أمن أسماء والمسرى بعيد — Mihyar Al Daylami

أمِنْ أسماءَ والمسرى بعيدُ

خيالٌ كلّما بخلَتْ يجودُ

Is it from Asma, though the night's journey is long—

a phantom that gives whenever she withholds?

طوَى طيَّ البرودِ بِعراصَ نجدٍ

وزار كما تأرَّجتِ البرودُ

It folded Najd's open tracts like cloaks,

and visited as the cloaks breathed fragrance.

يشقُّ الليلَ والأعداءَ فرداً

شجاعاً وهو يذعَرُه الوليدُ

It cleaves the night and enemies alone,

brave, though an infant frightens it:

مواقِد عامرٍ وسروح طيٍّ

وما قطعت برملتها زرودُ

the hearths of Amir and the grazing herds of Tayy,

and the stretches Zarud divides with its sands.

له ما للبدورِ من الدياجي

فأرَّقَني وأصحابي هُجودُ

The dark nights give it what they give full moons;

it kept me awake while my companions slept.

فقمتُ له أطوِّقه عِناقاً

يداً ضعُفتْ وباعثُها شديدُ

I rose to clasp it in an embrace,

with a weak hand, though its impulse was strong.

يدُ القنَّاصِ تخفُقُ أين مُدَّتْ

حِبالتهُ فتَضبِطُ ما تصيدُ

The hunter's hand flutters wherever he spreads

his snare, then grips what it catches.

فيا لكِ سُحرةً سُرِقتْ لو اني

غداً فيها يتمّ لِيَ الجُحودُ

Oh, what a stolen predawn hour! If only

tomorrow I could deny it completely.

وكيف وتُربُ بابلَ سَلْخَ شهرٍ

وأرداني بريَّاها شُهودُ

But how, when Babylon's dust, at the month's end,

and my sleeves, bearing her fragrance, are witnesses?

أَمَا ومشعشِعين بذاتِ عِرقٍ

صَلاً يَقْرِي العِراقَ له عمودُ

Indeed, by two kindlers at Dhat Irq

of a fire whose column offers hospitality to Iraq,

ورامٍ سهمَ عينيه بسَلعٍ

وبالزوراء يقتُلُ مَن يريدُ

and one at Salʿ who shoots his eyes' arrow

and kills in al-Zawra whomever he wishes:

لَمَا وفّتِ الصوارمُ والعوالي

بما جنتِ المحاجرُ والقدودُ

sharp swords and tall spears could never repay

what eyes and graceful forms have wrought.

وكم يأوِي المشقَّرَ من غزالٍ

تحاذر من كَناسَتِه الأسودُ

How many a gazelle shelters in al-Mushaqqar,

whose lair the lions fear!

تُقلِّمُ حولَه الأظفارَ عَيْنٌ

ويُهْتِمُ دونَه الأنيابَ جيدُ

An eye clips the claws around him,

and a neck breaks the fangs before him.

وأبيضَ من نجوم بني هلالٍ

وجوهُ العيش بعد نواه سودُ

And a fair one among the stars of Banu Hilal—

life's faces are black since his departure.

هوِيتُ له الذي يهواه حتّى

حلا إعراضُه لي والصدودُ

I loved for him whatever he loved, until

even his turning away and avoidance grew sweet to me.

نفضن الحبَّ أسمالاً وعندي

لهنّ على القلى حُبٌّ جديدُ

They shook off love like worn-out rags, while I

have fresh love for them despite their aversion.

ورُحنَ وقد سفكنَ دماً حراماً

تصيح به الأناملُ والخدودُ

They departed, having spilled forbidden blood,

of which fingers and cheeks cry out.

أما تنهاك عن عيدِ التصابي

مواضٍ من شبابك لا تعودُ

Do these not restrain you from revisiting youthful folly:

the bygone portions of your youth that never return,

وقادحةٌ لها في كلّ يومٍ

ذبولٌ من نشاطك أو خمودُ

and a kindling spark that brings each day

a fading of your vigor or its extinction?

طوالع في عذارك لا الأحاظي

قَسَمْنَ طلوعَهنّ ولا السعودُ

Rising lights in your sideburns—neither good fortune

nor lucky stars allotted their rising.

وقالوا حلَّمتْكَ فقلت شوقاً

متى مبدى الخلاعةِ لي يعيدُ

They said, 'They have made you sober.' I said, yearning,

'When will the source of revelry restore it to me?'

يَحُرُّ عَلَيَّ أبيضُها خمولاً

وكنت بجاهِ أَسْوَدِها أَسودُ

Its white consigns me to obscurity,

where once, through its black's prestige, I ruled.

ولم أر كالبياض مذمَّمَّاً في

مواطنَ وهو في أخرى حميدُ

I have seen nothing like whiteness: censured in

some places, yet praised in others.

فتلحاه العوارضُ والمَفَالي

وترضاه الترائبُ والنهودُ

Cheek-beards and delousing combs reproach it,

while collarbones and breasts approve it.

عدمتُ مكارم الأيّام مَنْ ذا الش

قيُّ بها ومَنْ فيها السعيدُ

May I be bereft of the days' favors! Who is unhappy

in them, and who is happy?

مع الفضل الخصاصةُ والتمنِّي

وحولَ العجزِ تزدحم الجدودُ

With excellence go poverty and longing,

while good fortunes crowd around incapacity.

تُقامُ على الفقير وما جناها

إذا وجَبتْ على المثرِي الحدودُ

Punishments are inflicted on the poor, though they did not incur them,

when they have fallen due upon the rich.

وما لك من أخٍ في الدهر إلا

أخوك طريفُ مالكِ والتليدُ

In this age you have no brother except

your wealth, newly acquired and inherited.

مَحَضْتُ الناسَ مختبراً فكلٌّ

بكىءٌ دون زُبدته زهيدُ

I churned men to test them, and each

yields little and grudges even his butter.

هُمُ حولي مع النُّعمى قيامٌ

وهم عنّي مع الجُلَّى قُعودُ

They stand around me when blessings abound,

but sit aloof from me when calamity strikes.

توقَّ تحيةَ ابن العمِّ يوماً

فربَّ فمٍ بقُبلته يكيدُ

Beware, one day, a cousin's greeting:

many a mouth plots harm with its kiss.

ولا تخدعْك مسحةُ ظهرِ أفعَى

فتحتَ لثاتهِ نابٌ حديدُ

Do not let the smoothness of a viper's back deceive you:

beneath its gums lies a sharp fang.

وأغلبُ ما أتاك الشرُّ ممّن

تذبّ الشرَّ عنه أو تذودُ

Most often evil comes to you from those

from whom you ward it off or drive it away.

وحَولك من قبيلك من تكون ال

قليلَ به وإن كثر العديدُ

Among your kin around you are men who make you

few, however great your numbers:

مُداجٍ أو مُبادٍ أو حسودٌ

وشرُّهُمُ على النِّعمِ الحسودُ

a dissembler, an open foe, or an envious man;

the worst of them, where blessings are concerned, is the envious.

ومولىً عرشهُ بك مشمخرٌّ

بطول الحفر يَهدِمُ ما تشيدُ

And a kinsman whose throne towers high through you

destroys what you build by digging long beneath it.

نصحْتُ لمارقٍ من آل عوف

لو أنّ النصحَ يبلغ ما أريدُ

I counseled a renegade of the house of Awf—

if only counsel could attain what I desire.

وقلتُ له قناتَك لا تدعها

تُوصَّمْ بالعقوق ولا تميدُ

I told him: do not let your spear-shaft

be flawed by disloyalty, or sway.

وبيتَك لا تبدّلْ فيه غدراً

فإنّ عليك ما يَجني النُّدودُ

Do not bring treachery into your house,

for you must bear what desertion brings.

ولا تعبَثْ بعزٍّ مَزيَديٍّ

لتَنقُصَه وأنت به تزيدُ

Do not tamper with the might of Mazyad

to diminish it, when through it you grow.

هم التحموك معروقاً وضمُّوا

عزيبَك وهو منتحِسٌ طريدُ

They clothed your stripped bones with flesh, and gathered in

your straying self, ill-starred and outcast.

ومدّوا ضَبْعَك المغمورَ حتى

سما بك بعد مهبطهِ صعودُ

They raised your submerged arm, until

an ascent bore you aloft after its fall,

إلى نادٍ تفوه به وتغشَى

وسامرةٍ يُشَبُّ لها وَقودُ

to a council where you speak and attend,

and evening company for whom a fire is kindled.

عُنُوا بثراك واغترسوك حتّى

بسقتَ على العِضاةِ وأنت عودُ

They tended your soil and planted you, until

you rose above thorn-trees, though but a shoot.

وربُّوا نعمةً لك لا يغطِّي

عليها السترَ غَمطُك والجُحودُ

They nurtured a favor for you which

your ingratitude and denial cannot veil.

فما غَنِيَ المبصَّرُ وهو باغٍ

بما تُجدِي المَشُورةُ أو تُفيدُ

The man shown the truth, bent on wrongdoing, gained nothing

from what counsel could yield or impart.

وقام يقودُها سُوقاً عجافاً

أعزُّ من القيام بها القعودُ

He rose to lead them, long-shanked and lean;

remaining seated was nobler than rising to lead them.

يَلوثُ جبينَه منها بعارٍ

تبيد المخزياتُ ولا يبيدُ

He stains his brow with a disgrace from it:

shameful deeds perish, but it does not.

فكيف وأنت طير البغي فيها

جرت لك بالتي عنها تحيدُ

How then, when you are rebellion's bird in this affair,

and it has brought you the very fate you shun?

نزلتَ لها بدار الهُون جاراً

لأقوامٍ تُضامُ وهم شهودُ

For it you settled in humiliation's abode, a neighbor

to people who watch while you are wronged.

صديقَ العجزِ أسلمك الأداني

بجُرمك واستراب بك البعيدُ

Friend of weakness, those nearest you abandoned you

for your offense, and the distant distrusted you.

تَقَاذَفُك المهامهُ والفيافي

وتُنكرك التهائمُ والنُّجودُ

Trackless wastes and deserts toss you back and forth,

and lowlands and uplands disown you.

فما لك لا وَألتَ وأنتَ حُرٌّ

يُجيريك من عشيرتك العبيدُ

What ails you—may you find no refuge!—that, though free,

slaves of your own clan give you protection?

وأن الجارَ لا حيّ عزيزٌ

بأسرته ولا مَيْتٌ فقيدُ

And a protected neighbor is neither honored alive

among his kin, nor missed when dead.

ولو بأبي الأغرِّ صرختَ فاءتْ

عليك فضولُ رأفته تعودُ

Had you called out to Abu al-Agharr, the overflow

of his compassion would have returned to you.

إذن لأثرتَ عاطفةً وحِلماً

تموتُ له الضغائنُ والحُقودُ

Then you would have stirred tenderness and forbearance

before which resentments and rancors die.

وكان الصفحُ أبردَ في حشاه

إذا التهبتْ من الحَنَقِ الكُبودُ

Forgiveness would have been coolest in his breast

when livers blazed with rage.

وعاد أبرَّ بالأنساب منكم

وبالقربَى لو انك تستعيدُ

He would have proved more dutiful to lineage than you,

and to kinship, if only you asked for restoration.

نتجتَ من المنى بطناً عقيماً

نَمَى بك والمنى أمٌّ ولودُ

You brought forth from hope a barren brood

that grew with you, though hope is a fertile mother.

أتنشُدُ ما أضلَّ الحزمُ منها

أطِلْ أسفاً فليس لها وجودُ

Do you seek what resolve has lost of those hopes?

Prolong your sorrow: they do not exist.

وتوعدُه وذلك ذلُّ جارٍ

متى اجتمع المذلةُ والوعيدُ

You threaten him, yet that is a dependent's abasement:

when have abasement and threats ever gone together?

تريدون الرءوسَ وقد خُلِقتم

ذُنابَى لا انتفاعَ بأن تريدوا

You want to be heads, though you were created

tails; wanting avails you nothing.

ويأبى اللّهُ إلا مَزْيَدِيّا

على أسَدٍ يؤمَّرُ أو يسودُ

God wills none but a Mazyadi

to command Asad or lord over it.

فدعْها للذي جفَلتْ إليه

وسلْه العفوَ فهو به يجودُ

Leave it to the one toward whom it hastened,

and ask his pardon: he will freely grant it.

دَعُوا قوماً يخاصم في علاهم

رقابَكُم المواثقُ والعهودُ

Leave alone a people whose high rank

covenants and pledges defend against your very necks.

بأيّ سلاحكم قارعتموهم

أبَى الماضي الشبا ونبا الحديدُ

Whatever weapons you used to clash with them,

sharp edges refused you, and iron glanced away.

وإنّ سيوفَكم لتكون فيهم

مَكاوىَ لا تَنُشُّ لها الجلودُ

Your swords against them are only

cautery irons that do not make their skins hiss.

ففخراً يا خُزَيْمُ فكلُّ فخرٍ

إلى أنواركم أعمى بليدُ

So glory on, Khuzaym! Every other glory

is blind and dull beside your lights.

لكم نار القِرى وندَى العشايا

وفرسانُ الصباح وَعَوْا فَنُودوا

Yours are hospitality's fire and evening bounty,

and morning horsemen who heeded and were summoned;

وأنديةٌ وألسنةٌ هُبوبٌ

إذا انتُضيتْ وأحلامٌ رُكودُ

and councils, and tongues that blow like winds

when drawn, and minds that remain still.

ومنكم كلُّ وَلاَّجٍ خروجٍ

وذو حَزْمَيْن صدّارٌ وَرودُ

Among you are men ever entering and emerging,

and men of twofold resolve, departing and coming to water.

موقَّرُ ما أقلَّ السرجُ ثَبْتٌ

إذا مالت من الرَّهَج اللُّبودُ

Dignified is the saddle's burden, steadfast

when saddle-felts tilt amid battle-dust.

إذا مُضَرٌ تَطَامَنَ كلُّ بيتٍ

لها وعلا بربوتها الصعيدُ

When Mudar rose, every house bowed down

before it, and the earth rose with its hill;

وكانت جمرةَ الناسِ اجتببتم

وفيكم عزُّ سورتها العتيدُ

when it was the people's live coal, you drew together,

and in you is the ready might of its onrush.

بَنَى لَكُمُ أبو المظفارِ مجداً

على موت الزمان له خلودُ

Abu al-Mizfar built for you a glory

that will endure even when time dies.

وقدّمكم على الناس اضطراراً

مقاماتٌ وأيامٌ شُهودُ

You were set above mankind, irresistibly, by

deeds and days that stand as witnesses:

إجارةُ حاتمٍ ودمٌ شريقٌ

به لبّاتُ حُجْرٍ والوريدُ

Hatim's grant of protection, and blood choking

Hujr's throat-pits and jugular vein;

وطعنةُ حاتم وطَرٌ قَديمٌ

قضى مَروانُ فيها ما يريدُ

and Hatim's spear-thrust—an ancient desire

in which Marwan achieved what he wished;

وصاحتْ باسم صامتَ نفسُ حرٍّ

ربيعُ المقترين بها يجودُ

and a free man's soul cried out Samit's name;

a spring for the destitute, he gave his soul freely.

وصخرٌ ذابَ صخرُ على قناكم

ولان لكم به الحجر الشديدُ

And Sakhr—rock melted upon your spears,

and through him hard stone softened for you.

ويومُ عُتَيْبةٍ عَلَمٌ عريضٌ

تَبَاشره المواسمُ والوفودُ

The day of Utayba is a broad banner,

greeted by assemblies and delegations.

كرائمُ من دماء بارداتٍ

لديكم لا دِيَاتِ ولا مَقيدُ

Precious treasures of blood, grown cold,

lie with you, with neither blood-money nor retaliation.

وإنّ ببابلٍ منكم لبحراً

لو أنّ البحرَ جاد كما يجودُ

And in Babylon you have a sea—

if only the sea gave as he gives!

إذا الوادي جرى مِلحاً أُجاجاً

ترقرق ماؤه العذبُ البَرودُ

When the river runs bitterly salt,

his sweet, cool water shimmers.

فتيُّ السنِّ مكتهلٌ حجاهُ

طريفُ الملك سؤدُده تليدُ

Young in years, mature in understanding,

new to kingship, ancient in nobility.

إذا اشتبهتْ كواكبهم طلوعاً

فنور الدولة القمرُ الوحيدُ

When their stars rise alike,

Nur al-Dawla is the peerless moon.

أناف به وقدَّمه عليكم

أبٌ كَرَمٌ أناف به الجدودُ

A father raised him high and put him before you,

a father, generosity itself, exalted by his forefathers.

أغرُّ قَسِيمُهُ السيفُ المحلَّى

ومسحبُ ذيله الروضُ المجودُ

Radiant, his equal the adorned sword,

his trailing hem sweeping a rain-drenched meadow.

يعود إذا تغرَّب في العطايا

ويُقلع في الهَناتِ فلا يعودُ

He returns after ranging far in gifts,

but quits his faults and never returns.

بليلُ الريقِ من كَلِمٍ سديدٍ

يقوم بنصره رمحٌ سديدُ

His tongue is moist with well-aimed words,

and a well-aimed spear rises to support him.

تراغتْ حول قَّبته بِكارٌ

شفار الجازرين لها قُتودُ

Young she-camels bellowed around his pavilion,

the slaughterers' blades serving as their saddle-frames.

تراه الخيلُ أفرسَ من تمطَّتْ

به والجيشُ أشجعَ من يقودُ

The horses see him as the finest rider they have galloped with,

and the army as the bravest man who leads.

ويَغنَى ثم يُفقِرُ راحتيه

مقالُ المادحين الفقرُ جودُ

He grows rich; then his palms are impoverished by

the panegyrists' saying: 'Poverty is generosity.'

مَن الغادي ينقِّلُه حِصانٌ

مفدَّى السبق أو عَنْسٌ وَخُودُ

Who is the morning traveler, borne onward by a stallion

cherished for its speed, or a swift, sturdy she-camel?

إذا ركب الطريقَ وفَى بشرطِي

أخٌ منه على أربى عقيدُ

Who, on taking the road, would fulfill my condition—

a brother among them, pledged to my purpose?

إذا بلّغتُ عن إِنسانَ ينزو

وراء ضلوعه قلبٌ عميدُ

When I convey word of a man whose

stricken heart leaps behind his ribs,

يرى المرعى الخصيبَ يصدّ عنه

ويظمأُ وهو يمكنه الوُرودُ

who sees lush pasture yet is barred from it,

and thirsts, though he can reach the water,

فقل لأمير هذا الحيِّ عني

أيُجمَعُ لي بك الأملُ البديدُ

tell the emir of this clan, on my behalf:

'Will you gather my scattered hope for me?'

أحِنُّ إلى لقائك والليالي

عليّ مع العوائق لي جُنودُ

I yearn to meet you, while the nights

join obstacles as armies arrayed against me.

وتجذبني نوازعُ موقظاتٌ

إليك وراءها قَدَرٌ رَقُودُ

Rousing longings draw me

toward you; behind them lies a slumbering fate.

وكم وعَدتْ بك الآمالُ نفسي

ويقضي الدهر أن تُلْوىَ الوُعودُ

How often hopes have promised you to my soul,

yet time decrees that promises be deferred.

فهل من عطفةٍ بالود إني

على شحط النوى خِلّ ودودُ

Will there be a kindly turn of affection? I am,

despite separation's distance, a loving friend.

محبٌّ بالصفاتِ ولم أشاهِدْ

كأني من نجيِّكُمُ شهيدُ

I love you through your qualities, though I have never seen you,

as if present among your intimates.

وكم مَلكٍ سواكم مدّ نحوي

يديه فقصَّر الباعُ المديدُ

Many a king besides you has stretched toward me

his hands, yet his long reach fell short.

ومعصوبٍ بذكرِي أو بشعِرِي

أحوِّل عنه شعري أو أحيدُ

And many a man crowned by my mention or my poetry—

I turn my verse away from him, or turn aside.

أحاذر أن تَبَدَّلَني أكفٌّ

سوائمُ صانني عنها الغُمودُ

I fear being traded by hands—

roving hands from which scabbards have sheltered me.

لعلّ علاكُمُ وندى يديكم

سيُنهِضُني بمُثقِلةٍ تؤودُ

Perhaps your loftiness and your hands' bounty

will rouse me to a weighty ode that strains me,

ومُجتمعٍ عليها القولُ أَنَّي

بها والقولُ مشترك فريدُ

one on which all agree that I

stand alone, though the art of words is shared:

من الغرّ الغرائبِ لم يَعِبْها ال

كلامُ الوغدُ ولمعنى الرديدُ

one of the radiant rarities, unmarred by

vulgar speech or hackneyed meaning;

نوادر تلقط الأسماعُ منها

على الأفواه ما نَثَرَ النشيدُ

rarities from which ears pick up,

upon lips, what song has scattered.

تَسير بوصفكم وتُقيم فيكم

خوالدَ فهي قاطنةٌ شرودُ

They travel with your praise and dwell among you,

immortal—settled, yet far-roaming.

وليس يَضُرُّ راجيكم لِرفدٍ

تَلوُّمُهُ إذا قصَدَ القصيدُ

No harm comes to one who hopes for your bounty

from waiting, when his ode is rightly aimed.