سقى زمنا ببابل عقربي — Mihyar Al Daylami

سقى زمناً ببابلَ عقربيٌّ

مليٌّ بالذي يُروِي ويُرضِي

May a cloud of Scorpio water those days in Babylon,

rich in what quenches thirst and brings contentment,

عنيفُ السير أوطفُ مستمرٌّ

على غُلَواء ما يَقضي ويمضي

fierce in its course, heavy-fringed and unceasing,

headlong in all it accomplishes and carries through.

يزور الأرضَ بعد جفائه في

قضيضٍ من زماجره وقَضِّ

It visits the earth after its neglect, amid

a crashing tumult of its roars and thunder.

سقَى فجرَى فأسمنَ كلَّ ضاوٍ

يمرُّ به ورفَّع كلَّ خفضِ

May it water and flow, fattening every lean thing

it passes over, and raising every hollow.

فمن ملآن بعد الغيض طاغٍ

ومن ريَّانَ بعد اليبْسِ غضِّ

Some become full, overflowing after depletion,

and some well-watered and tender after drought.

وكرَّمَ أسرةً كانوا إذا ما ان

تجعت زُلاليَ الصافي وحَمضي

And may it honor a household who, whenever I sought

pasture, were my pure, sweet water and my salt-herbage.

همُ حملوا وسوقَ الدهر عنّي

وهم نشطوا عرى نِسعي وغَرْضي

They lifted Time's burdens from me,

and loosened the loops of my saddle-strap and girth.

أضاءوا مذهبي فسرَحتُ طرفي

وسيعاً بعد إطراقي وغضّي

They lit my path, and I let my gaze roam

widely, after bowing my head and lowering my eyes.

وقاموا بين أيامي وبيني

فلم تقتُل ولا راعت بنبضِ

They stood between my days and me,

so those days neither killed me nor frightened me with a tremor.

حمَوا وجهي ولم أسأل سواهم

وأعطَوا كلَّ نافلةٍ وفرضِ

They shielded my face, and I asked no one else;

they gave every voluntary gift and every obligatory due.

فأصبحُ فيهُمُ وأروح عنهم

إلى وفرين من مالي وعِرضي

Thus I greet the morning among them and leave them at evening,

to two abundant stores: my wealth and my honor.

فهل من حاملٍ شَوقِي إليهم

على ما فيه من ألمٍ ومضِّ

Is there someone to carry my longing to them,

despite the pain and searing anguish it contains?

فحاملَه فموصلَه إليهم

على بزلاءَ ينحلها ويُنضي

Someone to bear it, then deliver it to them,

on a mature she-camel he makes thin and exhausts.

يؤمّ الزابيين بها ويعلو

قويقاً بين تقريب وركضِ

He would head toward the two Zabs upon her and cross

Quwayq, between cantering and galloping.

فيُسمعَ ثَمَّ سامعةً كراماً

أَيَامَى العيش بعدهُمُ ويُفضي

There he would make noble listeners hear

of life left widowed without them, and speak openly.

وإني مذ نأت دنياي عنهم

من الدنيا على هجرٍ ورفضِ

And since my own world drew away from them,

I have shunned this world and cast it off.

أقضِّي ما أغالطُ من زماني

بلَوعاتٍ تكاد عليَّ تَقضي

I pass what time I can beguile

with burning griefs that all but kill me.

فكم أحيا وفي بغدادَ بعضي

على مَرضٍ وفي تكريتَ بعضي

How long can I live, with part of me in Baghdad,

ailing, and part of me in Tikrit?

ومسبوقين في طرق المعالي

وإن زُجِروا بِحَثٍّ أو بحضِّ

And men outstripped on the paths to glory,

even when goaded by urging or exhortation—

أصاحبهم فيمسي الودّ منهم

على زِلقٍ من الشحناء دحضِ

I befriend them, but their affection ends up

on rancor's treacherous, slippery ground.

وأُبرمُ فيهمُ مِدَحاً مِتاناً

فتلقاها معايبهم بنقضِ

I twist stout cords of praise for them,

but their faults meet that praise by unraveling it.

ولو حامى كمال الملك عني

رعيتُ الخِصبَ في دَعةٍ وخفضِ

Were Kamal al-Mulk to defend me,

I would graze on plenty in tranquility and ease.

إذاً لأعاد سلسالاً نميراً

على عاداته ثَمَدِي وبَرْضي

Then he would make a smooth-flowing, wholesome stream,

as is his wont, of my scant pool and meager trickle.

فدتك أبا المعالي كلُّ كفّ

تقصِّر عنك في بسطٍ وقبضِ

May every hand be your ransom, Abu al-Ma'ali,

that falls short of you in giving and withholding,

وكلُّ مدنَّس الأبِ لا بحتٍّ

يميطُ العارَ عنه ولا برَحْضِ

and every man of tainted paternal lineage, whom no scraping

can rid of shame, nor any washing.

دعيٌّ في الفضائل كلّ يوم

له نسبٌ يجيء به ويمضي

An impostor in virtue; every day

he has a pedigree he comes and goes with.

نأى بك جمرةً بالغيظ تسري

إلى سوداء مهجته وتُفضِي

He holds you far off, an ember creeping in rage

into the dark core of his heart, penetrating it.

كرُمتَ ففي عطايا الغيث شَوبٌ

وماء يديك من صافٍ ومحضِ

Noble are you: rain's gifts contain admixture,

but the water of your hands is clear and unalloyed.

ويعطي الناسُ من جِدةٍ وتعطي

عطاءَ الحمد من دَيْن وقرضِ

Others give from wealth, but you give

praiseworthy gifts from debt and loans.

وتخجلك المواهبُ وهي كُثرٌ

كأنك مسخطٌ ونداك مُرضي

Your gifts make you blush, though they are many,

as though you displeased, while your bounty pleases.

قضى اللّهُ الكمالَ فكنت شخصاً

لصورته وخَلقُ الناس يقضي

God decreed perfection, and you became a figure

embodying its image; mankind too pronounces judgment.

شريتك بالبرية بعد قطعي

طريقَ الإختيار بهم ونفضي

I bought you in exchange for all mankind, after traversing

the road of choosing among them and sifting them.

ورعتُ بك النوائب وهي فوقي

وتحتي بين حائمةٍ ورُبْضِ

I frightened calamities away with you, while they were above me

and below me, some hovering, others crouching.

فقد أسلمتني بنواك حتى

نَسلنَ قوادمي وبرينَ نحضي

For you have left me defenseless in your absence, until

they plucked my flight-feathers and pared away my flesh.

فها أنا بين حاجاتي وشوقي

لِفَتٍّ من مخالبها ورضِّ

Here I am, between my needs and my longing,

at the mercy of their claws' crushing and battering.

أزمّ إليكُمُ قلبي وعيني

بآية فيكُمُ جذَلي وغمضي

I rein my heart and my eyes toward you,

the proof being that my joy and my sleep lie with you.

أسادتَنا كم الإبطاءُ عنكم

وصبركُمُ على الهجر الممِضِّ

Our masters, how long this delay away from you,

and your patience with this searing estrangement?

ألمّا يأتِ وقتُكم المسمَّى

ألمّا يأنِ زبدُكُمُ بمخضِ

Has your appointed time not yet come?

Is it not yet time to bring out your butter by churning?

فكم سخطٍ على الدنيا وصدٍّ

عن الدولات وهي على الترضِّي

How long this anger at the world, and this turning away

from ruling powers, though they seek to please you?

حديثكُمُ يبرِّحُ بالمعالي

فَنَهضاً إنها أيّام نهضِ

Talk of you torments the heights of glory;

so rise! These are days for rising.

أراها أينعتْ ودنا جناها

وأذعنَ ختمُها لكُمُ بفضِّ

I see them ripe, and their harvest is near,

and their seal submits to your breaking it.

عسى أقذِي بقربكُمُ عيوناً

حسدنَ عليَّ من حزنٍ وبرضِ

May I put grit, through your nearness, in the eyes

that envied me my rough ground and meager trickle.

ويبرد من أعاديكم وشيكاً

زفيرُ جوانح بالهمّ رُمْضِ

And may there soon grow cool, among your foes,

the sighs of breasts scorched by care.

وبعد فما لكم أغفلتموني

وأخلبَ بارقٌ من بعد ومضِ

And now, why have you neglected me,

and why has the flashing cloud proved rainless after its gleam?

أظنّاً أنني عنكم غنيٌّ

بحلّي أو بتطوافي وركضي

Do you suppose that I have no need of you,

through staying put, or through my roaming and running?

معاذَ اللّه والعهدِ المراعَى

ولو أنضيتُ تامكتي ونِقْضي

God forbid—and by the covenant faithfully kept!

Even were I to exhaust my full-humped camel and my worn-out one.

وتعويلي من النيروز وفداً

على متنجَّزٍ لي مُستَنضِّ

And, as an envoy from Nowruz, I place my trust

in one who secures fulfillment for me and exacts payment.

فلا تتوهموا لي خصبَ مرعى

إذا قعدت سماؤكُمُ بأرضي

So do not imagine I have fertile pasture

if your sky fails to rain on my land.