إن جوى لو يذهب الأوجالا — Abn Qlaks

إن جوًى لو يُذهبُ الأوجالا

يُخْفي الهوى ودمعَهُ هطّالا

Indeed, a burning passion—if only it would banish fears!

He conceals his love while his tears pour down.

أرقَه الحبّ وأضنى جسدَهْ

وأشمَت الوجدَ به من حسَدِهْ

Love kept him awake and wasted his body,

and longing made those who envied him gloat over him.

فباتَ بين السّقم والسهادِ

يبكي بدمعٍ رائحٍ وغادِ

So he spent the night between sickness and sleeplessness,

weeping with tears that flow evening and morning.

ما ضرّ مَنْ حمّله ثقلَ الكُلَفْ

لو منّ بالوصلِ عليه وعطفْ

What harm would it do the one who burdened him with infatuation's weight,

if he graciously granted him union and showed tenderness?

وا رحمتا للدنِفِ الكئيبِ

من قمرٍ أوفى على قضيبِ

Ah, pity the sorrowful, lovesick man,

stricken by a moon rising above a slender bough!

لمّا انتشى من خمرِ الدّلالِ

عرْبدَ بالصّدودِ والمَلالِ

When he grew tipsy on the wine of coquetry,

he grew riotous with rejection and weariness.

طلبتُ منه مُسعِداً نوالا

قال ألَمْ أبعثْ لكَ الخَيالا

I asked him for a favor that would bring me joy.

He said, “Did I not send you the phantom?”

هبِ الخَيال زارني اكتتاما

من أين للمقلةِ أن تَناما

Suppose the phantom visited me secretly—

how could my eye fall asleep?

أمّا وخمرِ ريقِه المَصونِ

وعقدِ درّ ثغرِه المكنونِ

Indeed, by the guarded wine of his saliva,

and the hidden necklace of pearls within his mouth,

وردفِه الأثقلِ من صُدودِهِ

وطرفِه الأسقمِ من عُهودِه

and his hips, heavier than his rejection,

and his gaze, more ailing than his pledges:

لو زارني الخيالُ في المنامِ

لم يرَني من شدّةِ السَّقامِ

if the phantom visited me in sleep,

it would not see me, so severe is my sickness.

مَنْ مُنصفي من مُقلَتَيْ غزالِ

حيّ الصّدودِ ميّتِ الوصالِ

Who will give me justice against the two eyes of a gazelle,

alive in rejection, dead in union?

قلبي منه بين همّ وكمَدْ

ومقلتاي بين دمعٍ وسهَدْ

My heart, because of him, is between care and grief,

and my two eyes between tears and sleeplessness.

يا ليت شعْري والهوى فُنونُ

أمثلَ هذا لقيَ المجنونُ

If only I knew—love has many forms—

did Majnun encounter anything like this?

لو أنّه أباحَ لي رشْفَ اللّمى

ما بتّ أشكو في هواهُ ألَما

If he allowed me to sip from his dusky lips,

I would not spend the night complaining of pain in loving him.

لا واحمرار خدّه الأسيلِ

وسيفِ لحظ طرفِه الكحيلِ

No—by the redness of his smooth cheek,

and the sword of the glance from his kohl-dark eye!

يا عاذلي شأنُك غير شاني

قد لمتَني في الحبّ ما كَفاني

O my reproacher, your concern is not mine;

you have blamed me for love quite enough.

لو ذقتَ ما قد ذقتُه ما لُمْتنا

ولو بُليتَ بالهوى عذَرَنا

Had you tasted what I have tasted, you would not have blamed us;

and had you been afflicted with love, you would have excused us.

ولو رأيتَ من هَويْتُ قربَهُ

رأيتَ فرْضاً في العباد حبَّهُ

And had you seen the one whose nearness I desired,

you would have deemed loving him a duty for mankind.

ما شئت من محاسنٍ فيه تجدْ

ليلٍ وصبحٍ وقضيب وعقدْ

Whatever beauties you wish, you will find in him:

night, morning, a slender bough, and a necklace.

كم باتَ يجلو قهوةً صهباءَ

تكسو المديرَ حُلّةً حَمْراءَ

How often he spent the night displaying tawny wine,

which clothes the cupbearer in a crimson robe:

شمسٌ لها من الدِّنان مشرِقْ

كالنّارِ إلا أنها لا تُحرِقْ

a sun whose place of rising is the wine-jars,

like fire, except that it does not burn.

كأنّنا من ضوءِ تلك النارِ

نشربُ في بيتٍ من النُضارِ

It is as though, by the light of that fire,

we were drinking in a house of pure gold.

ومُقعدٍ لا يملكُ القِياما

ولا يُطيقُ دهرَهُ الكلاما

And a cripple that cannot stand,

nor ever in its life manage speech:

يحيل ما يودعه من السُّبجْ

من غير ما حيفٍ عليه وحرَجْ

the jet deposited in it is transformed,

without any wrong or hardship to it,

أنفاسُه بحرِّها عقيقا

أحسِنْ بذاك منظراً أنيقا

by the heat of its breath, into carnelian.

How beautiful and elegant a sight!

أقول إذ يلوحُ للعيونِ

يا حبّذا الكانونُ في كانونِ

I say, when it appears before the eyes:

“Oh, how welcome is the brazier in Kanun!”

نودعُهُ قلائداً من الفحَمْ

سُوداً سوادَ الليل حين يدلَهِمْ

We place in it necklaces of charcoal,

black as the night when it grows pitch-dark.

كأنّها والنارُ فيها تلهَبُ

لناظريها آبنوسٌ مُذهّبُ

With fire blazing within them, they seem

to their beholders like gilded ebony.

ما أنا للعاذلِ بالمطيعِ

وقد تبدّى زمنُ الرّبيعِ

I will not obey the reproacher,

now that the season of spring has appeared.

أما تَرى الأطيارَ في ترنّمِ

تهيجُ شوقَ المستهامِ المُغْرمِ

Do you not see the birds singing,

stirring the longing of the love-crazed, enamored one?

والجوّ ما أحسنَه وأجملَهْ

لما بَدا في حُلَلٍ مُصنْدَلَهْ

And the air—how lovely and beautiful it is,

when it appears in sandalwood-scented robes!

والأرضُ إذ تفترّ عن أزهارِها

تستوقفُ الطّرفَ على أنوارِها

And the earth, when it smiles to reveal its flowers,

holds the gaze upon its blossoms:

من نرجِسٍ أكرمْ به من نرجسِ

كأنّهُ العيونُ ما لم تنعَسِ

narcissus—what a splendid narcissus!

Like eyes before they grow drowsy;

أو فأكفٌّ صُوِّرَت من بَرَدِ

قد حُمِّلتْ مَداهِناً من عسجَدِ

or else palms fashioned from hail,

laden with ointment bowls of gold.

كأنّما الطّلّ على الوردِ النّدي

دمعٌ جَرى على خُدودِ الخُرّدِ

It is as though the dew upon the fresh rose

were tears running down the cheeks of bashful maidens.

أخجَلَهُ النّرجسُ لمّا أن نظَرْ

فاحمرّ من فرطِ الحياءِ والخفَرْ

The narcissus made it blush when it gazed,

so it reddened from sheer modesty and bashfulness.

وانظُرْ الى الأقاحِ وابيضاضِه

يتيهُ إدلالاً على رِياضِهِ

And look at the daisies and their whiteness,

proudly flaunting their charm over their gardens.

أما رأيتَ روضةَ البنفسجِ

كأنّها معادنُ الفيروزَجِ

Have you not seen the garden of violets,

as though it were mines of turquoise?

كأنّما فرائدُ البَهارِ

مداهنٌ تروقُ من نُضارِ

It is as though the pearls of yellow narcissus

were lovely ointment bowls of pure gold.

وانظرْ الى النارنجِ في أغصانِه

يا حُسنَه إذ لاح في زَمانِه

And look at the bitter orange upon its branches:

how beautiful it is when it appears in its season,

كالذهبِ الأحمرِ قد صيغَ أُكَرْ

من صنعةِ الخالقِ لا صنع البشرْ

like red gold fashioned into spheres,

by the Creator's craft, not the work of humans.

فاشربْ ولا تخشَ من الإملاقِ

رزقُك يأتيكَ من الرزّاقِ

So drink, and do not fear poverty;

your provision comes to you from the Provider.

والعيشُ كلُّ العيشِ في عصرِ الصِبا

للهِ ما أحسنَهُ وأعْذَبا

And life—all of life—is in the season of youth;

God be praised—how beautiful and sweet it is!

سُقيتِ يا معاهدَ الأحباب

بعارضٍ منهمِلِ الرّبابِ

May you be watered, O haunts of beloved friends,

by a cloud whose banks pour down rain,

مثلُ ندى الحافظِ دينَ أحمدِ

ذي المنزلِ الرحْب وذي الوجهِ النّدي

like the bounty of the guardian of Ahmad's faith,

possessor of a spacious home and a fresh face.

أصدقُ من حدّثَنا وأسنَدا

أكرمُ من تحمِلُه الأرضُ يَدا

The most truthful of those who narrated to us and supplied a chain of transmission,

the most generous in hand of all whom the earth bears.

في وجهه ولفظه للواعي

مستمتع الأبصار والأسماع

In his face and his speech, for the discerning,

are delights for eyes and ears.

إن قلت كالبحر ندى لم تُصب

فالبحرُ ملحٌ وهو عذبُ المَشْربِ

If you call his bounty sea-like, you miss the mark:

the sea is salt, while he is sweet to drink.

يُشرقُ للقاصدِ نورُ بِشْرِه

والبرقُ في الغيمِ دليلُ قَطْرِهِ

The light of his cheerful welcome shines for the visitor,

and lightning in the cloud foretells its rain.

ماذا على الواصفِ أن يقولا

ووصفُه قد أعجزَ العُقولا

What can the describer say,

when describing him has baffled minds?

يمَمْهُ تُلفِ خيلاً من تؤمِّلُ

للجدبِ والخطبِ حياً ومُنصلُ

Seek him; you will find the one you hope for a cavalry host,

rain for drought and a blade for calamity.

تجلو دَياجي المشكلاتِ فطنتُهْ

تَهدي الى سُبْلِ النجاحِ غُرّتُهْ

His discernment clears the darkness of difficult matters;

his radiant brow guides to the paths of success.

كالليثِ قد عزّ به العرينُ

كالدهرِ فيه شدةٌ ولينُ

Like a lion, through whom the den has grown mighty;

like time itself, he has severity and gentleness.

لو صوّروا جسماً جميعَ الناسِ

لكانَ هذا لهمُ كالرّاسِ

If they pictured all mankind as a single body,

this man would be as their head.

جَلا عويصَ المُبْهَماتِ عقلُه

حبّبَهُ الى الأنامِ فِعْلُه

His mind has clarified the hardest obscure matters;

his conduct has endeared him to mankind.

يقولُ مَنْ أبصرَهُ فنظَرَهْ

سبحانَ من صوّرَهُ فقدرَهْ

Whoever beholds him and looks upon him says:

“Glory to Him who fashioned him and proportioned him!”

لِما بَراهُ من محاسنِ الصُوَرِ

قال الورى تاللهِ ما هذا بشَرْ

Because He fashioned him with such beautiful features,

mankind said, “By God, this is no mortal!”

فاخرَتِ الأرضُ به السّماءَ

فعقدَ السّبْقُ لها اللّواءَ

The earth vied with the sky in boasting of him,

so victory fastened the banner for her.

أين بهاءُ البدرِ من جَبينِه

وأين صوب المُزنِ من يَمينه

What is the full moon's splendor beside his brow?

And what is the clouds' downpour beside his right hand?

أخلاقُه دلّتْ على النِّجارِ

والفجرُ عُنوانٌ على الأسفارِ

His character bears witness to his lineage,

and dawn heralds the light of day.

إن قلتُ ما أحسنَهُ شَمائلا

فقلْ وما أجملَهُ فعائلا

If I say, “How fine his character!”

then say, “And how beautiful his deeds!”

أو قلتُ ما أفصحَهُ لسانا

فقلْ وما أسمَحَهُ بَنانا

Or if I say, “How eloquent his tongue!”

then say, “And how generous his fingers!”

يا موضِحاً سبيلَ علمٍ أنهجا

بصبح فكرٌ منه قد تبلّجا

O you who make the path of knowledge plainer,

through the dawn of thought that has shone forth from him,

ومن تحلّى كلّ خطبٍ داجي

فينا بنورِ عزمِه الوهّاجِ

and the one through whom every dark calamity

among us is adorned with the light of his blazing resolve:

اهنأ فدَتْكَ النفسُ بالمحرَّمِ

وابقَ سعيدَ الجدِّ فرداً أو دُمِ

rejoice in Muharram—may my soul ransom you—

and remain fortunate, peerless—or live on—

ما غردتْ قُمْريّةٌ في فنَنِ

وهزّتِ الريحُ قُدودَ الغُصُنِ

as long as a turtledove sings upon a bough,

and the wind sways the branches' slender forms.