ذكر العيش بالحمى فبكى له — Mihyar Al Daylami

ذكَرَ العيشَ بالحمى فبكى لَهْ

ورأى العذلَ حظَّهُ فاستقالَهْ

He recalled life at the Hima and wept for it.

He saw that reproach was his portion and sought release from it.

وأخو الشوق مَنْ أطاعَ هواه

وفتَى العهدِ من عصَى عُذَّالَهْ

A brother of longing is he who obeys his passion,

and a keeper of the pledge is he who defies his reproachers.

من تناسَى بالبان مغنَى هواه

فبنفسي غصونه الميّالَهْ

Whoever forgets his love's dwelling among the ban-trees—

my soul be ransom for its swaying branches,

ونسيم من تُربه حملتْه

لفؤادي ريحُ الصَّبا الحمّالَهْ

and for a breeze from its soil, carried

to my heart by the burden-bearing east wind.

كلّما قلت قرَّ قلبي على با

بلَ هبّت فهيّجتْ بَلبالَهْ

Whenever I said, 'My heart has settled in Babylon,'

the wind blew and stirred its turmoil.

وجدتني أني يئستُ فعادت

لوعتي جمرةً وكانت ذُبالَهْ

It found me despairing, and then

my anguish became a glowing coal, though it had been a fading wick.

لا وأيّامِ حاجرٍ وليالي

ه تُقَضَّى قصيرةً مستطالَهْ

No, by the days of Hajir and its nights,

passing briefly, though wished prolonged;

وزمانٍ أعاده الله بالجز

عِ تُبارِي أسحارُه آصالَهْ

and by a time—may God restore it at al-Jazʿ—

whose predawn hours rivaled its evenings;

وأحاديثَ كالسقيط من العق

دِ فإن كنّ السحرَ كنّ حلالَهْ

and conversations like beads fallen from a necklace—

if they were enchantment, they were its lawful kind.

لايقول الوشاةُ عنّي محبٌّ

غيَّرَ النأيُ ودَّه فأحالَهْ

Let tale-bearers not say of me, 'A lover

whose affection distance changed and transformed.'

ومتى ما سلوتُ يأساً وحزماً

فتعلَّم أني سلوتُ ملالَهْ

If ever I cease yearning through despair and resolve,

know that I have ceased through weariness.

من عَذيري والليلُ تختلب العي

نَ على جوزِه البروقُ الخالَهْ

Who will plead my excuse, when through the night the eye is bewitched

by rain-promising lightning across its middle,

فيريني تلك الثنايا الطريرا

تِ وتلك المراشفَ السلسالَهْ

showing me those gleaming front teeth

and those smooth, sweet lips?

أنا في صِبغةِ الوفاء وإن حَو

ولَ دهري في لِمَّتي أحوالَهْ

I remain dyed in loyalty, even though

my time has worked its changes into my hair.

أنكرتني مع البياضِ وقالت

قَبَسٌ يَكرهُ الظلامُ اشتعالَهْ

She disowned me for my white hair and said,

'A flame whose kindling darkness hates!

مَن جناها حَرباً عَواناً على رأ

سك أم من أثارها قَسطاله

Who brought this renewed war upon your head,

or stirred up this cloud of battle-dust?

لُثْ عليها الرداءَ فالشّعَر المق

تول داءٌ في الأعين القتّالَهْ

Wrap your cloak around it, for slain hair

is a sickness in murderous eyes.'

قلتُ لكنّها الهدى من ضلالي

والهدَى عندهنّ تلك الضلالَهْ

I said, 'But it is guidance out of my error';

yet in their eyes that guidance is misguidance.

يا ثقاتي على الغرام وأحلا

فيَ في طاعة الصبا والبطالة

O my trusted companions in love, and my allies

in obedience to youth and idle pleasure,

أكل الدهرُ بعدكم ما كفاه

من مِراحي وضامَني ما بدا لَهْ

time has consumed, since you left, all it needed

of my high spirits, and oppressed me as it pleased.

غادرتْ عُودِيَ الصليبَ ليالي

ه سَفاةً على الصعيد مذالَهْ

Its nights have left my sturdy stem

an awn lying abased upon the ground,

تتْبع الريحَ شأمةً ويميناً

وتطيعُ المساحبَ الذياّلَهْ

following the wind leftward and rightward,

and yielding to the long-trailing sweeps.

واحداً أزحمُ الأعادي بصدرٍ

لو بغى مثلَه البعوضُ أمالَهْ

Alone I jostle enemies with a breast

that even a mosquito's attack could bend.

ما غَناء الوحيد غاب مَوالي

ه وبَتَّ المصارمون حبالَهْ

What use is a solitary man whose protectors are gone,

and whose bonds the estranged have severed?

ورماه في أهل وصلته الده

رُ ولكن رمى بهم أوصالَهْ

Time struck him through those bound to him—

rather, through them it struck his very limbs.

وَحدةَ السيف مغمَداً غير أن قد

شرب الغمدُ ماءه وصِقالَهْ

Alone as a sheathed sword, except that

the sheath has drunk its sheen and polish;

وبرأيٍ يضيع عند زمانٍ

لا مفيد ولا مؤدٍّ حَمالَهْ

and with a judgment wasted upon an age

that neither gives nor fulfills an obligation.

والذي في يدي من الناس محلو

لُ الأواخي مقلقَلٌ جَوّالَهْ

The man I have at hand is loosely

tethered, restless and roaming.

في الغنى عنه صاحبي ومع الحا

جة خصمٌ لا أستطيع جدالَهْ

When I have no need of him, he is my friend; in need,

a foe I cannot argue with.

فكأني راميتُ أعزلَ منه

نَغِلاً أو أمنتُ ودَّ ثُعالَهْ

As though, unarmed against him, I exchanged shots

with a bastard, or trusted a fox's love.

وإذا ما انتصرت بالفضل يوماً

نصرتْني معونةٌ خَذّالَهْ

If ever I sought support through favor one day,

I was supported by help that abandoned me.

فاتني حظّه وعاد وبالاً

وشقاءً لا يُنعم الله بالَهْ

His good fortune escaped me, and he became a bane

and misery—may God never grant him peace!

رحل الحاملون كُلفتَه عن

ني وبقَّوا لكاهلي أثقالَهْ

Those who bore his cares have departed from me,

leaving his burdens on my shoulders.

كلّ حامٍ لسرحه قائم الحف

ظ على رعيه أمين الكفالَهْ

Each guarded his grazing herd, steadfast in watch

over his flock, faithful in his care.

صحب الله والثناء رجالاً

ناهضوا دهرهم فكانوا رجالَهْ

May God and praise accompany those men

who confronted their age and proved its men.

أدركوه معنَّساً أشمطَ الرأ

س فردّوا شبابَهُ واقتبالَهْ

They overtook it aged and gray-headed,

and restored its youth and its prime.

أعجز البُزلَ داؤه فتلافو

ه وكانوا جِذاعَهُ وفِصالَهْ

Its sickness defeated the mature camels, but they remedied it,

though they were its young camels and weanlings.

دُعِّم الملك منهمُ بأكفٍّ

صعبةِ الأسرِ جَلْدةٍ عَمّالَهْ

Kingship was buttressed by their hands,

strong-knit, hardy, tireless in labor.

لم يخنها ضعفُ العروق الأصيلا

ت ولا طينةِ الثرى الهلهالَهْ

No weakness in their deep-rooted stock betrayed them,

nor any loose-textured clay of the earth.

طاب عبدُ الرحيم في تُربها عِي

صاً وطابت عُصارةً وسُلالَهْ

Abd al-Rahim was noble rootstock in its soil,

and noble were its sap and offspring.

ركبوا أنجمَ السرايا وصالوا

ورؤوا أنجم الحجا والأصالَهْ

They mounted the stars of raiding parties and charged,

and appeared as stars of intellect and nobility.

فهُمُ في الوغى السيوفُ المصالي

ت وفي الندوة الملوكُ القالَهْ

In battle they are unsheathed swords,

and in the council, eloquent kings.

ووفى ذو الرياستين بسعيٍ

أعرض المجدَ ما اشتهى وأطالَهْ

He of the Two Offices fulfilled his task through striving

that broadened glory as he wished, and lengthened it.

أحرز السؤددَ التليدَ ومُدَّتْ

يدُه تبتغي المزيدَ فنالَهْ

He secured ancestral lordship; out reached

his hand, seeking more, and he attained it.

عَلِقَ الحظّ والغَناءُ بكفّي

ه فكافى بفضله إقبالَهْ

Fortune and prosperity clung to his two hands,

and with his bounty he repaid fortune's favor.

واستردّ الكهولُ مقتبلَ العم

ر تودّ اجتماعَه واعتدالَهْ

The middle-aged regained the prime of life,

desiring its fullness and balance.

لا الحصور الذي إذا ازدحم القو

ل على بابه أضاق مجالَهْ

He is no tongue-tied man who, when speech crowds

at his door, constricts its scope.

وإذا أظلم الصوابُ على الرأ

ي أضاءت له فجاجُ المجالَهْ

When sound judgment is darkened to the mind,

the avenues of deliberation light up for him.

ملَك الجودَ يُعطي على البح

ر فأمواهُهُ تُظلِّمُ مالَهْ

He has mastered generosity, outgiving the sea,

whose waters accuse his wealth of injustice.

وشكاه بدرُ السماء إلى الأر

ض وقد بزَّ نورَه وجمالَهْ

The full moon of heaven complained of him to the earth,

for he had surpassed its light and beauty.

فحمى اللهُ مَن غدا البحرُ والبد

رُ معاً يطلبان منه الإقالَهْ

May God protect him whom sea and full moon

now jointly ask for release.

أيّ غمزٍ في الملك مذ لم تثقّف

ه ومذ لم تَرِشْ يداك نِبالَهْ

What weakness in kingship, since you no longer straighten it,

and your hands no longer feather its arrows!

لكفاه نقصاً رضاه بأن تب

عدَ عنه وقد دعاك كمالَهْ

It was defect enough that it let you depart

from it, when its own perfection had called you.

غبت عنه نجماً وغاب أخوك ال

بدرُ فالتيهُ سيرُهُ والضلالَهْ

You, a star, were absent from it, and so was your brother,

the full moon; its course is bewilderment and error.

ومتى البطشُ والدفاعُ إذا فا

رق جسمٌ يمينَه وشمالَهْ

How can there be force or defense when

a body has lost its right hand and its left?

خبط الملكُ بعدكم يخطب الأك

فاءَ للأمر والكفاةَ العالَهْ

Kingship floundered after you, seeking equals

for its tasks, and capable sustainers.

فإذا بالصدى الغَرورِ يلبّي

ه ورجع المنى يجيبُ سؤالَهْ

Only the deceptive echo answers it,

and the reverberation of wishes replies to its question.

فهو يستولد البطونَ العقيما

تِ ويسترفد الظنونَ المُحالَهْ

It seeks offspring from barren wombs,

and begs aid from impossible conjectures.

ويبيح السنَّ البنان إذا ما

غاله من ندامةٍ ما غالَهْ

It surrenders its fingertips to its teeth whenever

it is struck by whatever pangs of regret strike it.

زال عنه وعن وزارته ظل

لكُمُ وهو بالعقوق أزالَهْ

Your shade departed from it and its ministry;

it itself removed that shade through ingratitude.

بات يدعو طُلسَ الذئابِ إليها

ويُدبُّ العقاربَ الشوّالَهْ

It spent the night calling dusky wolves to it,

and setting loose scorpions with raised tails.

كلّهم أجنبون عنها وأنتم

زعماءٌ لها وآلٌ وآلَهْ

All of them are strangers to it, while you are

its leaders, its kin, and its support.

وإليكم مسيرها إن قضى الل

ه لها ما يسرها وقضى له

Its course leads to you, if God decrees

for it what gladdens it, and decrees likewise for him.

نُذُرٌ فيكُمُ وآياتُ صدقٍ

لِيَ فيها شريعةٌ ومقالَهْ

There are portents concerning you, and signs of truth,

in which I have a path and a declaration.

قول شعري فيها قَسامةُ صدقٍ

وحديثي فيها زكيّ العدالَهْ

My poetry's utterance concerning them is a truthful oath,

and my account of them is pure in its integrity.

ويَرَى بُعدَها العدا وأراها

رجعةَ الطرف سرعةً وعجالَهْ

Your enemies see it as distant, while I see it

as the blink of an eye, swift and immediate.

ما لعينيّ قُرّةٌ ولقلبي

غيرُكم إذ أرى غداً أطلالَهْ

My eyes have no delight, nor does my heart,

except in you, as I behold its traces tomorrow.

وأرى منك ملءَ سرجك ليثاً

يَرهَبُ الناسُ بطشَه وصِيالَهْ

I see in you a lion filling your saddle,

whose force and onslaught people fear.

تجتليك الأبصارُ بدراً مكانَ ال

تاج منه عِمامةٌ كالهالَهْ

Eyes behold you as a full moon; in place of a

crown, you wear a turban like a halo.

فوق طِرْفٍ مثلِ الغزالِ عليه

منك وجهٌ يُزرِي بوجه الغزالَهْ

Upon a noble steed like a gazelle, bearing

your face, which puts the sun's face to shame.

أمَلٌ من مفجَّعٍ بنواكم

كان منكم مبلَّغاً آمالَهْ

A hope from one bereaved by your departure,

who once attained his hopes through you.

ظلُّكم ربُعه الأنيسُ وأيا

مُكُمُ الصالحات تُصلح حالَهْ

Your shade is his familiar dwelling, and your

good days set his condition right.

سالِم الغيبِ فيكُمُ كلّما بد

دَل دهرٌ بأهله أبدالَهْ

True to you out of sight, whenever

time replaces its people with others;

واحد القلبِ واللسانِ سواءٌ

ما نواه في مدحكم أو قالَهْ

one in heart and tongue: alike

are what he intends in your praise and what he says.

ترك الناسَ جانباً وثنَى نح

وكُمُ عيسه وحطَّ رحالَهْ

He set other people aside and turned

his pale camels toward you, and laid down his baggage.

لا يبالي إذا بقيتم مَن الحا

بسُ عنه النوالَ أو مَن أنالَهْ

He cares not, so long as you remain, who

withholds gifts from him, or who bestows them.

فافترعها مع الملاحة والدل

لِ سليساً قيادُها وَصَّالَهْ

So take her maidenhood, with her beauty and coquetry,

her reins yielding, ever ready for union.

حفِظتكم فما أخلَّ لها رس

مٌ بكم تُنكر العلا إخلالَهْ

She has kept faith with you; no practice of hers

toward you has failed in a way that nobility would condemn.

هجرتْ قومَها إليك ومغنا

ها وزارتك بَرزةً مختالَهْ

She left her people and her dwelling for you,

and visited you openly, with a proud gait.

لم تخف جانبَ المحُول من الأر

ض ولم تخشَ في السُّرى أهوالَهْ

She feared no barren stretch of land,

nor dreaded its terrors on the night journey.

يصحب المهرجانُ منها جمالاً

يقتفي إثره ويحذو مثالَهْ

The Mihrjan festival accompanies a beauty of hers,

following its footsteps and emulating its example.

ويَكُرَّانِ يطرُقانِك ما قا

مت بنعمانَ بانةٌ أو ضالَهْ

And both return to visit you, so long as

a ban-tree or a wild lote-tree stands at Nuʿman.