إن كان فوق الشمس للساعي قدم — Mihyar Al Daylami

إن كان فوق الشمس للساعي قدَمْ

يسمو لها مُحلِّقٌ من الهممْ

If above the sun the striver has a foothold,

a soaring ambition rises toward it.

فابغِ وراءَ ما بلغتَ غايةً

واطلب مزيدا في الذي نلت ورُمْ

Then seek a goal beyond what you have reached,

and seek more in what you have won, and aspire.

لم يَدَع الكمالُ فيك خَلّةً

يقال فيها ليت ذا النقصانَ تمّْ

Perfection has left in you no flaw

of which one might say, “Would this deficiency were made whole,”

إلا الخلودَ فتملَّ خالدا

كما تشاء وبرغم من رغِمْ

except immortality—so enjoy it as an immortal,

as you wish, in defiance of all who resent it,

على الزمان طيِّه ونشره

وأنت غضُّ محدَثٌ على القِدَمْ

through time's folding and unfolding,

while you remain fresh and new despite its age.

تميس من ملكك في مُفاضةٍ

تردُّ فضلَ ذيلها على القَدَمْ

You sway in a flowing coat of mail made of your sovereignty,

turning its trailing hem back over your feet.

حصينةٍ لم يتخلّلْ سردَها

نافذةٌ تبهَمُ أوْ صدْعٌ ثلَمْ

Impregnable: its linked rings have never admitted

an opening needing sealing, or a crack that mars it.

كم تطلب الأعداءُ فيك مغمَزا

تَفنَى الضُّروسُ والحصى لم ينعجمْ

How often your enemies seek a weak spot in you!

Their molars wear away, while the pebbles remain uncrushed.

ويحسُبون عثرةً ومُتعَبٌ

ناظرُ عثراتِ النجوم في الظُّلَمْ

They expect a stumble, but weary is

whoever watches for the stars to stumble in the dark.

أضغاثُ ليلٍ ضاحكت بروقُها

حقيقةَ الصبح ومن نام حَلَمْ

Night's tangled dreams, whose lightning flashes smiled at

the reality of dawn—and whoever sleeps will dream.

قد علم الله صَلاحَ خَلْقه

على يديك فقضى بما علِمْ

God knew the welfare of His creatures

would lie at your hands, so He decreed according to what He knew.

والملكُ مذ ضممتَه يعرِف مَن

يفتح باعيْه عليه ويضُمّْ

Since you embraced it, the realm has known who

opens both arms around it and gathers it close,

وكيف رُضتَ طفلَه على الصِّبا

وكيف رِشت شيخَه على الهَرَمْ

and how you trained its child despite his youth,

and how you feathered its elder despite his decrepitude.

يوما أخٌ مساهمٌ بنفسه

في جُلِّ ما ناب ويوما أنت عَمّْ

One day a brother, sharing in person

in most misfortunes that befell it; another day, you are an uncle.

وطائرٍ من شُعبِ الرأي مضى

بدائدا طردَك بالذئب الغنَمْ

And many a flying offshoot of counsel that went

scattered, as when you drive sheep with a wolf—

أرسلتَ تدبيرك في أطرافه

يجمع من أقطاره حتى انتظمْ

you sent your governance into its farthest parts,

gathering it from every quarter until it held together.

وحدَكَ لم تقدحه عن مشاركٍ

زِيدَ ولو شورك بدرٌ ما استتمْ

Alone: you kindled it from no partner

brought in; had a full moon been partnered, it would not have grown full.

وقاطعٍ حبلَ الحفاظِ خالعٍ

شاور نجما مشرقيّا قد نَجمْ

And many a breaker of loyalty's bond, casting off allegiance,

consulted an eastern star that had risen.

لانت لكفيه العصا فشقَّها

وما درى بأيّ كفٍّ تلتئمْ

The staff yielded to his hands, so he split it,

not knowing by which hand it would be mended.

ثارَ وعزُّ الدين من أنصارِهِ

كواسرُ الجوّ وآسادُ الأجَمْ

He rose, while ʿIzz al-Dīn had among his supporters

the raptors of the air and lions of the thickets.

يزعم لا يرجِعُ دون غايةٍ

لولاك كان صادقا فيما زعَمْ

He claimed he would not turn back short of his goal;

but for you, his claim would have been true.

قمتَ إليه بحشىً ساكنةٍ

كأنما لقيتَه ولم تقُمْ

You rose against him with a tranquil heart,

as though you had met him without even rising.

تقود شهباءَ جميلا وجهُها

ما أُبصِرَتْ قبيحةً ما تَقتحمْ

Leading a gray host, beautiful of face,

never seen ugly as it charges,

تُمثِّلُ الأشخاصَ فيما صقَلتْ

من سابغ وافٍ وصمصامٍ خَذِمْ

reflecting figures in what it polished

of ample, full-covering mail and keen, cleaving swords.

يقُطر ماءُ بِيضِها وسمرها

علامةً أنًّ غداً تقطُر دَمْ

Water drips from its white swords and brown spears,

a sign that tomorrow they will drip blood.

ومستقيماتٍ أبوها أعوجٌ

تقوم من طُرْق الوغى على لَقَمْ

And straight-limbed steeds whose sire is Aʿwaj, “Crooked,”

standing on the broad middle of battle's roads.

عوَّدتَها الحربَ فما تفِرُقُ ما

أوعيَةُ العليقِ من فُوسِ الُّلجُمْ

You accustomed them to war, so they cannot distinguish

fodder-bags from bridle bits.

وغيره فالتَ أشراكَ الوغى

قبضتَه مكراً بأشراكِ الكَلِمْ

And another, who escaped the snares of war,

you caught by cunning in the snares of words.

جرّدت من فيك له قاطعةً

يوم الحجاج تقتلُ القِرنَ الخصِمْ

You drew from your mouth against him a cutting blade,

which on the day of argument slays the rival adversary.

قال بنو الحرب وقد كتبتها

مالَ على السيفِ وفاءً للقلَمْ

The sons of war said, when you had written it:

“He turned upon the sword out of loyalty to the pen.”

إنّ حِبَاء آنفاً حُبِيتَه

عن المنَى كان كثيرا وعظُمْ

Indeed, the gift with which you were lately favored

was abundant beyond wishes, and great.

لا عنُقٌ جيداءُ طالت طمعا

في مثله قطّ ولا أنفٌ أشمّْ

No graceful neck ever stretched in longing

for its like, nor any proud, high-bridged nose.

أخلعةٌ عليك أم هديّة

إلى الرياض أهديت من الديَمْ

Is it a robe of honor upon you, or a gift

sent to the gardens from the steady rains?

أم من نداك طُبِعتْ ورُصِّعتْ

بجوهر الأخلاق منكَ والشيمْ

Or was it fashioned from your generosity and inlaid

with gems of your character and virtues?

قد كان يُرضى الوزراءَ قبلها

ما أُعطيَ الأتباع منك والخدَمْ

Before it, ministers used to be content

with what followers and servants received from you,

ويشكرون ما كسا إذا ضفا

عليهم وما امتُطي إذا كرُمْ

and gave thanks for a garment, if it hung amply

upon them, and for a mount, if it was noble.

ما أُهِّلوا لما ابتنى موسدا

جِلستَهم وما سقَى وما خَتَمْ

They were not deemed worthy of what he built to cushion

their sitting, nor of what he served to drink or sealed.

لا الدرَّ لاثوا عِمًّةً قطّ به

ولا النضارَ سحبوا ذيلا وكُمّْ

Never did they wind a turban with pearls,

nor trail a hem and sleeve of pure gold,

ولا مشت جيادُهم وخَرَزُ ال

تيجان في الأكفالِ منها واللُّجُمْ

nor did their steeds walk with the beads of the

crowns on their rumps and bridles.

قِيدتْ لهم مركوبةً مجنوبةً

محزَّماتٍ وسوى ذات الحُزُمُ

Led to them, some ridden and some led alongside,

girthed, and others without girths.

قد كان يُجنَىَ منبِتُ التبرِ لَها

فخلتُها الآن جَنَى البحرِ الخضمّْ

Once the growing-beds of gold were harvested for them;

so now I take them for the harvest of the vast sea.

نُعمى أُحِلَّت بك في محلِّها

ومعشر تَغلَط فيهمُ النَّعَمْ

A blessing, lodged with you in its proper place,

and a company among whom blessings go astray.

أعلقَك المجدَ بلا مساجل

عِرْضٌ جميعٌ وثراءٌ مقتَسَمْ

What secured you glory, without a rival, was

honor kept whole and wealth shared out,

وشيمٌ لم تغتصبها طِيبَها

أبَّهةُ الملكِ وتعظيمُ الأُمَمْ

and virtues never robbed of their goodness

by royal pomp or the reverence of nations.

يا ناشر الأمواتِ في إحسانه

ما بالُ حظّي وحده تحت الرَّجَمْ

O raiser of the dead through your kindness,

why is my fortune alone beneath piled grave-stones?

نبّهتَ أرزاقَ الورى ورزقِيَ ال

نائمُ والتأميلُ فيك لم ينمْ

You roused the livelihoods of all, but mine is the

sleeping one; yet my hope in you has never slept.

يقولُ قومٌ وانبسطتُ واصفا

حالي لهم ويعهدوني أحتشِمْ

Some people say—when I spoke freely, describing

my plight to them, though they know me as reserved—

يقدَمُ فخرُ الملكِ ثمّ تنجلي

غاشيةُ الليل إذا الصبُح قدِمْ

“Fakhr al-Mulk will arrive; then will lift

the veil of night, when morning comes.”

فقلت قد أسلفتُه شِكايةً

لو قد وفى لرقَّ منها ورحمْ

I said, “I have already sent him a complaint;

had he kept faith, it would have softened him and won his mercy.

وقد رأى حاليَ قبلَ سيره

لحما كما ترونها على وضَمْ

He had seen my plight before his departure:

flesh, as you see it, upon a butcher's block.”

لكنني استزدته فقال لي

ناصِحهُم إن تستزد فلا جَرَمْ

But I asked him for more; then spoke to me

their counselor: “If you ask for more, then surely

العتبُ ذنبٌ قلت إني تائبٌ

شريطةُ التوبةِ تركٌ وندَمْ

reproach is a sin.” I said, “I repent.”

“Repentance requires renunciation and remorse.”