علقت قلبا قاسيا ... أنى لمن — Afaf Atallah

ُعُلّقتُ قلباً قاسياً ... أنّى لمن

جعلَ القساوة طبعَه أنْ يعشقا ؟!

I was smitten with a cruel heart ... how could one

Who has made cruelty his nature ever fall in love?!

لوقلتُ شعري في الجبال تصدّعت

أو كان في صخرٍ أصمّ تشقّقا

Had I recited my verse among the mountains, they would have split apart;

Or had it been within solid rock, the rock would have cracked.

أو قلتهُ في المعصراتِ .. لأنزلتْ

ثجّاً يكادُ من الجوى أن يُغرِقا

Or had I recited it among the rain clouds, they would have poured down

A torrent that, from love's anguish, would almost drown one.

لو أنّني نحو الدجى .. سَيّرتهُ

قدّ الدُجى .. و بكفّ نورٍ مزّقا

Had I sent it toward the darkness,

It would have cleft the darkness and torn it apart with a palm of light.

أو أنني أودعته بُوراً ... ربَتْ

أو أنّه في مَيْتِ عودٍ ... أورقَا

Or had I placed it in fallow earth, the earth would have swelled;

Or had it been in a dead branch, the branch would have sprouted leaves.

وببحرِ قزوين العظيم مزجتُه

لغدا زلالاً .. ثمّ فاض وأغدقَا

And had I mingled it with the great Caspian Sea,

It would have become clear, sweet water, then overflowed and poured abundantly.

من أنت حتّى يستفيق لكَ الهوى

من أنتَ .. حتّى تستبدّ وتُؤرِقا

Who are you, that love should awaken for you?

Who are you, to lord it over me and keep me sleepless?

من أنتَ حتى تحتويكَ أضَالعي

كيما تسعّرَ بالجفاءِ.. تشوّقا

Who are you, that my ribs should enfold you,

So you may set longing aflame with your coldness?

قلْ لي بربِكَ من تكونُ ..أسرتني

فأضعتُ فيك رزانتي والمنطقَا

Tell me, by your Lord, who are you? You have captured me,

And so, over you, I lost my composure and reason.

وبأيّ حقٍ هكذا .. أغويتنِي

بل كيف أوهمتَ الفؤادَ فصدّقا

And by what right did you beguile me like this?

Rather, how did you delude my heart, so that it believed?

ماكان قلبي قبل حبّك أحمقاً !!!

صيّرْتهُ القلبَ الجهولَ الأحمقَا!

My heart was not foolish before loving you!

You turned it into an ignorant, foolish heart!

أتظنني .. أنثى تكبّل نفسهَا

وتعودُ تشكو .. للحبيب ليُعتقا

Do you think me a woman who shackles herself,

And returns to complain to her beloved so he may set her free?

إنّي التي إن مسّ عشقٌ عقلَها

هيهاتَ ينفعهاوقد سُحِرتْ رُقَى

I am that woman: if love touches her mind,

No incantations can ever help her once she is bewitched.

يا أيّها الرّجلُ الرفيعُ .. مقامُه

سأظلّ أرْقبُ فِي غرامي الموثِقا

O man of exalted standing,

I shall keep awaiting, in my passion, the binding pledge.

ووصيّتي روحي التي عذّبتها

حتّى تُردّ إليّ إنْ ..كُتِبَ الّلقا

And my bequest is my soul, which you have tormented,

Until it is returned to me, if a meeting is decreed.