ظل المنى واسع والشمل ملتئم — Mihyar Al Daylami

ظلُّ المنى واسعٌ والشملُ ملتئمُ

يادارُ لا غدرت يوما بكِ النِّعمُ

Hope's shade is broad, and the company is reunited.

O abode, may blessings never betray you.

ويا رُبىً سَعِدت من بعد ما شقِيتْ

دامت عليك فأرضتْ روضَكِ الديمُ

And O hills, made happy after suffering,

may steady rains endure upon you and gladden your garden.

إن يلتفِت عنك وجهُ الدهر منقبضاً

بالأمس فهو إليكِ اليومَ مبتسمُ

If Time's face turned away from you, scowling,

yesterday, today it smiles upon you.

أو يستحلَّ حِماك الجدبُ يقتلُه

عاماً فعاماً فهذي الأشهرُ الحُرُمُ

Or if drought violated your sanctuary, ravaging it

year after year—these are the sacred months.

دارُ الهوى أنتِ يا دارَ السلام إذا

أحبابُنا فيكِ من صَرف الردى سلموا

You are the abode of love, O Dar al-Salam, when

our loved ones within you are safe from death's vicissitudes.

كم طالعٍ فيكِ لولا أنه قمرٌ

لم يبدُ ليلا وتحتَ الصبح يكتَتِمُ

How many a luminary in you—were he not a moon,

he would not appear at night, then hide beneath the dawn.

ومائل القدّ لم تعتدْ شمائلُه

ضلالةَ الحبِّ لولا أنه صنمُ

And one of swaying stature, whose charms would not have known

love's delusion, were he not an idol.

وسائرين إذا ساروا وما رُفِعتْ

لهم قِبابٌ وما حُطَّتْ لهم خِيَمُ

And travelers who journey without pavilions being raised

for them, or tents being pitched for them.

بيني وبينهمُ إن جدَّ بينهُمُ

مَرْمىً على مقتفِي آثارِهم أَمَمُ

Between me and them, if their departure is real,

lies a stretch easily reached by one following their tracks:

مسافةُ العين ما امتدّت فإن فضَلتْ

عن مطرَح العين لم يُنصبْ لها علمُ

the distance the eye spans, however far it stretches; if it exceeds

the eye's range, no landmark has been raised for it.

سكانُ دِجلةَ غربِيُّون لو حلفوا

لا تبصر الشمسُ مغناهم لما أثِموا

The Tigris dwellers are westerners; were they to swear

that the sun never sees their dwelling, they would not sin.

لله منهنَّ مقبولٌ تحكُّمُها

لها على الصمت وجهٌ ناطقٌ خَصِمُ

How wondrous, among them, is one whose tyranny is welcome!

Even in silence, she has a face that speaks and argues.

لما رأتْ شَعَرا في الرأس تُنكره

وكيفَ يُنكَرُ زيدٌ واسمُه علَمُ

When she saw hair upon my head that she disowned—

yet how can Zayd be unknown, when his name is a proper name?—

قالت تُزكِّيه عندي وهي تُسبغه

ما أوقرَ الشيبَ لولا أنه هَرَمُ

she said, commending it to me and lavishing praise upon it:

How stately gray hair is, were it not decrepitude!

مُدَّت إلى الملك ترعاه وتنصرُه

يدٌ مقبَّلةٌ والركنُ مستلَمُ

A hand was stretched toward the king, guarding and supporting him:

a hand kissed, while the Corner is reverently touched.

يدٌ مع الله في حالَيْ تصرُّفها

بالحقِّ تُنعِم أو بالحق تنتقمُ

A hand with God in both forms of its action:

bestowing favors justly, or taking vengeance justly.

قل للوزير وكم قادت مهابتُهُ

من صعبةٍ لم تكن بالقَوْد تنخطمُ

Tell the vizier—how often his majesty has led

a headstrong creature that no leading could bring to the bridle—

نَلْنِي بها أنل الشعرى فقد شرُفتْ

بك الأماني وعاشت عندك الهممُ

favor me with it, and I shall reach Sirius; for exalted

by you are hopes, and ambitions live in your presence.

ورِشتَ محصوصةَ الآدابِ فانفسحتْ

محلّقاتٍ لهنّ القُورُ والقِمَمُ

You feathered the plucked arts, and spread wide,

as they soared, the mesas and summits before them.

من بعد ما كان فضلُ المرء منقصةً

في الناس ما قام يبغي الفضلَ عندهمُ

After a man's excellence had become a failing

among people, whenever he rose to seek their favor.

كنا نُحيلُ على الدنيا تجرُّمَهم

مغالطين وندري فيمن الجُرُمُ

We used to lay their wrongdoing upon the world,

deceiving ourselves, though we knew who bore the guilt.

ونشتكي دهرَنا والذنبُ ليس له

والدهرُ مذ كان مظلومٌ ومتّهَمُ

And we complained of our Time, though the fault was not its own;

Time has been wronged and accused ever since it existed.

يجني امرؤ ولياليه تعابُ به

وتفسُدُ الناسُ والأيامُ تُختَصَمُ

A man does wrong, and his nights are blamed because of him;

people grow corrupt, and the days are arraigned.

والدهرُ يجفو لئيما إن بنوه جفَوا

فيه ويصفو كريما إن هُمُ كرُموا

Time turns harsh and mean if its sons act harshly

within it, and turns clear and noble if they are noble.

واليومُ كالأمس لا فُرقانَ بينهما

ملوكنا دهرُنا والفرقُ بينهمُ

Today is like yesterday: no distinction lies between them.

Our kings are our Time; the difference lies among them.

ذا الماءُ ذاك وهذي الشمسُ تلك وما

حالا وقد حالت الألوانُ والطُّعُمُ

This water is that same water; this sun is that same sun, and neither

has changed, though colors and flavors have altered.

ما ذاك إلا لأن نافيتَهم فنفَتْ

يداك عن منهلِ التدبير شَوْبَهُمُ

That is only because you opposed them, and cleansed

with your hands the wellspring of governance of their taint.

وأنّ مصلحة الدنيا وسيرتَها

دقيقةٌ في العلاَ أبهرتَها وعَمُوا

And because the world's welfare and its governance

are a subtle matter of high affairs: you made it shine, while they were blind.

عادَى بك الناسُ ناسا والزمانُ فتىً

وقام ظهرٌ حناه الشيبُ والهرَمُ

Through you men contended with men, and Time was young;

a back bent by gray hair and age stood upright.

لكلّ وقت نصيبٌ منك تلحَظه

فيه العنايةُ حتى تستوي القِسَمُ

Each hour has its share of you, watched over

by your care within it, until the portions are equal.

يومٌ بعدلك مات الظلمُ فيه إلى

ليلٍ بنورك ماتت تحته الظُّلَمُ

A day in which your justice slew oppression, leading into

a night beneath which your light slew the darkness.

لم يرضَ جودُك أن تخضرَّ مخصِبةً

به الظواهرُ حتى ابيضّت العَتَمِ

Your bounty would not rest with making green and fertile

the open lands, until the dark hours also turned white.

وليلة من ضياءٍ وهي مظلمةٌ

بليلةٍ من جُمادَى وهي تضطرمُ

And a night of radiance, though it was dark,

on a night in Jumada, while it blazed.

وجهُ الزمان بها حرّانُ ملتهبٌ

وقلبه باردٌ من حسنها شبِمُ

Time's face in it was heated, aflame,

but its heart was cool, chilled by its beauty.

تاهت على العام إذ صيرَّتها علَما

فيه وبالنار ليلا يُعرفُ العَلمُ

It vaunted itself over the year, since you made it a beacon

within it—and by fire a beacon is recognized at night.

اِفتح عليّ وعلِّمني الذكاء أصِفْ

هذا مقامٌ على الأفكار ينعجمُ

Open my understanding and teach me wit, that I may describe:

this is a scene that remains obscure to thought.

أدارُك الأفُقُ العالي أم اعتصمت

بها السماء يقينا إنها حَرَمُ

Is your house the lofty horizon, or has refuge been taken

there by heaven, certain that it is a sanctuary?

أم الكواكبُ من شوق إليك هوت

ترجو نداك فمجموعٌ ومنفصِمُ

Or have the stars, longing for you, fallen,

hoping for your bounty—some gathered, others scattered?

أم أنتَ يوسفُ موعودا وقد سجدتْ

لك النجومُ وهذا كلُّه حُلُمُ

Or are you Joseph, as promised, and are prostrate

before you the stars, while all of this is a dream?

ومرهفات على حدّ الظلام لها

حدّ به تُرهَفُ الهنديّة الخُذُمُ

And slender blades upon the edge of darkness, possessing

an edge that sharpens the keen swords of India.

إذا وقفن صفوفا للدجى ثبتتْ

أقدامهنَّ له والهامُ تنهزمُ

When they stand in rows against the dark, their

feet stand firm before it, while their heads retreat.

تزداد نورا إذا أبصارُها انتُقِضتْ

قصًّا وتنبُت إمَّا جُزَّت اللِّمَمُ

They shine more brightly when their eyes are diminished

by clipping, and grow when their locks are shorn.

من كل خافقةِ الأحشاء ساكنةٍ

تضاحك الليلَ و الأجفانُ تنسجمُ

Each one fluttering within, yet motionless,

laughing with the night while its eyelids stream.

فلستُ أدري أخوفٌ منك خامرَها

حتى بكت أم رجاءٌ فهي تبتسمُ

I do not know whether fear of you overtook it

until it wept, or hope, so that it smiles.

هيفاءُ دقّتها فيها وصُفرتها

من صحّةٍ وهُمَا في غيرها سَقَمُ

Slender: its thinness and its yellowness

come from health, though in others both are sickness.

قامت على فردِ ساقٍ ما لها قَدم

تشكو الجوى بلسانٍ ما حواه فمُ

It stands on a single shank without a foot,

lamenting heartache with a tongue no mouth contains.

إما قناةً وقد خاض السنانُ دَماً

أو إصبعا تتلظّى مسَّها عنَمُ

Either a spear whose point has plunged into blood,

or a blazing finger touched with red ʿanam.

وذي قوائمَ لا يمشي بأربعةٍ

حتى يُساقَ فيُدنَى وهو يُهتضَمُ

And a legged thing that does not walk on all four

until it is driven, brought close, and ill-used.

تحوطُهُ نثرةٌ يُنفَى بلبستِها

عنَّا إذا جدَّ لاعن جسمه الألمُ

A coat of mail surrounds it; wearing it banishes

pain from us when it grows fierce, but not from its own body.

لها اسم دُرعٍ ومعناها وليس لها

ما تفعل الدرعُ والهيجاءُ تُقتَحَمُ

It has armor's name and meaning, yet lacks

what armor does when battle is joined.

إنْ أُضرمَتْ فهي تاجٌ أوخَبْتَ ظهرتْ

أقراطُها الحمرُ أو أصداغُها الفُحُمُ

If kindled, it is a crown; if it dies down, there appear

its red earrings, or its coal-black side-locks.

رسمٌ من النحل كان الملكُ عطَّله

أنشرتَ فيه بني كسرى وما رسموا

A custom among the creeds that kingship had neglected;

in it you revived Kisra's sons and what they instituted.

نُعمَى على العُجم خصَّتهم كرامتُها

لابل تَسَاهَمَ فيها العُرْبُ والعَجمُ

A favor upon the Persians, whom its honor singled out—

no, rather Arabs and Persians shared in it:

قومٌ يروْن القِرَى بالنار يُكسِبُهم

فخرا وقوم يروْن النارَ ربَّهمُ

a people who deem hospitality through fire to earn them

glory, and a people who regard fire as their lord.

لا تُنكِرَنْ كثرةَ السؤَّالِ ما اقترحوا

والمادحين فقد قالوا بما علموا

Do not disapprove of the multitude of petitioners, whatever they request,

or the praisers: they have spoken of what they know.

من أوقد النارَ مطروقا ومن رفعَ ال

حجابَ عن طالبي معروفه ازدحموا

Whoever lights a fire receives visitors; whoever lifts the

veil before seekers of his bounty finds them crowding in.

تعطي السماءُ قليلا وهي باكيةٌ

شحّاً ويُعطي كثيرا وهو يبتسمُ

The sky gives little, while it weeps

from stinginess; he gives much while smiling.

عوَّدت سمعَك أن يحلُو الثناءُ له

كأنّ كلَّ قريضٍ شقَّه نغمُ

You have accustomed your ear to find praise sweet,

as though every poem had melody as its other half.

وأوفد الناسَ أفواجا إليك فمٌ

جوابُ كلّ سؤال عنده نعمُ

A mouth has brought the people in delegations to you,

whose answer to every question is yes.

لا كالغريبةِ أيديهم وألسنُهم

لم يركبوا الخيلَ إلا بعد ما هَرِموا

Not like those whose hands and tongues are estranged,

who did not mount horses until they had grown old.

كنّا نُخَبَّرُ عن قومٍ وقد درَسوا

أخبارَ جودٍ مع الإكثار تُتَّهَمُ

We used to be told of people already vanished:

tales of generosity made suspect by profuse telling.

ونحسَبُ الناسَ زادوا في حديثهمُ

ونمَّقوا بحكوماتِ الهوى لهُمُ

And we thought people had added to their accounts,

and embellished them with affection's judgments in their favor.

فجاء جودُك برهانا لما نقلتْ

منه الرواةُ وتصديقا لما زعَموا

Then your generosity came as proof of what was transmitted

of it by the narrators, and confirmation of what they claimed.

كانوا كراما وأيمُ الله لو بُعِثوا

حتى يروْك لقالوا هكذا الكرمُ

They were generous; by God, if they were resurrected

to see you, they would say: This is generosity.

ختمتهم وبراك الله خيرَهُمُ

جودا كما بكلامي تُختَم الكَلِمُ

You sealed their line; God created you the best of them

in generosity, just as all words are sealed by my speech.

أنا المقدَّمُ والدنيا تؤخِّرني

عن ذا المقام ألا مَن بيننا الحكَمُ

I am foremost, yet the world keeps me back

from this station—who, then, shall judge between us?

كم أخواتٍ لها زُفَّتْ وما خُطبتْ

كوني أباها ولم يُسمَعْ لها يُتُمُ

How many sisters of hers were wed, yet she was not wooed,

though I am her father, and no orphanhood was ever heard of for her.

وواصلين فموصولين لو فهِموا

شعري بحملهمُ منه الذي فهموا

And visitors, then recipients of gifts, if they understood

my poetry by conveying from it the portion they understood.

أصبحتُ أحرَمُ من نُعماك ما رُزقوا

وكنتُ أُعهَدُ مرزوقا إذا حُرِموا

I now am denied of your favors what they receive,

though I was known to receive when they were denied.

تعلَّمنَّ إذا سوّيتني بهمُ

فيمن زكت وعلى من تحسنُ النِّعمُ

Know well, when you set me equal to them,

in whom favors flourish, and on whom they sit well.

فاسمع وقَوِّم فما ضاعت ولا غُبِنَتْ

وأنت تاجرها الأقدارُ و القِيَمُ

So listen and appraise: neither lost nor undervalued,

with you as their merchant, are worth and value.

وما أسفتُ لمالٍ فاتَ فازَ به

غيري بلى فاتني الأخلاقُ والشيَمُ

I have not grieved for wealth that passed me by, won

by another; rather, what I missed was character and virtue.

ولا تزال لوقتٍ ما فتُحرِمني

وإنما فلتاتُ الجود تُغتنَمُ

And you keep deferring to some later time, thus denying me;

yet only sudden impulses of generosity can be seized.