حاشاك من عارية ترد — Mihyar Al Daylami

حاشاك من عاريَّةٍ تُرَدُّ

اِبيضَّ ذاك الشَّعَرُ المسودُّ

May you be spared a loan that must be returned!

That once-black hair has turned white.

أشرفَ بازيَّ على غرابه

حتى ذَوى الغصنُ ولان الجَعْدُ

My falcon has risen above its raven,

until the branch withered and the curls grew limp.

أتعبني بخاضبٍ مُصدَّدٍ

لو كان من هُجومهِ يُصَدُّ

It has wearied me with a dyer set against it,

if only its onslaught could be repelled.

وثالمٍ بلقطه ثَنيَّةً

معروفةً من يومها تُسَدُّ

And one whose plucking notches an incisor,

a familiar one, filled again that very day.

يصبغ سوداءَ ودون أخذه

بيضاءُ تَخفَى تارة وتَبدو

He dyes a black hair, while beyond his grasp

a white one now hides, now appears.

أَخلقَ جاهي في ذوات الخُمْرِ مذ

لِيثَ خمارٌ لِيَ مُستَجَدُّ

My standing among veiled women has worn thin since

a newly fashioned veil was wound about me.

قلنَ وقد عتبتُ في وثائق

نقضنها ما غادةٌ وعهدُ

They said, when I reproached them over pledges

they had broken: "What has a maiden to do with a pledge?"

نافَى بك الشيبُ بِطالاتِ الصِّبا

الليلُ هزلٌ والنهارُ جِدُّ

Gray hair has parted you from youth's idle pleasures;

night is jest, and day is earnestness.

فقلتُ نصلٌ لا يُذَمُّ عِتقُهُ

قلنَ فأينَ الماءُ والفِرِندُ

I said, "A blade is not faulted for its age."

They said, "Then where are its sheen and watered pattern?"

كان قناةً فغدا حنِيَّةً

ظهرُك ما القضيبُ إلا القَدُّ

It was a spear-shaft, then became a bow—

your back; a rod is nothing but its straight form.

سائل بني سعدٍ وأيّ مأثمٍ

لم يتقلَّدْ منكِ ظلماً سعدُ

Ask the sons of Sa'd: what offense

has Sa'd not been unjustly burdened with by you?

أهندُ قالت ملَّني وحلَفتْ

تحلَّلي حالفةٍ يا هِندُ

O Hind—she said, "He tired of me," and swore.

Release yourself from your oath, you who swore, O Hind!

أمْنُكِ بين أضلعي جنايةٌ

أعجبْ بها ناراً خَباها زَندُ

Your safety between my ribs is a crime;

marvel at it: a fire hidden by a fire-stick!

وعدُكِ لِمْ أُخْلِفَ يومَ بابلٍ

بل كان سحراً واسمُهُ لِي وعدُ

Why was your promise broken on the day of Babel?

Rather, it was magic, though to me its name was "promise."

خصرُكِ ضعفاً واللسانُ مَلَقاً

دقَّاً عليك أن يصحَّ عَقدُ

Your waist in frailty, and your tongue in flattery,

were too fine for any bond of yours to hold.

ضاع الهوى ضياعَ من يحفَظُه

ومات مع أهل الوفاء الودُّ

Love was lost as its keepers were lost,

and affection died along with the faithful.

اُنْجُ ربيحَ العِرضِ واقعدْ حَجرَةً

منفرداً إن الحسامَ فردُ

Escape with honor to your credit, and sit apart,

alone—for the keen sword stands alone.

كم مستريحٍ في ظلالِ نعمةٍ

وأنت في تأميله تَكُدُّ

How many a man rests in prosperity's shade,

while you toil, pinning your hopes on him!

طالك بالمال ولو أريتَهُ

صَوناً رآك مَعَهُ تُعَدُّ

He outdid you in wealth; but if you showed him

self-respect, he would see you ranked alongside him.

ملكتُ نفسي مذ هجرتُ طمعي

اليأسُ حُرٌّ والرجاءُ عبدُ

I mastered myself when I forsook my greed;

despair is a free man, and hope is a slave.

ولو علمتُ رغبةً تسوق لي

نفعاً لَخِفتُ أن يَضُرَّ الزهدُ

And if I knew a desire could bring me

benefit, I would fear that renunciation might harm me.

جرَّبتُ أخلاقَ الرجال فإذا

بسَمحِها مع السؤال نَكْدُ

I tested men's dispositions, and behold:

even their generosity turns grudging when asked.

ورمتُ أيديهم بكلِّ رُقيةٍ

تلين والأيدي معي تَشْتَدُّ

And I sought, with every charm, to make their hands

soften, yet their hands grow hard with me.

لم يُعبني فضلٌ أداريهم به

وإنما أعيا عليّ الجَدُّ

My merit in courting them was not at fault;

it was only fortune that defied me.

ما كان مَن شَعْشَعَ لي سرابَهُ

غَرَّ فَمِي وقلتُك ماءٌ عِدُّ

No one who made his mirage gleam for me

deceived my mouth; your rock-pool is an unfailing spring.

في الناس مَنْ معروفُهُ في عُنُقي

غُلُّ وفيهم مَن جَداه عِقدُ

Among men are those whose favor around my neck

is a shackle, and those whose bounty is a necklace.

مثلُ الحسينِ إن طلبتُ غايةً

فاتت وهل مِثْلٌ له أو نِدُّ

Like al-Husayn: if I seek an utmost height,

it is beyond reach; has he a like or a peer?

فات الرجالَ أن ينالوا مجدَه

مشمِّرٌ للمجدِ مستعِدُّ

Men cannot attain his glory;

he is girded and ready for glory.

غَلَّسَ في إثر العلا وأشمسوا

فجاء قبلاً والنجومُ بعدُ

He set out before dawn pursuing eminence; they went in sunshine,

so he arrived first, while the stars still shone.

ومن بني عبد الرحيم قَمرٌ

كلُّ لياليه تَمامٌ سعدُ

And from the sons of Abd al-Rahim comes a moon;

all his nights are full and auspicious.

ما نطفةُ المزنِ صفَت طاهرةً

أطيبُ ممّا ضمَّ منه البُرْدُ

No raincloud's droplet, clear and pure,

is sweeter than what his mantle encloses.

لايِنْهُ لا تُلفِ القضيبَ عاسياً

واصعُبْ يزاحمْك ثقيلاً أُحْدُ

Be gentle with him: you will not find the branch stiff;

be harsh, and Uhud will bear heavily against you.

من المحامين على أحسابهم

بمالِهم فالفقرُ فيهم مَجدُ

He is among those who defend their ancestral honor

with their wealth; for them poverty is glory.

لا يتمنَّون على حظوظهم

أن يَجِدُوا دنيا إذا لم يُجدُوا

They do not wish it as their lot

to gain worldly wealth if they cannot give freely.

سخوا ولم تَبْنِ عليهم طيّىءٌ

وفصُحوا ولم تلدهم نَجْدُ

They were generous, though Tayy did not rear them,

and eloquent, though Najd had not borne them.

كانوا الخيارَ وفَرَعْتَ زائداً

والنارُ تعلو وأبوها الزَّندُ

They were the choicest, and you surpassed them, greater still;

and fire rises high, though its father is the fire-stick.

يا مؤنسي بقربه سلْ وحشتي

بعدَك ما جرّ عليَّ البُعدُ

O you whose nearness comforts me, ask my loneliness

in your absence what separation has brought upon me.

أكلَّ يومٍ للفراق فيكُمُ

تَعَمُّدٌ يسوءني أو قصدُ

Does parting from you, each day,

have some intent to grieve me, or some design?

ما بين أن يَحبُرَني لقاؤكم

حتى النوى فنَعْمَةٌ وجُهدُ

No sooner does meeting you delight me

than separation comes—bliss, then hardship.

وكيف لا وأنتُمُ في نُوَبي

يدٌ وظَهرٌ وفمٌ وعَضْدُ

And how could it be otherwise, when in my trials you are

a hand, a back, a mouth, and an arm?

ريشُ جَناحي بكُمُ مُضاعَفٌ

وحبلُ باعِي منكُمُ ممتَدُّ

Through you the feathers of my wing are doubled,

and the cord of my reach is extended by you.

كم تحملون كُلَفِي ثقيلةً

كأنّ حَملي ليس مه بُدُّ

How often you bear my burdens, heavy as they are,

as though there were no escape from bearing me.

مبتسمين والثرى معبِّسٌ

بيضَ الوجوهِ والخطوبُ رُبْدُ

Smiling, though the earth is scowling,

white of face, while misfortunes are ashen.

قد فَضَلَتْنِي سَرَفاً ألطافُكم

فحسبكم لكلِّ شيءٍ حَدُّ

Your kindnesses have overwhelmed me in their excess;

so enough from you; everything has a limit.

أَبقُوا عليّ إنما إبقاؤكم

ذُخرٌ ليومِ حاجتي مُعَدُّ

Spare me; your restraint is only

a reserve kept ready for my day of need.

شِيبُكُمُ والنُّصَفاءُ منكُمُ

والغُرُّ من شبابكم والمُرْدُ

Your gray-haired men and the middle-aged among you,

the radiant among your youths, and the beardless,

في نجوةٍ أيدي الخطوب دونها

بُتْرٌ وأجفانُ الليالي رُمْدُ

are on a safe height; beneath it, calamity's hands

are severed, and the eyelids of the nights are inflamed.

أراك فيها كلَّ يومٍ لابساً

ثوباً من النَّعماء يستجدُّ

I see you there, each day wearing

a robe of blessings ever renewed.

يزورك الشِّعرُ به في مَعرَضٍ

منشِدهُ يُحسبُ طِيباً يشدو

Poetry visits you in it, in a guise

whose reciter seems a singing fragrance.

وربما أذكرُ ما أنساكَ من

رسمي اتفاقٌ ساءني لا عَمْدُ

And perhaps I mention what you forgot of

my customary due—through a mishap that pained me, not intent.

سيفُكَ في الأعداء لِمْ خلَّفتَهُ

مجرَّداً ليس عليه غِمدُ

Your sword among the enemies—why have you left it

unsheathed, with no scabbard over it?

وكيف طِبتَ أن يُرَى فريسةً

نفساً وأيامُ الشتاء أُسْدُ

And how could you be content for it to be seen as prey—

a soul—when the days of winter are lions?

يَحتشِمُ النّيروزُ من إطلاله

والمهرجانُ يقتضيكَ بعدُ

Nowruz is abashed at its approach,

and Mihrijan still demands payment from you.