تغرب فبالدار الحبية دار — Mihyar Al Daylami

تَغرَّبْ فبالدار الحبيةِ دارُ

وفُكَّ المطايا فالمُناخُ إِسارُ

Go abroad, for in the beloved abode there is a home.

And loose the mounts, for the halting-place is bondage.

ولا تسأل الأقدارَ عمّا تجرُّه

مخافةَ هُلكٍ والسلامةُ عارُ

Do not question fate about what it brings

for fear of destruction, when safety is disgrace.

إذا لم يَسعْها الأمنُ في عُقر دارِها

فخاطِرْ بها إنّ العلاءَ خِطارُ

If security cannot accommodate them in their own homeland,

risk them, for high achievement is a gamble.

أرى إبِلي تَعصِي الحُداةَ كأنما

بوازلُها تحتَ الحبالِ بِكارُ

I see my camels defying the drivers, as though

their mature beasts beneath the ropes were youngsters.

تَقامصُ من مسِّ الهوان جُنوبُها

كأنّ الأذى طردٌ لها وعَوارُ

Their flanks leap at the touch of humiliation,

as though injury were a goad and a disgrace to them.

تحَسَّى القذَى المنزورَ من ماءِ أهلِها

وتأبىَ النميرَ العِدَّ وهْو بحارُ

They sip their people's scant, murky water,

yet refuse pure, unfailing water, though it be seas.

ومذ علِمتْ أن الخَشاشَةَ ذلَّةٌ

ففي خَطْمها من أن تُخَشَّ نفَارُ

Since they learned that a nose-peg means abasement,

their muzzles recoil from being pegged.

لغيري قِرَى ألبانِها ولحومِها

ولاقحةٌ من أُدْمِها وحُوارُ

For others is the hospitality of their milk and flesh,

and a pregnant one among their pale camels, and a calf.

متى دبَّ ماءُ الضيم فيها فلم تعُدْ

مطىَّ قفار الأرض وهي قِفارُ

Whenever humiliation's water seeps into them, they cease to be

mounts for earth's deserts, though themselves lean and empty.

وإن لم تُناضِلْ من عقودِ نُسوعِها

نصولٌ نَعَى سيبَ اللِّصابِ تَبارُ

If blades do not fight from the knots of their girths,

ruin announces the death of the ravines' flowing bounty.

ظرَابُ الغضا من تحت أخفافها سَفاً

يطيشُ وأحقافُ الغويرِ حِفارُ

The ghada-grown hillocks beneath their feet are loose sand

flying about, and al-Ghuwayr's dunes are hollows.

كأنّ السياطَ يَقتلِعنَ إذا هوت

سفائنَ منها والسرابُ بِحارُ

It is as though the whips, when they fall, tear loose

ships from them, while the mirage is seas.

مُقامي على الزَّوراء وهي حبيبةٌ

مع الظُّلم غَبنٌ للعُلا وخَسارُ

My remaining in al-Zawra, beloved though she is,

amid oppression is a loss and a cheat to greatness.

وكم حَلَّةٍ مجفوَّةٍ ولها الهوى

وأُخرَى لها البغضاءُ وهْي تُزارُ

How many a dwelling is shunned, though loved,

and another is hated, yet visited.

وفي غيرها المجدُ الذي كان مَرّةً

لها شرفٌ في قُربه وفخارُ

Elsewhere is the glory that once

gave her honor through its nearness, and pride.

إذا حَملتْ أرضٌ ترابَ مذلَّةٍ

فليس عليها للكريم قَرارُ

When a land bears the dust of abasement,

the noble have no resting-place upon it.

وكم عزمةٍ مرتاضةٍ قد ركبتُها

فخضْتُ بها الحاجاتِ وهْي غِمارُ

How many a well-trained resolve I have ridden,

plunging with it through needs like deep waters.

وذي سِنَةٍ فجَّعتُ بالنوم عينَه

وأجفانهُ عَطْفاً عليه طَوَارُ

And many a drowsy man whose eye I bereaved of sleep,

while his eyelids tenderly formed a fence around him.

صَحَا لي وقد ناديتُ من سَكرةِ الكرى

وقد دار في عينيه منه عُقارُ

He awoke for me when I called, from sleep's intoxication,

while its wine still coursed through his eyes.

تنجَّزتُ أقصَى جودهِ وهو كارهٌ

ولم يك للمولَى عليّ خِيارُ

I demanded the utmost of his bounty, unwilling though he was,

and the patron had no choice concerning me.

وليلٍ أضافَ الصبحَ تحت جَناحه

وحُصَّ فلم يرفعْهُ عنه مَطارُ

And a night that sheltered dawn beneath its wing,

shorn of feathers, with no flight to lift it away:

هجمتُ عليه قادحاً ببصيرتي

دُجاهُ وليلُ الزِّبرِقانِ نَهارُ

I plunged into it, striking sparks with my insight from

its darkness; a full moon's night is daylight.

ومُشتَرفٍ من العفافِ اطّلعتُهُ

وقد نام واشٍ واستقام نَوارُ

And a height of chastity I climbed,

while a tale-bearer slept and Nawar yielded.

فلمَ يَتَوَصَّمْني وسَادٌ علوتُه

بعيبٍ ولم يَشهَدْ عليَّ إِزارُ

No pillow I mounted branded me

with a fault, nor did a loincloth testify against me.

وقافيةٍ أسهلتُ مجرَى طريقها

لها في حُلوقِ القائلين عِثارُ

And many a rhyme whose course I made smooth,

though it stumbled in other speakers' throats.

نُضار من القول الذي لم يُرَدْ به

لُجيْنٌ ولم يوجد عليه نُضارُ

Pure gold of speech, not intended to win

silver, nor overlaid with gold.

إذا ما استبقْن الحسنَ يُبسطْن عن فمي

شَردْنَ فلم يُعلَقْ لهن غُبارُ

When they race for beauty, released from my mouth,

they dart away, and no dust can catch them.

يعيّرني قومٌ خلوَّ مَعاطني

وفيهم رُغاءٌ ما اشتَهَوا ونُعارُ

People reproach me for my empty camel-folds,

while they have bellowing and braying as much as they wish.

ولا عيبَ أن أهزلتُ وحدي وأَسمنوا

إذا أنا أنجدتُ العلاءَ وغاروا

It is no fault that I alone grew lean while they grew fat,

if I climbed glory's heights while they descended.

ولستَ ترى الأجسامَ وهي ضئيلةٌ

نواحلُ إلا والنفوسُ كِبارُ

You do not see bodies, small

and emaciated, unless their souls are great.

خفِيتُ ونُوري كامنٌ في قَناعتي

وما كلُّ ما غَمَّ الهلالَ سِرارُ

I remain obscure, my light latent in my contentment;

not everything that hides the crescent is the moon's dark phase.

وكيف أذود النومَ أخشى خَصاصةً

ولي من كلاءاتِ الوزير جِوارُ

How should I drive sleep away, fearing want,

when the minister's watchful care grants me shelter?

ونعماه إن دهري أغار حُماتهُ

على الحُرّ من مسّ الهوانِ تَغارُ

And his bounty, if my age's champions raid

the free man, jealously resents humiliation's touch.

إذا ضمّني مؤيّد الملك مانعاً

فما لدمِ الأيّام عندِيَ ثارُ

When Mu'ayyid al-Mulk gathers me in, protecting me,

the days have no blood-vengeance to exact from me.

نُكولي إذا أمسكتُ أطرافَ حبله

قُوىً وافتقاري في ذَراه يَسارُ

My retreat, when I grasp the ends of his rope,

is strength, and my poverty in his shelter is wealth.

سقى اللّهُ ماءَ النصر كفّاً بنانُها

غصونٌ لها دُرُّ البحار ثِمارُ

May God water with victory a hand whose fingers

are branches bearing the seas' pearls as fruit.

وحيَّا على رغم الكواكب غُرَّةً

أسِرَّتُها للمعتفين مَنارُ

And may He greet, in defiance of the stars, a radiant brow

whose lines are a beacon to those seeking gifts.

ترى الرزق شَفَّافاً وراء ابتسامِها

كما شَفَّ عن لَمع البروق قِطارُ

You see sustenance shining through behind its smile,

as rainfall reveals the gleam of lightning.

وزاد انبساطاً في الممالك راحةٌ

يمينُ الحيا إن جاودتْه يَسارُ

And may a palm grow ever more open throughout the kingdoms:

rain's right hand is a left if this palm vies with it in bounty.

من القوم لو طار الفخارُ بمعشرٍ

إلى غايةٍ فوق السماء لطاروا

He is of a people who, if pride could fly with a tribe

to a goal above heaven, would fly.

بَني الملك والدنيا بماءِ شبابها

وأيَّامُها زُغْبٌ تدبُّ صِغارُ

Sons of kingship, while the world was fresh with youth,

and its days were little downy creatures crawling.

خيامٌ على أطنابها رُخَّجيّةٌ

لها في سماوات الفخار ديارُ

Rukhkhaji tents held by their guy-ropes,

with dwellings in the heavens of renown.

وزيريَّةٌ جَدَّاً فَجدَّاً يَعُدُّها

على المجدِ عرقٌ ضاربٌ ونِجارُ

Ministerial, grandsire after grandsire, reckoned

toward glory by a deep-striking root and lineage.

يُراحُ عليها بالعشيِّ لَبونُها

إذا رُوِّحت على البيوتِ عِشارُ

Their milk-giving camels are brought home to them at dusk,

when pregnant camels are brought to the houses.

وشَقَّ دُجُنّاتِ الخطوبِ برأيه

بصيرٌ له سرُّ الغيوب جِهارُ

With his judgment he cleft the darkness of calamities,

a discerning man for whom the unseen's secret is plain.

إذا رَدَّ في أعطافه لحظاتهِ

تشعشَعَ سِربالٌ له وصِدارُ

When he turns his glances toward his own sides,

his tunic and breast-garment blaze with light.

قريبُ الجَنَى حُلوٌ لأيدي عفاتهِ

وأشوسُ بين العاقرين مُرارُ

His fruit is close at hand, sweet to his petitioners' hands,

yet fierce-eyed among the hamstringers, a bitter murar-shrub.

إذا ما بدا للعين راقت بشاشةٌ

عليه وراعت هيبةٌ ووقارُ

Whenever he appears to the eye, a cheerful welcome delights

upon his face, while majesty and dignity inspire awe.

فيُطمِعُ فيه ثغرُهُ حين يُجتَدَى

ويؤيِسُ منه الأنفُ حين يَغارُ

His mouth gives hope of him when gifts are sought,

and his proud nose makes one despair of him when he is jealous.

له اللّهُ من مُلكٍ حميتَ سريرَهُ

وغايتُهُ للطامعين وِجارُ

God guard that kingdom whose throne you defended,

its furthest reach a beast's den for the covetous.

وقد نام عنه الدافعون وكُشِّفتْ

خَباياه للأبصارِ وهي عَوارُ

Its defenders had slept, and laid bare were

its hidden places to all eyes, exposed and vulnerable.

مددتَ بباعيْه فلم يُرَ مِعصمٌ

له بارِزاً إلا وأنتَ سِوارُ

You stretched forth both its arms, and no wrist

of it appeared but you were its bracelet.

وَغرَّ بِك الأعداءَ خُلْقٌ مسامحٌ

لهم وخلالٌ أن رضيتَ خِيارُ

Your forgiving character misled your enemies

toward you, and qualities finest when you are pleased.

وما علموا أنّ النصولَ شوارعٌ

على عَلَقِ الأكبادِ وهي طِرارُ

They did not know that blades were leveled

at the clotted blood of livers, keen-edged.

فإنَّ رقابَ الأُسْدِ دون عراكها

مصارعُ للآجالِ وهي قِصارُ

For lions' necks, before one can grapple with them,

are death's killing grounds, though they are short.

وقد جرَّبوا عزميك والجودُ ساكنٌ

على السَّلم والنقعُ الأغَمُّ مُثارُ

They have tested your two resolves: generosity abiding

in peace, and thick battle-dust stirred aloft.

وكم لك من يومٍ يَخيمُ شجاعُهُ

ولا يَصِمُ المهزومَ منه فِرارُ

How many a day was yours whose brave man quailed,

and flight from it did not disgrace the defeated.

تَناكَرَ عنه المدّعون فلم يكن

سوى اسمك للأبطالِ فيه شِعارُ

The pretenders disowned it, and there was

no battle-cry for heroes in it but your name.

وقفتَ له والمرهفاتُ كأنّها

دَبىً فوق بَيْضِ الدارعين مُطارُ

You stood against it, the sharpened swords like

young locusts sent flying above armored men's helmets.

ولو أنَّ حدَّ السيف خانك دونه

وَفَى لك جَدٌّ لم يَعقْه عِثارُ

Had the sword's edge betrayed you against it,

good fortune, unhindered by stumbling, would have stood by you.

أَسِلْ مُزنَتَيْ كفَّيْك يَغْرَقْ بها العدا

وَسِمْ باسمك الأعداءَ فاسمُك نارُ

Let the two rain-clouds of your palms pour: the enemy will drown in them.

Brand your enemies with your name, for your name is fire.

ولا تَلْقَ يومَ الرَّوع إلا مُصالتاً

بجَدِّك إن كلَّت ظُبىً وشِفارُ

Meet the day of terror only brandishing

your good fortune, if blades and edges grow dull.

فإنّ لجُرحِ السيف لابدَّ ثائراً

له وجراحات الجدود جُبارُ

For a sword-wound must have an avenger

to avenge it, while fortune's wounds admit no recompense.

قضى اللّهُ في حُسَّادِ ملكك أنهم

وَقودٌ وأنّ الغيظَ منك شرارُ

God decreed concerning those who envy your sovereignty that they

are fuel, and their rage at you is sparks.

فألسنهُم غَيظاً بواردُ رَطْبَةٌ

وأكبادُهم خلفَ الضلوع حِرارُ

Their tongues, for all their anger, are cold and wet,

while their livers behind their ribs are burning.

تناهَوْا حِذاراً أن يُعَلَّى حديثُهم

فما بين كلِّ اثنين فيك سِرارُ

They warned one another, fearing their talk might be raised aloud;

not even two exchange a whisper about you.

ولاموا نجومَ السعدِ جهلاً وإِنما

تدورُ لك الأفلاكُ حيثُ تُدارُ

They ignorantly blamed the stars of fortune, whereas

the spheres revolve for you wherever they are made to turn.

تُواقِفُ أقدامَ الأسودِ كأنما

جَنابُك عزّاً أن يُرامَ مُغَارُ

You stand firm against lions' advancing feet, as though

your precinct, too mighty to be assailed, were a lair.

وتَخجَلُ من دفع الحقوقِ كأنما

لثامُك من فرط الحياء خِمارُ

You blush to withhold what is owed, as though

your face-wrap, from excess modesty, were a veil.

أجبْ دعوةً يا سيّد الوزراء لم

تُجبْها قريباً إذ دعتْك مِرارُ

Answer a call, O lord of ministers, which you have not

answered promptly, though it has called you repeatedly.

تناديك عن شوق مواقدُ نارها

فؤادي وأنفاسي الحِرارُ أُوارُ

It calls you yearningly; its fire's hearths

are my heart, and my hot breaths its blaze.

أُدارِيه خوفَ الشامتين وظاهري

قِياسٌ لما في باطني وعِيارُ

I conceal it, fearing those who gloat; my outward state

is a measure and a gauge of what lies within me.

إلى كم يُقِلُّ البعدُ ظهرِي وكم يُرَى

لجنبي على جمر الفراق قَرارُ

How long shall distance bear my back, and how long shall there be

for my side a resting-place on separation's embers?

كأني حيالَ البعدِ بيني وبينكم

يُقدُّ أديمي أو حشايَ تُعارُ

It is as though, facing the distance between you and me,

my skin were sliced, or my entrails tormented.

ولَيتَ الزمانَ المطربي باقترابكم

كما زال سُكْرٌ منه زال خُمارُ

Would that the time which delighted me with your nearness

had lost its hangover just as its intoxication passed.

يكاد نزاعي نحوكم أن يطيرَ بي

وهل لقصيصٍ في السماءِ مطارُ

My longing toward you almost carries me into flight;

but does a clipped-wing bird have flight in the sky?

وأُطمِعَ قومٌ بعدكم في تهضُّمي

فشنُّوا على أحسابكم وأغاروا

Some people, after your departure, were emboldened to oppress me,

so they launched assaults on your ancestral honors and raided.

ولم يعلموا مقدارَ عَطفةِ جودكم

عليَّ فلي نقصٌ بهم وضِرارُ

They did not know how greatly your bounty inclined

toward me; through them I suffer loss and injury.

إذا حبسوا الماءَ الذي سُقتموهُ لي

فمن أين تُسقَى سَرحتي وتُمارُ

If they withhold the water you channeled to me,

from where will my tree be watered and nourished?

وقد علموا أن لا ارتجاعَ لنَيْلكم

ولا الثوبُ مما تَلبَسون مُعارُ

They know that your gifts cannot be reclaimed,

nor is any garment you wear borrowed.

عسى اللّهُ أن يقتادَ لي بإِيابكم

فيُدرَكَ من باغي انتقاصِيَ ثارُ

May God exact justice for me through your return,

and vengeance be gained against whoever seeks to diminish me,

بكلِّ عزيزٍ بذلُها عند قومها

لها مَنصِبٌ مَعْ حُسنِها ونِجارُ

through each ode whose bestowal is prized by its people,

possessing rank, along with beauty and lineage.

إذا خطَرتْ بين الرُّواةِ حسبتهم

يمانينَ فيما يَحملون عِطارُ

When it glides among the reciters, you would think them

Yemenis, perfumers in what they carry.

تنِمُّ بما فيها كأنَّ طروسَها

لطائمُ أهدتْها إليك صُحَارُ

It reveals what it contains, as though its written pages

were perfume caravans that Suhar sent to you.

تَضوَّعُ رَنداً فارسيَّاً لجنسها

وللعُرْبِ فيها حَنْوَةٌ وعَرارُ

It exhales Persian rand-fragrance, true to its kind,

and for the Arabs it has hanwa and arar.

إذا جُلِيَتْ عَطْلَى عليك فَحْليُها

عُلاك وحُسنُ الإستماع نِثارُ

When unveiled before you without jewelry, its adornment

is your greatness, and attentive listening its shower of bridal gifts.

على المهرجان وسمةٌ من جمالها

عَرُوبَةُ منها فاصلٌ وشِيارُ

Mihragan bears a beauty-mark from its loveliness;

Friday and Saturday intervene between it and the poem.

لئن قَصَّر المقدارُ خَطوِيَ عنكُمُ

فلي غايةٌ في بعثها وقُصارُ

Even if fate has shortened my stride toward you,

I have a goal in sending it, and an utmost aim.