لا جلا أحزاني الجلد — Abou Al Hassan Al Housri

لا جَلا أَحزاني الجَلدُ

لا خَلا مِن ذِكرِكَ الخَلدُ

May fortitude never dispel my sorrows.

May my mind never be empty of your remembrance.

لا هَنى عَينَيَّ نَومُهُما

وَهناكَ الحُزنُ وَالخُلُدُ

May their sleep never delight my two eyes.

And may the rugged earth and enduring mountains be gentle to you.

باتَ صَحبي يَسهَرونَ وَلَم

يَجِدوا الوَجدَ الَّذي أَجِدُ

My companions spent the night awake, but did not—

feel the anguish that I feel.

وَأَنا أَسهَرتُ أَعيُنهُم

إِنّ دَمعي لَو رَقا رَقَدوا

And I kept their eyes awake.

Indeed, had my tears ceased flowing, they would have slept.

قُلتُ إِذ قالوا تَعَزَّ أَما

لِلبُكا مِن بَعدِهِ أَمَدُ

I replied when they said, 'Take comfort—is there no—

end to weeping after him?':

مَدَّ دَمعي فيهِ بَحرُ دَمي

فَأَبى أَن يَنفَدَ الأَبَدُ

The sea of my blood has swelled my tears for him,

so eternity refused to run out.

أَنا أَبكي وَالغَليلُ كَما

كانَ في الأَحشاءِ وَالكَمَدُ

I weep, and the burning anguish is as—

it was in my entrails, and so is grief.

كُلَّما رُمتُ الأَسى نَكَأ ال

قَرحَ دَهرٌ دَأبُهُ النَكَدُ

Whenever I sought solace, it reopened the—

wound: Time, whose habit is affliction.

عُرّي اليَومَ العَرينُ مِنَ الش

شبلِ فَليُبدِ الأَسى الأَسَدُ

Today the lair is stripped of the—

cub; let the lion reveal his grief.

مغتَوٍ بِالدَمعِ مُغتَرِبٌ

ما لَهُ مالٌ وَلا وَلَدُ

Sustained by tears, an exile,

with neither wealth nor child.

عَثَتِ الأَعرابُ في بَلَدٍ

فَاِكتَسى ثَوبَ البِلى البَلَدُ

The Bedouins ravaged a land,

and the land put on the garment of decay.

اِحدُ يا بَرقَ السَحابِ لَهُ

مِن جُفوني ما رَسا أَحُدُ

Drive tears toward him, O lightning of the clouds,

from my eyelids, as long as Uhud stands firm.

كانَ في عَبدِ الغِنيّ غِنىً

عَنهُ حَتّى حَسَّهُ الحَسَدُ

In Abd al-Ghani there was wealth enough—

to do without it, until envy destroyed him.

طَرَقَتني العَينُ فيهِ وَقَد

عاصَ وَاِشتَدَّت بِهِ العَضُدُ

The evil eye struck me through him, when he had—

grown sturdy, and through him my arm had grown strong.

وَتَرَتنيهِ شَعوبُ وَما

لِغَوِيٍّ عِندَها قَوَدُ

Sha'ub—Death—bereft me of him; there is no—

blood-revenge against her for a misguided man.

دارِعٌ لا المَوتَ يَدرَأُ عَن

نَفسِهِ أَزرى بِهِ الزَرَدُ

An armored man cannot ward death off from—

himself; the chain mail has failed him.

بَعدَ أَن يحمى الفناءُ بِنا

لِفَناءٍ نَحنُ لا فَنَدُ

After the courtyard has been defended by us,

we are destined for extinction—this is no falsehood.

رُبَّ بانٍ وَالحِمامُ لَهُ

في بِناءٍ رَصَّهُ رَصَدُ

Many a builder has Death—

lying in wait inside the building he solidly raised.

آه أَودى مَن أَوَدُّ وَمَن

قامَ في قَومي بِهِ الأَوَدُ

Ah! He whom I love has perished, and he—

through whom my people's crookedness was set straight.

شَبَّهُم حَرباً فَوا حَربا

ما لَهُم ناخوا وَقَد وَقَدوا

He fired them for war—alas, the ruin!

Why have they knelt down, when once they blazed?

وَجَدوهُ وَالسُعودُ تَقي

ثُمَّ خانَتهُم فَقَد فَقَدوا

They found him while auspicious stars protected them;

then the stars betrayed them, and they lost—

دُرَّةً يُزهى بِرَونقِها

مُنتَقٍ لِلدُرِّ مُنتَقِدُ

a pearl whose luster brings pride to—

a chooser of pearls, a discerning judge.

مَلَأَت عَينَ الزَمانِ سَنىً

وَصَفا مِنها لَهُ الصَفَدُ

It filled Time's eye with radiance,

and the bounty he gained from it was pure.

لَو تَمادَت مُدَّةُ اِبنِيَ لَم

يَتَجاوَز حَدَّهُ أَحَدُ

Had my son's lifetime been prolonged, no—

one would have surpassed his measure.

كانَ طِفلاً لَو غَزا مائَةً

لَم يَهُلهُ لِلعِدا عَدَدُ

He was a child; had he attacked a hundred,

the enemy's numbers would not have daunted him.

طارَ لِلعَليا فَأَدرَكَها

بِجَناحٍ راشَهُ الرَشَدُ

He flew to the heights and attained them,

with a wing that sound judgment had feathered.

وَاِبتَنى المَجدَ المُؤَثَّلَ وَال

عَمَلَ الزاكي لَهُ العُمُدُ

And he built deep-rooted glory, with—

virtuous work as its pillars.

يا عُقاب المَوتِ حُمت عَلى

عَقِبي فَاِنحَلَّتِ العُقَدُ

O eagle of death, you circled over—

my offspring, and the knots came undone.

اِختَطَفتِ اِبنَ اللَباةِ وَلَم

تَحمِهِ الأَظفارُ وَاللِبَدُ

You snatched the lioness's son, and—

claws and manes did not protect him.

وَخَبا نَجمي فَها أَنا ذا

لا سَنىً يهدي وَلا سَنَدُ

And my star went out; so here I am,

with no radiance to guide me and no support.

كَبِدُ المَرءِ اِبنُهُ فَإِذا

كُبَّ أَمسى ما لهُ كَبِدُ

A man's liver is his son; when—

he is cast down, the man is left with no liver.

كُلُّ مَحبوبٍ يُمَلُّ سِوى

ما يَلي الإِنسانُ أَو يَلِدُ

Every beloved grows wearisome, except—

those whom a person cares for or begets.

إِنَّما الأَبناءُ إِن نَجُبوا

عدد الآباءِ وَالعدَدُ

Indeed, sons, if they prove noble,

are their fathers' strength and numbers.

وَإِذا كانَ الفَتى خَلفاً

فَحُلى أَجدادِهِ جُدُدُ

And when a youth is a worthy successor,

then his forebears' ornaments are renewed.

نَفَسَ الباكي عَلَيكَ تُرى

يا حَيا الصادي مَتى نَرِدُ

O breath of the one who weeps for you, I wonder—

O rain for the thirsty, when shall we come to drink?

كُن غَداً نورَ الشَقِيِّ إِذا

ما سَعى نورُ الألى سَعِدوا

Tomorrow, be the wretched man's light when—

the light of the blessed hastens forth.

وَحَديثٍ لِلنَبِيِّ يَعي

فيهِ بُشراهُ بِما يَعِدُ

And many a saying of the Prophet: he discerns—

in it his glad tidings of what he promises.

وَعَسى المُختارُ يَذكُرهُ

فَيَقي المَحزونَ إِذ يَفِدُ

And may the Chosen One remember it,

and so protect the sorrowful man when he arrives.

لا يَد لي كَيفَ عِشتُ وَقَد

حَكَمَت لِلمَوتِ فيكَ يَدُ

I am powerless—how have I lived, when—

a hand has decreed death for you?

مَن بَكى الأَحبابَ إِذ بَعُدوا

فَليَمُت وَجداً إِذا بَعُدوا

Whoever wept for loved ones when they were gone,

let him die of anguish when they are gone.

كانَ مُذ قامَت نُعاتُكَ بي

صَمَم حَتّى هَدى الصَمدُ

Since the heralds of your death arose, there was in me—

deafness, until the Eternal Refuge guided me.