أمكنت العاذل من قيادها — Mihyar Al Daylami

أمكَنَتِ العاذلَ من قِيادِها

فانتزع الرحمةَ من فؤادِها

She gave the reproacher control of her reins,

so he plucked compassion from her heart.

ولوَّنت أخلاقَها فقد غدا

بياضُها يشِفُّ عن سوادِها

She changed the colors of her character; now

her whiteness reveals the blackness beneath.

والغانياتُ عَطفةً وصدْفَةً

يُجنَى لك الحنظلُ من شِهادها

And beautiful women, in affection and aversion,

yield you bitter colocynth from their honeycombs.

لا يملِكُ الراقدُ من أحلامِهِ

إلا كما يملك من ودادِها

A sleeper has no more control over his dreams

than he has over her affection.

أعلَقُ ما كنت بها طماعةً

أَنصلُ ما تكونُ من إسعادِها

When I am most attached to her in eager hope,

she is most withdrawn from bringing me joy.

متى تُكلَّفْ من وفاء شيمةً

تعدْ إلى شيمتها وعادِها

Whenever she is made to adopt a faithful trait,

she returns to her own character and habit.

آهِ على الرقَّةِ في خدودها

لو أنها تسري إلى فؤادِها

Ah, for the tenderness in her cheeks,

if only it would flow into her heart!

بالبان لي دَيْنٌ على ماطلةٍ

يميس غصنُ البان في أَبرادِها

At al-Ban, I am owed a debt by a woman slow to pay;

a moringa branch sways within her mantles.

سلَّطتِ الوجدَ على جوانحي

تسلُّطَ الخُلفِ على ميعادِها

She set passion over my ribs,

as broken promises rule her appointed meetings.

يا طَرَباً لنفحةٍ نجديّةٍ

أعدِلُ حرَّ القلبِ باستبرادِها

Oh, what delight in a breeze from Najd!

I temper my heart's heat with its coolness.

وما الصَّبا ريحيَ لولا أنها

إذا جرت هبَّتْ على بلادِها

The east wind would not be my wind, were it not

that whenever it blows, it sweeps across her country.

قل لمُخِيضِ العيسِ أغباسَ السُّرَى

تأكلُ عَرضَ البيدِ في إسآدِها

Say to the driver urging pale camels through the glooms of night-travel,

as they devour the breadth of the wastes in their night-long march:

موائراً ترى السَّلامَ رمَضاً

بينَ سُلاماها إلى أعضادِها

surging onward, they feel the stones burn

between their foot-joints and their upper legs.

ذُبالُها تحت الدجى عيونُها

لا تستشير النجمَ في رَشادِها

Their eyes are their lamp-wicks beneath the darkness;

they do not consult the stars for guidance.

تبغِي الندَى وأين من مُرادِه

طيُّ الفلا وأين من مُرادِها

They seek bounty—how far from his aim

is crossing the deserts, and how far from theirs!

عِندَكَ روضٌ وسحابٌ مغدِقٌ

إن صدَقَتْ عينُك في ارتيادِها

Before you is a meadow and a cloud pouring abundantly,

if your eye has been truthful in its scouting.

أيدي بني عبدِ الرحيم أبحرٌ

أعذبَها اللّهُ على وُرَّادِها

The hands of the sons of Abd al-Rahim are seas;

God has made them sweet for those who draw from them.

أيدٍ تَساوَى الجودُ فيها فاكتفَى

أَن يسأل المُعتْامُ عن أجوادِها

Hands equal in generosity, sparing

the chooser the need to ask which are most generous.

سلالةٌ من طينةٍ واحدةٍ

مجموعُها يوجَدُ في آحادِها

A lineage made from a single clay,

whose entirety is found in each individual.

اِرْمِ بهم على الليالي تَنتصِفْ

بهِمْ على ضعفِك من شِدادِها

Hurl them against the nights, and you will gain redress

through them, despite your weakness, against the nights' harsh trials.

وشِمْهُمُ على الخطوب تَنْتضِلْ

بيضَ السُّرَيْجِيّاتِ من أغمادِها

And unsheathe them against misfortunes, and you will draw forth

bright Surayji swords from their scabbards.

اُنظرْ إليهم في سماواتِ العلا

مرفوعةً منهم على عِمادِها

Look at them in the heavens of eminence,

raised by them upon their pillars:

ترَ النجومَ الزُّهرَ من وجوههم

ثابتةَ السعودِ في أوتادِها

you will see radiant stars in their faces,

steadfast in good fortune at their heavenly stations.

لهم سناها ثمّ ما ضرّهُمُ

نقصانُ ما يَكثُر من أعدادِها

The stars' radiance is theirs; nor are they harmed

by being fewer than the stars in number.

أسرةُ مجدٍ شهدَ الفضلُ لما

عُقِّبَ عنها بِعُلا أشهادِها

A family of glory; excellence bore witness, when

inquiry was made about it, to its witnesses' eminence.

حسبُك من آياتها دلالةً

أن كمالَ الملك من أولادِها

Sufficient evidence among its signs

is that Kamal al-Mulk is one of its children.

حَيِّ وقرِّبْ غُرّةً أبيّةً

كان النوى يألَمُ من بعادِها

Greet and welcome a proud, radiant brow,

from whose remoteness even separation suffered.

ما سكَنتْ أرضٌ إلى حضورِها

إلا بكتْ أخرى على افتقادِها

No land ever rested in its presence

without another weeping for its absence.

تودُّ حبّاتُ القلوب أنها

ما سافَرتْ تكون من أرفادِها

The innermost cores of hearts wish that,

whenever it travels, they might be among its provisions.

عاد إلى الدولة ظلُّ عزّها

وقرّت الأرواحُ في أجسادِها

The shelter of its might has returned to the state,

and souls have settled in their bodies.

وامتلأتْ من شُهبها أفلاكُها

وضُمّت الغيلُ على آسادِها

Its spheres are filled with its shooting stars,

and the thickets have closed around their lions.

يخطبُها قومٌ وفي حِبالكم

نكاحُها وهم بنو سفادِها

Some seek its hand, though within your marriage bonds

lies its wedlock, while they are sons of mere coupling.

يا عَجزَ من يطمعُ في قنيصِها

والليثُ جثَّامٌ على مرصادِها

How powerless is anyone who covets it as prey,

while the lion crouches at its watch-post!

أنت لها بعدَ أبيك ثُغرةٌ

غيرُك لا يكون من سِدادِها

After your father, you hold the post at its breach;

no one else can serve to close it.

وجهُك في ظلمائها سراجُها

وكفُّك الذائبُ في جَمادِها

Your face is its lamp amid its darkness,

and your palm is its thaw when it is frozen.

صدعت بالفضلِ وكنتَ معجِزاً

تُطيعُك النفوسُ باجتهادِها

You proclaimed excellence and proved beyond imitation;

souls obey you with their utmost effort.

وأذعنتْ طائعةً مختارةً

بميلها إليك وانقيادِها

They submitted willingly, by free choice,

through their inclination toward you and their obedience.

إن ضلَّت الآراءُ باجتماعها

كفَتْك آراؤك بانفرادِها

If opinions go astray even when assembled,

your judgments alone suffice you.

أو عُبِدَتْ أموالُ قومٍ شَرُفَتْ

نفسُكَ أن تكون من عُبَّادِها

Or if a people's riches are worshipped, too noble is

your soul to be among their worshippers.

كفتْكَ كسبَ العزّ نفسٌ حرةٌ

أحرزتِ العزّةَ من ميلادِها

A freeborn soul spared you the labor of gaining glory,

having possessed dignity from its birth.

وقدّمتك فاجتُبيتَ سيِّداً

أرومةٌ طرفُك من تلادِها

It put you forward, and you were chosen a lord:

an ancestry whose old inheritance holds your new attainments.

تُعدِي معاليها إلى أبنائها

على زمان هودِها وعادِها

It passes its high honors on to its children

from the days of its Hud and its Ad.

لكم قُدامَى الأرضِ أو سُلافُها

كنتم رُبىً والناسُ في وهادِها

Yours are the earth's ancient ones, or its earliest stock;

you were heights while others were in its lowlands.

وجمّةُ الملك تجِمُّ لكُمُ

ما طاب واستَغَزَرَ من أورادِها

The reservoir of kingship gathers for you

all that is sweet and abundant in its draughts.

إذا نطقتم سكتَ الناسُ لكم

على قُوَى الأنفاسِ وامتدادِها

Whenever you speak, people fall silent before you,

for all their breath's strength and length.

كأنما ألسنُكم لهاذمٌ

على القنا تُشرَع في صِعادِها

As though your tongues were keen spearheads

mounted on spears and leveled on their shafts.

ميمونةُ النُّقْبة أين وُجِّهَتْ

حَلّلتِ المزنُ عُرى مزادِها

Auspicious in their nature, wherever they are turned,

the clouds loosen the ties of their waterskins.

وإن سُئلتم لم تَرَوا أموالَكم

ناميةً إلا على نفادِها

And when you are asked, you see your wealth

increasing only through its depletion.

هَنَا المعالي منك يا خيرَ أبٍ

يُكنَى بها جمعُك من بدادِها

May high honors rejoice in you, O best of fathers,

named for them, as you gather their scattered glories.

ذاك وسلْ مذ غبتَ عن نفسي وعن

ضراعةٍ لم تكُ في اعتيادِها

That said, ask, since you left, about my soul and about

a humility that had never been its habit,

ونَبوَةِ الأعين عنّي فيكُمُ

كأنني صُيِّرتُ من سُهادِها

and the eyes' aversion to me on your account,

as though I had become their sleeplessness.

أخَّرتُ نفسي بل قعدتُ حَجْرةً

مزمِّلاً بالذلّ في بِجادِها

I held myself back—indeed, I sat apart,

wrapped in abasement within its coarse cloak.

مخفِّضاً قولي متى قيل صَهٍ

خشعتُ بينَ هائها وصادها

Lowering my voice whenever 'Hush!' was said,

I cowered between its hāʾ and its ṣād.

بينَ رجال كمَنتْ فضائلي

عنهم كُمون النار في زنادِها

Among men my virtues lay hidden

from them, like fire hidden in its fire-sticks.

لم أرجُهُم وليتني لم أخشَهم

قلوبُهم تئنُّ من أحقادِها

I placed no hope in them; would that I had not feared them!

Their hearts groan with their rancors.

تسلُقني باللوم فيكم ألسنٌ

أقوالُها تصغرُ في اعتقادِها

Tongues flay me with reproach over you;

their words are small in their own estimation.

فكيفَ معْ قناعتي ظنُّك بي

هل كان إلا المصُّ من ثمادِها

What, then, do you think of me, with all my contentment?

Was it anything but sipping from its scant pools?

خلَّفتني جوهرةً ضائعةً

بقلّةِ الخبرةِ من نُقَّادِها

You left me a lost jewel,

through the scant expertise of its appraisers.

لا حظَّ لي أرجوه عند غيركم

من عُدَّةِ الدنيا ولا عَتادِها

I hope for no share from anyone but you

in this world's resources or its provisions.

تسكُنُ أحشائي إلى حِفاظكم

سكونَ أجفاني إلى رقادِها

My innermost parts find repose in your protection,

as my eyelids find repose in their slumber.

أنتم لنفسي في الحياة وبكم

انتظر العَونَ على مَعادِها

You are my soul's support in life, and through you

I await help at its final return.

فأين كان صبرُكم على النوى

من عَركها الصبرَ ومن جهادِها

How did your patience with separation compare

with its wrestling with patience and its struggle?

وهل وقد أمرضها بعادكم

كنتم بعَطفِ الذِّكْر من عُوّادِها

And when your absence had made it ill,

were you among its visitors, with kindly remembrance?

بلى لقد واصلَها ما بلَّها

من عَون أيديكم ومن إرفادِها

Yes indeed: there reached it what refreshed it

of your hands' help and their gifts.

وقمتُمُ على النوى بلفتةٍ

من نصرها شيئاً ومن إنجادِها

Across the distance you acted with a glance,

offering it some support and some relief.

فاغتنموا الآنَ تلافِي نَقصِها

في سَعةِ الأيّام وازديادِها

So seize this moment to repair its shortfall,

amid the abundance of days and their increase.

وعند نعماك لها إن قُضِيتْ

دَينٌ عليه جُملةُ اعتمادِها

Your bounty owes it—if payment is made—

a debt on which its whole reliance rests,

مؤجَّلاً قبل النوى وبعدَها

من طارف الرسوم أو تِلادِها

deferred before separation and after it,

from new allowances or from long-established grants.

فوكِّل الجودَ على نفسك في

قضائها ومُرْهُ بافتقادِها

So appoint generosity over yourself in

paying its dues, and bid it care for the soul.

واعلم بأن الحالَ في تسويفها

تَضيقُ حتى الوعد في إبعادها

Know that its condition, while you put it off,

grows straitened, even by postponing a promise.

واسلم لها واسع بها سوائراً

بعفوها منك وباجتهادِها

Live on for these verses, and send them traveling,

in their spontaneous praise of you and their studied effort.

لك الطويلُ الشوط من خيولها

فليس تَرضى لك باقتصادِها

Yours are the long-ranging steeds among them;

they will not accept a measured pace for you.

لها بطونُ الأرض بل ظهورُها

تصوَّبَتْ أو هي في إصعادِها

The earth's hollows are theirs—indeed, its heights,

whether they descend or climb upward.

رَجْلَى ولا يعلَقُها ركبُ الفلا

بإبلِ البيدِ ولا جِيادِها

They travel afoot, yet desert riders cannot catch them

on the wastes' camels, nor on their thoroughbreds.

تَسترقِصُ الأسماعَ أو تخالَني

أستخلفُ الغريضَ في إنشادِها

They set listeners dancing; or you might think

I have made al-Gharid my deputy in reciting them.

كأنّها على الطروس أنجمٌ

لألأتِ الخضراء باتقادِها

As though, upon the pages, they were stars

that lit the green sky with their blaze.

يكاد أن يبيضَّ من نُصوعها

ما سوَّد الكاتبُ من مدادِها

Their brilliant purity almost turns white

what the scribe has blackened with their ink.

تنفَّسُ الأيّامُ عن صوابِها

في وصف نُعماكم وفي رشادِها

The days breathe forth their truth

in describing your favors and in their right judgment,

ما دمتُمُ حَلْياً لمهرجانها

فينا وتيجاناً على أعيادِها

as long as you remain adornments for their Mihrjan

among us, and crowns upon their festivals.