أيوما مثل يوم الجزع — Mihyar Al Daylami

أيوماً مثلَ يوم الجز

عِ تنساه وإن قَدُما

A day like the day of al-Jizʿ—

would you forget it, though long past,

وتكفُرُه وقِدْماً كن

ت ممّن يشكر الحُلُما

and be ungrateful for it, though once you were

among those who gave thanks for the dream?

ملاعبُ صبوةٍ وهَوىً

ودارُ سلامةٍ وحِمى

Playgrounds of youthful longing and love,

an abode of safety and a sanctuary.

رُزقنا منه صَيدَ العِي

نِ والقنّاصُ قد حُرِما

There we were granted the quarry of wide-eyed gazelles,

while the huntsman was denied.

جآذر من ظباء الإن

س كنَّ دُمىً ولسنَ دمى

Wild-cow calves among human gazelles,

who were statues, yet not statues.

قنصناهنّ دون مِنىً

ولم نتحرَّج الحَرَما

We hunted them short of Mina,

with no scruples about the sanctuary.

وفيهنَّ المنَى صفرا

ء يُفتَلُ كشحُها هَضَما

Among them was desire itself, a golden beauty,

whose waist was drawn slender.

تريك بحسن صِبغتها

سلامةَ لونها سَقَما

Through the beauty of her hue, she shows you

her healthy complexion as sickness.

تَلفَّتُ عن وميض البر

قِ عارضةً ومبتَسما

She turns, revealing lightning's flash

in her cheek and smiling mouth.

أصابَ بها بصيرتَه

غويٌّ يعبدُ الصنما

Through her, true insight was attained

by a misguided worshipper of an idol.

رمتني يوم ذي الجمرا

ت عن طرف رنا فرمى

She shot me on the day of Dhū al-Jamarāt,

from an eye that gazed, then shot.

وكان لسهمها ما شا

ء من قلبي وما احتكما

Her arrow had whatever it wished

of my heart, and whatever it decreed.

نعمتُ بها على إضم

ويشقَى بعدُ من نَعِما

I enjoyed bliss with her at Iḍam;

who once was happy suffers afterward.

يدٌ للحج شَلَّ النف

رُ بسطتَها وما علِما

Pilgrimage has a hand; departure crippled

its outstretched reach, without knowing.

شكرناها وإن بعث ال

شفاءُ بها لنا سَقَما

We thanked it, though healing

through it stirred sickness in us.

سل الورَّاد يمتاحو

ن زمزمَ ماءَها الشبِما

Ask the water-drawers, drawing

Zamzam's icy-cold water:

من الماء الذي يرِدو

ن يشفِي أو يبلُّ ظَما

whom does the water they visit

heal, or whose thirst does it moisten,

ولم يُرشَفْ لنازله

وراءَ المأزمين لمَى

when its visitor has not tasted

dark lips beyond al-Maʾzimayn?

سقى الله المحَّصبَ ما

سقتْ أرضا نجومُ سما

May God water al-Muḥaṣṣab as long as

heaven's stars water any land.

فحيث جرت دماءُ البُد

نِ قلَّبتَ الدموعَ دَما

Where the blood of sacrificial camels flowed,

you turned tears into blood.

بعينك هنّ خَيماتٌ

وما بك أن ترى الخِيما

Before your eyes they are little tents,

yet it is not the tents you wish to see.

فيا زمناً بذاك العي

ش مَرَّ أما تعودُ أما

O time of that life,

now past—will you not return, will you not?

حلفتُ بها محبَّسةً

تمجُّ أنوفُها الخُزُما

I swore by them, held in confinement,

their noses casting out the nose-rings,

بدائدَ أو تخال بها

على أَكم اللوى أَكَما

scattered, or seeming to you

like mounds upon al-Liwā's mounds.

ترى أُلهوبَها في السي

ر شبَّ على الغضا ضَرَما

You see their fiery gallop on the march

like a blaze flaring upon ghada wood:

سواهمَ كنّ حمْراً قب

لَ تحمل ضمَّراً سُهُما

gaunt, though once they were red-coated,

bearing riders lean and wan,

لأضحت في بني عبد ال

رحيم مودتي رَحِما

that among the sons of ʿAbd al-

Raḥīm my affection has become kinship.

صحبتُهُمُ على خوفٍ

فكانوا الأشهرَ الحُرُما

I accompanied them in fear,

and they were the sacred months.

وناطوني بأنفسهم

فرحتُ بهنّ ملتحِما

They bound me to themselves,

and I went forth closely joined to them.

وضمُّوني وكنت مدع

دع الجنباتِ مقتسما

They gathered me in, when I had been

shaken on all sides and torn apart.

شريتهُمُ بأهل الأر

ض مع تحقيقيَ القِيَما

I bought them in exchange for the people of the

earth, knowing the values precisely.

فلم أُغبن ولم أقرَعْ

بشوكة ناجِذي نَدَما

I was not cheated, nor did I strike

my molar with a thorn in remorse.

رجَمتُ بنصلِ أيديهم

صليدَ الدهر فانحطما

With the blade of their hands I struck

time's hard rock, and it shattered.

وقمتُ بهم من الأيّا

م منتصراً ومنتقماً

Through them I rose against the days,

victorious and taking vengeance.

ملوكاً يحسبون الجو

دَ مقدوراً لهم حُتِما

Kings who deem generosity

irrevocably ordained for them.

رضَوا بوجودِ مجدهِمُ

فلم يتسخَّطوا العَدَما

They were content to possess their glory,

and did not resent poverty.

كأنَّهمُ إذا افتقروا

أبرُّوا بيتَهم قَسَما

As though, whenever they grew poor,

they fulfilled an oath sworn by their house.

هُمُ سنّوا الحجا فالطو

دُ لولاهم لما حَلُما

They established reason; the mountain,

without them, would never have been forbearing.

وجادوا فاستمدّ الغي

ثُ من أيديهم الكرما

They gave generously, and the rain drew

its generosity from their hands.

رمتْ فوق السماء بهم

مساعٍ كلُّهن سما

Above heaven they were hurled

by endeavors, each itself a heaven.

فكانوا مُزنها شِيماً

وكانوا شُهبَها قِسَما

They were its rainclouds in character,

and its shooting stars in the portions they gave.

بهم تمّ الكمالُ فتىً

وشبَّ وبعدُ ما احتلما

Through them perfection became a complete youth,

and matured before reaching puberty.

تضاهَوْا فيه واشتبهوا

نُهىً وتماثلوا هِمما

In it they matched and resembled one another

in intellect, and were alike in aspiration.

تمامُ الرمح بالأنبو

ب والأنبوب منتظما

A spear is completed by its sections,

section after section, fitted in order.

وأصبحَ من أبي حَسَنٍ

طريقُ علائهم لُقَما

And through Abū Ḥasan,

the road to their eminence became broad and clear.

هم الأعلامُ لكن شب

بَ ناراً تشرُفُ العَلَما

They are mountains, but he kindled

a fire that overtops the mountain.

وفَى عينُ الكفاةِ لهم

بما أغنَى وما عظُما

The foremost of the capable fulfilled for them

all that availed and all that was great.

وقام بشرع سؤددهم

فأضحى دينُها قِيَما

He upheld the law of their nobility,

and its faith stood upright.

فتىً شهِدَ التفرّسُ في

نجابته بما علما

A youth: discerning insight testified concerning

his nobility, from what it knew.

وقدَّمه الوقارُ على ال

كهول وبعدُ ما فُطِما

Dignity set him above the

elders before he was even weaned.

أنال فكان مقموراً

وغار فكان محتشِما

He gave as though defeated at gaming,

and raided, yet remained modest.

قضى قاضي السحاب على ال

سحابِ له إذا حكما

The judge of clouds ruled against the

clouds, in his favor, whenever he judged.

فقال له معاني الجو

دِ والأسماءُ بينكما

He said: 'The essence of generosity is his;

the names are shared between you two.'

قضيةُ صادع بالحق

ق ما حابَي وما ظَلما

The judgment of one proclaiming the truth,

showing neither partiality nor injustice.

وذَّلل رأيُه ما أع

جز الرُّواضَ واللُّجُما

His judgment subdued what had defeated

the trainers and the bridles.

فما عنَّاه من أمر

رياضتُه وقد هرِما

No matter troubled him

to tame, though it had grown old.

محاسنُ عاد يعترف ال

حسودُ بها وإن رُغِما

Fine qualities came to be acknowledged by the

envious man, though against his will.

وبارقة من الإقبا

ل تلفح عارضاً سِجما

And a lightning-flash of good fortune

scorches a cloud pouring rain.

بدتْ شرراً وسوفَ تدب

بُ حتى تملأ الفَحَما

It appeared as sparks, and will spread

until it fills the charcoal.

وإن قعد الزمانُ بها

وفتَّر بعد ما احتَدما

Even if time has held it back

and slackened after growing ardent,

وقصّر سعيُه شيئا

وكان مصمِّماً قُدُما

and its striving has fallen somewhat short,

though once it pressed resolutely forward,

سيبعِدُ خَطوَه فيها

غداً ويوسِّع القَدَما

it will lengthen its stride toward it

tomorrow, and widen its footing.

ويرجِعُ نادماً يبني

من العَلياء ما انهدما

It will return repentant, rebuilding

what has collapsed of eminence.

ضمانٌ لي على الأيّا

م فيك عقَدتُه ذِمما

I have a guarantee against the days

concerning you, which I bound with pledges.

ووعدُ الدهر عندي في

علاكم قَلَّما انجذما

I hold time's promise concerning

your eminence; it has seldom been broken.

فلا يُقنِطْك من وصل ال

سعادةِ عاتبٌ صَرَما

Let no reproacher make you despair of union with

good fortune, though he has broken away.

وخذ للعزّ أُهبةَ مَن

توثَّب بعد ما جَثما

Prepare for glory like one

who springs up after crouching,

وُثوبَ الليثِ أخدرَ ثم

مَ هبَّ مفارقاً أَجَما

with the leap of a lion that lay in its lair, then

rose, leaving its thickets.

وجدِّدْ لِبسة النيرو

ز ثوباً يَنصُفُ القَدَما

Renew the attire of Nowruz,

a robe that does justice to antiquity;

شبابَ الدهر أو تلقا

ه أُشمِطَ رأسُه هَرَما

renew time's youth, or you will find

it gray-headed with age.

ووفِّ الحمد كَيلة قا

سمٍ لك خيرَ ما قسَما

Repay in praise the full measure of one who apportioned

to you the best of all he apportioned.

يزورك من مكامنه

بما أخفَى وما كتما

He visits you from his hiding places,

with what he concealed and kept secret:

ندائدَ تَنظِم الأسما

عَ مما تنثُر الحِكما

rarities that string together listening ears

with the wisdom they scatter.

تكون بذكرها سِحْراً

وإن هي سُميِّت كَلِما

They become magic when recited,

although they are called words.

تسودُ الشعرَ أو تُضحى

لها ساداتُه خَدَما

They rule over poetry, or

its masters become their servants.

تؤمُّك لا تغبُّك نا

ئياً أَلِفَتْك أو أَمَما

They seek you without missing a visit,

whether they find you distant or near,

لتعلم أنها ترعَى ال

أواصرَ منك والحُرُما

so you may know that they honor

your bonds and sacred obligations,

وأنّ الخارصَ الواشِي

إليك بغدرها أَثِما

and that the fabricating slanderer

who reported their treachery to you has sinned.

تحرّش ثم جرَّبكم

لينقُلَ غيرَ ما فهِما

He provoked trouble, then tested you,

to report something other than what he understood.

فلمَّا أن رآكم طُل

عةً لِقِذافِه رَجَما

When he saw you as a visible target

for his missiles, he hurled stones.

وَلا وَأبِي العُلَى إن كَا

ن ما سَدَّى كما زَعَما

No, by the father of glory, it was not

as he claimed—what he had contrived.