لو كان يرفق ظاعن بمشيع — Mihyar Al Daylami

لو كان يَرفق ظاعنٌ بمشيِّع

رَدُّوا فؤادي يومَ كاظمةٍ معي

If a departing traveler were gentle with one who sees him off,

they would have sent my heart back with me that day at Kazimah.

قالوا النوى وخرجت وهو مصاحبي

ورجعت وهو مع الخليط مودِّعي

They announced separation; I went out with my heart accompanying me,

and returned while it stayed with the departing company, bidding me farewell.

فلأيِّما من مهجتيَّ تأسُّفي

وبأيّ قلبَيَّ الغداةَ تفجُّعي

For which of my two souls, then, is my sorrow,

and with which of my two hearts do I grieve this morning?

لا كان يومٌ مثلُ ذاك لآيب

بجوىً ولا غادٍ سَرَى لم يُمتَعِ

May no such day befall one returning

with heartache, nor one departing who traveled without finding joy.

يومٌ يُعَدُّ الجَلْدُ كلّ ملاوِذٍ

منه ويعذُبُ فيه مِلحُ الأدمعِ

A day when anyone seeking refuge

from it is counted steadfast, and salty tears taste sweet.

أنشأتُ أُسمِي فيه غيرَ نشيدتي

من حَيْرةٍ وأرودُ غيرَ المنجَعِ

In it I began hunting what was not my quarry,

in bewilderment, and seeking pasture in the wrong place.

أطأ الكرى متململاً وكأنني

لهباً وقعتُ على حرارةِ أضلعي

I tread upon sleep, tossing restlessly, as though I

had fallen, a flame, upon the heat of my ribs.

هل يملك الحادي تلوُّمَ ساعةٍ

إن البطيء معذَّبٌ بالمُسرعِ

Can the camel-driver allow an hour's delay?

The slow traveler is tormented by the swift.

أم هل إليه رسالةٌ مسموعةٌ

عني فيُنصتَ للبليغ المُسمِعِ

Or can a message reach him and be heard

from me, so that he listens to an eloquent, persuasive speaker?

رَوِّحْ بذي سلم على متأخّر

يبغي اللَّحاقَ وإن أبَيتَ فجعجِعِ

Give rest at Dhu Salam to one left behind,

who seeks to catch up; if you refuse, then halt!

وتوخَّها في التابعين مثوبةً

إن المشوق إذا تخلّف يتبَعِ

Seek through this a reward among those who follow:

the yearning man, when left behind, follows on.

الشمسُ عندَك في الخدور وعندنا

شمسٌ إذا متع الضحى لم تنصَعِ

The sun is with you behind the curtains; with us

is a sun that does not brighten even when morning rises high.

فتَّ العيون بها فهل في ردها

طمعٌ فكيف لنا بآية يوشَعِ

You carried her beyond our eyes; is there, in her return,

any hope? How could we have Joshua's miracle?

نَمْ نومةَ اليأس القريرةَ إن أوى

جنبٌ يقلّبه فراقُ المضجعِ

Sleep despair's tranquil sleep, if there can rest

a side that estrangement from its bed keeps tossing.

واعلم بأنك إن رأيت فلن ترى

يوماً كأمسِك من زمانِ الأجرعِ

And know that, however much you see, you will never see

a day like your yesterday in the days of al-Ajra'.

فوراء عهدك بالنخيلة جَوْنةٌ

بَهماء تلعب بالمحبِّ الموجَعِ

Beyond your days at al-Nukhaylah lies a dark night,

impenetrable, tormenting the wounded lover.

تعمَى على بصر الدليل فِجاجُها

تيهاً فُتخرَتُ بالبروق اللُّمَّعِ

Its passes elude the guide's sight

in bewildering darkness, pierced by flashing lightning.

رُكبتْ بها عجلَى ترى من سَوطها

أفعَى متى ونت الركائبُ تَلسَعِ

Through it a hurried she-camel was ridden; in her whip you see

a viper that stings whenever the riding-camels flag.

ورهاء ما نَفضتْ يداً من حاجر

إلا وقد غَمست يداً في لعلعِ

Reckless, she had scarcely lifted a forefoot from Hajir

before plunging another into La'la'.

لم تألف البيداءُ قبل جُنونها

من ذات خُفٍّ أو تطيرَ بأربعِ

The desert had never known, before her madness,

any padded-footed beast—or one that flies on four legs.

إن شاء بعدهم الحيا فلينسكب

أو شاء ظِلُّ غمامة فليُقلعِ

After their departure, let the rain pour down if it wishes,

or let a cloud's shade withdraw if it wishes.

فَمقيل جسمي في ذبولِ ربوعهم

كافٍ وشربي من فواضل أدمعي

My body's midday rest among their withering dwellings

is enough, and my drink is my tears' overflow.

كرُمتْ جفوني في الديار فأخصبت

فغنيت أن أرِدَ الديارَ وأرتعي

My eyelids were generous in those abodes, making them fertile;

so I had no need to visit the dwellings for water and pasture.

فكأنّ دمعي مُدَّ من أيدي بني

عبد الرحيم ومائها المتنبِّعِ

It was as though my tears were supplied by the hands of the sons of

Abd al-Rahim, and the water welling from those hands.

وسهرتُ حتى ما تُميِّزُ مقلتي

فُرقانَ مغربِ كوكبٍ من مطلِعِ

I stayed awake until my eye could no longer distinguish

a star's setting from its rising.

فكأنّ ليلي مع تفاوت طولِهِ

أسيافُهم موصولةً بالأذرعِ

It was as though my night, despite its varying length,

were their swords joined to their arms.

لا يُبعدنّ اللّه دارَ معاشرٍ

مذ جمَّعوا شملَ العلا لم يُصدَعِ

May God never banish the home of a people

whose united greatness has never been sundered since they gathered it.

حملوا العظائمَ ناهضين بأنفسٍ

لم تنقبضْ وكواهلٍ لم تظلَعِ

They shouldered mighty burdens, rising with spirits

that never shrank and shoulders that never faltered.

مترادفين على الرياسة أُقعِدوا

منها على سيساءِ ظهرٍ طيّع

Following one another in leadership, they were seated

upon the backbone of its obedient mount.

لم يزلَقوا في ظهرها قدَماً ولا

عثروا بها متعوّذين بدعدعِ

They never let a foot slip upon its back, nor

stumbled on it, seeking reassurance in cries of 'Steady!'

داسوا الزمانَ فذلَّلوا أحداثَه

بأخامصٍ فوق الأضالع وُقَّعِ

They trampled time and subdued its events

with foot-arches planted firmly above its ribs.

متسلطين على جسامِ أمورهِ

وثبَ الأسودِ على البهامِ الرُقَّعِ

They mastered its weighty affairs

like lions pouncing on foolish lambs.

أنِفوا من الأطراف والأوساطِ فاس

تلبوا العلاءَ من المكان الأرفعِ

They disdained the edges and the middle, and so

seized eminence from the loftiest place.

تعطيهم آراؤهم وسيوفُهم

كفَّ الزمانِ من المخوفِ المُفزعِ

Their counsels and their swords grant them

the power to restrain time from what is dreaded and terrifying.

وُلدوا ملوكاً فالسيادة فيهمُ

مطبوعةٌ لم تُكتسبْ بتطبُّعِ

They were born kings; sovereignty in them

is innate, not acquired through cultivated habit.

للشيخ والكهل المرجّح منهمُ

ما للموشَّح والصغيرِ المرضَعِ

The elder and the weighty man of middle years among them have

what the sash-adorned one and the suckling child have.

لكن عميد الدولة الشمسُ التي

عنت النجومُ لنورها المتشعشعِ

But Amid al-Dawlah is the sun to whose

radiant light the stars bow down.

سبق الأوائلَ فاستبدَّ بشوطه

متمهلاً والسبقُ للمتسرِّعِ

He surpassed the foremost, claiming the race for himself,

at leisure, though victory belongs to those who hurry.

ورأى نجابةَ من تأخَّر منهُمُ

عنه فقال الْحَقْ بشأوي واتبعِ

He saw the nobility of those among them who lagged

behind him, and said, 'Reach my goal and follow!'

فضُلوا به ولكلّ ساعٍ منهُمُ

مجدٌ فضيلةَ غالبٍ بمجمِّعِ

Through him they excelled; and every striver among them has

glory, like Ghalib's distinction through Mujammi'.

من ناقلٍ صدقَ الحديثِ معوَّدٍ

حفظَ الأمانة للصديق المودِعِ

Who will carry a truthful message, accustomed

to safeguarding the trust of a friend who entrusts it?

يطوي الطريقَ نشيطةً حركاتُهُ

للصعبِ منها والذليلِ الطيِّعِ

He traverses the road, his movements brisk,

whether its stretches are difficult or easy and yielding.

تتجمّع الحاجاتُ عند نجاجها

للمرسلين بشمله المتوزِّعِ

The needs converge as they are fulfilled

for his senders, through his dispersed efforts.

ما بين وقتِ رحيلهِ وإيابهِ

إلا مسافةُ مُثلثٍ أو مُربِعِ

Between the time of his departure and his return

lies only the distance of a three- or four-day stage,

حتى ينيخَ بثقله وبضيفه

بالمستخفّ وبالوهوب الموسِعِ

until he kneels with his burden and his guest

before the burden-lightener, the lavish, bountiful giver.

فيقول عني للوزير وربما

ترد الرسالةُ من سواي فلا يعي

Then he tells the minister on my behalf—though sometimes

a message comes from someone else, and he pays no heed—

كم تأخذ الأشواقُ من جلَدي وكم

قلقي بحملِ فراقكم وتروُّعي

'How much longing strips away my endurance, and how great

my distress and alarm at bearing separation from you!

وإلام طولُ رضاي بالميسور من

حظّي وفرطُ تعفُّفي وتقنُّعي

How long must my contentment with the little available of

my portion last, and my excessive restraint and acceptance?

طيان أبغي الرفدَ بين معاشرٍ

حبُّ العلا في طينهم لم يُطبَعِ

Famished, I seek aid among people

in whose clay love of greatness was never stamped.

يا ضلَّتي ما قمتُ أطلبُ عندهم

رزقاً عَداك ويا سفاهةَ مَطمَعي

Oh, my folly, that I rose to seek among them

livelihood apart from you! Oh, the foolishness of my hopes!

ومن العناء وأنت ساكنُ موضع

طلبُ العلا في غير ذاك الموضِعِ

It is toil, while you inhabit one place,

to seek greatness anywhere other than that place.

وهبَ النوالَ على العباد مكايلي

من راحتيك بمفعَمٍ وبمترَعِ

My measurer has dealt out bounty to men

from your two palms, with full and overflowing measures.

ونداك مثلُ الطيف يخرقُ جانباً

عرضَ الفلا حتى يجاسد مضجعي

Your generosity, like a dream, cuts across a stretch of

the desert's breadth until it lies bodily beside my bed.

فجمال أيّامي بحضرتك التي

هي منيتي يومَ الفخار ومفزعي

My days are beautiful in your presence, which

is my wish on the day of boasting, and my refuge.

وجلاءُ طرفي وانبعاثُ خواطري

ما بين مرأىً من عداك ومَسمَعِ

The clearing of my vision and the awakening of my thoughts

lie in what I see and hear of your enemies.

حظٌّ لعمرك لا اعتياضَ لناظري

منه ولا لفؤادِيَ المتصدِّعِ

A good fortune, by your life, for which my eyes can find

no substitute, nor can my broken heart.

يا غائباً غدت الوزارة بعده

شِلوَ الفريسةِ في الذئاب الجوّعِ

O absent one, after whom the ministry became

the carcass of prey among ravenous wolves!

تتدافع الأيدي الضعافُ بثقلها

بهراً وما في صدرها من مدفَعِ

Weak hands shove its burden from one to another,

gasping; and in its breast there is no defense.

وُضِع اسمُها في كلِّ معنىً حائلٍ

نابٍ لها ولمثلها لم يوضَعِ

Its name was assigned to every distorted meaning,

ill-suited to it, never intended for it or its like.

يُسمَى بها من لم يكن يسمو لها

غَلطاً ويطمعُ كلُّ من لم يطمعِ

Those who never rose to it are called by its name

in error, and all who never dared hope now hope.

تدعو مغوِّثَةً بمالكِ رقِّها

من بين قبضة غاصبٍ أو مدّعي

It cries for help to the master of its bondage,

from the grasp of a usurper or a pretender.

فاسأل أسود الغاب كيف تفسحت

للشاءِ عن هذا العرين المُسبعِ

Ask the lions of the thicket how they made room

for sheep, withdrawing from this lion-haunted den.

ما قمتُمُ عنها وفيها مُتعةٌ

وأبيكُمُ للجالس المستمتعِ

You did not leave it with any pleasure remaining—

by your father—for the sitter seeking enjoyment.

والملك مذ أهملتموه بَيضةٌ

لم يحمها أنِفٌ وسرحٌ ما رُعي

Since you neglected it, the kingdom has been an egg

unguarded by any proud defender, a herd left untended.

ما زال يسري الداءُ في أعضائه

أو مات أو إن لم يمت فلقد نُعي

Disease has never ceased creeping through its limbs;

either it is dead, or, if not dead, its death has been announced.

يفديك منهم نائمٌ عن رشده

أو حاسدٌ لك ساهرٌ لم يهجعِ

Let one of them ransom you—a man asleep to his own good sense,

or envious of you, wakeful, never sleeping;

متصوِّب القدمين خفّاق الحشا

في حيث يثبت للقنا المتزعزعِ

with faltering feet and a fluttering heart,

where one must stand firm against the quivering spears.

يعطي الرياسة قابضاً أو باسطاً

خرقاء كيف تصرّفتْ لم تصنعِ

He offers leadership, whether clenched or outstretched,

a clumsy hand that achieves nothing however it moves.

جَعل الوعيدَ على العباد سلاحَه

ووعيدُه شَنٌّ بكفِّ مقعقعِ

He has made threats against men his weapon;

his threat is an old waterskin in a rattler's palm.

غضبان أنك سالم من كيده

غضبَ الفرزدق من سلامة مَربعِ

Angry that you are safe from his plotting,

as al-Farazdaq was angry at Marba's safety.

تُتْلَى صفاتُك وهو يعجَب سادراً

عجبَ الجبان من الكميّ الأروعِ

Your qualities are recited while he marvels, heedless,

as a coward marvels at a splendid armored warrior.

ولئن عظُمتَ وقلَّ أن تُفدَى به

فالعين تَقذَى مرّة بالإصبعِ

Though you are exalted, and he is too little to ransom you,

even an eye is sometimes irritated by a finger.

عِدْني بقربك إنه مَن فاته

إدراكُ حظٍّ عاش بالمتوقّعِ

Promise me your nearness, for whoever misses

attaining his portion lives on what he hopes for.

وامدد إليّ يداً لو انك في السها

وعلى الثرى أهلي لنالت موضعي

Extend a hand to me: even if you were in al-Suha,

and my people upon the earth, it would reach my place.

بيضاء خضراء الندى أغدو بها

أبداً رطيبَ التُّرب سَبْطَ الأربُعِ

A white hand, green with bounty, through which I remain

forever with moist earth and flourishing abodes.

تجري بسَدة خَلَّتي أقلامُها

تُملي المضاءَ على السيوف القُطَّعِ

Its pens run to fill the gap of my need,

dictating keenness to sharp-cutting swords.

واسمع على بعد الديار وقربها

مثلَ القِراط تعلّقاً بالمسمعِ

And hear, whether the homes are far or near,

what clings to the ear like earrings:

غرراً بِكاراً أسلمتْ لي عُذْرَها

لو لم أكن فحلاً لها لما تُفرعِ

radiant virgins that surrendered their maidenhood to me;

had I not been their stallion, they would never have been mounted.

مما اصطفيتك في الشباب وشائباً

من صفوتيه بمُقرحٍ وبمُجذعِ

From what I favored you with, young and gray-haired,

from the finest of both, mature steeds and yearlings.

وجعلته لك أو لقومك نِحلةً

لولاي أو لولاكُمُ لم تُشرعِ

I made it a gift to you or to your people;

without me or without you, it would never have been launched.

أحوِي أراقمَه بفضل تلطُّفي

فيعي وأخدَعُ منه ما لم يُخدَعِ

I gather its spotted serpents through my gentle skill,

and it heeds me; I beguile what could not be beguiled.

أرسلته طلْقَ السهام إذا استوت

لم تنعرج وإذا مضت لم ترجعِ

I have loosed it like arrows: when they fly straight,

they do not swerve, and once gone they do not return.

فبقيتَ لي وله وآيةُ معجزي

لولاك في إظهاره لم تَصدعِ

May you endure for me and for it; the sign of my miracle

would never, without you, have spoken forth in its revelation,

ما كرَّ يومٌ عائد بصباحه

ورواحه من مغرِبٍ أو مَطلعِ

as long as a day returns again with its morning

and its evening, from a setting or a rising,

وتحالفت في العُرْبِ أو في فارسٍ

أعيادُها من تالدٍ ومفرَّعِ

and come together, among the Arabs or in Persia,

their festivals, ancient and newly sprung.