لأية لبسة خلع الخلاعه — Mihyar Al Daylami

لأيّةِ لبسة خلعَ الخلاعَهْ

وكان عَصى العذول فلِمْ أطاعَهْ

For what garb did he cast off wantonness?

He had defied the reproacher; why then obey him?

تلثمَّ كالغمامة أعجبته

فشام خلالها برقاً فَراعهْ

He veiled his face like a cloud that pleased him;

then glimpsed lightning through it, and it startled him.

وغالى في ابتياع صِباً شرته ال

ليالي منه مرتخَصاً فباعهْ

And he paid dearly to buy youth, which the

nights bought cheaply from him, and he sold it.

قليلاً ما حملتَ عليه ودّاً

قليلاً مذ أحبّك ما أضاعهْ

Little affection have you borne him;

little of it has he squandered since he loved you.

نزلنا في بني ساسان دُوراً

بها تُسلَى بيوتُك في قُضاعهْ

We lodged in houses among the sons of Sasan,

where your homes in Quda'a are forgotten.

وعوَّض كلُّ يوم منك حولاً

يسرُّ فكان يومُ البين ساعهْ

Each day with you made up for a year,

bringing joy; the day of parting was an hour.

ألا يا صاحبي إن ناب خطبٌ

دفعت به فأحسِنْ بي دفاعهْ

Listen, my companion: if a calamity strikes,

and I am beset by it, ward it off well for me.

نشدتك والكرى بيد الليالي

إذا أهدته أسرعَتِ ارتجاعهْ

I adjure you—sleep lies in the nights' hands;

when they bestow it, they hasten to reclaim it—

أكان سوى الوزير بنا وقلنا

لماء المزن جُدْ إلا رباعهْ

was anyone but the vizier there for us, and did we bid

the clouds' water to be generous to any but his dwellings?

إليه صرفت عن ذا الناس نفسي

كما اعتزلت تألُّفَها القناعهْ

To him I turned my soul, away from these people,

as contentment had withdrawn from its companionship.

أقول لهمة لو قيل مُدّى

بباع النجم لم ترض ارتفاعهْ

I say to an ambition that, were it told, 'Stretch

to the star's arm-span,' would not be content with its height:

إذا ما الضيمُ رابكِ فاستجيري

ذَرَا سابورَ وانتجعي بقاعهْ

'If injustice troubles you, seek refuge in

Sabur's shelter, and seek pasture on his lands.

ثقي ولوَ اَنّ حاجتَكِ الثريا

إذا ما الليث مدّ لها ذراعهْ

Be confident, even if your desire were the Pleiades,

when the lion extends his arm toward it.'

فَدَى البخلاءُ والجبناءُ منهم

فتىً وصلَ السماحة بالشجاعهْ

May the misers and cowards among them be ransom for

a young man who united generosity with courage.

زكنتُ إليه ظنّاً صار حقاً

وكم وقفتْ براكبها الطماعهْ

I held a surmise about him that proved true;

and how often has greed brought its rider to a halt!

وزرتُ فقمتُ بين يدَيْ كريم

تحولُ قُوىً بحضرته الضراعهْ

And I visited, then stood before a generous man,

in whose presence humble supplication becomes strength.

صفا ماءً وزدتُ على الهوينا

صفاً ما رمتُ في أمرٍ خِداعهْ

His water ran clear, and gently I grew

clearer; in no matter did I seek to deceive him.

أقول لسائلي بك وهو ناءٍ

كأن لم يرضَ من خبرٍ سماعهْ

I tell one who asks me about you from afar,

as though merely hearing a report did not satisfy him:

أمامكَ مُلْك آل بويه فاسأل

بذاك الشمل من ولِيَ اجتماعهْ

Before you lies the realm of the house of Buwayh; ask

who oversaw the gathering of that company,

ومن لو أبصر الأعداءَ وحشاً

تعقّبه فصاد لهم سباعهْ

and who, were he to see the enemies as wild game,

would pursue it and hunt its beasts of prey for them;

ولو زحموا ثبيرا في مضيقٍ

ألان على مناكبهم صِراعهْ

and if they jostled Thabir in a narrow pass,

he would soften its wrestling against their shoulders.

لقد أُعطيتَ عدلَ الحقّ حتّى

لخلتك تقسمُ الدنيا المشاعهْ

Surely you have been granted true justice, so much so

that I thought you were apportioning the world held in common.

وما مِلكٌ يمد الرأيَ إلا

فتىً وصلتْ قناةُ الخطّ باعه

No king gives force to counsel except

a young man whose arm-span the spear-shaft of al-Khatt has extended.

ولا أولادك الأوضاحُ إلا

وفودُ الفجر أحرزت الصداعهْ

Nor are your radiant children anything but

dawn's envoys, who have attained boldness.

هو البيت اطمأنّ المجدُ فيه

فألقى واستقرّ به مَتاعهْ

It is the house where glory found repose,

so it laid down its baggage and settled there.

ومن حسناتهم ذا اليوم عيدٌ

حووا سبقاً بفضلهم اختراعهْ

And among their good deeds is this day, a festival;

through their excellence, they won precedence in devising it.

وشرَّفهم بفضلكَ ألفَ عامٍ

فأمَّنَك المغذُّون انقطاعهْ

And it honored them, through your excellence, for a thousand years;

so those who hasten onward have assured you against its ending.

لعلك ناظرٌ في حالِ عبدٍ

بعين الرأي كيف ترى اصطناعهْ

Perhaps you will look into a servant's condition,

with judgment's eye: what do you think of taking him into favor?

أعِرْ لَسَني سماعَك كيف أشكو

وأُظلَمُ ذاك من حظي ضَياعهْ

Lend my eloquence your hearing: how can I complain

and yet be wronged? That is the wasting of my allotted share.

يؤخرني القريضُ لدى أناس

ركبت إلى مدائحهم شراعهْ

Poetry holds me back among people

whose praises I sang, riding its sail.

قصائدُ لو سبقت بهنّ حتى

أصيِّرهنّ في سفرٍ بضاعهْ

Poems—had I gone ahead with them until

I made them merchandise on a journey,

شريتُ جَمالَ يوسفَ وهو راضٍ

بهنّ وعدتُ فاستثنيتُ صاعهْ

I would have bought Joseph's beauty, with him content

with them, and returned, reserving his measuring cup.

وكم أغمدتها وسللتُ أخرى

برعتُ بها فلم تُجْدِ البراعهْ

And how often I have sheathed it and drawn another;

I excelled with it, yet excellence did no good.

بُخِستُ كتابةً وحُرمتُ شعراً

فهل من ثالثٍ لي من صِناعهْ

I was shortchanged in writing and denied my due in poetry;

is there a third craft for me?

أميل على الكراهة مع أناسٍ

كما مالت مع الريح اليراعهْ

I bend with certain people against my will,

as a reed bends with the wind.

وما إن كدَّني إلا ارتكاضٌ

على رزقٍ يجيء بلا شفاعهْ

And nothing has worn me out but racing

after a livelihood that comes without intercession.

فإن يُدرَكْ فأنت له وإلا

فليس عليَّ إلا الاستطاعهْ

If it can be attained, you are equal to it; otherwise,

nothing is required of me beyond what I can do.