لي عند ظبي الأجرع — Mihyar Al Daylami

لي عند ظبي الأجرعِ

قصاصُ جرح ما رُعي

I have against the gazelle of al-Ajraʿ

a claim of vengeance for a wound left untended.

سهمٌ بعينيه دلي

لُ فُوقِهِ والمنزعِ

An arrow in his eyes reveals

its nock and where it was drawn.

جناية منكرُها

بيّنةٌ للمدعي

A crime whose very denier

is evidence for the claimant.

غارَ وما احتسبته

فغار بين أضلعي

It attacked, though I had not expected it,

then sank between my ribs.

ما خلتُ نقعَ القانصي

ن ينجلي عن مصرعي

I never thought the hunters' dust

would clear to reveal where I lay fallen.

يا ليلتي بحاجرٍ

إن عاد ماضٍ فارجِعي

O my night at Hajir,

if the past returns, return!

بتنا على الأحقاف تن

هالُ بكلّ مضجعِ

We passed the night upon dunes that tumbled

into every place we lay,

موسّدين اللينَ من

كراكِرٍ وأذرعِ

pillowed on the softness of

breast-pads and arms.

مقلةُ ليلٍ بُيِّضتْ

بفجره المنصدعِ

The night's eye was whitened

by its breaking dawn.

قالوا الصباحُ فانتبه

فقال لي الطيفُ اسمعِ

They said, 'Morning! Awaken!'

But the dream-visitant said to me, 'Listen!'

فقمت مخلوطاً أظن

نُ البازل ابن الرُّبَعِ

I arose bewildered, imagining

the full-grown camel the offspring of a spring calf.

حيرانَ طرفي دائرٌ

يطلب من ليس معي

Bewildered, my gaze circled,

seeking one who was not with me.

أرضى بأخبار الرِّيا

حِ والبروق اللُّمَّعِ

I content myself with tidings from the winds

and the flashing lightning.

وأين من برق الحمى

شائمةٌ بلعلعِ

How far from the pasture's lightning

is one who watches from Laʿlaʿ!

سلا مجالي الشيب عن

غيم الشباب المقلعِ

Ask, you two, the bright patches of gray hair about

the departing cloud of youth:

غمامة طخياءُ ري

عَ سِربُها بالفَزعِ

a pitch-black cloud; frightened

was its flock by terror.

فأجفلت لا تلتوي

أخلافُها لمرضَعِ

So it fled without turning back,

its teats not waiting for a suckling,

كما نجت خائفةٌ

ورهاءُ لم تُقنَّعِ

as a frightened woman escapes,

heedless, without veiling herself.

ملكتَ يا شيبُ فخذ

ما شئت مني أو دعِ

You have conquered, O gray hair: take

whatever you wish from me, or leave it.

طارقة بمثلها

فاجئة لم تَرُعِ

A night-visitor—by its like,

even sudden, I was never frightened.

أفنَى الخطوبَ قبلها

صبري وأفنت جزعي

The calamities before it were worn out

by my patience, and they wore out my anguish.

أعدَى جبيني مفرقي

فاستويا في الصلعِ

My forehead infected my crown,

and both became alike in baldness.

طليعة وجهي بها

قبلَ الممات قد نُعي

A herald: through it my face

was mourned before death.

كان الشبابُ سُدفةً

من لك لم تقَشّعِ

Youth was a darkness—

would that it had never dispersed!

سَتراً على ألاّ يرا

ني الدهرُ لو لم يرفعِ

A veil, so that I would not be seen

by Time, had it not been lifted.

كم ليلةٍ ظلماءَ طا

لَت بدرُها لم يطلعِ

How many a dark night stretched

long, its full moon never rising!

أنكَركِ استكانتي

للدهر وتخشُّعي

You were disowned, my submission

to Time, and my abasement,

كريمة ما عهِدتْ

تأوّهي لموجِعِ

by a noble soul unused

to my groaning at pain.

لم ألقِ أطماري ولي

فيها مكانُ مَرقَعِ

I did not cast away my rags while I had

within them a place for a patch.

كم أحملُ الدنيا فلا

ترقُّ لي من ظَلَعِ

How much I bear the world, yet it

has no pity on me for my limping!

أعذُل منها صخرةً

ليس لها من مَصدعِ

I reproach a rock within it,

a rock without a crack.

قد فنيت مواعظي

والدهرُ لم يرتدعِ

My admonitions have been exhausted,

and Time has not desisted.

في كل يوم صاحبٌ

يشرَع غير مَشرَعي

Every day there is a companion

who drinks at a watering-place not mine.

له شِهادي مكثراً

ولي مقِلّاً سَلَعي

He, wealthy, has my honeycomb;

I, impoverished, my bitter herbs.

يسومني طباعه

مع كلفةِ التطبُّعِ

He requires me to adopt his nature,

despite the strain of forcing it.

يريد من رفد اللئا

م أن يكون شِبَعي

He wants the gifts of the base

to furnish my fill.

هيهات ما أبعدها

هشيمةً من نُجَعي

Far, far away—how distant it is,

that dry vegetation, from my pasturelands!

لو كنتُ ذئبَ قفرةٍ

لما تبعتُ طمعي

Were I a wolf of the wilderness,

I would not follow my greed.

إن البطينَ مخمِصٌ

فاشبع ذليلاً أوجُعِ

The potbellied man is truly hungry:

eat your fill in humiliation, or go hungry!

أسففتَ لدنيَّةٍ

فقعْ لها أو طرْ معي

You have stooped to baseness;

alight upon it, or fly with me.

زعمتَ أنّ الشعرَ من

رزق الفتى الموسَّعِ

You claimed that poetry belonged to

a well-provided young man's livelihood.

ولمتَ في ضني به

قلت تسمَّحْ وبِعِ

You blamed my withholding it,

saying, 'Be generous, and sell!'

أما ترى كسادَه

على نَفاق السِّلعِ

Do you not see how poorly it sells,

though other wares find buyers?

وحسبك الجهل به

خسارةً للمبضِعِ

Ignorance of it is enough

as a loss for the merchant-investor.

رُبَّ وحاشا الكرما

ء سامعٍ لم يسمعِ

Many—noble men excepted—

are listeners who never hear.

صَمَّ وأُذنُ عِرضه

تسمعُ عنّي وتعي

He is deaf, yet the ear of his honor

hears of me and understands.

وخاطبٍ وليس كف

ئاً لكريم البِضَعِ

And a suitor, though no match

for one of noble flesh:

يبني ولم يمهرْ وإن

طلَّقَ لم يمتِّعِ

he consummates without a dowry; if

he divorces, he gives no parting gift.

يمنعُ أو ينغِّصُ ال

عطاءَ إن لم يمنعِ

He withholds, or spoils

the gift if he does not withhold it.

وأبيض الثغر ابتسا

ماً عن ضميرٍ أسفعِ

And one white-toothed in smiles

from a soot-black heart:

ألبسني صنيعةً

تُسلَبُ بالتصنُّعِ

he clothed me in a favor

that affectation strips away.

أفرشني الجمرَ وقا

ل إن أردت فاهجعِ

He bedded me on live coals and said,

'If you wish, then sleep!'

حملته مغالطاً

بجذلي تفجُّعي

I bore it, trying to deceive

my grief with my cheerfulness.

يا عطشى إن لم أرِدْ

إلا الخليَّ المَشرَعِ

O my thirst, if I visit none

but the unoccupied watering-place!

لو عفتُ كلَّ مالح

لما شربتُ أدمعي

Had I rejected everything salty,

I would not have drunk my tears.

ولو أقمتُ كلَّ عو

جاءَ أقمتُ أضلعي

And if I straightened every crooked thing,

I would straighten my ribs.

يذاد سرحُ الحيّ من

حيثُ رجا أن يرتعي

The settlement's grazing herd is driven away

from where it hoped to pasture.

ويجدِب المرءُ على

أذيالِ عامٍ ممرِعِ

A man suffers drought even

in the trailing skirts of a lush year.

أخي الذي آمنُ إن

عرّفنيه فزعي

My brother, in whom I find safety if

my fear reveals him to me,

وكان سيفاً كابن أي

يوبَ إذا قلت اقطعِ

and who was a sword like the son of

Ayyub whenever I said, 'Cut!'

أخطِرُ مع جُبني به

في لأمَةٍ المشيِّعِ

Through him I swagger despite my cowardice,

in a dauntless warrior's mail.

إذا رأى ثنيَّةً

لسودَدٍ قال اطلُعِ

When he sees an ascending pass

to high rank, he says, 'Climb!'

أمرِيَ في نعمته

أمرُ الهوى المتَّبَعِ

Within his favor, my command

is that of desire obeyed.

في كلِّ يوم جمّةٌ

مِن سَيبِهِ المُوَزَّعِ

Every day brings an abundance

of his distributed bounty,

وعطفةٌ ترأبُ شَع

بَ شمليَ المنصدعِ

and a kindness that mends the breach

in my broken unity,

سابقةٌ عثرةَ حا

لي أبداً بدعدعِ

forestalling a stumble in my condition

always with a reassuring 'Steady!'

طال السحابَ كفُّ صب

بٍ بالسماحِ مولَعِ

The hand of a passionate lover overtopped the clouds,

a lover enamored of generosity.

وبذَّ حلباتِ الجيا

دِ سابقٌ لم يُقرعِ

And he outstripped the courses of noble steeds,

a racer never struck with a whip.

يخرج عنها ناصلاً

من جُلِّهِ والبرقعِ

He emerges from them stripped

of his saddlecloth and face-cover.

خاض الحروبَ حاسراً

يهزأ بالمدرَّعِ

He plunged into wars bareheaded,

mocking the armored man.

وحالَمَ ابنَ الأربعي

ن في سُموط الأربعِ

He matched a forty-year-old in forbearance

while wearing a four-year-old's necklaces.

مِن غالبي شمس العلا

على مكان المطلعِ

One of those who rival the sun of glory

at the very place it rises.

أصولُ مجدٍ ما بها

فقر إلى مفرِّعِ

Roots of glory with no

need of one to grow their branches.

هم لبسوا الدنيا وبع

دُ حسنُها لم يُنزَعِ

They put on the world while

its beauty had not yet been stripped.

واحتلبوا دِرَّتَها

قبلَ جُفوف الأضرُعِ

And they milked its abundance

before the udders dried.

من كلِّ أخّاذ مع ال

فتك بأمر الورَعِ

Each a firm grasper, even amid

deadly violence, of the dictates of piety.

يوري الدجى بموقدٍ

من جوده المشعشعِ

He kindles the darkness with a hearth

of his radiant generosity.

يصغي لصوت الضيف إص

غاء الحِصانِ الأروعِ

He listens to the guest's voice as

an alert stallion listens.

يمسون غَرثى وُهُمُ

مَشبَعةٌ للجوَّعِ

They reach evening hungry, while they

are a source of satiety for the hungry.

وفحمةٍ من الخطو

ب ذات وجهٍ مفزعِ

And many a coal-black night of

calamity, with a terrifying face—

كانوا بدورَ تِمِّها

على الليالي الدُّرَعِ

they were its full moons

against the dark-fronted nights.

لُدٌّ إذا القولُ احتسَى

ريقَ البليغِ المِصقعِ

Fierce disputants, when speech has drunk

the eloquent orator's saliva,

تعاوروا صعابَه

بكلّ رِخوٍ أصمعِ

they took turns at its difficulties

with every supple, fine-pointed pen,

أعلقُ بالراحةِ من

بنانَةٍ وأشجعِ

more closely bound to the palm than

a fingertip and a hand-tendon.

كأنّ أقلامَهُمُ

في اللُّبثِ والتسرُّعِ

It is as though their pens,

in deliberation and haste,

نباتةٌ مع الأكف

فِ في حبال الأذرعِ

were a growth beside their palms,

amid the cords of their arms.

مَناسبٌ لو قُذِعتْ

شمسُ الضحى لم تُقذَعِ

Lineages that, even if slander reached

the morning sun, would remain unslandered,

واقفةٌ من العلا

على طريقٍ مهيَعِ

standing in glory

upon a broad, open road.

لو دبَّ كلُّ عائب

أفعَى لها لم تُلسعِ

Were every fault-finder to crawl

against them as a viper, they would not be bitten.

تحملُ فيها ألمَ ال

مِيسَم جبهةُ الدعِي

Among them, the pain of the branding-iron

is borne by the pretender's forehead.

صابوا رَذاذاً وتلو

وَتْ بالسيول الدّفَّعِ

They showered drizzle, and it swirled

with rushing torrents.

اِقتعدوا الرِّدف وأع

طَوْك مكانَ القَمَعِ

They took the rear seat and gave

you the funnel's place.

باغيك بنقيصةٍ

قتيلُ داءِ الطمعِ

One seeking a fault in you

is a victim of the disease of greed:

أوقصُ يبغي طلعةً

على قُصاص الأتلعِ

a short-necked man seeking to rise

above the long-necked man's hairline.

لو كان من نصيحتي

بمنظرٍ ومسمعِ

Were he within reach of my counsel,

within sight and earshot,

قلتُ تنحَّ يا فري

سُ عن مكان السَّبُعِ

I would say, 'Move aside, O prey,

from the predator's place.

دع العلا واسرح على

حابسها المجعجِعِ

Leave glory, and range against

its keeper, who holds it fast.'

أمرٌ يناط بسوا

ك خَرقهُ لم يُرقَعِ

A matter entrusted to anyone but

you has a rent that is never patched.

كلُّ يمينٍ لم تُرا

فدْها يسارُ الأقطعِ

Every right hand that you do not

support is an amputee's left hand.

وقلَّما أغنى الفتى

شميمُه بأجدعِ

Rarely can a young man benefit

from his sense of smell with a severed nose.

بك اكتسى عودي وعا

د جَلِداً تضعضعي

Through you my bough was clothed, and

my weakness became firm again.

وبان في الدهر الغني

يِ أثَرى وموقعي

And in the prosperous age stood out

my mark and my standing.

أفسدتَ قلبي وعَقَلْ

تَ قارحي وجذَعي

You spoiled my heart and fettered

my full-grown horse and my young colt.

فعفتُ أحبابيَ واس

تضعفت نصرَ شِيَعي

So I shunned my loved ones, and deemed

the help of my followers weak.

فاسمع أكاثرْك بها

أحسنَ ما قيل اسمعِ

Listen: I will rival your abundance with these—

the finest things ever spoken; listen!

مَطارباً تُحرج نس

كَ الحابسِ المنقطعِ

Songs that unsettle the devotion

of the cloistered, withdrawn ascetic.

تحنو النجومُ حَسداً

لبُردها الموشَّعِ

The stars bend down in envy

of their embroidered mantle.

ما خَطرتْ لمحتذٍ

قبلي ولا مبتدِعِ

They never occurred to an imitator

before me, nor to an innovator.

أعيت على الراقين حت

تى استنزلتها خدَعي

They defeated the climbers, until

my stratagems brought them down.

في كلِّ يوم ملكٌ

بتاجها المرصَّعِ

Every day, a king

with their jewel-studded crown.

يهيج في اغتيابها

داءُ الحسودِ الموجَعِ

Slandering them rouses

the afflicted envier's disease.

يخرجها بجهله

تروع إن لم تقطعِ

He draws them out in ignorance;

they terrify, even when they do not cut.

غضبانَ أن تُكسَرَ بال

نَبعِ فروعُ الخِروعِ

Angry that there should be broken, by

nabʿ-wood, the branches of castor.

يُسرِع فيّ والعثا

رُ مولَعٌ بالمسرعِ

He rushes against me, and stumbling

is enamored of the hasty man.

لما غدت عيونُه

تصغُر عن تتبُّعي

When his eyes grew

too small to follow me,

عاقبته بضحِكي

من ذكرِه في المجمعِ

I punished him with my laughter

at his mention in the assembly.

وآكلين معه

زاد الذباب الوُقَّعِ

And others eating with him

the fare of settling flies—

تُغمَرُ كفُّ الذمّ من

أعراضهم في شَمَعِ

censure's hand is greased

with their reputations, amid jest.

تشابهوا فما عرف

ت حالقاً من أنزعِ

They were alike, so I could not distinguish

a shaven-headed man from one with receding temples.

قالوا وأصغيتم ومن

يسمعُ فيَّ مُسمِعي

They spoke and you listened; whoever

hears abuse of me makes me hear it.

مالي وأنتم وزَري

من الأذى ومفزعي

What is wrong between us? You are my shelter

from harm, and my refuge.

يطمع فيَّ عندكم

بالغيب من لم يطمعِ

Before you, a man takes liberties with me

in my absence, who never dared before.

في كلّ يوم وقعةٌ

شنعاءُ إحدى البدعِ

Every day there is an attack,

monstrous, an unheard-of outrage.

يُمضَغُ لحمُ الليث في

ها بنيوب الضَّبُعِ

The lion's flesh is chewed in

it by the hyena's fangs.

وفيكم النصر وعز

زُ الجانب الممتنِعِ

In you are victory and the strength

of an unassailable flank.

وليس عنّي بلسا

نٍ ويدٍ من مَدفَعِ

Yet there is no defense of me with tongue

or hand.

رعايةً للفضل إن

كان ذمامي ما رُعي

Out of regard for merit, if

my bond of protection has gone unheeded.

ولو غضبتُ غضبةً

أعوز سدُّ موضعي

And if I flared in anger,

my place would be impossible to fill.

إذاً لطالت غيبتي

وكدَّكم توقُّعي

Then my absence would surely lengthen,

and awaiting me would weary you.

ما في حياض الناس ما

يُزحَمُ عنه مَكرَعي

There is nothing in the people's pools

from which I could be crowded away at my drinking-place.

ولا يضيق منزلٌ

عنِّيَ معْ تقنُّعي

Nor is any dwelling too cramped

for me, with my contentment.

إذا سلوتُ دارَكم

فكلُّ دارٍ مربعي

If I cease to yearn for your abode,

every abode is my spring pasture.

لكنَّ نفسي عن هوا

كم قطّ لم تختدعِ

But my soul, away from loving

you, has never been beguiled.

لو رأت الخلدَ النزو

عَ عنكُمُ لم تنزعِ

Even if it saw eternal life in departure

from you, it would not depart.

ملأتُ قلبي شغفاً

بكهلكم واليفَعِ

I filled my heart with passionate love

for your mature men and your youths.

فلو يسامُ حبّ شي

ءٍ معَكم لم يسعِ

Were it asked to love anything

alongside you, there would be no room.

خيَّمتُ فيكم فليضَع

من شاء أو فليرفعِ

I have encamped among you; let others lower

or raise as they wish.

ولو وجدتُ مَقنعاً

في غيركم لم أقنعِ

Even if I found a satisfying refuge

among others, I would not be content.