أذكى الغليل نسيم الريح حين سرى — Ahmad Alkiwani

أَذكى الغَليل نَسيم الريح حينَ سَرى

فَحاول الصَبر مُشتاق فَما قَدَرا

The wind's breeze fanned my burning thirst as it passed by night,

and a yearning lover tried to be patient, but could not.

ناجى فُؤادي بِأَسرار تَأَولها

فَذابَ وَجداً بِمَعناها وَما شَعَرا

It whispered secrets to my heart, which interpreted them,

and, unawares, it melted with longing at their meaning.

وَأَومض البَرق مُجتازاً بِذي سلم

فَباتَ يَنهَلُّ دَمع العَين مُنحَدِرا

And lightning flashed as it passed over Dhu Salam,

so the eye's tears poured down all night.

مازالَ يُوقد في الأَحشاءِ جَمر جَوى

حَتّى تَطاير قَلبي كُلُهُ شَرَرا

It kept kindling embers of anguish in my depths,

until my whole heart flew apart in sparks.

بِاللَهِ يا لائِمي أَقصر فَلا عَجَب

إِذا تَذَكر مَحزون فَما صَبَرا

By God, my reproacher, desist: it is no wonder

if a sorrowing man remembers and cannot be patient.

عَين تَغيَّب عَنها أَلفَها فَبَكَت

وَقَلبٌ مُكتَئِبٌ مِن خَفقِهِ اِنفَطَرا

An eye whose beloved vanished from sight, and so it wept;

and a dejected heart split apart from its own throbbing.

وَأَنتَ يا كَبدي ذوبي في أَسى وَجَوى

فَقَد تَعَذر ما قَد كانَ مُنتَظِرا

And you, my liver, melt in sorrow and love's anguish,

for what had been awaited has become impossible.

قَد كثنت مُنتَظِراً دَهري يُساعِدُني

عَلى اللُقا فَأَتاحَ الدَهر لي سَفَرا

I had waited for my fortune to help me

toward reunion, but fortune granted me a journey.

وَأَنتَ يا صاحِبي كَرر حَديثهمُ

فَإِن لِلقَلب شَأناً كُلَّما ذَكَرا

And you, my companion, speak of them again,

for the heart has its own ways whenever it remembers:

يُذيبُهُ ذِكرَهُم طَوراً وَيَنشُرُهُ

طَوراً فَتُنعش آمالي إِذا نَشَرا

their remembrance melts it at times, and revives it

at others; my hopes revive whenever it restores life.

وَأَنتَ يا عَيشنا الماضي وَمَعهَدنا

سَقاكَ دَمعي وَدَمع المُزن مُبتَكِرا

And you, our bygone life and our familiar haunt,

may my tears and the clouds' tears water you at daybreak.

وَيا لَيل مَع الأَحباب فيهِ خَلَت

وَفقَ الأَمانيّ كانَت كُلَها سِحرا

And O nights passed with loved ones,

just as we wished, every one of them enchantment—

بِاللَهِ هَل أَنتَ في الأَحلام عائِدَة

لِمُدنف وَأَصل الأَحزان وَالفِكرا

by God, will you return in dreams

to one wasted by love, who keeps company with grief and brooding?

أَشكو إِلى اللَهِ أَشواقي إِلى سَكَن

تَغيب عَنيَ أَحزاني إِذا حَضَرا

I complain to God of my yearning for one who is my solace;

my sorrows leave me whenever he is present.

يَصفينيَ الود مِن دُون الوَرى أَبَداً

إِذا صَفا الدَهر وَأَبدى لَنا كَدرا

He singles me out from all others for his sincere affection, always,

whether fortune runs clear or shows us murk.

إِذا ذكرت لَهُ فاضَت مَدامِعُهُ

وَذاعَ مِن سِرِهِ ما كانَ مُستَتِرا

Whenever I am mentioned to him, his eyes overflow,

and what lay hidden of his secret is revealed.

قَد أَلَّف السحر في عَينيهِ سُقمُهُما

وَالفَتك وَالغَنج وَالتَفتير وَالحورا

In his eyes, magic is woven by their languor,

their deadly charm, coquetry, languid looks, and dark pupils set in white.

وَجَمع الحُب في جفني وَفي بَدَني

الماءَ وَالنارَ وَالأَسقام وَالسَهرا

And love has gathered in my eyelids and my body

water, fire, sickness, and sleeplessness.

تَوَد أَن لا تَرى عَيني سِواهُ وَإِن

تَديم في وَجهِهِ لَو أَمكَنَ النَظَرا

My eye wishes to see no one but him, and

to keep gazing upon his face, if it could.

لَكن بِعارِضِها دَمعي وَيُدهِشُها

مِن وَجنَتَيهِ شُعاع يَخطف البَصَرا

But my tears obstruct it, and it is dazzled

by a ray from his cheeks that snatches sight away.

كَم لَيلة بِت أَسقيهِ غَياهِبُها

كَأس العِتاب إِلى أَن رَقَّ وَاِعتَذَرا

How many a night I spent, in its deep darkness, giving him

the cup of reproach, until he softened and apologized.

أَذكي بِنار عِتابي نار وَجنَتِهِ

فَيَقطر الجَمر ماءَ كُلَما اِستَعرا

With the fire of my reproach, I stoke the fire of his cheek,

so the glowing coal drips water whenever it flares.

لا عُذر لي في حَياتي بَعدَ فَرقَتِهِ

لَكنَّ ذَلِكَ أَمر وافق القَدرا

I have no excuse for living after parting from him,

but that is a matter in accord with destiny.

يا مَن لِصَب غَريب قَد بَكى كَمداً

وَما سَلا اَلفُهُ يَوماً وَلا غَدرا

O, who will help a lovelorn stranger who has wept in anguish,

whose beloved never forgot him for a day, nor betrayed him?

لَم تَبقَ مِن صَبرِهِ الأَشواق باقية

وَلم يَدَع سُمُهُ مِن جِسمِهِ أَثَرا

Yearning has left no remnant of his patience,

nor has its poison left a trace of his body.

تسلَّ يا قَلب عَن عَيش خَلا وَمَضى

أَوذب فَذاكَ عَيان قَد بَقِيَ خَبَرا

Let go, O heart, of a life now passed and gone,

or melt away: what was once before your eyes is now only a tale.