لمن ظعن سوائر لو — Mihyar Al Daylami

لمن ظُعُنٌ سوائرُ لو

صحوتُ عقلتُها لمنِ

Whose are these litters on the move? If

I came to my senses, I would know whose they are.

تخُطُّ الرملَ من يبري

نَ خطَّ الماءِ بالسفُنِ

They furrow the sand of Yabrin

as ships furrow the water.

صواعدُ يبتدرن الحَزْ

نَ يا شوقي ويا حزَني

Climbing, they hasten toward the rugged

uplands—O my longing, O my grief!

بفارغةِ الحِقابِ مشي

ن مشيَ الذيل والرُّدُنِ

Bearing a slender-waisted woman, they

walked with the gait of trailing hems and sleeves.

إذا قِيس الغزالُ بها

بكت شَفَقا من الغَبَنِ

When a gazelle is compared with her,

she weeps in pity at the injustice.

تناشدني على يبري

نَ غضَّ الطرف تُتْبِعني

At Yabrin she implores me

to lower my gaze, then follows with:

فصن سرّي وسرَّك إن

بقيتَ بمطرَح الظِّنَنِ

“Guard my secret and yours, if

you remain where suspicions fall.

فإني عند أترابي

بحيث الشمس لم ترني

For among my peers,

I dwell where the sun has never seen me.”

هبيني أستُر النجوى

أليس الدمعُ يفضَحني

Suppose I conceal our whispered words—

do tears not betray me?

لساني فيك أملِكه

ودمعُ العين يملِكني

I control my tongue concerning you,

but the eye's tears control me.

فما للدمع من عيني

مكانُ السر من أذُني

For tears within my eye do not have

a secret's place within my ear.

نحَلتُ نحولَ ربعكُمُ

كأنّ عِراصَه بدَني

I have wasted away like your dwelling,

as though its open grounds were my body.

فما منّي ومن أضغا

ثِ داركُمُ سوى الدِّمنِ

Nothing remains of me or the jumbled

remnants of your dwelling but blackened camp traces.

مَن الغادي ابتغاءَ الأج

ر يضمَن حاجةَ الضَّمِنِ

Who will set out, seeking a

reward, and undertake an invalid's need,

فيوصلَ سالما وطرا

عراقيّاً إلى اليمنِ

to deliver safely a cherished wish

from Iraq to Yemen?

وأغنَى اللهُ غيْبتَه

جراءً من بدورِ غَنِي

And may God enrich his time away

with a recompense from the full moons of Ghani.

تداعَس بالقنا الأقرا

نُ وافتقروا إلى الجُنَنِ

With spears, matched warriors thrust at one another

and found themselves in need of shields.

وعَمُّوا بيضَ أوجههم

بأردية الوغى الدُّكُنِ

They covered their white faces

with the dark cloaks of battle.

وباعوا الحربَ أنفسَهم

بما ارتخصت من الثمنِ

They sold themselves to war

for a paltry price,

طِلابَ العز في الدنيا

وطيبِ حديثها الحَسنِ

seeking honor in this world

and the sweetness of its fair renown.

فباقٍ نال حاجتَه

وآخرُ قبل ذاك فنِي

One survivor attained his desire,

and another perished before then.

ونال المجدَ قانِيهِ

بلا تِرَةٍ ولا إحَنِ

Yet glory's possessor attained it

without blood feud or grudges:

فتًى من آل أيّوبٍ

عن الحرب العَوانِ غني

a young man of the house of Ayyub,

who has no need of recurrent war.

يداه له إذا خان ال

يَدَ اليزنيُّ لم تَخُنِ

His hands serve him: when a Yazani spear betrays

the hand, they never betray him.

نفى أبناؤها الصّرحا

ءُ أنسابَ القنا الهُجَنِ

Its pure-born sons have repudiated

the pedigrees of mongrel spears.

يثقِّفها إذا انآدت

مراسُ الرأي والفِطَنِ

When they bend, they are straightened

by practiced judgment and discernment.

وتنقُص وهي زائدةٌ

ولولا النقص لم تبنِ

They diminish while they increase;

without that loss, they would not make things clear.

تمجُّ دمَ القلوب ولم

تلجْ جرحا على بدنِ

They spout the blood of hearts, yet never

enter a wound upon a body.

تحُلُّ بها عقودَ السح

ر حلَّك عُقدةَ الشَّطَنِ

With them you untie the knots of

magic, as you untie a knot in a long rope,

على بيضاء مصقولٍ

عوارضُها من الدرنِ

upon a white sheet, polished

along its sides, free of grime.

إذا ما استوُدعتْ سرّا

فليس تعابُ بالعلنِ

When it is entrusted with a secret,

it is not blamed for disclosure.

وما كلُّ الرجال على

ودائعها بمؤتمنِ

Not every man is

a trustworthy keeper of its confidences.

يقطّر ظهرُها الأبطا

لَ بين العيّ واللَّكنِ

Its back throws champions headlong

between inarticulacy and broken speech,

سوى متمرّس ذرِبٍ

بُلِي بطرادها ومُنِي

save a seasoned, sharp-tongued man,

tested and tried in jousting with it.

فما ركبَ ابنُ أيّوب

بلا فأسٍ ولا رَسنِ

Thus Ibn Ayyub never mounted it

without an axe and a rein.

سقى الودُّ امرأً روَّى

نميرُ وداده غُصُني

May affection water a man whose

sweet-flowing friendship has watered my branch.

قنِعتُ به من الدنيا

وجُلُّ الشيء يُقنعني

I am content with him out of all the world,

and a thing's greater part contents me,

ومن إخوان عَلَّاتٍ

جَفوْا بتخالف اللبَنِ

and in place of brothers of different mothers,

estranged by the difference in their milk.

ودادُهمُ على الأيدي

متى يتصافحوا يَبِنِ

Their affection rests upon their hands:

it shows whenever they shake hands.

خبرتُهُمُ فعفتُهُمُ

وكاثرني فوافقني

I tested them and came to loathe them;

he vied with me in generosity, and suited me.

سكنتُ إلى خلائقه

سكونَ الجفن للوسنِ

I found repose in his character,

as an eyelid rests in drowsiness.

ولانت لي به الدنيا

على أخلاقها الخُشُنِ

Through him the world grew gentle to me,

despite its harsh disposition.

ودام على مضيق الشك

ر متسعا له عطَني

And despite the narrow bounds of gratitude,

my resting-ground remained spacious for him,

بكل كثيرة النُّقْلا

تِ من وطن إلى وطنِ

with every poem that makes many journeys

from homeland to homeland,

مع الحيتانِ في الغمَرا

تِ والعِقبانِ في القُنَنِ

with the fish in deep waters

and the eagles upon the peaks,

محدّثة بسؤدده

حديثَ الروض بالمُزُنِ

telling of his nobility

as gardens tell of rain clouds.

كأن طريقَها المروي

يَ مما لاق بالأذنِ

As though its course, recounted

from what has lodged in the ear,

طوَى درج السنينَ وجا

ء في الآثار والسّننِ

had folded up the scroll of years and come

down in traditions and established ways.

يزرنك ما وفت مِنن ال

ثناء بمثقل المننِ

They will visit you as long as the favors of

praise suffice for one laden with favors,

وما جَلَبت ثلاثُ منىً

على العشّاق من فتنِ

and as long as Mina's three nights bring

temptations upon lovers,

وسَنُّوا محرمي الأبدا

ن عَقْرَ حلائِل البُدُنِ

and, with their bodies consecrated, they prescribe

slaughtering the mates of sacrificial camels.

وإن كان امرؤ بلغ ال

خلودَ بنفسه فكُنِ

And if any man has attained

immortality on his own, then be that man.