من ناصري والزمان لي خصم — Mihyar Al Daylami

مَن ناصري والزمانُ لي خصمُ

ومنصفي والطبيعةُ الظلمُ

Who will help me, when time is my adversary?

And who will do me justice, when its nature is injustice?

وعاذري من عُزوف نفسِيَ وال

همَّةُ غصنٌ ثمارُه الهمُّ

And who will excuse my soul's aversion, while

Aspiration is a branch whose fruit is care?

في كلّ يومٍ سعيٌ بلا ظَفَرٍ

يَقعدُ همّي وينهضُ العزمُ

Each day brings striving without success;

My purpose falters, but resolve rises.

وحاجةٍ في العلاء أطلبُها

عند غريمٍ قضاؤه غُرمُ

And many a wish for eminence I pursue

With a debtor whose repayment brings loss.

أركبُ منها شُهبَ الأماني فتل

قاني الليالي من دونها الدُّهْمُ

For it I mount the gray steeds of hope, but am met

By black nights barring my way to it.

ما أولعَ الدهرَ بالفسوق إذا

قيلَ له في يمينك الحكمُ

How enamored time is of wrongdoing when

It is told, 'Judgment lies in your right hand!'

كأنه يومَ بَرَّ أقسم لا

يكون فيه لفاضلٍ قِسْمُ

As though, on the day it kept faith, it swore that no

Worthy man would have a share in it.

أَنِظرْهُ يوما ترِجعْ عوازبُهُ

لكلّ منشورةِ العُرَى ضَمُّ

Give it a day: what has strayed from it will return;

For every set of scattered ties, there is a joining.

لا بدَّ من نظرة محلِّقةٍ

يُمسحُ فيها بالراحة النجمُ

There must be a soaring gaze

In which the palm brushes a star.

لأبلُغَنَّ الذي الرَّغام به

ينبىء أو فيه للعدا الرغْمُ

I shall surely reach what the dust foretells,

Or that which brings humiliation to my foes.

جُبنَ الدُّجَى مَفرِقا وجئن ولل

صبح عليه صوارم خُذْمُ

They cleft the darkness like a hair's parting, and arrived with

Dawn wielding keen swords against it.

كأنها والفلا يموج بها

سفائنٌ جاش تحتها اليمُّ

They seemed, with the desert surging around them,

Ships beneath which the sea swelled.

تَحَسبُ ركبانَها تخُبُّ بهمْ

حُمْشٌ عن الماء حُلِّئت رُثمُ

You would think their riders were being trotted along by

Slender-legged, white-muzzled asses driven from water.

عنَّ لها والشروعُ حيثُ ترى

أشعثُ باقي قميصه رسمُ

There appeared to them, where you see them approach the water,

A disheveled man, his shirt reduced to a mere remnant.

أبو ثلاثٍ بقاؤه أبدا

لهنَّ مع ضُعف رزقه يُتْمُ

The father of three daughters, whose living is forever

Orphanhood to them, so scant is his sustenance.

تَطرحه راميا بمهجته

في لَهَواتِ المخاوف العُدْمُ

It hurls him, staking his life's blood,

Into the gaping jaws of terrors—destitution.

بصيرةٌ بالنفوسِ طاعتُها

على المنايا إذا مضت حَتْمُ

Keenly discerning of souls, it must be obeyed

By death itself, once it flies.

فاستلَّ منها زرقاءَ تثبُتُ في ال

عظم بمتن كأنّه العظمُ

Then he drew from it a blue-tipped arrow that lodges in

Bone, with a shaft like bone itself.

لو لم يعُقها الحرمانُ كان له

وللأيامَى في كسبها طُعمُ

Had deprivation not thwarted it, it would have yielded him

And the unmarried women food from its gain.

رمَى فأشوَى فانصعن جافلةً

كأنَّ مرأَى شخوصها وَصْمُ

He shot, but struck no vital spot; they turned and fled,

As though the sight of their forms were a blemish.

يحفزها سائق عنيفٌ من ال

خوف وفحلٌ سياطُهُ العَذمُ

They are goaded by a fierce driver made of

Fear, and a stallion whose whips are bites.

تُطيعه يومَ خوفها وتعا

صيه خلافا ودارُها سَلْمُ

They obey him on their day of fear, but rebel

Against him defiantly when their home is at peace.

فهو لها قائدٌ إذا انتشرت

والٍ وتالٍ غداةَ ينضمُّ

So he is their leader when they scatter,

Their guardian and follower when the herd gathers at dawn.

تخطو بنا خطوَها نجائبُ لا

يحبِسُها بالعيافةِ السَّجْمُ

Noble she-camels bear us with their stride, and no

Pouring rain holds them back through aversion.

تخابط التيهَ لا تُشَقّ لها

تُربٌ ولا يُقتفَى بها نجمُ

They plunge through the trackless waste; no

Earth is cleft for them, nor is any star followed.

يا من رأى بالعقيق بارقةً

تحسرُ منها الرُّبَى وتعتَمُّ

O you who saw lightning flashing at al-Aqiq,

Making the hills bare their heads and don turbans,

يقدحُ زَندُ الجَنوب جذوتَها

وسُدفةُ الليل تحتها فحمُ

The south wind's fire-stick kindles its ember,

And night's darkness is charcoal beneath it.

تبتسم الأرضُ وهي كالحةٌ

منها ثغورٌ لها الحيا ظَلْمُ

The earth smiles, though its face is grim,

Through mouths sprung from it, whose tooth-sheen is rain.

يُذكِرُني لَمحُها زمانا على ال

خَيْف تَقَضَّي كأنه الحُلْمُ

Its flash recalls for me a time upon

Al-Khayf, now gone as though it were a dream.

هل لك بالنازلات دون مِنىً

يا عَلَم الشوقِ بعدنا عِلْمُ

Have you news of the women dwelling this side of Mina,

O landmark of longing, since our departure?

كم وقفَةٍ لي على شَرَافٍ وفي ال

تربِ عِطارٌ وفي الصَّبا سُقْمُ

How often I stood at Sharaf, with

Perfume in the earth and sickness in the east wind.

جرتْ مع الرسم لي محاوَرةٌ

فهمتُ منها ما قاله الرسمُ

A conversation passed between me and the traces;

From it I understood what the traces said.

كأنّ شِعري أعدَى معاهدَه

فأعربتْ لي عِراصُها العُجْمُ

As though my verse had infected those familiar haunts,

So their speechless courtyards spoke plainly to me.

وباللوى ظبيةٌ مضى عددُ ال

حسن عليها فبدرُها تمُّ

And at al-Liwa is a gazelle, in whom the measure of

Beauty is complete, and her moon is full.

رمتْ فما كذّبتْ مقاتلَه

سهميَّةٌ لحظُ عينها سهمُ

She shot and did not miss his vital spots—

A Sahmi maiden, her eye's glance an arrow.

أَطلبُ ودَّ الأيام أظلمها

وهل تسام الوِلاَدةَ العُقْمُ

I seek the days' affection, doing them wrong;

Can barren women be forced to bear children?

كيف اعتذارُ الزمان من حُرمةٍ

فِيَّ وفي نفسه له جُرمُ

How can time excuse itself for violating a sanctity

Within me, while guilt lies in its own soul?

ليْت كفانِي الإخوانُ أنفُسَهم

فلم يَقُوني الأذى ولم يَرموا

If only my brothers had spared me themselves—

Neither shielding me from harm nor shooting at me.

قد سمِع الدهر واستجاب وأن

صاريَ خُرسٌ عن دعوتي صُمُّ

Time has heard and answered, while my

Supporters are mute and deaf to my call.

ويدّريني نَبلُ الكلام فلا

أصغِي وفي أضلعي كَلْمُ

Arrows of speech seek to beguile me, yet I do not

Listen, though a wound lies within my ribs.

ودّ الأعادي وقد نصبتُ لهم

حلميَ طودا لو أنهم عُصْمُ

My enemies wished it, though I had raised before them

My forbearance as a mountain—if only they were ibexes.

أعرضَ سمعي فضاع لغوُهُم

ربَّ سَفاهٍ أماته الحِلمُ

My hearing turned away, and their idle talk was wasted;

Many a folly has forbearance put to death.

يعجَبُ للجهل كيف راخَى لأق

وامٍ ودانَى من خطوه الحزمُ

He marvels at ignorance: how it gives free rein to

Some people, while prudence shortens his own stride.

تحلو لقوم طعومُ ما لهِمُ

وليس للمال عندَه طَعمُ

To some, what they possess tastes sweet,

But wealth has no savor for him.

تمَّ وما أُلقيتْ تمائمهُ

على رجال سادوا وما تمُّوا

He was complete before his childhood amulets were cast off,

Surpassing men who ruled yet were never complete.

واجتمع الطارف التليد له

سنٌّ ثنيٌّ وسؤددٌ هِمُّ

In him the new and the inherited are joined:

A young man's age and an elder's eminence.

مستيقظٌ ظنُّه يقينٌ إذا

هوّم قومٌ يقينهُم رَجْمُ

Wakeful, his conjecture is certainty when

Others drowse, their certainty mere guesswork.

حُلوُ جناةِ اللسان مرُّ المُلا

حاتِ ضحوكٌ عِراكُهُ جَهْمُ

Sweet in the fruits of his tongue, bitter in

Quarrels; smiling, but grim in combat.

جوهرةٌ للصديق جَندَلَةٌ

على العدا لا يلُينُها العَجْمُ

A jewel to his friend, a boulder

Against his foes, which no bite can soften.

من خيرِ قومٍ أبا وأكرمِهم

أُمّاً أما عابت الأبَ الأمُّ

Of the finest people through his father, and their noblest

Through his mother—has his mother shamed his father?

والمجد ما يستوي جوانبُهُ

فيستوي الخالُ فيه والعمُّ

Glory is that whose sides are balanced,

With maternal and paternal uncles equal in it.

تشتدّ ألفاظُهم وتخدم أق

لامَهمُ السمهريَّة الصُّمُّ

Their words are forceful, and their

Pens are served by solid, straight spears.

إذا انتحَوا في عدوِّهم غرضا

بالرأي أصَمْوا من قبل أن يرموا

When they aim at a target among their enemies,

Their judgment kills before they even shoot.

تُثنَي الليالي بهم إذا جمحتْ

كأنَّ أسماءهم لها لُجْمُ

Through them the nights are checked when they run wild,

As though their names were bridles for them.

لهم على كل دولة أثر

كأنه في جبينها وسمُ

Every reign bears a trace of them,

Like a brand upon its forehead.

إن أخذوا بالذنوب مقترفا

خصُّوا وأن أمطروا ندىً عمُّوا

If they seize an offender for his sins,

They single him out; if they rain bounty, they reach all.

إذا أخيفوا رموا بخوفهمُ

وراء ما ألجموا وما زمُّوا

When threatened, they cast their fear

Behind their bridled and haltered mounts.

بيضُ المجاني تأبَى لهم سمةَ ال

عارِ عرانينُ كالقنا شُمُّ

White are their harvests; the brand of

Shame is rejected by their proud, spear-like noses.

تُطلِع أزرارُهم شموسَ ضحىً

أهلّةَ الليل فوقها التمُّ

Their buttons bring forth suns of forenoon,

Crescents of night with full moons above them.

كلّ همامٍ قَرْمٍ إذا اختلفت

ولادة المجد فابنه قَرْمُ

Each a high-souled chieftain; however varied

Glory's births may be, his son is a chieftain.

مراقَب الذكر قبل رؤيته

مقبَّلٌ قبلَ كفّه الكُمُّ

His name is held in awe before he is seen,

His sleeve is kissed before his hand.

أنت نصيبي من الزمان ومف

تاحُ مُناي الرِّغابِ والختمُ

You are my portion of time, and the

Key and seal of my abundant wishes.

إن أنحلتني أيدي الخطوب ففي

ثراك عزّي ونبتَي الضخمُ

If the hands of calamity have wasted me, in

Your soil lie my strength and my luxuriant growth.

عرَفْتني ساعة انتصابك لي

والناس بُلْهٌ عن قعدتي بُكمُ

You knew me the moment you stood up for me,

While others, oblivious to my plight, were mute.

واخترتَني قبلَ أن تُسابقَ بي

ولم يَرُضني الشكيمُ والحُزْمُ

And you chose me before racing me,

Before bits and girths had trained me.

فِراسةٌ تكتفي بلمحتها

كالذئب يكفي اقتصاصَه الشَّمُ

An intuition content with a glance,

Like a wolf, for whose tracking scent suffices.

يفديك راضون من مراتبهم

بأن يُسَمَّوا فيها ولم يَسْموا

May those content with their ranks ransom you—

Content to be named in them, without rising to them.

تَريح أعراضهم فلو كتموا

ليستُروا وجهَ لؤمهم نمُّوا

Their reputations reek; even if they hide

To veil the face of their baseness, they give it away.

إن قمتَ في مَغرَمٍ تباطَوْا وإن

شعَّثتَ مالاً في سؤددٍ لمُّوا

If you take on an expense, they hang back; but if

You scatter wealth in pursuit of honor, they gather it up.

ومَن بنَى ما بنيتَ في سَرَفٍ

أسرعَ في بيت ماله الهدمُ

Whoever builds what you have built, spending lavishly,

Will soon find ruin in his treasury.

تبقَي كعوبُ الرماح سالمةً

ويرتقي في العوامل الحطمُ

The joints of the spear-shafts remain sound,

While breakage climbs into the spearheads.

لا خالستْ ربعَك الخطوبُ ولا

أغبَّني صوبُ ودِّك السجمُ

May calamities never steal upon your dwelling, nor

Your love's pouring rain ever withhold a day from me.

ولا تخطَّتْ إليك طارقةٌ

لجُرحها في سعادةٍ كَلْمُ

Nor may a nightly calamity come to you

Whose wound leaves a scar in happiness.

وباكرتْ ربعَك التهاني بمو

شيٍّ من المدح رصفُه رقْمُ

And may congratulations greet your dwelling at dawn with

Embroidered praise, its arrangement a patterned weave.

تحمله في بيوتها كلُّ عذ

راءَ رَداحٍ أردانُها فُعمُ

It is borne within her verse-houses by each

Full-bodied virgin, her sleeves filled to brimming.

والدها من أنسابها مضرٌ

وجدّها من آبائها جُشْمُ

Her father, in her lineage, is Mudar,

Her grandfather, among her forebears, Jushm.

ترضاك لو لامست سواك رجم

ناها فحدُّ الحواصنِ الرَّجْمُ

She accepts you; had she touched another, we would stone

Her—for stoning is the penalty of the wedded.

خالصةً فيك لا يخالطها

غشٌّ ولا تحت حمدها ذمُّ

Purely devoted to you, unmixed with

Deceit, with no blame hidden beneath its praise.

يسمعها حاسدي فيُصغي وفي

أُذْنيه من ثِقْل وقعها صَلْمُ

My envier hears it and listens, while

Its heavy impact lops off his ears.

تسوغُ في حلقه وتُشرقه

بالغيظ فهي الشَّهاد والسُّمُّ

It slips smoothly down his throat, yet chokes him

With rage, for it is honey and poison.

إذا تلاها الراوي رنا نحوه ال

عُمْيُ فأصغى لصوته الصُّمُّ

When the reciter chants it, toward him gaze

The blind, and the deaf listen to his voice.

كأنها كعبةُ القريض فما

يُغِبُّها الاستلام واللثمُ

As though it were the Kaaba of verse, never

Denied the touch of hands and kisses.