حماها أن تشل وأن تراعا — Mihyar Al Daylami

حماها أن تُشَلَّ وأن تُراعا

رصيدُ الكيد ما حملَ استطاعا

He guarded them from being driven off or frightened,

a sentinel against guile, equal to whatever he undertook.

هصورٌ تقبض الأقدارُ عنه

حبائلَها إذا بسط الذراعا

A crushing lion: fate draws back from him

its snares when he stretches out his arm.

ذكيّ العين أغلبُ لم تزده

ممارسةُ العدا إلا امتناعا

Keen-eyed, thick-necked, he was increased

by grappling with foes only in invulnerability.

يبيت بنفسه جيشاً لُهاماً

ويكفيه توحُّدُه الجِماعا

By himself he spends the night a mighty army,

and his solitude serves him in place of a host.

إذا ذعرَ الطريدةَ لم يُجِرْها

هوتْ خفضاً أو اطلعت يفاعا

When he frightens his quarry, nothing shelters it,

whether it plunges into low ground or climbs a height.

يشمُّ الرزقَ عن مسرَى ثلاثٍ

فيقطعها على سغَبٍ تباعا

He scents his sustenance from three nights' journey away,

and traverses those stages hungry, one after another.

تكلّفه الدماءَ ملبَّداتٌ

له بالغاب تنظُرُه جِياعا

Matted-haired creatures demand blood of him,

waiting for him in the thicket, hungry.

له ثقةٌ بأوبته نجيحاً

يطاولها الهَمَام أو النزاعا

He trusts in his triumphant return,

a trust with which he outlasts anxious cares or yearning.

إذا نصلَتْ مخالبُها لغوباً

أعاد خضابَها العَلَق المُتَاعا

When weariness pales their claws,

he restores vivid-red blood as their dye.

يغاديها الغريضَ ويعتشيها

شبولاً أو تتمَّ له سِباعا

He brings them fresh meat at morning and feeds them at dusk,

as cubs, or when they grow into full-grown beasts for him.

فكيف يخاف سائمُها عليها

وما يحفظْ أسامةُ لن يضاعا

How, then, should their herdsman fear for them?

Whatever Usama guards will never be lost.

رَعتْ وادي الأمانِ به وراحت

رِواءً من مشاربها شِباعا

They grazed in safety's valley under him and came home

quenched from their watering places, full-fed.

تضيق على كَراكرها خُطاها

إذا صاح الحُداةُ بها الوَساعا

Their steps are cramped by their heavy breast-calluses

when the camel-drivers cry to them, 'Stride wide!'

مضت بجُنوبها عرضاً وطولاً

فما تسع الحبالَ ولا النِّساعا

They went forth, broad and long of flank,

so ropes and girths no longer encompass them.

كفاها عمدةُ المُلك الولايا

وأفرشها النمارقَ والنِّطاعا

The pillar of kingship provided their saddlecloths,

and spread cushions and leather mats beneath them.

ومدّ لها من الإحسان ظلّاً

يفيء به الحدائقَ والوقاعا

He stretched above them a shade of beneficence

with which he shades gardens and level grounds.

وقد نام الرُّعاة وغادروها

على جِرّاتها نهباً مشاعا

The herdsmen had slept and abandoned them,

still chewing their cud, as plunder free to all.

تواكلها الحماةُ وتصطفيها

ولاةُ السوء بُزلاً أو جِذاعا

Their protectors shirked their charge, while they were picked out

by corrupt governors, whether mature camels or young.

إذا حامت لِورد العدلِ قامت

عِصِيُّ الجور تطردها تِباعا

When they circled toward justice's watering place,

the rods of tyranny rose to drive them off in turn.

فحرَّم سَرحها وحنا عليها

وضمَّ سُروحها بَدداً شَعاعا

He made their pasture inviolable and tenderly cared for them,

and gathered their grazing herds, scattered and dispersed.

فتىً إن مدّت الجوزاءُ كفّاً

لها خرقاءَ مدّ يداً صَناعا

A young man: if al-Jawza stretches out a palm,

clumsy toward them, he stretches out a skillful hand.

فقرَّت في معاطنها ودرَّتْ

وباركت المنائحَ والقِراعا

Then they settled in their watering folds and yielded milk,

blessing the milch camels and breeding sires.

وفَى الكافي وقد عجزتْ رجالٌ

علتْ حظّاً ولم تعلُ اضطلاعا

Al-Kafi fulfilled his charge when men had failed,

high in fortune, but not in competence.

ونال بحقّه ما نال قومٌ

فشا غَلطُ الزمان بهم وشاعا

He rightly gained what others had gained,

in whom Time's mistake was manifest and widespread.

أُضيفوا في العلا نسباً دخيلاً

فعدُّوها الزعانفَ والكُراعا

They were grafted into nobility as an alien lineage;

so count them as mere fringes and shanks.

زوائد مثلمَا ألصقتَ ظُلماً

بثوبٍ لا خروقَ به الرِّقاعا

Appendages, as though you had unjustly sewn

patches onto a garment with no tears.

وما قرعوا على النعماء باباً

ولا بسطوا إلى العلياء باعا

They knocked at no door for blessings,

nor stretched an arm toward high renown.

تعاطَوها مكلَّفةً كِراهاً

وقمتَ بها مولّدةً طِباعا

They undertook it as an imposed burden, unwillingly;

you upheld it as an inborn disposition.

وملّكك السيادةَ عرقُ مجدٍ

تليدٍ كان إرثاً لا ابتياعا

A root of glory made you master of lordship,

ancient, inherited, not bought.

حُضِنتَ بحجرها وسقتك دَرّاً

بِخلفيها فوفّتك الرَّضاعا

You were cradled in its lap, and it fed you milk

from both its teats, giving you suck in full.

وجئت ففتَّ عزَّ الأصل حتى

فرعتَ بنفسك الأفُقَ ارتفاعا

Then you came and surpassed your lineage's glory, until

you yourself rose above the horizon.

نظمتَ الملكَ منخرطاً بديداً

وقمتَ بحفظه ملغىً مضاعا

You strung the kingdom together when it lay unstrung and scattered,

and undertook its protection, abandoned and neglected.

شعبت قناتَه ولقد تشظَّت

معاقدُها وُصُوماً وانصداعا

You mended its spear-shaft, though

its joints had splintered with cracks and fractures.

ورِشت فطارَ وهو أحصُّ ترمي

محلّقةُ النسور به الضباعا

You feathered it and it flew, though featherless, cast

by soaring eagles to the hyenas.

على حين النزيُّ رأى المداوي

وحطّ مخمِّرُ الشرّ القناعا

At a time when hemorrhage struck the healer,

and the veiler of evil dropped his mask,

وقام الدهر يجذُبُ كلَّ عُنْقٍ

معظَّمةٍ فيوطئها الرَّعاعا

Time rose to seize every neck

held in honor, grinding it beneath the rabble.

وبات الخوفُ يَقسِم كلَّ عينٍ

فما يجد الكرى طرفاً خُشاعا

Fear claimed its share of every eye,

so sleep found no eyelid lowered in repose.

وكلُّ يدٍ لها بطشٌ بأخرى

بغَشْمٍ لا ارتقابَ ولا ارتداعا

Every hand struck another

with tyranny, without restraint or recoil.

نهضتَ وبالظُّبا عنها نِياطٌ

تهزُّ قَناً وأقلاماً شِراعا

You rose, with sword-blades out of reach,

brandishing lances and pens, poised to strike.

ولم أر كالحسام غدَا جباناً

دعا قلماً فأصرخه شجاعا

I never saw the like of a sword that had turned coward,

calling upon a pen, which came bravely to its aid.

فداجيةٌ برأيك قد تجلَّتْ

وعاصٍ من حِذارك قد أطاعا

Darkness was cleared away by your counsel,

and a rebel obeyed for fear of you.

إذا الوزراء ضمّهُمُ رِهانٌ

فتيّاً أو ثنيّاً أو رَباعا

When a contest brings the ministers together,

young, two-toothed, or four-toothed,

سبقتَ بخصلةٍ لم يحرزوها

على ما قدّموا القُضُب الوِساعا

you win by a quality they have not attained,

however far they send their swift, long-striding steeds ahead.

وكنتَ أعفَّهم نفساً وأجرا

هُمُ عزماً وأرحبَهم ذراعا

You were the chastest of them in spirit, the boldest

of them in resolve, and the most open-handed.

عزفتَ فما ترى الدنيا جميعاً

وزخرفَ ملكِها إلا متاعا

You turned away, seeing all the world

and its kingdom's glitter as nothing but passing goods.

وقد أعطتك مِقودَها ذَهاباً

على تصريف أمرك واتباعا

Yet it gave you its reins, to go

as your command directed it, and follow obediently.

وغيرك قادراً لم يعصِ والي

هواه ولا استطاع له دفاعا

Another, though powerful, could not defy the ruler

of his desires, nor muster resistance to him.

مدحنا الناسَ قبلك ذا نوالٍ

حوى خيراً ومخشيّاً مُراعا

Before you, we praised men: a giver

possessed of goodness, and one dreaded and revered.

وقلنا في الكرام بما رأينا

عِياناً أو نقلناه سماعا

We spoke of noble men according to what we saw

with our own eyes, or passed on from hearsay.

فلما عبَّ بحر نداك كانوا

إلى يدك النقائرَ والبِقاعا

But when the sea of your bounty surged, they became,

beside your hand, mere rock-hollows and patches of land.

وأنك بالذي سمعوا لأولَى

ولكن صافقٌ غُبن البَياعا

You are more deserving of the praise they heard,

but a bargainer was cheated in his trade.

فيا لشهادةٍ بالجود زوراً

جرت ومدائح ذهبت ضَياعا

What false witness to generosity

was borne, and what praises went to waste!

ولو أنا ملكنا الريحَ رُمنا

لذاهب ما استعاروه ارتجاعا

Had we possessed the wind, we would have sought

to reclaim the vanished praise they borrowed,

وسقناه إليك فكان أنقَى

وأضوعَ عَبْقَةً بك وارتداعا

and carried it to you: it would have been purer,

more fragrant through you, and more restrained.

هَلَ انت لقولة طغت اضطراراً

تقابلها فتوسعها استماعا

Will you, for a plea that overflowed from necessity,

receive it and grant it a generous hearing?

أدوم على خصاصته طويلاً

مخافة أن يقال شكا اقتناعا

He long endures his poverty,

fearing it may be said, 'He complained to beg.'

يسارقُ عيشةً رعناء حيرَى

فلا وُهُداً تحلُّ ولا تِلاعا

He steals moments of a foolish, bewildered life,

that settles neither in hollows nor on heights.

يرقِّعها وتسبقه خروقاً

وهذا الفريُ قد غلب الصَّناعا

He patches it, but its rents outrun him;

this tearing has overcome the craftsman.

وكنت تعيره لحظاً فلحظاً

فتحفظه ولولا أنت ضاعا

You used to lend him glance after glance,

and so preserve him; but for you he would be lost.

وتُمسِكه ببُلغةِ ما تراه ال

مكارمُ ممكناً لك مستطاعا

You sustain him with a subsistence from what the

noble virtues deem possible for you, within your power.

فينقُص عمرُه يوماً فيوماً

بفَضلةِ ذاك أو ساعاً فساعا

His life dwindles, day by day,

on the remnants of that, or hour by hour.

وقد نُسخ العطاءُ فصار منعاً

وعاد الوصلُ صدّاً وانقطاعا

Giving has been repealed, becoming refusal,

and fellowship has become rejection and severance.

وكاد الكامن المستورُ يبدو

وأسرارُ التجمّل أن تذاعا

What lay hidden and concealed nearly shows itself,

and the secrets of keeping up appearances are nearly divulged.

وضاقت ساحة الأوطان حتى

تطاول أين يرسلها اطلاعا

The homeland's breadth has narrowed, until

he cranes to see where he might send it.

وما للحرّ تلفِظه بلادٌ

كعزمٍ يُنهض الإبلَ الظِّلاعا

For a free man whom a country casts out, nothing equals

a resolve that rouses even limping camels.

وأُقسم لو أمنتُ عليك عقبى ال

سماحةِ بي لما خفتُ الزَّماعا

I swear: if I feared no ill consequence for you from

generosity toward me, I would not fear departure.

وما ونداك ما هو أن أمرَّتْ

مريرةُ جفوتي إلا الوداعا

By your bounty, what else is there, when it tightens—

the cord of my estrangement—but farewell?

أفارقكم لغير قِلىً فظني

بنفسي بعدكم أن لا انتفاعا

I leave you without hatred; I think

that, after you, my life will be of no use.

وأترك بينكم غُرر القوافي

تَراوحُ خلف ظهري أو تَناعى

I leave among you the shining foremost verses,

passing to and fro behind me, or sounding lament.

فمن لكُمُ يقومُ بها مقامي

إذا اندفعت مواكبُها اندفاعا

Who will stand for you in my place to uphold them

when their processions surge forward?

بقيتُ لها ومات الناسُ غيري

فغاروا للبقية أن تضاعا

I remain for them; all others have died,

so be jealous for this remnant, lest it be wasted.

هبوني مهرةَ العربيّ فيكم

تُجاع لها العيالُ ولن تُجاعا

Count me among you as the Arab's prized mare:

his household goes hungry for her, but she never does.

أعيذ علاك أن أُنسَى قريباً

وأن تشرِي الكفاةُ وأن أباعا

I appeal to your eminence, lest I soon be forgotten,

while able men buy and I am sold.

لعلّك تصطفي عِرْقاً كريماً

فتحمدَه اغتراساً واصطناعا

Perhaps you will choose a noble root,

and find its planting and nurture praiseworthy.

ومُدليةٍ إلى نعماك عنّي

بحقٍّ في المكارم أن تراعى

And a poem pleads with your favor on my behalf,

with a rightful claim on noble deeds to be heeded.

تشافهك الثنا عنّي وتُمسي

حِصاباً في عدوّك أو قِراعا

It speaks praise to your face for me, and becomes

stones flung at your enemy, or blows.

لها في بعد مسراه أجيجٌ

عصوفُ الريح يخترق اليَراعا

In the far reach of its passage there is a blaze,

a gale of wind that pierces the reeds.

تكون تمائماً لك أو رُقىً في

لِساعِ الدهر إن له لِساعا

It will be amulets for you, or incantations against

Time's stings—for Time has its stings.

وأنّ المهرجانَ له شفيعٌ

خليقٌ أن يُبَرَّ وأن يُطاعا

And Mihragan has an intercessor,

worthy of being honored and obeyed.

فلا عدمتك يا بدرُ الليالي

ولا خفتَ المحاقَ ولا الشَّعاعا

May the nights never lose you, O Badr,

and may you fear neither the moon's darkening nor scattering.

ولا خلج الزمانُ عليك بيتاً

يفرِّق ما تُحبّ له اجتماعا

May Time never wrench from you a household,

dividing what you love to keep united.

فإنّ ظعائناً بالسفح قَدَّت

أديمَ الليل ينصعنَ انصياعا

For women in howdahs at the foothill have cut

the skin of night, speeding away.

حملن بها مكرَّمةً رخيّاً

حصيناً عهدُه ودَماً مُضاعا

They carried there an honored one, at ease,

his covenant well protected, and blood left unavenged.

طوالع أو غرائب في شَرافٍ

مَلاً فمَلاً يروْن بها مَلاَعا

Rising into view, or strangers in Sharaf,

across plain after plain, they see bare wilderness.

وفي الأحداج محجوباً هلالٌ

إذا راق العيونَ خفى فراعا

Within the howdahs is a veiled crescent moon:

when he delights the eyes, he hides and alarms them.

يحييه خفوقُ الظلِّ حتى

إذا ركب الهوى صدقَ المِصاعا

The fluttering shade revives him, until

he rides passion and fights in earnest.

أشاط دمي وخلّفني ودمعي

أُسيلُ به الملاعبَ والرِّباعا

He shed my blood and left me with my tears,

which I pour over the playgrounds and dwellings.

سطا بقبيله فلوى ديوني

قضاعة من لخصمكُمُ قضاعا

He wielded his tribe's power and withheld my dues:

Quda'a—who will champion your adversary, Quda'a?

أمنكِ سرى ابنةَ الأعرابِ طيفٌ

وقد كذبا على الشعب انصداعا

Was it from you, daughter of the Bedouin, that a phantom came by night,

though both had falsely spoken of the bond's rupture?

سرى والصبحُ يذعَرُ من توالي ال

نجومِ معزِّباً بَقراً رِتاعا

It came by night, while dawn startled the trailing

stars, driving those grazing cattle far away.

ألمَّت من شَرافَ بنا فحيّت

أظبيةُ أم أرى حُلُماً خِداعا

She visited us from Sharaf and greeted us:

is it a gazelle, or do I see a deceptive dream?

فإما أنت أو طيفٌ كذوبٌ

كِلا الزَّورين كان لنا متاعا

Whether it was you or a lying phantom,

both visitors were a delight to us.