ما بين معترك الأحداق والمهج — Bin Alfard

ما بَيْنَ مُعْتَركِ الأحداقِ والمُهَجِ

أنا القَتِيلُ بلا إثمٍ ولا حَرَجِ

Amid the battle of eyes and souls,

I am the slain one, without sin or blame.

ودّعتُ قبل الهوى روحي لما نَظَرْتَ

عينايَ مِنْ حُسْنِ ذاك المنظرِ البَهجِ

I bade my soul farewell before love, when they beheld—

my eyes—the beauty of that delightful sight.

للَّهِ أجفانُ عَينٍ فيكَ ساهِرةٍ

شوقاً إليكَ وقلبٌ بالغَرامِ شَجِ

God bless the lids of an eye kept wakeful for you,

in longing for you, and a heart sore with passion;

وأضلُعٌ نَحِلَتْ كادتْ تُقَوِّمُها

من الجوى كبِدي الحرّا من العِوَجِ

and ribs grown thin, all but straightened

from their curves by my liver, burning with love's anguish;

وأدمُعٌ هَمَلَتْ لولا التنفّس مِن

نارِ الهَوى لم أكدْ أنجو من اللُّجَجِ

and tears that streamed—were it not for breath drawn from

love's fire, I could scarcely have escaped the surging depths.

وحَبّذَا فيكَ أسْقامٌ خَفيتَ بها

عنّي تقومُ بها عند الهوى حُجَجي

And welcome the ailments for your sake, through which you hid

from me; through them my pleas before love are upheld.

أصبَحتُ فيكَ كما أمسيَتُ مكْتَئِباً

ولم أقُلْ جَزَعاً يا أزمَةُ انفَرجي

For you I met the morning as I met the evening, sorrowful,

nor did I cry impatiently, 'O distress, be relieved!'

أهْفُو إلى كلّ قَلْبٍ بالغرام لهُ

شُغْلٌ وكُلِّ لسانٍ بالهوى لَهِجِ

I yearn for every heart that has in passion

an occupation, and every tongue continually speaking of love;

وكُلِّ سَمعٍ عن اللاحي به صَمَمٌ

وكلِّ جَفنٍ إلى الإِغفاء لم يَعُجِ

and every ear that is deaf to the reproacher,

and every eyelid that has not turned toward slumber.

لا كانَ وَجْدٌ بِه الآماقُ جامدةٌ

ولا غرامٌ به الأشواقُ لم تَهِجِ

May there be no longing that leaves the eye-corners dry,

nor passion in which yearnings never stir.

عذّب بما شئتَ غيرَ البُعدِ عنكَ تجدْ

أوفى محِبّ بما يُرضيكَ مُبْتَهجِ

Torment me as you wish, except with distance from you; you will find

the most faithful lover, rejoicing in whatever pleases you.

وخُذْ بقيّةَ ما أبقَيتَ من رمَقٍ

لا خيرَ في الحبّ إن أبقى على المُهجِ

And take the last of the breath of life you have spared;

there is no good in love if it spares souls.

مَن لي بإتلاف روحي في هوَى رَشَإٍ

حُلْوِ الشمائل بالأرواحِ مُمتَزِجِ

Who will help me destroy my soul in love for a young gazelle,

sweet of disposition, mingled with souls?

مَن ماتَ فيه غَراماً عاشَ مُرْتَقِياً

ما بينَ أهلِ الهوَى في أرفع الدّرَجِ

Whoever dies of passion for him lives, ascending

among the people of love to the highest ranks.

مُحَجَّبٌ لو سَرى في مِثلِ طُرَّتِهِ

أغنَتْهُ غُرّتُهُ الغَرّا عن السُّرُجِ

A veiled one: were he to travel by night through darkness like his forelock,

his radiant brow would spare him any need of lamps.

وإن ضَلِلْتُ بلَيْلٍ من ذوائِبهِ

أهدى لعيني الهدى صُبحٌ من البَلجِ

And if I lose my way in the night of his tresses,

a dawn of radiance gives my eyes their guidance.

وإن تنَفّس قال المِسْكُ مُعْترفاً

لعارفي طِيبِه مِن نَشْرِهِ أَرَجي

And when he breathes, musk says, confessing,

to those who know its fragrance: 'My scent comes from his fragrance.'

أعوامُ إقبالِهِ كاليَّومِ في قِصَرٍ

ويومُ إعراضِه في الطّول كالحِججِ

Years of his favor are as brief as a day,

and a day of his turning away is as long as years.

فإن نأى سائراً يا مُهجَتي ارتحلي

وإن دَنا زائراً يا مُقلتي ابتهِجي

So if he travels far away, O my soul, depart;

and if he draws near to visit, O my eye, rejoice!

قُل للّذي لامني فيه وعنّفَني

دعني وشأني وعُد عن نُصْحك السمِجِ

Tell him who blamed me for him and rebuked me:

'Leave me to my own affairs; give up your odious counsel.'

فاللّوْمُ لؤمٌ ولم يُمْدَحْ بِهِ أحَدٌ

وهل رأيتَ مُحِبّاً بالغرام هُجي

For blame is baseness, and no one has been praised for it;

and have you ever seen a lover lampooned for passion?

يا ساكِنَ القلبِ لا تنظُرْ إلى سكَني

وارْبَحْ فؤادك واحذَرْ فتنةَ الدّعجِ

O calm-hearted one, do not look upon my beloved;

save your heart, and beware the enchantment of deep-black eyes.

يا صاحبي وأنا البَرّ الرّؤوفُ وقد

بذَلْتُ نُصْحِي بذاكَ الحيّ لا تَعُجِ

O my friend—I am kind and compassionate, and I have

offered my counsel: do not turn toward that encampment.

فيه خَلَعْتُ عِذَاري واطّرَحْتُ بِهِ

قَبولَ نُسْكيَ والمقبولَ من حِججي

For him I cast off my bridle, and for his sake forsook

the acceptance of my devotions and my accepted pilgrimages.

وابيَضّ وجهُ غَرامي في محَبّتِهِ

واسْوَدّ وجْهُ ملامي فيه بالحُجَجِ

The face of my passion grew white through loving him,

and the face of my reproach was blackened by the proofs.

تبارَكَ اللَّهُ ما أحلى شمائلَهُ

فكمْ أماتَتْ وأحْيَتْ فيه من مُهَجِ

Blessed be God! How sweet his dispositions are;

how many souls they have slain and revived through him!

يهوي لذِكْرِ اسمه مَنْ لَجّ في عَذَلِي

سَمعي وإن كان عَذلي فيه لم يَلِجِ

Mention of his name by one who persists in blaming me draws

my ear, though blame of me on his account has never entered it.

وأرحَمُ البرْقَ في مَسراهُ مُنْتَسِباً

لثَغْرِهِ وهوَ مُسْتَحيٍ من الفلَجِ

And I pity the lightning as it travels, claiming kinship

with his mouth, yet ashamed before the gaps between his teeth.

تراهُ إن غابَ عنّي كُلُّ جارحةٍ

في كلّ مَعنى لطيفٍ رائقٍ بَهجِ

If he is absent from me, every bodily sense beholds him

in every subtle, clear, delightful meaning:

في نغْمَةِ العودِ والنّايِ الرّخيم إذا

تَألّقا بينَ ألحانٍ من الهَزَجِ

in the melody of the oud and the mellow flute, when

they sparkle amid melodies of lilting song;

وفي مَسَارحِ غِزْلاَنِ الخمائلِ في

بَرْدِ الأصائلِ والإِصباحِ في البلَجِ

and in the grazing grounds of the gazelles of leafy groves, in

the cool of late afternoons and mornings, in the dawn's radiance;

وفي مَساقط أنْداء الغَمامِ على

بِساط نَوْر من الأَزهارِ مُنْتَسِجِ

and where droplets from the clouds fall upon

a carpet of blossom woven of flowers;

وفي مساحِب أذيالِ النّسيم إذا

أهْدى إليّ سُحَيْراً أطيَبَ الأرَجِ

and where the breeze trails its skirts, when

it brings me, just before dawn, the sweetest fragrance;

وفي التِثاميَ ثَغْرَ الكاسِ مُرْتَشِفَاً

ريقَ المُدامة في مُسْتَنْزَهٍ فَرِجِ

and in my kissing the mouth of the cup, sipping

the wine's saliva in a spacious pleasure-ground.

لم أدرِ ما غُرْبَةُ الأوطان وهو معي

وخاطري أين كنّا غيرُ مُنْزَعِجِ

I never knew what exile from home was while he was with me,

and wherever we were, my mind was untroubled.

فالدّارُ داري وحُبّي حاضرٌ ومتى

بدا فمُنْعَرَجُ الجرعاء مُنْعَرَجي

The dwelling is my dwelling, my love is present, and whenever

he appears, the bend of al-Jarʿāʾ is my bend.

ليَهْنَ رَكْبٌ سَرَوا ليلاً وأنتَ بهم

بسَيرِهم في صباحٍ منكَ مُنْبَلِجِ

May the travelers who journeyed by night, with you among them, rejoice

in their journey through a morning dawning from you.

فلْيَصْنَع الرّكْبُ ما شاؤوا بأنفسهِم

هم أهلُ بدرٍ فلا يخشونَ من حرَجِ

Let the caravan do whatever they wish with themselves;

they are the people of Badr; they fear no guilt.

بحَقّ عِصيانيَ اللّاحي عليك وما

بأضلُعي طاعةً للوَجْدِ من وهَجِ

By my defiance of the reproacher for your sake, and by

the blaze within my ribs in obedience to longing,

انْظُر إلى كبِدٍ ذابت عليكَ جَوىً

ومُقْلَةٍ من نجيعِ الدّمع في لُجَجِ

look upon a liver melted in anguish for you,

and an eye in the surging depths of tears of blood.

وارحَمْ تَعَثُّرَ آمالي ومُرْتَجَعي

إلى خِداعِ تَمَنّي الوَعْدِ بالفرَجِ

And pity the stumbling of my hopes, and my return

to the delusion of longing for the promise of relief.

واعْطِفْ على ذُلّ أطماعي بهَلْ وعسى

وامنُنْ عليّ بشرْح الصدر من حرَجِ

And be kind to my humbled hopes with their 'Will it be?' and 'Perhaps';

and grant my breast release from constriction.

أهلاً بما لم أكُنْ أهْلاً لمَوقِعِه

قَوْلِ المُبَشِّرِ بعد اليأس بالفرَجِ

Welcome to what I was not worthy to receive:

the herald's word of relief after despair:

لكَ البِشارةُ فاخْلَعْ ما عليكَ فقد

ذُكِرْتَ ثَمّ على ما فيكَ مِنْ عِوَجِ

'Good tidings are yours! Cast off what you wear, for

you have been mentioned there, despite the crookedness in you.'