Sol 6.1

  1. لَقَد ذَكَّرَتني لَيلَةُ القَدرِ مَجلِساً

    لِثِنتَينِ مِن شِعبٍ عَلى غَيرِ مَوعِدِ

    The Night of Decree has indeed recalled to me a gathering

    with two women from Shiʿb, without an appointed meeting.

  2. سَرى بِهِما شَوقٌ إِلَيَّ فَجاءَتا

    عَلى وَجَلٍ مِن أَقرَبينَ وَحُسَّدِ

    Longing for me carried them through the night, and they came

    in fear of close kin and the envious.

  3. وَكاتَمَتا أُخرى هَوايَ وَغَرَّتا

    أَميرَهُما مِنّي بِنُسكٍ وَمَسجِدِ

    They hid my love from another woman, and deceived

    their master about me, with devotion and a mosque as their pretext.

  4. كَعابٌ وَأُخرى كَالكَعابِ خَريدَةٌ

    ثَقالٌ وَلَم تَستَشعِرا عَيشَ جُحَّدِ

    One a budding maiden, the other, like her, a shy virgin,

    stately, neither having known a life of want.

  5. فَنَبَّهَني زَيدٌ فَقُمتُ إِلَيهِما

    أَجُرُّ أَسابِيَّ الكَرى غَيرَ مُرقَدِ

    Then Zayd roused me, and I rose to meet them,

    dragging sleep's trailing strands, no longer asleep.

  6. فَلَمّا اِلتَقَينا بِالحَديثِ تَبَسَّمَت

    إِلَيَّ وَقالَت بَيتُ أَمنٍ فَأَنشِدِ

    When we met in conversation, she smiled

    at me and said, 'This house is safe—recite!'

  7. فَعَلَّلتُها حَتّى تَسَحَّرَ طائِرٌ

    وَكادَت تَقَضّى سَورَةُ المُتَهَجِّدِ

    I entertained her until a bird took its predawn meal,

    and the night-worshipper's fervor was nearly spent.

  8. تَقولُ لي الصُغرى الصَلاةَ وَقَد دَنَت

    شَواكِلُ تَوديعِ الإِمامِ المُؤَيَّدِ

    The younger said to me, 'Prayer!'—already near

    were the signs of the favored imam's leave-taking.

  9. وَإِن مَرَّ مُجتازٌ عَلَينا تَقَنَّعَت

    مَخافَةَ قَولِ الفاحِشِ المُتَزَيِّدِ

    Whenever a passerby went past us, she veiled herself,

    for fear of a foul-tongued exaggerator's talk.

  10. فَقُلتُ لَها أُلقي الصَلاةَ وَأَنثَني

    شَفاعَةَ مَن يَأوي لِحَرّانَ مُقصَدِ

    I told her, 'I shall put prayer aside and turn back,'

    pleading as one who pities a love-scorched, mortally stricken man.

  11. تَبَدَّلَ مِن حُبِّ الصَلاةِ حَديثُنا

    وَكُنتُ أَراهُ غايَةَ المُتَعَبِّدِ

    Our conversation supplanted love of prayer,

    which I had thought the worshipper's highest aim.

  12. فَيا مَجلِساً لَم نَقضِ فيهِ لُبانَةً

    وَيا لَيلَةً قَد كُنتُ عَنها بِمَقعَدِ

    Ah, that gathering, where we fulfilled no desire,

    and that night, which I could have sat out!

  13. إِذا العاتِقُ العَسراءُ عَتَّقَتِ الهَوى

    تَيَسَّرَ مِن أُخرى لَنا غَيرَ مُنكَدِ

    When the reluctant maiden left love to age,

    it came easily to us from another, untroubled.

  14. لَعَمرُكَ ما تَركُ الصَلاةِ بِمُنكَرٍ

    وَلا الصَومِ إِن زارَتكَ أُمُّ مُحَمَّدِ

    By your life, forsaking prayer is no offense,

    nor forsaking the fast, if Umm Muhammad visits you.

  15. فَتاةٌ لَها عِندي دَخيلُ كَرامَةٍ

    وَساعِفُ حُبٍّ مِن طَريفٍ وَمُتلَدِ

    A maiden for whom I hold deep esteem,

    and willing love, both newly won and long-held.

  16. أَهيمُ بِكُم يا حَمدَ إِن كُنتُ خالِياً

    وَأَنتِ حَديثُ النَفسِ في كُلِّ مَشهَدِ

    I am lovesick for you, Hamd, when I am alone,

    and you are my soul's conversation in every gathering.

  17. وَما كُنتُ أَخشى أَن تَكونَ مَنِيَّتي

    مَوَدَّتُكُم يَوماً وَكُنتُ بِمَرصَدِ

    I never feared that my death might be

    my love for you one day, though I was on guard.

  18. وَلِلقَلبِ وَسواسٌ مِنَ الحُبِّ يَغتَدي

    وَرائِحُ رَوعاتِ الهَوى المُتَرَدِّدِ

    The heart has love's whisperings that come at dawn,

    and, at evening, the terrors of ever-returning passion.

  19. وَكُلُّ خَليلٍ بَعدَ عَينِكِ عَينُهُ

    سَتُنكِرُني إِلّا بَقايا التَجَلُّدِ

    In your absence, every friend's eye

    will fail to recognize me, save for remnants of my composure.

  20. تَضَمَّخُ بِالجادي إِذا ما تَرَوَّحَت

    وَتَدوى إِذا قالَت إِلى كِنِّ مَسجِدِ

    She anoints herself with saffron when she goes out at evening,

    and languishes when she rests at noon in a mosque's shelter.

  21. إِذا قُلتُ أَوفي العَهدَ قالَت وَأَعرَضَت

    سَتُدرِكُ ما قَد فاتَكَ اليَومَ في غَدِ

    When I say, 'Keep your promise,' she turns away and says,

    'You will gain tomorrow what you have missed today.'

  22. فَلَم تَرَ عَيني مِثلَها يَومَ عُطِّلَت

    سِوى حَلي خَلخالٍ وَقُرطٍ وَمِعضَدِ

    Never had my eye seen her equal, that day she was unadorned,

    save for an anklet, an earring, and an armlet.

  23. أَسيلَةُ مَجرى الدَمعِ مَهضومَةُ الحَشا

    كَشَمسِ الضُحى حَلَّت بِبُرجٍ وَأَسعَدِ

    Smooth along the path of tears, slender of waist,

    like the morning sun, lodged in a most auspicious zodiacal sign.

  24. تَكادُ إِذا قامَت لِشَيءٍ تُريدُهُ

    تَميلُ بِها الأَردافُ ما لَم تَشَدَّدِ

    When she rises for something she wants, she is almost

    toppled by her hips, unless she braces herself.

  25. وَقَد نَسِيَت عَهدَ الصَفاءِ وَلَم أَزَل

    عَلى ذُكَرٍ مِنها أَروحُ وَأَغتَدي

    She has forgotten our pledge of pure affection, yet I still

    go out at evening and at dawn with her in mind.

  26. يُمَوِّتُني شَوقي وَتُحيينِيَ المُنى

    فَلَستُ بِحَيٍّ في الحَياةِ وَلا الرَدي

    My longing kills me, and hopes revive me,

    so I am neither among the living nor the dead.

  27. وَما كانَ ما لاقَيتُ مِن وَصلِ غادَةٍ

    وَهِجرانِها إِلّا بِما قَدَّمَت يَدي

    Whatever I found in a graceful woman's love

    and her desertion came only from what my own hand had done.

  28. فَلَمّا رَأَيتُ الحُبَّ لَيسَ بِعاطِفٍ

    هَواها وَلا دانٍ لَها بِتَوَدُّدِ

    When I saw that love would not sway

    her affection, nor draw near her through tender devotion,

  29. أَخَذتُ بَكَفَّيَّ النَدامَةَ راجِعاً

    وَأَيقَنتُ أَنّي عِندَها غَيرُ مُوَطَدِ

    I grasped regret with both hands as I turned back,

    and knew I held no firm place with her.

  30. عَشِيَّةَ زادَتني الزَيارَةُ فِتنَةً

    فَأَقبَلتُ مَحروماً بِها لَم أُزَوَّدِ

    That evening, the visit deepened my infatuation,

    and I returned denied her, with nothing to sustain me.

  31. وَقَد عَلِمَت حَمّادَةُ النَفسِ أَنَّني

    إِلى نائِلٍ لَو نِلتُ مِن وِردِها صَدِ

    Hammada, dear to my soul, knows that I

    thirst for a favor—if only I could draw from her waters—

  32. وَأَنَّ الهَوى إِن لَم تَرُح لي بِزَفرَةٍ

    يَكونَ جَوىً بَينَ الجَوانِحِ مُغتَدِ

    and that love, unless she comes to me at evening with a sigh,

    will be a burning grief between my ribs, returning at dawn.