سأل اللوى وسؤاله إلحاف — Mihyar Al Daylami

سألَ اللوى وسؤالُهُ إلحافُ

لو كان من أهلِ اللوى إسعافُ

He questioned al-Liwa, his questioning importunate,

if only al-Liwa's people could offer aid.

واستمنحَ الأظعانَ وقفةَ ساعةٍ

لو أسمعَ المتسرِّعَ الوقَّافُ

He begged the departing caravans for an hour's pause,

if only the lingerer could make the hurrying one listen.

ساروا وغَشْمُ البين يخلِط أمرَهم

حتى استوى الفُرّاط والسُّلافُ

They departed, and separation's violence confused their course,

until the advance scouts and the forerunners were alike.

هي نظرةٌ هيهاتِ من أخواتها

عيناك إن كفر المطيَّ شَراف

One glance—how far beyond reach its sisters are—

is all your eyes have, if Sharaf conceals the mounts.

وتعوّمتْ في الآل فهي إذا طما

سفُنٌ له وحُدوجها أصدافُ

They float upon the mirage; when it swells, they are

ships upon it, and their litters are shells.

فاطرحْ لحاظَك سارقاً ما أبصرت

من قبل أن تتصدع الأُلاّفُ

So cast your glances, stealing whatever you see,

before the companions scatter.

يا دار لستِ اليوم مثلكِ أمسِ لي

ظهرتْ مفارقةٌ وبان خلافُ

O dwelling, to me today you are not yourself of yesterday:

estrangement has appeared, and a difference is plain.

ذوت الغصونُ الناضراتُ وهُيِّلتْ

بعد الوَثارةِ فوقَك الأحقافُ

The fresh green boughs have withered, and piled

upon you, after softness, are the curving dunes.

وتغيّرت ريحُ الصَّبا عن خُلقِها

وليانِها فنسيمُها إعصافُ

The east wind has changed from its nature

and its gentleness; its breeze is a gale.

كنا نرودُكِ روضةً مرشوفةً

فاليومَ تُربك دِمنةٌ تُستافُ

We used to seek you, a meadow to sip from;

now your soil is an abandoned campsite, sniffed at.

بذلت عزيرتَكِ المناسمُ وطأةً

عَنَفاً وداست خدَّك الأخفافُ

Camel soles laid bare your virgin soil with their tread,

violently, and padded hooves trampled your cheek.

وبما يكون العيشُ فيك صبائغاً

سحّارةً حبراتُها أفوافُ

How often life in you was brightly dyed cloth,

bewitching, its rich fabrics finely striped.

وعلى رباط اللهو حولَك ضُمَّرٌ

ذيَّالة أذنابُها أعرافُ

And tethered around you for pleasure were lean horses,

long-tailed, their tails like manes.

إن غاب أهلكِ فالجباهُ أهلّةٌ

أو غاض ماؤك فالسِّقاء نِطافُ

If your people were absent, their brows were crescent moons;

or if your water receded, the waterskin held clear water.

فاليومَ أنت إلى الدموع ذريعةٌ

إن ضنّ منها المسبِلُ الوكَّافُ

But today you are a means of bringing tears,

if the streaming, ever-dripping eye withholds them.

قد أنجزتْ فيك النوى ميعادَها

يا ليت إنجازَ النوى إخلافُ

Separation has kept its appointment in you;

would that separation's fulfillment were a broken promise!

لم ترمني الأيامُ فيك بعاثرٍ

هي أسهمٌ وجوارحي أهدافُ

The days have cast at me through you no errant shot:

they are arrows, and my limbs are targets.

أأذمُّ فاحشَ صبغها في غدرةٍ

عندي لها أمثالُها آلافُ

Shall I condemn their lurid stain in one betrayal,

when I have thousands of its like from them?

قد ملَّستْ جنبي ضغاطُ حبالِها

فتشابهَ الإدمالُ والإقرافُ

The pressure of their ropes has smoothed my sides,

so healing and stripping off scabs have become alike.

وطغت نوائبها عليّ فقَرصها

جرحٌ ومختصراتها إسرافُ

Their calamities have overwhelmed me: their pinch

is a wound, and their briefest torments are excess.

كاشفتُها وصعُبتُ لما لم يكن

عوناً عليها الرفقُ والإلطافُ

I confronted them openly and grew hard when

gentleness and kindness offered no aid against them.

ورددتُ سيفَ تجلُّدي بفلوله

وصداه إذ لم يُغنني الإرهافُ

I put away the sword of my endurance, with its nicks

and rust, since sharpening had availed me nothing.

هرِم الزمانُ وحُوّلت عن شكلها

شيمُ الرجال وحالت الأوصافُ

Time has grown old, and altered from their form are

men's characters; their qualities have changed.

ورقدتُ تحتَ الضيم لا عن ذلّة

مستحلياً للنوم وهو ذعافُ

I slept beneath oppression, not from abasement,

finding sleep sweet, though it was deadly poison.

ما إن شريت الجورَ مرتخصاً له

حتى غلا وتعذّر الإنصافُ

I did not buy injustice, deeming it cheap,

until justice grew costly and became unattainable.

وجفت خلائقُ كنت إن جاذبتُها

سهلَ القياد ولانت الأعطافُ

Natures have dried up that once, when I tugged them,

were easy to lead, their sides yielding.

وعذرتُ في فَرط العقوق أرقَّةً

لؤماءَ حتى عقّني الأشرافُ

I excused slaves for excessive disloyalty,

base as they were, until the nobles betrayed me.

وغدا زعيم الدين مع أمني له

ورجايَ فيه على الوفاء يُخافُ

The champion of the faith, despite my trust in him

and my hope in him, is now mistrusted in his loyalty.

وقسا فلولا أن أحاشيَ مجدَه

منها لقلتُ ملولةٌ مِطرافُ

He has grown hard; were I not guarding his glory

from this, I would call him fickle, forever seeking novelty.

دبت إليه عقارب من كاشح

مسحولةٌ أسبابُهن ضِعافُ

Scorpions crept to him from a foe,

single-stranded, their cords weak.

فأطفن منه بسمع أروعَ لم يكن

من جانبيه لمثلهنّ مَطافُ

They circled a discerning man's ear; there had been no

path on either side for their like.

ما كن من تحقيقه أو ظنه

طرفاً وقد تتجمع الأطرافُ

They were not, in his certainty or suspicion,

even a fringe—yet fringes may gather—

حتى سلا صبٌّ وأعرض مقبلٌ

عني وأنكر خابرٌ عرَّافُ

until a lover grew indifferent and a welcomer turned

away from me, and a knowing, discerning man disowned me.

يا سيفَ نصري والمهنّدُ مانعٌ

وربيعَ أرضي والسحابُ مُصافُ

O sword of my victory when the Indian blade withholds,

and springtime of my land when the cloud is summer-dry,

ومعيد أيامي إليَّ سَمائِناً

بُدْناً وهنّ على الحياض عِجافُ

and you who return my days to me, fattened,

full-bodied, though at the pools they had been lean!

أخلاقُك الغرُّ الصفايا مالها

حملَت قذى الواشين وهي سُلافُ

Your radiant, pure qualities—what ails them,

that they carried tale-bearers' dross, though they are pure wine?

والإفكُ في مرآة رأيك ماله

يخفى وأنتَ الجوهرُ الشَّفافُ

And falsehood in the mirror of your judgment—how can it

hide, when you are transparent crystal?

أظننت أني مع تصاعُدِ همّتي

نحو الدّناةِ يكون لي إسفافُ

Did you think that, with my aspiration rising,

I would stoop toward the base?

أو للتسرع في قناتي مغمَزٌ

من بعد ما أطَرَ القناةَ ثِقافُ

Or that haste could find a weakness in my spear-shaft,

after a straightener had bent the shaft into shape?

قد كنت أحسبها تمرُّ بسمعكم

سَهَكَ الرياح يمجّها الإسرافُ

I had thought those tales would pass through your hearing

like the winds' buffeting, rejected for their excess;

وإخال مشيَ الوخد فيها القهقرى

فإذا الذميلُ وراءه الإيجافُ

I thought their brisk camel-pace was backward motion,

but there was a trot, with a gallop following it.

إن كان ظنّاً فهو إثْم أو تَقُلْ

صدقَ المبلّغُ فهو بي إجحافُ

If it was suspicion, it was sin; or if you say:

The informer spoke truth, that is injustice against me.

أو كان عتباً مُصلحاً ما بعده

فالعتبُ مع عدم الذنوب قِذافُ

Or if it was a reproach meant to mend what followed,

reproach without sins is slander.

ونعم صدقتَ سواك من أصغى لها

سَرَفاً وأسمعه بها الهتَّافُ

Yes, you are right: another was the one who listened to them

excessively, and the loudmouth made him hear them.

لكن كرهتَ مِصاعَهم في طرحها

عني وأنت الفارسُ العطَّافُ

But you disliked contending with them to cast those tales

off me, though you are the horseman who wheels back to help.

فاسمع ظلامةَ نافثٍ لم تكفه

سيفَ الزمان نزاهةٌ وعفافُ

So hear the grievance of one pouring it out, whom

integrity and chastity did not shield from time's sword.

إن فاته استئنافُكم إنصافَهُ

غضبت له حُرُماته الأسلافُ

If your renewed justice fails to reach him,

his long-standing rights will rise in anger for him.

واعطف لها عطف الكريم وداوِها

تُبِللْ فقد دَوِيتْ لها الأجوافُ

Turn toward this grievance with a noble man's kindness, and heal it:

you will bring recovery, for hearts have sickened on its account.

واحمل وإن ثقُلتْ عليك فإنه

ما كلّ حاجاتي إليك خِفافُ

And bear it, though it weighs on you, for

not all my needs of you are light.

ولقد علمتَ وفي الشروع غضاضةٌ

أني إذا وردَ الحريصُ أعافُ

You well know—though approaching is humbling—

that when the greedy man comes to drink, I disdain it.

علّمتني شرفَ الطباع فليس لي

إلا إلى معروفك استشرافُ

You taught me nobility of nature, so I have

no eager gaze except toward your kindness.

وأفدتُ عدوى العزّ منك فكلُّ ما

وسِعَ الكفايةَ لي غنىً وكَفافُ

I gained from you the contagion of dignity; so whatever

meets my needs is wealth and sufficiency to me.

يا من إذا نُدبَ القريضُ لمدحه

عجزَ البليغُ وقصَّر الوصّافُ

O you for whose praise, whenever poetry is summoned,

the eloquent man fails and the describer falls short;

ومن اجتنى ثمرَ النفوس بما حفا

والجوّ أقتمُ والمَرادُ جَفافُ

and you who harvest the fruit of souls through your care,

when the air is dust-dark and the pasture parched;

وإذا الرجالُ تدارسوا أخلاقَه

وهُمُ الكفاة تعلّموا واقتافوا

and whenever men study his character together,

though accomplished themselves, they learn and follow his traces.

وإذا انتضى الأقْلامَ من أغمادها

طفقت تَلَثَّم بالحيا الأسيافُ

And whenever he draws the pens from their sheaths,

the swords begin to veil themselves in shame.

زُبُرٌ تَوغَّلُ حيث لا ابن الزُّبرةِ ال

دامي ولا ابنُ الغابة الرّعافُ

Writings reach where neither the iron ingot's son, the

bloodied one, nor the forest's blood-dripping son can go.

طلب الرجال مداك لما أن جَروا

وتناكصوا باليأس لما خافوا

Men sought your reach when they ran,

but recoiled in despair when they grew afraid.

والبدرُ من أنوار وجهك خاشعٌ

يشكو وشكوى مثله استعطافُ

The full moon is humbled before your face's lights,

complaining—and complaint from its like is a plea for kindness.

لك دونه شرفُ النهار وحظُّه

من ليله الإظلام والإسدافُ

You, unlike it, have daylight's nobility; its portion

from its night is darkness and deep gloom.

وإذا استتم فليلةٌ من شهره

نصفٌ وشهرك كلّه أنصافُ

When it becomes full, one night of its month

is midmonth, while your month is midmonth throughout.

والقَطرُ يقنع من سماحتِه بما

يعتامُ من كفيك أو يعتافُ

And rain is content, in its generosity, with what

is chosen from your palms or cast aside.

جاريتَه وسحابُ جودك ساكنٌ

ففضلته وسحابُه رَجَّافُ

You competed with it while the cloud of your bounty stood still,

and surpassed it while its own cloud trembled.

بكم استقام من السياسة مَيلها

وثرا المقلُّ وأخلَف المتلافُ

Through you, statecraft's crookedness was set straight,

the poor grew rich, and the spendthrift replenished his wealth.

وتعدّلت في الحق كلّ فضيلة

فتساوت الصهوات والأردافُ

Every excellence was balanced in justice,

so saddle-seats and pillion seats became equal.

أنتم بنو المُلك التليدِ وقومُهُ

وسواكم الجيران والأحلافُ

You are the sons and people of age-old sovereignty,

while all others are neighbors and allies.

ميلادكم سببُ الصلاح وخَلْقُكم

فينا من الباري لنا ألطافُ

Your birth is a cause of well-being, and your creation

among us is the Creator's kindness to us.

سمعاً ولولا أن سمعَك آذنٌ

ما قادها رِفق ولا إعنافُ

Lend an ear! Had your ear not welcomed it,

neither gentleness nor force could have led it here:

أمّ القوافي المنجبات ولم تكن

لولاك تولَدُ فاؤها والقافُ

the mother of fruitful rhymes; never would

its fa and qaf have been born, but for you.

لو لم يحرّكها هواك لما مشت

خَطْراً ولا اهتزّت لها أعطافُ

Had love for you not stirred it, it would not have walked

with a swaying gait, nor would its sides have quivered.

فاجلس لها النيروزَ مجلسَ خَلوةٍ

سعدانِ عيدٌ مقبلٌ وزفافُ

So sit privately with it at Nowruz:

two joys—a coming festival and a bridal procession.

وفِّرْ قِراهُ من السرور وقِسمَنا

ممّا تجود فكلّنا أضيافُ

Provide lavishly its welcome of joy, and our share

of what you lavish, for we are all guests,

في نعمةٍ مخلوعُها متجدِّدٌ

أبداً وماضي عمرها استئنافُ

in a blessing whose discarded garb is renewed

forever, and whose spent lifetime begins anew.

غُرُفاتها مرفوعةٌ ومياهها

مسكوبةٌ وجِنانُها ألفافُ

Its upper chambers are raised high, and its waters

poured forth, and its gardens densely entwined.