هل للمحب المستهام رفيق — Ahmad Alkiwani

هَل لِلمُحب المُستَهام رَفيقُ

أَم هَل إِلى الصَبر الجَميل طَريق

Has the love-distraught lover any companion?

Or is there a path to gracious patience?

أَم هَل كَما قالوا إِذا بانَ الَّذي

تَهوى فَإِن اليَأس مِنهُ رَفيقُ

Or is it, as they say, when the one departs

whom you love, that despair of him is a companion?

هَيهات ما خَلق السلو لِعاشق

كلف بِهِ سحر العُيون محيق

Far from it! Forgetfulness was not made for a lover

besotted, whom the spell of eyes surrounds.

يا عاذِلي أَتَظُن إِن قَد راقَني

مِن قَولك التَلفيق وَالتَنميق

O my reproacher, do you think I have been charmed

by the fabrication and embellishment in your speech?

يَفنى المَلام وَلا تَغيض مَدامِعي

وَيَزيدُها وَيَجف مِنكَ الريق

Reproach runs out, but my tears do not subside;

it increases them, and your saliva dries up.

أَتراك تَحسب إِن قَلبي لَم يَذُب

كَمداً وَإِن لَم يَفنِهِ التَفريق

Do you really suppose that my heart has not melted

with grief, and that separation has not consumed it?

وَمُغرد وَالبَرق يوري زِندَهُ

ناراً لَها عَوج الضُلوع حَريق

And a songbird—while lightning kindles its fire-stick

into a fire that burns the curving ribs—

يَملي عَليَّ شُجونَهُ وَيَخطها

بِالدَمع طَرف بِالبُكاءِ خَليق

dictates its sorrows to me, and they are inscribed

in tears by an eye well suited to weeping.

وَالشُهب مِن نَهر المَجَرة تَبتَغي

وَرداً فَطافٍ سابح وَغَريق

And the bright stars seek from the river of the Milky Way

a drink: one floats swimming, another is drowned.

وَالسُحب تَبكيها الرُعود بِزَجرِها

وَالرَوض يضحك وَجهَهُ المَعشوق

And thunder makes the clouds weep by scolding them,

while the garden's beloved face laughs.

وَكَأَنَّما حَصباؤُهُ وَتُرابَهُ

دُرٌّ يَشفُّ وَعَنبَر مَسحوق

As though its pebbles and its soil

were translucent pearls and powdered ambergris.

وَالزَهر مِن طَرب يَشق جُبوبَهُ

فَيَفوح مسك في الرِياض عَبيق

And flowers, in rapture, split its clods,

so fragrant musk wafts through the gardens.

وَالنَهرُ يَشكو وَجدَهُ بِخَريره

وَالغُصنُ مَعشوق لَهُ مَوموق

And the river laments its longing with its murmur,

and the bough is its beloved, dearly cherished.

وَالريح تَسحَب ذَيلَها مِن فَوقِهِ

وَتَظَل تَصقل خَدِهِ فَيَروق

And the wind trails her hem above it,

and keeps polishing its cheek, so it grows fair.

وَيَروّح المَكروب طيب نَسيمَها

وَيَضمخ الأَجسام مِنهُ خَلوق

And the sweetness of her breeze refreshes the afflicted,

and perfume from it anoints their bodies.

وَبِمُهجَتي مِن ذِكرِهِ سُكري فَلا

أَنفك عَنهُ وَلَستُ مِنهُ أَفيق

And my soul is drunk with his remembrance; I cannot

shake it off, nor can I sober from it.

كَم لَيلة بَعدَ الفُراق قَطَعتُها

لي في دُجاها رَنة وَشَهيق

How many a night after parting have I passed,

with a wail and a sob of mine in its darkness!

ما مِن طَريق لِلكَرى أَبَداً إِلى

جِفني وَلا للطيف مِنهُ طُروق

Never is there a path for sleep to

my eyelid, nor any night-visit from his phantom.

باتَت تُجاذِبني وَأَذيال الدُجى

مَسحوبة فَضل الحَياة بُروق

All night they wrestled with me—while darkness's hems

lay trailing—for life's remnant: flashes of lightning.

سَلتَ عَليَّ صَوارِماً مِن وَمضها

حَتّى اِشتَفى مِن قَلبيَ التَمزيق

They drew sharp swords against me from their gleam,

until rending had its fill of my heart.

فَتَمَسَكَت روحي بِأَذيال المُنى

فَغَدَت إِلى أَجل لَها تَعويق

So my soul clung to the hems of hopes,

which became its reprieve until an appointed time.

حَتّى نَضى وَجه الصَباح لِثامَهُ

وَأَظَلَّ أَثواب الدُجى تَخريق

Until the face of morning cast off its veil,

and rending fell upon the robes of darkness.

فَتَضاعَفَ الشَوق اللجوج وَشَفَني

وَجدٌ دَخيلٌ بِالفُؤاد لَصيق

Then insistent longing doubled, and I was wasted

by a passion lodged in the heart, clinging close.

وَقَذفت في لجج الهُموم كَأَنَّني

طَيف يَشق حَشا الظَلام طُروق

And I was hurled into deep seas of care, as though

a night-visiting phantom cleaving darkness's core.

لا يسعد المَحزون إِلّا مَسمَعٌ

غَرَدَ وَشعر ممتع وَرَحيق

Nothing gladdens the sorrowful but a voice

in song, delightful verse, and pure wine.

فاستجل مَرآة الزُجاجة إِنَّها

مَرأى يسر الناظِرين أَنيق

So gaze into the mirror of the glass; it is

an elegant sight that pleases those who look on.

أَو ما تَرى وَجه المَسَرة طالِعاً

مِن حَيث يَسفح دَمعَهُ الراووق

Or do you not see the face of joy rising

where the wine-strainer spills its tears?

وَاِستَنطَق الوَتر الرَخيم فَأَنَّهُ

شادٍ بان يُصغى إِلَيهِ حَقيق

And make the mellow string speak, for it is

a singer worthy of being heard.

وَتلقَّ ما يَتلوهُ عِندَ سُجودِهِ

لِلكاس مِن أَلحانِهِ الإِبريق

And hear what it recites as it bows

to the cup—the pitcher, with its melodies.

وَاِنظُر إِلى طَرَب الحِباب وَرَقصِهِ

إِذ لِلكُؤوس بِراحِها تَصفيق

And look at the bubbles' delight and dancing,

as the cups clap with their wine.

فَكَأَنَّما دُرر الفَواقع أَدمُع

بِعُيون رَمد كُحلَهُنَّ عَقيق

As though the pearls of the bubbles were tears

in sore eyes whose kohl is carnelian.

وَاِجعَل نَديمك دَفتراً تَلهو بِهِ

يَكفيكَ مِنهُ مُؤنس وَعَشيق

And make a book your boon companion, taking pleasure in it;

it is companion and lover enough for you.

كَم أَودَع الأُدباء في أَوراقِهم

حُكماً بِها صَدر الزَمان يَضيق

How much have writers entrusted to their pages

of wisdom that constricts the breast of Time!

فَاِقنَع بِذاكَ وَلا يَغُرَك بَشَر مِن

تَلَقى فَما فَوقَ التُراب صَديق

So be content with that; do not be beguiled by the smiles of those

you meet, for above the dust there is no friend.

لَم يَبقَ مَن يَصفو إِذا صافَيتُهُ

يَوماً وَلا عَهد يَدوم وَثيق

None remains who is sincere when you befriend him

for a day, nor any firm covenant that endures.

فَاِقَطَع مُواصَلَة اللئام فَحبهم

زور وَصَفو وِدادَهُم مَمزوق

So sever ties with the base, for their love

is falsehood, and the purity of their affection is torn.

وَتسلّ عَن سلم اللَيالي أَنَّها

حَرب وَمُعظَم برهن عُقوق

And abandon hopes of peace from the nights, for they are

war, and most of their kindness is ingratitude.

وَاِستَمر أَخلاب الكفاف فَإِنَّهُ

بِالحَرّ إِن عُنف الزَمان شَفيق

And savor the scraps of subsistence, for it

is kind to the free man when Time is harsh.

لا يَذهلنكَ عَن التَوَكُل فاضل

حرم الثَراء وَجاهل مَرزوق

Do not be distracted from trust in God by a worthy man

denied wealth, and an ignorant man provided for.

لا بُدَ مِن أَن يُرزَق المَحروم مِن

سعة الغيوب وَيُطلق المَوثوق

The deprived must surely be provided for from

the abundance of the unseen, and the fettered be set free.

صَبراً عَلى غَير الزَمان فَإِنَّما

شَأَن اللَيالي فَرجة وَمَضيق

Be patient with Time's reversals, for

the nights' business is only relief and straits.

سَبق اللِئام الأَكرَمينَ إِلى الغِنى

بِحُظوظهم فَالسابق المَسبوق

The base have outstripped the noblest toward riches

through their luck: the one ahead is the one left behind.

يا دَهر حَسبك كَم تَجور عَلى فَتى

حَمَّلتهُ ما لا يَكادُ يَطيق

O Time, enough! How often you wrong a young man

whom you have burdened with what he can scarcely bear.

بَرد الحَمام وَقَد أَلم بِهِ القَذا

فَيَروح لَم تَبتلّ مِنهُ عُروق

Death's coolness, with a mote already afflicting him—

so he goes away with not a vein of his moistened.

وَجه عَلى تَعبيس وَجه زَمانِهِ

طَلق وَمَع غَلظ الخُطوب رَقيق

A face, despite the scowling face of his time,

is cheerful, and gentle amid the harshness of calamities;

وَجَوارح مَنهوكة مِن هِمة

ثَقلت وَقَلب لِلهُموم شَقيق

and limbs worn out by an ambition

grown heavy, and a heart a brother to sorrows.

سَأَموت إِن كَذب الرجا ويضمني

قَبر غَريب بِالعَراءِ سَحيق

I shall die if hope proves false, and I shall be enfolded

by a lonely grave, remote in the open waste.

وَلَئن حَبست عَن الشِكاية مَنطِقي

فَلِسان حالي وَالدُموع طَليق

And though I have kept my speech from complaint,

yet the tongue of my plight and my tears are unrestrained.