يا من هواه من القلوب مكين — Abn Rumi

يا مَنْ هواه من القلوب مَكينُ

والماءُ في الوَجَنات منه مَعينُ

O you whose love is firmly lodged in hearts,

and because of whom water streams down cheeks;

ومن اغتدى وكأنه من حسنه

في كل عضو منه حُورٌ عِين

and you who have become so beautiful that it seems

each limb of you contains wide-eyed houris;

وإذا تنفَّس نائماً أو لاثماً

فكأنما يتنفس النِّسرين

and when you breathe, asleep or kissing,

it is as though the wild rose itself were breathing.

أعليك في رمي القلوب وكَلْمها

نَذرٌ وفي منع الشفاء يمينُ

Are you bound, in shooting hearts and wounding them,

by a vow, and by an oath to withhold healing?

ظبيٌ كأن كناسه مما ترى

فيه دماءَ العاشقين عَرينُ

A gazelle whose covert seems, from the sight

of lovers' blood within it, a lion's den.

إني أعوذ بعدلك ابنَ محمدٍ

منه وأنت على الظَّلوم مُعين

I seek refuge in your justice, son of Muhammad,

from him; you give aid against the oppressor.

يا من غدا والمشتري جَدٌّ له

والشمس رأيٌ والهلال جَبين

O you who have Jupiter for your fortune,

the sun for your judgment, and the crescent for your brow;

والحلمُ سمتٌ والعفاف طويَّةٌ

والبِر خِدنٌ والوفاء قرين

forbearance for your bearing, and chastity for your heart;

kindness for your close friend, and fidelity for your companion;

ومن استفاض بعدله وبفضله

حتى استوى الجبار والمسكين

and you who have overflowed with justice and bounty

until the mighty and the destitute stand equal;

ومن استجنَّ من الحوادث جارُه

فكأنه بعد الوِلاد جنين

and whose neighbor is sheltered from calamities,

as though, after birth, he were still an unborn child.

مَشْتاه في كنفيك يا ابن محمد

مشتىً دفيء والمصيفُ كَنين

His winter quarters in your shelter, son of Muhammad,

are warm, and his summer quarters sheltered.

طاب الزمان له ورقَّ غليظُه

فكأن كلَّ شهوره تشرين

Time has grown pleasant for him, its harshness gentle,

as though all its months were Tishrin.

أقسمتُ ما وعد الرجاء بحاصل

إلا وجودُك بالوفاء ضمين

I swear, hope has promised no gain

without your bounty guaranteeing its fulfillment.

تبدو ووجهك ضاحكٌ مستبشر

عند السؤال وللبخيل أنين

You appear with a smiling, joyful face

when a request is made, while the miser groans:

عنوانُ معروفٍ يكون وراءه

بَدءٌ وعَوْد من جداك ثخين

a sign of kindness, followed by

ample first and repeated gifts from your bounty.

فالبشرُ بالبدء الهنِيِّ مبشِّرٌ

والبدء بالعَود السنِيِّ رهين

Your cheerful welcome heralds a pleasant first gift,

and the first gift is pledged to splendid renewal.

لا زلتَ أفضلَ من يطيع إلهَه

ويطيعُه التعميرُ والتمكين

May you ever remain the best of those who obey their God,

and whom long life and power obey.

أشكو إليك معاشراً ولعوا بنا

لهمُ كمينٌ في الصدور دفين

I complain to you of people obsessed with us,

who harbor an ambush buried in their breasts.

جَدّوا بنا كالمازحين عَداوةً

والجدُّ في بعض المِزاح مُبين

They were earnest in their hatred of us, while seeming to jest,

and earnest intent shows through some jests.

فإذا ادّخرت لنا نصيبَ كرامةٍ

خَانوا وهانَ عليهمُ التخوين

Whenever you reserve a share of honor for us,

they betray your trust, caring little if they are branded traitors.

غلبتْ على ألبابهم شهواتُهم

فأرتهمُ ما لا يزَينُ يزين

Their appetites have overpowered their minds,

making the unbecoming seem becoming to them.

من كل أَفوه قد أُمِدَّ بمعدةٍ

حَرَّى يذوبُ لحرِّها الهِرْصين

Every wide-mouthed one of them is furnished with a stomach

so burning hot that its heat melts white brass.

والنابُ منه على الأمانة خنجر

والظّفر من أظفاره سكين

His fang is a dagger turned against trust,

and each claw among his claws is a knife.

بطلُ الوقاحة لا الحياءِ كأنْ به

عن أن يخونَ أمانةً تهوين

A champion of impudence, not modesty, as though he were

belittled by turning away from betraying a trust.

يأبى مسالمةَ الأمانة مثله

أنى يسالمُ بطَّةً شاهين

One like him refuses peace with trust:

how could a peregrine make peace with a duck?

إنا نُكاد ولا نَكيد عدوَّنا

ثقةً بكيد اللَّه وهو متين

We are plotted against, but do not plot against our enemy,

trusting in God's stratagem, which is firm.

إني أعيذك أن يراك مليكنا

ترضَى خيانتَهم وأنت أمين

I seek protection for you, lest our king should see you

approve their treachery, though you are trustworthy.

فكِّر وقل لهُمُ مقالةَ صادقٍ

يحتجُّ عند مقاله ويُبين

Reflect, and speak to them as an honest man

who argues his case and makes it clear as he speaks:

يا من يُهَوِّن أن يخون أمانةً

أقسمتُ أن سَيُهينك التهوين

'O you who make light of betraying a trust,

I swear that making light of it will demean you.

لا يصغرنَّ لديك قدرُ خطيئة

إن المحاسبَ سجنُه السّجين

Never let the gravity of a sin seem small to you:

for the reckoner's prison is Sijjin.'

ولعل ذا جهل يقول بجهله

إن المُعاتِبَ في الطفيف مَهين

Perhaps some ignorant man will say in his ignorance,

'One who reproaches over trifles is contemptible.'

وجوابُه نقدٌ لدينا حاضرٌ

وافٍ إذا نقص الجوابَ وَزين

The answer to him is ready cash we have at hand,

complete and weighty, should he give short measure in reply.

قولا له إن كان يعقِلُ إننا

قومٌ بحُبّ المُنعمين ندين

You two, tell him, if he understands, that we

are a people whose creed is love of benefactors.

من لا يَشحُّ على قليل نصيبِه

من برِّ سيده فذاك ظنين

Whoever does not jealously guard the least of his share

of his master's kindness is suspect.

إن المحبَّ بمن أحب وبالذي

يُسدَي إليه وإن أقلَّ ضنين

A lover jealously cherishes both his beloved and what

is bestowed upon him, however little.

وأرى الكرامة حليةً ما أُخليت

مِن غَيْرةٍ فيها لها تحصين

I see honor as an ornament, not to be left

without a jealous care within it to protect it.

تَلقى الفتى الغيران ينفِث دونها

قِطَع الحريق كأنه التنين

You find the jealous young man breathing out, in its defense,

pieces of fire, as though he were a dragon.

والغيرةُ الشيءُ الذي لم يُلْغه

إلا خَصِيُّ السوء والعِنّين

Jealousy is something none has dismissed

save the vile eunuch and the impotent man.

أو قلتُ قولاً لست أجهل أنه

فيه لصدرِ مُرجِّم تخشين

Or have I spoken words, knowing well that they

chafe the breast of one who hurls accusations?

ولما أصبتُ به سوى مُتَعَرِّضٍ

وأخو العداء بما يَدينُ مَدين

Yet I have struck with them none but one who courted the blow;

and a foe is repaid with what he deals out.

فليرضَ بالتهجين أو فلينصرف

عما يكون جزاءَه التهجين

Let him accept disparagement, or let him desist

from what earns disparagement as its reward.

لا يحسن الظنَّ اللئيمُ بنفسه

فالغثُّ غثٌّ والسمين سمين

Let the base man not think well of himself:

for the lean is lean, and the fat is fat.

يا من عَطاياه لديه رخيصة

وثناءُ مادِحه لديه ثمين

O you who hold your gifts cheap,

and hold your praiser's praise dear;

وإذا اعتصمتُ بجوده فكأنما

غدتِ العواصم لي وقنَّسرين

when I take refuge in his generosity, it is as though

al-Awasim and Qinnasrin have become mine.

فإذا التقى داعٍ له ومؤمّلٌ

سُمع الدعاءُ وشُفِّعَ التأمين

When one who prays for him meets one who hopes for his bounty,

the prayer is heard, and the 'Amen' accepted as intercession.

ستَبرُّني وتسرُّني وتثيبني

وأقول فيك ويُحفَظ التدوين

You will be kind to me, delight me, and reward me,

and I shall sing your praise, and the record will be preserved.