بعينيك يوم البين غيبي ومشهدي — Mihyar Al Daylami

بعينيكِ يومَ البينِ غَيبْي ومَشهَدي

وذلُّ مَقامي في الخليط ومَقعَدي

Your eyes saw, on parting day, my hidden and my open plight,

And the humiliation of my standing and sitting among the company,

وقَوْلي وقد صاحوا بها يُعجِلونها

نشَدتكُمُ في طارقٍ لم يزوَّدِ

And my words, as they called to her, urging her onward:

“I implore you for a night visitor given no provisions.

أناخ بكم مستسقياً بعضَ ليلةٍ

ولم يدْرِ أن الموتَ منها ضحى الغدِ

He halted his camel among you, seeking water for part of a night,

Not knowing death would come from her the next forenoon.

أتحمون عن عضّ الضراغم جارَكم

ويقتُلُني منكم غزالٌ ولا يَدي

Do you protect your neighbor from the bite of lions,

While a gazelle among you kills me and pays no blood-money?”

وما زلتُ أبكي كيفَ حُلَّت بحاجرٍ

قُوَى جَلَدي حتى تداعَى تجلُّدي

I kept weeping at how, at Hajir, were loosened

The strands of my endurance, until my self-command collapsed.

وعنّفني سعدٌ على فرط ما رأى

فقلتُ أتعنيفٌ ولم تكُ مسعدي

Sa'd rebuked me for the excess he saw;

I said, “Reproach, when you have not been my comforter?”

أسفتُ لحلمٍ كان لي يومَ بارقٍ

فأخرجه جهلُ الصبابة من يدي

I mourned the composure I possessed on the day at Bariq,

Which the folly of ardent love wrested from my hand.

وما ذاك إلا أن عجِلتُ بنظرةٍ

قَتلتُ بها نفسي ولم أتعمّدِ

It was only that I was too hasty with a glance,

With which I killed myself, though not deliberately.

تحرَّشْ بأحقاف اللوى عُمرَ ساعةٍ

ولولا مكانُ الريب قلتُ لك ازدد

Venture among al-Liwa's curved dunes for an hour;

Were it not for grounds for suspicion, I would tell you: stay longer.

وقل صاحبٌ لي ضلَّ بالرمل قلبُهُ

لعلّك أن يلقاك هادٍ فتهتدي

Say, “A friend of mine has lost his heart among the sands”;

Perhaps a guide will meet you, and you will find the way.

وسلِّمْ على ماءٍ به بَرْدُ غُلّتي

وظلِّ أراكٍ كان للوصل مَوعدي

Greet the water that cools my burning thirst,

And the shade of arak trees where I had my tryst.

وقل لَحمام البانتين مهنّئاً

تغنَّ خليّاً من غرامي وغَرّدِ

Say, congratulating the doves of the two ban trees:

“Sing, free of my love-torment, and warble.”

أعندكُمُ يا قاتلينَ بقيَّةٌ

على مهجةٍ إن لم تمتْ فكأن قَدِ

Have you, O killers, any mercy left

For a heart that, if not dead, is as though it were?

ويا أهل نجدٍ كيف بالغور عندكم

بقاءُ تهاميٍّ يهيم بمنُجد

O people of Najd, how, do you think, in the lowlands

Can a man of Tihama survive, love-maddened by a dweller in Najd?

ملكتم عزيزاً رقُّه فتعطَّفوا

على مُنكرٍ للذلّ لم يتعوَّد

You have made a proud man your slave; show compassion

To one who rejects humiliation, unaccustomed to it.

أغدراً وفيكم ذمّةٌ عربيّةٌ

وبخلاً ومنكم يستفادُ ندى اليدِ

Betrayal, when an Arab pledge of protection is yours?

And stinginess, when openhanded bounty comes from you?

فليت وجوهَ الحيّ أعدتْ قلوبَهُ

ففجَّرَ لي ماءً بها كلُّ جلمدِ

Would that the tribe's faces had infected its hearts,

So every boulder within them had gushed forth water for me.

وليتكُمُ جيرانُ عوفٍ تلقَّنوا

خلالَ الندى والجودِ من آل مَزيَدِ

Would that you, neighbors of Awf, had learned

The virtues of bounty and generosity from the house of Mazyad:

من الضيّقي الأعذارِ والواسعي القِرَى

إذا ما جُمادى قال للّيلة ابرُدي

Those scant in excuses and ample in hospitality,

When Jumada says to the night, “Grow cold!”

ولفَّ على خيشومِه الكلبُ مُقعِياً

يرى الموتَ إلا ما استغاث بمَوقدِ

And the dog squats, curling its tail across its muzzle,

Seeing death except when it seeks refuge by a fire;

وشدّ يديه حالبُ الضَّرع غامراً

على مُصفِر قد مسّه الجدبُ مثمِدِ

And the udder-milker clenches both hands, enclosing it,

Upon an emptied udder, drought-stricken and drained of milk;

وباتَ غلامُ الحيّ يُسند ظهرَه

من النَّضَد الواهي إلى غيرِ مُسنِد

And the tribe's lad spends the night propping his back

Against a flimsy heap of bedding that offers no support—

هنالك يأوِي طارقُ الليل منهُمُ

إلى كلّ رطْبٍ مُثمرِ النبتِ مُزبِدِ

Then the night visitor finds refuge among them

With each man tender, fruitful in growth, foaming with bounty,

كريم القِرى والوجهِ ملءِ جفانِهِ

رحيبِ الرواقِ مُنعمِ العيش مُرفِدِ

Generous in hospitality and countenance, his serving bowls brimful,

His pavilion spacious, his living easeful, a giver of aid.

قليل على الكُوم الصفايا حنوُّهُ

إذا السيف ردَّاهنَّ للساقِ واليدِ

Little is his tenderness toward the choice high-humped milch-camels

When the sword fells them onto shank and foreleg.

كمثلِ أبي الذوّادِ لا متعلِّلٍ

إذا سُئل الجدوَى ولا بمُنكِّدِ

Like Abu al-Dhawwad, making no excuses

When asked for bounty, nor giving grudgingly:

فتىً بيتُهُ للطارقين وسيفُهُ

لهامِ العدا والمالُ للمتزوِّدِ

A young man whose house is for night visitors, whose sword

Is for enemies' heads, and whose wealth is for those needing provisions.

ويوماه إما لاصطباحِ سُلافةٍ

تُصفَّقُ أو داعي صياحٍ ملدَّدِ

His two kinds of day are either for morning draughts of choice wine,

Poured from vessel to vessel, or for a frantic caller's cry.

وَفَى بشروطِ المُلك وهو ابن مَهدِهِ

وسُوِّدَ في خيط التميم المعقَّدِ

He fulfilled kingship's conditions while still a child in his cradle,

And was made chief while wearing the knotted amulet-string.

وجادَ على العلاَّت والعامُ أشهبٌ

بأحمرَ من خير الرحالِ وأسودِ

He gave despite hardships, when the year was ashen,

Red and black alike from the finest riding mounts.

ولم تحتبسه عن مساعي شيوخه

سِنُوهُ التي حلَّته حِليَة أمردِ

His years did not hold him back from his elders' endeavors—

Those years that gave him the adornment of a beardless youth.

أناف بجَدَّيه وأسندَ ظهرَهُ

إلى جبلين من عَفيفٍ ومَزْيَدِ

He rose high through his two grandfathers and braced his back

Against two mountains: Afif and Mazyad.

له في ملوك الشرقِ والغربِ منهُمُ

نجومُ السماءِ من ثريَّا وفرقدِ

Among their kings of East and West he has

Heaven's stars—the Pleiades and Farqad.

أيا راكبَ الوجناءِ يخبط ليلَه

على الرزق لم يقصِد ضلالاً لمَقصدِ

O rider of the sturdy she-camel, groping through the night

Seeking livelihood, but lost and unable to head toward a goal:

ترامت به الآفاقُ ينشُدُ حظَّه

فلم يُعطِه التوفيقُ صفحةَ مُرشِدِ

The horizons have tossed him far as he seeks his fortune,

But success has not shown him a guide's face.

أنخها تُفرِّجْ همَّها بمفرِّجٍ

وطلِّق شقاءَ العيش من بعدُ واسعدِ

Make her kneel: through a reliever of cares you will ease hers.

Divorce life's misery henceforth, and prosper.

وَرِدْ جَمّةَ الجودِ التي ما تكدَّرتْ

بمَنٍّ ورِدْ ظلَّ المنى المورِق النَّدِي

Drink at generosity's deep pool, never muddied

By reminders of favors; enter wishes' leafy, dewy shade.

وبِتْ في أمانٍ أن يسوءَك ظالمٌ

علَتْ يدُهُ أو أن تُراعَ بمعتدي

Spend the night secure against harm from a tyrant

Whose hand has risen high, or terror from an aggressor.

حَماك أبو الذوّادِ مالكُ أمرِهِ

على كلّ حامٍ منهُمُ ومذوِّدِ

Abu al-Dhawwad protects you, master of his own affairs,

Above every protector and defender among them.

أخو الحرب إمّا مُخمِدٌ يومَ أُوقِدتْ

وإمّا شَبوبٌ نارَها غير مُخمِدِ

A brother of war: either quenching it the day it is kindled,

Or fiercely feeding its fire, no quencher of it.

له الخطوة الأولى إذا السيف قصَّرتْ

به ظبتاه فهو يوصل باليدِ

His is the first stride; when the sword falls short

With its two edges, he extends its reach with his hand.

إذا ابتدر الغاراتِ كان سهامُها

له من قتيلٍ أو أسيرٍ مصفَّدِ

When he is first to the raids, their shares

Are his—slain foes or captives bound in chains.

خفيف أمام الخيلِ رسغُ جوادِهِ

إذا الخوفُ أقعَى بالحِصانِ المعرِّدِ

His charger's pastern is light ahead of the horses,

When fear makes the retreating stallion cower.

ولما كفى الأقرانَ في الرَّوع وارتوتْ

صوارمُهُ من حاسرٍ ومسرَّدِ

When he had bested his peers in battle and slaked

His keen blades on bareheaded men and men in mail,

تعرَّض للأُسدِ الغِضابِ فلم يدعْ

طريقاً لذي شِبلين منها ومُفرَدِ

He challenged the angry lions, leaving

No path for any with two cubs, or any solitary one.

حماها الفريسُ أن تُطيفَ بأرضه

وشرَّدَها عن غابها كلَّ مَشرَدِ

Their would-be prey barred them from prowling his land,

And drove them from their thickets into every place of exile.

وهانتْ فصارتْ مُضغةً لسلاحه

ممزَّقةً في صَعدَةٍ أو مُهنَّدِ

They grew contemptible, mere morsels for his weapons,

Torn apart upon a spear or Indian-steel sword.

ويومَ لقيتَ الأدرعَ الجهمَ واحداً

جرى مُلبِدٌ يشتدُّ في إثر مُلبِدِ

On the day you faced the dark-maned, grim one alone,

One thick-maned lion raced hard on the heels of another.

نَصبتَ له لم تستعن بمؤازرٍ

عليه ولم تُنصَر بكثرةِ مُسعدِ

You stood firm against him, seeking no ally

Against him, nor aided by a multitude of supporters.

وقفتَ وقد طاش الرجالُ بموقفٍ

متى تتمثَّلْه الفرائصُ تُرعَدِ

You stood, while men lost their wits, in a place

Whose very imagining makes the flank-muscles tremble.

فأوْجَرْتَهُ نجلاءَ أبقتْ بجنبهِ

فتُوقاً إذا ما رُقِّعتْ لم تُسَدَّدِ

You made him swallow a broad thrust that left in his side

Gashes that, however patched, would never close.

تَحدَّرُ منها لَبتَّاه وصدرُهُ

على ساعدٍ رِخوٍ وساقٍ مقيَّدِ

Through them his throat's two sides and his chest sagged

Onto a slack foreleg and a fettered shank.

فلم تُغنِهِ إذ خان وثبةُ غاشمٍ

ولم ينتقذه منك إقعاءُ مُرصدِ

His savage leap availed him nothing when it failed him,

Nor did an ambusher's crouch rescue him from you.

رأى الموتَ في كفَّيكَ رأْيَ ضرورةٍ

فأوردَ منه نفسَه شرَّ مَوْرِدِ

He saw death in your two hands with inescapable certainty,

And led himself to its worst watering-place.

وأحرزتَها ذكراً يخصُّك فخرُهُ

تَناقَلُه الأفواهُ في كلِّ مَشهَدِ

You won it as a remembrance whose glory is yours alone,

Passed from mouth to mouth in every gathering.

جمعتَ الغريبينِ الشجاعةَ والنَّدَى

وما كلُّ مُرْدٍ للكُماةِ بمُرفِدِ

You united the two strangers: courage and generosity;

Not every slayer of champions is a giver of aid.

وقمتَ بإحكام السيادةِ ناظماً

عُراها فما فاتتك حُلَّةُ سيِّدِ

You firmly bound the structure of lordship, ordering

Its ties; no robe of lordship was lacking to you.

أتاني من الأنباء أنك مغرمٌ

بفضلِ مديحي عارفٌ بتوحُّدي

News has reached me that you are enamored

Of my praise's excellence, and know my peerlessness.

حبيبٌ إليك أن تُزَفَّ عرائسي

عليك تَهادَى بين شادٍ ومُنشِدِ

You delight to have my brides led in procession

To you, swaying between singer and reciter.

متى ما تَجِدْ لي عند غيرك غادةً

مخدَّرةً تَغبِطْ عليها وتَحسُدِ

Whenever you find, with someone else, a maiden of mine,

Secluded, you envy him for her and grow jealous.

فقلتُ كريمٌ هزّه طيبُ أصله

وواحدُ قومٍ شاقه مدحُ أوحدِ

I said: a noble man, stirred by the goodness of his stock,

His people's peerless one, drawn by a peerless poet's praise.

وليس عجيباً مثلُها عند مثلِهِ

إذا هبَّ يقظاناً لها بين رُقَّدِ

Such a thing in such a man is no wonder,

When he rises alert to it among sleepers.

فأرسلتُها تُلقِي إليك عنانَها

وغيرُك أعيتْه فلم تتقوَّدِ

So I sent her to cast her reins into your hands;

Others she had baffled, refusing to be led.

لها فارسٌ من وصفِ مجدك دائسٌ

بارساغِها ما بين طَودٍ وفدفدِ

Her rider is fashioned from the description of your glory, treading

With her pasterns all between mountain and open waste.

يرى كلَّ شيء فانياً ورداؤه

على عُنْقِ باقٍ في الزمان مخلَّدِ

He sees everything perish, while his mantle

Rests on the neck of one enduring, immortal through time.

متى تَجزِها الحسنَى بحقِّ ابتدائها

تَزُرْكَ بعينٍ تملأ السمعَ عُوّدِ

Whenever you reward her kindly, as her first approach deserves,

She will visit you with wide-eyed beauties, filling the ear on repeated visits.

فوفِّرْ على عجز البُعول صَداقَها

وعرّسْ بها أمَّ البنين وأولدِ

So lavish her dowry beyond other husbands' means,

And wed her, a mother of sons, and beget children.

وصُنْها وكرِّمْ نُزْلَها إنّ بيتَها

كبيتك في أُفقْ السماء المشيَّدِ

Guard her and honor her lodging: her house,

Like yours, stands built high on heaven's horizon.

وكن كعليٍّ أو فكن لي كثابتٍ

وفاءً وإعطاءً وإنْ شئتَ فازددِ

Be like Ali, or be to me like Thabit,

In faithfulness and giving; if you wish, do more.