في كل دار عدو لي أقاذعه — Mihyar Al Daylami

في كلِّ دارٍ عدوٌّ لي أقاذعُهُ

وعاذلٌ أتّقيه أو أصانعُهُ

In every house I have an enemy with whom I trade insults,

and a reproacher I guard against or placate;

وآمرٌ بسلوّ لا يطاوعني

قلبي عليه وناهٍ لا أطاوعُهُ

and one who bids me forget, though I cannot make

my heart comply with it, and one who forbids me, whom I do not obey.

يعيا بوجدي ولم يحمل بكاهله

ثِقلي ولا ضمنت قلبي أضالعُهُ

He is wearied by my longing, yet has not borne upon his shoulders

my burden, nor have his ribs enclosed my heart.

كأنني أوّل العشاق طال له

مغنى الأحبّةِ وارفضّت مدامعُهُ

As though I were the first lover for whom grew distant

the loved ones' dwelling, and whose tears streamed.

عابوا وفائي لمن أهوى وقد علموا

أن الخيانة ذنبٌ لا أواقعُهُ

They reproached my loyalty to the one I love, though they knew

that betrayal is a sin I do not commit.

وهل تصح لمأمونٍ أمانتُهُ

يوماً إذا الحبّ لم تُحفظْ ودائعُهُ

Can a trusted man's trustworthiness ever hold true

if love's deposits are not safeguarded?

نعم وقفتُ على الأطلال أسألها

ما كلّ مستخبَرٍ تُصغي مسامعُهُ

Yes, I stood beside the ruins, questioning them;

not everyone questioned has ears that listen.

وقد يجيبك وحياً مَن تخاطبه

وتفهم القولَ ممن لا تراجعُهُ

One you address may answer you by a sign,

and you may understand words from one with whom you do not converse.

وما رجوتُ بذات البان من سفهٍ

دنوَّ من شَسَعت عني شواسعُهُ

Nor did I foolishly hope at Dhat al-Ban

for the nearness of one whose far-off haunts lie distant from me.

وما وقفتُ لبدرٍ غاب أطلبه

جهلاً ولكن شفَتْ عيني مطالعُهُ

Nor did I stand seeking a full moon that had vanished

in ignorance; rather, its rising places soothed my eyes.

وكلّ من فقد الأحبابَ ناظرهُ

مُسرَّحُ الطرفِ في الآثار نافعُهُ

For everyone who has lost loved ones, his gaze,

let loose among their traces, brings him comfort.

وفي الظعائن خلاّبٌ بموعده

خَلاَبةَ البرق لم تصدُقْ لوامعُهُ

Among the departing palanquins is one whose promise beguiles

like lightning whose flashes prove untrue.

مقنَّعٌ لُثُمُ الأبطال يحدِرُها

ذليلةً ما تواريه مَقانعُهُ

A veiled one: the champions' face-wraps are lowered

in abasement by what his veils conceal.

ظبي يصدّ عن المرعى النفوسَ فقد

صارت حمىً بالدم الجاري مراتعُهُ

A gazelle who bars souls from the pasture; for

his pastures have become forbidden ground through flowing blood.

لا يُقتَضَى عنده ثأرٌ ولا تِرَةٌ

ولا يُعاب بجبنٍ من يقارعُهُ

With him neither vengeance nor blood-debt is exacted,

nor is one who fights him reproached for cowardice.

إن شاء أنكر أوإن شاء معترفاً

بالقتل لم يتعسَّفْه توابعُهُ

Whether he chooses denial or chooses to confess

to killing, its consequences do not harry him.

وكيف يَجحدُ قتلاه إذا شهدت

خدّاه بالدمِ أو باحت أصابعُهُ

How can he deny his slain when

his cheeks testify in blood, or his fingers divulge it?

يا تاركي مَثلاً في الناس منتشراً

تدور شائعةً فيهم وشائعُهُ

O you who have left me a byword spread among people,

its tales circulating widely among them!

ما سلّط اللّه أجفاني على جلَدي

إلا ومحفوظُ سِرّي فيك ضائعُهُ

God never set my eyelids against my endurance

without my guarded secret about you being lost.

من أحدثَ الغدرَ دِيناً فاستننت به

ومن أباحتك تعذيبي شرائعُهُ

Who made treachery a creed that you followed,

and whose laws permitted you to torment me?

بلى هو الدهر مفطورٌ خلائقهُ

على الفساد ومجبولٌ طبائعُهُ

Yes, it is Time: its dispositions are fashioned

for corruption, and its natures are moulded upon it.

أما ترى مَلِكَ الأملاك خاونه

عبيدُه وعتت كفراً صنائعُهُ

Do you not see the king of kings betrayed

by his slaves, his protégés rebelliously ungrateful?

ثعالبٌ تتعاوى ساقَها وَعِلٌ

لضيغمٍ لم تزعزعه زعازعُهُ

Foxes howling together, led by an ibex

against a lion unshaken by its tempests.

ما قمت تزأرُ منها واحداً صَمَداً

إلا وجبَّار ذاك الجمعِ خاشعُهُ

Whenever you rose, roaring at them, alone and steadfast,

the tyrant of that gathering was humbled.

رأوا ولاءَك وسماً في جباههِمُ

فذُلُّهم لك إن عزُّوا طوابعُهُ

They saw allegiance to you as a brand upon their foreheads;

so their abasement before you, even in their might, bears its stamps.

من كلّ قلبٍ قسا والرقّ يخصمه

حتى يرقَّ ونعماكم تنازعُهُ

Every hardened heart is subdued by bondage

until it softens, while your favors contend with it.

وكيف تَعصِي رقابٌ أنت مالكها

مِلك اليمين وسيفٌ أنت طابعُهُ

How can necks you own rebel,

as possessions of your right hand, or a sword you yourself forged?

وهل هباتك يبغيها مغالبةً

من أنت واهبُه أو أنت بائعُهُ

Can your gifts be sought by force

by one whom you can give away or sell?

عادوا وبَسطةُ أيديهم تثقِّلُها

أغلالُ مَنِّكَ فيها أو جوامعُهُ

They turned hostile, though their outstretched hands are weighed down

by the shackles of your favor upon them, or its fetters.

يرعون ما أثمر البغيُ الذي غرسوا

والبغيُ معروفَة العقبى مَصارعُهُ

They graze on what their planted rebellion has borne,

and rebellion's deadly outcome is well known.

يلوذ بالعفو منهم كلُّ ذي شَممٍ

بأنفه بأسك المحذور جادعُهُ

Every proud man among them seeks refuge in pardon,

your dreaded might cutting off his nose.

وحسب عاصيك ذلّاً إذ صفحتَ له

عن الجريرة أن الذلَّ شافعُهُ

Enough humiliation for your rebel, when you pardon him

his offense, that abasement is his intercessor.

وأنت كالسيف لم ينضُبْ بصفحته

ماءُ الفرندِ ولم تَثلَمْ مَقاطعُهُ

You are like a sword whose blade-face has not lost

the sheen of its damascened pattern, nor have its cutting edges been notched.

راموك واللّه رامٍ دون ما طلبوا

وهل يفرَّقُ شملٌ وهو جامعُهُ

They aimed at you, but God is an archer barring their aim;

can a company be scattered when He gathers it?

عوائدٌ لك تجري في كَفالتهِ

لا يجبرُ اللّه عظماً أنت صادعُهُ

Your recurring good fortunes flow under His guardianship;

God will not mend a bone you break.

كم قبل ذلك من فتقٍ مُنيتَ به

واللّه من حيث يخفى عنك راقعُهُ

How many a breach before this have you suffered,

with God mending it in ways hidden from you!

ضاقت جوانبه واشتد مخرجُهُ

وأنت فيه رحيبُ الصدر واسعُهُ

Its sides closed in, and its way out grew difficult,

while within it your breast remained open and spacious,

ردّاً إليه وتسليماً لقدرته

فيما تحاوله أو ما تدافعُهُ

referring all to Him and submitting to His power

in what you attempt or what you repel.

فهبْ عبيدَك للمعطيك طاعتَهم

فأنت في العفو عن عاصيك طائعُهُ

So spare your slaves for Him who granted you their obedience;

for in pardoning your rebel, you obey Him.

واعطف عليهم فهم أنصارُ دولتكم

ببأسهم كلُّ خصم أنت قامعُهُ

Be tender toward them: they are your dynasty's supporters;

with their might you subdue every foe.

يا من إذا قال هل في الأرض من ملكٍ

سواي لم يَرَ مخلوقاً ينازعُهُ

O you who, if he asks, 'Is there any king on earth

besides me?' finds no creature to challenge him:

من مات من قومك الصيد الكرام فقد

أحياه ذكرُك وابتلّت مضاجعُهُ

Whoever of your proud, noble people has died

your remembrance has revived, and his resting places are moistened.

ومن على الأرض منهم سيّدٌ ملكٌ

فأنت خافضُهُ أو أنت رافعُهُ

Whoever among them on earth is a lord or king,

you are the one who lowers him or raises him.

اللّه سربلكم بالملك مَصلحةً

للعالمين فمن ذا عنك نازعُهُ

God clothed you in sovereignty for the welfare

of all worlds; who, then, could strip it from you?

وهل يقوَّضُ بيتٌ من رجالكم

عمادُه وبأيديكم مَجامعُهُ

Can a house be dismantled when one of your men

is its pillar, and its joints are in your hands?

فركنُ دولتكم بالأمس أوّلُهُ

وأنت يا ركنَ دينِ اللّه رابعُهُ

Your dynasty's pillar of yesterday was its first;

and you, O Pillar of God's Religion, are its fourth.

مات الملوكُ على عصيانهم كمداً

به فكاتمُ داءٍ أو مذايعُهُ

Kings died of grief amid their rebellion

against him, some concealing their sickness, others revealing it.

تمضي على حكمه الأفلاكُ دائرةً

فكلّ سعد جرى فيهن طالعُهُ

The spheres revolve according to his decree,

and every lucky star coursing through them is his ascendant.

وكنتَ سيفَهُمُ والمجدُ مرهِفُهُ

صقلاً وتاجَهُمُ والفخرُ راصعُهُ

You were their sword, with glory sharpening it

by polishing, and their crown, with pride setting its jewels.

أجراهُمُ والقنا كابٍ وأكرمَهم

يداً إذا جُودهُم سالت ينابعُهُ

Their boldest when the spears falter, and their most generous

of hand when the springs of their bounty flow.

ما أبحُرُ الأرض من بحرٍ تمدّ به

إلى العفاة يداً إلا رَواضعُهُ

The earth's seas, beside the sea through which you stretch

a hand to petitioners, are nothing but its sucklings.

وكلّ رزقٍ ترى الأقدارَ ضيّقةً

به فعندك مسناةٌ وسائعُهُ

Every provision for which you see fate's allotments narrowed

finds with you an embankment and broad expanses.

كأن مالَكَ شخصٌ أنت مبغضُهُ

فأنت مقصيه بالجدوى وقاطعُهُ

As though your wealth were a person you hate,

you drive it away through bounty and cut it off.

آثار جودك فيمن أنت منهضُهُ

آثارُ بطشك فيمن أنت صارعُهُ

The marks of your generosity upon those you raise

are the marks of your onslaught upon those you strike down.

إن شمت وجهَكَ راقتنا روائقه

أو شمت سيفك راعتنا روائعُهُ

If I behold your face, its lovely aspects delight us;

or behold your sword, its terrors awe us.

فلا قرارَ لمالٍ أنت باذلُهُ

ولا انزعاجَ لثغرٍ أنت مانعُهُ

There is no rest for wealth that you bestow,

nor alarm for a frontier that you defend.

تضجُّ باسمك ما قامت منابرُهُ

على الرشاد وماضلَّتْ صوامعُهُ

Its pulpits resound with your name so long as they stand

upon right guidance, and its cloisters have not gone astray,

حتى ترى الشرك والإيمان ما اختلفا

مُلكاً وما الفَلَك الدوّار قاطعُهُ

until you see polytheism and faith, however they differ,

as one kingdom that the revolving sphere cannot sever.

موحّد الملك لا تُدعَى بتثنيةٍ

إلا بنيك وشبلُ الليث تابعُهُ

Sole in sovereignty, no second is named alongside you

except your sons; the lion's cub follows him.

كواكبٌ تستمدُّ النورَ من قمرٍ

على جبينك ساريه وساطعُهُ

Stars drawing light from a moon,

whose night-wandering light and brilliance are upon your brow.

فلا خَلتْ أبداً منها مواضعُها

من السماء ولا منه مواضعُهُ

May their places never be empty of them

in the sky, nor its places empty of it.

وزارك المدحُ في أبهى معارضِهِ

مطرَّزاً باسمك العالي وشائعُهُ

Praise has visited you in its most splendid guise,

its threads embroidered with your exalted name.

يختال بين يدَيْ نعماك مائسُهُ

حُسناً ويستعبرُ الأنفاسَ رادعُهُ

Its swaying strains strut before your bounty

in beauty, while its stern strains turn breaths to weeping.

من كلّ عذراء مخلوعٍ إذا برزتْ

فيها العذارُ وما إن ليم خالعُهُ

Each a virgin verse, at whose appearance is cast off

the bridle, with no blame upon the one who casts it off.

يستوقف الراكبُ الغادي لحاجتِهِ

فيلفت الرأسَ أو تُلوَى أخادعُهُ

It stops the rider setting out on his errand,

so he turns his head, or his neck-veins are twisted.

يستقصر المنشدُ التالي طوائلَها

كأنّ أبياتَ ما يَروِي مَصارِعُهُ

The reciter finds even its long poems too short,

as though the verses he recites were his places of death.

مستصعبات على الراقي أراقمُها

إلا الذي أنا حاويه وخادعُهُ

Its vipers are intractable to the spell-reader,

except the one that I charm and beguile.

يأتي على الصدّ منكم والملالِ لها

وصلٌ يواليه أو شوقٌ ينازعُهُ

Despite your rejection and weariness of them comes

a bond he maintains, or longing that tugs at him.

ما إن رأت قبلكم فيمن يتاجركم

تجارةَ الجودِ من خاست بضائعُهُ

In your presence, among those who trade with you, it has never seen,

in the commerce of generosity, one whose wares went stale.

والمهرجانُ بأن تُرعى وسائلُهُ

منها جديرٌ وأن تزكو ذَرائعُهُ

And Mihragan deserves to have its appeals upheld

through them, and its means of approach made fruitful.

ذاك الرجاءُ لهذا اليومِ منتظِرٌ

فاصنع بحكم العلا ما أنت صانعُهُ

That hope awaits this day;

so do, by nobility's decree, what you will do.

واعلم لك المجلس المعمور ساجدُهُ

يعنو لوجهك إعظاماً وراكعُهُ

And know—your thronged assembly's prostrate ones

and kneeling ones bow before your face in reverence—

أني بقيتُ لهذا الشعر مُذعِنة

آياتُهُ ليَ وحدي أو بدائعُهُ

that I remain the one this poetry obeys,

its signs—or its marvels—yielding to me alone.

وإن سمعتَ بشيء لستُ قائلَه

فلا تعرِّجْ على ما أنت سامعُهُ

And if you hear something I did not say,

pay no attention to what you hear.