ته دلالا فأنت أهل لذاكا — Bin Alfard

تِهْ دَلاَلاً فأَنْتَ أهْلٌ لِذَاكا

وتحَكّمْ فالحُسْنُ قد أعطاكا

Be proud in your coyness, for you are worthy of that.

And rule as you please, for beauty has granted you this.

ولكَ الأمرُ فاقضِ ما أنتَ قاض

فَعَلَيَّ الجَمَالُ قد وَلاّكَا

Command is yours; decree whatever you would decree.

For beauty has set you in authority over me.

وتَلافي إن كان فه ائتلافي

بكَ عَجّلْ به جُعِلْتُ فِداكا

And if my deliverance lies in my union

With you, hasten it—may I be your ransom.

وبِمَا شِئْتَ في هَواكَ اختَبِرْنِي

فاختياري ما كان فيِه رِضَاكَا

And test me however you wish in my love for you;

For my choice is whatever holds your pleasure.

فعلى كُلّ حالَةٍ أنتَ مِنّي

بيَ أَوْلى إذ لم أَكنْ لولالكا

In every state, you, rather than I,

Have the greater claim to me, for without you I would not exist.

وكَفَاني عِزّاً بحُبّكَ ذُلّي

وخُضوعي ولستُ من أكْفاكا

My abasement in loving you is honor enough for me,

And my submission; I am not one of your equals.

وإذا ما إليكَ بالوَصْلِ عَزّتْ

نِسْبَتِي عِزّةً وصَحّ وَلاكا

And if my bond with you through union is hard to attain,

Through your exaltedness, though devotion to you is true,

فاتّهامي بالحبّ حَسْبي وأنّي

بَيْنَ قومي أُعَدّ مِنْ قَتْلاَكَا

Then being accused of love is enough for me, and that I

Am counted among my people as one of those you have slain.

لكَ في الحيّ هالِكٌ بِكَ حيٌّ

في سبيلِ الهَوَى اسْتَلَذّ الهَلاَكَا

Among the tribe is one dying for you, yet alive through you,

Who has savored destruction on the path of love.

عَبْدُ رِقّ ما رَقّ يوماً لعَتْقٍ

لَوْ تَخَلّيْتَ عنهُ ماخَلاّكا

A bondslave, never once inclined to freedom;

Were you to forsake him, he would not leave you.

بِجَمَالٍ حَجَبْتَهُ بجَلاَلٍ

هامَ واستَعْذَبَ العذابَ هُناكا

With a beauty you have veiled in majesty,

He was enraptured and found torment sweet there.

وإذا ما أَمْنُ الرّجا منهُ أدْنا

كَ فعَنْهُ خَوْفُ الحِجى أَقصاكا

Whenever hope's reassurance draws you near him,

The fear born of reason drives you far from him.

فبِإقْدَام رَغْبَةٍ حينَ يَغْشا

كَ بإحجامِ رَهبْةٍ يخشاكا

Thus, advancing in longing, when he approaches

You, he fears you, shrinking back in dread.

ذابَ فلبي فَأْذَنْ لَهْ يَتَمَنّا

كَ وفيِه بَقِيّةٌ لِرَجَاكَا

My heart has melted; allow it to long

For you, while some hope of you still remains in it.

أو مُرِ الغُمْضَ أَنْ يَمُرّ بجَفْنِي

فكأني بِهِ مُطِيعاً عَصَاكا

Or command sleep to pass over my eyelid;

For it seems to me that, obedient though it is, it has defied you.

فعسى في المَنام يَعْرِضُ لي الوَهْ

مُ فيوحي سِرّاً إليّ سُراكا

Perhaps imagination will come to me in sleep,

And secretly disclose to me your visit by night.

وإذا لم تُنْعِشْ بِرَوْحِ التّمَنّي

رَمَقِي واقتضى فنائي بَقاكا

And if you do not revive, with longing's solace,

My last spark of life, and your abiding requires my extinction,

وحَمَتْ سُنّةُ الهوَى سِنَةَ الغُمْ

ضِ جُفُونِي وحَرّمَتْ لُقْياكا

And love's law denies sleep's drowsiness

To my eyelids, and forbids meeting you,

أبْقِ لي مقْلَةً لَعَلّيَ يوماً

قبل مَوتي أَرَى بها مَنْ رآكا

Leave me one eye, that perhaps one day,

Before my death, I may see with it someone who has seen you.

أينَ مِنّي ما رُمْتُ هيهات بل أي

نَ لعَيْنِي بالجَفْنِ لثمُ ثَراكا

What I sought is far beyond me—far indeed! How could

My eye kiss your dust with its eyelid?

فبَشيري لو جاء منكَ بعَطْفٍ

وَوُجُودي في قَبْضَتِي قلتُ هاكا

If my herald brought a kindness from you,

And my existence lay in my grasp, I would say, 'Take it.'

قد كفى ما جرَى دماً من جُفُونٍ

بك قرحَي فهل جرى ما كفاكا

Enough is the blood that has flowed from eyelids

Ulcerated for you; has enough flowed to satisfy you?

فأَجِرْ من قِلاَكَ فيك مُعَنّىً

قبلَ أَن يعرفَ الهَوَى يَهواكا

So protect from your aversion one tormented for you,

Who loved you before he knew love.

هَبْكَ أنَ اللاّحي نَهاهُ بِجَهْلٍ

عنك قل لي عن وَصْلِهِ من نَهاكا

Suppose the reproacher, in ignorance, forbade him

To love you; tell me, who forbade you union with him?

وإلى عِشْقِكَ الجَمالُ دعاهُ

فإلى هجَرِهِ تُرى من دعاكا

Beauty called him to love you;

Who, I wonder, called you to abandon him?

أتُرى من أفتَاكَ بالصّدّ عنّي

ولغَيري بالوُدّ مَن أفتاكا

Who, I wonder, sanctioned your turning away from me,

And who sanctioned your affection for another?

بانْكِسَاري بِذِلّتي بخُضوعي

بافْتِقَاري بفَاقَتي بغِناكا

By my brokenness, my abasement, my submission,

By my need, my poverty, your self-sufficiency,

لا تَكِلْنِي إلى قُوَى جَلَدٍ خا

نَ فإنّي أَصْبَحْتُ من ضُعَفَاكَا

Do not leave me to the strength of a fortitude that has

Failed me, for I have become one of your weak ones.

كُنْتَ تجْفُو وكان لي بعضُ صَبْرٍ

أحسَنَ اللهُ في اصطباري عَزاكا

You used to be harsh, while I had a little patience;

May God console you well for my lost endurance.

كم صُدوداً عساكَ ترْحَمُ شكْوا

يَ ولو باسْتِمَاعِ قولي عساكا

How much rejection! Perhaps you will pity my complaint,

If only by hearing my words: 'Perhaps you will.'

شَنّعَ المُرْجِفونَ عنكَ بِهَجري

وأشاعُوا أنّي سَلَوْتُ هَواكا

The rumor-mongers denounced me as having forsaken you,

And spread the claim that I had ceased loving you.

ما بأحشائهِمْ عشِقْتُ فأسلُو

عنك يوماً دعْ يهجُروا حاشاكا

Not with their entrails did I love, that I should forget

You even for a day; let them rave—far be that from you!

كيفَ أسلو ومُقْلَتي كلّما لا

حَ بُرَيْقٌ تلَفّتَتَ لِلِقاكا

How could I forget, when my eye, whenever

A faint gleam shines, turns to meet you?

إنْ تَبَسّمتَ تحتَ ضوءِ لِثَامٍ

أو تَنَسّمْتُ الرّيحَ من أنْباكا

If you smile beneath the radiance of a veil,

Or I breathe the breeze from tidings of you,

طِبْتُ نفْساً إذ لاحَ صُبْحُ ثنايا

كَ لِعَيْنِي وفاحَ طيبُ شذاكا

My soul is gladdened when the dawn of your teeth appears

To my eye, and your sweet fragrance wafts.

كُلُّ مَنْ في حِمَاكَ يَهْوَاكَ لكِن

أنا وحدي بكُلّ من في حِماكا

Everyone within your sanctuary loves you, but

I alone equal all who are within your sanctuary.

فيكَ معنىً حَلاّكَ في عينِ عقلي

وبه ناظري مُعَنّى حِلاكا

In you is a meaning that adorned you in my mind's eye;

And through it my gaze is tormented by your adornments.

فُقْتَ أهْلَ الجمال حُسْناً وحُسْنى

فَبِهِمْ فاقةٌ إلى معناكا

You surpassed the beautiful in beauty and excellence;

Thus they stand in need of your meaning.

يُحْشَرُ العاشقونَ تحتَ لِوائي

وجميعُ المِلاحِ تحتَ لِواكا

Lovers will be gathered beneath my banner,

And all the fair beneath your banner.

ما ثناني عنكَ الضّنَى فبماذا

يا مَلِيحُ الدّلالُ عني ثناكا

Wasting sickness did not turn me from you; how, then,

O fair one, has coy pride turned you from me?

لكَ قُرْبٌ منّي بِبُعْدِكَ عنّي

وحُنُوٌّ وجَدْتُه في جَفاكا

You have a nearness to me in your distance from me,

And a tenderness I have found in your harshness.

عَلّمَ الشّوقُ مُقلتي سَهَر اللَّيْ

لِ فصارت من غيرِ نوْم تراكا

Longing taught my eye the vigil of the night,

So it came to see you without sleep.

حبّذا ليلَةٌ بها صِدْتُ إسْرا

كَ وكان السّهادُ لي أشْراكا

How lovely the night when I caught your night-visit,

And sleeplessness served as snares for me.

نابَ بدرُ التّمامِ طَيْفَ مُحَيّا

كَ لطَرْفي بيَقْظَتي إذ حكاكا

The full moon stood for the apparition of your face

To my waking eye, since it resembled you.

فتراءيتَ في سِواكَ لِعَيْنٍ

بكَ قَرّتْ وما رأيتُ سِواكا

Thus you appeared in what was not you to an eye

That found comfort in you; I saw none but you.

وكذاكَ الخليلُ قَلّبَ قبلي

طَرْفَهُ حين راقبَ الأفلاكا

So too al-Khalil turned, before me,

His gaze as he watched the heavenly spheres.

فالدّياجي لنا بكَ الآن غُرٌّ

حيثُ أهديتَ لي هُدىً من سَناكا

Our dark nights now shine bright through you,

Since you gifted me guidance from your radiance.

ومتى غِبْتَ ظاهِراً من عياني

أُلفِهِ نحوَ باطني ألقاكا

Whenever you vanish outwardly from my sight,

I find it turned toward my inward self, and meet you.

أهلُ بَدْرٍ رَكْبٌ سَرَيْتَ بلَيْلٍ

فيه بل سار في نَهار ضياكا

The people of Badr are a caravan; you traveled by night

Among them—rather, they traveled in the daylight of your radiance.

واقتباسُ الأنوارِ من ظاهري

غيرُ عجيبٍ وباطني مأواكا

The drawing of lights from my outward self

Is no wonder: my inward self is your abode.

يعبَقُ المسْكُ حيثُما ذُكر اسمي

مُنْذُ نادَيْتَني أُقَبّلُ فاكا

Musk scents the air wherever my name is mentioned,

Ever since you called me to kiss your mouth.

ويَضُوعُ العبيرُ في كلّ نادٍ

وهْوَ ذِكْرٌ معَبِّرٌ عن شذاكا

And perfume wafts through every gathering;

It is remembrance that expresses your fragrance.

قال لي حُسنُ كلّ شيءٍ تجلّى

بي تَمَلّى فقلتُ قَصدي وراكا

The beauty of each thing that appeared said to me:

'Gaze your fill at me.' I said, 'My aim is beyond you.'

لي حبيب أراكَ فيه مُعَنّىً

غُرّ غَيري وفيه مَعنىً أراكا

I have a beloved in whom I see you tormented;

Beguile another; in him is a meaning through which I see you.

إن توَلّى على النّفوس تَوَلّى

أو تجَلّى يستعبِدُ النُّساكا

If he turns away, he holds dominion over souls;

Or, if he reveals himself, he enslaves the ascetics.

فيه عوّضتُ عن هُداي ضلالاً

ورَشادي غَيّاً وسِتري انهتاكا

For him I exchanged my guidance for straying,

My right course for error, and my veil for its tearing.

وحّدَ القلبُ حُبّهُ فالتِفاتي

لكَ شِرْكٌ ولا أرى الإِشراكا

The heart devoted its love to him alone; so my turning

To you is to give him a partner, and I reject such association.

يا أخا العّذلِ فيمن الحُسْنُ مثلي

هامَ وجْداً به عَدِمْتُ أخاكا

O brother of reproach, concerning one for whom Beauty, like me,

Is mad with passion—may I lose your brother!

لو رأيتَ الذي سَبَانيَ فيه

مِنْ جَمالٍ ولن تراهُ سبَاكا

Had you seen what took me captive in him

Of beauty—and you will not see it—it would have taken you captive.

ومتى لاحَ لي اغتَفَرْتُ سُهادي

ولعَيْنَيّ قُلْتُ هذا بِذاكا

Whenever he appears to me, I forgive my sleeplessness,

And say to my eyes, 'This is in exchange for that.'