يقولون لي واصل سواها لعلها — Al Abas Ibn Al Ahnaf

يَقولونَ لي واصِل سِواها لَعَلَّها

تَغارُ وَإِلّا كانَ في ذاكَ ما يُسَلي

They tell me, “Court another; perhaps she

will grow jealous; otherwise, you may find solace in that.”

وَوَاللَهِ ما في القَلبِ مِثقالُ ذَرَّةٍ

لِأُخرى سِواها إِنَّ قَلبي لَفي شُغلِ

Yet by God, there is not a mote's weight in my heart

for another besides her; indeed, my heart is engrossed.

عَجِبتُ لِأَبدانِ المُحِبّينَ قُوِّيَت

بِحَملِ الهَوى إِنَّ الهَوى أَثقَلُ الثِقَلِ

I marvel at lovers' bodies, strengthened

by bearing love—for love is the heaviest of burdens.

حَمَلتُ الهَوى حَتّى إِذا قُمتُ بِالهَوى

خَرَرتُ عَلى وَجهي وَأَثقَلَني حِملي

I bore love until, when I rose bearing it,

I fell upon my face, and my burden weighed me down.

سَقى اللَهُ بابَ الجِسرِ وَالشَطَّ كُلَّهُ

إِلى قَريَةِ النَعمانِ وَالدَيرِ ذي النَخلِ

May God water the Bridge Gate and the entire riverbank,

as far as al-Nu'man's village and the monastery with its palms,

إِلى الدَوِّ فَالوَحاء فَالسَيبِ ذي الرُبا

إِلى مُنتَهى الطاقاتِ مُستَحقَرَ الوَبلِ

to al-Daww, then al-Waha', then al-Sayb with its hills,

to the far end of the archways, with a downpour reckoned scant.

مَنازِلُ فيما بَينَهنُّ أَحِبَّةٌ

هُمُ عَذَّبوا روحي وَهُم دَلَّهوا عَقلي

Dwellings, with loved ones among them,

who tormented my soul and drove my mind to distraction.

كَأَن لَم يَكُن بَيني وَبَينَهُمُ هَوىً

وَلَم يَكُ مَوصولاً بِحَبلِهِمُ حَبلي

As though no love had ever been between me and them,

and my cord had never been joined to theirs.

بِحُرمَةِ ما قَد كانَ بَيني وَبَينَكُم

مِنَ الوُدِّ إِلّا ما رَجَعتُم إِلى الوَصلِ

By the sanctity of what once existed between me and you

of affection, I implore you to return to our union.

وَإِلّا اِقتُلوني أَستَرِح مِن عَذابِكُم

عَذابُكُمُ عِندي أَشَدُّ مِنَ القَتلِ

Otherwise, kill me, that I may rest from your torment;

your torment is harsher to me than being killed.

فَلَم أَرَ مِثلي كانَ عاتَبَ مِثلَكُم

وَلا مِثلَكُم في غَيرِ ذَنبٍ جَفا مِثلي

For I have never seen someone like me reproach people like you,

nor people like you shun someone like me who had done no wrong.

وَإِنّي لَأَستَحيي لَكُم مِن مُحدِّثٍ

يُحَدِّثُ عَنكُم بِالمَلالِ وَبِالخَتلِ

And I truly feel ashamed for you before anyone

who speaks of your weariness and deceit.

وَكَم مِن عَدُوٍ رَقَّ لي وَتَكَشَّفَت

حُزونَتُه لي عَن ثَرى جانِبٍ سَهلِ

And many an enemy softened toward me, revealing

beneath his roughness, for me, the moist earth of a gentle slope.

رَماني فَلَمّا أَقصَدَتني سِهامُهُ

بَكى لي وَشامَ الباقِياتِ مِنَ النَبلِ

He shot at me; then, when his arrows struck me down,

he wept for me and put away the remaining arrows.

وَقَد زَعَمَت يُمنٌ بِأَنّي أَرَدتُها

عَلى نَفسِها تَبّاً لِذَلِكَ مِن فِعلِ

And Yumn has claimed that I sought to make her

yield herself to me—damnation upon such a deed!

سَلوا عَن قَميصي مِثلَ شاهِدِ يوسُفٍ

فَإِنَّ قَميصي لَم يَكُن قُدَّ مِن قُبلِ

Ask about my shirt, as Joseph's witness did;

for my shirt was not torn from the front.

وَمُجتَهِداتٍ في الفَسادِ حَواسِدٍ

لَها وَهيَ مِمّا قَد أَرَدنَ عَلى جَهلِ

And women bent on sowing discord, envious

of her, while she knew nothing of their designs,

تَآزَرنَ فيما بَينَهُنَّ فَجِئنَها

عَلى وَجهِ إِلقاءِ النَصيحَةِ لِلمَحلِ

joined forces among themselves and came to her

under the guise of offering advice, intent on malicious scheming.

يُعَرِّضنَ طَوراً بِالتَغاضي وَتارَةً

يُعاتِبنَها بِالجَدِّ مِنهُنَّ وَالهَزلِ

At times they hinted at turning a blind eye, and at others

they reproached her, both in earnest and in jest.

وَما زِلنَ حَتّى نِلنَ ما شِئنَ بِالرُقى

وَحَتّى أَصاخَت لِلخَديعَةِ وَالخَتلِ

They did not desist until their spells won them what they wished,

and until she listened to deception and guile,

وَحَتّى بَدَت مِنها المَلالَةُ وَالقِلى

وَعَهدي بِفَوزٍ لا تَمَلُّ وَلا تَقلي

and until she showed weariness and aversion—

though the Fawz I knew never tired of me or hated me.

فَلَمّا اِنقَضى الوَصلُ الَّذي كانَ بَينَنا

شَمِتنَ جَميعاً وَاِستَرَحنَ مِنَ العَذلِ

Then, when the union that had been between us ended,

they all gloated and were done with their reproaches.

وَقَد قالَ لي أَهلي كَما قالَ أَهلُها

لَها غَيرَ أَنّي لَم أُطِع في الهَوى أَهلي

My family had spoken to me as her family spoke

to her, except that in love I did not obey my family.

وَإِنّي لَكَالذِئبِ الَّذي جاءَ واعِظٌ

إِلَيهِ لِيَنهاهُ عَنِ الغَنَمِ الخُطَلِ

And I am surely like the wolf—a preacher came

to him, to warn him away from the drooping-eared sheep.

فَقالَ لَهُ دَعني فَإِنّي مُبادِرٌ

لَها قَبلَ أَن تَمضي فَما جِئتَ لِلعَدلِ

The wolf told him, “Leave me be, for I am hurrying

toward them before they pass; you have not come to deal fairly.”

وَأَرضَت بِسُخطي مِعشَراً كانَ سَخَطَهُم

يَهونَ عَلَيها في رِضايَ وَمِن أَجلي

And she pleased, by displeasing me, people whose anger

she once bore lightly to please me and for my sake.

وَلَم تَرعَ مَمشاها وَمَمشى فَتاتِها

إِلى السيب في الموشِيِّ وَالخَزِّ ذي الخَملِ

Nor did she give thought to her own journey and her maid's

to al-Sayb, in embroidered fabric and plush silk-and-wool cloth.

فَجِئنَ وَجاءَت في الظَلامِ تَأَطُّراً

كَمِثلِ المَها أَقبَلنَ يَمشينَ في الوَحلِ

So they came, and she came, swaying in the darkness;

like oryxes, they approached, walking through the mud.

فَباتَت تُناجيني وَباتَت فَتاتُها

تُنادِمُ عَبدَ اللَهِ وَالرَجُلَ الذُهلي

She spent the night whispering to me, while her maid spent it

keeping drinking company with Abd Allah and the Dhuhli man.

فَلَمّا أَضاءَ الصُبحُ قُمنا جَماعَةً

لِتَشييعِها نُخفي خُطانا عَلى رِسلِ

Then, when dawn grew bright, we rose together

to see her off, concealing our steps as we moved slowly.

إِذا الناسُ قالوا كَيفَ فَوزٌ وَعَهدُها

خَرِستُ حَياءً لا أُمِرُّ وَلا أُحلي

When people ask, “How is Fawz, and what of her pledge?”

I fall mute with shame, saying nothing bitter or sweet.

فَكوني كَلَيلى الأَخيَليَّةِ في الهَوى

وَإِلّا كَلُبنى أَو كَعَفراءَ أَو جُملِ

So be like Layla al-Akhyaliyya in love,

or else like Lubna, or Afra, or Juml.