ذكرت وما وفاي بحيث أنسى — Mihyar Al Daylami

ذكرتُ وما وفاي بحيثُ أنسَى

بدِجلةَ كم صباحٍ لي ومُمْسَى

I remembered—my loyalty would not let me forget—

how many mornings and evenings I had beside the Tigris.

بقلبي من مبانيها مغانٍ

بنَى فيها السرورُ فصار حِلسا

My heart holds haunts among its buildings,

where joy built its home and became a constant resident.

جنان نجتني منها نعيماً

ولم نغرس بفعل الخير غرسا

Gardens from which we gather bliss,

though we planted no seed through good deeds.

تركتُ خلالَها ورحلتُ قلبي

فلو عذَّبتُ قلبي ما أحسَّا

I left my heart amid them and departed;

were I to torment my heart, it would feel nothing.

وبعتُ عراصها نقداً بدَيْنٍ

فلولا ما شريتُ شكوتُ وكسا

I traded its courtyards, ready cash, for credit;

but for what I bought, I would complain of loss.

وبِكرٍ من ذخائرِ رأسِ عينٍ

تعودُ بمجلس الندمان عِرْسا

And a virgin from the treasures of Ra's Ayn,

who becomes a bride in the drinking companions' gathering.

لها بيتا يهود أو نصارى

وقد كرمت وإن لَؤُماً وخسَّا

Her two houses are Jewish or Christian;

yet she is noble, though both are mean and base.

خطبناها فقام القَسُّ عنها

يخاطبنا فخلت القَسَّ قُسَّا

We sought her hand, and the priest rose on her behalf,

addressing us; I took the priest for Quss.

وحدَّثَ معرِباً ما شاء عنها

ويُعهدُ مُعجِماً لَكناً وجِنسا

He spoke in fluent Arabic, saying what he pleased of her,

though known for foreign speech, accent, and descent.

وصار بمَهرها ثمناً يغالى

به في ظنّه ونراه بخسا

And her dowry became a price thought exorbitant

in his estimation, though we considered it paltry.

فَكِلْ ذهباً تزِنْ ذَهباً فإنا

نرى في حبِّها الدينارَ فَلْسا

Measure out gold, and you will weigh gold; for we

see a dinar as a copper penny in our love for her.

وخافقة الفؤاد مشين عجلَى

بها الأترابُ وهي تدبُّ همسا

And a girl with fluttering heart, hurried along

by her peers, while she crept with hushed steps.

تَعثَّر دهشةً بالبين حتى

يقلن لعاً لها فتقولُ تعسا

She stumbled, dazed by parting, until

they said, 'Rise unharmed!' and she said, 'Woe!'

تُغَوِّثُ من نواي بمخطَفاتٍ

حَلين عواطلاً ونطقنَ خُرْسا

She pleads for rescue from my departure with slender hands,

adorned though bare of jewels, speaking though mute.

إذا فَجَع الفراقُ قبضن عشراً

وإن فجأ اللقاءُ بسطن خمسا

When separation brought anguish, they clenched ten fingers;

when reunion came suddenly, they spread five.

تقول عدمتُ مدّعياً هواكم

وأَصبحَ يوم بينكُمُ فأمسَى

She says, 'May I lose any man who claims to love you

yet sees your parting day's dawn and survives till dusk!'

أنيبي غير جازعةٍ فإني

أراها وحشةً ستجرُّ أُنسا

'Return without distress, for I

see a loneliness that will bring companionship.

ذريني والتطرُّحَ إنّ بيتاً

إذا هو صار إِلفاً صار حبسا

Let me wander freely, for a house,

once it becomes familiar, becomes a prison.

أَدُسْ جبلاً وراء الرزق قالت

وتتركنا فؤادُك منه أقسَى

Let me tread a mountain in search of livelihood.' She said,

'And leave us? Your heart is harder than it.'

ألا من مبلغُ الأيام عنّي

وإن خجلتْ فما تسطيع نَبْسا

Who will carry a message from me to the days,

even if shame leaves them unable to utter a word?

أُحِلُّك بعدها من كلّ ذنبٍ

أناخَ بساحتي ثِقَلاً وأرسَى

'I absolve you henceforth of every sin

that settled heavily in my courtyard and anchored there.

وكانت سكرة أقلعتُ منها

على صحوٍ وذنبُ السكر يُنسَى

It was a drunken spell from which I emerged

into sobriety; the sin of drunkenness is forgotten.'

فما اجتمعت بَروجِرْدٌ وفقرٌ

ولا أحدٌ رأى سعداً ونحسا

For Borujerd and poverty never meet,

nor has anyone seen Sa'd together with misfortune.

فتى أحيت به الأيامُ ذكرِي

وكان موسَّداً منهنّ رمسا

A young man through whom the days revived my name,

though they had given it a grave for a pillow.

فكم رَدَّتْ نُيوبَ الدهر دُرداً

يداهُ وقد فغرنَ إليَّ نهسا

How often the fangs of time were made toothless

by his hands, when they gaped toward me to bite.

وذاد سماحُهُ الفيّاضُ عنّي

ذئاباً من صروف الدهر طُلسا

His overflowing generosity drove away from me

dusky wolves from the vicissitudes of time.

وأعطى ظاهراً سَرَفَ العطايا

فلما عوتب استخفى ودسَّا

He openly bestowed extravagant gifts;

when reproached, he hid himself and gave secretly.

أيا سعدُ بن أحمدَ ما تسمَّى

ويا رضوى إذا انتسب ابن قدْسَا

O Sa'd ibn Ahmad by name,

and O Radwa, son of Qudsa when lineage is traced!

نمتْ أعراقه فنماك غصناً

فطبتَ الفرعَ لمّا طاب أُسَّا

His roots flourished, and he raised you as a branch;

you were a noble branch, for he was a noble root.

وأشرق فاستفدت النورَ منه

فكنت البدرَ لما كان شَمْسا

He shone, and you drew your light from him;

you became the full moon, for he was the sun.

كرمت ندى فلو لُويتْ خطوبٌ

بجودك لالتوينَ وكنَّ شُمْسا

You are noble in bounty: were calamities bent

by your generosity, they would bend, though unruly.

وطبت يداً فلو لُثمتْ شفاهٌ

تقبِّلُ راحتيك لُثِمنَ لُعْسا

Your hand is sweet: if one kissed lips

that kiss your palms, one would kiss dusky-red lips.

بكم يا آل إبراهيم عاش ال

سماحُ وقد محاه الدهر درسا

Through you, O house of Ibrahim, lives the

generosity that time had effaced and worn away.

وهبَّ الريحُ في روح المعالي

فطرن وطالما رُدِّدن قُعْسا

A wind blew into the soul of noble deeds,

so they soared, long held back and bent backward.

عرانين مع الجوزاء شُمٌّ

تشمُّ عُداتُها الإرغامَ فُطْسَا

Proud, high-bridged noses beside al-Jawza,

whose flat-nosed foes sniff the dust of humiliation.

وأعراضٌ تصافح لامسيها

غداةَ تضَرَّسُ الأعراضُ مُلْسا

And reputations that clasp the hands of those who touch them,

smooth when other reputations grow jagged.

يموتُ حسودها منها بداء

إذا استشفاه عاود منه نكسا

Their envier dies of a sickness they cause;

whenever he seeks its cure, he suffers another relapse.

دعاني الشوق يزأر بي إليكم

فسرت ملبّياً والدهرُ يخسا

Longing called me, roaring at me to come to you;

I set out in answer, while time cowered.

لأُدرِكَ معجزاتِكُمُ بعيني

فيصبحَ منظراً ما كان حِسَّا

To witness your miracles with my own eyes,

so what was sensed might become a sight.

وكم بمديحكم بددت درَّاً

على القرطاس ما استمددت نِقسا

How many pearls I scattered in your praise

upon the paper—it was not ink I drew.

وقد كان البنانُ ينوب خطّاً

فقد حضرَ اللسانُ يُهذُّ دَرْسا

My fingers once stood in for me in writing;

now my tongue is here, swiftly reciting its lesson.

رعيتُ هشيمَ طَرْقِكُمُ لماظاً

فرُدُّوني ألُسَّ الحَمْضَ لَسَّا

I grazed on dry herbage from your watering pools, mere scraps;

so bring me back to nibble the saltbush, bite by bite.

ورَوُّوا من نميركُمُ غليلاً

وردتُ به القذى خِمْساً فخِمسا

And quench, with your clear water, a thirst

that drove me to foul water every fifth day, again and again.

فإن اللّه أوجبها فروضاً

عليكم لا تزال الدهرَ حبسا

For God has ordained these as duties

upon you, to remain trusts for all time:

صلاح بلاده شرقاً وغرباً

ورزق عباده عرباً وفُرْسا

the welfare of His lands, east and west,

and the sustenance of His servants, Arabs and Persians.