أهفو لعلوي الرياح إذا جرت — Mihyar Al Daylami

أهفو لعُلويِّ الرياح إذا جَرتْ

وأظنُّ رامةَ كلَّ دارٍ أقفرتْ

I yearn for the upland winds whenever they blow,

and imagine every deserted dwelling to be Ramah.

ويشوقُني روضُ الحمى متنفِّساً

يَصفُ الترائبَ والبروقَ إذا جَرتْ

The meadow of the protected grounds awakens my longing, breathing forth,

portraying bosoms and lightning as they course,

متعلِّلاتٍ بعدَ طارقِةِ النوَى

أو أبرأت داءَ الجوى أو علَّلتْ

offering consolation after separation's night visitation,

whether they cure love's anguish or merely soothe it.

يا دِينَ قلبٍ من ليالي حاجرٍ

مَكَرتْ به فقضتْ عليهِ وانقضَتْ

O the reckoning a heart receives from the nights of Hajir!

They deceived it, dealt it death, and passed away.

ومَضاجعٍ بالنَّعْفِ بات يعدُّها

غُنماً وأصبح ودُّه لو لم يبتْ

And resting places at al-Naʿf, which it spent the night counting

as gain—by morning it wished it had never stayed.

ومليحةٍ لو أنصفتْ عينُ المها

ف الحسن ما ثَنَتِ الصليفَ ولا رنتْ

And a lovely woman: had the oryx's eye been fair

in judging beauty, it would neither have turned its neck nor gazed.

بيضاءَ من كلَلِ الخدور وربّما

ذُكرتِ بداوةُ قومِها فتسهَّمتْ

A fair woman from the canopies of secluded chambers; yet sometimes

her people's desert life was mentioned, and she frowned.

أخذَتْ وأعطتْ من ضياء الشمس ما اح

تكمت فجمَّعتِ الجمالَ ووفَّرتْ

She took and gave of the sun's radiance as she

decreed, gathering beauty and making it abundant.

وكأنما وَلِيَتْ خَطائطَ وجهِها

يدُها فجاءتْ في الكمالِ كا اشتَهتْ

As though the outlines of her face were overseen by

her own hand, she attained perfection as she desired.

ملكت على باناتِ جَوٍّ أمرَها

فلها الأمارةُ ما استقامتْ وانثنَتْ

She held dominion over the ban-trees of Jaww;

hers is sovereignty whenever she stands upright or bends.

فإذا أرادتْ بالقضيبِ مَسَاؤةً

وتنقَّمتْ جُرماً عليه تأوَّدتْ

Whenever she wishes the slender branch ill

and seeks vengeance upon it for an offense, she sways.

سنحتْ لنا دون الغدير فما سَقَى

صفوُ الغدير وعذبهُ مَنْ أعطشَتْ

She appeared to us on this side of the pool; it could not quench

with its clear, sweet water those she made thirsty.

ورَمتْ فَلَولا أنها ثُعَلِيَّةٌ

قُلنا رأت ثُعَلاً رَمى فتعلَّمتْ

She shot; had she not been a woman of Thuʿal,

we would have said she saw Thuʿal shooting and learned.

غَدَرتْ فلولا أنَّها نَذرتْ دمي

لم تعرِف النَّذر الذي فيه وفَتْ

She betrayed me; had she not vowed to shed my blood,

she would have known no vow that she fulfilled.

وعلى النقا والعيسُ تَحْفِرُ في النقا

أخفافُها من ثِقلِ ما قد حُمِّلتْ

Upon the dune, while the pale camels dug into the sand,

their hooves pressed beneath the weight of their burdens,

حلَفتْ على قتلي فلمَّا أن رأت

بذَمايَ باقيةَ الرِّماقِ تأوَّلتْ

she swore to kill me; but when she saw

a remnant of life's last breaths in me, she reinterpreted her oath.

أبشر فإنك في الحياةِ مخلَّدٌ

يا من رأى يومَ القليبِ ولم يَمُتْ

Rejoice, for you are immortal in life,

O you who saw the day at al-Qalib and did not die!

وتشرَّفَت لتشبَّ جمرةَ صدرِهِ

بنتُ الأراكِ وهل تُشَبُّ وما انطفتْ

And there rose into view, to kindle the ember in his breast,

the daughter of the arak-tree—but can one kindle what never went out?

وُرقاء ذكَّرها الحداةُ هوىً لها

طارت ألائفُها به فتذكَّرتْ

A gray dove, reminded by the camel-drivers of a love of hers:

her companions had flown away with it, and she remembered.

هتفتْ على خضراءَ كيف ترنَّمتْ

من فوقِها مالت بها فترنَّحتْ

She called upon a green bough; as she trilled

above it, it bent beneath her, and she swayed.

لو كان ينجو من علاقاتِ الهوى

شيءٌ لضُعْفٍ أو لمَرحمةٍ نَجتْ

If anything could escape love's attachments

through weakness or compassion, she would have escaped.

ولقد طربتُ كما حزنتُ لصوتِها

فشككتُ هل غنَّت بشجوٍ أو بكتْ

Indeed, I rejoiced at her voice as much as I grieved,

and wondered whether she sang sorrowfully or wept.

قف يا أخا الملهوف وقفةَ مُرسَلٍ

حمل الأمانةَ هَضبةً أو أُدِّيَتْ

Stop, companion of the distressed, as a messenger stops,

bearing the entrusted charge, mountain-heavy—or seeing it delivered.

واجهَر بصوتك للتي لو خاطبتْ

في السرّ أوعالَ القِنانِ لأسمعتْ

Raise your voice to her who, were she to address

the ibex of the peaks in a whisper, would make them hear.

وقل التحيةَ والسلامَ وحاجةً

من بعدِ أن خابت وإن هي أُنجِحتْ

Speak a greeting, peace, and a plea,

after its failure—even if it should be granted.

يا أختَ سعدٍ فيم بات معذَّباً

قلبي عليكِ كأنما عينِي جَنَتْ

O sister of Saʿd, why does it spend the night tormented—

my heart, over you—as though my eye had sinned?

رُدِّي الفؤادَ عليَّ فهو وديعةٌ

مضمونةٌ مغرومةٌ إن ضُيِّعتْ

Give my heart back to me: it is a trust,

guaranteed, requiring compensation if lost.

إن كان ظنُّكِ بالخيانةِ والقِلَى

أَن يشمَتَ اللاحِي عليك فقد شَمِتْ

If your intention, through betrayal and aversion,

is to let the reproacher gloat over you, he has gloated already.

وعميّةِ الأوضاحِ خرساءِ الصدَى

عَشِيَتْ على ضوءِ الصباحِ وأظلمتْ

And a wilderness blind of landmarks, mute of echoes,

blind even in morning light, and darkened,

مَرَدَتْ على عين الدليلِ ورأيِهِ

فتخالُه فيها أضلَّ بما خَرَتْ

defying the guide's eye and judgment,

so you think him still more astray within it for all he traversed.

تتغايرُ البَوغاءُ تحتَ شميمِهِ

فيها ويُنكَرُ صَوتُهُ والمُلتفَتْ

The fine dust varies beneath his nose

there, and his voice and the view around him become unfamiliar.

مركوبةٍ جَوْبُ المهاري جوَّها

غَرَرُ المقامِرِ فيه أخسَتْ أو زَكتْ

A traversed waste: the pedigree camels' crossing of its expanse

is a gambler's hazard, whether they fare poorly or prosper.

وإذا الركابُ استيأستْ في جَهلها

كيف النجاءُ توكَّلتْ واستسلمَتْ

When the mounts despair, not knowing

how escape is possible, they put their trust and surrender.

داوستهُا أبغي العَلاءَ بهمّةٍ

لو شاورت أمَّ الشقيق لَمَا سَمتْ

I trod it down, seeking greatness with an ambition

that, had it consulted the anemone's mother, would never have risen.

تفلى على الكرماء تنفضُ منهُمُ

طرقَ المطالبِ أسلهتْ أو أحزنَتْ

It searches among the generous, scouring through them

the paths to its aims, whether over plain or rugged ground.

ووراءها لولا المطامعُ منهُمُ

قُرَباءُ لو قنعتْ بهم ما أبعدتْ

Behind it—were it not for hopes of gain from them—

are kinsmen: had it been content with them, it would not have roamed far.

نبِّهْ بني عبدِ الرحيم ولا تُبَلْ

معهم عيونَ الدهر كيف استيقَظتْ

Rouse the sons of ʿAbd al-Rahim, and do not care,

with them, how the eyes of time awaken.

واستفتهم في المجدِ تسألْ أنفساً

لَقِنتْ على جهل الورى وتفهَّمتْ

Consult them about glory: you will question souls

that learned amid humankind's ignorance and understood.

خَبُثَ الترابُ وما عليه وماؤها

شرفٌ فطابت وحدَها وتطَهَّرتْ

The earth and all upon it grew foul; but their water

is nobility, so they alone grew pure and cleansed themselves.

فكأن زاكِي عِرقِها لم يُسقَ من

ماءِ الزمانِ وفي ثراه ما نبتْ

As though their pure root had never been watered from

the water of time, nor grown in its soil.

قومٌ إذا حدَرَ التناكرُ لُثْمَهُمْ

وجلا الصِّفاحُ أكفَّهم فتحسَّرتْ

A people who, when mutual hostility pulls down their veils

and blades bare their palms, leaving them exposed,

كفرتْ وجوهُهُم البدورَ وآمنتْ

لأكفِّهم أيدي السحابِ فكَفَّرتْ

have faces that eclipse the full moons, while faith is pledged

to their palms by the clouds' hands, which then veil themselves.

شفعوا العلاء تليدَه بطريفه

فتقدّمت علياؤهم وتأخَّرتْ

They paired inherited greatness with newly won greatness,

so their loftiness reaches both forward and back.

ولدتهم الأرضُ التي قد جمعتْ

في الأكثرين فأكيستْ وتنجّبتْ

The earth bore them, having gathered her brood

among the multitude; now she bred cleverness and nobility.

جاءت بهم وهي الوَلودُ كأنّهم

غُرباءُ جاءوا في العقامِ أو القَلَتْ

She brought them forth, though prolific, as though they

were strangers born amid barrenness or the loss of children.

متواردين على العَلاء كأنّهم

ضربوا له ميقاتَ يومٍ لم يفُتْ

Arriving together at greatness, as though

they had set a day's appointment with it that none missed.

راضوا الأمورَ فتيُّهم كمسنِّهم

سَوْمَ الكعوبِ تلاحقَتْ فتنظمَّتْ

They mastered affairs, their young like their aged,

like successive reed-joints, joining into a single row.

شَرَعوا إلى ثُغَرِ الخطوب ذوابلاً

لولا صنيعةُ نفسها ما فُضِّلَتْ

They leveled slender shafts at the breaches of calamity,

which, but for their own achievements, would not excel.

جُوفاً ترى الصمَّ الصعابَ وراءها

في الحرب تقفُو ما حذَتْ أو مَثَّلتْ

Hollow shafts, with solid, unyielding ones seen behind them

in war, following what they patterned or portrayed.

كتبوا على شهب الطروس لنا كما

طَعنوا على الخيل الوِرادِ أو الكُمُتْ

They wrote for us on pale pages, just as

they thrust upon ruddy or dark-bay horses.

والجالسُ القوّالُ منهم آخذٌ

منها بأنفاس الشجاع المنصلِتْ

The seated, eloquent speaker among them draws

from those pens the spirit of the brave warrior with sword drawn.

خذ من حديثِهمُ حديثَ قديمهم

واعجب لأطراف العلا كيف التقتْ

Take from their present stories the story of their forebears,

and marvel at how the far ends of greatness meet.

واسأل زعيم الدين عما خلفه

من مجدهم فهو الشهادة والثَّبَتْ

Ask Zaʿim al-Din about what lies behind him

of their glory: he is the testimony and the proof.

قمرٌ هو المِرآة عن أحسابهم

مهما رأت مما يقابلها حكتْ

A moon, he is the mirror of their noble ancestry,

reproducing whatever it sees facing it.

أدَّى فروضَهمُ وسَنَّ نوافلاً

في المجد تممت الفروضَ وكمّلتْ

He fulfilled their obligations and instituted voluntary additions

in glory, which perfected and completed those obligations.

فضحَ السوابقَ مالكٌ أشواطَه

جارَى الرياحَ فَخُلَّ عنه وقُيِّدَتْ

Mastering his courses, he shamed the foremost racers;

he raced the winds: he was let loose, and they were tethered.

وتقرّطت أيامُه بيتيمةٍ

منه صفَتْ للناظرين وأشرفتْ

His days adorned themselves with a peerless pearl

from him, shining clear and lofty before beholders.

لم يدرِ جهدُ الغائصين وكيدُهم

من أيّ أصداف البحار استُخرِجتْ

Neither divers' exertions nor their cunning could tell

from which shells of the seas it had been drawn.

قد جوَّلوا فيها الظنونَ وأكثروا

بالخوض لما استُغرِبتْ واستُعظِمتْ

They turned conjectures over concerning it, and multiplied them,

delving deeply when it was found extraordinary and immense.

قالوا من البحر المحيطِ تصعَّدتْ

لا بل من الفَلكِ المحيطِ تنزّلتْ

They said, 'It rose from the encircling ocean';

'No, rather it descended from the encircling heavens.'

بيضاء ملء يد المنى ملمومة

مَلَكَ المنَى وحَوى الغنى مَن أُعطِيتْ

A white pearl, rounded, filling the hand of desire:

whoever receives it possesses his wishes and holds riches.

يا جامعَ الحسناتِ بعد شذوذها

مِزَقاً وموجدَها أوانَ تعذّرتْ

O gatherer of virtues after their scattering

into shreds, and finder of them when they were unattainable!

ومقطِّر الأقران عن صَهَواتِ ما

رُبطتْ من الرأي الأصيل وضُمِّرتْ

And unseater of rivals from the saddles of mounts

tethered and conditioned from sound judgment!

كم واثقٍ منهم بِعصمةِ رأيه

وحسابِهِ من هفوةٍ أو من غَلَتْ

How many among them trusted the immunity of their judgment

and reckoning from a lapse or a mistake!

ضايقتَه حتى أقرَّ بعجزه

لما وضعتَ له يديك على النُّكَتْ

You pressed him until he admitted his inability,

when you laid both hands upon the crucial points before him.

ومُنطَّقٍ ظنَّ البلاغةَ آيةً

نُصِبتْ له علَماً وشخصً صُوِّرتْ

And an articulate speaker who thought eloquence a sign

set up for him as a banner and fashioned as a figure

ال الكثيرَ موسِّعاً لَهَواتِهِ

عُجْباً فلمّا قلتَ واحدةً سكتْ

spoke at length, opening his throat wide

in conceit; but when you said one word, he fell silent.

حَسِب الفصاحةَ في التشادقِ وحدَه

ما كلُّ ما وُصِف الأُسودُ به الهَرَتْ

He supposed eloquence lay in grandiloquent mouthings alone;

a wide mouth is not all that lions are described by.

وأرى الوزارةَ مذ حَملتَ لواءَها

نُصِرت على فشل الولاة وظُفِّرَتْ

I see the vizierate, since you bore its banner,

rescued from the governors' failure and made victorious.

ساندت فيها ما عليك صلاحُهُ

وفسادُه إن أصلِحتْ أو أُفسِدتْ

Within it, you upheld what you answer for in its soundness

and its corruption, whether it is put right or ruined.

ثَنَّى أخوك أخاك فيها مُسهِماً

وبُعثتَ ثالثَها الذي بك عُزِّزتْ

Your brother seconded your brother in it, taking his share,

and you were sent as its third, through whom it was strengthened.

أنتم فوارسُها المَذَاودُ دونها

إن حوربت وملوكُها إن سولمتْ

You are its horsemen and its defenders

when attacked, and its kings when left in peace.

وظهوركم لصدورها مخلوقةٌ

مظلومةٌ إن ضويقت أو زوحمتْ

Your backs were fashioned for its places of honor,

wronged if cramped or crowded.

نُصبتْ لكم وتمهّدتْ فمتى طرا

من غيركم طارٍ واستوحشتْ

It was established and prepared for you; whenever there appears

an intruder from outside your ranks, it feels estranged.

هي مِلكُكم فمتى استُعيرت منكُمُ

لتجمّلٍ وأردتموها استُرجِعتْ

It is your possession: whenever it is borrowed from you

for adornment, and you want it, it is reclaimed.

أبناء نِسبتِها وأبعُلُ عُذْرِها

وإذا عَدَتكم أعزبت وتأيَّمتْ

You are sons of its lineage and husbands of its virginity;

if it passes beyond you, it becomes unwedded and widowed.

تَفدِي أبا الحسنِ الترابَ وطئته

قِممٌ هوت من تحتِ رِجلك إذ علت

The dust you tread, Abu al-Hasan, is ransomed by

summits that fall beneath your foot as it rises.

ومحدِّثٍ بك في الوساوس نفسَه

نفسٌ لعمرك ضَلّةٌ ما سَوَّلتْ

And a man who whispers of you to himself in delusion—

a soul, by your life, astray in what it tempts him to think.

لو ثاقلوك به وأُلقِيَ يَذبُلٌ

معه لكانت قِسمةً ما عُدّلتْ

If they weighed him against you, with Yadhbul thrown

alongside him, the apportionment would still be unequal.

أغنيتني بك عن سواك فلم أُبَلْ

فُتِحت أناملُ معشرٍ أو أُقفِلتْ

You made me need no one but you, so I did not care

whether a people's fingers opened or closed.

وسُقِيتُ أعذبَ شرتيك فما أرى

بأساً ببارقةٍ همَتْ أو أخلبتْ

I was given the sweeter of your two draughts, and see no

harm if a lightning-bearing cloud rains or flashes rainlessly.

وصفوتَ لي بالودّ والصهباءُ لم

تَشُبِ العقولَ بطعمها حتى صفتْ

You were pure in your affection for me; tawny wine does not

kindle minds with its flavor until it has cleared.

أنكرتُ ودَّ أخي وعهدَ أحبّتي

وكريمُ عهدك طينةٌ ما أخلقتْ

I found my brother's love and my loved ones' pledge changed,

yet your noble pledge is clay that has not weathered.

فمتى طَلبتُ من الزمان سواك أو

شَرْواك فاشهدْ أنَّ ذاك من العَنَتْ

Whenever I seek from time anyone other than you, or

your equal, bear witness that this is self-imposed hardship.

ولتُرضِينَّك ما سمعتَ نواهضٌ

بالشكر لم تَخَفِ اللُّغوبَ ولا وَنتْ

Surely, whenever you hear them, you will be pleased by soaring verses

of thanksgiving, fearing no weariness and never flagging.

يقضِين ما أُسلفن من أيدي غِنىً

وَسِعتْ حقوقَ المقرضين وأفضلتْ

They repay what they were advanced by wealthy hands

that amply met the lenders' claims and gave still more.

يَغنَى بها العرضُ الفقيرُ وإن رأت

عِرضاً غنيَّاً زيَّدته وأثَّلَتْ

Through them impoverished honor grows rich; and if they find

honor already rich, they increase and establish it.

يحانة ما استُنشِقت أرواحُها

وسلافة تُصحِي إذا ما أَسكرتْ

A basil whose fragrances have not been breathed,

and choice wine that sobers even as it intoxicates.

تقضي على الألباب أين خلاصها

من شَوبها ما استُحظِيت أو أُلغِيتْ

They rule over minds: where can minds find escape

from their admixture, whether cherished or disregarded?

ضجَّتْ منابرُها بدعوتها لكم

فلو ادعت بكم النبوَّةَ صُدِّقَتْ

Their pulpits rang aloud with their invocation for you;

had they claimed prophethood through you, they would have been believed.

إن صاحبتْ يوماً إليكم عاطلاً

حلَّتْه أو تَفِلَ النواحي عَطَّرتْ

If they accompany an unadorned day on its way to you,

they adorn it; if its quarters lack fragrance, they perfume it.

والمهرجان وكلّ يومٍ عادكم

في لطفه مما كستْ أو زَخرفتْ

Mihrjan, and every day that returns to you,

owe their loveliness to what these verses clothe or embellish.

فتملَّها وتملَّه مَتلوَّةً

ومُقابَلاً ما كرّ أو ما أُنشِدتْ

Long enjoy these verses and that festival, the former recited,

the latter welcomed, whenever it returns or they are sung,

حتى ترى الأجداثَ تنفضُ أهلَها

والشمسَ في خضرائها قد كُوِّرتْ

until you see the graves cast out their inhabitants,

and the sun rolled up within its green heaven.