عسى معرض وجهه مقبل — Mihyar Al Daylami

عسى معرضٌ وجهُهُ مقبلُ

فيوهَب للآخِر الأوّلُ

Perhaps the one whose face turned away will turn toward us,

And the later one will be granted what the earlier received.

أرى الدهرَ طامنَ من تيهه

وعُدّل جانبُه الأميلُ

I see that time has lowered its pride

And its crooked side has been straightened.

وخودع عن خُلْقه في العقوق

وما خلتُها شيمةً تُنقَلُ

It has been coaxed out of its disobedient nature,

Though I never thought that trait could change.

صفت جمّة الماء بعد الأجون

وقرَّ وكان نبا المنزلُ

The abundant water has cleared after growing brackish,

And the dwelling has settled after being inhospitable.

حَمى السرحَ أغلبُ واري الزناد

أُسودُ الشرى عنده أشبلُ

A powerful protector, quick to strike a spark, guards the grazing grounds;

Beside him, the lions of the thickets are cubs.

بعينين لا يسألان السهاد

متى الصبحُ إن رقد المهمِلُ

With two eyes that never ask for sleeplessness

When morning comes, even if the negligent one sleeps.

له عطَنٌ لا تشُمُّ الدما

ءَ فيه ذئابُ الغضا العُسَّلُ

He has an enclosure where the prowling wolves

Of the ghada scrub smell no blood.

فأبلغْ حبائبنا بالنُّخَيل

رسولاً وما صِغَراً تُرسَلُ

So carry word to our loved ones at al-Nukhayl,

Messenger; you are sent on no small errand.

صِلونا فقد نسخ الهجرَ أم

سِ أمرٌ له اليوم ما يوصَلُ

Come to us: a command has repealed yesterday’s estrangement,

A command that today allows no continued severance.

وقد قسمَ النَّصفَ حرُّ اليمي

ن في كلّ مَظلَمةٍ يعدِلُ

The noble right hand has apportioned justice

And acts fairly in every grievance.

وطرّحْ لحاظَك هل بالشُّريفِ

ركائبُ يحفِزُها المُعمِلُ

Cast your gaze: are there, at al-Shurayf,

Mounts urged onward by the tireless traveler?

عوائمُ في الآل عَوم السفي

ن يطردها عاصفٌ زلزلُ

They swim through the mirage like ships

Driven by a violent, shaking wind.

وأين ببابلَ منك الحمو

لُ موعدها النَّعفُ أو حَوملُ

And where in Babylon are the laden mounts from you,

Whose destination is the rise or Hawmal?

وقفنا وأتعبَ لَيَّ الرقاب

بسَقط اللِّوى طللٌ يمثُلُ

We stopped, and the turning of our necks grew weary

At Saqt al-Liwa, where a ruin came into view.

فلا حافظٌ عهد من بان عنك

فيبكي ولا ناطقٌ يسألُ

No keeper of the departed one’s pledge

Weeps there, and no speaker asks.

سُقيتَ مَحَلّاً وأحيت رباك

مدامعُ كلِّ فتى يقبلُ

May you be watered, dwelling, and may the tears

Of every approaching youth revive your hills.

ولا برحتْ تضَع المثقَلاتُ

من المزن فوقك ما تحمِلُ

And may the laden clouds never cease

To set down over you all they carry.

وفي الركب من ثعَلٍ من يدُل

لُ إلا على سهمه المقتلُ

Among the riders of Thaʿal is one who guides

Only to the fatal place his arrow has struck.

يطفن بلفَّاء منها القضيبُ

ومنها كثيبُ النقا الأهيلُ

They circle a dense grove of slender branches,

And of soft, shifting mounds of sand.

محسّدة العين سهلُ اللحا

ظِ يصبغها مثلَه الأكحلُ

A beauty whose eyes inspire envy, whose gaze is gentle;

Kohl darkens those eyes as it darkens their like.

مَهاوي قلائِدها إن هوينَ

بِطاءٌ على غَررٍ تنزِلُ

When their necklaces slip down, their fall

Is slow upon the places where they settle.

تفوت النواسجَ أثوابُها

فليس لها مئزرٌ مسبَلُ

Their garments surpass what weavers make,

Though no trailing waist-wrap clothes them.

أحقّاً تقنَّصني بالحجا

ز في شِكَّتي رشأٌ أعزلُ

Is it true that, in the Hijaz, I was caught

In my armor by an unarmed young gazelle?

حبيبٌ رماحُ بغيضٍ تبي

تُ دون زيارته تعسِلُ

A beloved whose hostile spears

Stand guard through the night against a visit.

لقد أحزنتْ لك ذاتُ البُرِينَ

لواحظَ كانت بها تُسهلُ

The woman of the temples has saddened, for your sake,

Eyes that once found ease in looking at her.

رأت طالعاتٍ نعين الشبابَ

لها وهو أنفس ما تَثكَلُ

She saw pale hairs appear, announcing the death of youth

For her, though youth was what she held most dear.

فما سرَّها تحت ذاك الظلا

م أنّ مصابيحَه تُشعَلُ

So she took no pleasure beneath that darkness

When its lamps were lit.

عددتُ سنِيَّ لها والبياضُ

لدعواي في عدِّها مبطلُ

I counted my years for her, but the whiteness

Disproved my claim about their number.

وأقبلتُ أستشهدُ الأربعين

لوَ انّ شهادتهَا تُقبَلُ

I went on to call forty years as witness,

If only its testimony could be accepted.

وقالوا رداءٌ جميلٌ عليك

ألا ربّما كُرهَ الأجملُ

They said, “It is a handsome cloak upon you.”

Yet even the handsomer thing may be disliked.

وويل امّها شارةً لو تكو

ن صِبغاً بغير الردى ينصُلُ

What a fine adornment it would be, if it were

A dye that could fade without death.

وما الشيْب أوّل مكروهة

بمحبوبة أنا مستبدلُ

Gray hair is not the first unwelcome thing

For which I have exchanged something beloved.

تمرَّنَ جنبي بحمل الزمان

فكلّ ثقيلاته أحمِلُ

My side has grown used to bearing time’s weight,

So I bear all its heavy burdens.

فردَّ يدي عن منالِ المنَى

وكفِّيَ من باعه أطولُ

It has turned my hand back from attaining my wishes,

Though my reach is longer than its span.

وتعقِل ناشطَ عزمي الهمو

مُ والماءُ يحبسه الجدولُ

And worries tether the eager force of my resolve,

As a channel holds back water.

وما الحظّ في أدبٍ مفصِحٍ

ومن دونه نشبٌ محبَلُ

What good fortune lies in eloquent learning

When wealth with its snares stands in its way?

تُراضي الفتى رتبةٌ وهو حي

ث يجعله مالُه يُجعَلُ

A rank satisfies a man according to where

His money places him.

وقد يُرزَق المالَ أعمى اليدي

ن فيما يجودُ وما يبخل

A man blind in both hands may be given wealth

Whether he gives or withholds.

ويستثقل الناسُ ما يحمل ال

فقيرُ وحملُ الغنى أَثقلُ

People find the poor man’s burden heavy,

Though the burden of riches is heavier.

حَمى اللهُ للمجد نفساً بغيرِ

سلامتها المجدُ لا يحفِلُ

May God preserve for glory a soul

That cares more for glory than for its own safety.

وحيّا على ظُلُمات الخطو

ب وجهاً هو البدرُ أو أكملُ

And greet, across the darkness of troubles,

A face like the full moon, or more perfect.

يندّ القذى إن تَلاقت عليه

جفونٌ برؤيته تُكحلُ

Dust flees when eyelids meet around it;

The sight of him lines those eyes with kohl.

وتُقبِلُ بالرزق قبل السؤال

أسرَّتُهُ حين تُستقبَلُ

The lines of his face bring provision before a request

As soon as they are met.

إلى الروض تحت سماءِ الوزي

ر تَعترِض العيسُ أو ترحَلُ

Toward the meadow beneath the vizier’s sky

The white camels cross or set out.

مصاييف تشربُ جِرّاتِها

إذا عاقها عن سُرىً منهلُ

Summering there, they drink their fill

Whenever a watering place delays their night journey.

غواربُها بعضاضِ القُتو

د من بزّ أوبارها تُنسَلُ

Their humps, chafed by the saddles,

Shed tufts from their woolen covering.

يصيح بهنّ الرجاءُ العني

فُ هَبْ إن ونى السائقُ المهمِلُ

Fierce hope calls out to them

Even if their careless driver grows slow.

تضيع على المقَل الضابطا

ت أخفافُها فرطَ ما تُجفِلُ

Their hooves vanish from the watchful eyes

Because they start and race so swiftly.

فتحسبُ منهنّ تحت الرحال

كراكرَ ليست لها أرجلُ

Under the saddles you would think their breasts

Belonged to creatures without legs.

إذا غوّثت باسمه في الهجير

وَفَى الظلُّ وانبجس الجندلُ

When they cried for help in his name in the heat,

Shade arrived and rock burst into water.

فحطّت وقد لفَّ هامَ الربى

من الليل مِطرَفُه المَخمَلُ

They halted as night’s velvet cloak

Wrapped the crests of the hills.

وقد سبقتنا إليه النجوم

فمثلَ مغاربها تنزِلُ

The stars had reached him before us,

And descended as though setting in the west.

كأن الثريّا لسانٌ علي

ه يُثني معي أو يدٌ تسألُ

The Pleiades seemed a tongue above him

Praising with me, or a hand asking for gifts.

إلى خير مرعًى جميمٍ يُلَسُّ

وأعذبِ ماءِ حياً يُنهَلُ

They came to the best thick pasture to graze

And the sweetest fresh water to drink.

ومن سبقَ الناسَ لا يغضبون

إذا أُخّروا وهُو الأوّلُ

He who outstrips others does not anger them

When they are set behind him, for he comes first.

من القوم تُنجد أيمانُهم

إذا استصرخ البلدُ الممحلُ

He is of a people whose right hands bring aid

When a drought-stricken land cries out.

رحابُ الذَّرا وجفانِ القِرى

إذا بلّت الموْقدَ الشمألُ

Broad are their shelters and their bowls of hospitality

When the north wind wets the hearth.

بنى الملكَ فوقهُمُ عزُّه ال

قُدامى وغاربُه الأطولُ

The pride of their forebears raised kingship above them,

And their own stature rises higher still.

وداسوا الزمانَ وليداً وشاب

وهم شعْرُ مَفرِقه الأشعلُ

They have trodden through time as infant and youth;

They are the white hair at its parting.

لهم غررٌ أردشيريَّة

تضيءُ وسِتر الدجى مسبَلُ

They have gleaming, Ardashirian marks

That shine while night’s curtain hangs down.

ترى خرزَ الملك من فوقها

مياسهم والناسُ قد أُغفلوا

You see the jewels of kingship above them;

They move proudly while others pass unnoticed.

أولك قومك من يَعزُهم

فكعبُ مناقيره الأسفلُ

You and your people are such that whoever vies with them

Has the lowest perch for his beak.

ولي تابعاً لك يوم الفخا

ر من باب مجدهِمُ مدخلُ

As your follower on the day of boasting, I too

Have an entrance through the gate of their glory.

وترمي القبائل عن قوسهم

وأرمي ولكنك الأفضلُ

The tribes shoot from their bow,

And I shoot too, though you excel me.

وما تلك تسوية بيننا

وفي الظبية العين والأيطلُ

That makes no claim of equality between us:

The eye and the haunch both belong to the gazelle.

ويومٍ تَواكلُ فيه العيونُ

عمائمُ فرسانه القسطلُ

On a day when eyes could hardly rely on one another,

Battle dust became the riders’ turbans.

تُعارِضُ فيه الكماةُ الكماةَ

فمتنٌ يحطَّمُ أو كَلكلُ

Warriors faced warriors there,

And backs or chests were shattered.

تورّطتَه خائضاً نقعَه

بما شاء أبطالُه تُجدَلُ

You plunged into it, wading through its dust

As its champions fell according to its will.

ترى عارَه دَرَناً لا يماط

بغير الدماء فلا يُغسلُ

You saw its disgrace as a stain that could be removed

Only by blood, and so washed it.

بنيتَ حياضاً من الهام في

ه تُشرَعُ فيها القنا الذُّبَّلُ

There you built pools of severed heads

Into which the supple spears were thrust.

وعُدتَ بأسلاب أملاكه

تُقَسَّم في الجود أو تُنقَلُ

You returned with the spoils of its kings,

To be distributed generously or carried away.

وتحتك أحوى يطيش المِراح

به أن يقرَّ له مفِصلُ

Beneath you was a dark-maned horse so restless

That no joint of his could stay still.

كأنّ الأباريق طافت علَي

هِ أو مسَّ أعطافَه أَفكَلُ

He seemed as though wine pitchers had passed over him,

Or trembling had touched his flanks.

شجاه غِناءُ الظُّبا في الطُّلى

فمن طربٍ كلّما يصَهلُ

The song of blades at necks stirred him,

So that each neigh was a cry of delight.

إذا قيل في فرس هيكلٌ

تبلَّغ ينصِفُهُ الهيكَلُ

When a horse is called mighty of frame,

That name does justice to him when he runs.

جرى المجهدون فلم يلتبس

بنقعك حافٍ ولا منعَلُ

The straining racers ran, but none, shod or unshod,

Could be discerned within your dust.

إذا فات سعيُك شأوَ الرياح

فمن أين تلحقُكَ الأرجلُ

If your course outruns the wind,

How can any legs catch you?

يعجُّ النديُّ خصاماً فإن

نطقتَ أرمَّ لك المحفِلُ

The gathering roars with argument; then, if

You speak, the assembly falls silent for you.

ويختلفُ الناسُ حتى إذا

قضيتَ قضَى القدرُ المنزَلُ

People differ until you

Give judgment; then settled fate has judged.

بسطتَ يدَينِ يدا تأخذُ ال

نفوسَ بها ويداً تبذُلُ

You extend two hands: one takes lives,

And the other gives.

فيمناك صاعقةٌ تُتّقَى

ويسراك بارقةٌ تهطِلُ

Your right hand is a thunderbolt to fear,

And your left a rain-bearing flash.

وقد أصلح الناسَ في راحتيك

أخوك الندى وابنك المِقصَلُ

In your two palms, your brother generosity

And your son the sword have set people right.

سَقيتَ فأطفأ لَهْبَ البلا

د ماءُ أناملك السلسلُ

You gave drink, and the flowing water from your fingers

Put out the country’s flames.

ولم يُرَ أنوأَ من قبلها

مواطرُ أسماؤها أنملُ

No rain-bearers before those fingers

Were ever seen whose names were fingers.

فداك وتفعلُ ما لا تقولُ

مُمَنٍّ يقولُ ولا يفعلُ

May he be your ransom: a promiser says

What he never does, while you do more than you say.

يلومك في الجود لما عرف

تَ من شرف الجود ما يَجهلُ

He reproaches your generosity, though you know

A nobility in giving that he does not know.

وما غشّ سمعَك أشنا إلي

ك من ناصح في الندى يعذلُ

No reproach from an adviser grudging your gifts

Has deceived your hearing, however hostile to you.

سللتَ على المال سيفَ العطاءِ

فلاحيك في الجود مستقتلُ

You drew the sword of giving against wealth,

And your challenger in generosity fights to his death.

أُعيذك بالكلمات التي

بهنّ تعوَّذَ من يكملُ

I seek protection for you in the words

By which those who seek perfection take refuge.

فلا يسَع الجوُّ ما قد وسِعتَ

ولا تحمل الأرضُ ما تحمِلُ

The sky cannot contain all that you contain,

Nor can the earth bear all that you bear.

إذا الخلفاء انتدَوا والملو

كُ عدّوك أشرفَ ما خُوّلوا

When the caliphs and kings assemble,

They count you the noblest thing granted to them.

وقام أعزّهم مَن جلستَ

لنظم سياستِه تكفُلُ

Their mightiest stands when you sit

To oversee the ordering of his rule.

رددتَ العمائم لما وزَرتَ

تخاطبُ تيجانَهم من علُ

When you became vizier, you restored the turbans

To a place above their crowns.

ليَهنِ الوزارةَ أن زُوّجتْك

على طول ما لبِثتْ تُعضَلُ

May the vizierate rejoice that it was wed to you

After so long remaining without a match.

سوى شُعبةٍ ظهرُها للزما

ن من حاله كاشفٌ أعزلُ

Except for one branch, whose back against time

Is bared and unarmed by its condition.

تروّعها حادثاتُ الخطوب

وتحذر منك فلا تُنبلُ

The blows of misfortune frighten it,

And it fears you, yet receives no arrow.

فهل أنت منتشلي من نيو

ب دهرٍ يدَمِّي ولا يَدْمُلُ

Will you lift me out of the fangs

Of a time that makes wounds and never heals them?

ومن عيشةٍ كلّ أعوامها

وإن أخصبَ الناسُ بي ممحلُ

And out of a life whose every year

Is barren for me, though others prosper?

يكالح سرحي ثراها القَطوبُ

ومسرح رُوّادها مبقلُ

Its frowning soil scowls at my grazing flock,

While the pasture of others grows green.

أجرني بجودك من أن أذِل

لَ وانصرْ دعائي فلا أُخذَلُ

Shelter me with your generosity from humiliation,

And uphold my plea so I am not abandoned.

وصن بك وجهيَ عمّن سواك

فما مثل وجهِيَ يُستبذَلُ

Through you, preserve my dignity before everyone else;

A face like mine should not be treated cheaply.

فكم راش مثلُك مثلي فطار

وإن كان مثلك لا يفعلُ

How often someone like you has feathered someone like me, and he flew,

Even if someone like you is rare.

وقِدْماً وَفَى لزهيرٍ وزا

د من هَرِمٍ واهب مجزِلُ

Long ago, a generous giver from Haram

Fulfilled his promise to Zuhayr and gave still more.

فسار به الشعرُ فيما سمع

تَ من مَثَلٍ باسمه يُرسَلُ

Poetry carried his name, as you have heard,

In a saying passed from mouth to mouth.

وحسّان أمست رُقاه الصعا

بَ من آل جفنةَ تستَنزِلُ

And Hassan’s verses brought down the heights

Of the house of Jafna.

فأوقرَ منهم وُسوقا تنو

ء منها البكارُ بما تحمِلُ

He loaded himself with their heavy gifts,

Loads beneath which young camels staggered.

تعرَّفَ ريحَ عطاياهُمُ

وقد جاء يحملها المرسَلُ

He knew the scent of their gifts

When the messenger arrived carrying them.

وأبصر نَعماءهم نازحين

وبابُ لواحظِهِ مقفَلُ

He saw their bounty even from afar,

Though the door of his sight was closed.

وشدَّ الحطيئةُ مِنْ آلِ لأيٍ

بعروةِ أملسَ لا تُسحَلُ

Al-Hutayʾa grasped from the house of Laʾy

A smooth, firm handhold that would not fray.

تنادَوه بين بيوت ابن بدر

فعلَّوه عنهنّ واستثقلوا

They called him among the houses of Ibn Badr,

Raised him above them, and bore his weight.

وجازَوه يغتنمون الثناءَ

فبقَّى لهم فوق ما أمَّلوا

They rewarded him, seeking praise,

And he left them more of it than they had hoped.

وقام يزيدُ على جنبه

فدافع ما كرِهَ الأخطلُ

Yazid stood at his side

And warded off what al-Akhtal disliked.

ملوك مضَوا بالذي استعجلوا

وطاب لهم ذخرُ ما أجَّلوا

Those kings passed on with what they sought at once,

And the store they deferred remained sweet to them.

وما فيهمُ جامعٌ ما جمعتَ

إذا أنتَ حصَّلت أوحصَّلوا

Yet none of them gathered what you have gathered,

Whether you reckon your deeds or theirs.

وإن أبطأ الحظُّ فالمهرجانُ

إلى حظّه ناهضٌ قُلقلُ

Though fortune has been slow, the festival

Rises toward its share, stirred into motion.

هو اليوم جاءك في الوافدي

ن معنىً وإن عَزَّه مِقولُ

Today it has come to you among the visitors

As a meaning, though words struggle to express it.

تجلَّى بفضلِ قبولٍ حباه

به وجهُ دولتِك المقبلُ

It shines through the favor of a welcome

Bestowed by the rising face of your rule.

وما زال قِدْماً عريقَ الجما

ل والعامَ منظره أجملُ

It has long been rooted in beauty,

And this year its appearance is lovelier.

يميناً لَما بعدَ هذا المقا

م أصرمُ منّى ولا أنبلُ

I swear that, after this standing before you,

No one will be firmer or nobler in resolve than I.

يلجلَج عنك اللسانُ السليطُ

وتضحى حديدته تَنكُلُ

The sharp tongue falters when speaking of you,

And its keen edge grows blunt.

وقد ركب المادحون الصعابَ

ولكنِّيَ الفارسُ المرجِلُ

Other praisers have ridden through hardships,

But I am the seasoned horseman.

وما كُلّفوا عدَّ سرحِ النجوم

ومثقالَ ما تزن الأجبُلُ

They were never charged with counting the stars

Or weighing all the mountains.

أحلتَ القرائحَ تحت القلوب

سوى أنني القُلَّب الحُوَّلُ

You have driven other talents beneath their hearts;

I alone am the resourceful, practiced one.

رمى الشعراءُ عناني إليّ

ففتُّ وأرساغُهم تُشكلُ

The poets handed their reins to me;

I sped off while their fetlocks remained hobbled.

وَسرَّهمُ أنهم يعملون

بزعمهُمُ وأنا أعملُ

It pleased them to think that they were at work,

As they claimed, while I truly worked.

ولو مُنعَ الجُبنُ بالسيفِ كان

أحقَّ بضرب الطُّلى الصيقلُ

If a sword could keep cowardice away,

The sword-polisher would best deserve a blow to the neck.

ببسطك لي سال وادي فمي

ولاينني الكَلِم الأعضلُ

Through your openhandedness, the valley of my mouth overflowed,

And the hardest words grew pliant for me.

فسوّمتها مُهرةً لا يَعَضُّ

بغيرِ يدي شدقَها مِسحَلُ

I marked this poem as a young mare whose mouth

No bit may touch except by my hand.

محرّمةَ السرج إلا علي

ك تشرُفُ منك بمن تَبعُلُ

No saddle is permitted upon her except for you;

She gains honor from the one she bears.

كأنّ عَبيداً تمطَّى بها

ومسّح أعطافَها جَرَولُ

It is as though ʿAbid stretched himself upon her

And Jarwal smoothed her flanks.