لله ساع بلغته قدمه — Mihyar Al Daylami

لله ساعٍ بلَّغتْهُ قدَمُهُ

حيث تعدَّت عالياتٍ هممُهْ

God bless the striver whose foot has carried him

to where his lofty ambitions have reached beyond.

طوَى السُّرى يبغِي العلا حتى انطوى

إخوتُه تحت الظلام أنجمُهْ

He traversed the night, seeking the heights, until there vanished

his brothers beneath the darkness—his stars.

حَكَّمَ أخطارَ الفلا في نفسه

يُوغلُ أو تمَّ له تحكُّمُهْ

He gave the desert's perils judgment over his life,

venturing ever deeper until his mastery was complete.

تحُصُّه الأيّام وهو طائرٌ

يزاحم الحظَّ به تهجُّمُهْ

The days pluck him bare while he is in flight;

his headlong daring pits him against fortune.

وقاعدٌ مع العفاف قانعٌ

ببُلغةِ الزاد حشاه وفَمُهْ

And one who stays put with honorable restraint, content

in belly and mouth with just enough provisions.

لم تُنتقَص طلاوةٌ في وجهه

ورقّةً ذلُّ السؤال يصِمُهْ

No freshness in his face has been diminished,

nor does the shame of begging brand him with frailty.

يَأْلَمُ كلَّ قطرةٍ سائلةٍ

من مائه كأنما سال دمُهْ

He suffers at every flowing drop

of his honor's water, as though his blood were flowing.

تلونت خلائق الدهر به

فحنَّكَتْه شُهْبُه ودُهُمُهْ

Time's dispositions changed their colors toward him;

its light days and dark days seasoned him.

واختبر الناسَ فلو ساومتَه

قُربَ أخيه خلتَه يحتشِمُهْ

He tested people: were you to bargain with him

for closeness to his brother, you would think him shy of him.

إن كان لا يُرزَق إلا سائلا

فرزقُه المشكورُ مما يُحرَمُهْ

If he is provided for only as a beggar,

the provision he welcomes is what he is denied.

والله ما عفتُكِ يا دنيا قِلىً

وإنَّ فيك لمتاعا أعلمُهْ

By God, world, I have not shunned you out of hatred,

and indeed I know there is enjoyment in you.

لكنَّ أبناءكِ مَن لا صنعتي

صنعتُه ولا وفائي شِيَمُهْ

But your sons are men for whom my craft

is not their craft, nor my loyalty their nature.

أُخرِجُ من مكمنهِ الصِّلَّ وما

فيهم بسِحري من يصِحُّ سَقَمُهْ

I draw the viper from its hiding place, yet

among them none has a sickness my magic can cure.

عندهُمُ شكري وما أموالُهم

عندي فهل عندكِ ذا من يقسِمُهْ

My thanks are with them, but their riches are not

with me; have you someone to apportion this?

كم باسمٍ لي من وراءِ شَرِّه

والليثُ لا يغُرُّني تبسُّمُهْ

Many a man smiles at me from behind his malice,

but a lion's smile does not deceive me.

لو لم يقِ اللهُ وحزمٌ ثابتٌ

ما نَصَلَتْ عندي سدادا أسهمُهْ

Were it not for God's protection and steadfast resolve,

his well-aimed arrows would not have lost their points against me.

وواسعٍ ملكا وصيتا واجدٍ

ما شاء لم يُسمع بشيء يَعْدَمُهْ

And one vast in possessions and renown, possessing

all he wishes—no one has heard of anything he lacks.

أمطرَ صَيْفيّاً فظنّ أنّه

قد عمّت الأرضَ جميعا دِيَمُهْ

He rained a summer shower and imagined that

his lasting rains had covered the whole earth.

أسهرني في المدح لا يَلزَمُني

عُجْباً به ونام عمّا يَلزَمُهْ

He kept me awake over praise I did not owe,

in admiration of him, while he slept through what he owed.

ما ضَاق في قبوله ورأيه

في الجود لكن ضاق عنّي فَهَمُهْ

There was no narrowness in his welcome or his views

on generosity; but his understanding could not encompass me.

في وجهه بِشرٌ وفيه كرَمٌ

فبشرُه لي ولغيري كرَمُهْ

His face has cheer, and he has generosity:

his cheer is for me, his generosity for others.

رحِمتُ حظّي أمسِ فيما فاتني

من ماله واليومَ منه أرحَمُهْ

Yesterday I pitied my lot for what I missed

of his wealth; today I pity it on his account.

وخاطبٍ على اتحادي صحبتي

والبدرُ مولودٌ يعِزُّ توأمُهْ

And one who courted my company despite my singularity—

the full moon is a newborn whose twin is rare.

أرادني مستجلَباً فؤادُه

وردّني مستعلياتٍ قِيَمُهْ

His heart desired to draw me to him,

but his overblown valuations drove me away.

فكَّرَ فاستكثرَ لي دينارَهُ

محاسباً ولم يسعْني درهمُهْ

He thought, then deemed his dinar too much for me,

counting the cost; his dirham was not enough for me.

فإن يكن وصلٌ فمنِّي أو يكن

حبلُ وِفاقٍ جُدَّ فهو يَصْرِمُهْ

If there is a bond, it comes from me; but if

the cord of accord is cut, he is the one who severs it.

ليت الحسينَ الحاملي من بينهم

على طريقٍ واضح لي لَقَمُهْ

Would that al-Husayn, who among them carries me

along a road whose main course is clear to me,

تُخلِدُه الدنيا وتستبقيه لي

وغيرُه تُبقيه أو تخترِمُهْ

were made immortal by the world and preserved for me;

as for anyone else, let it preserve him or cut him down.

أو ليته يمنعني مخفّفاً

فإنها قد أثقلتني نِعمُهْ

Or would that he withhold from me, lightening my burden,

for his favors have weighed me down.

سَيبٌ على سَيب كما تقطَّعتْ

أوكية المزن وحُلَّت عُصُمُهْ

Bounty upon bounty, as when there snap

the rainclouds' drawstrings and their bonds come loose.

كأنّ ما نغنَم من أمواله

حطٌّ يَخاف فوتَه يَغتَنمُهْ

As though what we gain from his wealth

were a lightening of his burden, which he seizes lest he miss it.

أعيا على الوفرِ فبينا فضلُهُ

يبنيه إذ عنّ سؤالٌ يهدمُهْ

He has proved too much for abundance: just as his merit

builds it up, a request appears and tears it down.

كأنه أقسم لا نال الغنى

فهو بما يُعطى يَحِلُّ قَسمُهْ

As though he swore he would never attain wealth,

so through what is given his oath is fulfilled.

عاقدني الودَّ فلا قارضةٌ

تنشره ولا حسودٌ يفصِمُهْ

He bound himself to me in love; no gnawing misfortune

can saw it apart, nor any envier break it.

مجتهدُ البِرِّ ولو قاطعتُه

في صِلتي كأنَّ ودّي رحِمُهْ

He labors in kindness, even if I cut him off,

to keep ties with me, as though my friendship were his bond of blood.

ملَّكه السوددَ أصلٌ فارعٌ

فيها ورأيٌ بارعٌ يُتمِّمُهْ

A lofty lineage invested him with preeminence

therein, and brilliant judgment brings it to perfection.

يجمعُ بين كلِّ ضدين له

حتى تصافَى سيفُه وقلمُهْ

He brings together every pair of opposites within him,

until his sword and pen have become friends.

ما خلَبتْ مَن اصطفاك برقةٌ

فيك ولا أخلفه توسُّمُهْ

Whoever chose you was not deceived by a lightning flash

in you, nor did his discernment disappoint him.

لمّا قضَى قاضي القياس عنده

مَن هائبُ الأمرِ ومَن مقتَحِمُهْ

When the judge of comparison ruled before him

who feared the undertaking and who plunged into it,

ومَن أخو الفخر إذا ما أَشكلتْ

مذاهبُ الفخر وخيفتْ ظُلَمُهْ

and who was glory's brother, when obscured were

glory's paths, and its darkness was feared,

شمَّ الذليلُ التربَ رغما ووُقِي

أنفُ الحميِّ أن يُضامَ شممُهْ

the abased sniffed the dust in humiliation, while protected was

the proud man's nose, lest its proud lift be wronged.

ما للحسود فرصةٌ يعيبها

منك ولا ذنبٌ عليك يَنقِمُهْ

The envier has no vulnerable point to criticize

in you, nor any offense of yours to resent.

بلى خلالٌ قد شجاه غيظُها

ينفُثُه طورا وطورا يكظِمُهْ

Yes—qualities that have pained him through the rage they rouse:

he spits it out at times, and at times suppresses it.

يكتمها والله يبدي فضلها

كالشيب صاح باسمه من يكتمه

He conceals them, but God reveals their excellence,

like gray hair: the one who hides it cries its name aloud.

إسمعْ لها كما احتبتْ بنَوْرها

غنَّاءُ يُوشِي بُردَها ويُعلِمُهْ

Listen to it, like one girdled with its blossoms—

a luxuriant garden, its mantle embroidered and patterned.

دَرَّ لها نوءُ السِّماك وخَبا

من وهَج القيظِ عليها مِرزَمُهْ

Al-Simak's rain-season poured for it, and faded

above it the Mirzam of summer's blazing heat.

تزاحمتْ مصطخبا نباتُها

بحيث هبهابُ الرياح زَمزَمُهْ

Its vegetation thronged together, clamorous,

where the winds' rustling was its murmur.

عِرضك منها عبَقاً مُعَرَّفٌ

عَرْفَ اليلَنجوج ذكيّا فحمُهْ

Your honor is perfumed by it, fragrant

with aloeswood's aroma, its charcoal richly fragrant.

شاهدة لمفصح فاه بها

أن الكلام الحر عبد يخدُمُهْ

It bears witness for the eloquent speaker who uttered it

that freeborn speech is a slave in his service.

إذا رآك الناسُ في وشاحِها

تحمله مقلَّدا أو تُفْغِمُهْ

When people see you in its sash,

wearing it as a necklace, or suffusing it with fragrance,

تعجّبوا من شكلها في حمله

وصفَك منظوماً ومنه أنظِمُهْ

they marvel at its form as it carries

your description in verse—and from that I compose it.

كلُّ كريم منطقٍ شاعرُهُ

وأنتَ من فَرْط السماح تُفحِمُهْ

For every generous man, speech is his poet;

yet you, through overflowing generosity, strike him dumb.