Poems
- أبقى الزمان به ندوب عضاضTime has left upon him scars from savage biting,
- أبلغ إمام الهدى أن لست مصطنعاTell the Imam of Right Guidance: you have appointed no one
- إذا لم تكن طرق الهوى لي ذليلةIf love’s paths do not lie easy beneath my feet,
- إذا ما حمام المرء كان ببلدةIf a man’s appointed death lies in a town,
- أشاقك والليل ملقي الجرانDid it stir your longing, while night laid down its neck—
- أصبت المدام بريق الغمامI drank wine with the clouds’ saliva,
- أعلل آمالي بكانت ولم تكنI soothe my hopes with “it was,” though it was not;
- الحمد لله رب العالمين علىPraise be to God, Lord of all worlds, for
- أما وحرمة كأسIndeed—by the sanctity of a cup
- أنعي فتى الجود إلى الجودI announce generosity’s young champion to generosity itself.
- بالله قل يا طللBy God, tell me, O ruined dwelling:
- بغداد بعدا لا سقىBaghdad—away with it! May no
- بيضاء تسحب من قيام فرعهاA fair one trails her tresses though she stands upright;
- تخشع شمس النهار طالعةThe sun of day bows humbly as it rises
- تطاول في بغداد ليلي ومن يبتMy night in Baghdad has grown long, and whoever spends the night
- تقول غداة البين إحدى نسائهمAt dawn of parting, one of their women says,
- تكاملت فيك أوصاف خصصت بهاIn you are perfected qualities bestowed upon you alone;
- تمج من أقداحنا قهوةFrom our goblets pours a wine
- جاء الرسول ببشرى منك تطمعنيThe messenger came with glad tidings from you, raising my hopes.
- جارية تسحر عيناهاA slave girl whose eyes enchant;
- جرت جوار بالسعد والنحسThe wandering stars have coursed with good fortune and ill.
- جلا الصبح أوني الكرى عن جفونهDawn swept sleep’s languor from his eyelids,
- ختلته المنون بعد احتيالDeath caught him by stealth, after all his cunning,
- خلع الصبا عن منكبيه مشيبGray age stripped youth from his shoulders,
- دعتني جفونك حتى عشقتYour eyelids beckoned me until I fell in love;
- ربع دار مدرس العرصاتThe vestige of a dwelling, its courtyards worn away,
- سروا يخبطون الليل فوق ظهورهاThey journeyed by night, plunging through the night upon their mounts’ backs,
- شدت أمير المؤمنين قوى الملكI strengthened, O Commander of the Faithful, the powers of kingship.
- شرابك في السراب إذا عطشناYour drink is in the mirage whenever we thirst,
- ضع السر في صماء ليست بصخرةEntrust your secret to one unyielding—yet no stone,
- عاطني كأس سلوةHand me a cup of solace
- عشق المكارم فهو مشتغل بهاHe fell in love with noble deeds and devotes himself to them,
- غربت بالمشرق الشمسIn the East has set the su—
- فأوردها بيضا ظماء صدورهاHe brought them to drink—white, with their breasts athirst;
- قل للطويلة موضع العقدSay to her whose long neck bears the necklace,
- كأن بلاد الله في ضيق خاتمIt is as though all God’s lands were confined within a narrow ring
- كريم يغض الطرف فضل حيائهA noble man, he lowers his gaze from the fullness of his modesty;
- لا تأمنن على سري وسركمNever entrust my secret and yours
- لا تغض الرياح من شأوها إلاThe winds do not diminish their far-reaching course, ex—
- لكل امريء رزق وللرزق جالبEvery person has provision, and provision has a bringer.
- لم تنصفي يا سمية الذهبYou have not dealt fairly, O golden Sumayya;
- لها عن صلة البيضThey bear, against union with fair women,
- لهون عن الإخوان إذ سفر الضحىThey made me forget my companions as morning unveiled its face,
- لو كنت أملك أن أفارق مهجتيIf I had the power to part with my very soul,
- ما فرق الأحباب بعدNothing parted the loved ones, after
- ما كان منكسر اللواء لطيرةThe banner was not broken by some omen
- مرت عينه للشوق فالدمع منسكبThey drew tears from his eye through longing; the tears pour down—
- ملك كأن الموت يتبع قولهA king—as though death follows his command,
- ملك لا يصرف الأمر والنهA king—no command or prohibition is administered
- نهى عن خلة الخمرWine's companionship was forbidden
- هذا كتاب فتى له هممThis is the letter of a youth with lofty aims;
- هل بالطلول لسائل ردDo the ruins have a reply for a questioner?
- وأبرز الخدر من ثنييه بيضتهAnd the curtained chamber brought forth its egg—its sheltered maiden—from its two folds.
- وخميس يلفه في خميسAnd an army he enfolds within an army,
- وشادن كالبدر يجلو الدجىAnd a young gazelle, like the full moon, dispels the darkness.
- وصاحب كان لي وكنت لهI had a companion, and I was his;
- وقائلة وقد بصرت بدمعA woman, when she caught sight of tears
- وقف الهوى بي حيث أنت فليس ليLove has halted me wherever you are, and I can
- وكم من ميتة قد مت فيهاAnd how many a death I have died,
- وكميت أرقها وهج الشمAnd a dark-red wine, kept sleepless by the sun's fierce heat,
- ولا أجمعت إلا عليك جميعهاAnd all of them united upon you alone;
- ولقد أقول لشيبة أبصرتهاIndeed, I say to a gray hair I caught sight of
- ومن يكن الغراب له دليلاAnd whoever has the raven as his guide,
- وناعس لو يذوق الحب ما نعساAnd many a drowsy one—had he tasted love, he would never doze;
- ونظرة عين تعللتهاAnd with a fleeting glance I consoled myself,
- ويوم تستوي فيهAnd on a day when alike become
- يا أيها الدهر أقصر عن تنقصناO Time, desist from wearing us away;
- يا حبذا الزور الذي زاراOh, how welcome the visitor who came—
- يا حفرة طولها خمس إذا ذرعتO grave, five cubits long when measured—
- يا دار مالك ليس فيك أنيسO dwelling, what ails you? There is no companion within you,
- يا صديقي وأخي فيO my friend and brother through
- يا من تحلى بريحان ينادمهO you who have adorned yourself with fragrant herbs that keep you company,
- يا من تمنى على الدنيا مبالغهاO you who would wish from him the world in all its fullness,
- يا نفس بكي بأدمع هتنO soul, weep with tears that pour in torrents,
- يرمين ألباب الرجال بأسهمThey shoot at the hearts of men with arrows—
- يصبرني قرم براء من الهوىAn eminent man, untouched by love, counsels me to endure;
- يقول والسوط على كفهHe says, while the whip in his hand
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