ألمت فهاجت لوعة بفؤادي — Alhbal

أَلَمّتْ فهاجتْ لوعةً بفؤادي

وزادتْ غراماً أدمعي وسهادي

They came and stirred an anguish in my heart,

and, with longing, increased my tears and sleeplessness.

بيوتٌ بها أقوتْ بيوتُ تجلّدي

وقامَ اصْطباري بالرحيل يُنادي

Verses that left the dwellings of my fortitude deserted,

while my endurance rose, calling for departure.

هي السِّحرُ أو كالسّحرِ فعلاً فَمذْ أَتَتْ

أقضَّ لِشوقي مضجعي ووسادي

They are magic, or like magic in effect; for since they came,

my bed and pillow have grown restless with my longing.

تُذكرني عهداً لنا ومنازلاً

سقاها مِن الوسميّ صوبَ عهادِ

They remind me of a time we shared, and dwellings

watered by downpours of successive autumn rains.

فأحلَلتُها من ناظِرَيّ ومهجتي

سويداء قلبي أو سوادَ سوادي

So I lodged them within my eyes and lifeblood,

in my heart's dark core, or the black within my black.

فيا باعثاً لي الوجد في طَيّ مُهْرَقٍ

رويدك ما قلبي الشجيِ بجَمادِ

Then, O you who send me longing in a parchment's folds,

be gentle; my grieving heart is no lifeless thing.

ويا مَالِكاً رِقيّ بِنُعْماه دائماً

فكم نعمٍ عندي لَهُ وأيادي

And you who forever hold me in bondage through your favors,

how many favors and benefactions of his I have received!

ويَا مَاجداً أعطيتُه عهد صُحْبتي

وأَصْفَيتُه في الغَيْبِ مَحْضَ ودادي

And noble one, to whom I pledged my friendship,

and to whom, in absence, I gave my pure affection:

أتحسَبُ أنّي بَعْدَ بُعدِك سالياً

يطيبُ مَعَاشي أو يَلذّ رقادي

Do you think that, since your departure, I am consoled,

that my life is pleasant or my slumber sweet?

أَبَى البينُ إلاّ أن أرى فيك لابساً

ليالي أَحزاني ثيابَ حِدادِ

Parting insists that I be seen, for you, wearing

through my nights of sorrow, the garments of mourning.

فغادٍ من الدَّمع الهتونِ ورائحٌ

وخافٍ من الشّوقِ الشديد وبادي

So streaming tears come at dawn and at dusk,

and fierce longing is hidden and revealed.

ولو أَنّني سافرتُ شرقاً ومغرباً

لما كانَ إلاّ طيب ذكركَ زادي

Even were I to travel east and west,

my only provision would be the sweetness of remembering you.

فِراقُكَ أشجاني وهدَّ قوايَ لا

تغنّي هزارٍ أَو ترنّمُ حادي

Your parting has grieved me and sapped my strength—not

a nightingale's song or a camel-driver's chant,

ولا الْغادةُ الهيفا لها بينَ شبهِها

مِن المائسات النّاعمات تهادي

nor the slender maiden, who among her peers—

the soft and swaying beauties—walks so gracefully;

ولاَ الأَهيفُ الفتّانُ يعبث قدّه

وناظره السَّاجي بكلّ فؤادِ

nor the slender charmer, whose figure toys—

together with his languid gaze—with every heart;

ولا القَرقفُ الصَّهباء حَثّتْ كؤوسُها

أكفُّ مهىً هيفِ الخصورِ خِرادِ

nor tawny wine, whose cups are swiftly passed

by the hands of shy, slender-waisted, oryx-like maidens.

أخي ونصيري في النّوائب والَّذي

أناديه للأَحداث حينَ أنادي

My brother and my helper in adversity, the one

I call upon in calamity whenever I call:

فِدىً لكَ أهلي الأقربون ومَعْشري

وما بيدي مِنْ طارفٍ وتلادِ

may my nearest kin and my clan be your ransom,

and all I possess, newly acquired or inherited.

أتَتْنِي مِنْ تِلقاء سوحك قطعَةٌ

بنَفْسي سوحٌ قدْ حلَلْتَ ونادي

A piece of verse came to me from your courtyards—

my life for the courts you inhabit and your gathering-place!

هيَ الروضُ بَلْ أبْهى منَ الروضِ بهجةً

إذا جادَهُ رَيَّاً أكفِّ غوادي

It is a garden—rather, more radiant than a garden

when the palms of morning rainclouds lavish water upon it.

بعثتَ بها مِن سوحِ نعمةِ خالقي

على حَاضرٍ في العالمين وبادي

You sent it from the courts of my Creator's blessing

upon all in the worlds, settled folk and nomads:

عماد الهدى ربّ العُلَى هادي الوَرى

إلى خير منهاج وقولِ سَداد

the pillar of guidance, lord of eminence, guide of humankind

to the finest path and upright speech.

أدام إلَهُ العرش فينا ظلالَهُ

وأبقاهُ للإسلام خيرَ عمادِه

May the God of the Throne preserve his shade among us,

and keep him for Islam as its finest pillar.

وقد بعثَ العبد الجواب تَجارياً

وإن كان يكبو عَنْ مداك جوادي

This servant has sent his reply, striving to keep pace,

though my steed stumbles short of your reach.

فخذْ من جوابي النّزر ما كان حاضِراً

وأنتَ إذاً أنْدَى لأنك بادي

So take what is at hand from my scant reply;

and you are thus more generous, for you gave first.

وعُذراً فقد قابلتُ درّكَ بالحصَى

وساجلتُ بحراً زاخراً بثمادِ

And pardon me: I have matched your pearls with pebbles,

and pitted scant pools against a surging sea.

فأغضِ وسامحْ مُنعماً عن قبيح ما

بَدَا لكَ من عيبٍ به وفسادِ

So overlook and graciously forgive whatever ugliness

appears to you in it, of fault or flaw.

فأنتَ الذي قدْتَ القوافي طوائعاً

وغيرك لم تَنقَدْ لَهُ بمقادِ

For you have led the rhymes in willing submission,

while they yield to no other's reins.

وأنتَ الّذي جَلّيتَ في حَلبةِ العُلَى

على كلّ جحْجاحٍ طويل تِجادِ

You are the one who led the field on glory's racecourse,

ahead of every mighty chief with a long sword-belt.

على أنّني قد صرتُ بعدك أعجماً

وإن كنت أزرى لهجةً بِزياد

Yet since your departure I have become tongue-tied,

though my speech once put Ziyad to shame,

لدهرٍ رماني بالمصَائب صرفُه

وأضنَى فؤادي خطبُه المتعادي

because of time, whose turns have hurled calamities at me,

and whose successive afflictions have worn my heart away.

أطالَ حروبي بالمضرّات والأذَى

ولا طول حَربِ الحارث بن عباد

It has prolonged my wars with harm and suffering—

not even al-Harith ibn Abbad's war was so long.

يحاولُ إهمالي وإسقاطَ رتبتي

ويَسْعَى حثيثاً في خمود زنادي

It seeks to leave me forgotten and cast down my rank,

and strives relentlessly to quench my flint's sparks.

وثقل ديونٍ للْورى يا بنَ ناصرِ

يراوحني همي بها ويُغادي

And the burden of debts to others, O son of Nasir—

my worry over them visits me at dusk and dawn.

مَلأْنَ فؤادي بالأَسَى وسلَبْنَني

رقادي ومَلّكْنَ الرِّجال قيادي

They have filled my heart with grief and robbed me

of sleep, and made men masters of my reins.

فأصبحتُ رهناً في أزال لأجلِها

وغير أزال بُغيتي ومُرادي

So I am held hostage in Azal because of them,

yet somewhere other than Azal is my wish and desire.

وإن كان فيها مَنْشأي وولادتي

ومَسقط رأسي فهي غير بلادي

Though I grew up there and was born there,

and it is my birthplace, it is not my homeland.

ومَا بَلَدي إلاّ الذي فيه أغتدي

وعرضي مصونٌ عن مقال أعادي

My homeland is only where I go forth each morning,

with my honor shielded from my enemies' talk;

بلادٌ بها لا أختشي الذلّ إن غَدت

عليَّ لأَحداثِ الزّمان عوادي

a land where I fear no humiliation, even if there come

against me the raiders of time's calamities.

أأقعدُ في قومٍ أرى الشعر بينَهُمْ

يُباعُ ببخْسٍ طاهرٍ وكَسَادِ

Shall I remain among people where I see poetry

sold for a mere pittance, with no demand?

لَنَبَّهْتُهُمْ بالمدحِ لِلْجودِ والنّدى

وقد مُلِئَتْ أجفانِهُم برُقادِ

I have indeed roused them with praise to bounty and generosity,

though their eyelids were filled with sleep.

وحركتُهم بالشعرِ في كلِّ ساعةٍ

فَتَحْسبني حرّكتُ صخرةَ وادي

I stirred them with verse at every hour,

yet you would think I had shaken a valley's boulder.

فلَم أَلْقَ من نظم القريض سوى عناً

وشُغْلة أوقاتٍ وطول سهادِ

I found in composing verse nothing but toil,

hours consumed and long sleeplessness.

فلا كانتِ الأمداحُ مِن شافعٍ ولا

جَرى قلمٌ في كتبها بمدادِ

May panegyrics never serve as intercessors, and may no

pen run with ink to write them!

أرومُ بها نيل السَّعادةِ والغِنَى

وقد أشبهتْ نحساً ليالي عادِ

I seek through them to gain happiness and wealth,

yet in ill fortune they resemble the nights of ʿAd.

وأوردُ فكري كلَّ بحرٍ غَطَمْطمٍ

فيصدر حرّنَ الجوانحِ صادي

I lead my thought to drink at every deep, roaring sea,

but it returns with burning ribs, still thirsty.

لَعلَّ اللّيالي أن تَمُنَّ برحْلةٍ

إلى أَصيدٍ رحب الفناء جوادِ

Perhaps the nights will grant me a journey

to a proud, generous lord with a spacious courtyard,

من البَدْوِ تُذْكَى لِلْملمّين نارُه

تَرى حَولَه مِنها جبالَ رمادِ

a Bedouin whose fire is kindled for arriving guests;

around him you see mountains of its ashes.

يفيضُ على العافينَ نائل كفِّهِ

فَمِنْ إبلٍ مَزْمومةٍ وجيادِ

His hand's bounty overflows upon those seeking favors,

in haltered camels and noble steeds.

وما المرء غلاّ مَنْ يؤمّله الوَرى

لِقتل عداةٍ أو لبذلِ عتادِ

A man is only one in whom people place their hopes

to slay foes or bestow provisions and equipment.

وعِش ما دَعَى لِلّهِ داعٍ من الورى

وناداهُ لِلكرب العظيم منادي

And live as long as anyone among humankind calls to God,

and a caller invokes Him in grievous distress.

وأسألُه من فضلِه جمعَ شَملِنا

وأَنْ لا قَضَى ما بينَنا بِبِعادِ

I ask Him, of His grace, to reunite us,

and never to decree separation between us.