سقى أيام رامة بل سقاها — Mihyar Al Daylami

سقَى أيَّامَ رامة بل سقاها

عميقُ الحفر مقتدِحٌ حصاها

May rain water the days of Rāma—rather, water Rāma itself,

deep-dug rain that strikes sparks from its pebbles.

أحمُّ كأنَّ أُدْمَ العيس فيه

مرقعة الجِلالِ لمن طلاها

Dark, as though the dun camels within it

wore patchwork coverings to whoever saw them.

يُسِفُّ يطامِع الخَرقاءَ حتى

تبوِّعَه لتمسحَه يدَاها

It stoops low, enticing the awkward woman until

she gives it a place and wipes it with her hands.

إذا زُرَّتْ سحابَتُه أحالت

صَبَا نجدٍ محلَّلةً عُراها

When its cloud is drawn tight, it turns

Najd’s east wind loose from its bonds.

يسيل بمائه وادي أُشَيٍّ

فيُترِعُ فوق كاظمةَ العِضاها

The valley of Ushayy flows with its water

and fills the acacias above Kāẓima.

كأنَّ سماءه حنَّت فدرَّتْ

على الأرض اليتيمةِ مِرزَماها

As though its sky grew tender and poured

its twin torrents upon the orphaned earth.

إذا شامت بوارقه سيوفا

ليُغمدَها تراجَعَ فانتضاها

When she glimpses its lightning as swords

about to be sheathed, it retreats and draws them again.

وتأمُرُ باتباع البرق نفسي

فإن أتبعتُه عيني نَهاها

My soul commands me to follow the lightning,

but when my eye follows it, my soul forbids it.

ولم أر قبله حمراءَ خُضْراً

عواقبُها ولا ضرباً أماها

Before it I had seen no red whose outcome was green,

nor a blow that made its mark so far away.

يذكِّرني وللأشواق عيد

ثنايا أمِّ سعدةَ أو لَماها

It reminds me—longing has its feast—

of Umm Saʿda’s teeth or the dark sweetness of her lips.

ألا للهِ يومَ عُكاظَ عينٌ

جلتها نظرة فغدت قذاها

Ah, for the eye on the day of ʿUkāẓ:

one glance brightened it, then became its mote.

ترى لَعِبَ البِلى بالدار جِدًّا

فيلعب أو يجدّ بها بكاها

You see decay play earnestly with the dwelling,

while its weeping plays there, or grows earnest.

وكم بِلَوى الشقيقة ومن فؤادٍ

أسير لو تكلم قال آها

How many a captive heart at Liwā al-Shaqīqa,

if it could speak, would say, ‘Ah!’

ومن شاكٍ لو استمعت إليه

قِنانُ أبانَ ذاب له صفاها

And how many a sufferer whose complaint, if heard

by Mount Abān, would melt its solid rock.

وطيِّبة الغداةِ تفُتُّ باناً

عقائصُها ومسكا رَيْطَتاها

And a sweet-scented woman at dawn: her braids shed

fragrance like ben and musk, as do her two veils.

إذا ما لم يجد فيها معابا

ضرائرها تعلَّل عائباها

When her rival wives could find no fault in her,

her faultfinders consoled themselves with pretexts.

أضلّ البينُ فطنتها فحارت

كأمّ الخشفِ ناشدةً طَلاها

Parting robbed her of her wits, and she wandered

like a doe seeking her lost fawn.

تميل على الرِّحالة ميلَ سرجي

تُسِرُّ إليَّ تُفهمني هواها

She leans upon the saddle, inclining toward mine,

whispering to me and making me understand her love.

فألثِمُ في السِّرار تريبتيها

ومن لي لو تكون الأذنُ فاها

In that whispering I kiss her upper breast;

if only her ear could become her mouth for me.

أجيرانَ الحمى مَن لابن ليلٍ

أتى مسترشدا بكُمُ فتاها

O neighbors of the protected land, who will guide a night traveler

who came seeking his way among you to her young man?

ولما كنتُمُ يومَ التنائي

مَنيَّةَ نفسه كنتم مُناها

When, on the day of separation, you were

his soul’s death, you were also its desire.

أروم لكشف بلواها سواكم

وإن طبيبهَا لمَن ابتلاها

I seek someone besides you to lift its affliction,

though the one who can heal it caused the wound.

أرِقتُ ونام عن إسعادِ عيني

خليلٌ كان يُسهمُ في كراها

I lay awake, while a friend slept instead of aiding my eyes—

one who once shared in their sleep.

أجاذبه عن الإسعاد كرها

ومن ذا يملِك الودَّ الكراها

I tug him unwillingly toward help;

but who can command reluctant affection?

وقبلك قد عصبتُ يدي بمولىً

ليُلحمَها فظفَّرَ فانتقاها

Before you, I bound my hand to a patron

to mend it; he fastened it, then picked at it.

رَمى ظهري وقال توقَّ قُدْما

فجاءتني النبالُ ولا أراها

He struck my back and said, ‘Beware ahead,’

so arrows came at me unseen.

إذا صافحتُه أطبقتُ كفّي

على كفٍّ أناملها مُداها

When I shook his hand, I closed my palm

on a hand whose fingers were knives.

وبارقة تخايل في عذارى

على الأبصار من وجهي سناها

And a flash seemed to shine among maidens,

its radiance from my face dazzling their eyes.

إذا مطرت بأرضٍ لم تخضِّر

أراكتَها ولم يُخصِب ثراها

When it rained upon a land, its arak trees did not green,

nor did its soil grow fertile.

نمَى أثرُ النوائب في فؤادي

فأعدَى لِمَّتي حتَّى دهاها

The traces of calamity grew in my heart

and spread to my locks until they overtook them.

رمى عنها الزمانُ الشيبَ حينا

فلما ملَّ صحبتَها رماها

For a time, the years kept gray hair from them;

then, tiring of their company, cast it upon them.

وكانت ليلة تُخفِي عيوبي

فدلَّ عليَّ طالبَها ضُحاها

They had been a night concealing my faults,

but their daylight showed the seeker where I was.

إذا اعتبر المجرِّبُ في سِنِيه

تقلُّبَها تيقَّنَ مُنتهاها

When an experienced man considers, through his years,

their changes, he knows their end.

حياةُ المرء أنفاسٌ تقضَّى

وإن طالت وأعدادٌ تناهَى

A person’s life is breaths that run out,

however long, and numbers that reach their limit.

أرى الأيامَ يوماً والأسامِي

عليها مستعارات حُلاها

I see all days as one day, with their names

and their ornaments only borrowed for them.

وفتية ليلةٍ ظلماءَ خاضوا

دجاها بي فكنتُ فتَى سُراها

And young men entered the darkness of a black night

with me, and I was their guide through it.

سمحتُ لهم على غَرَرٍ بنفسٍ

ملبيِّةٍ لأوّل مَن دعاها

At their peril I gave them a life

ready to answer the first who called.

رمَوا بظنونهم من ذا أخوهم

على الجُلَّى فما زكنوا سواها

They guessed which of them was their brother

in the great trial, and knew no one else but him.

وذي شَعَثٍ نشرتُ له الفيافي

وأدراجَ الطريق وقد طواها

For a disheveled traveler I spread out the open wastes

and the stages of a road he had already crossed.

إذا حسِب الرواحَ بعُقرِ دارٍ

وقلتُ نُزولُها عارٌ عداها

Whenever he thought evening would find him near a dwelling,

I said settling there was shame, and he passed it by.

ومن كانت له العلياءُ حاجا

وأشعرَ نفسَه صبرا قضاها

Whoever makes eminence his need

and clothes himself in patience fulfills it.

حلفتُ بها تنافخُ في بُرَاها

عجيجاً أو تَساوَكُ من وَجاها

I swear by them, blowing through their nostrils

with a roar, or rubbing from the pain of their feet.

تُولِّي الشمسَ أحداقا عِماقا

كقُلبِ الماءِ لو نقعتْ صداها

They turn deep-set eyes toward the sun,

like wells whose thirst might be quenched by water.

يلاغطن الحصا والليلُ داجٍ

لُغاطَ الطيرِ باكرنَ المِياها

They rattle the pebbles in the dark night

as birds chatter when they reach water early.

تَمنَّى العُشْبَ يوما بعد يومٍ

فلا مرعَى لها إلا مِعَاها

Day after day they long for grass,

but have no pasture except what is in their bellies.

نواحل كالقسيِّ معطَّفات

وهم مِثلُ السهام على مَطاها

Lean as curved bows,

while the men on their backs are like arrows.

عليهم كلُّ نذرٍ ما رأوها

بمكّةَ هابطاتٍ أو مِناها

Everyone vows an offering upon seeing them

descending toward Mecca or Minā.

لقد تعِب السحابُ وراءَ أيدي

بني عبد الرحيم فما شآها

Clouds have grown weary trying to keep up with the hands

of the sons of ʿAbd al-Raḥīm, yet cannot overtake them.

كرام عشيرةٍ دعَمتْ بِناها

بعزَّة بيتها وحَمتْ حِماها

Noble people: their clan upheld its house

with the honor of its family and guarded its domain.

تفوَّقَت المكارمَ في ليالي

مرَاضعِها وسادت في صِباها

Their virtues surpassed others even in infancy,

and they held sway while still young.

لهم ولدتْ فأنجبت المعالي

بنينَ ومنهمُ وجدتْ أباها

For them, high honors gave birth to worthy sons;

among them those honors found their father.

عتاق الطير أحرار المجالي

إذا حدَثانُ أحسابٍ نفاها

Noble birds, free in the open reaches,

when the accidents of lineage drive others away.

تخالُ درارياً طُبِعت وجوها

إذا كشفوا الموارِن والجِباها

You would think bright stars had been shaped into faces

when they bare their noses and foreheads.

بنو السنوات إن هزلت قِراها

جدوبا سمّنوا كرما قَراها

Sons of hard years: when famine makes hospitality lean,

they fatten its provisions through generosity.

لهم نارٌ على شَرَفِ المقَارِي

أقرَّ الله عينَيْ مَن رآها

They keep a fire on the height of the guest houses—

may God gladden the eyes of whoever sees it.

إذا قصر الوقودُ الجزلُ عنها

قبيلَ الصبح مُندِلَ مَوقِداها

When stout firewood fails it,

its tender before dawn rekindles it.

تُضيءُ كأنَّها والليلُ داجٍ

تزيَّد من جباههُم جُذَاها

It shines, as if, while night is dark,

its embers gain light from their foreheads.

يبيت سميرَ سؤددها عليها

فتىً منهم إذا قَرَّ اصطلاها

Beside it sits a young man of theirs, companion to its glory,

warming himself when the cold grows sharp.

يماطل نومَه عن مقلتيه

تطلُّعُ نفسِهِ ضيفاً أتاها

His hope that a guest will come to it

keeps sleep from his eyes.

إذا الكوماءُ يُسمنها ربيعٌ

وغَصَّت بالأضالع عرضتاها

When spring fattens the great-humped she-camel

and her sides swell around her ribs,

وراحت تشرُفُ النَّعمَ استواءً

كأنّ مِلاطَ روميٍّ بناها

and she rises above the herd in her stature,

as though a Roman mason had built her flanks,

رأى الأضيافَ أولى أن يُهينوا

كريمتَها ويهتدموا ذُراها

he thinks his guests have a better claim

to humble his prized camel and tear down her hump.

وقام فأطعم الهنديَّ عَقْرا

أسافلَها ليُطعمَهم عُلاها

He rises and gives the Indian blade its slaughter,

cutting her lower parts to feed them the finest.

ولم يعطِفْه أن عَجَّتْ حنينا

ألائفُها وفُجِّعَ راعياها

Her companions cry out in longing, and her shepherd grieves,

but their cries do not turn him back.

فأمست بينهم نُهبَى أكيلٍ

يُدَنِّي فَلذةً منها حواها

She becomes divided among the guests, each eater

drawing near a piece he has claimed.

إذا ما خافَ من قِدْرٍ عليها

مماطلةً تعجَّلَ فاشتواها

If he fears the pot will delay them,

he hastens to roast the meat.

وبات يَسُرُّ نفسا لو عداها

غِنَى الأموالِ موَّلها غِناها

He passes the night pleasing a soul which, even if

wealth passed it by, would be rich in itself.

نمَتْ أعراقُها في بيت كسَرى

إلى غَيْناءَ مُحْلَوْلٍ جَناها

Their roots grew in the house of Kisrā

toward a fruitful branch heavy with sweet yield.

ترى مغسولة الأعراض منها

نتائجَ ما تدرَّن من ظُباها

You see among them reputations washed clean,

offspring unstained by the blades they carry.

وتحسبها إذا شهِدت طِعانا

بألسنِها منصِّلةً قَناها

When you see them in combat, you would think

their spear shafts had drawn blades on their tips.

حموا خُطَطَ العلا لَسنا وضربا

بأقوال وأسيافٍ نَضاها

They guarded the paths of honor by speech and blows,

with words and swords drawn from their sheaths.

وكلُّ فتىً يُتَبِّعُ حاجتيه

مَقَصَّ الذئبِ يعتقبُ الشِّياها

Each young man pursuing his two needs

tracks them like a wolf following sheep.

إذا حُسرتْ له لِمَمُ الأعادي

مطأطئةً للَهذمِه فَلاها

When the enemies’ locks are exposed before him,

bowed to his sharp sword, he cleaves them.

ولما طال منبِتها وطالت

تفرَّع من رَواسيها رباها

As their stock grew tall and spread,

their hills branched from firm mountains.

رأت بمحمدٍ لولا أبوه

شيوخَ المجدِ تابعةً فتاها

In Muḥammad, but for his father, they would see

the elders of glory following their young man.

تأخَّر في قياد المجد عنها

وخاتَمَها فكان كمن بداها

He came after them in leading glory,

and sealed their line as though he had begun it.

غلام سادها يَفَعا فأوفى

كما أوفت وقد سادت سواها

A youth who ruled them while still young, he fulfilled

the promise they had fulfilled when they ruled others.

له بِدَعُ المكارم لو رآها

لآخرَ قبلَه قلنا حكاها

He has original forms of generosity; if we saw them

in someone before him, we would say he copied them.

ولم أر مثلَه طودا زليقا

يُهَزُّ فيُجتنَى مالا وجاها

I have never seen his like: a smooth, steep mountain

that is shaken and yields wealth and standing.

ولا مجدا أواجهُ منه شخصا

ولا كرما أخاطبه شفاها

Nor have I seen glory whose person I can face,

or generosity with which I can speak face to face.

كأن الله خيَّره فسوَّى

خلائقَه الحسانَ كما اشتهاها

It is as though God gave him the choice and shaped

his fine qualities just as he wished them.

أبا سعدٍ قدحتُ بمصلِداتٍ

فلما فُضَّ زندُك لي وراها

Abū Saʿd, I struck at fire with flints that yielded nothing;

when your firestick was opened for me, it gave flame.

دعوتُك والطَّريق عليه أفعَى

سليسٌ مسُّها خشِنٌ سَداها

I called on you when the road bore a snake

smooth to the touch but rough in its nature.

كأنَّ مجرَّها مجرَى سبوحٍ

بلُجِّ أوالَ شَرَّعَ نُوتياها

Its course was like a swift swimmer’s course

through the deep sea of Awāl when its sailors set sail.

تمجُّ السمَّ من جوفاءَ خِيلتْ

ثِفالَ الموت هامتُها رَحاها

It spat venom from a hollow head, imagined as

the millstone of death, with its head the turning stone.

كأنَّ يمانياً رقَشتْ يداه

حَبيرةَ بردَتيه على قَراها

As though a Yemeni had embroidered with his hands

the patterned cloth of his cloak across its back.

فما إن زال نصرُك لي زميلا

ورأيُك حاويا حتى رقَاها

Your help stayed beside me,

and your judgment sheltered me until it charmed the snake.

وكم لك والقُوَى بيدِي ضِعافٌ

يدٌ عندي مضاعفةٌ قُواها

How many favors you gave when strength in my hands was weak—

a hand whose power was doubled in my keeping.

إذا ما قمتُ أشكرها تثنَّت

فتشغلُ عن مباديها ثِناها

Whenever I rise to thank such a favor, it bends back,

and its later gifts distract me from its first.

أعيذ علاك من لدَغات عينٍ

لوَ انّ المجدَ أبصرها فقَاها

I seek refuge for your eminence from the sting of an envious eye

that, if glory saw it, would put it out.

ولا تعدَمْ محاسنَ لو أريد ال

حسودُ على الفداء لها فداها

May you never lack virtues for which, if the envious man

were asked to ransom them, he would give himself.

فلا برحتْ بك العَلياء تُحمَى

حقيقتُها ويُمْنَعُ جانباها

May high honor remain protected through you,

its heart defended and its borders guarded.

يمرُّ المِهرجانُ وكلُّ عيدٍ

بنعمتكم فيغنم من جَداها

May the Mihragān and every feast pass

amid your blessings and gain from your bounty.

تجعجعُ فيكُمُ بَرْكُ المعالي

وتُلقِي بين أظهركم عصاها

The camels of high distinction settle among you

and lay down their staffs in your midst.

ردَدتم عنّيَ الأيامَ بِيضا

أظَافرها معطَّلةً زُباها

You drove away from me the days, their white

claws stripped of sharp points.

وأغنيتُم ثنائي عن رجالٍ

أرى أسماءكم نَبهَت كُناها

Your praise has spared me other men

whose bynames I see eclipsed by your names.

لئامُ الملك لو رُدَّتْ إليهم

حياضُ الرزق ما بلُّوا الشِّفاها

The mean men of the realm, if the pools of livelihood

were returned to them, would not wet a lip.

عُرِفتُ بكم وكيف تُسِفُّ نفسي

وقد أعطيتموها ما كفَاها

Through you I became known; why should my soul stoop

when you have given it all it needs?

فدونكم الجزاءَ مُسَيَّراتٍ

على الأفواه تُطرِب من رَواها

So take these verses as recompense, sent forth

upon people’s lips to delight whoever recites them.

إذا طارقْنَ سمعاً من حسودٍ

صَلمنَ وإن حَصَبن الوجه شَاها

When they knock at an envious ear,

they deafen it; when they strike a face, they mar it.

وكم متعرِّضٍ للقدْح فيها

رمَى أمَّ النجومِ وما اتقاها

How many have tried to find fault with them,

aiming at the mother of the stars without guarding himself.

ورام حِطاطَها فهوى رجيما

بها شيطانه ونجا سُهاها

He sought to lower them and fell, accursed,

by their power like his devil, while faint Suhā escaped.

تحدَّى نفسَه فيها فأعيتْ

عليه فردَّ مُعجِزَها سَفاها

He challenged himself over them and failed;

he called their power beyond him mere folly.

فرجلَك لُمْ على المَسعاةِ خلْفي

فما إن شاكها إلا خُطاها

Blame your foot for trailing my endeavor:

only its own steps have pierced it.

وما ذنبي وقد صَحَّت سَوامي

إذا كنتَ المعَرَّ المسْتعَاها

What fault is mine, when my steeds are sound,

if you are the sore-backed one they must carry?

مسامعُ عِفنَ من جهلٍ قِرَاطي

فعدنَ حصاً تردَّد في لَهاها

Ears made foul by ignorance rejected my earrings

and became pebbles rattling in their gullets.