ألا ليت قلبي يوم أعلن وجده — Alarjani

ألا ليت قلبي يومَ أعلنَ وَجْدَهُ

وآثَرَ من بينِ الجوانحِ بُعْدَه

Ah, would that my heart, the day it declared its passion

and chose to depart from between my ribs,

رآه غَيورُ الحَيَ يَتْبَعُ ظَعْنَهم

فشَنَّ عليه الخيلَ خوفاً فَرَدَّه

had been seen by the tribe's jealous guardian following their departing caravan,

who, fearing for them, charged it with horsemen and drove it back.

وكيفَ يَرُدُّ القلبَ قَسْراً إلى الحشا

إذا طارَ يوماً من هوىً قد أَجَدَّه

But how could he force the heart back into the breast

when it once flew away through a passion that had revived it?

وكم فوقَ تلك العيسِ من بَدْرِ هَوْدَجٍ

إذا لاحَ للسّارى رأَى الغَيَّ رُشْده

How many a full moon in a howdah rides those pale camels!

When it shines for the night traveler, he sees error as his guidance.

وذى طُرّةٍ إن طاردَ الليّلَ هازِمٌ

من الصُّبحِ وافَى صُدْغُه فأَمَدّه

And many a forelocked beauty—if a conqueror pursues the night,

coming from dawn, his temple-lock arrives to reinforce it.

أتَى دونَ تَشْييعِ الظّعائنِ باسلٌ

بهِنْديّةٍ يَحْمِي من الظّعْنِ هِنْده

A valiant man barred the escorting of the women in howdahs,

with an Indian sword, guarding his Hind among the caravan's women.

وغَيْرانُ أضحَى للحِفاظِ بكَفِّه

زِمامٌ بفَضْلٍ منه سَوَّر زَنْده

And a jealous guardian held in his hand

a rein whose slack encircled his wrist like a bracelet.

غلامٌ إذا ما ماثَلَ السيفُ لَحْظَهُ

غَداةَ هِياجٍ طاوَلَ الرُّمْحُ قَدّه

A youth whose glance the sword matches,

and whose stature the spear rivals on a morning of battle.

إذا شاء رَدَّ البِيضَ حُمْراً ضِرابُهُ

وغادَرَ حَدَّ السّيفِ يُشْبِهُ خَدّه

When he wishes, his sword-strokes turn white blades red

and leave the sword's edge resembling his cheek.

فقَلبِيَ من شَوقٍ إذا قلتُ قد خَبا

مَع الليّلِ أحيا ناسِمُ الريحِ وَقْدَه

My heart, aflame with longing—whenever I say it has died down

with the night, the wafting wind revives its blaze.

ومَنْ لي إذا آبَ الظّلام بهَدْأةٍ

ولو أنّ ما بي كان بالطّودِ هَدّه

And who will help me when darkness returns with stillness?

Were what afflicts me in a mountain, it would crush it.

تَحَمّلَ أصحابي فأصبَحْتُ ناظراً

إلى شَمْلِ أنْسٍ حَلّلَ الدّهْرُ عَقْده

My companions departed, and I was left gazing

at a fellowship whose bond time had undone.

وقد تركوني بالجِبالِ مُدَلّهاً

وهم أَخَذوا غَوْرَ العراقِ ونَجْده

They left me bewildered with love in the mountains,

while they took the lowlands and uplands of Iraq.

وبالرَّغْمِ منَى سَيْرُهم وإقامَتِي

وَحيداً وقد جازَ الهَوى فِيَّ حَدّه

Against my will were their departure and my remaining

alone, with passion exceeding its bounds within me.

وإذ لم يَقُمْ عِنْدِي سوى الطّيْفِ منهمُ

وإذْ لم يَسِرْ منّي سوى القلبِ وَحده

When nothing of them remained with me except their phantom,

and nothing of me journeyed except my heart alone.

فيالَكَ من قلبٍ تَمنّيتُ بُعْدَه

فلمّا نأَى عنّي تَذكَرْت عَهْده

What a heart you are, whose distance I wished for!

Yet when it went far from me, I remembered its companionship.

أرَى أعجَبَ الأشياء ذَمّاً لصاحبٍ

وعَوْداً إلى صَفْوٍ إليه فحَمْده

I find among the strangest things reproaching a companion,

then returning to affection toward him and praising him.

يَرى الشّيءَ شَرّاً كُلّهُ المَرءُ قائماً

وشَرّاً منَ الشّرِّ الّذي فيه فَقْده

A man sees a thing as wholly evil while it is present,

yet its loss is worse than the evil it contains.

أنِسْتُ بِرَوْعاتِ الليّالي كأنّني

صَفاً تحت صَوْبِ القَطْرِ قد صَفَّ صَلْده

I have grown accustomed to the terrors of nights, as though I were

a rock beneath pouring rain, its hard surface smoothed.

وفارَقْتُ حتّى أنّني ما يَعودُني

من الدّهر غيري عاجزاً أن يَعُدّه

I have suffered such partings that what visits me

from time would leave anyone else unable to count it.

ولكنّ شوقاً طارقاً حينَ ضافَنِي

إلى نازعٍ والليّلُ قد بَثَّ جُنْده

But when a longing came by night and visited me,

for one far away, while night had scattered its troops,

حطَبْتُ ضلوعي ثُمّ أقبلتُ قابساً

من البَرْقِ لَمّا بات يَقْدحُ زنْده

I made firewood of my ribs, then came to take a flame

from the lightning as it spent the night striking its fire-stick.

وأضرمْتُ ناراً في سوادِ جَوانحي

لِيُبْصِرَ ضَيْفُ الهَمِّ بالليّلِ قَصْده

And I kindled a fire in the darkness of my ribs

so that the guest of sorrow might see his destination at night.

عَدوٌّ تَسمّى لي بضَيْفٍ فلاسْمُه

وإنْ لم أُرِدْه زائراً لم أرُدّه

An enemy who called himself my guest—for that title,

though I did not want him visiting, I did not turn him away.

ألا مَن لبَرْقٍ خالَس العينَ غُمْضَها

فطار وأعطى خَرْق جَفْنيَّ سُهْده

Ah, who will deal with lightning that stole the eye's sleep,

then flashed away, giving its wakefulness to the gap between my eyelids?

وأكثَر من لَمْعِ اليدَيْنِ مُفَتِّحاً

لدمْعِي طريقاً طَيْفُهم كان سَدَّه

It waved both hands again and again, opening

a path for my tears that their phantom had blocked—

مَدافِعَ سَيْلٍ بين أجفانِ مُغْرَمٍ

إذا جاد منها خَدَّه الدمْع خَدّه

channels of a torrent between a lover's eyelids;

when tears from them rain upon his cheek, they furrow it.

وللهِ تَعليلُ المُنَى ما ألذّهُ

وللهِ تَبريحُ الجوى ما أشَدّه

By God, the solace of hopes—how sweet it is!

By God, the torment of passion—how severe it is!

وللهِ ظَبْيٌ أحْورُ العينِ يَرْتَعِي

فؤاديَ لا ماءَ العقيقِ ورنْده

By God, a dark-pupiled, white-eyed gazelle that grazes

on my heart, not al-Aqiq's water and its laurel!

شَهِيّ الّلمَى يَجْلو بعُودِ أراكةٍ

له بَرَدٌ يَحْمِي من الصّبِ بَرْده

Deliciously dark-lipped, he polishes with an arak twig

his hailstones, withholding their coolness from the lovesick one.

فواحسَدا منّي لأشعثَ ناحِلٍ

سِوايَ رأي في ذلك الماءِ وِرْده

Oh, how I envy a disheveled, wasted one

other than myself, who found his watering place in that water!

وقد يتَساوى الطّالبانِ وإنّما

يَنالُ المُنى مَن يُسْعِدُ اللهُ جَدّه

The two seekers may be equal, but only

the one whose fortune God favors attains his wishes.

فعَلَّ المَطايا أن يُسَلِّيَ وخْدُها

فتىً ما شَفى وصْلُ الأحبّةِ وجْده

Perhaps the mounts' swift pace will console

a youth whose passion union with loved ones did not cure,

وطَيّاً بأخفافِ الرّكائبِ لِلفَلا

إذا الظِلُّ أبدتْ صَحْرةُ الشّمْسِ طَرْده

and the folding of the wastes beneath the riding-camels' padded feet,

when the sun's glare reveals its banishment of shade.

بمُنتضَياتٍ للسُّرىَ أرحبّيةٍ

متى تَعْلُ هام البِيدِ وخْداً تَقُدّه

With lean Arhab-bred mounts for night journeys,

whenever they climb the desert's crests at speed, they cleave it,

طوالعَ من أعلامٍ نِجدٍ طوائراً

بكُلِّ ابْنِ عَزْمٍ يَجعلُ السّيْرَ وكْده

rising from Najd's landmarks, flying

with every son of resolve who makes travel his chief concern.

وقاسَيْنَ ليلاً دونَ قاسانَ جُبْنَهُ

طويلاً على الآفاقِ قد زَرَّ بُرده

They endured a night before Qasan, traversing it,

a long night that had buttoned its cloak across the horizons.

فوافَيْنَ مَجدَ الدّينِ صُبْحاً ومَن يَخَفْ

عنادَ الليّالي نَوَّخَ العيسَ عِنْده

They reached Majd al-Din in the morning; whoever fears

the obstinacy of nights makes his pale camels kneel beside him.

وكم وَدَّ قلبي أن يَرى المجدَ رُؤيةً

إلى أن بَلغْتُ اليوم بالقلبِ وُدّه

How often my heart wished to see glory with its own eyes,

until today I fulfilled my heart's desire.

بدا المَجْدُ شَخْصاً مِلْء عَيْنيَّ طالعاً

وما اسطاع قَبْلي ناظرٌ أن يَحُدّه

Glory appeared as a person, rising to fill both my eyes,

and no beholder before me could encompass it.

كأنّ الورى نالوا من المجدِ هَزْلَهُ

وأبقَوا لنا حتّى بلَغْناه جِدّه

As though mankind had obtained only glory's jest

and left its seriousness for us until we reached it.

كأنّا قصَدْنا المجدَ نحن حقيقةً

وكان مَجازاً ما يرومون قَصْده

As though we ourselves had sought glory in its literal reality,

while what they sought to reach was only metaphor.

أخو همّةٍ فَخْرُ النّجومِ بأنّها

إذا اسودَّ جُنْحُ الّليلِ سايَرْن وَفْده

A man of lofty resolve: the stars take pride in

traveling beside his delegation when night's wing grows black.

غدا الفَلكُ الأعلى وقد شَدَّ خَصْرَه

بمِنْطَقةٍ عَمْداً لِيحكِيَ عَبْده

The highest celestial sphere has girded its waist

with a belt, deliberately imitating his servant.

وأُقسِمُ لولا فَرْطُ علْياهُ لم يكُنْ

لِيُنْعِلَ إلاّ بالأهلّةِ جُرْده

I swear, were it not for his surpassing loftiness, he would never

shoe his sleek horses with anything but crescent moons.

وذو رتْبةٍ قد حَلَّ مِن قُلَلِ العُلا

ذُرا مَنزِلٍ ما حَلّتِ الشّمْسُ وَهده

A man of rank who has occupied, among eminence's summits,

the heights of an abode whose hollow the sun has never reached.

فتىً لا يُعِلُّ الوعْدُ بالمَطْلِ جُوده

ولكنْ يُميتُ العَفْوُ في الصّدرِ حِقْده

A youth whose promise does not impair his generosity through delay,

but whose forgiveness kills the rancor in his breast.

ولا تَعْدَمُ الأيدي نَداهُ بحالةٍ

وإن كان يُعْيي أن تَرى العَيْنُ نِدّه

Hands never lack his bounty in any circumstance,

though the eye struggles to find his equal.

ويَسبِقُ منه الرِّفدُ للوفْدِ طالِباً

ومن أجلِ ذا لا يَطلُبُ الوفْدُ رِفْده

His gifts hasten ahead to seek the visiting delegation;

for that reason, the delegation need not seek his gifts.

وأبلَجُ بالزُوّارِ غَصَّ فِناؤه

وهَيبتُه تُجَلِّي من الغابِ أُسده

A radiant-faced man whose courtyard is crowded with visitors,

whose awe drives the lions out of their forest.

يظَلُّ على الأعداء في السِّلْمِ هامُهم

مُعاراً له إن أنكَروهُ استَردّه

In peacetime, his enemies' heads remain upon them

only as his loan; if they disown him, he reclaims them.

ويَكْفى عَقيمَ المُلْكِ إيماءُ رأيهِ

إذا كان يومٌ يَسلُبُ النَصْلَ غِمْده

A hint of his judgment suffices for barren kingship

on a day that strips the blade of its sheath.

وما اعترف الحُسّادُ حُبّاً بفَضْلِه

ولكنّهم لا يَستطيعون جَحْده

The envious did not acknowledge his merit out of love,

but they cannot deny it.

خُدودُ مُلوكِ الأرضِ تَحسُدُ نَعْلَهُ

من العِزِّ بل ما يُوطِئُ الأرضَ نَهده

The cheeks of the earth's kings envy his sandal

for its honor—indeed, even what his mighty steed sets upon the earth.

ومَن يتَمنّى أن يُطاوِل فَضْلَه

إذا كان دِينُ اللهِ يُسْمِيهِ مَجده

Who could aspire to rival his excellence

when God's religion calls him its glory?

وهل لِعُبَيْدِ اللهِ في المجدِ والعُلا

شَبيهٌ إذا شاء المُفاخِرُ عَدّه

And has Ubayd Allah, in glory and eminence,

an equal, should a boastful rival wish to name one?

تَزهّد إلاّ في اتِّخاذِ صنيعةٍ

وفي نَيْلِ شُكْرٍ من فتىً نال شُكْده

He renounced the world, except in cultivating a protégé

and winning thanks from a youth who had received his bounty.

وولّى أموراً مَن تَولّى فحَسْبُه

على حَسَبٍ لا يَنزِفُ المَدْحُ عِدّه

He entrusted affairs to those who assumed charge, his sufficiency resting

on a noble lineage whose rich store praise cannot exhaust.

وضَمّ إلى جُودٍ تُقَى اللهِ فانتَهى

إلى مَذْهَبٍ في المكرماتِ استَجدّه

He joined generosity to fear of God, thus attaining

a way of noble deeds that he made anew.

فكم من ثناءٍ للوفودِ استَفادهُ

وحُسْنُ اقتناءٍ للمَعادِ استَعَدّه

How much praise from visiting delegations he has earned,

and what fine provision he has laid up for the hereafter!

أيا جاعِلاً في الدّهرِ للدّينِ نَصْرَه

وللخَلْقِ نُعْماه وللفَضْلِ وُدّه

O you who devote your support to religion throughout time,

your blessings to mankind, and your affection to excellence,

ومَن جَلَّ عن شُغْلٍ يَجُلّ بهِ الورى

وإن لم يَنلْ صاعَ المُجارِين مُدّه

and who rise above a calling through which men gain greatness,

even if your mudd does not reach your rivals' sa'.

أخوك الّذي إن ثار شَيطان فِتْنةٍ

أتاه بأشطانِ الرِّماحِ فشَدّه

Your brother is the one who, whenever a demon of sedition rises,

comes to it with the ropes of lances and binds it.

ومَن شام سُلطانُ السّلاطينِ رأْيَه

فَمدَّ يَداً للمُلْكِ حتّى أسَدّه

And he whose judgment the Sultan of sultans discerned,

then stretched a hand toward kingship until he set it straight.

فأصبح كالإسكَنْدرِ المَلْكِ عِزّةً

لأنْ جَعَل الرّأْىَ المُعِينيَّ سُدّه

Thus he became like King Alexander in might,

because he made Mu'in's counsel his rampart.

أرى الفَضْلَ أصلاً مَد فَرْعَيْنِ للعُلا

وكُلٌّ له ظِلٌّ على الأرضِ مَدّه

I see excellence as a root extending two branches toward eminence,

each casting a shadow that it spreads over the earth.

ومن عَجَبٍ في عَصْرٍ اثْنانِ أقبَلا

وكُلٌّ إذا ما قِستَه كان فَرْده

It is a wonder that two appeared in one age,

yet each, if you measured him, would be that age's peerless one.

أيا صاحِباً ما زال باهرُ فَضْلِه

يُجِدُّ له نَظْمَ القريضِ ونَقْده

O patron, the brilliance of whose excellence has never ceased

to renew for him the composing and appraising of verse.

جَعلْتُ له قَصْدِي وغُرَّ قصائدي

وأحضَرْتُه طُرْفَ العلاء وتُلْده

I devoted to him my aim and the brightest of my odes,

and brought him eminence's new treasures and its heirlooms.

وقَرّطْتُه بالدُّرِّ ممّا نظَمْتُه

وقلتُ له فاعذِرْ مُقِلاً وجُهْده

I adorned his ears with pearls from what I had strung

and said to him: pardon a poor giver and his effort.

دِلاصٌ على عِرْضِ الكريم مُضاعَفٌ

وإن لم تُقَدِّرْ كَفُّ داودَ سَرْده

A double-woven coat of smooth mail upon the noble man's honor,

though David's hand did not measure out its links.

عِذابٌ قوافيها ولكنْ وراءها

هُمومٌ أمرَّتْ لي من العَيْشِ رغْده

Sweet are their rhymes, but behind them

are troubles that made life's ease bitter for me.

ولى فِكَرٌ يُشتارُ من كَلماتها

مُجاجٌ إذا ما شِئْتُ أبدعْتُ نَضْده

And I have thoughts from whose words one gathers

nectar that, whenever I wish, I arrange with artistry,

وصَدْرٌ كبيتِ النَحْلِ تَكْمُن دائماً

لَواسِعُه فيه ويُعطيك شُهده

and a breast like a beehive, where always lie hidden

its stinging creatures, while it gives you its honey.

لقد كان تَأميلي بلُقياك واعِدي

فهذا أوانُ استَنجَز العَزْمُ وَعْده

My hope of meeting you had made me a promise;

this is the hour when resolve has secured that promise's fulfillment.

ولست أُبالي بالزّمانِ وصَرْفِه

إذا كنتَ لي فليَجْهَدِ الدَّهْرُ جَهْده

I do not care about time and its vicissitudes:

if you are mine, let time exert its utmost effort.

وما الدّهرُ عندِي غيرَ ثوبٍ كُسيتهُ

لِتُبلِيَه في دولةٍ وتُجِدّه

Time to me is nothing but a garment you were clothed in,

to wear it out in a reign and make it new again.

أصَبْتَ العُلا عُطْلاً فأصبَحْتَ حلْيَها

فخِلْنا العُلا جِيداً وخِلْناكَ عِقْده

You found eminence unadorned and became its adornment;

we imagined eminence a neck, and you its necklace.

وما نِلْتَه بُشْرى بما ستَنالُه

إذا الصُّبحُ وافىَ كانتِ الشّمْسُ بَعْده

What you have attained is glad tidings of what you will attain:

when dawn arrives, the sun follows it.