لا تكثرن ملامة العشاق — Abn Rumi

لا تكثرن ملامة العشاقِ

فكفاهم بالوجد والأشواقِ

Do not heap reproach upon lovers;

their anguish and longings are enough for them.

إن البلاء يطاق غير مضاعَفٍ

فإذا تضاعف كان غير مطاق

Affliction can be borne when not compounded;

once compounded, it becomes unbearable.

أتلومهم للنفع أم لتزيدهم

باللوم إقلاقا على إقلاق

Do you blame them to help them, or to add

through blame, distress upon distress?

ما للذي أضحى يلوم ذوي الهوى

أمسى صريع مواقع الأحداق

What ails the man who reproaches lovers by day,

then lies by evening felled by striking eyes?

أنى يعنف كل معنوف به

يَثني يديه على حشا خفّاق

How can anyone so harshly afflicted be rebuked,

folding his hands over a fluttering heart?

تهدي الحمامة والغراب لقلبه

شجواً بساق تارة وبغاق

The dove and crow bring to his heart

grief—now with a 'sāq,' now with a 'ghāq.'

ويشوقه برق السحاب وإنما

يعنى ببرق المبسم البرّاق

The clouds' lightning stirs his longing, though

he cares only for the flash of a radiant smile.

متصعداً زفراته متحدّراً

عبراته أبداً قريح مآقي

His sighs rise, and down stream

his tears, his eye-corners forever raw.

لم يُسقَ فوه من الثغور شفاءه

فلوجنتيه من المدامع ساقي

His mouth has not drunk its cure from beloved lips;

so tears serve as water-bearers to his cheeks.

يبكي الشجيُّ بعبرةٍ مهراقةٍ

بل بالدماء على دم مهراق

The love-stricken man weeps flowing tears—

rather, blood upon blood already spilled.

تضحي أحبته تُوَلَّى سفحه

عند الفراق وعند كل تلاقي

His beloveds are entrusted with spilling it

at parting and at every meeting.

يجزونه طول الجفاء بأنه

لم يخلُ من شعَفٍ مدرِّ فُواق

They repay him with prolonged estrangement because

he is never free of ardor that draws repeated gasps.

شهد الوفاء وكل شيء صادقٍ

أن الجزاء هناك غير وفاق

Fidelity and everything truthful bear witness

that the recompense there is unfitting.

أصغت إلى العشاق أذني مرةً

ومن الجميل تعاطفُ العشاق

Once my ear listened to the lovers;

how beautiful is the sympathy between lovers!

فشكا الشجِيُّ من الخلي ملامة

وشكى الوفي تلون المذّاق

The afflicted complained of the carefree one's reproach,

and the faithful of the false friend's fickleness.

فدع المحب من الملامة إنها

بئس الدواء لموجع مقلاق

So spare the lover reproach, for it

is a wretched remedy for one anguished and restless.

لا تطفئنَّ جوى بلوم إنه

كالريح تغري النار بالإحراق

Do not quench love's burning with blame: it

is like wind urging fire to burn.

وأرى رقى العذال غير نوافع

لا سيَّما لمتيَّم مشتاق

I find the reprovers' incantations useless,

especially for an enthralled, yearning lover.

ما للمحب إذا تفاقم داؤه

غير الحبيب يزوره من راقي

When the lover's illness worsens, he has

no healer but the beloved who visits him.

أخذ الإله لنا بثأر قلوبنا

من مصميات للقلوب رشاق

May God avenge our hearts

upon slender women who strike hearts dead.

رقت مياه وجوههن لناظر

وقلوبهن عليه غير رقاق

The waters of their faces are tender to a beholder,

but their hearts are not tender toward him.

هيف القدود إذا نهضن لملعب

وإذا مشين صوادق الإيناق

Slender are their figures when they rise to play;

when they walk, their delightfulness is genuine.

حرنت بهن روادفٌ ممكورة

ومتونهن الغيد في إعناق

Their rounded hips balk and hold them back,

while their supple backs hurry onward.

يهززن أغصاناً تباعد بالجنى

وتروق بالإثمار والإيراق

They sway boughs that keep their fruit far away,

yet delight with fruit and foliage.

ومن البلية منظر ذو فتنة

نائي المنافع شاعف الإيناق

Among afflictions is a fascinating sight,

its benefits distant, its beauty captivating.

ومن العجائب أن سمحنا للهوى

بدمائنا وبخلن بالأرياق

Among wonders is that we freely offered love

our blood, while they begrudged their saliva.

مُزنٌ يُمِطنَ الريَّ عن أفواهنا

ويَجُدن للأبصار بالإبراق

Rainclouds, they withhold refreshment from our mouths,

yet lavish lightning upon our eyes.

صيد حرمناه على إغراقنا

في النزع والحرمان في الإغراق

Prey denied us despite our utmost

drawing of the bow—denial lies in drawing too far.

وأما ومن لو شاء ما خلق الهوى

ولما ابتلى أصحابه بفراق

Now, by Him who, had He wished, would not have created love,

nor afflicted its followers with separation:

ما من مزيد من بلية عاشق

وندى وخير في أبي إسحاق

nothing can exceed a lover's affliction,

or the bounty and goodness in Abū Isḥāq.

لله إبراهيم واحد عصره

ما أشبه الأخلاق بالأعراق

How wondrous is Ibrāhīm, unique in his age!

How closely character resembles ancestry!

أضحت فضائله تؤمُّ به العلا

وكأنهن إلى السماء مراقي

His virtues have come to lead him toward eminence,

as though they were stairways to heaven.

لصفحتُ عن دهري به وذنوبُهُ

قد أوبقته أشدَّ ما إيباق

For his sake I would surely pardon my age, though its sins

have brought it to utter ruin.

ملك له فطن دقاقٌ في العلا

تركته والأخلاق غير دقاق

A king whose subtle insights into greatness

have left him with virtues far from petty.

يستعبد الأحرار إلا أنه

يستعبد الأحرار بالإعتاق

He enslaves free men, except that

he enslaves free men by setting them free.

ومتى أصابك منه رقُّ صنيعةٍ

فكطوق زين لا كغُلِّ وثاق

Whenever the bondage of a favor from him reaches you,

it is an ornamental necklace, not a binding shackle.

يا رُبَّ أسرى للخطوب أصابَهم

منه بإعتاق وباسترقاق

How many captives of calamity have received

from him both emancipation and enslavement!

ولما تعمد رقهم لكنه

لا بد للمعروف من أرباق

He has not intended their bondage, but

kindness cannot escape having halters.

والرق في الإعتاق حكم للعلا

حكمت به والأسر في الإطلاق

Bondage through emancipation is a decree of eminence,

which has ordained it, and captivity through release.

رق الصنائع في الرقاب وأسرها

ما منهما وأبيك إلا باقي

The bondage and captivity of favors upon men's necks—

by your father, both can only endure.

يا من يقبل كف كل ممخرق

هذا ابن أحمد غير ذي مخراق

O you who kiss every charlatan's hand:

this is Ibn Aḥmad, no man of trickery.

قبل أنامله فلسن أناملاً

لكنهن مفاتح الأرزاق

Kiss his fingertips, for they are not fingertips,

but keys to livelihoods.

حظيت وفازت من أنامل سيّدٍ

نفع المسود فساد باستحقاق

Favored and triumphant are the fingers of a lord

who benefited his subjects, and thus earned his lordship.

نفحاتُهُ مُلكٌ وفي تأميله

روح القلوب ومسكة الأرماق

His gifts are a kingdom; in hope of him

are solace for hearts and sustenance for fading lives.

وإلى ابن أحمد أرقلت بي ناقتي

في كل أغبر قاتم الأعماق

Toward Ibn Aḥmad my she-camel sped with me

through every dust-gray expanse, dark in its depths.

جبت الخروق بكل خرق ماجد

إن الخروق مسالك الأخراق

I crossed the desert expanses with every bold, noble man;

such expanses are the paths of bold, generous men.

نأتمُّ أروعَ نهتدي بجبينه

والله ضارب قبة ورواق

We follow a splendid man, guided by his brow,

while God erects a dome and pavilion.

كالبدر تمَّ وكللته سعودُه

لا زال شانئه هلال محاق

Like the moon grown full, crowned by his good fortunes—

may his hater remain a crescent fading into darkness!

قالت سعودي يوم فزت بقربه

قسماً لفزت بأنفس الأعلاق

My good fortunes said, the day I won his closeness:

'By an oath, you have won the most precious treasure!'

حر تذكره الخطوب خَلاقةً

في الحال تنسي الحرَّ كل خلاق

A noble man whom calamities remind of his generous nature,

when they make the noble forget every virtue.

يلقي الرجال ثناؤه وعطاؤه

بذكاء رائحة وطيب مذاق

His praise and giving greet men

with intense fragrance and a pleasant taste.

خرق يعم ولا يخص بفضله

لكنه كالغيث في الإطباق

A generous man whose bounty embraces all, not a chosen few;

he is like rain in its encompassing reach.

عفَّت مدائحه وعف فما ترى

منكوحةً إلا بخير صداق

His praises are chaste, and he is chaste; you see none

wedded except for a worthy dowry.

ألفيتُ عاذله يروض سماحه

ليعوق منه وليس بالمُنعاق

I found his reprover trying to tame his generosity,

to restrain it, though he cannot be restrained.

شكراً بني حواء إن أخاكم

من خير ما رزقت يد الرزاق

Give thanks, children of Eve, for your brother

is among the finest gifts the Provider's hand has granted.

أضحى ابن أحمد ساح ماء سماحه

فيه وماء شبابه الغيداق

In Ibn Aḥmad the water of his generosity has flowed,

along with the abundant water of his youth.

وأُمِدَّ من ماء الحياء بثالثٍ

صافي القرارة رائق الرقراق

From the water of modesty he was supplied with a third,

clear in its depths, limpid in its shimmer.

لله أمواه هناك ثلاثةٌ

تُغذى بهنَّ مكارم الأخلاق

How wondrous are those three waters,

by which noble qualities of character are nourished!

أوفى بأعلى رتبة وتواضعت

آلاؤه فأحطن بالأعناق

He attained the highest rank, while his favors stooped

and encircled men's necks.

كالشمس في كبد السماء محلها

وشعاعها في سائر الآفاق

Like the sun, whose place is in the heart of heaven,

while its rays reach every horizon.

بل كالسماء وكل ما زينت به

وكأرضها في قربه من لاقي

Rather, like heaven and everything adorning it,

yet like its earth in his nearness to those he meets.

يا من يسائل من له بكفائه

من للسماء وأرضها بطباق

O you who ask who can equal him:

who can provide a match for heaven and its earth?

آسى هناتٍ مستشارُ خليفة

كافي شآمٍ مستماحُ عراق

A healer of failings, a caliph's counselor,

the sustainer of al-Shām, the sought-for benefactor of Iraq.

ما زال مشترك القِرى في دهره

بين الطوارق منه والطرّاق

Throughout his life his hospitality has remained shared

between sudden calamities and nighttime visitors.

فقِرىً لطارقةٍ يحل نطاقها

من بعد ما شُدَّت أشد نطاق

Hospitality for a calamity loosens its girdle

after it has been bound with the tightest binding;

وقرى يليه لطارق طلب القرى

فجرى له بالعين والأوراق

then hospitality follows for a visitor seeking welcome,

flowing to him in gold and silver coin.

قسم الزمان على ضياء ساطع

وندى كمعروف السماء بُعاق

He divided his time between radiant light

and bounty pouring like heaven's beneficence:

من لمحة بمشورة لمملَّكٍ

أو نفحة بجدىً لذي إملاق

a flash of counsel for a monarch,

or a breath of bounty for someone impoverished.

فله إذا الأيام أشبه خيرها

يومُ الضعيفة صُبِّحت بطلاق

These are his when even the best of days resembles

the day a helpless woman is greeted with divorce.

يوم كيوم الصحو في إشراقه

وغد كيوم الغيث في الإغداق

One day is like a clear day in its radiance,

and the next like a rainy day in its abundance.

لا بل كلا يوميه يصبح فائزاً

بمحامد الإغداق والإشراق

No—both his days win

the praises of abundant giving and radiance.

يا قرب مستقياته لوروده

يا بعد أغوار هناك عماق

How near his watering places are to those who come!

How far down are those profound depths!

قل للإمام إذ اجتباه لأمره

ظفرت يداك بفاتق رتاق

Tell the Imam, when he chooses him for his affairs:

'Your hands have secured one who can unseam and mend—

مفتاح رأي حين يغلق بابه

مغلاق شر أيما مغلاق

a key to judgment when its door is shut,

a lock against evil, and what a lock!'

متوقد الحركات تحسب أمره

لمعان برق أو حفيف بُراق

Blazing in his movements, you think his action

the flash of lightning or the rustling of Burāq.

فإذا تفرد للخطوب بفكره

فله سكينة حيةٍ مطراق

When he devotes his thought alone to calamities,

he has the stillness of a serpent with lowered head.

وإذا التقى أمر الوزير وأمره

سدّا طريق الحادث المنباق

When the minister's plans and his come together,

they block the path of erupting disaster.

شهد الخليفة إذ أعانا بأسه

أن النصال تعان بالأفواق

The caliph testified, when both supported his might,

that arrowheads are aided by their nocks.

إني رأيتك يا ابن أحمد سيداً

فينا بحق واجب وحقاق

I have seen you, O Ibn Aḥmad, as a lord

among us by a binding right and rightful claims.

لاحظت رفدك عند إرفاد الورى

فرأيته كاليمِّ عند سواقي

I considered your bounty beside the giving of others,

and saw it as the sea beside little watercourses.

جادوا وجدت فأحدقت بثمادهم

غمرات بحرك أيّما إحداق

They gave and you gave, and their scant pools were surrounded

by the surges of your sea—what an encirclement!

فتزاجروا عن غيِّهم وتصارحوا

نصحاً جلا الشبهات بعد ملاق

They admonished one another against their folly and spoke frankly,

with sincere counsel that dispelled doubts after flattery.

ورأيت رأيك بين آراء العدا

كالسيف بين جماجم أفلاق

I saw your judgment among your enemies' opinions

like a sword among split skulls.

كادوا وكدت فأزهقت ما دبَّروا

إحدى هناتك أيما إزهاق

They plotted and you counterplotted; what they contrived was destroyed

by one of your stratagems—what an annihilation!

أرهقتهم قدر البوار بقوة

وهبت لرأيك أوشك الإرهاق

You overwhelmed them with ruin's doom, through a power

that gave your judgment the swiftest means to overwhelm.

ما للدهاة لدى محالك موئلٌ

لا في سلالمهم ولا الأنفاق

The cunning have no refuge before your stratagems,

neither in their ladders nor their tunnels.

أنت الذي كبح المكائد كيده

حتى ركضن دوامي الأشداق

You are the one whose counterplot bridled the plots,

until they galloped with bleeding mouths.

لله درك من مضرٍّ مرفقٍ

متألِّهِ الإضرار والإرفاق

How wondrous you are, both harming and helping,

devout in both inflicting harm and granting aid!

كم ظِلِّ يومٍ ممطرٍ لك مصعقٍ

متحمد الإمطار والإصعاق

How often your shade is a rainy day that strikes with thunder,

praised for both its rain and thunderbolts!

لبست محاسنك المحامد إنها

نظرت فلم تر غيرها من واقي

Your virtues have clothed themselves in praises; they

looked and found no other protection.

خذها شروداً في البلاد مقيمة

سمراً لذي سمرٍ وزادَ رفاق

Take these verses, ranging through the lands yet enduring,

as evening talk for talkers and provisions for traveling companions.

أنت الذي ما قال فيه مقرظ

قولاً فأسلمه بلا مصداق

You are the one about whom no eulogist made

a statement that you left without confirmation.

أنت الذي للوعد منه وعنده

سبق وللإنجاز وشكُ لحاق

You are the one whose promise, issued and held in your charge,

takes the lead, with fulfillment swiftly catching up.

من ذا يعد الحمد غيرك مغنماً

ويرى المواهب أفضل الإنفاق

Who but you counts praise as a gain,

and regards gifts as the best expenditure?

من ذا يعد النفل فرضاً واجباً

أو يجعل الميعاد كالميثاق

Who counts voluntary giving a binding duty,

or makes a promised appointment like a covenant?

يفديك من يُثني عليه صديقه

بعبوس كبر وابتسام نفاق

May he be your ransom who meets his friend's praise

with an arrogant scowl and a hypocritical smile.

يا من يجود لدى السؤال بطرفه

ولدى النوال بأحسن الإطراق

O you who give generously with your gaze when asked,

and, when giving, with the finest lowering of the eyes!

يا من صفت لي في ذراه شرائعي

حتى تركت تتبع الأرزاق

O you in whose shelter my watering places have cleared,

until I abandoned the pursuit of livelihoods!

أضحى المديح يساق نحوك إنه

يلفى ببابك نافق الأسواق

Praise is now driven toward you, for it

finds a brisk market at your door.

فالبَسه ما لبس الحمام حليَّه

في الأيك من وشح ومن أطواق

So wear it as long as doves wear their ornaments

in the groves, their sashes and neck-rings.

وعمرت ما عمرت مكارمك التي

تبلى ثياب الدهر وهي بواقي

May you live as long as your noble qualities endure,

which wear out time's garments while themselves remaining.

واسلم أبا إسحاق لابس غبطة

وعِداك للإبعاد والإسحاق

Remain safe, Abū Isḥāq, clothed in happiness,

and may your enemies face banishment and annihilation.