أَصاب أو أخطأني راميا — Mihyar Al Daylami

أَصابَ أو أخطأني راميا

قد زجرَ السهمَ وسَمَّى بيا

Whether he hit me or missed me as he shot,

he had urged the arrow on and called my name.

جِراحةٌ مقصودةٌ ما جنتْ

لكنَّه عُدَّ بها جانيا

An intended wound that did no wrong,

yet he was deemed a culprit for it.

جُوزِيَ مَن حكَّمَ في لُبِّه

يومَ العذِيبِ الشادنَ الجازيا

Requited was he who enthroned in his mind

the self-sufficing young gazelle, that day at al-ʿUdhayb.

يا ربِ خُذ لي أنتَ من مُقلةٍ

حُمرَتُها من دمِ آماقيا

Lord, avenge me Yourself upon an eye

whose redness comes from the blood of my eye-corners,

تَضعُف عن حَمل جلاليبها

قاتلةٌ حاملةٌ ثاريا

too weak to bear its cloaks,

a killer, bearing the debt of my blood.

لو نشَد البدرَ مُضِلٌّ له

ما نشد الناعتُ إنشاديا

If one who had lost the full moon sought it,

no describer would proclaim it as I do.

لما تواقفنا على زمزمٍ

أشربُ ماءً ليس لي شافيا

When we stood face to face at Zamzam,

I was drinking water that could not heal me,

بدا لها أن تسألَ الركبَ بي

عارفةٌ تسألُ عمّا بيا

she thought to ask the caravan about me;

though she knew, she asked what ailed me.

وامتدَّ يعطو عِزَّةً جيدُها

فهل رأيت الرشَأَ العاطيا

And her neck stretched forth, reaching proudly;

have you then seen a young gazelle stretching so?

ما ضرّ مَن ضنَّ بماعونِهِ

وقد رآه بالمنى وافيا

What harm would it have done him who begrudged his vessel,

and had seen it fully satisfy desire,

لو غَرَفتْ راحتُه غَرفةً

فعبَّ فيها ثُمَّ سقَّانيا

if his palm had scooped a handful,

and he had gulped from it, then given me drink?

سوَّفتُ من جمع فؤادي مِنىً

لو أنّه مِنّي غدا دانيا

From Jamʿ, I kept my heart waiting with hopes,

if only he would draw near to me.

كنَّ ثلاثا حُلُما في مِنى

ثم مضى الركبُ وخلّانيا

For three nights in Minā they were only dreams;

then the caravan departed and left me.

يا من رأى النَّفْرَ ولمَّا يَمتْ

نجوتَ فأخلُدْ أبدا باقيا

O you who saw the departure and have not yet died,

you survived—live forever, remaining alive!

آهِ لأضلاعي وذكرِ الحمى

من نَفَسٍ ينفُضُ أضلاعيا

Ah for my ribs, and the memory of the sanctuary,

from a breath that shakes my ribs,

وزفرةٍ أَعدِي بها عاذلي

كم لسعةٍ قد أعيت الراقيا

and a sigh with which I infect my reproacher!

How many a sting has baffled the charm-healer!

ومن غِمارٍ في الهوى خضتُه

مشمِّرا للصبر عن ساقيا

And many a deep flood of love I have waded through,

baring my shin, girding myself for endurance;

وشبهةٍ في الرأي مجهولةٍ

لا تجدُ النجمَ بها هاديا

and many an obscure doubt of judgment,

in which you find no guiding star.

تيبَس منها لَهَواتُ الحِجا

لا يبلُغ الريُّ بها الصاديا

From it the palates of reason grow dry;

there, no refreshment reaches the thirsty.

خرجتُ منها فارجاً ضِيقها

مخلَّصا أسحبُ سِرباليا

I emerged from it, opening its narrow confines,

freed, trailing my robe.

فكالشجا قافية في اللَّها

تماكسُ الحاذِرَ والراقيا

Then a rhyme, like a bone lodged in the throat,

defies the wary man and the charm-healer.

تخدعُ بالتأنيس من رامها

صِلُّ صَفاً لا يرهبُ الحاويا

It deceives with reassurance whoever seeks it:

a rock-viper, fearing no snake-charmer.

بعثتُ من فكري لها رائضا

ذَلَّل منها اللَّحِزَ الآبيا

From my thought I sent it a tamer,

who subdued its churlish, defiant nature.

وقُدتُها أُمكِنُ من ظهرها

أُركِبهُ أحسابَ إخوانيا

And I led it, making its back available,

mounting my brothers' ancestral honors upon it.

ينقُلني الودُّ إلى مثلها

والمالُ لا ينقُلُ أخلاقيا

Affection moves me to verses like these;

and money does not change my character.

وكم صديق عزَّ داريتُه

لو رُزِقَ الإنصافَ دارانيا

And many a difficult friend I have humored,

who, had he been granted fairness, would have humored me.

علمتُ شَتَّى من أصابيغِهِ

وهْو يرانِي أبيضاً صافيا

I have known his many different colors,

while he sees me white and pure.

يملُّني من حيثُ كاثرتهُ

ولو تفرَّقنا تمنَّانيا

He tires of me because I keep him much company,

yet, if we parted, he would long for me.

أطلبُ غَوثا كأبي طالب

وعزَّ أن أَلقى له ثانيا

I seek a rescuer like Abū Ṭālib,

and it is hard to find another like him.

خلَّصك الدهرُ من الناس لي

من بعدِ تَركاضي وتَطوافيا

Time singled you out from mankind for me,

after my galloping and my wandering,

لأنعمٍ من حيثُ قابلتُها

يوما بوجهي تتلقانيا

for favors that, wherever I face them,

come forth to greet me on any day.

تَمَّت فلم تقعُدْ بها خَلَّةٌ

تنقُصُ منها العددَ الوافيا

They are complete: no deficiency has held them back,

subtracting from their full number.

من عِترةٍ إن شمتَها كلَّها

واسطةَ العِقد تراها هيا

From a lineage which, if you survey it all,

you see is the necklace's central jewel.

أُجِلُّها أنك أحرزتَها

إرثاً حَدَا غابرُها الماضيا

I revere it, for you have gained it

as a legacy, its living heirs urging the departed onward.

لم تخلُ عن فضلك في بعضهم

فضائلٌ ينسبها خاليا

In some of them, your excellence was not absent

from virtues my maternal uncle ascribes to them.

خلَّاك أيوب وآباؤه

تقول مجدي مجدُ آبائيا

Ayyūb and his forefathers have left you free

to say, 'My glory is my forefathers' glory.'

إذا الثمارُ أجتُنيتْ حُلوةً

فاشكر لها الغارس والساقيا

When fruits are harvested sweet,

thank for them the planter and the waterer.

اُمدُدْ إلى النجم يداً إنما

يكونُ عن غيركُمُ عاليا

Stretch a hand toward the star: it is only

high above those other than you.

واستَمْ بأخلاقِك ما شئتَ مِن

مالٍ ونفسٍ لا تُبَعْ غاليا

Bid with your character for whatever you wish of

wealth and life; do not be sold, even at a high price.

رِشتَ فطارت بِيَ مَحصوصةٌ

تملأ من كسبيَ أوكاريا

You gave feathers, and a once-plucked bird flew bearing me,

filling my nests with my earnings,

من بعدِ ما كنتُ قطاةً بها

قصيصةً لا أُتعبُ البازيا

after I had been a sandgrouse in that plight,

wing-clipped, giving the falcon no trouble.

بك استقامت لِيَ عُوجُ المُنى

وصدَّقتْ عائفتي فاليا

Through you the crooked paths of my wishes grew straight,

and my bird-diviner proved my omen-reader right.

وأرْخت الأيّام عن رِبقتي

أمرَحُ أو أقطعُ أرسانيا

And the days loosened the noose around me,

so I frolic, or sever my halters.

أياديا أعطتْ يدِي قوَّةً

أمدَدْتَنيها بادئا تاليا

Benefactions that gave strength to my hand—

you extended them to me, first and afterward.

فسمِّني الغدّار إن لم أكن

لها شكورا وبها جازيا

Then call me treacherous if I am not

grateful for them, and repaying them with this verse.

في كلِّ متروكٍ لها شوطُها

تسابقُ السائقَ والحاديا

On every deserted track it runs its course,

outracing the driver and the camel-singer.

جائلة واصلة ما علتْ

ثَنيَّةً أو هبطَتْ واديا

Roaming and reaching, whether it climbs

a mountain pass or descends into a valley,

تكونُ والليلُ بطِيءُ القِرَى

زادا لمن رافقَها كافيا

when night is slow with hospitality, it becomes

sufficient provisions for whoever accompanies it.

تُسكِر مِن تسنِيمها صاحياً

وتُطرِبُ الكاتبَ والقاريا

It intoxicates the sober with its Tasnīm,

and delights the writer and the reader.

في كلِّ نادٍ لكُمُ ناقدٌ

منها خطيبٌ يملأ النادِيا

In every gathering you have a discerning critic,

an orator drawing on it, filling the hall.

كمدحةٍ مِنِّيَ أهديتُها

ولم أسِمْها مِيسَما باديا

Like a praise-poem I offered from myself,

without marking it with any visible brand.

لكِنَّها من معدِنٍ لم يكن

بسرِّه ينبُعُ إلا ليا

Yet it comes from a mine that never

welled forth with its secret except for me.

بديعة حسناء فكري لها

ظِئرٌ وفي صدري رَبَتْ ناشيا

An original beauty—my thought is its

wet nurse; in my breast it grew as a child.

فإن شكرتم مُهدِيا فاشكروا

إهدايَ منها بعضَ أعضائيا

If you thank a giver, then give thanks

for my offering through it some of my own limbs.