لو كنت تبلو غداة السفح أخباري — Mihyar Al Daylami

لو كنتَ تبلو غداة السفح أخباري

علمتَ أن ليس ما عَيَّرتَ بالعارِ

Had you examined my condition that morning at the hillside,

you would know that what you reproached was no disgrace:

شوقٌ إلى الوطن المحبوبِ جاذبَ أض

لاعي ودمعٌ جرى من فُرقة الجارِ

longing for the beloved homeland, tugging at my

ribs, and tears flowing at parting from a neighbor;

ووقفةٌ لم أكن فها بأوّل من

بان الخليطُ فداوى الوجدَ بالدارِ

and a vigil—I was not the first whose

companions left, who soothed longing with their dwelling.

ولمتَ في البرق زفْراتي فلو علمتْ

عيناكَ من أين ذاك البارقُ الساري

You blamed my sighs at the lightning; if only

your eyes knew whence that night-roaming flash came!

طارتْ شَرارتُه من جوّ كاظمةٍ

تحت الدجى بلُباناتي وأوطاري

Its spark flew from the skies of Kazima,

through the darkness, bearing my desires and wishes:

من كلِّ مبتسمٍ عن مثل وَمضتهِ

وذائبٍ ريقُه في مزنه الجاري

from every smiling mouth revealing the like of its flash,

and whose saliva melts into its streaming cloud;

وخافقٍ بفؤادي في حياً هَطِلٍ

خفوقَ شَعشاعِه من غير إضرارِ

and every flutter in my heart amid pouring rain,

like the flutter of its radiance, yet without harm;

وطائشٍ من لحاظٍ يومَ ذي سَلمٍ

ملكنَ وِردي ولم يملكن إصداري

and every dart from glances on the day at Dhu Salam,

which ruled my coming to water, but not my return.

رميتُ أحسَبُ أنّي في بني جُشَمٍ

فَرُدَّ سهمي ورامى مهجتي قاري

I shot, thinking I faced the sons of Jusham;

my arrow was turned back, and a Qarite shot at my heart.

هل بالديار على لومي ومعذرتي

عَدْوَى تقامُ على وجدي وتَذكاري

Is there at the dwellings, despite my blame and excuse,

a claim to be pressed against my yearning and remembrance?

أم أنت تعذُلُ فيما لا تزيد به

إلّا مداواةَ حَرّ النار بالنارِ

Or do you reproach me in a way that adds nothing

but treating the heat of fire with fire?

تنكَّرتْ أن رأت شيبي وقد حسبت

أيَّام عمري فصدت أمُّ عمّارِ

She grew estranged when she saw my gray hair, having counted

the days of my life; Umm Ammar turned away.

أما تريني ذَوى غصني وناحلَني

ظلِّي وراب الهوى صبري وإقصاري

Do you not see my branch withered, and myself rivaled in leanness

by my shadow, while my patience and restraint disquiet love?

وقُوربت خُطُواتي من هُنا وهُنا

فبُدِّلتْ أذرعٌ منها بأشبارِ

And my footsteps have been shortened this way and that,

their cubits exchanged for handspans;

مطرَّداً تَجتفيني العينُ راكدةً

عند الملوك رياحي بعدَ إعصارِ

an outcast, shunned by the eye, with winds becalmed

at kings' courts after a hurricane.

فما خضعتُ ولكن خانني زمني

ولا ذللتُ ولكن غاب أنصاري

I have not bowed; rather, my age betrayed me.

Nor was I humbled; my supporters were absent.

وقد أكون وما تُقضَى بُلَهنِيَةٌ

إلّا بمتعة آصالي وأسحاري

Once I was such that no life of ease was spent

save through the pleasure of my evenings and predawns.

موسَّعاً لي رواقُ الأنسِ قالصةً

عنّي ذلاذلُ أبوابٍ وأستارِ

The pavilion of fellowship was opened wide for me, and lifted

away from me were the trailing folds of door-hangings and curtains.

مع الوسائد أو فوق المضاجع إن

مُلَّتْ مجالسُ أُلّافٍ وسُمَّارِ

Among cushions or upon couches, when

gatherings of intimates and night-talkers grew tiresome.

أشرِي الموداتِ والأموالَ مقترحاً

منها الصفايا بأخلاقي وأشعاري

I purchased affections and wealth, choosing

their choicest portions with my character and poems.

أيامَ لي من بني عبد الرحيم حمَى

راعينَ حقَّ العلا دانينَ حُضَّارِ

In days when the sons of Abd al-Rahim were my refuge,

guarding nobility's due, near at hand and present,

مرفرِفين على حقّي بحفظهِمُ

رامين نحوي بأسماعٍ وأبصارِ

hovering over my rights with their protection,

directing hearing and sight toward me.

فاليومَ تنبِذني الأبوابُ مطَّرَحاً

نبذَ المُعَرَّةِ تحتَ الزِّفتِ والقارِ

Today the doors cast me out, discarded

as filth is cast beneath pitch and tar.

يُمَلُّ مدحي ولا يُصغَى لمعتبتي

ولا يراقَبُ تخويفي وإنذاري

My praise is wearisome; my reproach finds no listener,

nor are my threats and warnings heeded.

يُنقِّصُ الفضلُ مِيزاتي ويُصغرني

ما كان فيه إذا أُنصفتُ إكباري

Merit diminishes my distinctions; I am belittled

by what, if justice were done me, once exalted me.

هذا وهم بعدُ يرعوْني وإن شحَطوا

ويلحظوني على بُعدٍ من الدارِ

All this, though they still care for me, however far away,

and watch over me from their distant home.

عَلِقتُ باسمهِمُ فاستبقني ويفي

أني علقت بحبل غيرِ خوّارِ

I clung to their name, and it kept me alive; enough for me

that I have grasped a rope that never weakens—

بالأطهرين ثرىً والأطيبين ندىً

والأسمحين على عُسرٍ وإقتارِ

to those purest in soil and sweetest in bounty,

the most generous amid hardship and want,

والناصرين لما قالوا بما فعلوا

والفاتلين على شَزْرٍ وإمرارِ

who uphold their words with their deeds,

and twist their rope with crosswise turns and tight winding.

لا يعدَمُ الجارُ فيهم عِزَّ أُسرتِهِ

ولا يكون قراهم خجلةَ الجارِ

Among them, the neighbor never lacks his clan's might,

nor does their hospitality bring a neighbor shame.

ولا يردّون في صدر الحقوق إذا

توجَّهتْ بتساويفٍ وأعذارِ

They do not thrust back rightful claims, when

they approach, with postponements and excuses.

يأوي الطريدُ إليهم غيرَ مهتضَمٍ

ويرحل الضيفُ عنهم غيرَ مختارِ

The fugitive shelters with them unoppressed,

and a guest leaves them only against his will.

سريتُ منهم بشُهبٍ في دُجَى أملي

تضيءُ لي واهتدى ليلي بأقمارِ

I journeyed with shooting stars from them through my hopes' darkness,

lighting my way; moons guided my night.

صحبتهم والصِّبا رَيعانُ في ورقي

فما نَبَوا بِيَ حتّى حان إصفاري

I kept their company while youth flourished in my leaves,

and they never recoiled from me until my yellowing came.

مقرَّباً يُسحِبوني ذيلَ أنعمِهم

حتى ترى الناسَ يقتافون آثاري

Kept close to them, I was allowed to trail their favors' hem,

until you saw people following my footsteps.

حتى لوَ اَني أدعي باسم بعضِهمُ

لم ينبُ جهري عن الداعي وإسراري

So that, had I been called by one of their names,

neither my public nor private self would have belied the caller.

حَمَوا شبولاً حِمى سَرحي وعشتُ إلى

أن ذبَّ عنِّيَ منهم ضيغمٌ ضاري

As cubs they guarded my herds' refuge; I lived until

a fierce lion from among them defended me.

قضيت في شرف الدين الذي ضمِنتْ

لِيَ المنى ووقَى زجري وأطياري

I found fulfillment in Sharaf al-Din, through whom were secured

my wishes, and who warded off my bird-omens and auguries.

وحَرَّمتْ يدُه لحمي على زمني

وكنتُ منه لأنيابٍ وأظفارِ

His hand forbade my flesh to my age,

whose fangs and claws had held me as their prey.

أغرُّ قامت بقولي فيه معجزتي

في الفضل وانكشفت بالصدق أخباري

A radiant man: my words about him established my miracle

of excellence, and my accounts were revealed as true.

وسار باسمِيَ ما أرسلتُه مثلاً

في الأرض من كلّ بيتٍ فيه سيّارِ

My name traveled with what I sent forth as a proverb,

across the earth, in every far-ranging verse about him.

مبارَكٌ تطردُ اللأواءَ رؤيتُهُ

طردَ الظلام بزنَد البُلجَةِ الواري

Blessed, whose sight drives hardship away,

as darkness is driven off by daybreak's kindled firestick.

وزيرُ مُلْكٍ خَلتْ في عدل سيرته

صحيفةُ المُلكِ من إثمٍ وأوزارِ

A kingdom's vizier, through whose just conduct

the page of kingship was cleared of sin and burdens.

يزيِّن الحقَّ في عينيه منبِتُهُ

على نوازعِ عرقٍ فيه نَعّارِ

His lineage makes truth beautiful in his eyes,

through the stirrings of a throbbing ancestral vein.

شبَّت به الدولةُ الشمطاءُ وارتجعت

زمانَها بين إعراس وإعذارِ

Through him the gray-haired state grew young and regained

its youthful days, amid weddings and circumcision feasts.

وأقلع الدهرُ عمّا كان يثلِمُهُ

من عرشها بعد تصميم وإصرار

Time ceased from what it had been chipping away

from her throne, after stubborn resolve and persistence.

طوراً هشيماً تَلظَّى ثم يرفُلُ من

تدبيرهِ بين جنّاتٍ وأنهارِ

Once blazing tinder, it then walked in splendor, through

his governance, amid gardens and rivers.

يذُبُّ عنها وقد ريعت جوانبُها

برأيه المكتسِي أو سيفهِ العاري

He defends her, when her borders have been alarmed,

with his cloaked judgment or his naked sword.

تهفُو مراراً به غَمطاً لنعمتهِ

ثم تعودُ بحلوِ الصفح غفّار

Often she wrongs him, ungrateful for his favors,

then returns to sweet pardon from one ever forgiving.

فكم تموتُ ويُحييها برجعته

وكم تَعُقُّ أباها الخالقَ الباري

How often she dies, and he revives her by returning;

how often she defies her father, her maker and creator!

شِيمةُ لؤمٍ لها تُنسى إذا قُرِنتْ

منه بشيمةِ حرٍّ وابن أحرارِ

Her base character is forgotten when set

beside his—a free man's, the son of free men.

من طينةِ المُلك ملموماً على كرمٍ

لم تُنتحَتْ صخرةٌ منه بمنقارِ

From the clay of kingship, compacted in nobility,

no pickaxe has ever chipped a stone from him.

يهتزُّ فخراً بِعرضٍ لا يُلِمّ به

وَصْمُ القَنا وأديمٍ غيرِ عُوّارِ

He sways in pride, with honor untouched

by spears' blemishes, and a hide without a flaw.

بين وزيرٍ تغُصُّ الصدرَ جلستُهُ

يختال أو مَلِكٍ في الفرس جبّارِ

Among them, a vizier whose seated presence constricts the breast,

strutting proudly, or a mighty king among the Persians.

تقسَّموا الأرضَ يفتضُّون عُذرتَها

بعدلهم بين عُمّال وعُمّارِ

They divided the earth, deflowering its virgin soil,

through their justice, among governors and cultivators.

ورثتَهم سودَداً وازددت بينهُمُ

زيادةَ السيف بين الماءِ والنارِ

You inherited their lordliness and surpassed them,

as a sword grows finer between water and fire.

إن تخلُ من وجهك الزوراء مكرَهةً

فإنّ صدَّك عنها صدُّ مختارِ

Though al-Zawra is emptied of your face against her will,

your turning away from her is a freely chosen turning.

أو يُنضَ بعدَك عنها حسنُها فلها

بقربِ غيركِ أثوابٌ من العارِ

Or if her beauty is stripped from her after you,

another's nearness gives her garments of shame.

أمّا الديارُ فقفرٌ والقطينُ بها

يودُّ من قلقٍ لو أنه سارِي

As for the dwellings, they are deserted; their inhabitants

wish, in their restlessness, that they were traveling by night.

قد خضخض السَّجلُ جالَيْها فما يجد ال

ساقي سوى حمأةٍ ما بين أحجارِ

The bucket has churned both her banks; the water-drawer finds

nothing but black mud among stones.

وطار بالرزق عنها أجدلٌ علِقتْ

منه المنى بحديدِ الظُّفر عَقَّارِ

A hawk has flown off with her sustenance; hopes clung

to its iron-hard, maiming talons.

قامت بأذنابها أقدامُهم وهوت

رؤوسُها في هوى مستهدمٍ هاري

Their feet rose upon her tails, while down fell

her heads into a collapsing, crumbling abyss.

فالأرضُ مردودةٌ بالفَلس لو عُرِضَتْ

والمُلكُ يغلو لمبتاع بدينارِ

The land would be refused at a copper coin if offered,

and the kingdom would be dear to a buyer at a dinar.

وصاحبُ الأرض مملوكٌ يصرِّفُهُ

مجعجِعٌ بين نَهّاءٍ وأمَّارِ

The lord of the land is a slave, manipulated

by a blusterer, between one forbidding and one commanding.

حِلسُ العرينةِ خافٍ تحت لِبدتِهِ

ويكسَبُ الليثُ معْ سعيٍ وإصحارِ

A fixture of the den, hidden beneath his mane,

while the lion earns his keep through striving and open roaming.

مدبِّرٌ لعبت أيدٍ بدولته

مشلولةٌ بين إقبالٍ وإدبارِ

A ruler whose state has been toyed with by hands

paralyzed between advance and retreat.

يدعوك معترفاً بالحقّ فيك وما اس

تدناك مثلُ اعترافٍ بعدَ إنكارِ

He calls you, acknowledging your rightful worth; nothing

brings you near like acknowledgment after denial.

يا جارَهُ أمسِ قد لانت عريكتُهُ

فاعطف له وارعَ فيه حُرمةَ الجارِ

O his neighbor of yesterday, his temper has softened;

turn kindly toward him, and honor in him the neighbor's sacred claim.

وانهض لها نهضةَ الشاري ببطشته ال

كبرى وحاشا لك التمثيل بالشاري

Rise for her as al-Shari rose, with his

mighty onslaught—though far be it from you to be likened to al-Shari.

قد أعقم الرأيُ فاستدرك بقيَّتَها

منكَ برأيٍ وَلودِ البطن مِذكارِ

Counsel has grown barren; rescue what remains of her

with counsel of yours, fertile in womb and bearing sons.

فلم تزل وارياً في كلِّ مشكلةٍ

بقَدحِها جارياً في كلّ مِضمارِ

You have always struck fire in every difficulty,

kindling it, and run in every racecourse.

واملِلْ بجودك أهواءً موزَّعَةً

حتى تفيءَ لإذعانٍ وإقرارِ

Wear down divided inclinations with your generosity,

until they return to submission and acknowledgment.

واسعَ لمنتظرٍ آياتِ عَودِك لم

يغنم سوى الصبر من غَمٍّ وإنظارِ

And strive for one awaiting the signs of your return, who

has gained only patience from grief and waiting.

لا يشتكيك وإن طال الجفاءُ به

إلّا إليك بإخفاءٍ وإظهارِ

He complains of you, though estrangement has long afflicted him,

to none but you, in secret and in public.

لم يبقَ إلّا الذَّما منه وأحْسَبهُ

لليوم أو لغدٍ ميتاً بلا ثارِ

Only his last breath remains; I think him

dead today or tomorrow, with no avenger,

لولا عوائد من نعماك تنشُلني

وإن أتت في قبيلِ الطارق الطاري

were it not for recurring gifts from your bounty that lift me up,

though they come like an unexpected visitor in the night.

تزورني والنوى بيني وبينكُمُ

أهلاً بها من حفيٍّ بي وزَوَّارِ

They visit me while distance lies between me and you;

welcome to them, so solicitous of me and so ready to visit!

فجدّدوها مراعاةً فبي ظمأٌ

لو كان في البحر لم يُخْلَقْ بتيّارِ

Renew them in care for me: within me is a thirst—

were it in the sea, no surging current would have been made.

لُمُّوا كسوري فما في الأرض منقبةٌ

أعلى بصاحبها من جبر أكساري

Mend my fractures: no distinction on earth

raises its possessor higher than mending my brokenness.

اليَدُ منكم فلا تُلقوا أشاجِعَها

لفاصمٍ من يدِ العلياء بشّارِ

The hand is yours; do not surrender its knuckles

to a breaker who flays them from glory's hand.

وإن أَغِبْ عنكُمُ فالشعر يَذْكُرُني

وحسبُكم بالقوافي ربّ إذكارِ

If I am absent from you, poetry recalls me;

the rhymes suffice you—how many a reminder!

فاستجلِها يا عميد الدولتين فقد

وافى بها الشوقُ من عُونٍ وأبكارِ

Unveil them, O Pillar of the Two States, for

longing has brought them, matrons and maidens:

عرائساً أنت مولَى الناس خاطبُها

وبعلُها وأبوها عفوُ أفكاري

brides whose suitor you are, lord of mankind,

and whose husband; their father is my thoughts' spontaneous flow.

وانظر إليها وما قد أُعطيَتْ شرفَاً

مردَّداً بين أحماءٍ وأصهارِ

Look upon them, and the honor they have been given,

shared among husbands' kin and in-laws.

والمهرجان وعيد الفطر قد وَلِيَا

زفافَها بين صَوَّاغٍ وعطَّارِ

Mihragan and Eid al-Fitr have taken charge of

their bridal procession, between goldsmith and perfumer.

يومان للفُرس أو للعُرب بينهما

حظُّ السعادة مقسومٌ بمقدارِ

Two days, for Persians or for Arabs, between which

happiness's share is apportioned in due measure.

هذا بتاج أبيه عاصبٌ وعلى

هذا اختيالُ فتىً بالسيفِ خطَّارِ

One binds his father's crown about his head, while

the other has the swagger of a sword-brandishing youth.

تصاحَبا صحبةَ الخِلَّين واتفقا

سَلْماً ولم يذكرا أضغانَ ذي قارِ

They kept company like two intimate friends and agreed

in peace, recalling none of Dhu Qar's old rancors.

فالبسْهما بين عيشٍ ناعمٍ وتُقىً

وبين صومٍ تزكِّيه وإفطارِ

Wear them amid a life of comfort and piety,

between fasting you sanctify and breaking the fast,

ما طاف بالبيت ماحِي زَلّةٍ وسعى

شُعْثٌ أمامَ الصفا أنضاءُ أسفارِ

as long as one erasing a sin circles the House, and there hasten

before al-Safa the disheveled, worn thin by journeys.

تنصَّبوا لهجير الشمس وافترشوا

ليلَ السُّرَى بين أقتابٍ وأكوارِ

They exposed themselves to the scorching sun and made their bed

of the traveling night, among pack-saddles and camel saddles.

نصُّوا الركابَ بمصرٍ واحدٍ وهُمُ

شتَّى أباديدُ آفاقٍ وأمصارِ

They urged their mounts to a single city, though they were

scattered bands from many horizons and cities,

حتى أهلُّوا فلبَّوا حاسرين إلى ال

دَاعي مباذلَ أشعارٍ وأبشارِ

until they raised the sacred cry and answered, bareheaded, the

caller, in the humble garb of hair and skin.

وما جرى الدمُ في الوادي وقد نحروا

وسُربِلَ البيتُ من حُجْبٍ وأستارِ

And as long as blood flows in the valley when they sacrifice,

and the House is robed in coverings and curtains,

مخلَّد الملك تفضِي كلُّ شارقةٍ

إلى وفاقٍ لما تهوَى وإيثارِ

may your kingship endure, every sunrise leading

to accord with your wishes and favor for you.