زارك زوار الحلم — Sharif Al Murtaza

زارك زَوَّارُ الحُلُم

مسلماً بذي سَلَمْ

The dream's visitor came to you,

offering greetings at Dhu Salam,

في ليلةٍ ظلماؤها

حالكةٌ من الظُّلَمْ

on a night whose darkness

was pitch-black with gloom,

كأنّها إِثْمِدَةٌ

أوْ صَلْدَةٌ من الفَحَمْ

as though it were a lump of antimony,

or a solid chunk of charcoal.

جاء وسادي عائداً

فلم أبِنْ من السَّقَمْ

It came to my pillow as a sickbed visitor,

yet I did not recover from my sickness.

والرّكبُ في ظلِّ نَقىً

لو زَعزعوه لاِنهدمْ

And the caravan lay in a sand dune's shade,

which would crumble if they shook it,

كأنّما مَرُّ الصَّبا

رَقَّشَ فيه بقلَمْ

as though the passing east wind

had patterned it with a pen.

في فِتْيَةٍ جابوا الدُّجى

إلى الضُّحى جَوْبَ الأُدُمْ

Among young men who cut through darkness

until daylight, as leather hides are cut,

عارين من كلِّ قَذىً

كاسين من صَفْوِ الشِّيَمْ

free of every blemish,

clad in pure qualities of character,

توسّدوا أذْرُعَهم

من الكَلالِ والسَّأَمْ

they pillowed their heads upon their arms

from exhaustion and tedium,

وَاِفتَرشوا من الكَرى

على الثَّرى تلك اللِّمَمْ

and, overcome by slumber, spread

those locks of hair upon the dust

من سَبْسَبٍ خافي الصُّوى

لا إِرَمٌ ولا عَلَمْ

of a wasteland with hidden waymarks,

with neither cairn nor landmark.

مَن عاذِرِي وأَين لِي

من عاذرٍ فيما يَلُمْ

Who will excuse me, and where can I find

one to excuse me for what befalls?

يُؤْلمني جزاءُ ما

داويتُه من الأَلَمْ

I am pained by the recompense for

the suffering I treated.

وإنْ غفرتُ جُرمَهُ

أعاد ما كان جَرَمْ

And if I forgive his offense,

he repeats the wrong he once committed.

يَبْغِي سقاطي وَالّذي

يريده أعيَا الأُمَمْ

He seeks my downfall, yet what

he seeks has baffled nations.

ويرتجي أنِّيَ في الن

ناسِ كما كان زَعَمْ

And he hopes that I, among the

people, am as he once claimed.

متى أُرِدْ شيئاً أبى

أوْ قلتُ لا قال نَعَمْ

Whenever I want something, he refuses;

or if I say no, he says yes.

عن الفتى سَلْ فعلَهُ

ودَعْ أُصولاً وجِذَمْ

Ask a young man's deeds about him,

and leave ancestry and lineage aside.

ما ينفع المرءَ بلا

نَحيزةٍ خالٌ وعَمْ

A man is not helped, without

character, by a maternal or paternal uncle.

ومِن يَدَيْ كلِّ اِمرئٍ

يصيبُهُ حَمْدٌ وذَمْ

And from each man's own hands

come the praise and blame he receives.

لا خيرَ في مبتذَلٍ

يصغُر في يومِ العِظَمْ

There is no good in a debased man

who grows small on the day of greatness.

هان فلا قَدْرٌ له

مثلُ لفيظٍ من عَجَمْ

He is contemptible and has no worth,

like a spit-out fruit stone.

يُغضِبُهُ إنْ لِيمَ في

سيّئَةٍ ولم أُلَمْ

It angers him if he is blamed for

an evil deed, while I have not been blamed.

وإنّني رِمْتُ عن ال

فحشاءِ وهْوَ لم يَرِمْ

And I have turned away from the

indecency, while he has not turned away.

عدِّ عن القومِ لهمْ

مَنٌّ ولم يُسْدُوا نِعَمْ

Turn from those people: theirs is

boasting of favors, though they bestowed none.

ضلّوا عن الخيرِ كما

ضلَّ شَرودٌ عن لُقَمْ

They strayed from goodness, as

a stray beast wanders off the main road.

وعن مكانٍ لم يُقِمْ

غيرُك فيه لا تُقِمْ

And from a place where none has stood

but you, do not depart.

إنّ لفخر الملك عِنْ

دي نِعَماً فُقْنَ النِّعَمْ

Indeed, Fakhr al-Mulk has done

me favors surpassing all favors.

جِئْنَ غِزاراً حُفَّلاً

يفْضَحْنَ في السَّحِّ الدِّيَمْ

They came copious and full-uddered,

putting steady rains to shame with their outpouring.

ما سرّني وكنّ لِي

بأنّ لي حُمْرَ النَّعَمْ

With them mine, it would not please me

to have red camels instead.

أَنت الّذي أولَيْتَنِي

من العُلا ما لم أرُمْ

You are the one who bestowed on me

heights of glory I had never sought.

وكنتُ عنها غافلاً

وقاعداً لو لم تُقِمْ

I had been heedless of them,

and would have sat idle had you not raised me.

فَالآن يمشي قدمي

بحيثُ لم تمشِ قَدَمْ

Now my foot treads

where no foot has trodden.

والآن أُثني مُعلناً

بكلِّ غرّاءِ البُهَمْ

And now I praise aloud

with every verse radiant amid darkness.

يَسمَعُها مَن بينه

وبينها كلُّ صَمَمْ

It is heard even by one separated

from it by utter deafness.

من ذا يُعالينِي وقدْ

ساندني الصّخرُ الأصَمْ

Who can rival me in height, when

the unyielding rock has supported me?

سَقْياً لفخر الملكِ مِنْ

مُغتفرٍ ومنتقمْ

May rain bless Fakhr al-Mulk,

a pardoner and an avenger,

ومَن أطاعتْ أمرَه

عُرْبُ الفيافي والعَجَمْ

and one whose command is obeyed

by the Arabs of the wastes and the non-Arabs.

كم ذا على أرْجائِهِ

زَمَّ أُنوفاً وخَزَمْ

How often, within his bounds,

he has bridled noses and pierced them!

وكم على رِفْقٍ به

قوَّضَ بيتاً وهَدَمْ

And how often, despite his gentleness,

he has dismantled a house and demolished it!

وَهوَ كَما شاء له

ذاك النِّجارُ والكَرَمْ

And he is as was willed for him

by that lineage and generosity.

قد قلتُ للقومِ وقد

غُرّوا بطولِ ما كَظَمْ

I said to the people, when

they were deceived by his long restraint:

حِذارِ من خافي السُّرى

أسرى بجُنْحٍ من ظُلَمْ

Beware the stealthy night-traveler,

who journeys under cover of darkness:

كالصّلِّ إذْ همَّ مَضى

واللّيث إنْ ضَمَّ عَذَمْ

like an asp—once intent, it advances;

and a lion—when it grips, it bites;

والبحرِ إنْ زاد طَمى

والغيث إنْ جاد سَجَمْ

and the sea—when it swells, it overflows;

and rain—when it gives, it pours.

وموقفٍ ضَنْكِ الخُطا

ملآنَ من لَحْمٍ ودَمْ

And many a battlefield with scant room to step,

filled with flesh and blood,

يُذَمّ مَن عفّ كما

يُحمدُ فيه مَن ظَلَمْ

where the one who refrains is blamed, just as

the one who does wrong is praised,

كأنّما القومُ به

من قَلَقٍ على ضَرَمْ

as though the people there,

in their agitation, stood on flames—

حَضَرْتَهُ بهمّةٍ

أَوْفَتْ على كلّ الهِمَمْ

you entered it with a resolve

that rose above every resolve,

وأنتَ طَلْقٌ باسمٌ

في لاتَ حينَ مُبتَسَمْ

while you were cheerful and smiling

when there was no time for smiles.

تُشبِعُ فيه بالقّنا

مَن زاره مِنَ الرَّخَمْ

There, with spears, you feed to fullness

the vultures that come to it.

إنَّيَ عَضْبٌ باتِرٌ

فاِستلّني في كلِّ هَمْ

I am a keen, severing sword;

draw me for every trouble.

والسِّرُّ عندي راهنٌ

أَكتُمهُ عمّنْ كَتَمْ

A secret is held in pledge with me;

I hide it even from the one who hid it.

وإنْ ألمَّ حادثٌ

فإنّنِي لِما أَلَمْ

And if some mishap befalls,

I am equal to whatever befalls.

سِيّانِ عندي في هوىً

ترومُهُ بُرٌّ وَيَمْ

Alike to me, for any wish

you seek, are land and sea.

وأيُّ خطبٍ مُعضِلٍ

ضرّم ناراً فاِضطرمْ

And any intractable crisis

that kindles a fire and bursts into flame,

وَاِنقَبضتْ عنه الخُطا

واقفةً لمّا اِدْلَهَمْ

from which footsteps draw back,

halting when it grows pitch-black—

فَاِجعَلْ عِياني دونَهُ

لسدِّ ما منه اِنثَلَمْ

then set me in person against it,

to mend whatever in it is breached.

فإِنّني من بينهمْ

فرّاجُ هاتيك الغُمَمْ

For, among them, I am

the dispeller of those griefs.

ولا تعُجْ في خُطّةٍ

عن ناصحٍ بمتَّهَمْ

And in any course of action, do not turn

from a sincere adviser to one suspected.

وَاِجدَعْ أُنوفاً رَغَمَتْ

من كلّ ذي أنفٍ رَغَمْ

And cut off the noses rubbed in dust,

of everyone whose nose is humbled.

ودُمْ على شكر الذي

خوَّلك اللهُ يَدُمْ

And keep giving thanks for what

God has granted you, and it will endure.

والمِهْرَجانُ مُخبرٌ

أنّ لك العُمرَ الأَتَمْ

And Mihrjan announces

that yours is the fullest span of life.

تبقى لأمثالٍ له

في نِعَمٍ لا تنثَلِمْ

May you live to see others like it,

in blessings that suffer no breach.

لا بُدِّلَ العِزُّ الّذي

أُولِيتَه ولا اِنصَرَمْ

May the honor never be changed that

was granted you, nor come to an end.

وبابُك المعمورُ لا

عُطِّلَ من وَفْدِ الخَدَمْ

And may your much-frequented gate never

be emptied of visiting servants.

وعشتَ ما شئتَ لنا

لا عَدَمٌ ولا هَرَمْ

And may you live for us as long as you wish,

without death or decrepitude.