من مخبري عن الطفل — Mihyar Al Daylami

مَن مخبري عن الطَّفَلْ

قلَّص بعد ما أظَلّْ

Who will tell me of the twilight,

which receded after spreading its shade,

تناصُلَ البُردِ السَّمَلْ

ينصاعُ من فرط الوجلْ

like the fraying of a threadbare cloak?

It darts away in utter fear

من الصباح المشتعِلْ

نجاءَ صِلٍّ من وَعِلْ

of the blazing morning,

with a viper's flight from an ibex.

أتبعُ منه بالأملْ

منسلخاً لا يستهلّْ

I pursue something of it with hope,

slipping away, never to begin anew.

كنت المدلَّ المحتمِلْ

أياّم نبتي مبتقِلْ

I was self-assured and able to bear burdens,

in days when my young growth was green:

غصنٌ يُلَسُّ بالقُبلْ

فليته لم يَكتهلْ

a bough caressed with kisses—

would that it had never grown old!

ظِلُّ دجىً لما انتقلْ

تحامت الشمسَ المُقَلْ

A shade of night: when it departed,

eyes shunned the sun.

يا هلْ ولا تنفع هلْ

يخضب دهرٌ ما نَصَلْ

Ah, will it?—though 'will it?' is of no use—

will Time dye what has faded?

قنعتُ منه إذ رحلْ

ببدلٍ ولا بدلْ

When it departed, I was content

with a replacement—though no replacement exists.

مضى بشِرَّاتِ الجذلْ

وجاء يأخذُ الأجلْ

It left, taking joy's exuberance with it,

and the appointed end came to take its toll:

طارق شرٍّ مذ نزلْ

أنكرتُ عاداتي الأُولْ

an evil visitor; since it alighted,

I have found my former ways strange.

ضيفٌ سرى على عجلْ

خاض الدجى وما استدلّْ

A guest who traveled by night in haste,

plunging through darkness without seeking directions,

ولا دعا بحيّ هلْ

قريته ولم أُبَلْ

nor calling out, 'Come here!'

I gave him hospitality, without a care:

البكراتِ والبُزُلْ

والضرعَ جهدَ ما احتفلْ

young she-camels and mature camels,

and the udder's fullest store.

نغبقه فما قبلْ

لحم سواى في الأُكُلْ

We gave him evening milk; he accepted no

flesh but mine as food,

حتى انتقى لحمي وخلّْ

عطَّ الظُّبا رثَّ الخِللْ

till he picked my flesh clean and wasted me away,

with broken sword-edges and tattered sheaths,

وقادني نضواً أُبِلّْ

مع الرذايا والهَمَلْ

and led me, a wasted camel, convalescing,

among the exhausted camels and the strays,

مطّرحاً لا أحتفل

مطرحة الشنّ النغِلْ

cast aside, caring nothing,

as a rotten old waterskin is cast away.

موت الشباب والغزلْ

ذكرتُ والذكرى شُغُلْ

The death of youth and love!

I remembered—and remembrance is engrossing—

بين الجفير والقُلَلْ

حيّاً فؤادي فيه حلّْ

between al-Jafir and the hilltops,

a clan among whom my heart had settled,

رامين بالسود النُّجُلْ

فلا يخيب المنتبِلْ

shooting with wide black eyes,

so their archer never fails.

يُصبن ما تُخطي ثُعَلْ

فعادني عيد الخبَلْ

They hit what Thu'al misses.

So madness's recurring bout revisited me,

قرفك جرحاً ما اندملْ

فانشد رقادي أين ضلّ

blaming you for a wound that never healed;

so seek my sleep: where did it stray,

يوم الأسير في الطِّولْ

يا دار إني لم أسلْ

on the captive's day within the tether?

O dwelling, I have not ceased to yearn,

حين حَليتُ بالعَطَلْ

ونضب الدمعُ وقَلّْ

when I was adorned with bareness,

and tears dried up and dwindled.

أين الشموس في الكِلَلْ

كلُّ مهاةٍ لم يزلْ

Where are the suns within the bed-canopies?

Each a white oryx whose

جريحُها حتى قُتِلْ

مِرودها إذا صُقِلْ

wounded lover stayed wounded till he was killed;

her kohl-stick, when polished,

لوَّنَهُ صبغ الكَحَلْ

ذات قوام معتدلْ

was dyed by her eyes' own natural darkness.

Possessed of a well-proportioned figure,

من التَّريبِ والكَفَلْ

بين النشاط والكسلْ

from breastbone to rounded haunch,

between liveliness and languor.

إذا احتبين بالأُصُلُ

على الأحاديث الفُضُلْ

When they sit with knees clasped at evening,

over leisurely, rambling talk,

ونُظِم العقدُ وحُلّْ

من العفافِ والخجلْ

and the necklace was strung and unstrung

through chastity and bashfulness,

وقد تُرِكنَ في الظُّللْ

مثلَ مباركِ الإبلْ

and they were left amid the shades,

like the kneeling-places of camels.

يا دهرُ أنت والعذلْ

قد وُقِرَ السمعُ وملّْ

O Time, you and your reproaches!

My hearing has grown deaf and weary.

غرَّك من عَوْدٍ بَزَلْ

نهوضُه بما حَمَلْ

You were deceived about an old, full-grown camel

by his rising under the load he carried:

عقلاً قد اشتاق العُقُلْ

ربّ طليق محتبَلْ

a mind that has come to long for fetters.

Many a free one is ensnared.

قد عدتُ من تحت الرحلْ

كأن غارتي أظلّْ

I have returned from beneath the saddle,

as though my raid were close at hand,

كما أطلُبُ الأمرَ الجلَلْ

بنصر أيّام خُذُلْ

even as I seek a grave undertaking

with the help of days that forsake me.

أعلو بحظٍّ قد نزلْ

أسوم خرقاء العملْ

I rise with a fortune that has sunk;

I set a clumsy one to work.

أيّ يدٍ لو لم تشلّ

لا تسع الرزقَ الحيلْ

What could any hand do, even if not palsied?

Stratagems cannot command one's livelihood.

ما أطعم الدهرُ فكلْ

وما حذاك فانتعِلْ

Eat whatever Time feeds you,

and wear whatever shoes it gives you.

يا سَقمي كيف أُبِلّ

والطبُّ أعوانُ العِللْ

O my sickness, how can I recover,

when medicine is the ally of ailments?

إن يك مقدارٌ جهلْ

أو سحر آمال بطَلْ

If fate has acted blindly,

or the enchantment of hopes has failed,

فقد يُقيلُك الزلَلْ

مولىً إذا قال فعلْ

someone may yet release you from your stumble:

a lord who acts whenever he speaks.

حيّ ابن أيوبَ ومِلْ

إلى ذَاره فاستظِلّ

Salute Ibn Ayyub, and turn

toward his shelter, and take shade.

تر الأنامَ في رجُلْ

سُوِّدَ في العشرِ الأُوَلْ

You will see all humanity in one man,

made chief in his first ten years,

وتمَّ وهو مقتبِلْ

وداس عَوصاءَ السُّبُلْ

and perfected while still young.

He trod the most difficult paths

إلى الكمالِ فكمَلْ

إن روّح المزنُ انهملْ

to perfection, and attained it.

If the raincloud brings coolness, it pours;

أو أورق الغصنُ حملْ

مدّ يميناً فبذلْ

or if the bough puts out leaves, it bears fruit.

He stretched out a right hand and gave freely,

لولا الندى لم تُبتذَلْ

هامَرَها الغيثُ الهَطِلْ

which, but for generosity, would never be put to use.

Torrential rain vied with it in pouring,

مطاولاً فلم ينلْ

حتى إذا زادت وقلّْ

striving to outlast it, yet could not prevail,

until, as the hand gave more and the rain less,

صاح بها وقد نَكلْ

هذا السماح لا شَلَلْ

the rain cried to it, having recoiled:

'This is generosity, not paralysis!'

أي فتَى عَقدٍ وحَلّْ

إن عافت الرأيَ الشُّكَلْ

What a youth for binding and unbinding!

If tangled problems reject sound judgment,

ومرّ يرتاد العللْ

ربُّ الضمير المنقفلْ

and he sets out to discover their causes,

master of the locked chamber of thought,

أنهلَ رأياً وأعلّْ

إذا طغى الخطب وجَلّْ

he pours out counsel, a first draught and another.

When calamity overflows and grows grave,

وعُذِرتْ على الفشلْ

نفسُ الشجاع المصمِئلّْ

and failure is forgiven in

the heart of even the steadfast brave man,

وقذف الجرحُ الفُتُلْ

وكنّ أدواء عُضُلْ

and a wound casts out its lint-plugs,

and the maladies prove incurable,

خاض من البحر وشَلْ

ضحضاحِه ثم وألْ

he wades through the sea's trickling

shallows, then escapes to safety,

يعصر ذيلاً من بَللْ

لا مكرهاً لكن بطَلْ

wringing wetness from his hem,

not compelled, but a hero,

فتكَ عجولٍ في مهلْ

مصابرٍ طول الطِّيلْ

swift in assault, yet deliberate,

steadfast through the long stretch;

إن ركبَ القِرنُ نزلْ

يُجيل فكرا لم يَجُلْ

if his opponent mounts, he dismounts.

He turns over a thought that never stirred

إلا لتقويمِ خَطَلْ

يصحو به اليومَ الثمِلْ

except to set folly straight;

through it the drunken man today grows sober.

له وراء ما فعلْ

عينُ عُقابٍ يوم طَلّْ

Beyond all that he has done, he keeps

an eagle's eye when it peers down.

من معشر راضو الدولْ

وملأوا فَرْجَ الخِلَلْ

He comes from a people who tamed states,

and filled the openings of weakness,

واحتلفوا فلم تحِلّْ

أيمانُهم على بُطُلْ

and swore oaths; never were

their oaths dissolved for falsehood.

لا صَحبوا العيشَ بذلّْ

إن أُكل المالُ عدلْ

May they never live in humiliation!

If wealth is consumed, equality follows:

مكثرُهم حالَ المقلّْ

إن هوّموا على ذَحَلْ

their rich man shares the poor man's condition.

If they doze over a blood-debt,

سلُّوا الكرى من المُقلْ

وشمَّروا الرُّدنَ الفُضُلْ

they draw sleep from their eyes,

and roll up their trailing sleeves

عن كلّ عبلٍ منصقِلْ

يُحسب من غمدٍ يُسَلّْ

from every stout, polished arm,

as though it were drawn from a sheath,

بالسمهريّ قد فُتِلْ

كأنه من الذُّبُلْ

twined tight around the hard spear,

as if it were a seasoned spear-shaft.

وأفرغوا من العَجل

على عُصارات المقَلْ

And, in their haste, they pour

upon tears squeezed from eyes

سيوفهم إثر الفَللْ

تأخذ ما أبقى الأسلْ

their swords in pursuit of the routed,

taking what the spears have left.

جرّبتُ والسيف نَكَلْ

وإخوة الفقر قُلُلْ

I tested—when the sword recoiled,

and poverty's brothers were few—

محمداً فلم يَحُلْ

عن شيم المجد الأُوَلْ

Muhammad, who never departed

from the ancient traits of nobility.

يقظان كالسِّمع الأزلّْ

يعقِلها ويتَّكِلْ

Wakeful as the lean sim‘,

he binds them fast, then trusts.

كم لك في العام الأَزَلْ

من شافياتٍ للغُلَلْ

How many, in a year of drought, are yours—

healing gifts for burning thirst—

من دُبُرٍ ومن قُبُلْ

مفصَّلاتِ وجُمَلْ

from behind and from before,

in separate gifts and in whole sums,

جوداً وفي البحر بَخَلْ

أطلعني فوق الأملْ

a bounty beside which the sea is miserly!

He raised me above my hopes,

حتى كفاني وفضَلْ

فإن جرى قولٌ عَمِلْ

until he met my needs and gave still more.

So, if a saying can flow and take effect,

أو يعدل القطرَ السَّبَلْ

فقُدْ مصاعيبَ ذُلُلْ

or a downpour can match the rain,

then lead these unruly yet docile mounts:

بنات فكر منتخلْ

يُولدن من غير حبَلْ

daughters of sifted thought,

born without pregnancy.

إذا مررن في الرِّحَلْ

بيبسٍ فهو خَضِلْ

When they pass among the saddles

through dry land, it grows lush.

حاملُها بما نَقَلْ

في الركب مرحانُ جَذِلْ

Their bearer, because of what he carries,

is merry and joyful in the caravan,

كأنه قد استهلّْ

ببابه يومَ ثَمِلْ

as though he had newly appeared

at his door on a day of intoxication.

كما سهم حاسدٍ نَصلْ

عنها وقد خاب وذلّْ

Just as an envier's arrow falls away

from them, thwarted and humbled.

يذمّ منها ما جهل

وودّه إذا احتفَلْ

He disparages in them what he does not know,

yet his wish, when he exerts himself,

بالبيت منها لو وصلْ

يَقرِضه أو ينتحِلْ

is to attain a single verse of theirs,

to compose it or claim it as his own.

أو لم يقل فقد هُبِلْ

من لك أعمى بالحَولْ

Or, if he does not speak, he is bereft of sense:

who can help you with a man blinded by his squint?

لا تُبِلغُ الموتى الرسُلْ

إن كنت قوّالاً فقلْ

Messengers cannot reach the dead.

If you are a great speaker, then speak.

قد جاءني ما يُرتجَلْ

من عيبتي فما عمِلْ

What can be improvised has come to me

from my own store; what effect has

مِبردُ قَيْنٍ في الجبل

أمدُدْ يداً قِبلَ زُحلْ

a smith's file upon a mountain?

Stretch out a hand toward Saturn,

إذا ابن أيوب كفَلْ

يحفظ غيبي لم أُبَلْ

if Ibn Ayyub stands surety,

guarding me in my absence; I need not care.

اسلم يسالمْك الأجلْ

ونل ذُرى العزِّ وطُلْ

Live safely; may the appointed end make peace with you.

Attain the summits of honor and tower high

في كلّ يومٍ مقتبِلْ

إن طرقَ الخطبُ الجَلَلْ

on every coming day.

If grave calamity comes knocking,

حجبتَه فلم يصِلْ

وصُبْ إذا الغيثُ مَطَلْ

you bar it, and it cannot get through.

Pour forth when the rain delays,

إنك من قومٍ فُعُلْ

for you are of a people of deeds.