بين النقا فثنية الحجر — Mihyar Al Daylami

بين النَّقا فَثَنيَّةِ الحِجْرِ

سمراءُ تُرقَبُ بالقنا السُّمرِ

Between al-Naqa and the pass of al-Hijr,

A tawny beauty is guarded by brown spears.

رصفَتْ قلائدَها بما سفكتْ

من فيضِ دمعٍ أو دمٍ هَدْرِ

She strung her necklaces with what she shed

From a flood of tears or blood spilled unavenged.

ماشئتِ من حَبِّ القلوب أو ال

أجفان في بيضٍ وفي حُمرِ

Whatever you wish of beads from hearts or

Eyelids, in white and in red.

نزَلتْ مِنىً أُولَى ثلاثِ مِنىً

فقضت نجيزة ليلة النَّفْرِ

She alighted at Mina on the first of its three days,

And fulfilled her promise on the night of departure.

وجلَتْ لأربع عشرة قمراً

والشهرُ ما أوفَى على العَشْرِ

And unveiled a moon of fourteen nights,

Though the month had not gone beyond ten.

تَرمِي الجِمارَ وبين أضلعنا

غرضٌ لها ترميه بالجمرِ

She casts the ritual pebbles, while between our ribs

Lies a target she pelts with embers.

من لي على عَطْلَى بغانيةٍ

شبَّت وشِبْتُ وعمرُها عُمري

Who will win me an unadorned beauty,

Who blossomed while I grew gray, though her age is mine?

لم تَنوِ في قَسَمٍ تَحِلَّتَهُ

إلا إذا حلفتْ على الهَجرِ

She never intended release from an oath

Except when she swore to forsake me.

قالت وليمت في ضنا جسدي

طَرْفي علَى إسقامه عُذري

She said, reproached for my body's wasting:

"My glance is my excuse for making him ill."

واستُسقِيَتْ لظَمايَ ريقَتها

فاستشهدتْ بالآي في الخمرِ

And when her saliva was sought to slake my thirst,

She cited the scriptural verses concerning wine.

وتقول للعذّالِ مُغضبَةً

شيَّبتُه من حيثُ لا يدري

And angrily she tells the reproachers:

"I made him gray without his knowing.

قبَّلتُ عصياناً عوارضَه

عمداً فأعدى شَعرَهُ ثَغري

Defiantly I kissed his cheeks,

Deliberately; my mouth passed its whiteness to his hair."

وأَخٍ مع السّراء من عُدَدِي

وعليّ في الضَّراء والشرِّ

And a brother, among my resources in prosperity,

Yet against me in hardship and misfortune.

تطوِي حشاه على تبسُّمِهِ

أضلاعَ مُشرَجَةٍ على الغِمرِ

Despite his smile, his innards are enclosed

By ribs tightly clasped over rancor.

مولاي والأحداثُ مغمَدةٌ

فإذا انتُضِينَ فَرَى كما تَفْرى

My patron while calamities are sheathed,

But when they are drawn, he cuts as they cut.

تَعِبٌ بحفظ هَناتِ مَيسَرَتي

حتى يعدِّدَها على العُسرِ

He wearies himself preserving my faults in prosperity,

To count them against me in hardship.

الدهرُ ألْينُ منه لي كنفاً

لو كان يتركني مع الدهرِ

Time is gentler to me in its shelter than he,

If only he would leave me alone with time.

ومغَيِّمِ المعروف يخدعني

إيماضُ واضحتيهِ بالبِشرِ

And one whose bounty is clouded—what deceives me

Is his two gleaming teeth flashing in a smile.

سكَنَ اليفاعَ وشبَّ مَوقِدَه

ناراً يُغرُّ بها ولا يَقْري

He dwells on the heights and kindles his hearth

With a fire that deceives, while he offers no hospitality.

ذي فطنةٍ في الشكر راغبةٍ

وغباوةٍ بجوالب الشكرِ

Clever and eager when it comes to receiving thanks,

But foolish about the deeds that earn thanks.

فإذا مدحتُ مدحتُ ماطرةً

وإذا عصرتُ عصرتُ من صخرِ

When I praise him, I praise a rain-bearing cloud;

But when I squeeze, I squeeze from rock.

لا طاب نفساً بالنوالِ ولا

مخَضَ المودةَ زُبدةَ الصَّدرِ

He neither gives with a willing heart, nor

Churns affection to yield the butter of his breast.

وأرادني من غير ثروتِهِ

أن أستكين لذلَّة الفقرِ

He wanted me, denied his wealth,

To submit to poverty's humiliation.

ينجو بِعرضي أن يضام له

عَرْضُ الفلاةِ وغضبةُ الحُرِّ

My honor is saved from being wronged for his sake by

The desert's breadth and the free man's anger,

وتنجُّزُ الأيّام ما وعدتْ

في مثله وعواقبُ الصبرِ

And days fulfilling what they have promised

Concerning his like, and the fruits of patience.

ومؤيّد السلطان عاليةً

يَدُه بتأييدي وفي نصري

And Mu'ayyad al-Sultan, his hand held high

To strengthen me and to support me.

لو شئتُ فُتُّ سُرَى النجوم به

وخَفِيت عن ألحاظها الزُّهرِ

If I wished, through him I would outstrip the stars' night-course

And vanish from their shining glances.

ولبلَّغَتْنِي المجدَ سابحةٌ

بالظَّهرِ ليست من بني الظهرِ

And a swimmer would carry me to glory,

On her back, though not of the race of riding beasts.

ترتاح للضَّحضاح خائضةً

وتكُدُّ بالمتعمِّقِ الغَمرِ

She delights in wading through the shallows,

And strains through the deep, engulfing water.

تجري الرياح على مشيئتها

فتُخالُ طائرةً بما تجري

The winds run at her bidding,

And she is thought to fly, so swiftly does she run.

وإذا شراعاها لها نُشِرَا

خفقَتْ بقادِمتيْن من نَسْرِ

And when her two sails are unfurled,

She flutters with an eagle's two leading wing-feathers.

في جانبٍ لينٌ يُدَفّعُها

وخِطارُها في جانبٍ وَعْرِ

A gentle force on one side drives her onward,

While her swaying is on a rough side.

يحدو المطيَّ الزاجرون له

وتساقُ بالتهليل والذِّكْرِ

Drivers chant their riding beasts toward him,

And she is driven with proclamations of God's oneness and remembrance.

من لي بقلبٍ فوقها ذَكَرٍ

مُصْغٍ لعذلي تابعٍ أمري

Who will give me, aboard her, a manly heart,

Listening to my reproaches and obeying my command?

قالوا الشجاعةَ إنّه غَرَرٌ

متقاربُ الميقاتِ والقدْرِ

They said: "Courage! It is a perilous venture,

Brief in both duration and extent:

يومان في لُجٍّ فإن فَضُلا

بزيادةٍ فبليلة العِبْرِ

Two days on the deep; if they run longer,

The addition is a night of crossing."

هيهات منّي ساحلٌ يَبِسٌ

والبحرُ يُفضي بي إلى البحرِ

Far from me is any dry shore,

As the sea leads me onward to the sea.

القصدُ والمقصودُ من شَبَهٌ

في الجود أو حدٌّ من الغَزْرِ

The journey and the one I seek share a likeness

In generosity, or a measure of abundance.

ما أنَّ إلا أنَّ ذا أجِنٌ

مِلحٌ وذاك زلالةُ القَطْرِ

There is only this difference: this one is stagnant,

Salty, while that is the clear, sweet water of rain.

جارَى الملوكَ فبذَّهم ملك

سبق القوارحَ في سِني مُهرِ

A king vied with kings and surpassed them,

Outrunning full-grown horses while still a foal in years.

وأَرَى بني الستين عجزَهُمُ

في الرأي وهو ابنُ اثنَتَيْ عَشْرِ

He showed men of sixty their inability

In judgment, though he was twelve years old.

لا طارفُ النعماءِ منزعجٌ

فيها ولا مستحدثُ الفخرِ

No newcomer to prosperity, ill at ease

Amid it, nor newly possessed of glory.

من وارثي العلياء ما اغتصبوا

مجداً ولا ملكوه بالقهرِ

One of the heirs of eminence: they never seized

Glory, nor possessed it through coercion.

أرباب بيتِ مكارمٍ عقدوا

أطنابَه بأوائل الدهرِ

Masters of a house of noble deeds, they fastened

Its tent-ropes in the earliest days of time.

ضربوا على الدُّوَل استهامَهُمُ

وتقاسموا بالنَّهْي والأمرِ

They cast their lots for realms,

And shared out prohibition and command.

في كلّ أفْقٍ منهُمُ عَلَمٌ

مَرعَى العفاةِ وسَدَّةُ الثَّغْرِ

In every horizon one of them is a standard,

A pasture for supplicants and a bulwark of the frontier.

ابناء مُكْرَمَ وهي مَعرِفةٌ

نصروا اسمها بإهانة الوفرِ

The sons of Mukram—a name well known—

Upheld its name by holding wealth cheap.

قَطَنوا وسار عطاؤهم شَبَهاً

بالبحر قامَ وملْكُهُ يسري

They stayed at home while their gifts traveled, resembling

The sea, standing still while its riches flow abroad.

في كلّ دارٍ من مواهبهم

أثرُ الحيا في البلدة القفرِ

In every home, from their gifts,

Is rain's trace upon a barren land.

وملكتَ يا ذا المجد غايتَهم

ما للبِهامِ فضيلة الغُرِّ

And you, lord of glory, attained their utmost height;

Unblazed horses lack the distinction of white-blazed ones.

زيَّدتهم شرفاً وبعضُهُمُ

لأبيه مثلُ الواوِ في عمرو

You increased their honor, while some of them

Are to their fathers like the silent waw in 'Amr.

سدُّوا بك الغاراتِ منفرداً

فملأتَ صفَّ الجحفلِ المَجْرِ

With you alone, they checked the raids,

For you filled the rank of a vast army.

ودجا ظلامُ الرأي بينهُمُ

فوَضَحتَ فيه بطلعةِ الفجرِ

And the darkness of counsel deepened among them,

But you shone in it with the rising of dawn.

وأبوك يومَ البصرةِ اعترفت

قِمَمُ العدا لسيوفه النُّكرِ

And your father, on the day of Basra, saw submission

From his foes' heads to his fearsome swords.

ألقى عصاً من عزمةٍ بَتَرتْ

آياتُها حدَّ الظُّبَا البُتْرِ

He cast a staff of resolve that severed,

With its signs, the edge of cutting sword-blades.

لقَفَتْ على الكَرجيِّ ما أَفكتْ

كفَّاه من كيدٍ ومن مَكْرِ

Against al-Karaji it swallowed what was falsely contrived

By his two hands of guile and cunning.

فمضى يخيِّر نفسَه خَوَراً

ذلَّيْن من قَتْل ومن أسرِ

So, in cowardice, he went on choosing for himself

Between two humiliations: death and captivity.

يجدُ الفِرارَ أحبَّ عاجلةً

لو كُفَّ غربُ الموتِ بالفَرِّ

He finds flight more welcome for the moment,

If flight could blunt death's edge.

ورأت عُمانُ وأهلُها بك ما

أغنى الفقيرَ وأمّنَ المثرى

And Oman and its people saw through you what

Enriched the poor and made the wealthy safe.

صارت بجودك وهي موحشةٌ

أُنسَ الوفودِ وقِبلةَ السَّفْرِ

Through your generosity, though once desolate, it became

The solace of delegations and the travelers' qibla.

يفديك مبتهجٌ بنعمته

أسيانُ في المعروف والبِّرِ

Let one rejoicing in his blessings ransom you—

One sorrowful over kindness and benevolence.

ألهاه طيبُ المالِ يُحرِزُهُ

عن طيبِ ما أحرزتَ من ذِكْرِ

The sweetness of the wealth he secures distracted him

From the sweetness of the renown you have secured.

يبغي عِثارَك وهو في تعبٍ

كالليل طالبُ عثرةِ البدرِ

He seeks your stumbling, exhausting himself,

Like the night seeking the full moon's stumble.

قد قلتُ لما عقَّ دع مِدَحي

زينُ الكفاةِ أبرُّ بالشِّعرِ

I said, when he broke faith: "Leave my praises;

Zayn al-Kufat is kinder to poetry.

اُتركْ مقاماتِ العلاء له

متأخِّراً فالصدرُ للصدرِ

Leave the stations of eminence to him,

Remaining behind: the foremost seat is for the foremost man."

يا نازحاً ورجاءُ نعمتهِ

منّي مكانَ السَّحْرِ والنَّحرِ

O distant one, the hope of whose bounty

Occupies in me the place of lungs and breast,

هل أنت قاضٍ فِيَّ نذرَك لي

فلقد قضت فيك المنى نذري

Will you fulfill toward me the vow you made me?

For hopes through you have indeed fulfilled my vow.

أيّامَ لي وحدي الوفاء وكل

لِ الناسِ من نكثٍ ومن غدر

In those days, fidelity was mine alone, and all

That others had was broken pledges and treachery.

وأرى نداك اليوم في نفرٍ

لم يُشرَكوا في ذلك العصرِ

And today I see your bounty among men

Who had no share in that earlier time.

اُردد يدي ملأى وحاش لمن

يعتامُ جودَك من يدٍ صِفْرِ

Send my hand back full; far be it from one

Who chooses your bounty to have an empty hand.

واعطفْ عليَّ كما صددتَ أَذُقْ

طعميك من حُلوٍ ومن مُرِّ

Turn toward me, as you turned away, so I may taste

Both your flavors, the sweet and the bitter.

والبسْ من النعماء سابغةً

لا تدَّريها أسهمُ الدهرِ

And wear a full-length garment of blessings

That the arrows of time cannot strike.

تَعمَى النوائبُ عن تأمُّلها

وتُطيلُ فيها نَومةَ السُّكرِ

Calamities are blind to seeing it,

And within it prolong their drunken sleep.

مهما تَعُدْ خَلَقاً فجِدَّتها

تزداد بالتقليبِ والنشرِ

Whenever it becomes threadbare, its freshness

Increases as it is turned and unfolded.

واسمعْ أَزُرْكَ بكلّ مالئةٍ

عينَ الضجيع خريدةٍ بِكْرِ

And listen: I shall visit you with each one that fills

A bedfellow's eye—a secluded, untouched maiden.

نَسْجُ القريحةِ ثوبُ زينتها

وحُلِيُّها من صنعة الفكرِ

The weave of poetic talent is her robe of adornment,

And her jewels are fashioned by thought.

من سحر بابلَ نفثُ عُقدَتِها

سارٍ وبابلُ منبِتُ السِّحرِ

The breath upon her knot comes from Babylon's magic,

Spreading abroad—Babylon is magic's birthplace.

وكأنما ساقَ التِّجارُ بها

لك من صُحَارَ لطيمةَ العطرِ

As though merchants had brought with her

For you, from Suhar, a caravan of perfume.

تُمسي لها الآذانُ آذنةً

ولوَ اَنَّهنّ حُجبنَ بالوَقْرِ

Ears become attentive to her,

Even were they veiled with deafness,

حتى أراك وأخمَصاك معاً

قُرطانِ للعَيّوق والنَّسرِ

Until I see you, the arches of your two feet together

As earrings for al-'Ayyuq and al-Nasr.

هذي الهَدِيُّ عليَّ جَلْوَتُها

وعليكم الإنصافُ في المَهرِ

This is the bride; her unveiling is my charge,

And you must be fair in the bridal payment.