ليبجح الدهر لما ردني جزعا — Almlk Alamjad

ليبجحِ الدهرُ لمّا ردَّني جَزِعاً

وكنتُ جَلْداً على احداثهِ مَصِعا

Let time gloat now that it has made me distraught,

though I was steadfast, fiercely resistant to its calamities.

لا أستكينُ إذا ما الخَطْبُ فاجأَني

ولا ألينُ إذا مكروهُهُ صَدَعا

I would not yield when calamity surprised me,

nor soften when its adversity struck.

أُريهِ منّي إذا ما هاجَني أسداً

صعبَ العريكةِ لللأْواءِ ما خَضَعا

When it roused me, I showed it a lion in myself,

unyielding in temper, never bowed to hardship,

حتى رماني بما لو أن أيسرَه

يُرمى به البدرُ ما وافىَ ولا طَلَعا

until it struck me with a blow—if even its lightest part

were hurled at the full moon, it would neither appear nor rise.

بفادحٍ مِن خطوبِ الدهرِ أوقفني

في موقفٍ لذتُ فيه بالبكا ضَرِعا

With a crushing calamity of time, it placed me

in a plight where, humbled, I sought refuge in weeping.

وهلانَ ولهانَ ما أنفكُ منتحباً

مِن فرقةٍ أورثَتْني الهمَّ والهَلَعا

Dismayed and distraught, I never cease sobbing

at a separation that left me sorrow and panic.

لمّا تسدَّدَ سهمُ الموتِ منتحياً

قومي ولم يرمِ عن قوسٍ ولا نَزَعا

When death's arrow took straight aim, turning toward

my kin, though death neither shot from a bow nor drew one,

أعادَني وربوعُ الأُنسِ خاليةٌ

فيهنَّ أسكبُ دمعاً قلما نقعا

it left me, with the homes of companionship deserted,

pouring tears within them that seldom subsided.

تجودُ عينايَ فيها بالبكاءِ أسىً

بوبلِ دمعٍ غليلَ الحُزْنِ ما نَقَعا

There my eyes lavish weeping in sorrow,

a downpour of tears that has not quenched sorrow's thirst.

جنبٌ جفا بعد أن بانوا

حشيَّتَهُ وبعدَما جرَّعوه دمعَه جُرَعا

My side has shunned, since they departed,

its mattress, after they made me swallow my tears in draughts.

وناظِرٌ بعدَما ولَّى أحِبَّتُه

لم يَطْعَمِ الغُمْضَ مِن حزنٍ ولا هَجَعا

And my eye, after its loved ones went away,

has known no closing of its lids for grief, nor slept.

عهدي به وزمانُ الوصلِ ملتئمٌ

جذلاَنُ ما عرفَ البلوى ولا دَمَعا

I remember it, when our time of togetherness was whole,

joyous, knowing neither affliction nor tears.

واليومَ يسفحُ فيها الدمعَ مِن حُرَقٍ

على زمانِهمُ يا ليتَه رَجَعا

Today it sheds tears there from burning pangs,

for their days—oh, if only that time returned!

يبكي الديارَوهل يشفي أخا كَمَدٍ

دمعٌ تَدافعَ في أرجائها دُفَعا

It mourns the dwellings—but can one burdened with grief be healed

by tears surging through their precincts in gushes?

كأنَّما كانَ ذاكَ العيشُ في سِنَةٍ

رأيتُه وغرابُ البينِ ما وَقَعا

As though that life had been a vision in a doze,

which I saw before the raven of parting alighted.

صاحَ الغرابُ بمَنْ فيهنَّ فابتدروا

الى الَمنونِ عِجالاً نحوهِ شَيعا

The raven cried to those within them, and they hastened

toward death, hurrying to it in bands,

كأنَّما لم يكنْ في الناسِ غيرُهمٌ

خَلْقٌ يُجيبُ إذا داعي المماتِ دَعا

as though among mankind there were none but them

to answer when death's summoner called.

عَجِبْتُ منَّي ومِن قلبي وقد رحلوا

لامُتُّ بعدَهمُ همَّاً ولا انصَدَعا

I marvel at myself and my heart, now that they have gone:

I have not died of sorrow after them, nor has it broken.

هذا فؤادُ أراني فضلَ قسوَتِه

لا كنتُ أن لم اُعِدْهُ للنوى مِزَعا

This heart has shown me its excessive hardness;

may I be no more if I do not rend it to shreds at parting.

لِمْ لا تَقَطَّعُ بعدَ البينِ مِن حَزَنٍ

حتى تحدَّرَ مِن أهوالِه قِطَعا

Why do you not break apart with grief after separation,

until you tumble down in pieces from its terrors?

في كلِّ يومٍ أرى في التُّربِ مُتكَأً

لِمَنْ أَوَدُّ وفي الأجداثِ مُضطَجَعا

Each day I see in the dust a place to recline

for someone I love, and a bed within the graves.

ماذا جزاؤهمُ منّي اعاينهمْ

صَرْعَى ولم أقضِ اِشفاقاً ولا جَزَعا

What recompense do they have from me, when I behold them

fallen, yet have not died from pity or anguish?

ليس البكاءْ واِنْ أكثرتُ يُقنِعُني

ما يعرفُ الفقدَ والحزانَ مَنْ قَنِعا

Weeping does not satisfy me, however much I weep;

one who is content knows neither bereavement nor sorrow.

ابيتُ مِن ذكرِ ما قد نالني قَلِقاً

حتى يقولَ الخليُّ القلبِقد لُسِعا

I spend the night restless, remembering what has befallen me,

until the carefree man says, 'He has been stung.'

قد كانَ عوَّدَني دهري إذا عثرتْ

رجلي سريعاَ بأنْ ينتاشَني بِلَعا

Time had accustomed me, whenever

my foot stumbled, to rescuing me swiftly and deftly.

فكيفَ نكَّبَ عنّي عِطفَه حَنَقاً

كأنَّه ما راى حُزني ولا سَمِعا

How, then, has it turned its shoulder from me in anger,

as though it had neither seen my sorrow nor heard it?

يا أمتّاهُ وكم في الناسِ من رجلٍ

مِثلي يكابدُ مِن أحزانهِ وَجَعا

O my mother! How many men among mankind

like me struggle with the pain of their sorrows,

مرزءٍ ذاقَ طعمَ الثُّكلِ منذَهِلٍ

مثلي تجرَّعَ منه الصَّابَ والسَّلعا

bereaved and stunned, having tasted the flavor of loss,

like me, swallowing from it bitter spurge and salaʿ!

لولاهمُ لقتلتُ النفسَ مِن شَجَنٍ

عليكِ أو لذممتُ الأزلمَ الجَذَعا

But for them, I would have killed myself in grief

for you, or cursed ever-young Time.

سقى ضريحكِ مِن عينَّي منبجِسٌ

اِنْ أمسكَ القَطرُ عن تَسكابهِ هَمَعا

May an outpouring from my eyes water your tomb,

if the rain withholds its streaming downpour.

فِانَّ دمعي بسُقيا تربِه قَمِنٌ

سَقَى زمانكِ هَطّالُ الحيا ورَعَى

For my tears are worthy of watering its earth.

May pouring rain water your days and cherish them.

دمعٌ يفيضُ وأحشاءٌ مُقَلْقَلَةٌ

اِذا الحمامُ على بانِ النقا سَجَعا

Tears overflow, and my very insides tremble

when doves coo upon the bān trees of the dune.

آليتُ ما هتفتْ ورقاءُ في فَنَنٍ

ولا تأَلَّقَ برقُ المزنِ أو لَمَعا

I have sworn: no gray dove calls upon a branch,

nor does the rain-clouds' lightning sparkle or flash,

اِلاّ ذكرتُ زماناً كانَ يجمعُنا

والدهرُ بالأهلِ والأُلاّفِ ما وَلَعا

without my remembering a time that brought us together,

when time had not yet set upon family and companions.

فهل أُرجيَّ لعيشٍ فاتَ فارِطُه

مِن بعدِ ما ذهبَ الحبابُ مُرتجَعا

Can I then hope that a life whose earlier days have passed

will return, after the loved ones have gone?

هيهاتَ لم يبقَ إلا الحزنُ بعدَهمُ

يزيدُني فرطَ همًّ كلَّما شَسَعا

Far from it! Nothing remains after them but sorrow,

deepening my overwhelming grief as the distance grows.