ردوا لها أيامها بالغميم — Mihyar Al Daylami

رُدّوا لها أيّامَها بالغميمْ

إن كان من بعدِ شقاءٍ نعيمْ

Restore to them their days at al-Ghamim,

if bliss can follow hardship.

وافرجوا عن طُرقُات الحمى

لها عن المعوجِّ والمستقيمْ

Clear the sanctuary's pathways

for them, the crooked and the straight.

تنفُضها ثم قضَى ما قضى ال

وخدُ على أثباجها والرسيمْ

They scour them there; what has been wrought was wrought by the—

swift pace upon their backs, and the steady trot.

فثَمّ أدراجُ مَطافيلِها

ومنزلُ الأينُقِ تحت القرومْ

For there lie the tracks of their nursing dams,

and the she-camels' resting place beneath the mighty stallions;

وحيثُ جَمَّ الماءَ واستُسمنت

غواربٌ جُمٌّ برعِي الجَميمْ

and where water brimmed, and were fattened

many withers on lush young pasture.

رُدُّوا عن الأعناقِ أرسانَها

وكّرموها عن عِضاض الخطيمْ

Remove their halters from their necks,

and spare them the noseband's bite.

ولا تَدُلُّوها فقدّامَها

أدلّة الشوق وهادي الشميمْ

Do not guide them: ahead of them are

longing's guides, and scent to lead the way.

وفوقها كلّ أخي صبوة

إذا الصَّبا هبّت غذاه النسيمْ

On their backs is every man possessed by longing,

whom the breeze feeds when the east wind blows.

يرى بنجدٍ وبسكانه

ثروةَ ذي العُدم وبرءَ السقيمْ

He sees in Najd and its inhabitants

wealth for the destitute and healing for the sick.

قلوبُهم رِقٌّ لأهل الحمى

حيث النواصي حرةٌ والجسومْ

Their hearts are slaves to the sanctuary's people,

though their forelocks and bodies are free.

وكم بنجدٍ لك من قاتلٍ

لم يتحرَّجْ من مقام الأثيمْ

And how many a slayer have you in Najd

who never shrank from standing in a sinner's place!

وجارحٍ تكلُم ألحاظُهُ

وهي إذا شاء دواءُ الكلومْ

And many a wounder whose glances wound,

yet, if he wills, are medicine for wounds.

وموقفٍ بالنّعفِ تهفو به

سفاهةُ الحبّ بلبّ الحليمْ

And a halting place at al-Na'f, where

love's folly carries off the wise man's reason.

وأمِّ خَشْفٍ لو أحسَّتْ هوًى

عن ريمها لم تتعطَّفْ لريمْ

And a fawn's mother who, if she knew love,

would not turn from her own gazelle toward another.

وكاتمٍ يُغري بأسراره

في هُدُب الأجفانِ دمعٌ نمومْ

And a secret-keeper whose secrets are betrayed

by telltale tears at the fringes of his eyelids.

قضيّةٌ يكذِب أشهادُها

ويقبلُ الحاكمُ دعوى الغريمْ

A case whose witnesses lie,

while the judge accepts the adversary's claim.

تجتمع الأضدادُ حينا ولا

يجتمع الشاكي بها والرحيمْ

Opposites sometimes come together, but never

do the sufferer and the merciful meet within it.

حلَفتُ بالأُدمِ براها السُّرى

بَرْيَ المُدَى إلا الذَّمَا والأديمْ

I swore by the pale camels, pared thin by night travel,

as knives pare, leaving only life's last spark and hide.

طلائحٍ يأخذُ مجهودَها

رعَيُ المَوامِي واحتساءُ السمومْ

Exhausted beasts whose last strength is sapped

by grazing barren deserts and drinking the scorching wind.

كلُّ سَنامٍ حالقٍ حتّه ال

سيرُ وجنبٍ بالحوايا جليمْ

Every towering hump worn down by the—

journey, and each flank shorn by saddle-pads.

لولا ابنُ أيّوبَ وآباؤه

ما نهضتْ مُحصَنةٌ عن كريمْ

Were it not for Ibn Ayyub and his forefathers,

no well-guarded woman would have left a noble man.

قومٌ إذا ما احتجزوا بالحُبى

قالوا فكانوا شَرَقا للخصومْ

A people who, when they sit bound in knee-bands,

speak and become a choking draught to their opponents.

أو عُدَّ مجدُ الناس أطرافُهُ

وجنبه عدُّوهمُ في الصميم

Or, if human glory is reckoned by its outer edges

and flank, they are counted at its very core.

أو ركبوا الخيل إلى مأزق

تبدّلوا الهام بفُوس الشكيم

Or, if they ride their horses into battle's press,

they take heads in place of the bits' axe-heads.

بيضُ المجاني نورُ أوضاحهم

يشدخُ في وجه الزمانِ البهيمْ

White are their harvests; their bright faces' light

cleaves the face of pitch-dark time.

إن كوثروا سدُّوا مسَدَّ الحصا

أو فوخروا أغنَوا غَناء النجومْ

If matched in numbers, they fill the place of pebbles;

or matched in glory, they avail as stars do.

أو قَطَرتْ في المحلِ أيديهُمُ

بانت بها آثارُ بُخل الغيومْ

Or, if their hands rain down in drought,

they reveal the traces of the clouds' stinginess.

عندكَ منهم بأبي طالبٍ

ما وصفَ الحادثُ فضلَ القديمْ

In Abu Talib you have, from among them,

the new revealing the excellence of the old.

قامت بآثارهم عينهُ

وزاد والخمرةُ بنتُ الكرومْ

His very person upheld their legacy,

and surpassed it: wine is the daughter of the vines.

والمجدُ لا يُحرَزُ إلا إذا

رافدَ عزَّ النفس طيبُ الأرومْ

Glory cannot be won unless

noble roots support nobility of soul.

إلى عميد الرؤساء انبرتْ

تحتَ بني الحاجِ بناتُ العزيمْ

Toward ʿAmid al-Ruʾasaʾ they sped,

daughters of the mighty sire beneath thornwood's sons.

يطلبن حُرَّ الوجه حُلوَ القِرى

عشيرةَ الواحد مالَ العديمْ

They seek one noble of face, sweet in hospitality,

a clan for the solitary, wealth for the destitute;

أروعَ لا تُرهقه خُطّةٌ

يعثر بالمقعد فيها المقيمْ

a splendid man whom no predicament overcomes,

though the stay-at-home stumbles in it at his seat.

ولا تُرى همّتُه في العلا

تحطُّ فيها نازلاتُ الهمومْ

His ambition in the heights is never seen

with descending cares alighting upon it.

تنتظمُ الحزمَ سياساتُه

نظمَ كعُوب الرمح إلا الوُصومْ

His policies string together sound judgment

as spear-joints are strung, but without their flaws.

ذبَّ عن الدين بآرائه

فالدينُ من تدبيره في حريمْ

He defended the faith with his counsels,

so through his governance the faith stands in sanctuary.

وجاهدتْ عن خلفاء الهدى

خالصةً منه بقلبٍ سليمْ

They strove for the caliphs of guidance,

coming sincerely from him, with a sound heart.

هم نصبوهُ دون أيامهم

فانحلَّ عنها كلُّ خطبٍ جسيمْ

They set him as a shield before their days,

and every mighty calamity loosened its hold on them.

ذخيرة منه تواصَوا بها

خلَّفها ظاعنُهم للمقيمْ

A treasure in him they commended to one another,

the departing one bequeathing it to the one who remained.

وزارة موروثُها تالدٌ

والبدر للشمس وزيرٌ قديمْ

A vizierate of ancestral inheritance—

the full moon is the sun's minister of old.

مجلسه منها لآبائه

سيفاً فسيفاً يَنتضِي أو يَشيمْ

His seat in it belonged to his forefathers:

he draws or sheathes one sword after another.

أعشَبَ قومٌ بولاياتهم

والنصح يُرضيه برعي الهشيمْ

Some have grown lush through their governorships,

but honest service contents him with grazing dry stalks.

يخصّه الكاملُ من فضله

ومالُه مشترَكٌ للعمومْ

The fullness of his excellence is his alone,

while his wealth is shared by all.

ما عابه عصيان لُوّامه

والعيبُ في الجود على من يلومْ

Disobeying his reprovers has not disgraced him;

in generosity, the blame falls on whoever reproves.

يا من قصَرتُ العمرَ في ظله

ورفِده أرتعُ أو أستنيمْ

O you to whose shade I confined my life,

and in whose bounty I graze or rest at ease,

ورضتُ صَرفَ الدهر أولان لي

فلم أُبَلْ يجمحُ بي أو يقومْ

I tamed time's changing course—or it grew gentle to me—

so I cared not whether it bolted with me or stood still.

بحرُ أمانيَّ على مائه

يفهَقُ رِيًّا والأماني تحومْ

The sea of my wishes, upon its waters,

brims with refreshment, while wishes hover.

وعُروةٌ في الودّ ممسودةٌ

تحت يدي والودُّ حبلٌ رميمْ

And a firmly twisted bond of affection

is beneath my hand, while love is a rotting rope.

تلوَّن الناسُ بألوانهم

عليّ والتاثَ الصديقُ الحميمْ

People have put on their changing colors

toward me, and the dearest friend has turned perverse.

وكُدِّرتْ تلك الرَّكايا على

دَلوي فما أشربُ غيرَ الوخيمْ

Those wells have been muddied for

my bucket: I drink nothing but what sickens.

وأنتَ والسلطانُ ما نلتَه

موطَّأُ الظّهر سليسُ الحزيمْ

Yet you, with all the power you have attained,

are easy-backed and yielding at the girth.

وإن يكن صدٌّ يسوء الهوى

أو جفوةٌ تهتِك سِتر الكَتومْ

And should there be an aversion that wounds love,

or coldness that rends the secretive lover's veil,

أو يُقْذَ وقتٌ ثم يُجلَى القذى

فالجوّ لا يُمطِرُ حتى يغيمْ

or a moment be specked, then the speck cleared away—

the sky does not rain until it clouds over.

فابقَ أُزِرْكَ الباقياتِ التي

تُدَرَّج الأرضُ وليست تريمْ

So live on: I shall bring you lasting verses that,

though the earth is folded up, never depart.

ما وَسَمتْ عِرضاً على أنه

حلٍ و إلا جَمَّلَتْه الوُسُومْ

Never have they branded an honor, though it be

fair game, without their brands adorning it.

تحمِلُ منها كلَّ ريحانة

صبيحةَ النيروز يومَ القُدومْ

You bear from them every fragrant sprig

on Nowruz morning, the day of arrival.

كأنها تحفةُ طيفِ الكرى

بالحبّ أو نُخبةُ كأس النديمْ

As though they were a gift from a phantom of sleep,

with love, or the choicest draught of a companion's cup.

واجتلِها والودُّ إن أُمهِرتْ

أنفَسُ ما تُمنَحُ أو ما ترومْ

Unveil them as brides: love, if it be their dower,

is the most precious thing you are given or desire.

ودم وما أعطيتَ من نعمةٍ

لا أسأل الله سوى أن تدومْ

Live on, with every blessing you have been granted;

I ask God for nothing but that you endure.