خطرت تحمل من سلمى سلاما — Al Imad Al Asbahani

خطرتْ تحملُ من سَلْمى سلاما

فانثنى يشكرُ إنعامَ النُّعامى

She wafted past, bearing a greeting from Salma.

So he turned to thank the south wind's kindness—

مُغرمٌ هاجتْ جواهُ نَسْمةٌ

يا لها من نسمة هاجتْ غراما

a lovesick man whose burning grief a breeze had stirred.

Oh, what a breeze, to have stirred such passion!

نفحةٌ أذكَتْ بقلبي لَفْحةً

كلّما هبّتْ له زادتْ ضِراما

A waft that kindled a scorching heat in my heart;

whenever it blew toward it, it increased the blaze.

عاتبتْ سلمى سُميراً أَم ترى

غازلتْ بالرَّوضِ أَنفاس الخُزامى

Did Salma chide Sumayr, or do you think

she wooed the breaths of lavender in the garden?

يا لأَوطارِي فقد أَنشرها

نشرها من بعدِ ما كانتْ رِماما

Ah, my desires! They have been brought back to life

by its fragrance, after they had crumbled to dust.

ذكّرتْ ريحُ الصّبا رَوْحَ الصِّبا

وزماناً كنتُ بل كانَ غلاما

The east wind recalled the ease of youth,

and a time when I was—nay, time itself was—a boy;

ونديماً ليَ لم أَندمْ بهِ

يا رعاهُ اللّهُ من بينِ النُّدامى

and a drinking companion of mine with whom I had no regrets.

Ah, may God watch over him among all drinking companions!

ألهمَ الدَّوح التّثنِّي بثّهُ

شَجْوَهُ بل علّمَ النّوْحَ الحَماما

He inspired the great trees to sway by pouring out

his sorrow—nay, he taught the doves to mourn.

قالَ ما أَطيبَ أَيامَ الصِّبا

قلتُ ما أَطيبَهُ لو كان داما

He said, 'How sweet are the days of youth!'

I said, 'How sweet it was—if only it had lasted!'

كان وعداً بالأَماني مُزنُهُ

كلّما استسقيتُهُ عادَ جَهاما

Its raincloud promised the fulfillment of hopes;

whenever I sought rain from it, it proved rainless.

وهضيمُ الكَشْحِ في حبّي له

لم يَزدْني كاشحي إلاَّ اهتضاما

And a slender-waisted one—in my love for him,

my ill-wisher only heaped wrongs upon me.

كَرُمَ العاشقُ منه مثلما

لؤُمَ العاذِلُ فيه حينَ لاما

The lover grew noble through him, just as

the censor grew base when he reproached me over him.

بقَوامٍ علّمَ الهزَّ القنا

ولحاظٍ تُودِعُ السُّكرَ المُداما

With a figure that taught spears how to sway,

and glances that put intoxication into aged wine.

أَتراهُ إذْ تثنّى ورنا

سمهريّاً أَمْ سلّ حُساما

Do you take him, as he sways and gazes,

for a straight lance—or has he drawn a sword?

خدَّهُ يجرحُهُ لحظُ الورى

فلذا عارِضُهُ يلبسُ لاما

His cheek is wounded by people's glances;

so the side of his face wears armor.

ويُريكَ الخطّ منه دائراً

هالةَ البدرِ إذا حطَّ اللِّثاما

And his encircling down reveals to you

the full moon's halo when he removes his veil.

وكثيبُ الرَّملِ قد أَخجلَهُ

وقضيبُ البانِ رِدفاً وقَواما

And the sand dune he has put to shame,

and the ban-tree's branch, with his hips and stature.

أَنا منه ومن العُذّال في

نَصَيبٍ أَشكو مَلالاً وملاما

I have, from him and from the reproachers,

a share of weariness and blame to lament.

لم تكن تلكَ وق لاحَظْنَني

لحظاتٍ إنّما كانتْ سهاما

Those, [when] they glanced at me, were not

glances; they were only arrows.

تركتْ في غَمَراتٍ مُهْجَتي

غمرات ملكت منها الزِّماما

They left my soul in overwhelming throes,

throes that seized its reins.

مهجةٌ أَرخصَها سَوْمُ الهوى

وتسامى عزَّةً من أَنْ تساما

A soul made cheap by love's bargaining,

yet rising in pride above being bid for.

ومقامي بعد توديعهمُ

بالحِمى ما خِلتُهُ إلاَّ حِماما

And my remaining, after bidding them farewell,

in the protected grounds—I deemed it nothing but death.

عَدِمَ الإصباح ليلي بعدَكُمْ

أَسفِروا لي مرّةً تجلُو الظلاما

My night has had no dawn since you departed;

show me your faces once, to dispel the darkness.

بتُّ عن طيفكُمُ مُتسخبِراً

من غرامي بكُمُ من كان ناما

I spent the night seeking news of your dream-image,

out of my passion for you, from anyone who had slept.

وغرامي رُمْتُ أَنْ أَكتمه

فأَبى الدَّمعُ لأَسراري اكتتاما

And my passion—I tried to conceal it,

but my tears refused to let my secrets stay hidden.

ولماذا ظمئِتْ نحوَكُمُ

مقلةٌ إنسانُها في الدَّمعِ عاما

And why does it thirst for you—

an eye whose pupil has swum in tears?

يا رفيقيَّ ارفقا بي فالهوى

عُنْفُهُ يكفي المحِبَّ المُستهاما

O my two companions, be gentle with me, for love—

its violence is enough for the distraught lover.

أَنجِداني فبنجدٍ أَرَبي

حين غيري شامَ بالغَوْرِ الشَّآما

Help me, you two, for my desire lies in Najd,

while another, in the Ghawr lowlands, espied al-Sham.

وانشُرا عنديَ أَخبار الحمى

فبأَخبارِ الحمى قلبيَ هاما

And spread before me news of the protected grounds,

for news of those grounds has enraptured my heart.

ناظري من دمعتي في شُغُلٍ

فانظُروا عنّيَ هاتيكَ الخِياما

My eye is occupied with my tears;

so look upon those tents on my behalf.

سارَ قلبي يومَ ساروا وانْثَنَوا

نحوَ نجدٍ وأَقاموا فأَقاما

My heart departed the day they departed and turned

toward Najd; they settled, and so did it.

عَلِّلاني بأَحاديثِهمُ

فأَحاديثُهُم تَشفي الأُواما

Console me, you two, with tales of them,

for tales of them quench burning thirst.

هذه أَطلالُهمْ تشكو الظَّما

فدعا الأَدمُعَ تنهلُّ انسجاما

These are their ruined camps, complaining of thirst;

so let the tears pour down in streams.

رِفقاً نستَسقِ جَدْوَى ظَفَرٍ

فهو من بَخَّلَ بالجودِ الغَماما

Gently: let us seek rain from Zafar's bounty,

for his generosity makes the rainclouds seem miserly.

فهو الغيثُ إذا بَثَّ اللُّها

وهو اللّيثُ إذا فَلَّ اللَّهاما

For he is the rain when he scatters gifts,

and he is the lion when he routs the mighty host.

لم يزِدْ أَعداءَه يومَ الوغى

والقنا إلاَّ انحطاطاً وانحِطاما

He brought his foes on the day of battle—

and the spears—nothing but downfall and shattering.

إجتلَى من مَشرِق المجدِ السّنا

وامتطى من بازلِ المُلك السَّناما

He beheld the radiance from glory's rising-place,

and mounted the hump of sovereignty's full-grown camel.

وأَضاءَتْ بسَنا سُنّتهِ

ظُلَمُ الظُّلمِ لأَيامِ الأَيامى

And the radiance of his conduct lit up

oppression's darkness in the widows' days.

أولدَتْ أَنعمُهُ عُقْمَ المُنى

وشفى من يأسِنا الدّاءَ العُقاما

His favors made barren hopes bear offspring,

and cured the incurable disease of our despair.

كرمٌ يُحيي وبأْسٌ مهلِكٌ

وهما ما صَحِبا إلاَّ هُماما

Generosity that gives life, and might that destroys—

these two have accompanied none but a noble hero.

أَنتَ عذْرُ الدَّهر يا واحدَهُ

ولقد أَعظمَ لولاه اجتراما

You are Time's excuse, O its peerless one;

indeed, but for that excuse, its crime would have been grievous.

ببنيهِ ملكاً أَو سُوقةً

ملأَ الأرضَ طغاةً وطَغاما

With its sons, whether kings or commoners,

it has filled the earth with tyrants and rabble.

ليس بدْعاً سَقَمي من صحتي

فالقنا حُطِّمَ من حيثُ استقاما

It is no marvel that my sickness comes from my health;

for spears are shattered by their very straightness.

وإذا المرءُ تشكّى خطّةً

كانت الصِحّة للنفسِ سَقاما

And when a man complains of his lot,

health becomes a sickness to the soul.

صُغتُها منظومةً في مدحِكُمْ

فتلاها الدُّرُّ فذّاً وتُؤاما

I fashioned it as a poem in your praise,

so pearls followed it, singly and in pairs.

جمعتْ لفظاً ومعنىً شائقاً

بَعُدا في الحُسن مرمىً ومراما

It joined captivating wording and meaning,

both far-reaching in beauty, in scope and aim.

هيَ راحٌ كيف حلّتْ عَجَباً

وهي سِحرٌ كيف ما كانت حراما

It is wine—how wondrous that it is lawful!

And it is magic—how is it not forbidden?

فاغتنمها إنَّما أَوفى الورى

مَنْ يَرى من مثليَ الحمد اغتناما

So seize it: the most faithful of mankind

is he who counts praise from one like me a gain.