تمد بالآذان والمناخر — Mihyar Al Daylami

تمُدُّ بالآذان والمناخِرِ

لحاجرٍ ومَن لها بحاجرِ

She stretches out her ears and nostrils

toward Hājir—and who can restrain her?

تغرُّها منه أحاديثُ الصَّبا

ولامعاتٌ في السحابِ الباكرِ

The east wind's tales from there entice her,

and flashes in the early-morning clouds,

وأعينٌ موكَّلاتٌ بالحمى

من مستقيم اللحظ أو مُخازرِ

and eyes fixed upon the protected pasture,

whether gazing straight ahead or sidelong.

تودّ لو أنَّ ثراه عوضٌ

من دمعها يُستافُ بالمحاجرِ

She wishes its dust were a substitute

for her tears, to be sniffed through her eye sockets.

أرضٌ بها السابغ من ربيعها

وشوقُها المكنونُ في الضمائرِ

A land with the abundant bounty of its spring,

and longing for it hidden within hearts;

مَشاربٌ تُخرّ تحتَ سُوقِها

وعُشُبٌ يضفو على المَشافرِ

watering places flow beneath her shanks,

and grass grows luxuriantly over the camels' lips.

وحيثُ دبَّت ورَبَتْ فِصالُها

وبَرَكَتْ تَفحصُ بالكراكرِ

There her weaned calves moved about and grew,

and knelt, scraping the ground with their breast-pads.

وأَمِنتْ ساربةً سروحُها

شَلَّةَ كلِّ طاردٍ مُغاوِرِ

Her grazing herds wandered freely, safe

from being scattered by any pursuing raider.

تمنعُها سيوفُ بَكرٍ أن ترى

بؤساً وتحميها رماحُ عامرِ

The swords of Bakr protect her from seeing

misery, and the spears of ʿĀmir defend her.

فهل لها وهل لمن تحملهُ

من عائفٍ بحاجرٍ أو زاجرِ

Is there, then, for her and for whoever she carries,

a bird-diviner at Hājir, or an augur?

سارت يميناً والغرامُ شأمةٌ

ياسِرْ بها ياابنَ رَواحٍ ياسرِ

She went rightward, while love lay to the left;

steer her left, O son of Rawāḥ, steer left!

فإنّها من حبّها نجداً ترى

بكُثُبِ الغور شِفارَ الجازِرِ

For, so dearly does she love Najd, she sees

in the lowland dunes the slaughterer's blades.

وبالحمى أفئدةٌ من شجوها

خاليةٌ سالمةُ الضمائرِ

And in the protected pasture are hearts

free of her grief, untroubled within,

وأعينٌ تحسبها قريرةً

نائمةً عن أعينٍ سواهرِ

and eyes you imagine to be at ease,

asleep, heedless of other, wakeful eyes.

يرمين كلَّ ساهرٍ بمزعجٍ

وكلَّ مجبورِ الحشا بكاسرِ

They strike every wakeful one with torment,

and every mended heart with a shattering blow.

كفَّلَهنَّ السُّقْمُ بقلوبنا

فكلُّ قلبٍ في ضَمانِ ناظرِ

Sickness entrusted them with our hearts,

so every heart is in an eye's keeping.

يا ليت شعري والمنى تعلَّةٌ

هل بِمنىً لعهدنا من ذاكرِ

Would that I knew—wishes are but solace—

whether anyone at Minā remembers our old bond.

أم هل على بعد النوى إلى التي

لها الهوى من راكبٍ مخاطرِ

Or, despite the far separation, is there, bound for her

who holds my love, a venturesome rider?

لعلّه يحمل من سلامنا

نُخبةَ زادِ الرجُلِ المسافرِ

Perhaps he will carry, of our greetings,

the choicest provision of a traveling man:

ألوكةً خفّت ومن ورائها

بلابِلٌ تُعقَرُ بالأباعرِ

a message, light to carry, yet behind it

anguish that camels can lay to rest.

إذا رأيتَ الشمسَ في أترابها

فاحبس وقُلْ عنِّيَ غيرَ صاغرِ

When you see the sun among her peers,

halt, and speak on my behalf without abasement:

اللّهَ يا ذات اللمىَ في أدمعٍ

فوائرٍ وأدمع فواترِ

For God's sake, dark-lipped one, have mercy on tears

that surge, and tears that ebb,

وفي عهودٍ كُتْبُها مبلولةٌ

وهي لديك في النسيِّ الداثِرِ

and on covenants whose written records are wet,

while with you they lie forgotten and effaced.

فإنّ من دينِكُمُ في يَعرُبٍ

أن تأنفوا من الذمام الفاجرِ

For part of your code among Yaʿrub's people

is to disdain a faithless pledge.

وفي الضيوفِ الغرباءِ عندكم

قلبٌ يضامُ ماله من ناصرِ

And among the foreign guests with you

is a heart wronged, with no one to help it.

فقرِّبوا صحبتَه واحتفظوا

فيه بحقّ البائع المهاجرِ

So welcome its company, and safeguard

in it the right of its seller, who has departed.

إما قِرَى النادي الكريم أو فَرُد

دوه على أربابه بالخاطرِ

Either grant the hospitality of a noble gathering, or return

it to its owners by a thought.

أكلّ كفٍّ ظفِرت لئيمةٌ

وكلُّ عقْدٍ في بنانِ غادرِ

Is every hand that wins possession base,

and every bond in a traitor's fingers?

من لك بالناس ولا ناسٌ همُ

إلا كلامُ المُحرِجِ المكاشِرِ

Who can assure you of people? They are no people,

nothing but a tormentor's talk and toothy smiles.

نفسَك صُنْ ليس أخوك غيرَها

فقالل الناسَ ولا تكاثِرِ

Guard yourself; you have no brother but your own soul.

So limit your dealings with people; do not seek many.

واعلم بأنّ عزَّها قُنوعُها

برزقها الميسورِ في المَعاسرِ

And know that its dignity is its contentment

with its available sustenance amid hardships.

وإن وصلتَ أو سألتَ فأخاً

صَحَّ على التجريب والمَخابرِ

And if you form a bond or ask a favor, seek a brother

proven sound through trials and experience:

أخاً ترى لوجهه قبلَ الجدا

أسرّةً تلقاك بالبشائرِ

a brother on whose face you see, before the gift,

bright lines that greet you with good tidings,

مثلَ ابن أيّوبَ وأين مثلهُ

مُثِّلَ للأشباهِ والنظائرِ

like Ibn Ayyūb—and where has his equal

been shown among counterparts and peers?

من طينة المجد التي فروعُها

تُنيبك عن طهارة العناصرِ

From the clay of glory, whose branches

vouch for the purity of their origins:

الطّيّبين أنفساً باقيةً

وأرمُساً في ظُلَم الحفائرِ

the pure, both in souls still living

and in tombs within the darkness of the graves.

يدلّك المجدُ على الأوائل ال

ماضين منهم بعلا الأواخرِ

Glory points you to their forebears

who have passed, through the eminence of their descendants.

داسوا ثرى المجد القديم ومشَوا

خَطْراً على خدّ الزمان الغابرِ

They trod the dust of ancient glory and walked

with proud sway upon the cheek of bygone time.

وأنطقوا بالخُرسِ من أقلامهم

ألسنةَ الدسوتِ والمنابرِ

With their mute pens they gave speech to

the tongues of seats of office and pulpits.

كلّ كريم لاسمه في مجدها

مالأسانيد الحديث السائرِ

Every noble one's name holds within its glory

what chains of transmission hold in a widely told tradition.

ولابنه من بعده ما يرث ال

شُبولُ في الغاب عن القَساورِ

And his son after him inherits what

the cubs in the thicket inherit from the lions:

شهادةٌ صدَّقَها محمدٌ

صِدقَ الربى عن الغمام الماطرِ

a testimony that Muḥammad has confirmed

as truthfully as hills attest to rain-bearing clouds.

قامَ فأدَّى ثم مرَّ زائداً

تجاوزَ الذراع شبرَ الشابرِ

He rose and fulfilled it, then went on surpassing,

the cubit outstripping the measurer's handspan.

قضَى له قاضي السماح والندَى

يومَ تحورُ حجَّةُ المفاخرِ

The judge of liberality and bounty ruled for him

on the day the rival boaster's argument gives way:

قضيَّةٌ شَقّت على الهضبة من

رضوَى وأزرت بالفُرات الزاخرِ

a verdict that taxed the mountain of

Raḍwā and put the swelling Euphrates to shame.

رأى الكمالَ حِلَّةً فاحتلَّها

وربعُها مقوٍ بغيرِ عامرِ

He saw perfection as a settlement and inhabited it,

while its quarter lay deserted, without an inhabitant.

ونهض الفضلُ له في مَزلَقٍ

مُسَنَّمٍ يُكسَرُ بالعوابرِ

And excellence rose before him upon a slippery slope,

high-crested, where those who cross are broken.

جرى ففاتَ والعلا من خلفِهِ

تقول قاصِرْ من خطاك قاصرِ

He raced ahead, while greatness, behind him,

said, 'Shorten your strides—shorten them!'

حتى أرانا العجز في قولِهِمُ

طالب شأوِ المجدِ غيرُ ظافرِ

Until he showed us the weakness in their saying:

'The seeker of glory's farthest reach will not succeed.'

للّه أنتَ من جَمالٍ ظاهرٍ

وَخُلُقٍ صافي الغدير طاهرِ

God bless you! What manifest beauty,

and character whose pool is clear and pure,

وعدّةٍ ليوم لا يُغني أخا ال

حاجة إلا أنفَسُ الذخائرِ

and a reserve for a day when nothing helps one in

need but the most precious treasures!

عهدٌ كَملْمومِ الصفاةِ مُتعِبٌ

جانبُها لن يُبتغَى لفاطرِ

A pledge like a solid rock, whose daunting

flank no cleaver would attempt;

وخُلَّةٌ لا يَهتَدِي لنَقْضِها

على الزمان ناقضُ المرائرِ

and a friendship whose undoing cannot be found,

throughout time, by any untwister of cords.

أحرزَ من كنتَ وراءَ ظهرِهِ

حِصْناً له من جولة الدوائرِ

Whoever has you behind his back secures

a fortress against the assault of calamities.

يحسدك الناسُ وأيّ عاجزٍ

لم تُدوِهِ شَقاوةٌ بقادرِ

People envy you—and what powerless man

has not been sickened by misery before a capable one?

وإنني معْ بُغض كلِّ حاسدٍ

أقضي لحسّادِك بالمَعاذرِ

And I, despite my hatred of every envier,

judge that your enviers have their excuses.

يَفديك كلُّ ساكتٍ مُدامجٍ

بُغلَّةٍ وبائحٍ مُظاهرِ

May you be ransomed by every silent man concealing

a burning grudge, and every openly hostile speaker,

وشامتٍ إن رُفعت لعينه

صَيفِيَّةٌ من السحاب العابرِ

and every gloating enemy, when before his eyes rises

a summer cloud among the passing clouds,

جهامةٌ يفتحُ فاهُ نحوَها

يحسبها جهلاً من المواطرِ

rainless, toward which he opens his mouth,

ignorantly counting it among rain-bearing clouds.

يسرّه العاجلُ من أظلالها

وهي غداً مهتوكةُ الستائرِ

Its immediate shade delights him,

though tomorrow its veils will be torn away.

وربّما عادت بذي حَواصِبٍ

عليه واجتاحت وذي صَراصرِ

And perhaps it returns with stone-pelting winds

upon him, laying waste, and with shrieking gales,

كمن جنى البغيُ على أمثاله

من غامطٍ نعماءَكم وكافرِ

like one whose fellows were ruined by wrongdoing:

those who slight your favors and deny them.

وأنتُمُ في معزِلٍ من شرِّها

وجانبٍ من النجاءِ وافرِ

While you are secluded from its harm,

and in an ample realm of deliverance.

عوائدٌ للّه فيكم ضَمِنَتْ

لَمَّ الشتيتِ وجُبورَ الكاسرِ

God's customary favors toward you have guaranteed

the gathering of the scattered and the mending of the broken.

كم مثلها قد غَلِط الدهرُ بها

ثُمّتَ لاذَ منكُمُ بغافرِ

How often has Time erred through something like it,

then sought refuge with a forgiving one among you!

دَجَتْ ولكن أقشعتْ عن أنفُسٍ

سواكنٍ وأعينٍ قرائرِ

It darkened, but cleared away from souls

at rest and eyes at ease.

وكم تعيَّفتُ لكم سُفورَها

من قبل أن يبرُزَ وجهُ السافرِ

How often I divined its unveiling for you

before the unveiled one's face appeared!

فَلم تُكَذَّبْ فيكُمُ زاجرَتي

قطُّ ولا خُيِّبَ يُمنُ طائري

My augury concerning you was never proved false,

nor the good omen of my bird disappointed.

فانتظِروها ويدي رهنٌ بها

فربّما كانت كرجعِ الناظرِ

So await it; my hand stands pledged for it,

for it may come in the blink of an eye.

بك استجابَ الدهرُ لي ودعوتي

تجولُ منه حولَ سمعٍ واقرِ

Through you, Time answered me, though my plea

was circling around its deafened ear.

وأبصرَ الحظُّ الطريقَ فاهتدى

إليّ وهو أبلهُ البصائرِ

And fortune saw the road and found its way

to me, though witless in its insight.

حصَّنتَ وجهي وحقَنتَ ماءَه

فليس مذ حقنتَه بقاطرِ

You fortified my face and preserved its water,

so, since you preserved it, it has not dripped.

ولم تدَعْ لي منذ أَولَدتَ المنى

مَشقّةً إلى لِقاح العاقرِ

Since you made wishes bear offspring, you have spared me

the toil of trying to make a barren one conceive.

كم أربٍ كنت إليه سببي

فتلتَه بمُحصَد المرائرِ

How many a wish you were my cord for reaching,

twisting it into tightly plied strands;

وخَلَّةٍ أعضلني شفاؤها

شفيتني من دائها المخامرِ

and how many a need whose remedy baffled me

you cured me of its persistent affliction.

ملَكْتَني مِلكَ الوفاءِ بيدٍ

تطلبُ بعضي فتحوزُ سائري

You made me yours in loyalty, with a hand

that seeks part of me and claims all the rest.

فصار يُرضيني بما ترضاه لي

منذ عرفتُ نافعي من ضائري

Thus I am content with whatever you approve for me,

since I learned who benefits me and who harms me.

فلا تُخِفْ فيك الليالي جانبي

بقاصدِ السهمِ ولا بغائرِ

May the nights never frighten me on your account

with one aiming an arrow or one making a raid.

ولا يزلْ عزُّك لي ذخيرةً

لأوّلٍ من عيشتي وآخرِ

And may your might ever remain a reserve for me

from the first of my life to the last,

ما لاح صبح بضُحىً أضاء لي

وشوَّقَ الواردَ رِيُّ الصادرِ

as long as dawn appears with morning light shining for me,

and a departing one's quenched thirst stirs one coming to water;

وحَسَر النيروزُ من قناعه

طلعتَهُ على الربيع الناضرِ

and Nowruz unveils from its covering

its face upon the radiant spring,

وزاركم يرفلُ في وشائعٍ

من حُلَلِ الروضِ وفي حَبائرِ

and visits you, trailing embroidered fabrics

from the garden's robes, and richly patterned cloths,

بكلّ عذراءَ لها في خِدرِها

صرامةً ما للهصورِ الخادرِ

with every maiden who has within her chamber

a fierceness like the lion lurking in its lair:

حاطمةٍ تُنحي على مَعاشرٍ

وتُحفةٍ تُهدَى إلى مَعاشرِ

crushing, she bears down upon some companies,

and is a gift presented to other companies.

إِقذاعُها على عِداكم ولكم

منها يدُ الراضي ولفظُ الشاكرِ

Her scathing abuse is for your enemies; for you

she offers the hand of one content and the words of one grateful.

تَطرَبُ للحادي إذا غنَّى بها

فيكم وتستقصرُ ليلَ السامرِ

She thrills to the camel-driver when he sings her

in your praise, and finds the storyteller's night too short,

كأنهم لم يسمعوا من قبلكم

في ماجدٍ مقالةً من شاعرِ

as though, before you, they had never heard

a poet's utterance about a glorious man.