سهرت عليك لواحظ الرقباء — Abn Nbath

سهرَت عليكِ لواحظُ الرُّقباء

سهراً ألذُّ لها من الإغفاء

The watchers' glances have kept vigil over you,

a vigil sweeter to them than falling asleep.

فمتى أحاولُ غفلةً ومرادُهم

بيعُ الرّقاد بلذَّة استحلاء

When, then, can I seek their inattention, when their desire

is to barter sleep for the pleasure of savoring sweetness?

ومتى يقصر عاذلي ورجاؤه

في مرِّ ذكرِكِ دائماً ورجائي

And when will my reproacher relent, when his hope

and mine rest always in the passing mention of you?

قسماً بسورةِ عارضيكِ فإنها

كالنملِ عند بصائر الشعراء

I swear by the surah of your cheeks, for it

is like 'The Ants' to poets' discernment;

وجفونكِ اللاتي تبرّحُ بالورى

وتقول لا حرَجٌ على الضعفاء

and by your eyelids, which torment mankind

and say, 'There is no blame upon the weak.'

إنِّي ليعجبني بلفظ عواذِلي

مني ومنكِ تجمع الأسماء

I truly delight, in the words of my reproachers,

in the joining of names—mine and yours.

وتلذُّ لي البرحاء أعلم أنه

يرضيكِ ما ألقى من البرحاء

And anguish is sweet to me; I know that

the anguish I endure pleases you.

ويشوقني مغنى الوصالِ فكلَّما

ذُكر العقيقُ بكيتهُ بدمائي

And the abode of union stirs my longing; whenever

al-Aqiq is mentioned, I weep for it with my blood.

أيام لا أهوى لقاك بقدر ما

تهوي لإفراط الوداد لقائي

In days when I did not long to meet you as much as

you longed, through excessive love, to meet me,

متمازجان من التعانق والوفا

في الحبِّ مزجَ الماءِ بالصهباء

we two mingled through embraces and fidelity,

in love, as water mingles with tawny wine.

لو رامت الأيَّامُ سلوةَ بعضنا

لم تدرِ من فينا أخو الأهواء

If the days sought to make either of us forget,

they would not know which of us was the lover.

وصلٌ سهرتُ زمانه لتنعم

وسهرتُ بعد زمانه بشقاء

Union—through its days I stayed awake for pleasure,

and after its days I stayed awake in misery.

يا جفنُ لستُ أراكَ تعرفُ ما الكرَى

فعلامَ تشكو منه مرَّ جفاء

O eyelid, I do not think you know what sleep is;

why, then, complain of its bitter estrangement?

كانت لياليَ لذَّةٍ فتقلَّصت

بيدِ الفراق تقلصَ الأفياء

They were nights of delight, then they shrank away

at separation's hand, as shadows shrink.

ومنازل بالسفح غُير رسمها

بمدامعِ العشاقِ والأنواء

And dwellings at the mountain's foot, their traces altered

by lovers' tears and seasonal rains.

لم يبقَ لي غيرُ انتشاقِ نسيمها

يا طولَ خيبةِ قانعٍ بهواء

Nothing remains to me but to inhale their breeze—

how long the disappointment of one content with air!

كمؤمل يبغي براحةِ واهبٍ

كرماً ويتركُ أكرمَ الوزراء

Like a hopeful man seeking in a giver's palm

generosity, while forsaking the most generous of viziers:

الصاحب الشرفِ الرفيع على السها

قدراً برغم الحاسد العوَّاء

al-Sahib al-Sharaf, exalted above al-Suha

in rank, despite the howling envier.

ندبٌ بدا كالشمس في أفق العلا

فتفرقت أهلُ العلا كهباء

A noble man who appeared like the sun on glory's horizon,

so the people of eminence scattered like dust motes.

عالي المكانة حيث حلَّ مقامهُ

كالنجمِ حيث بدا رفيعَ سناء

Lofty in standing wherever he makes his abode,

like a star, lofty in radiance wherever it appears.

ما السحبُ خافقةٌ ذوائب برقها

بأبرّ من جدواه في اللأواء

No clouds, their lightning's tresses fluttering,

are more bountiful than his gifts in hardship.

لا والذي أعلا وأعلن مجدَهُ

حتى تجاوز هامةَ الجوزاء

No—by Him who exalted and proclaimed his glory

until it surpassed the crown of al-Jawza.

لا عيبَ في نعماهُ إلا أنَّها

تسلي عن الأوطانِ والقرباء

There is no fault in his beneficence, except that it

makes one forget one's homelands and kindred.

مغرى على رغم العواذلِ والعدَى

بشتاتِ أموالٍ وجمعِ ثناء

Intent, despite the reproachers and foes,

on scattering wealth and gathering praise.

لا تستقرُّ يداه في أمواله

فكأنَّما هو سابحٌ في ماء

His hands never rest amid his wealth,

as though he were swimming in water.

جمعت شمائله المديحَ كمثل ما

جمعت أبي جادٍ حروفَ هجاء

His qualities have gathered praise, just as

'Abi Jad' has gathered the letters of the alphabet.

وتفرَّدت كرماً وإن قال العدَى

إنَّ الغمامَ لها من النظراء

And they are unrivaled in generosity, though enemies say

that rainclouds are among their peers.

وتقدَّمت في كلِّ محفل سؤددٍ

تقديمَ بسمِ اللهِ في الأسماء

And they take precedence in every gathering of greatness,

as 'In the name of God' is placed before other names.

أكرِمْ بهنَّ شمائلاً معروفة

يومَ العلى بتحملِ الأعباء

How noble they are—qualities well known

on glory's day for shouldering burdens!

يلوي بقولِ اللائمينَ نوالها

كالسيلِ يلوي جريهُ بغثاء

Their bounty sweeps away the words of reproachers,

as a torrent's current sweeps away flotsam.

ومراتباً غاظَ السماءَ علوِّها

فتلقبت للغيظ بالجرباء

And ranks whose height enraged the sky,

so, in its rage, it took the name 'the Scabby One'.

ومناقباً تمشي المدائحُ خلفها

لوفورِ سؤدَدِها على استحياء

And merits behind which praises walk,

bashfully, before the fullness of their greatness.

وفضائلاً كالرَّوض غنى ذكرُها

يا حبَّذا من روضةٍ غناء

And virtues like a garden: their very mention sings—

what a lovely, luxuriant garden!

ويراعةً تسطو فيقرَعُ سنها

خجلاً قوامَ الصعدة السمراء

And a reed pen that assails, whose nib puts

the dusky spear's upright shaft to shame.

هرَقتْ دمَ المحلِي المروِّعِ والعدَى

حتى بدَتْ في أهبةٍ حمراء

It shed the blood of terrifying drought and foes,

until it appeared arrayed in red.

عجباً لإبقاءِ المهارق تحتها

ونوالها كالدِّيمة الوطفاء

How strange that the writing sheets survive beneath it,

while its bounty is like abundant, steady rain!

كم عمرتْ بحسابها من دولةٍ

وبلا حسابٍ كم سختْ بعطاء

How many a state it has made prosper through its accounts,

and without reckoning, how lavishly it has given!

ولكم جلا تدبيرُها عن موطن

دهماءَ واسأل ساحةَ الشهباء

And how often its governance has cleared from a land

a dark calamity—ask the precincts of al-Shahba.

لولاك في حلبٍ لأحدِر ضرعها

وقرى ضيوفَ جنابها بعناء

Were it not for you in Aleppo, its udder would have run dry,

and it would have regaled the guests of its precinct with hardship.

يا من به تكفي الخطوبُ وترتمي

بكرُ الثناء لسيدِ الأكفاء

O you through whom calamities are quelled, toward whom rushes

virgin praise, lord of the capable.

أنت الذي أحيا القريضَ وطالما

أمسى رهينَ عناً طريدَ فناء

You are the one who revived poetry, which so often

lay captive to suffering, hunted by extinction,

في معشر منعوا إجابة سائل

ولقد يجيبُ الصخرُ بالأصداء

among a people who refused a petitioner an answer,

though even rocks answer with echoes.

أسفي على الشعراءِ أنهمو على

حال تثيرُ شماتةَ الأعداء

My grief for poets, that they live in

a state that stirs their enemies' gloating!

خاضوا بحورَ الشعرِ إلا أنَّها

مما تريق وجوههم من ماء

They waded through poetry's seas, yet those seas

are made of the water their faces shed.

حتى إذا لجأوا إليك كفيتهم

شجناً وقلت أذلةُ العلياء

Until, when they sought refuge with you, you spared them

sorrow, and said: 'The humbled among the exalted

ظنُّوا السؤال خديعة وأنا الذي

خدعت يداه بصائرَ العلماء

thought petitioning a trick, while I am the one

whose hands have deceived the discernment of scholars.'

أُعطوا أجورَهم وأعطيتَ اللهى

شتانَ بين فناً وبين بقاء

They were paid their wages, while you bestowed rich gifts—

how far apart are transience and permanence!

شكراً لفضلك فهو ناعشُ عيشتي

ونداك فهو مجيبُ صوتَ نِدائي

Thanks for your favor, for it revives my livelihood,

and for your bounty, for it answers the sound of my call.

من بعد ما ولع الزمانُ بمهجتي

فردعتَهُ وحبوني حوبائي

After time had become obsessed with my lifeblood,

you checked it, and my soul was bestowed upon me.

وبلغتَ ما بلغ الحسابُ براحةٍ

عرِفتْ أصابعُ بحرها بوفاء

And you reached counting's farthest limit with a palm

whose ocean's fingers are known for keeping faith.

فانعم بما شادَتْ يداك ودُمْ على

مرِّ الزمان ممدَّحَ الآلاء

So enjoy what your hands have built, and remain throughout

time's passage, much praised for your favors.

واحكِ الكواكبَ في البقاءِ كمثلِ ما

حاكيتها في بهجةٍ وعلاء

And match the stars in endurance, just as

you have matched them in splendor and loftiness.