لج الفؤاد فليس يلذعه — Abn Rumi

لجَّ الفؤادُ فليس يلذعُهُ

عذلٌ ولا النكبات تردعُهُ

The heart persists; it is no longer stung

by blame, nor do calamities restrain it.

أوهى معاقدَ صبره كُلَفٌ

لم يوهه يوماً تمتُّعُهُ

Passion has loosened the bonds of its patience,

a passion never weakened by delight

بمسنَّع ظلت محاسنه

تخفي بها بدراً وتطلعه

in one so fair, whose charms would

conceal a full moon within them, then reveal it.

فإذا دنا أنأى أخا كَلَفٍ

وإذا نأى أدناه مضجعه

When he draws near, he keeps the lovesick lover far;

when he is far, his bed brings him near.

لم تعرُني وهناً حبالتُه

إلا عرا قلبي تفجُّعه

Never did his snare seize me late at night

without grief for him seizing my heart.

كلا ولم ألمم بمضجعه

إلا طغى جفني ومدمعه

No indeed; never did I approach his bed

but my eyelid and its tearduct overflowed,

طغيان مرتجس الذرى خضلٍ

لحنينه زجلٌ يرجِّعه

like a drenched cloud with thunder-rumbling heights,

its moaning answered by a roar it repeats;

حيران منبجس الكلى عصفت

بعد الهدوء عليه زَعزعه

a wandering cloud, its flanks bursting, struck

after stillness by a violent gale.

وكأنما نتجت رواعده

وبوارقٌ باتت تشيِّعه

As though its thunders had brought forth—

and lightnings spent the night escorting it—

يمّاً تلاطم في غزارته

آذيُّهُ وطمى تولُّعه

a sea, clashing in its abundance,

wave on wave, its wild fury overflowing.

سقياً لأطلال عفت فعفا

من بعدهن العيش أجمعه

Rain's blessing on the ruins that vanished; then vanished

after them all of life itself.

عهدي بِرَيِّقِ لهوها خضلاً

أَرِقَ الرياض يرفُّ مُمرِعه

I recall its pleasures' first freshness, dewy,

its gardens wakeful, its lush growth quivering,

أيام صيد جنانها بقرٌ

حُمٌّ تضمَّنهن أجرعه

in days when its gardens' quarry were wild cows,

dark-marked, sheltered in its sandy plain.

يغدو الأريب لها ليصرعها

وعيونها للَّحظ تصرعه

The clever man would set out to bring them down,

but their eyes would fell him with a glance.

من كل آنسة الحديث لها

وجه كأن الشمس مطلعه

Each a woman of delightful conversation, with

a face whose rising seemed the sun itself.

ولها دجى ليل تجلَّلها

فتظل تدريه وترفعه

She had a night's deep darkness cloaking her,

which she kept combing and lifting,

ومنضَّد رقّت مراشفه

علا المدام به مشعشعه

and neatly ranked teeth, with delicate lips,

whose mingled nectar surpassed wine itself.

ودَّعن من كادت حشاشته

لوداعهن ضحى تودِّعه

They bade farewell to one whose spark of life

nearly bade him farewell at their morning parting.

فتصدعوا ومضوا لطيِّتهم

فعرى الفؤاد لهم تصدُّعه

They scattered and went toward their destination,

and for them the heart was seized by its own rending.

تالله تفتأ باكياً لهم

حتى يخدَّ الخد أدمعه

By God, you will never cease weeping for them

until its tears furrow your cheek.

ولما دموع العين راجعة

ما عشت وصلاً فات مرجعه

The eye's tears will never bring back,

while you live, a union whose return is lost.

أفلا تسلّاهم بمنجردٍ

كالسيل آنف منه أصمعه

Will you not forget them with a sleek-coated horse,

like a torrent, its small-eared head held proud?

وسمت نواظره فخلتَ به

جنّاً تفرِّعه وتقرعه

Its eyes rise high; you would imagine upon it

jinn making it rear and striking it.

وكأن أذنيه شبا قلم

وحيٌ يخططه مُرفِّعه

Its ears are like the twin points of a pen,

a swift one, its wielder tracing its strokes.

رحُبت خواصره وجبهتُه

والمنخران وتم أتلَعه

Broad are its flanks and forehead

and nostrils; fully formed is its long neck.

فأناف متناه على ثبج

طلعت على الترهيف أضلعه

Its twin back-ridges tower over a rounded frame,

its ribs standing high despite its slender build.

واشتد علباءاه وانقوَسا

دون العذار فضاق برقعه

Its two neck-sinews are taut and curved

beneath the cheek-strap, tightening its face-mask.

وتحنَّبت ساقاه وانشنجت

أنساؤه فقمصنَ أكرعه

Its shins bow outward, and drawn taut are

its hip-sinews, making its lower legs spring.

فكأنما ائتلقت بأجنحة

يسبقن لمح الطرف أربعه

It is as though they flash with wings,

its four legs outstripping the blink of an eye.

تضحي الرياح إذا تمطَّر في

شأويه حسرى ليس تتبعه

The winds, when it rushes along

its two courses, are exhausted, unable to follow it.

شرس السجية إن شرست له

ويلين إن لاينت أخدَعه

Rough-tempered if you treat it roughly,

it yields if you gently handle its neck.

طرف كأن على معاقده

شرقاً من الجاديِّ يردَعه

A noble steed, as though upon its joints

a reddish stain of saffron marked it.

أمطاكه جزلٌ مواهبه

كلِفٌ بربّ العرف يصنعه

One lavish in gifts gave it to you to ride,

devoted to fostering the kindness he bestows.

يهب الجزيل ولا يكدره

بأذى ولا بالمن يتبعه

He grants abundant gifts and never mars them

with hurt, nor follows them with reminders.

لا بل يؤيده ويشفعه

بندى يحلُّ لديك موقعه

No; he reinforces and supplements them

with bounty that finds its proper place with you.

ويراه محتقَراً لديه وإن

أضحى لسان الشكر يرفعه

He thinks it little in his own eyes, even though

the tongue of gratitude raises it high.

كم من يد سبقت إليَّ له

حسناء جاد لها تبرُّعه

How many a favor of his has come to me,

beautiful, freely and generously bestowed!

فشكرته فأثابني نعماً

أوهى لها شكري يضعضعه

I thanked him, and he rewarded me with blessings

before which my gratitude weakened, shaken to its core.

ملك إذا افتخر الملوك سما

كرم النِّجار به ومَنزِعه

A king whom, when kings boast,

noble stock and lineage lift high.

فعلا وقصّر دون مبلغه

من مجد من ناواه أرفَعه

He towers, while short of his height falls

the loftiest glory of any who oppose him.

وله من العز التليد إذا

عدت بنو شيبان أمنعه

Of ancient honor he possesses—when

Banu Shayban count theirs—the most unassailable.

سيما العزيز تجبُّرٌ ويرى

في العز سيماه تخشُّعه

The mighty man's mark is arrogance; yet men see

his mark, in might, to be humility.

وإذا بنو الموت استطالهمُ

وهجٌ تغشى الموت أينَعه

When the sons of death are overborne

by a blaze whose ripest glow envelops death,

ودعوا نزالِ فطاح بالورع ال

هيابة المنخوب مَهلعه

and cry, 'To battle!'—the cautious man is swept away,

the timorous, unnerved man, by his panic—

غادى كتائبهم بعدوته

أجل يطحطح من يروعه

he strikes their battalions at dawn with his charge,

a doom that crushes all whom it appalls,

متقلداً في الروع ذا شطُبٍ

كالرجع أبدع فيه مبدعه

girt amid terror with a grooved blade,

like rainwater, wondrously wrought by its maker,

مما تقلد في كتائبه

يوم الوغى واختار تُبَّعه

one of those worn amid his battalions

on battle's day, and chosen by its Tubbaʿ:

عضباً كأن شعاعه لهب

يَغنى به في الليل رافعه

a keen blade whose radiance seems a flame,

its bearer needing no other light at night.

وكأنما كسيت عقيقته

وشياً تأنق فيه صانعه

It is as though its blade-pattern were clothed

in embroidery its maker fashioned with care,

أو دبَّ فيه الذرُّ فاختلفت

تفراه أكرُعه وأذرعه

or tiny ants had crept across it, crisscrossing,

their legs and forelegs scoring its surface.

بأبي وأمي أنت تِرْبُ ندىً

في بيت مكرمة تريُّعه

My father and mother ransom you, bounty's age-mate,

whose dwelling is in a house of noble deeds.

إن الوزارة لم تزل وبها

شوق إليك يُرى تنزُّعه

Ever has the vizierate harbored

a longing for you, its yearning plain to see.

خطبتك إذ وافقت خطبتها

وسواك أقصاه تسرُّعه

It sought your hand when you welcomed its suit;

others' haste kept them far away.

الله وفق مبتغيك لها

وحباك أمراً كنت تدفعه

God prospered the one who sought you for it,

and bestowed on you an office you had resisted,

نظراً من الله العزيز لمن

أمسى نظام الملك يجمعه

out of care from God the Mighty for those

whom the kingdom's order now unites.

أفلت نجوم الغيِّ حين بدا

للرشد نجم أنت مُصدِعه

The stars of error set when there appeared

a star of guidance that you bring to light.

وأقمت للحق المنار على

لَقَم الطريق فبان مهيعه

You erected truth's beacon upon

the middle of the road, making its broad course clear.

ونشرت ميت العدل من جدث

قد كان فيه طال مهجعه

You raised dead justice from a tomb

where its slumber had long endured.

أمنت بيمنك في مراتعها

شاء الفلا وذُعِرن أضبعه

By your blessing, safe in their pastures are

the wilderness sheep, while its hyenas are afraid.

ولقد يرى أوسٌ ويونس من

جناتها صعباً ممنعه

Indeed, Aws and Yunus, among

its offenders, find his stronghold hard to assail.

حسنت بك الدنيا وعاد لها

كفٌّ طليلُ الأيك مونعه

The world grew fair through you, and to it returned

a hand whose groves are dewy and heavy with fruit.

وملأت مشرقها ومغربها

عدلاً تغشَّى الناس أوسعه

You filled its east and its west

with justice whose broadest reach enveloped the people.

فتملَّ معتلياً سلامة ما

قُلِّدته وهَناك مَكرعه

So, exalted, enjoy in safety what

you are entrusted with; may its watering-place delight you.