سلا دار البخيلة بالجناب — Mihyar Al Daylami

سَلاَ دارَ البخيلةِ بالجِناب

متى عَرِيَتْ رُباكِ من القِبابِ

Ask, you two, the ungenerous beloved's dwelling at al-Jinab:

When were your hills stripped of their pavilions?

وكيفَ تشعَّبَ الأظعانُ صبحا

بدائدَ بين وُهْدِك والشِّعابِ

And how did the departing caravans scatter at dawn,

in separate bands between your hollow and the ravines?

بطالعةِ الهلال على ضُمَيْر

وغاربةٍ كمنقَضِّ الشِّهابِ

One rising like the crescent over Dumayr,

another setting like a plunging meteor.

حَملْنَ رشائقاً ومبدَّناتٍ

رماحَ الخَطِّ تَنبُتُ في الرَّوابي

They carried slender women and full-figured ones—

spears of al-Khatt springing from hillocks.

وأين رضاكِ عن سُقيَا دموعي

ربوعك من رضاكِ عن السحابِ

How does your delight in my tears watering

your grounds compare with your delight in the clouds?

بكيتُكِ للفراقِ ونحنُ سَفْرٌ

وعُدْتُ اليومَ أبكي للإيابِ

I wept over you at parting, while we were travelers,

and returned today to weep at homecoming.

وأمسحُ فيكِ أحشائي بكفٍّ

قريبٍ عهدُها بحشا الرَّباب

Here I soothe my inmost heart with a hand

still fresh from touching al-Rabab's bosom.

لها أَرَجٌ بما أبقاه فيها ال

تصافحُ بعدُ من ريح الخِضابِ

It is fragrant with what was left upon it by the

handclasp: the lingering scent of henna.

أمفصِحةٌ فأطمعَ في جوابٍ

وكيف يُجيبُ رَسمٌ في كتابِ

Will you speak, that I may hope for an answer?

But how can an outline in a book reply?

نَحَلتِ ففي ترابِكِ منكِ رَسمٌ

كما أني خَيالٌ في ثيابي

You have wasted away; only your outline remains in your dust,

as I am but a phantom in my clothes.

وفي الأحداج مُتعَبةُ المَطَايَا

تُلينُ عرائكَ الإبلِ الصِّعابِ

Within the howdahs is one who wearies riding beasts,

yet softens the tempers of unruly camels.

بَعيدَةٌ مَسقِطِ القُرْطيْن تُقْرَا

خُطوطُ ذؤابَتْيها في الترابِ

Long is the fall of her earrings; one can read

the lines her twin braids trace in the dust.

تَجَمَّع في الأساورِ مِعصَماها

ويَقلَقُ خصرُها لكَ في الحِقَابِ

Her wrists are packed within their bracelets,

and her waist moves loosely for you within its girdle.

تَعيبُ على الوفاءِ نحولَ جسمي

ألا بالغدر أجدرُ أن تُعابي

She blames fidelity for my body's wasting;

yet surely you deserve more blame for treachery!

وما بِكِ أن نَحَلتُ سوى نُصولٍ

من السنواتِ أسرعَ في خِضابي

It is not my wasting that troubles you, only the fading

the years have hastened in my hair dye.

جزِعت له كأنَّ الشَّيبَ منه

يَسُلُّ عليكِ نَصْلاً من قِراب

You took fright, as though the gray it brought

were drawing a blade from its sheath against you.

فما ذنبي إذا وقَعتْ عُقابٌ

من الأيّام طار لها غرابي

What fault is mine if there alights an eagle

of time, before which my raven flies away?

وقد كنتُ الحبيبَ وذا نحولي

وهذا في العريكة حدُّ نابي

I was your beloved with this same slenderness,

and this same sharpness of fang in my temper,

لياليَ من الحاجاتِ حُكْمِي

وليس وسيلةٌ بسوى شبابي

in nights when my wishes were mine to command,

with no means but my youth.

ألا للّه قلبُكَ من حَمولٍ

على عِلاَّتِ وَصْلٍ وأجتنابِ

Ah, what a forbearing heart is yours,

through all the ills of union and estrangement!

وحبُّكَ من وَفيِّ العهدِ باقٍ

على بُعْدِ يُحيلُ أو أقترابِ

And your love, so faithful to its pledge, endures

through distance that brings change, or through nearness.

هوىً لكَ في جبالِ أبان ثاوٍ

وأنتَ على جبالِ عُمان صابي

A love of yours abides in the mountains of Aban,

while you pine upon the mountains of Oman.

وكان المجدُ أعودَ حين يَهِوى

عليكَ من المهَفهَفة الكَعابِ

Glory, when loved, would be more rewarding

to you than a slender maiden with budding breasts.

وإِن وراء بحر عُمان مُلْكاً

رطيبَ الظلِّ فَضفاضَ الرِّحابِ

Beyond the Sea of Oman there is a kingdom,

fresh in its shade, expansive in its courts,

رقيقٌ عيشُهُ عَطِرٌ ثراهُ

بِطُرَّاقِ الفضائلِ غيرُ نابي

whose life is gentle and whose soil is fragrant,

never unwelcoming to those who seek virtue.

متى تنزِلْ به تنزِلْ بوادٍ

من المعروفِ مَرعىِّ الجنابِ

Whenever you alight there, you alight in a valley

of bounty, with pasture along its sides.

يدبّره من الأمراء خرْقٌ

يَذِلُّ لعزِّه غُلْبُ الرِّقابِ

A munificent prince governs it,

before whose might the stoutest necks bow low.

وَفَي ذُو المجِد سَبَّاقا فوافَى

يحلِّق عُرْفُه والنجمُ كابي

The lord of glory kept his pledge, outstripping all, and came,

his bounty soaring while the star fell low.

وقامَ بنفسِه يسعَى ففاقَتْ

غريزةُ نفسِه شَرَفَ النِّصابِ

He rose and strove by his own powers, and

his inborn nature surpassed his noble lineage.

وبانَ به لعينِ أبيهِ بَوْنٌ

أراه الشِّبلَ أغلبَ ليثَ غابِ

Through him a difference dawned upon his father's eye:

he saw the cub surpass a lion of the forest.

على زَمَنِ الحَداثةِ لم يُفتهُ

تقدُّمُ شِيبهم قَدَمَ الشَّبابِ

Despite his youth, he was not deprived

of youth's precedence by their gray hairs' head start.

سَمَا لمكانهم وهُمُ شموسٌ

فطال الطودُ أعناقَ الهِضابِ

He rose to their station, though they were suns,

and the mountain overtopped the necks of the hills.

وسيِّدُ قومِهِ من سوّدوه

بلا عَصَبيّةٍ وبلا مُحابي

The true chief of his people is the man they choose as chief,

without clannish bias or favoritism.

وقُدّم بالفِراسةِ وهو طِفْلٌ

تُحلَّلُ عنه أَنشِطةُ السِّخابِ

He was put foremost through discernment, still a child

whose scented necklace-knots were being untied.

وما تَركُ الشريفِ على بنيه

وهم منه تَجَاوُزَهُ بعابِ

For a nobleman to leave his sons free

to surpass him is no disgrace, for they come from him.

وإن كان الفتى لأبيه فَرْعاً

فإن الغيثَ فَرْعٌ للسحابِ

Though a young man is a branch of his father,

rain, too, is a branch of the clouds.

بَلَوْهُ وجرَّبوا يوميه نُعمَى

وبأساً في السكينةِ والوِثابِ

They tested him, trying both his days of bounty

and battle, in calm and in attack.

فما ظَهَروا مُخَاطَبةً بوانٍ

وما ظَفِروا مُضارَبَةً بنابي

In debate they found him no languid man,

nor one whose stroke missed in combat.

ولا عدِموا به لَسَناً وقَطْعاً

عمائقَ في الإصابة والصوابِ

Nor did they find him lacking eloquence or incisiveness,

profound in accuracy and sound judgment.

لذلك جاوروا بالبحرِ بحراً

كِلاَ كرميْهما طاغي العُبابِ

Thus by the sea they took another sea for neighbor,

both their bounties surging in overflowing waves.

يقول لِيَ الغنَي ورأي قُعودي

عن السعي المموِّل والطِّلاَبِ

Wealth tells me, having seen me hold back

from gainful striving and pursuit,

وعفةَ مذهبي ظَلِفاً ومَيْلي

إلى العيش المُرَمَّق وأنصبابي

my chaste, self-denying course, and my leaning

toward scant subsistence, and my devotion to it:

أرى لك فيّ لو خاطرتَ مَرْعىً

يبدِّلُ صحَّةً أُهُبَ الجِرابِ

“In me I see a pasture for you, if you would venture,

that restores the hides of mangy beasts to health.

أما لكَ في بحارِ عمان مالٌ

يسُدُّ مَفاقِرَ الحاجِ الصِّعابِ

Have you not wealth in Oman's seas,

to fill the harsh breaches of need,

ومَولىً يوسعُ الحُرُماتِ رَعْياً

ويَعمُرُ دارسَ الأملِ الخرابِ

and a patron who gives sacred claims abundant care,

and rebuilds the forsaken ruins of hope?

لعلَّ مؤيَّدَ السلطان تحنو

عواطفُ فضله بعدَ أجتنابِ

Perhaps Mu'ayyad al-Sultan's

gracious sympathies will soften after estrangement.”

قفلتُ ودونه متلاطماتٌ

زَواخرهنَّ كالأُسْدِ الغِضابِ

I turned back; before him lay clashing waves,

their surging masses like angry lions,

صَواعدُ كالجبال إذا أحسَّتْ

نسيماً أو نوازلُ كالجَوابي

rising like mountains when they sense

a breeze, or sinking like great basins.

وأخضرُ لا يروق العينَ يُطْوَى

على بيضاءَ سوداءِ الإهابِ

And a green sea, displeasing to the eye, is crossed

on a white vessel with a black hide.

تجاذبه الأزمَّةُ من حديدٍ

فَيَقمِصُ أو يُقَطَّر في الجذابِ

Iron bridles pull against it,

and it bucks, or is thrown down in the tugging.

إذا خُوصُ الرِّكاب شكون ظِمْأً

شكى رُكبانُها شَرَقَ الرِّكابِ

When hollow-eyed riding camels complain of thirst,

her riders lament their mounts' choking on water.

يروعُ حُداءُ أحبُشِها النَّوَاتي

إذا شاقتك حاديةُ العِرَابِ

Her Abyssinian sailors' chant strikes terror,

when the chanter of Arabian camels enchants you.

إذا عثَرتْ فليس تُقالُ ذنبا

وإن صدَعتْ فليست لأنشعابِ

If she stumbles, her fault finds no pardon,

and if she cracks, she cannot be mended.

ولستُ بسابح فأقولُ أنجو

عسى إن ظهرُها يوما كَبَابي

I am no swimmer, able to say, “I shall escape,”

should her back one day happen to stumble beneath me.

إذا حَلَمَتْ بها في النوم عيني

طفِقتُ أجُسُّ هل رَطِبتْ ثيابي

When my sleeping eye dreams of her,

I begin feeling my clothes to see whether they are wet.

ومالي والخِطارَ وقد سَقَتْني

سماءُ يديهِ من غير أغترابِ

What have I to do with risk, when I have been watered

by the sky of his hands, without going abroad?

وجاءتني مَواهبُهُ بعيدا

بأفضلِ ما يجيءُ مع أقترابِ

His gifts reached me while I was far away,

with the best that could come through nearness:

رغائبُ من يديه فاجأتني

وَفَيْنَ رِضاً بآمالي الرِّغابِ

treasured gifts from his hands surprised me,

fully satisfying my abundant hopes.

وزِدنَ على حساب مُنايَ لكن

وِشَاحٌ لم يكُنْ لي في حِساب

They exceeded the reckoning of my wishes—but

Wishah was not in my reckoning.

ندىً وَصَلَ السماحَ به ولكن

تولَّى عنه حاجبُه حجابي

Bounty with which he continued his generosity—but

his chamberlain undertook, on his behalf, to bar me.

أمرتَ بها كعِرضك لم يُدنَّسْ

بلا غِشٍّ يشوبُ ولا أرتيابِ

You ordered it, like your honor, unsullied,

with no adulteration to taint it, and no doubt,

من الذهب الصريح فصار ممّا

يُبَدَّلُ في يديه إلى الذَّهابِ

of pure gold; but it became something

that in his hands was changed from “gold” to “gone.”

وقاسَمَني مُناصَفةً عليه

وجاحَدَني ليحبسه كتابي

He shared it with me, taking half,

and denied my letter so he could withhold it.

وقال ولم يهبكَ ولم يَصُنِّي

كذلكَ فيكَ منذُ سنينَ دابي

He said, neither fearing you nor sparing me,

“This has been my practice toward you for years:

إذا حُمِّلتُ رِفْدا أو كتاباً

اليكَ لواه نَهْبي وأغتصابي

whenever I am entrusted with a gift or letter

for you, my plunder and extortion divert it.”

مَكارمُ سقتَهنّ إلى محبٍّ

ففاز بها مُغيرٌ لم يُحابِ

Generous gifts you sent to a loving friend,

but a raider won them, showing no favor.

بعثتَ بها الخئون فضاع سِرْبٌ

أمِنتَ عليه غائرةَ الذئابِ

You sent a traitor with them, and a flock was lost

that you had thought safe from marauding wolves.

ولولا أنَّ خِدمتَه وَقَتْهُ

وحُرمةَ عزِّ بابك والجنابِ

Had not his service shielded him,

and the sanctity of your mighty gate and precinct,

لَمَا سَلِمَ البعوضُ على عُقاب

ولا عُضَّ الهِزبرُ بشرِّ نابِ

the gnat would not have escaped an eagle unhurt,

nor would the lion have been bitten by so vile a fang.

أَدَلَّ بكم فأفحَمني وكانت

نواحيه مآكلَ للسِّبابِ

He presumed upon your favor and silenced me, though

every aspect of him was fodder for abuse.

فَجَلَّ عن الهجاء بذاك عندي

وقَلَّ بما أتاه عن العتابِ

Through that he rose above my satire,

while his deeds made him too low for reproach.

سُلِبْتُ نداك في ناديك ظلما

بغارةِ صاحبٍ لك في الصحابِ

I was unjustly robbed of your bounty in your own assembly,

by a raid of one of your own companions.

ثلاثَ سنينَ حَوْلا بعدَ حَوْلٍ

بكفِّ وِشاح مُقتَسَمٌ نِهابي

For three years, year after year,

my plundered wealth has been shared out by Wishah's hand.

وأنتَ خفيرُ مالِكَ أو يؤدَّى

إليَّ ولو بمنقطِع الترابِ

You stand surety for your money until it is delivered

to me, even at the farthest end of the earth.

إذا أنصفْتَني فعليك دَيْناً

غَرامةٌ ما تجمَّعَ في الحسابِ

If you do me justice, you owe, as a debt,

restitution for all that has accrued in the account.

أعدْ نظراً فكم أغنيتَ فقراً

به وجَبَرتَ كَسْراً من مُصابِ

Look again: how often you have enriched poverty

with it, and mended the brokenness of the afflicted!

وكم نوديتَ يا بحرَ العطايا

فجاء البحرُ بالعجبِ العُجابِ

How often you were called, “O sea of gifts!”

and the sea brought wonders beyond wonder.

وَفَتْ فيك المنى وقَضَتْ نُذُوري

فَوَفِّ عُلاكَ حقّي تُرْضِها بي

In you my wishes were fulfilled and my vows discharged;

so honor your high rank by paying my due, and please it through me.

وفي يدك الغني فابعث أمينا

إليّ به وصيِّرْهُ جوابي

Wealth is in your hand: send a trustworthy man

to me with it, and make it your reply to me.

ولا تُحوِجْ ظَمايَ إلى قَلِيبٍ

سواك على مُقامي وأنقلابي

Do not drive my thirst to a well

other than you, whether I stay or journey.

أُذكِّرك الذي ما كنتَ تنسَى

سُفوري تحت ظلِّك وأنتقابي

I remind you of what you never forgot:

my unveiling and my veiling beneath your shade.

وإِني إن بلغتُ النجمَ يوماً

لكان إلى صنيعتك أنتسابي

And if one day I should reach the star,

I would trace my attainment to your beneficence.