سل أبرق الحنان واحبس به — Mihyar Al Daylami

سل أبرَقَ الحَنّانِ واحبس به

أين ليالينا على الأبرقِ

Ask the stony ridge of al-Hannan, and halt there:

Where are our nights upon the ridge?

وكيف باناتٌ بسقط اللِّوى

ما لم يجُدْها الدمعُ لم تورقِ

And how fare the ben trees at Siqt al-Liwa?

Unless tears water them, they put forth no leaves.

هل حملَتْ لا حملَتْ بعدنا

عنك الصَّبا عَرْفاً لمستنشقِ

Has it carried—may it carry nothing—since our departure,

the east wind, fragrance from you for someone to breathe?

جدّدَ ما جدّدَ من لوعتي

أخذُ البلى من ربعك المخلقِ

What renewed so much of my anguish

was decay's encroachment upon your weathered dwelling.

لتبخل الأنواءُ أو فلتجدْ

عليك بالمنهمر المغدِقِ

Let the rain-bearing stars withhold, or let them lavish

upon you pouring, copious rain.

أغناك صوبُ الدمع عن مِنّة

أحملُها للمرعدِ المبرقِ

The downpour of tears has spared you a favor

I would owe to the thundering, flashing cloud.

دمعٌ على الخَيف جنى ما جنى

بكاءَ حسّان على جِلّقِ

Tears over al-Khayf have wrought what

Hassan's weeping over Jilliq wrought.

للّه رهن لك يومَ النقا

لولا وفاء الحبّ لم يَغلَقِ

God be praised for the pledge you held on the day at al-Naqa:

but for love's fidelity, it would not have been forfeited.

يا سائقَ الأظعان رِفقاً وإن

لم يُغنِ قولي للعسوفِ ارفُقِ

O driver of the departing litters, gently—even if

telling the harsh driver, 'Be gentle,' does no good.

أؤاخذ الحادي ونفسي جنَت

لو شئتُ لم أبك ولم أشتقِ

I blame the camel-chanter, though my own soul did wrong;

had I wished, I would neither weep nor yearn.

لولا زفيري خلف أجمالهم

ووخزُ أنفاسِيَ لم تَنسقِ

But for my sighing behind their camels,

and the goading of my breaths, they would not have moved in file.

يا غدرَ من لم أك من غدره

بخائف القلب ولا مشفقِ

O treachery of one whose treachery I never

feared at heart, nor apprehended!

ما لغريمي قادراً واجداً

يمطُلُ مطلَ الفاجر المملقِ

Why does my debtor, able and well supplied,

delay payment like an impoverished scoundrel?

وما على اللائم في حبّه

ما ضاع من حلمِيَ أو ما بقي

What concern is it of the one who blames my love

how much of my good sense is lost or remains?

أنفقتُ لبّي في الهوى طائعاً

والخلَف العاجلُ للمنفقِ

I spent my reason willingly on passion,

and swift recompense awaits the spender.

لا تبدؤا بالعذل صدري فما

أستنجدُ الماءَ على محرقي

Do not begin by reproaching my breast, for I do not

seek water's help against the one who burns me.

سمّيتَ لي نجداً على بعدها

يا ولَهَ المشئمِ بالمعرقِ

You named Najd to me, distant as it is—

how the Syria-bound man yearns for the Iraq-bound!

داوِ بها حبّي فما مهجتي

أوّلُ مخبولٍ بنجدٍ رُقِي

Treat my love with it; my soul is not

the first mad soul in Najd treated with charms.

ومنكرٍ شمطاءَ مَدّت إلى ال

خمسين يدلوها فلم تلحقِ

And many a man rejects the gray-haired one reaching toward

fifty, drawing her onward, yet she has not reached it.

جنَت شَطاطي وَجَنت ما جنتْ

من صدإٍ عمَّ على رونقي

She spoiled my youthful stature and wrought all she wrought

of rust spread over my luster.

لابدّ أن يُفتَقَ عن فجرها

وإن تمادت ليلةُ المغسِقِ

A breach must open to reveal her dawn,

though the darkener's night stretches on.

ما ضرّها خائنةً لو وفتْ

أو ضرّني لو كنتُ لم أعشقِ

What harm would it have done her, faithless as she is, to be true,

or me, had I never fallen in love?

كان مشيباً ضلّ عن نهجه

فدلَّه الحبُّ على مَفرِقي

It was grayness that had strayed from its course;

love showed it the way to the parting of my hair.

وموقظٍ هبَّ على غِرّةٍ

يطرقني ساعةَ لا مطرَقِ

And many a wakener sprang up when I was off guard,

knocking upon me at an hour when none should knock,

والنجمُ حيٌّ نبضُه راسبٌ

في لجّة الخضراء لم يغرقِ

while the star still lived, its pulse sunk deep

in the abyss of the green sky, undrowned.

قال انتبه للحظّ كم خفقة

على مِهاد الخامل المخفقِ

He said: 'Awake to fortune! How much dozing

on the bed of the obscure and unsuccessful!

حتّامَ تحويمٌ على عُسرةٍ

حلِّقْ إلى النَّسر بنا حَلِّقِ

How long will you circle above hardship?

Take us soaring to the Eagle—soar!'

قلتُ بغيري فتحرَّش لها

فالنهضة الخرقاءُ للأخرقِ

I said: 'Urge someone other than me toward it;

a reckless venture is for the reckless.

أما ترى المالَ وجمَّاتهِ

في قُلُبٍ تنهارُ بالمستقي

Do you not see wealth and its brimming pools

in wells that collapse upon the water-drawer?

يسوغ بالعين فمن رامه

بالفم قال المنعُ رِدْ تشرَقِ

It goes down easily through the eye; but whoever seeks it

through the mouth, denial tells him, "Drink, and choke!"

وما انتفاعي بحياً واسعٍ

تخفره ذاتُ جَداً ضيِّقِ

What good to me is ample rainfall

guarded by one whose bounty is scant?

لا مسَّ للحرمانِ عندي إذا

كنتُ من البُخَّال لم أُرزَقِ

I count it no deprivation if

I receive no provision from misers.

لا أجلب الرزقَ إذا لم يكن

يدرُّ من أكرم مسترزَقِ

I will not seek provision unless it

flows from the noblest provider.

قناعة أعتقَ عزِّي بها

عُنْقي وعبدُ الحرص لم يُعتَق

Contentment—through it my pride has freed

my neck, while greed's slave has not been freed.'

حلفتُ بالخضَّع أعناقها

تذرع بالواخد والمعنقِ

I swore by those whose necks bow low,

measuring the ground with long strides and swift trots,

كالسطر بعد السطر مخطوطة

من صفحة البيضِ على مَخرَقِ

like line after line inscribed

with the flat of gleaming swords upon a torn sheet.

ينصُّها السير على لاحبٍ

مثل صليفِ الجمَل الأورقِ

Travel drives them fast along a beaten road

like the neck-side of a gray camel.

تقدَحُ صُفَّاح الثرى كلّما

لاحكتِ الأعضاءَ بالأسؤقِ

They strike sparks from the earth's stone slabs whenever

their limbs brush against their shanks.

تسمحُ للجلمدِ أخفافُها

بكلّ ما يعرُقُ أو ينتقي

Their footpads yield to the rock

everything it strips of flesh or marrow.

يطلبن محجوباً عتيق البِنى

لولا دفاع اللّه لم يَعتُقِ

They seek a veiled house, ancient in its structure;

but for God's defense, it would not have grown ancient.

والأسود الملثوم أحوالَه

من كلّ أَوبٍ فِرقٌ تلتقي

And the kissed Black Stone—around it

bands from every quarter gather.

تَهوي بشُعْثٍ بُدِّلوا سُهمةً

بكلّ ضاحٍ لونُهُ مونقِ

They speed with disheveled men, given dusky pallor

in place of every bright, pleasing complexion.

زفّوا جِماماً وعَدُوها منىً

متى تضعْ أوزارَها تُحلَقِ

They bore their thick locks in procession, promising them Mina:

when they lay down their burdens, they will be shorn.

لولا ابنُ أيّوب وآباؤه

لم يُبضَع الفضلُ ولم ينفُقِ

Were it not for Ibn Ayyub and his forefathers,

excellence would neither be traded nor find a market,

ولا سرى مُلكُ بني هاشم

فألحقَ المغرِبَ بالمشرقِ

nor would the sovereignty of Banu Hashim have traveled

to join the West to the East.

لقد أوى منهم إلى هضبةٍ

تزِلُّ عنها قدمُ المرتقي

It has indeed found shelter with them on a height

from which a climber's foot slips.

هم عزّزوه ورَمَوا دونه

بكلّ مطرورِ الشَّبا مطلَقِ

They strengthened it, and in its defense hurled

every sharp-tipped, unleashed weapon.

يطيعه الموت إذا ما عصت

به يمينُ الخاطبِ المفلقِ

Death obeys it whenever

the eloquent suitor's right hand rebels with it.

نصرُ بني الأشهلِ من قبلهم

على بني الأحمرِ والأزرقِ

The aid of Banu al-Ashhal before their time,

against Banu al-Ahmar and al-Azraq.

وما وَهَى إلا غدا ممسكاً

منهم بثني الأحصفِ الأوثقِ

Whenever it weakened, it found itself holding fast

to their doubled, tightest-spun, strongest cord.

لا كرجالٍ قُلِّدوا حكمَه

فخلطوا الممذوق بالرِّيقِ

Not like men entrusted with its rule,

who mixed the watered-down with the pure:

من كلّ ناسٍ في غدٍ بعثَهُ

لم يرهب اللّه ولم يتّقِ

each forgetting his resurrection on the morrow,

neither fearing God nor guarding against sin.

باعَ هداه طائعاً عن يدٍ

يداً على التوفيق لم تُصفقِ

He sold his guidance willingly, by his own hand—

a hand that never clasped success.

يرتفق الأجرَ على دينه

لو كان حرّ الدِّين لم يرفقِ

He takes payment at his faith's expense;

were he free in faith, he would not profit.

حتى كفى اللّهُ فمُدَّت يدٌ

طُولَى يقي اللّهُ لها مَن تقي

Until God sufficed, and a hand was extended,

far-reaching: God protects for it those it protects.

دلّت وقامت في أبي طالب

شهادة المورق للمعرقِ

In Abu Talib, proof was given and borne:

the leafy branch's testimony to its deep-rooted stock.

شفت به الدولةَ بعد الصدى

جلجالةٌ أمُّ حياً مطبِقِ

Through him the state, after thirst, was healed

by a thundering cloud, mother of all-enveloping rain:

زَلاَلةٌ طيِّبةٌ ريحُها

ما قيل للساقي بها رقِّقِ

clear-flowing, sweet in scent,

whose cupbearer was never told, 'Dilute it.'

جاءت بمجنىً ماؤه مخصبٌ

أدرك بعد المحصبِ المصعقِ

It brought a harvest whose water nourishes growth,

ripening after the hail-pelting, thunderbolt-hurling cloud.

كانت على الفترة لم تُحتَسَبْ

مفتاحَ باب الفرَج المغلَقِ

It came in the lull, unlooked for,

as the key to the locked door of relief.

إن الإمامين به استرعيا

فتىً لغير الخير لم يُخلَقِ

The two imams appointed in him a guardian:

a youth created for nothing but good.

مُرّ القِلَى والسخطِ حلو الرضا

والوجه والأخلاقِ والمنطقِ

Bitter in aversion and anger, sweet in approval,

in face, in character, and in speech.

طال بكفٍّ رْطبةٍ عَفَّةٍ

مذ بُسطت للجود لم تُطبَقِ

He rose high with a moist, unsullied hand,

which, once opened for generosity, was never shut.

أغنتهما من قبل تجريبها

كالسيف يُعطَى العتقَ بالرونقِ

It satisfied them both before they ever tested it,

as a sword is granted nobility for its luster.

جَلتْ دُجَى الظلم له نُقبةٌ

بمثلها الظلماء لم تُفتَقِ

His piercing insight dispelled injustice's gloom;

no darkness had been cleft by its like.

فأدركاه غرضاً قطّ لم

ينبِضْ له الظنّ ولم يوفقِ

Thus both attained in him a goal at which never

had surmise loosed an arrow or struck home:

نصحاً كما شاء ورأياً متى

يقلْ بغيبٍ قولةً يصدُقِ

loyal counsel as desired, and judgment that, whenever

it spoke a word of the unseen, proved true.

فكم حشاً قرّت على أمنها

بعد افتراشِ الحذرِ المقلقِ

How many a heart rested in its safety

after bedding down upon unsettling fear!

لم تك يا بازلُ في حملها

مقطِّراً تظلَعُ بالأوسقِ

You were not, O mature camel, in bearing it,

a tethered follower, limping under loads,

ولا دخيلَ الظهر في صدرها

مدلساً بالنسب الملصَقِ

nor an outsider by descent in its foremost rank,

dissembling with a pasted-on pedigree.

لم تقتعدها رغبةً في اللُّها

ولم تخف ضيماً ولم تفرَقِ

You did not mount it in pursuit of largesse,

nor did you fear injustice or lose your courage.

أبوك من قبل امتطى دَستَها

سبْقاً وقال اقتَفِني والْحَقِ

Before you, your father mounted its seat,

taking the lead, and said, 'Follow my tracks and catch up.'

لطيمة ريحانُها لم يلق

بغيركم قطّ ولم يعبَقِ

A perfume caravan whose fragrance never clung

to any but you, nor lingered elsewhere.

ميراثها فيكم فمن رامها

يغصِبْ ذليلَ الغصبِ أو يسرقِ

Its inheritance is in your line; whoever seeks it

must usurp, abased by usurpation, or steal.

فارعَ بها حقك من روضةٍ

بأعين الروّادِ لم تُرمقِ

Graze there on your rightful share of a meadow

never surveyed by the eyes of scouts,

في سابغٍ من ظلها واسعٍ

وسائغٍ من مائها ريِّقِ

in its abundant, far-spreading shade,

and its pure, easily swallowed water.

تفوز بالمجذلِ منها ولل

حسَّاد حظُّ المكمَدِ المحنَقِ

You win what gladdens in it, while the

envious have the lot of the grief-stricken and enraged.

واسحب ذيولاً من كراماتها

لم تَبلَ بالسحب ولم تُخلقِ

Trail the skirts of its honors,

which never wear from dragging, nor grow threadbare.

كساك منها المدّ فضفاضةً

بغير أعطافك لم تلبُقِ

Its lavish bounty clothed you in a flowing robe

that fitted no shoulders but your own.

بان بك الجودُ على معشرٍ

كما تجلَّت شِية الأبلقِ

In you, generosity stood out among a people,

as a piebald horse's markings stand revealed.

أنت الذي لو لم تكن مطمعي

أفحمني اليأسُ فلم أنطقِ

You are the one: had you not been my hope,

despair would have silenced me, and I would not have spoken.

أعلقتني منك بمفتولةٍ

حصداءَ ما خاربها مَعلقي

You bound me to a tightly twisted cord from you,

firm-plaited, unspoiled by my clinging.

كلّ يدٍ تحرشني بالأذى

فأنت من محفارها مَنفَقي

Every hand that harasses me with harm:

you are my escape-burrow from the pit it digs.

في زمن يرشُقني كيدُه

ليس له غيريَ من مَرشَقِ

In an age whose guile pelts me,

with no target other than myself.

يرى خوافيَّ بما لا أرى

إذ كنت عن قادمتي أتّقي

It sees my hidden feathers in ways I cannot,

while I ward off danger from my foremost feather.

ذاك لأنّي بين أبنائه

لم آلَف الهُجْرَ ولم أخرَقِ

That is because, among its children,

I never took to foul speech, nor behaved rashly.

موحّدٌ لو نخلَتْ كفّهُ

عن مثليَ الغبراءَ لم تلحَقِ

I am unique: were its hand to sift

the dusty earth for my like, it would not find one.

وهو عدوّ الفضل مذ لم يزل

يكاثر الأحلَمَ بالأنزقِ

It has always been merit's enemy,

outnumbering the wisest with the rashest.

فابق فما مثلُك جوداً ولا

مثلي مليّاً بثناءٍ بَقي

Live on: none like you in generosity, nor

like me, rich in praise, remains.

واسعد بعيدين جديد العلى

ومُخلقِ في مُذهَبٍ مخلقِ

Rejoice in two festivals, one newly exalted,

and one timeworn, in gilded, perfumed dress.

فمسلم ينظره من علٍ

وكافر ذو ناظرٍ مطرِقِ

For a Muslim beholds it from on high,

and an unbeliever's gaze is lowered.

تصاحبا مع خُلفِ حاليهما

تصاحُبَ الموسِر والمخفِقِ

They keep company, though their states differ,

as the well-off keeps company with the impoverished.

يضمُّ إقبالُك شمليهما

فيُلحق المأسورَ بالمطلَقِ

Your prosperity unites their two companies,

joining the captive to the unfettered.

وانضُ ثيابَ الصوم عن عاتق

من كلّ وِزرٍ في غدٍ معتَقِ

Cast fasting's garments off a shoulder

freed tomorrow from every burden of sin.

وراعِ في الإمكان ما أغفلت

منّيَ عينُ المحرِجِ المرهِقِ

And heed, within your means, what was overlooked

in me by the eye of the harassing, overburdening one.

قد كان ريبٌ بك لو لم أكن

آخُذُ بالأحزم والأوثقِ

Doubt about you might have arisen, had I not

taken the most prudent and surest course.

وابنِ بها عذراءَ مولودةً

في الحِلّ لم تُسبَ ولم تُسرَقِ

And consummate marriage with her, a virgin born

in freedom, never taken captive or stolen.

ناشزة لولاك ما أُنكحتْ

وهي إذا طَلَّقْتَ لم تطلُقِ

Rebellious—without you she would never have been wed,

yet if you divorce her, she will not be divorced.

مسبوقة أخَّرها عصرُها

وهي إلى الإحسان لم تُسبَقِ

Preceded by others, delayed by her age,

yet never outstripped in excellence.

أَنبطْتُها من ثَغَبٍ ماؤُه

شريعةٌ قبليَ لم تُطرقِ

I drew her from a rock-pool whose water

is a watering-place no one before me had approached.