سلك الخيال بحاجر — Mihyar Al Daylami

سَلكَ الخيالُ بحاجرٍ

طَرْفاً كراه مؤرِّقُهْ

At Hajir the phantom made its way

into an eye whose sleep keeps it wakeful.

حيَّا خديعةَ خُلّبٍ

ما بلَّ ربعاً مبرِقُهْ

Its greeting was a rainless cloud's deceit,

whose lightning never drenched a dwelling.

وهَنْاً وراحَ وليس إل

لا ذكرهُ وتشوُّقُهْ

Late in the night it departed, leaving nothing

but its memory and yearning for it.

وفتحتُ جفني ثمّ عد

تُ مع الطماعة أُطبِقُهْ

I opened my eyelid, then returned

to closing it with hopeful longing.

وأجيلُ كفّي أستعي

ذُ ببُردِه أتعلّقُهْ

And I swept my hand about, seeking refuge

in its cloak, trying to cling to it.

عجباً لمسرَى أمِّ سع

دٍ أيّ تيهٍ تخرُقُهْ

How wondrous Umm Saʿd's nightly journey—

what trackless waste she crosses!

وخَطَا ومشتبه الشخو

ص على الدجى تستطرقُهْ

And her footsteps, and indistinct figures

through which she makes her way in darkness!

ولقد تعادلُ ظلَّها

بين البيوت فتفرِقُهْ

Indeed, she balances her shadow

among the dwellings, then disperses it.

زارت وتحت خدودنا

رُكَبُ المطيّ وأسؤقُهْ

She visited while beneath our cheeks

lay the riding-camels' knees and shanks.

ورداءُ كلّ مترّف

منَّا برامةَ نُمرُقُهْ

And the cloak of each pampered man

among us at Rama was his cushion.

فتعطّرتْ بذيولها

كُثُبُ الغوير وأبرقُهْ

The trailing hems of her robe perfumed

al-Ghuwayr's dunes and stony hills.

واسترجعت باقي كرىً

بتنا اختطافاً نسرِقُهْ

She reclaimed the remaining sleep

we had spent the night stealing in snatches.

يا روضة العلمينِ جا

دكِ من جُمادَى ريِّقُهْ

O garden of al-ʿAlamayn, may

Jumada's first rains water you.

وأتاكِ من تُحفِ الربي

ع بما يسرُّكِ مونِقُهْ

And may the gifts of spring come to you,

its loveliness bringing what delights you.

ما خلتُ أنّ البين بع

د تمامِ بدرِكِ يَمحَقُهْ

I never thought that separation,

after your moon was full, would efface it,

حتى اطَّلعتُ وغربهُ

يبكي عليه ومشرِقُهْ

until I looked out, and its setting-place

wept for it, as did its rising-place.

في الداعريّ به قِلا

صُ الداعريّ وأينقُهْ

In al-Daʿiri are the young she-camels

of al-Daʿiri, and his she-camels.

ساقٍ يصرِّف لحظُهُ

كأسَ الغرام وتدفُقُهْ

A cupbearer whose gaze governs

the cup of passion and its pouring.

ما عند عينكِ يا غزا

لةُ في طليقٍ توثقُهْ

What has your eye in store, O gazelle,

for a free man whom it fetters?

شفتاكِ تَرشُفُه مغا

لطةً وطرفُكِ يرشقُهْ

Your two lips sip him,

deceptively, while your gaze shoots at him.

فلماكِ يُبرِدُ صدرَه

ولحاظُ عينكِ تُحرِقُهْ

So your lips' dark tint cools his breast,

while the glances of your eye burn him.

زيديه وجداً إن أقر

رَ حشاكِ وجدٌ يُقلقُهْ

Increase his yearning, if it brings rest

to your heart—the yearning that torments him.

وصِلي السهادَ بليلهِ

إن كان طيفُكِ يطرُقُهْ

And join sleeplessness to his night,

if your phantom visits him.

لا تحرَجي بدمي فعُنْ

قُكِ غيرُها يتطوَّقُهْ

Do not feel guilt over my blood: your neck

is encircled by other guilt besides.

أنا ذاك أطعمتُ الهوى

لحمي فبات يمزِّقُهْ

I am that man: I fed passion

my flesh, and it spent the night tearing it.

ورهنتُ قلبي لاعباً

والحبّ عندكِ يُغلقُهْ

And I pledged my heart in play,

while love, in your keeping, makes it forfeit.

القلب لي فإذا عشق

تُ فربُّه من يعشقُهْ

The heart is mine; but when I love,

its master is the one it loves.

اُنظر ولَيتَك مفلتٌ

أشطانَ من يتعلَّقُهْ

Look—and would that you could escape—

at the cords of whoever clings to it.

واعلم بأنك مخلِفٌ

إلا فؤاداً تُنفقُهْ

And know that you can replace what you spend,

except a heart you expend.

زعمتْ بأن الشَّيب ذن

بٌ ليس يُغفرُ مُوبِقُهْ

She claimed that gray hair is a sin

whose ruinous harm cannot be forgiven.

فمن الذي دامت له

حَدقُ الكواعب ترمقُهْ

For whom have they endured—

the eyes of young maidens gazing upon him?

يصدا الطريرُ وأيّ غص

نٍ لا يُصوّح مورِقُهْ

The fresh-faced youth tarnishes; what branch

has leafy growth that never withers?

لا تنظري بالفجر إل

لا أن يُبيَّضَ أزرقُهْ

Expect nothing of the dawn

but that its blue will whiten.

وعييتُ في فلتات عي

ش بالعفاف أرمِّقُهْ

And I have wearied with the remnants of a life

I keep barely alive through self-restraint.

من لي بنهضةِ ناشطٍ

أَسْرُ المقادِر مطلقُهْ

Who can grant me a vigorous man's leap,

whose release comes from fate's binding power?

والحظّ تُخدِجُ أمُّهُ

لي أو تُتِمُّ فتُحمِقُهْ

And fortune's mother bears it prematurely

for me—or at full term, only to make it foolish.

ما أتعب المحرومَ يأ

مُلُ أنّ حرصاً يرزقُهْ

How weary the deprived man is, hoping

that eagerness will provide his livelihood!

تستعبدُ الحُرَّ المطا

معُ والقناعةُ تُعتقُهْ

Desires enslave the free man,

while contentment sets him free.

والوجه إن كُفِيَ السؤا

لَ فليس شيء يُخلقُهْ

And if a man's face is spared begging,

nothing can wear it out.

ولقد فَرجتُ إلى العلا

نقعاً يضيق مخنَّقُهْ

I have indeed cleft, on my way to lofty glory,

a dust-cloud with a constricted throat.

متشهِّراً في جوِّه

حتى كأني أبلقُهْ

Conspicuous within its air,

until I seemed its piebald horse.

وبليدةِ الأعلام يُن

كِرُ تربَها مستنشقُهْ

And a waste with indistinct landmarks,

whose dust is strange to whoever inhales it:

يعيا بذرع بساطها

رحبُ المطيِّ وضيّقُهْ

measuring the breadth of its carpet exhausts

camels, broad-striding and narrow alike.

كتبَ الرسيمُ وخدُّها

تحت المناسمِ مُهْرَقُهْ

The brisk trot wrote; the land's cheek

was its parchment beneath the camels' pads.

طوراً يحقّق فوقها

سطراً وطوراً يمشُقُهْ

At times it carefully inscribed upon it

a line, at times it dashed one off.

خاوصتُها والليلُ يُف

لَى بالثريّا مفرِقُهْ

I peered at it with narrowed eyes, while the night

had the Pleiades picking through its parted hair.

فرداً يساعدُ وحشتي

عضبٌ جديدٌ مخلِقُهْ

Alone, with my loneliness aided

by a sharp blade, fresh even where worn.

يسلو عن الرفقاء من

أنسٍ به مسترفقُهْ

Its companion forgets his companions

through the comfort he finds in it.

ريّانُ إن يبس المَرا

دُ ضحىً سقاني ريِّقُهْ

Well-watered: if what I seek dries up,

at noon its first flow gives me drink.

طوراً يوشِّح منكِبَي

يَ وتارةً أتنطَّقُهْ

At times it drapes my shoulders,

and at other times I gird myself with it.

ومردّدٍ بين السوا

بق لم يهجَّن معرقُهْ

And a steed bred among racing thoroughbreds,

whose ancestral stock is untainted.

سهل إذا استلب المدى

أكلَ الطريقَ تدَفُّقُهْ

Smooth-going: when it snatches the distance,

its flowing stride devours the road.

لي حلمه ووقارُه

وعلى المهامهِ أولقُهْ

Its gentleness and dignity are mine;

its frenzy is for the desert wastes.

يرمي بواسعةٍ على

كذبِ النواظرِ تصدُقُهْ

It casts a broad stride across

the eyes' false vistas, making them true.

لم أجزِهِ إذ بات يُس

مِنُ لي الحظوظَ وأَعرُقُهْ

I had not repaid it as it spent the night fattening

my fortunes for me, while I wore it lean,

حتى علقتُ بساهرٍ

حبُّ الضيوف يؤرّقُهْ

until I attached myself to a wakeful man

whose love of guests keeps him awake.

جذلان كلّ عشية

فيها المغارمُ تُغبقُهْ

Joyful every evening

when costly outlays serve him his evening drink.

متبسم السنوات ضا

في القعب فيها مُتأقُهْ

Smiling through the years, ample is

his bowl, kept brimming throughout them.

سيلٌ على ألواذِهِ

أُدمانُهُ أو أَنْوُقُهْ

A torrent: along its sheltered banks

are his pale camels or his she-camels.

للسيف ما ترضاه من

ها العينُ أو تستونقُهْ

The sword is given whichever of them

the eye approves or finds comely.

يلقاك أبلجُ وجههِ

قبلَ العطاء ومشرقُهْ

The brightness of his face greets you

before his gift, and its radiance,

كالبرق بعد وميضه

خلفَ السحاب تدفُّقُهْ

like lightning: after its flash,

behind the clouds comes its downpour.

يستنُّ ماءُ الحسن في

ه عذبُهُ ومرقرَقُهْ

The water of beauty streams through him,

sweet and softly rippling.

متموّل من كسبه ال

عالي لجودٍ يُملِقُهْ

He gathers wealth from his lofty earnings

for a generosity that impoverishes him.

كالليث يأنفُ مأكلاً

إلا عَبيطاً يُشرِقُهْ

Like the lion, he disdains any meal

but fresh flesh that chokes him.

ضمنت صوارمُه له

أرزاقَ مَن يسترزقُهْ

His cutting swords have guaranteed him

the livelihood of those who seek provision from him.

فالسيفُ يجمع ماله

والمكرمات تفرِّقُهْ

The sword gathers his wealth,

and noble deeds scatter it.

من آل إسماعيل من

تشر الفخار معرّقُهْ

Of the house of Ismaʿil,

whose deep-rooted ancestral glory spreads far.

بيت قعيد العزّ قَل

لَ دخيلُه أو ملصَقُهْ

A house seated beside honor; few

are its outsiders or those grafted onto it.

نسبٌ كأنّ الشمس إش

راقاً وعزّاً تعبقُهْ

A lineage as though the sun, with radiance

and glory, steeped it in her fragrance.

ويودّ أعلى الشهب بي

تاً أنّه يستلحقُهْ

The highest-dwelling star would wish

to claim that lineage as its own.

صعبٌ تُزِلّ صفاتُهُ

قدمَ الدعيّ وتُزلِقُهْ

Steep: its smooth rock makes

the pretender's foot slip and slide.

لا يرتقيه طائراً

عيبٌ ولا يتسلّقُهْ

No blemish can rise to it on wings,

nor can one clamber up it.

وُسطاهُ إسماعيلُه

ومدى علاه موفَّقُهْ

Ismaʿil stands at its center,

and Muwaffaq marks the utmost reach of its height.

شرفٌ دنا ونأى مُحَو

وِمُهُ لكم ومحلّقُهْ

A glory both near and far: its circling flight

and its soaring flight are yours.

بأبيك تمَّ عمادُه

وسرى فعمّ مطبّقُهْ

Through your father its pillar was made complete,

and its all-embracing reach spread everywhere.

سبق الرجال فبذّهم

مستعجلين ترفُّقُهْ

He outstripped men: he surpassed them,

though they hastened, with his measured ease.

ومضى يصيب برأيه

مثلَ الرِّماءِ يفوِّقُهْ

He went on, his judgment striking true

like the arrows he nocks.

شرف بتيجان الملو

ك رِواقُه أو فيلقُهْ

A glory adorned with the crowns of kings,

in its pavilion or its battle-host,

مابين رأسٍ قد حمى

عنه ورأسٍ يفلُقُهْ

between a head he has shielded

from harm, and a head he cleaves.

قاد العلا وجرى ففا

تَ وليس تُدرَك سُبَّقُهْ

He led glory and raced far ahead;

his foremost racers cannot be overtaken.

ورأيتُ سعيك خلفه

فعلمتُ أنك تلحقُهْ

I saw your striving after him,

and knew that you would catch him.

ما مات مجدٌ أوّلٌ

تتلوه أنتَ وتنسُقُهْ

An earlier glory has not died

when you follow it and carry it onward.

تَنمِي الطروسُ لفضلكم

خبراً وأنتَ تحقِّقُهْ

The written pages tell of your excellence,

and you make their report come true.

ومتى تعلَّمَ ناشىءٌ

كرماً فنفسك تُحذِقُهْ

Whenever a young man learns

generosity, your example perfects his skill.

كم بابِ حظٍّ باسمك ال

محبوب يُفتَحُ مُغلَقُهْ

How many a door of fortune, through your beloved

name, has opened after being shut!

وسحابِ جودٍ عن يمي

نك عمَّ ربعي مغدِقُهْ

And many a cloud of bounty from your right hand

has drenched my dwelling with its lavish rain.

لي وبلُهُ ولمن ينا

فسني الفضيلةَ مُصعِقُهْ

Its downpour is mine; for those who vie

with me in merit, its thunderbolt.

وقصائدٍ كرمت وقد

فضحَ اللئيمَ تخلُّقُهْ

And poems have won honor, while

affectation has exposed the ignoble.

يحلو جناها كلّما

شافهتَه تتذوَّقُهْ

Their harvest is sweet whenever

you bring it to your lips and savor it.

وملامة عثَرتْ بسم

عك فيَّ لا تتخرَّقُهْ

And reproach has stumbled against your hearing,

where I am concerned, without piercing it.

سمع حديدات العوا

ذل في الندى لا تسلُقُهْ

An ear that sharp-tongued reproachers

cannot scourge for generosity.

فليسقِيَنَّ رياضَ عر

ضك في الندى مغدودِقُهْ

So may its copious rain water the gardens

of your honor for your generosity,

من كلّ سيّارٍ بكم

ركّاضُهُ أو معنِقُهْ

from every verse that travels with your name,

whether racing or pacing swiftly.

يمضي فيعتلق الصخو

رَ بوصف مجدك مفلقُهْ

It travels on; its wondrous eloquence grips

the rocks in describing your glory,

من معدن الكلم الغري

ب سواي لا يتطرَّقُهْ

from a mine of rare speech

that none but I can enter.

أحرزت محكمَه إذا اح

تَطبَ الكلامَ ملفِّقُهْ

I have secured its well-wrought utterance, while

the patcher-up gathers words like firewood.

لك حلمُه وعلى عَدُو

وِك طيشُهُ وتنزُّقُهْ

Its restraint is yours; against your enemy

come its fury and impetuousness.

يأتيك زَوْراً كلّ يو

مِ هديّةٍ تتسوَّقُهْ

It comes to you as a visitor on every

day of gifts, for you to carry home.

يحبوك خالصتي به

وسواك من أتملَّقُهْ

My sincere devotion bestows it on you;

anyone other than you is one I merely flatter.

كم مهرجانٍ راح من

ه وكلّ يوم ترمُقُهْ

How many a Mihragan has passed away,

and every day you behold,

خلّيته عطلاً أسو

ورُهُ به وأطوِّقُهْ

I left unadorned; now I bracelet it

with this, and give it a necklace.

لا يعجب الحساد أن

يصفو لمدحك ممذَقُهْ

Let not the envious marvel that

what was diluted runs pure in praising you:

رجلٌ حلا بك عيشُهُ

فحلا بسمعك منطقُهْ

a man whose life grew sweet through you

has speech that grows sweet in your hearing.