من حاكم وخصومي الأقدار — Mihyar Al Daylami

مَنْ حاكمٌ وخصومِيَ الأقدارُ

كثُر العدوُّ وقلَّت الأنصارُ

Who will judge, when the fates are my adversaries?

Enemies have multiplied, and supporters dwindled.

أشْجَى من الدنيا بحبِّ مقلِّبٍ

وجهين عُرفُ وفائه إِنكارُ

I suffer from the world for loving a changeling of

two faces, whose kindness in loyalty is denial.

سوْمَ الدعيِّ إذا تضرَّع ردَّه

للُّؤم عرقُ الهُجنةِ النَّعَّارُ

The treatment of a pretender: when he humbles himself, he is driven back

to baseness by the clamorous strain of his tainted birth.

وإذا وَفَى لمنايَ يومٌ حاضرٌ

فأجارَ أسلمني غَدٌ غدَّارُ

Whenever a present day fulfills my wishes

and grants refuge, a treacherous tomorrow abandons me.

أفصخرةٌ يا دهرُ هذا القلبُ أم

هو للهموم الساريات قرارُ

Is this heart a rock, O Time, or

a resting place for sorrows roaming through the night?

في كلِّ يومٍ للنوائبِ شَلَّةٌ

من جانبيَّ وللهمومِ غِوارُ

Each day calamities tear a portion

from my two sides, and sorrows mount their raids.

ومصائبٌ متحكِّماتٌ ليس لي

مَعهنَّ في بيع النفوس خِيارُ

And imperious afflictions leave me

no choice in their bargaining for souls.

تُنحي فأحملُها ثِقالاً مُكرهَاً

وكأنني بتجلُّدي مختارُ

They strike, and I bear their weight unwillingly,

though my endurance makes me seem willing.

جُرْحٌ على جُرْحٍ ولكن جائفٌ

ضلَّ الفتائلُ فيه والمِسبارُ

Wound upon wound—but one penetrates the body's depths;

dressings and the probe lose their way within it.

فَجَرَتْ عمائقُهُ العروقَ وغادرتْ

قَصَبَ العظامِ وهنَّ مُخٌّ رارُ

Its depths have burst the veins and left

the shafts of the bones nothing but watery marrow.

فاغمزْ قناتي يا زمانُ فإنّه

ذاك المماكسُ طائحٌ خوَّارُ

Then press upon my spear-shaft, O Time, for

that stubborn bargainer has fallen, his strength undone.

كُشِفَتْ لنَبْلِكَ غامضاتُ مَقاتلي

وترفَّعتْ عن صَفحتي الأستارُ

My hidden mortal points lie exposed to your arrows,

and the coverings have lifted from my side.

وأكلتُ لا خَلَفٌ يردُّ سلامتي

ذلّاً ولا يحمي حمايَ جِوارُ

I have tasted—no replacement restores my well-being—

humiliation; no protector's shelter guards my domain.

ذهب الذي كانت تجاملني له ال

دنيا وتسقُطُ دونِيَ الأخطارُ

Gone is the one for whose sake the

world treated me kindly, and dangers fell short of me.

ويُردُّ فارسةَ الخطوبِ نواصلاً

منِّي مخالبُهنَّ والأظفارُ

And the predatory calamities were repelled, with

their claws and talons loosened from me.

من يشتريني بالنفائسِ مُغلياً

بعدَ الحسينِ ومَنْ عليَّ يغارُ

Who will purchase me dearly with precious gifts

after al-Husayn, and who will jealously guard me?

ويُظِلُّني واليومُ أغبرُ مشمسٌ

أتجلَّلُ النكباتِ وهي أُوارُ

Who will shade me when the day is dusty and sun-scorched,

while I am cloaked in disasters, a blaze of heat?

أم من يضُمُّ بدائدَ الآمال لي

ويُفَلُّ عني باسمه الإقتارُ

Or who will gather my scattered hopes

and have poverty's force broken by his name?

وإذا اقشعرَّتْ أرضِيَ استصرختهُ

فإذا لجينٌ تُربُها ونُضارُ

Whenever my land grew barren, I called on him for help,

and behold, its soil was silver and gold.

المِخذَمُ البَتّارُ أُسقِطَ من يدي

والغيثُ أقلَعَ عنِّيَ المِدرارُ

The cleaving, cutting sword was struck from my hand,

and the copious rain withdrew from me.

والصاحب انتُزِعتْ قوادمُ أسرتي

منهُ وهِيضَ جَناحُها الطيَّارُ

And the Companion—my family's leading feathers were plucked

from him, and its soaring wing was broken.

فاليوم لا أبتِ الصَّغارَ ولا اعتزتْ

إلا عبيداً فارسُ الأحرارُ

Today they spurn no abasement, nor boast of descent

except as slaves—the free men of Persia.

وتطأطأتْ ذلّاً فطالت ما اشتهتْ

شرفاً عليها يَعرُبٌ ونِزارُ

She bowed in abasement, and all they desired was gained

in honor above her by Ya'rub and Nizar.

كنَّا وإن كَرُمتْ نفاخرُها به

فالآنَ ما بعدَ الحسين فخارُ

We boasted of him against them, noble though they were;

now, after al-Husayn, there is no cause for pride.

لا خفتُ بعدُ ولا رجوتُ وقد ثوى

في التُّرب منه النافعُ الضَّرارُ

I have neither feared nor hoped since he lay

in the earth, the giver of benefit and harm.

سائلْ بهذا الذَّودِ يرغو بَكرُهُ

في الحيّ أين المُقرَمُ الهدَّارُ

Ask of this little herd, whose young camel bellows

in the tribe: where is the roaring stud camel?

ومتى أخلَّ أبو الشبول بغيلهِ

فتناهقتْ من حوله الأعيارُ

When did the father of cubs desert his thicket,

so that wild asses brayed around him?

يا مُدْرَجاً فرداً تُسَدَّى فوقه

بالقاع أرديةُ الثرى وتُنارُ

O you, wrapped alone, above whom are woven

on the plain the robes of earth, warp and weft,

مُلقىً وراءَ نسيَّةٍ ومَضلّةٍ

تُخفِي ضريحَك والقبورُ تُزارُ

cast away beyond oblivion and a trackless waste

that hide your tomb while other graves are visited!

أذللتَ قلبي للأسى وتركتني

أتبرَّدُ الزفراتِ وهي حِرارُ

You humbled my heart before sorrow and left me

seeking coolness in sighs, though they burn.

وحطمتَ آمالي فهنّ ضعائفٌ

وقَصَرتَ من هممي فهنّ صِغارُ

You shattered my hopes, leaving them feeble,

and diminished my ambitions, leaving them small.

أنا من شِفار القاتليك متى التقتْ

من مقلَتيَّ مع الكرى الأشفارُ

I am one of your killers' blades if ever there meet

the lashes of my two eyes in sleep;

أو قلتُ معتاضاً بجارٍ مثله

جارٌ ولا بالدار بعدك دارُ

or if I say, accepting another protector, 'His equal

is a protector'—nor is any house a home after you;

ومتى صحبتُ العيشَ بعدك بارداً

والناسُ صاروا بي إلى ما صاروا

or if ever I enjoy an untroubled life after you,

when people have brought me to what they have.

نبذوا عهودَك آنفاً وتقسَّموا

رُمَماً بحبل الخُلف وهو مُغارُ

They lately cast aside your covenants and shared out

remnants, with a tightly twisted cord of broken faith.

ظنُّوا بفقدِك أن يَلُمُّوا شَعثَها

يا رُبَّ نقضٍ جَرَّه الإمرارُ

They thought by losing you to mend its scattered state;

how often tightening has brought unravelling!

ورجَوْا بهُلكك أن يخلّد ملكُهم

فإذا سلامتُهم بذاك بَوارُ

They hoped through your destruction to make their rule eternal,

but their safety through that proved their ruin.

فعلامَ لم تُشْكَمْ وقد فغرتْ لهم

فلجاءُ يُنكرنا بها الفرَّارُ

Why, then, were you not rewarded, when there gaped at them

a gap-toothed calamity in which the fugitive failed to know us?

وتفجَّرتْ بالشرّ بعدك والأذى

جنباتُها وتداعت الأقطارُ

After you, evil and injury burst forth

from its sides, and the regions crumbled.

حذِروا السجالَ يخابطون قَليبَها

والحبلُ واهٍ والجَبَا منهارُ

They feared the contest and floundered at its well,

with the rope weak and the well's rim collapsed.

وَدّوا لو انك حاضرٌ فكفيتَها

لما تولَّى أمرَها الأغمارُ

They wished you were present to suffice for it,

when inexperienced men took charge of its affairs.

ورعَى الندامةَ حيث لم يشبع بها

غاوٍ رماك وآخرون أشاروا

And fed on regret, never finding enough of it,

the erring man who struck you, and others who counseled it.

ولَّى يفِرُّ ولم يعفْها سُبَّةً

تَسرِي وليس من الحِمامِ فرارُ

He turned to flee, yet could not efface that disgrace

which spreads; there is no escape from death.

سرعانَ ما استعروا بجمرةِ بغيهم

ولربَّ باغٍ غرَّه الأنصارُ

How swiftly they caught fire in the coal of their own tyranny!

Many a tyrant has been deceived by his supporters.

طرحوا الفراتَ إلى الفراتِ فما درى

مُلقوك أيُّهما له التيَّارُ

They cast the Euphrates into the Euphrates; those who threw you

did not know which of the two possessed the current.

وتعاظموا أن يَقبُروك ومن رأى

ليثاً يخُطُّ له الثرى مِحفارُ

They deemed themselves too great to bury you; and who has seen

a lion for whom a spade scores the earth?

وأبي العلا ما كنتُ أعلم قبلَها

أنّ البحورَ قبورُهنَّ بحارُ

By the father of glory, I had never known before

that seas could have seas for their graves.

ذلّاً لبيض الهند بعدك شدّ ما

غَدرتْ ولا سَلِمَ القنا الخطَّارُ

Shame on India's bright blades after you! How grievously

they betrayed you; nor may the swaying spears be spared.

ما كان أنكلهنَّ عنك لوَ اَنّهُ

عند السلاح حفيظةٌ وذِمارُ

What could have made them shrink from you, if

weapons possessed protective zeal and honor?

قتلوك محصوراً غريباً لا تَرَى

مولىً يُعِزُّ ولا بجنبك جارُ

They killed you hemmed in, a stranger, with none in sight

to champion you, no protecting neighbor at your side,

من خلْفِ ضيِّقةِ السماء بهيمةٍ

ينزو بقلبك بابُها الصَّرَّارُ

behind a narrow-roofed, pitch-dark enclosure,

its creaking door making your heart start.

حفروا الزبى لك فارتديت وإنما

سلطانُ ليث الغابة الإصحارُ

They dug lion-pits for you, and you fell; yet

the forest lion rules only in the open.

هلا وفيك إلى وثوبٍ نهضةٌ

ولديك مُنتفَدٌ وعندك زارُ

Why not while you still had strength to spring,

and room to break free, and a roar within you,

وخطاك واسعةُ المَدى تحت الظُّبا

لا الخيطُ يحبسها ولا المِسمارُ

and your strides spanned great distances beneath the blades,

with neither thread nor nail restraining them?

أعزِزْ عليَّ بأن تصابَ غنيمةً

في القِدِّ يجمعُ ساعديك إسارُ

How grievous for me that you were taken as booty,

a rawhide bond binding your forearms together,

في حيث لا يُروَى على عاداته

بيديك نَصلٌ حائمٌ وغِرارُ

where no longer, as was its wont, was quenched

in your hands a thirsting blade or cutting edge;

وبمصرعٍ لك لم تثابر دونه

فوق الأكفِّ صوارمٌ وشِفارُ

and that at your fall none persisted in your defense

above the hands—no sharp swords or keen blades;

والخيل صايمة على أشطانها

قَرْحَى تَقامَصُ خلفَها الأمهارُ

while the horses stood motionless at their tethering ropes,

full-grown, with foals frisking behind them,

بشياتِها لم يُختضَبْ بدمٍ لها

عُرفٌ ولم يُبلَلْ عليك عِذارُ

still in their own markings, with none of their manes

dyed in blood, nor their cheek-straps drenched for you;

أو أن يكون الجوُّ بعدك ساكناً

واليومُ أبيضُ ما عليه غبارُ

or that the sky after you should remain still,

and the day white, with no dust upon it,

ووراء ثأرك غِلمةٌ لسيوفهم

في الرَّوع من مهج العدا ما اختاروا

when behind your vengeance stand youths whose swords

take their choice of enemies' lifeblood in battle.

يتهافتون على المنون كأنَّهم

حِرصاً فَراشٌ والمنيَّةُ نارُ

They rush headlong upon death, as though

in their eagerness they were moths, and death the fire.

حلماءُ في الجُلَّى فإن هم أُغضِبوا

طاشوا فحَنّت فيهم الأوتارُ

Forbearing in great crises, but when angered,

they fly into fury, and bowstrings sing among them.

لو صحتَ تُسمعهم وصوتُك في الثرى

فحصوا عليك وفي السماء لطاروا

If you cried out for them to hear, though your voice were in the earth,

they would dig for you; were it in heaven, they would fly.

خذلوك مضْطَرّين فيك وجمجموا

من بعد ما فَصُحت بك الأخبارُ

They forsook you under compulsion, and muttered indistinctly

after the reports about you had spoken plainly.

وتناذروا أن يندبوك تقيَّةً

فالحزنُ بينهُمُ عليك سِرارُ

They warned each other not to mourn you, for fear;

their sorrow for you is a secret among them.

إن يُمسكوا فيضَ الدموع فربّما

فاضت عيونٌ في الصدور غِزارُ

If they hold back the flood of tears, often

abundant springs overflow within their breasts.

أو يجلسوا نظراً ليوم تشاورٍ

فالريثُ أحزمُ ما أرابَ بِدارُ

Or if they sit awaiting a day of counsel,

delay is wiser while haste is suspect.

ولربَّما نام الطَّلوبُ بثأره

لغدٍ ولكن لا ينام الثارُ

Often the seeker of vengeance sleeps, postponing his claim

until tomorrow—but the blood-feud never sleeps.

وقد اشتفى بعد البسوس مهلهل

زمناً وما نَسِيَ الدَّمَ المَرّارُ

Muhalhil found vengeance after al-Basus,

long afterward; and al-Marrar did not forget the blood.

وعلى الطّفوف دمٌ أطيلَ مِطالهُ

حتى تقاضَى دَيْنه المختارُ

And at al-Tufuf was blood whose debt was long deferred,

until al-Mukhtar exacted payment of its debt.

لابدّ من يومٍ مريضٍ جوُّه

للخيلِ فيه بالرءوس عِثارُ

There must come a day whose air is sick,

when horses stumble over heads,

متورِّدِ الطرفين يكفُرُ شمسَهُ

دَجْنٌ له عَلَقُ الكماةِ قِطارُ

red at either end, its sun hidden

by a cloud whose raindrops are the warriors' blood.

تَصلاه باسمك آخذين بحقّهم

عُصَبٌ لهم عبدُ الرحيم شِعارُ

Bands will face its fire in your name, claiming their due,

their rallying cry: 'Abd al-Rahim.'

فهناك يعلم قاتلوك بأنه

ما عُقَّ مَن أبناؤه أبرارُ

Then your killers will know

that no man is forsaken whose sons are dutiful.

ويرى عدوُّك والبقاءُ لغيره

أنّ البقاءَ وإن أطيلَ مُعارُ

Your enemy will see, while survival belongs to another,

that life, however prolonged, is only lent;

وإن اشتفى وحَلاَ بفيه غدرُهُ

أنَّ اعتقابَ حلاوتيه مُرارُ

and though he had his fill and his treachery tasted sweet,

the sequel to its two sweetnesses is bitterness.

ولقد يُشاك المجتني بمكان ما

عجِلتْ يداه ويُلدغُ المشتارُ

A fruit-picker may be pricked at the place where

his hands were too hasty, and the honey-gatherer be stung.

ولَّى بها شنعاء تَذهبُ نفسُهُ

فيها ويَبقَى لومُها والعارُ

He turned away bearing an outrage that will cost his life,

while its blame and disgrace remain.

درستْ بك السننُ الحميدةُ واغتدى

نقْدُ المكارم وهو منك ضِمارُ

With you, praiseworthy customs vanished, and became

the ready coin of noble deeds lost wealth with you.

هل سائلٌ بك بعدها أو قائلٌ

هيهات لا خبرٌ ولا استخبارُ

Does anyone now inquire about you, or speak?

Far from it: no tidings, no inquiry.

حتى كأنك لم تقُدْ ملمومةً

يُومَى إليك أمامَها ويُشارُ

As though you had never led a gathered host,

with men pointing and gesturing toward you at its head,

خرساءَ إلا ما تكلَّم صارمٌ

في قَوْنَسٍ أو طنَّ عنه فَقَارُ

silent except when a sharp sword spoke

against a helmet's crest, or vertebrae rang beneath its blow,

تهفو عليك عُقابها ويضمُّها

منشورةً لفنائك التَّكرارُ

its eagle-standard fluttering above you, and gathered

unfurled into your courtyard by repeated returns;

وكأنَّ رأيك لم يلُحْ قَبَساً إذا

عَمِيتْ عشايا الرأي والأسحارُ

as though your judgment had not shone as a flame when

the evenings and dawns of counsel grew blind;

وإذا خِلاط الأمرِ سُدَّ طريقُه

فلديك واضحةٌ له وقرارُ

and when the path through tangled affairs was blocked,

you had a clear way through, and a settled judgment;

وكأنّ بابَك لم يكن لعُفاته

حَرَماً يُجير ولا حمىً يُمتارُ

as though your door had not been, to those seeking its gifts,

a sanctuary granting refuge, a preserve supplying sustenance.

يأوي إليه المسنتون ويلتقي

بِفنائه السُّفَّارُ والحُضَّارُ

The famine-stricken sheltered there, and met

in its courtyard travelers and residents.

وتبيت تَلْغَطُ من وصائلِ ناقةٍ

عُشَرَاءَ عندك بُرمةٌ أعشارُ

All night a pot bubbled with joints of a she-camel,

ten months pregnant, at your home, divided into ten portions.

تُصفِي كرائمَها الضيوفَ وتكتفي

فيما يليك بما انتقَى الجزَّارُ

You reserved its choicest cuts for guests, content

for your own share with what the butcher picked.

وكأنّ كفّك لم تَبِنْ في ظهرها

قُبَلُ الملوكِ وتشهدُ الآثارُ

As though your hand did not show upon its back

the kisses of kings, their traces bearing witness;

ويخفُّ بين بنانها إن حُمِّلَتْ

ضبطُ الحسامِ ويثقلُ الدينارُ

and between its fingers, if burdened,

the sword's grip was light, but a dinar heavy.

بالكره منك وبالمَساءة رَوَّحت

لسوى العُقور على البيوتِ عِشارُ

Against your will, and to your grief, came home at dusk

pregnant she-camels to the houses, for something other than slaughter.

وتراجعتْ وخدودُها ملطومةٌ

بُزْلٌ لقصدك وُجِّهَتْ وبِكارُ

And back they turned, their cheeks slapped—

old camels and young, sent out to seek you.

وغفلتَ لم تسأل ولستَ بغافلٍ

أنَّى تنكَّب بابَك الزُّوَّارُ

You heedlessly did not ask—though you were never heedless—

how the visitors had turned away from your door;

وتسلَّبتْ من فارسٍ أو راكبٍ

تلك السروجُ إليك والأكوارُ

and they were bereft of horseman or rider,

those horse-saddles and camel-saddles bound for you.

ومتى أرمَّ المادحون وأكسدتْ

من بعد ما نفقتْ بك الأشعارُ

When had panegyrists fallen silent, or poems lost their market,

after flourishing through you?

أو أن أقولَ فلا تصيخ لقولتي

لو كنتَ متروكاً وما تختارُ

Or when would I speak and you not heed my words,

if you were left to your own choosing?

وترى الزمانَ يَضيمني فيفوتني

من راحتيك حميَّةٌ وغِيارُ

Or see Time wrong me, so that I was denied

your hands' protective zeal and fierce defense?

قد كنتَ حصناً من وَرايَ وكان لي

بك من أمامي جُنَّةٌ وصِدارُ

You were a fortress behind me, and I had

in you before me a shield and breastplate.

أيامَ شيبي تحت ظلِّك نضرةٌ

وصِباً وليلي في ذَراك نهارُ

In those days my gray hair under your shade was freshness

and youth, and my night within your shelter was day.

وعليَّ من نُعمَى يديك طلاوةٌ

أمشي وتتبعني لها الأبصارُ

The bounty of your hands lent me a splendor;

I walked, and eyes followed me for it.

قد كنتُ أحسبُ أن بأسَك هضبةٌ

لا يستطيع رُقِيَّها المِقدارُ

I had thought your valor a lofty hill

that fate could not climb.

وأقولُ أنّ لسقف بيتك في العلا

عَمَداً حبالُ الموت عنه قصارُ

And I said that the roof of your house, in the heights,

had pillars beyond the reach of death's short ropes.

وإخالُ جودَك نَثْلةً دون الردى

حصداءَ تمنع فَرْجَها الأزرارُ

I imagined your generosity a coat of mail against destruction,

close-woven, its openings held shut by fastenings.

فإذا الشجاعةُ والسماحةُ مَتجَرٌ

تزكو به الأعمالُ والأعمارُ

Yet courage and generosity proved a trade

in which deeds and lives increase in worth.

غدراً من الأيّام تُفْتِقُ شمسُها

والأرضِ تورقُ فوقَها الأشجارُ

Treachery of the days, that their sun should burst forth,

and of the earth, that trees should leaf above it!

ومذلَّة في السُّحبِ وهي صواحب

ليديك تَنزِل بعدك الأمطارُ

And humiliation in the clouds, companions

to your hands, that rains should descend after you!

كم قد تعلَّلَتِ المنى بك تارةً

أمنٌ وطوراً خِيفةٌ وحِذارُ

How often hopes took comfort in you: at one time

security, at another fear and caution.

وتخالفتْ فيك الرُّواةُ فسرّني

وتلوّنت بحديثك الأخبارُ

Reporters disagreed about you, and it pleased me,

and tidings changed color with the reports of you.

ولقد ظننتُ بها وراءَ لثامها

خيراً فكشَّفَ قُبحَها الإسفارُ

I had thought well of them behind their veil,

but unveiling exposed their ugliness.

إن تفتقدْ عيني مِثالَك في العلا

فبنوك من عين العلا آثارُ

If my eye misses your likeness in the heights,

your sons are traces of glory's very source.

سدُّوا مكانَك والشموسُ إذا هوتْ

ملأت مَطارحَ نورِها الأقمارُ

They filled your place: when suns go down,

moons fill the places where their light had fallen.

طِبْ في الثرى نفساً فكلٌّ منهُمُ

ثَمَّ اقتراحُك فيه والإيثارُ

Be at peace in the earth, for each of them

is there one you would choose and favor.

هم أنفساً تُدوِي عداك وألسناً

من جمرتيك سلائطٌ وشَرارُ

In spirit they bring sickness to your foes; in speech

they are fiery tongues and sparks from your two embers.

كانوا السَّراةَ وقد عدِمتَ وبعضُهم

لأبيه إن طرَقَ الحِمامُ عَوارُ

They were nobles when you were lost; some sons

bring shame to their fathers when death comes calling.

متلاحقين إلى العلاء كأنهّهم

مُجرَوْنَ يجمعُ بينهم مِضمارُ

Following one another toward the heights, as though

racers brought together on a racecourse.

الوفدُ وفدُك طائفٌ ببيوتهم

والحاملُ العبقاتِ والسُّمَّارُ

The delegation—your delegation—circles their houses,

as do the bearer of fragrant gifts and the evening companions.

تُتلَى عليهم فيك كلُّ فضيلةٍ

للميْتِ فيها النشرُ والتَّذكارُ

Every virtue of yours is recited to them,

in which the dead find resurrection and remembrance.

أيدٍ طُبعنَ على السماح وأوجهٌ

في عتقها من دوحتيك نِجارُ

Hands fashioned for generosity, and faces

whose nobility is of the stock of your two great trees.

هم ما هُم ويزينُ مجدَ أبيهِمُ

خالٌ لزَندِ المجدِ منه سِوارُ

What men they are! Their father's glory is adorned

by an uncle, a bracelet upon glory's wrist.

ما غِبتَ عنهم وهو شاهدُ أمرهم

لك منه فيهم كافلٌ وطَوارُ

You have not been absent from them, while he oversees their affairs;

in him they have, from you, a guarantor and encompassing protection.

فليبقَ وليبقوا له ما طبّق ال

آفاق طِيبُ ثنائك السيَّارُ

May he live, and may they live for him, as long as the

horizons are filled with the roaming fragrance of your praise.

وإذا العزاءُ أتى فذَلَّ لهم به

فيك العزيزُ وأسهلَ المِعسارُ

And when consolation came, through it for them

the unyielding grief for you yielded, and hardship grew easy.

ولقد أُسلِّيهم وفي عِظتي لهم

جَزَعٌ ورَجْع كلامِيَ استعبارُ

I console them, yet in my counsel to them

is anguish, and my speech returns as tears.

ساهمتُهم عِبءَ المصابِ وكلُّنا

تحت التجمُّل حاملٌ صبَّارُ

I have shared with them the burden of this loss, and all of us

beneath our composure bear it with steadfast patience.

لا تبعُدنّ بلىً فقد فات البلى

بك أن يُظَنَّ تقاربٌ ومَزارُ

May decay not distance you; decay has already put beyond reach

the hope of nearness to you or a visit.

وسقاك إن عطِش القليبُ وماؤه

متبجِّسٌ وقَرارُهُ خَرَّارُ

And may there water you, should the well thirst though its water

gushes and its depths murmur,

متهدِّلُ الأطرافِ يَمَسحُ بالثرى

مما تراكَمَ ذيلُهُ الجَرَّارُ

a cloud with hanging edges, sweeping the earth

with its dragging skirt, heavy with piled-up masses;

صَخِبُ الرُّعودِ تَهيجُ في جَنباتِهِ

للعاصفاتِ جَراجِرٌ وخُوارُ

loud with thunders, within whose flanks rise

the rumblings and bellows of storm winds.

فجرى يجلِّلُ بالحيا حِيطانَهُ

حتى الجداولُ تحتها أنهارُ

May it flow, clothing its walls in life-giving rain,

until the streams beneath them become rivers;

يَسقِي بأعذب ما سَقَى حيث التقتْ

فِلقُ الصفيحِ عليكَ والأحجارُ

watering with the sweetest it ever poured the place where meet

over you the cleft slabs and the stones,

حتى يُظنَّ ثراك نَشواناً به

دارت عليه من السحابِ عُقارُ

until your earth seems drunk with it,

wine from the clouds having passed around it;

ويضوعَ منك بطيبِ ما في ضمنه

فكأنّ ضارجَ تُربه عطَّارُ

and may there waft from you the sweetness of what it holds within,

as though the cleaver of its soil were a perfumer.

ونزلتَ حيث تُحَطُّ أملاكُ العلا

شوقاً إليك وتُرفَعُ الأوزارُ

And may you alight where the angels of the heights descend

in longing for you, and burdens of sin are lifted.