم يُفضِي

إلى اسمِكِ بي فأُوسعه الكرامَهْ

I lavish insults on him; then he brings me

to your name, and I lavish honor on him.

سقَى عهدَ الطُّوَيلع ما تمنّى

زمانٌ أن تصوب له غمامَهْ

May the days of al-Tuwayliʿ be watered with all

a season ever wished a cloud might rain upon it.

وعيشاً بالجَرِيب وأيّ عيش

ودِدتُ وما انقضَى لو كنت هامَهْ

And that life at al-Jarib—what a life!

I wished, before it passed, that I were a death-bird.

وليلاً بدره لم يُنضِ عشراً

غَرِمتِ وقد سفَرتِ لنا تِمامَهْ

And a night whose moon had not yet spent ten days:

you made good its fullness when you unveiled yourself to us.

وليت ونابل الأيام رامٍ

يصيب بنا المنى أيام رامهْ

Would that, while the archer of days keeps shooting,

the days of Rama might bring us our wishes!

أسائل بان دومة عن فؤادي

وقد أودعته سمر اليمامهْ

I ask Duma's moringa trees about my heart,

though I entrusted it to al-Yamama's acacias.

وكيف بمهجةٍ أمست بنجدٍ

مضللة وتنشد في تهامهْ

What of a heart that has come to be in Najd,

lost, yet sought in Tihama?

مَن الساري تجِدُّ به بنجدٍ

أضاليل السرى عقب السآمهْ

Who is the night-traveler whom, in Najd,

night travel's bewildering paths hasten onward after weariness?

إذا وخزتك أنفاسُ الخُزامَى

فهبَّ لنا ابنُ ليلٍ كان نامَهْ

When lavender's breaths prick you,

a son of night who had slept through it awakens for us.

فخذ حدّ الأثيل وقل سلامٌ

على بيتِ عقيلتُه سلامَهْ

Then take the edge of al-Athil, and say: Peace

upon a house whose noble lady is Salama.

وما الظبياتُ سارحةً ورُبْضاً

ولا الأغصانُ مَيْلاً واستقامَهْ

Neither the gazelles, roaming or lying down,

nor the branches, bending or standing straight,

بمن أعني الكُنَى عنه ولكن

بكلٍّ من محاسنها علامَهْ

are whom I mean by those allusions; but

in each is a sign of her beauties.

أمنها والكواكبُ جاثماتٌ

خيالٌ لم يمتّعنا لِمامَهْ

Was it from her, while the stars lay still,

that phantom whose brief visit gave us no delight?

سَرتْ والشهرُ قد أرمَى ثلاثاً

على العشرين خائضةً ظلامَهْ

She traveled when the month had added three

to twenty, wading through its darkness,

على غَرَرٍ وساعةَ لا طُروقٌ

ألا ما للجبان وللصرامَهْ

at peril, at an hour when none comes visiting by night—

ah, what has a coward to do with daring?

فحيّت واقعين على الولايا

نشاوَى لم تُنَشِّهم المُدامَهْ

She greeted those lying upon the saddlecloths,

drunk, though no wine had made them drunk,

فُواقاً ثم طار الصبحُ منها

مجفِّلةً بقادمتَيْ نعامَهْ

for a moment; then dawn flew from her,

as she fled on an ostrich's two leading wing-feathers.

تقولُ خف الوشاةَ وإن ألمُّوا

بفاطمةٍ فقل طرقت أُمامَهْ

She says: Fear the talebearers; if they touch on

Fatima, say: Umama came by night.

ومن لي أن يتم غداً جحودٌ

وحولي من عُتَيرتها قَسامَهْ

But who can ensure that tomorrow my denial will hold,

when around me are oath-swearing witnesses from her kin?

ألا هل رُقيةٌ من مسّ دهرٍ

خفيِّ الكيد شيطانِ العُرامَهْ

Ah, is there a charm against the touch of an age

subtle in guile, a demon of ferocity?

يخاتلني الزمانُ فلستُ أدري

بأيّ جوانبي أنفي سِهامَهْ

Time tricks me, and I do not know

from which of my sides to ward off its arrows.

وحظٍّ لو سألتُ بِلال ريقي

عبابَ البحر صاعبني مَرامَهْ

And such a fortune: if I asked for moisture for my mouth

from the sea's surge, its attainment would defy me.

يريد الرزقُ أن أُدلَى عليه

بذلٍّ أو يقال الحرصُ ضامَهْ

Livelihood demands that I be lowered toward it

in humiliation, or that it be said: Greed has abased him.

وليست قطرةٌ من ماء وجهي

حَرىً أن استدرَّ بها جِمامَهْ

Yet not a drop of the water of my face

is fit for drawing forth its abundant stores.

وأعذل في القناعة أن حبتني

وباعتني الضؤولةَ بالوَسامَهْ

I am reproached for contentment, because it favored me

and sold me meagerness in exchange for comeliness.

وكم ذي شارةٍ معناه رثٌّ

وأشعثَ بين طِمْريه أُسامَهْ

How many a man of finery is shabby within,

and a disheveled man is a lion between his two rags!

سيغشِم قائدُ الأطماع عُنْقي

بأنفٍ لا يلين على الخِزامَهْ

Desire's driver will treat my neck roughly,

since my nose refuses to yield to a nose-ring.

وينصرني وإن ضعُفَ اصطباري

وقد تُحمَى البنانةُ بالقُلامَهْ

And it will aid me, even if my endurance weakens;

a fingertip may be protected by a nail-paring.

وأروعُ لا يَحُلُّ الخطبُ منه

معاقدَ حبوتيه ولا اعتزامَهْ

And an imposing man, in whom calamity does not loosen

the knots of his two knee-wraps or his resolve.

صليب العود يغمِزُ جنب رضوى

ولم تُدرِك غوامزَه العَجامَهْ

Sturdy of stock, he tests Radwa's flank,

yet no biting trial has discovered his weaknesses.

إذا ضاقت رحابُ الرأي جاءت

بصيرته ففرجت ازدحامه

When the broad spaces of counsel become narrow,

his insight comes and clears their congestion.

تريه عواقبَ الأمر المبادي

ويُبصر ما وراء غدٍ أمامَهْ

Beginnings show him the outcomes of affairs,

and he sees what lies beyond tomorrow before him.

وقورٌ لم يخض لغواً بفيه

ولم يُسدِل على غَزَلٍ قِرامَهْ

Dignified, he has never plunged into idle talk with his mouth,

nor drawn his brocade curtain over flirtation.

تحمِّله فينهضُ مستمرِّاً

مليّاً بالحَمالة والغَرامَهْ

Lay a burden on him: he rises and presses onward,

fully capable of bearing the undertaking and its cost.

إذا نكص الرجالُ مضى جريّاً

كأنّ ممِيلَ أقوام أقامَهْ

When men draw back, he advances boldly,

as though what felled others had raised him.

أغرَّ ترى الهلالَ يتمّ بدراً

إذا أبصرتَ منحدراً لِثامَهْ

Radiant: you see the crescent become a full moon

when you see his face-veil lowered.

تودّ كواكبُ الجوزاء لو ما

تكون إذا امتطى سَرْجاً لجامَهْ

Orion's stars wish they might

be his bridle when he mounts a saddle.

وإن ركب السريرَ وزيرُ ملك

رأيت التاجَ تَشرفُهُ العِمامَهْ

And when a king's minister mounts the throne,

you see the turban outshine the crown.

ومبهمَةٍ مذكَّرة زَبونٍ

تخال شَرار جاحمها ضِرامَهْ

And many an intractable, fierce, recalcitrant crisis,

whose raging sparks you would take for its blaze,

ملبدةِ الجوانب أمِّ نقع

ترى البيضاء منها مستضامَهْ

thickly shrouded about the flanks, a mother of dust,

within which the bright blade seems overborne:

يحاذرها الحمام إذا تداعت

بها الأبطال تحسبها حمامَهْ

Death itself fears it; when the champions rally

within it, you think it Death's own death.

كفاها غير معتقِلٍ قناه

ولا متسربلٍ حلَقاتِ لامَهْ

He dealt with it without couching his spear,

or clothing himself in his armor's rings.

يَشيمُ لحسمها قلماً نحيلاً

سمينَ الخطب تحسبه حُسامَهْ

To settle it, he draws a slender pen,

weighty in affairs—you would take it for his sword.

يناط الملكُ من شرف المعالي

بمندمج القُوى ثَبْتِ الدِّعامَهْ

The kingdom hangs from the lofty heights of eminence

upon one of close-knit strength and steadfast support,

كلوءِ العين يحمى جانبيه

إذا ذُعرت مشلَّلةً سَوَامَهْ

ever-watchful of eye, guarding its two flanks

when its grazing herds, driven off, are frightened.

تكفَّله فتىً يفَعاً وكهلاً

وفي الودَعاتِ لم يبلغ فطامَهْ

He undertook its care in youth, adolescence, and maturity,

and in shell amulets, before he reached his weaning.

فلم يُسلم لخابطةٍ جناه

ولم يترك لخائطةٍ نظامَهْ

He did not surrender its fruit to a branch-beater,

nor leave its arrangement to a seamstress.

وكان متى تعبه بدار صَيدٍ

بنائقُه يُحِلَّ بها حَرامَهْ

And whenever, at a hunting-ground, they engulfed him—

his garment-panels—he would make his protected bounds lawful;

دعا الكافي الخطير لها فلبَّى

أزلّ يشدُّ للجُلَّى حزامَهْ

he called the capable, eminent one to it, and he answered,

lean and nimble, tightening his belt for the great ordeal.

سألتُ فما حلبتُ به بكيّاً

ولا استمطرت صائفة جَهامَهْ

I asked, and did not milk a scant-yielding beast in him,

nor seek rain from his rainless cloud in summer.

ولكن جاد محلولَ العزالي

إذا بدأ الحيا أدلت عصامَهْ

Rather, he gave freely, with unbound water-skin spouts;

when life-giving rain began, it let down its water-skin strap.

كريم البشر تحسبُ وجنتيه

سماءَ الجودِ والبرقَ ابتسامَهْ

Gracious of countenance, you think his cheeks

the sky of generosity, and his smile its lightning.

إذا ما شاء أن يُغرِيه يوماً

بفرط البذل من يغريه لامَهْ

If someone wishes one day to spur him

to lavish giving, that goader reproaches him.

يزيد الغمطُ نعمتَه سُبوغاً

ويَقبَلُ حبَّه العفوَ انتقامَهْ

Ingratitude makes his bounty still more abundant,

and his love accepts pardon as his revenge.

ينيلك وهو أصفرُ منك كفّاً

كساقي الماء واستبقَى أوامَهْ

He gives to you though his hand is emptier than yours,

like one who serves water yet keeps his own thirst.

على دين الأكارم وهو خِرْق

يعدُّ الحمدَ أولى ما استدامَهْ

Following the creed of the noble, and open-handed,

he counts praise the worthiest thing to keep enduring.

وحبُّ الذكر خلَّى الذكرَ عند ال

سموأل والندى عند ابن مامَهْ

Love of renown left renown with

al-Samaw'al, and generosity with Ibn Mama.

غرستَ بعَقْوتي نِعماً رِطاباً

مجانيها بشكري مستدامَهْ

You planted fresh blessings in my courtyard,

whose harvested fruits my gratitude keeps lasting.

ووسَّعَ لي مديحُك فضلَ صيت

ووصفُك لي وبِرُّك بالكرامَهْ

Your praise has broadened my share of renown,

and your description of me, and your kindness in honoring me.

ولم تترُك بعدلِ علاك بيني

وبين صروف أيامي ظُلامَهْ

Through the justice of your exalted rank, you left no

grievance between me and the vicissitudes of my days.

فصنْ غرساً إذا لم يجز فعلاً

على نعمى جزاك بها كلامَهْ

So protect a planting which, if it repays not in deeds

for a favor, repays you for it in its words.

بكلّ بعيدةِ المسَرى رفوعٍ

وهادَ القول خافضةٍ إكامَهْ

With each far-traveling verse, raising

the lowlands of speech and lowering its hills,

تَحَلَّق حين أُرسلها فتمسى

رديفَ النجم سائمةً مَسامَهْ

it soars when I send it forth, and becomes

the star's fellow rider, grazing where it grazes.

تَبين بها عيوبُ الناس حتى

تُخالَ على جبين الشِّعر شامَهْ

Through it people's flaws stand out, until

it seems a beauty mark on poetry's brow.

لو انّ لذي القروح البيتَ منها

لسرَّ ضريحَه وسقى عظامَهْ

Had Dhu al-Quruh possessed one of its verses,

it would have gladdened his tomb and watered his bones.

لها وسمٌ على الأعراض باقٍ

بقاءَ الطوق في عُنُق الحمامَهْ

It leaves upon reputations a lasting brand,

lasting like the ring around a dove's neck.

تُحلَّى صبحةَ النيروز منها

بعِقدٍ لا ترى الدهرَ انفصامَهْ

On the morning of Nowruz, you are adorned by it

with a necklace whose breaking you will never see,

مبشِّرةً بأنك ألفَ عام

ستدركه كما أدركتَ عامَهْ

bringing glad news that a thousand years

you will attain, as you have attained this year,

رحيبَ الملك ضخم العزّ صعباً

ذَراك إن امرؤٌ بالبغي رامَهْ

wide of dominion, mighty in honor, unassailable

in your heights, should any man seek them through aggression;

بقاءً ما له أمد فيُخشَى

عليه قاطعٌ إلا القيامَهْ

an endurance with no term, so nothing need be feared

to cut it short, save the Resurrection.