رعى الله في الحاجات كل نجيب — Mihyar Al Daylami

رعى اللّهُ في الحاجاتِ كلَّ نجيبِ

سميع على بُعدِ الدعاءِ مُجيبِ

May God safeguard every noble man in times of need,

who hears and answers a call, however distant.

وطهَّرَ فِتْيانا من الذمِّ طهَّروا

غيوبَهُمُ أن تُنْتَحى بعيوبِ

And may He cleanse of blame young men who have cleansed

their private conduct, lest it be assailed for faults.

سواءٌ على عُسِري ويُسِري وفاؤهم

وألسنُهم في مَشهَدي ومَغيبي

Their fidelity is the same in my hardship and my ease,

as are their tongues in my presence and my absence.

أحبُّوا المعالي وهي مُنِصبةٌ لهم

فما قَنَعوا من وصلها بنصيبِ

They loved high honors, though these brought them toil,

and were not content to attain merely a share of them.

لجارِهِمُ من دارهم مثلُ ما لَهم

على راحةٍ من عيشهم ولُغوبِ

Their neighbor has the same share in their home as they do,

through the ease of their life and its weariness.

إذا جئتَهم مستصِرخا ثارَ مجدُهم

بكلِّ مُجيبٍ في الخطوب مَهِيبِ

When you come to them crying for help, their nobility rises

in every responder, awe-inspiring amid calamities.

وكرّمَ عيشي عندهم وأعاده

بما فاض من حُسْنٍ عليه وطِيبِ

And it ennobled my life among them and restored it,

with the beauty and sweetness that overflowed upon it.

تعيّرني لَيْلَى الوفاءَ بعهدِهم

على بُعدِهم أنَّبْتِ غيرَ مُنيبِ

Layla reproaches me for fidelity to their covenant,

despite their distance; you have chided one who will not repent.

خُلِقْتُ رقيق القلب صعباً تقلُّبي

أَرَى لبعيدٍ ما أَرَى لقريبِ

I was born tenderhearted, difficult to change;

I accord one far away what I accord one near.

وما زلتُ أهوَى كلَّ شيء ألفتُه

وصاحبْتُهُ حتى ألفتُ مَشيبي

And I have never ceased loving everything I grew used to

and kept company with, until I grew used even to my gray hair.

وتُنْكِر أضفاري كأنْ لم تَر الصِّبا

سقَى وَرَقى يوماً وهزَّ قضيبي

And she finds my braids strange, as though she never saw youth

once water and charm me, and set my bough swaying,

ولم ألقَ أشراكا فأَثنى حبالَها

على ما أشتهتْ من أعينٍ وقلوبِ

and as though I had never cast snares, winding their cords

around whatever eyes and hearts they desired.

فما زال مُمِسيَّ الزمانُ ومُصْبِحِي

بأسماله حتى أستردَّ قشيبي

So Time still brings me to evening and morning

in its rags, until I regain my fresh attire.

فداءُ بني عبد الرحيم وودِّهم

هوى كلِّ ممذوق الوداد مُريبِ

A ransom for the sons of Abd al-Rahim and their love

is the passion of every dubious man whose affection is diluted.

ولا بَرِحتْ تسقي الحسين وعَرْضَهُ

بملآنَ من فَيض الثناء سَكوبِ

And may al-Husayn and his honor never cease to be watered

with a brimming, copious outpouring of praise—

مجلجِلةُ الأرجاءِ صادقُ برقِها

حَلوبٌ لماء الشِّعرِ غيرُ خَلوبِ

by a cloud thundering on all sides, its lightning true,

yielding poetry's water like milk, never deceptive.

مَرَتْها رياحُ الشكر حتى تلاحمتْ

بما نسجَتْها من صَباً وجَنوبِ

The winds of gratitude milked it until it massed together,

through their weaving it from east and south winds.

فصابت فعمَّت ما سقته فأخصبتْ

على أنها لم تُسْقِ غَيَر خَصيبِ

Then it rained, covering all it watered and bringing fertility,

though it had watered nothing but fertile ground.

وجازاه ملكا في الجزاء فضيلةً

وأدَّى ثوابَ الشكر حقَّ مُثيبِ

And he repaid him like a king, excelling in recompense,

and rendered gratitude's reward, a benefactor's rightful due.

أخي وأخي الموروثُ غيرُ موافِقٍ

ومولاي وأبنُ العمّ غيرُ نسيبِ

He is my brother, though my brother by birth is no kindred spirit,

and my patron, though my cousin is no true kinsman.

ضميرٌ على حكم اللسان وبعضُهم

أخو مَلَقٍ يُبلَي أخوه بذيبِ

His heart accords with his tongue, while some men

are brothers of flattery, their brother beset by a wolf.

وعن حِفظ غَيبِ المُلكِ نُصحا إذا طغى

به غَلّ أسرارٍ وعينُ غيوبِ

And in loyally guarding the kingdom's hidden affairs, when there run rampant

within it secret rancor and an eye on hidden matters—

فكم غمّة عَمياء أعضلَ داؤها

رماها برأيٍ من نُهاهُ طبيبِ

how many a blind calamity, whose malady defied cure,

he struck with a healing judgment drawn from his reason!

وشاهدةٍ بالفخر أوفتْ صفاتُها

على كلّ معنىً في الجمال عجيبِ

And a witness to glory, whose qualities rose

above every wondrous conception of beauty,

أتت شَرَفاً من سيّدٍ وكأنها

أتت من محبٍّ تُحفةً لحبيبِ

came as an honor from a lord, as though it

came from a lover, a gift to a beloved.

صَفَتْ وَضَفَت حتى أستطالت جُنوبها

بوافٍ ومدَّتْ باعَها برحيبِ

It was pure and ample, until its sides stretched long

to full measure, and its arm-span spread wide.

ونيطتْ بأخرَى مثلِها فتظاهرا

على طهر طَودٍ في قميِص قضيبِ

And it was joined to another like it, the two lending each other strength

upon a pure mountain in the shirt of a slender bough.

ومنحولةٍ جسمَ الهواءِ نحيلةٍ

كأنّ الهوى فيها رَمَى بمصيب

And a slender thing, endowed with the body of air,

as though love had struck it with an unerring shot,

من الريح لولا أن يَذْبُل تحتها

وقارُك مرَّتْ عنك مرَّ هُبوبِ

is of wind; were it not for Yadhbul beneath it—

your dignity—it would sweep off you like a gust.

إذا دقَّ مسّاً وقْعُها جلَّ رفعُها

إلى منصِبِ في القَريتين حسيبِ

Though it falls lightly to the touch, lofty is its raising

to a station of noble lineage in the Two Towns.

وذي شيبتين أستَوْقف الصبحَ والدجى

على ناصلٍ من لونه وخضيبِ

And one with two gray locks, who held dawn and darkness still

upon the faded and dyed portions of his coloring,

كأنّ السحابَ جَوْنَها وبياضَها

تفرّعَ من صافٍ به ومَشوبِ

as though the clouds, their blackness and their whiteness,

branched from his pure and mingled colors.

تشبَّثَتِ الأبصارُ حتى تمكَّنتْ

وقد كّر من هادٍ له وسَبِيبِ

Eyes clung to him until they held fast,

with a cord twisted from his neck and flowing hair.

توقَّى الأذى من عُرْفه بخميلةٍ

وحَكَّ الحصى من ذيله بعَسِيبِ

He warded off harm with a soft pile from his mane,

and scraped the gravel with the shaft of his tail.

وأَعجبَه في رِدفه ووشاحه

ملابسُ تكسو منه كلَّ سليبِ

And what pleased him upon his rump and at his sash

were garments clothing every bare part of him.

نصيبٌ من الدنيا أتاك ففُزْ به

ولا تنَس من فضلِ العطاء نصيبي

A share of this world has come to you; make it yours,

and do not forget my share of your abundant giving.

كفى المْهِرَجان مُذْكِرا وذريعةً

إلى مُحسِنٍ في المكرُماتِ مُطِيبِ

Mihrjan suffices as a reminder and a means

to a benefactor whose noble deeds bring delight.

بقاؤك ألفاً مثلَه في كفالتي

دعوتُ ومَنَّ اللّهُ فيك مُجيبي

Your living to see a thousand like it is my pledge;

I prayed, and God, who answers me, bestowed His favor on you.

فما زال فيكم كلُّ خيرٍ طلبتُه

قَضِي لِيَ في إدراكه وعُني بي

For among you, every good I sought has always been

granted me to attain, and I have been cared for.