قل للزمان صلحا — Mihyar Al Daylami

قُلْ للزمان صُلْحا

قد عاد ليلي صُبحا

Say to Time, 'A truce!'

My night has become morning.

جادَ فزار قمرٌ

كان لَوَى وَشحّا

A moon grew generous and visited,

having once delayed and withheld itself.

يلبَس جِنحا من دجى ال

ليل وينضو جِنحا

It dons a wing of the darkness of

night, and sheds another wing.

فَرَدَّ ريحاً ناشقا

كاظمةً والسَّفحا

It sent back a breeze, breathing in

Kazimah and al-Safh.

كأنّ فأرَ تاجرٍ

أنحَى عليها ذبحا

As though a merchant's musk-pods

had been set upon and slit open,

يبعثُ منها بُرْدُه

مع النسيم نَفحا

its cloak sends forth from them

a fragrant waft with the breeze.

غلَّس شوقاً وأصا

ب فُرصةً فأضحى

It came before dawn in longing and seized

an opportunity, then stayed into morning.

طال به الليلُ نعي

ماً والنهارُ سَبْحا

The night grew long with it in bliss,

and the day in carefree roaming.

يا لَسَقامِ آملٍ

بَرَاً به وصَحَّا

O, the sickness of one who hopes,

who through it recovered and grew well!

ورشفةٍ كانت على

نارِ حشاي نَضْحا

And a sip that fell upon

my breast's fire like a sprinkling.

رشّ الغليلَ بَرْدُها

وبلَّ ذاك البَرْحا

Its coolness sprinkled my burning thirst

and moistened that anguish.

كانت سِبارَ كبِدي

وكان شوقي جُرحا

It was a probe into my liver,

while my longing was a wound.

سل ظبية الوادي تَلُ

سُّ بانَهُ والطَّلْحا

Ask the valley's gazelle, nibbling

its moringa and acacia trees:

لها بنعمانَ طَلاً

تَلوِي عليه الكَشْحا

She has a fawn at Nu'man,

over which she bends her flank.

أأنتِ أم ظمياءُ زُر

رتِ لاغبين طُلْحا

Was it you, or Zamya, who visited

weary, exhausted travelers?

تَوسَّدوا مَناسماً

ورُكُباتٍ قُرْحا

They pillowed their heads on camel footpads

and sore knees.

أم جئتِنا بسِحرِها

تلفّتاً ولَمحا

Or did you bring us her enchantment

in your turns and glances?

قاربتِها ملاحة

وفَضَحتْكِ مِلْحا

You approached her in beauty,

but she put you to shame with her charms.

يا ابنةَ أمّ البدر يا

أختَ نجومِ البَطحا

O daughter of the moon's mother, O

sister of the stars of al-Batha!

إِساءةً ومَللاً

أزدْ أسىً وصفحا

More ill-treatment and weariness—

I grow in grief and forgiveness.

لَحَا عليكِ حاسدٌ

وحيثُ رُدَّ لَحَّا

An envious man railed against you,

and when rebuffed, persisted.

حُبُّكِ خَرْقٌ لا أرى

له الملامَ نَصْحا

Loving you is recklessness; I do not deem

reproach for it good counsel.

أنكَرَتِ ابتسامَ أيّ

امي وكنَّ كُلْحا

She found it strange that my

days were smiling, when they had been grim.

وأبصرتْ جِدّي غداً

فكاهةً ومَزحا

And saw my earnestness become

merriment and jest.

وما أحسّتْ أنّ رب

عَ الهمِّ قد أمَحَّا

Yet she did not realize that the abode

of sorrow had vanished,

وأعذبَ الشِّربُ الذي

كان الأُجَاجَ المِلْحا

and the draught had grown sweet

that once was bitter and briny.

أضحت خُطا البين ال

ىَّ باللقاء تُمحَى

The footsteps of parting toward

me are now erased by reunion.

وعاد بالمهذَّبِ ال

دهرُ البخيلُ سَمْحا

And through al-Muhadhdhab,

miserly Time has grown generous again.

أهلاً وقد مات الحيا

حتى أمات السَّرحا

Welcome, when the rain had died

until it killed the grazing herds,

وكَشَرَتْ دُرْداً سنو

نَ أربَعٌ وقُلْحا

and years had scowled, toothless—

four years, with yellow-stained teeth.

وعاد ضرعُ الناب من

تحت العصابِ قَرْحا

The old she-camel's udder had turned,

beneath its binding, into a sore.

بغرَّةٍ تزيدُ في

ليلِ الجدوب قَدْحا

To a radiant brow that strikes more

sparks in the night of drought,

وبِيَدٍ يُعدى ندا

ها اللَّحِزينَ الرَّسْخا

and to a hand whose bounty infects

even deeply entrenched misers.

إن قَطَرَتْ فوابلاً

أو هَطَلتْ فسحَّا

If it drips, then in heavy showers;

if it pours, then in torrents.

ميمونةٍ ما مسحَتْ

بساطَ أرضٍ مَسحا

Blessed: never has it brushed

the carpet of any land

إلاّ كستْ غدائراً

هامَ رباها الجُلْحا

without clothing with tresses

the bald crowns of its hills.

لا تعجبوا إن أصفرتْ

ومُوِّلَ الأشِحَّا

Do not marvel if it is left empty

while the tight-fisted are enriched.

هل يَسمنُ العُود يُش

ظَّى أبداً ويُلْحَى

Can a stick grow fat while it is splintered

forever, and stripped of bark?

لو أنها بحرٌ لأف

نَتْها الحقوقُ نَزْحا

Were it a sea, it would be exhausted

by rightful claims draining it dry.

ومرحباً بهنَّ أخ

لاقاً رِطابا سُمْحا

And welcome to those

supple, generous qualities.

إذا السجايا فَتَرتْ

عدنَ نشاوى مرْحا

When dispositions flag,

they return, drunk with delight.

أبلجُ زكّاه الندَى

فما يخاف جَرْحا

Radiant, made pure by generosity,

he fears no disparagement.

جهِدتَ يا عائبَهُ

فهل وجدتَ قَدْحا

You have labored, O his faultfinder—

but have you found a flaw?

تنحَّ عن مكانه

من العلا تنحَّا

Withdraw from his station

in the heights—withdraw!

يابن عليٍّ فُتمُّ ال

أشواطَ جُدْعاً قُرْحا

O son of Ali, you have outstripped

the courses, as colts and full-grown steeds.

علوتم الناسَ ترا

باً والنجومَ سَطحا

You rose above men, as though they were

dust, and the stars your roof.

لم تدَّعوا رِبابةً

للمجد تحوى قَدْحا

Never did you claim an arrow-case

for glory containing a gaming arrow,

إلا لكم فورَتُها

منحاً بها وسنحا

without its first winning cast being yours,

through gifts from it and favorable fortune.

طينةُ بيتٍ أرضُه

فوق السماء تُدحَى

The clay of a house whose earth

is spread out above the sky;

ودوحةٌ أفرط في

ها من أطال السَّرحا

and a great tree, in which

the long-roaming gaze exceeds all bounds,

بثُمْرِكم حاملةٌ

ولم تُهجَّنْ لَقْحا

bearing your fruit,

never debased by cross-pollination.

جُملةُ مجدٍ كنتُمُ

تفصيلَها والشَّرحا

A whole of glory: you were

its unfolding and its explanation.

كلُّ غلامٍ كافرٌ

تحت اللثامِ الصُّبحا

Each youth is one who hides

dawn beneath his face-veil.

يَفرَعُ من شَطاطِهِ

قبلَ الركوبِ الرُّمحا

Such is his height that he overtops

the spear even before mounting.

يرمي بعينيه طُمو

حاً في العلا وطرحا

He casts his eyes, aspiring

into the heights and ranging afar,

كما تَفعَّى أرقمٌ

بالرمل يُذكي اللمحا

like a speckled serpent coiling

in the sand, kindling its glance.

إذا أحسَّ نبأةً

كشَّ لها وفحَّا

If it senses a faint sound,

it rasps at it and hisses.

علِقتُكم تحت شنو

فِ الدهرِ بُلجاً قُرْحا

I clung to you under Time's

hostility, bright-browed and fully mature.

وبعتُ من بعتُ بكم

فعَبَّ بحرى رِبحا

I traded those I traded in exchange for you,

and my sea surged with profit.

زوّجتُ آمالي بكم

فوَلَدتْ لي النُّجحا

I wedded my hopes to you,

and they bore me success.

لولا هَناتٌ كالشِّرا

رِ يلتمعن لَفحا

Were it not for little faults like

sparks, flashing with scorching heat,

وغفلةٌ تُحرِق في

وجهِ الجمالِ القُبحا

and heedlessness that sears

ugliness into beauty's face,

وحاجةٌ تَحفِزني

يُضرَبُ عنها صفحا

and a need that spurs me on,

yet is brushed aside—

وكم غضبتُ ثم عد

تُ أستميح الصُّلحا

how often I grew angry, then

returned to beg for peace!

وشفَعتْ نفسي لكم

فحال عتبي مدحا

My soul interceded for you,

and my reproach became praise.

يا بدرُ هذي الشمسُ مه

داةٌ إليكَ نِكحا

O full moon, this sun is

offered to you in marriage.

ففز بها وقل لها

نصراً بكم وفتحا

So win her and say to her:

'Victory through you, and conquest!'

مَلكتَ بِلقيسَ بها

وما نَقلتَ الصَّرحا

Through her you have won Bilqis,

without moving the palace.

أقررتَها عَيناً وأع

ينُ الأعادي قَرْحى

You gladdened her eye, while

your enemies' eyes are sore.

واجتلِ نجماً مشرقاً

منها وصُبحاً صُبحا

And behold a shining star

from her, and dawn after dawn.

واذخرْ ثنائي لبني

ك كيمياء صَحَّا

And store my praise for your sons

as alchemy that has proved true.

أنظم منه لَهُمُ

قلائداً ووُشْحا

I string from it for them

necklaces and sashes.

يَخطِر فيها الحَضَ

رِيُّ بدوياً قُحَّا

In them the townsman struts

a Bedouin through and through.

يتلون منه ما تلوَ

ن خطباء فُصْحا

They recite from it whatever they recite,

as eloquent orators,

ما أرقص الأيكَ الحما

مُ طرباً وسَجحا

as long as doves make the groves dance

with rapture and gentle cooing,

وما جرى الصومُ وجا

ء الفطرُ يحدو الأضحى

and as long as the fast runs its course and

Eid al-Fitr comes, ushering in Eid al-Adha.