جد وحدث عن العيون الكحال — Butrus Karama

جد وحدّث عن العيون الكحال

واشف قلبا بنشر طيب المقام

Be generous, and tell of kohl-dark eyes,

And heal a heart by spreading the gathering's sweet fragrance.

وأمل كاسا من الحديث وزدني

بحديث عن المها والغزال

And fill a cup with conversation, and give me more

With talk of oryx and gazelle.

عن لحاظ لحظن قلبي انكساراً

فاتكات يرشن سمر النبال

Of eyes that glanced languidly at my heart,

Deadly, feathering tawny arrows;

ساحرات وهنّ أضعف شيء

فاترات يصدن أسد الدحال

Enchantresses, though they are the weakest things,

Languid, yet hunting lions in their dens.

كم لقلبي إذ ودّعت وأشارت

بجفون هيفاء ذات اعتدال

How my heart suffered when she bade farewell and signaled

With her eyelids, that slender, well-proportioned beauty!

تثنى بين الغلائل قدّا

خوط بان من فوقه كالهلال

She sways within her gauzy robes, her figure

A bān-tree shoot, crowned with a crescent's likeness.

اسكترنا ما بين تيه وعجب

برحيق من الصبا والدلال

She intoxicated us, amid pride and self-admiration,

With nectar of youth and coquetry.

واستفرّت ظبيّة وتبدّت

بدرتم واسترخصت كل غال

And she came forth, a gazelle, and appeared

A full moon, and held every precious thing cheap.

يا لقومي من منجدي من مهاة

ذات نهد يهدّ طود احتمالي

O my people! Who will rescue me from an oryx-doe

Whose breast brings down the mountain of my endurance?

ذات ثغر حكى العقيق حياء

وابتساما يذري عقود اللآلي

Whose mouth in its blush resembles carnelian,

And, smiling, scatters strings of pearls.

لا تراعي متيما واستحلت

في هواها قتل المحب المغالي

She has no care for a lovesick man, and deems it lawful

To kill the lover whose love for her knows no bounds.

وغرامي يزداد فيها اشتعالا

وفؤادي عن حبها غير سال

And my passion for her burns ever more fiercely,

And my heart finds no release from loving her.

كم لصبّ يوم النوى من مصاب

لا تلمني هجرت صحبي وآلي

How many afflictions befall a lover on the day of parting!

Do not blame me; I have forsaken my friends and family.

يا خليّا لو شمت خال حبيبي

كنت تذري غرب الدموع كخال

O you untouched by love, if you glimpsed my beloved's beauty mark,

You would shed torrents of tears like a rain cloud.

لا تلمني فإن لومك جهل

ان تعظني فذاك عين المحال

Do not blame me, for your blame is ignorance.

If you would admonish me, that is impossibility itself.

نم هنيئا يا سالبا نوم عيني

ان سهدي كما رضاك حلالي

Sleep sweetly, O stealer of sleep from my eyes.

Indeed, my sleeplessness, like your contentment, is sweet to me.

ان تساعد فجد برد منامي

رب يوم احظى بطيف الخيال

If you would help, be generous and restore my sleep:

Perhaps one day I may enjoy a dream-vision.

يا عذولي لو أن قلبك يدري

من غرامي دقيقة لرثالي

O my reproacher, if your heart but knew

One small detail of my passion, it would pity me.

ان شأني من الحبيب عجيبٌ

وانفصالي لديه عين اتصالي

Indeed, my state with my beloved is strange:

And with him, my separation is my very union.

حيث قلبي مرآته ان تجلّى

كعليّ مرآة عين الكمال

For my heart is his mirror when he reveals himself,

Like Ali, the mirror of perfection itself.

بدر مجد عليّ قدر تسامى

في علاه من فوق سور المعالي

A full moon of glory, lofty in rank, who has risen

In his exaltation, above the ramparts of eminence.

واستتبت به معالم صور

ذات فضل من فضله والخلال

And through him Tyre's landmarks stand secure,

Endowed with excellence from his excellence and virtues.

قد حباها من انسه كل انس

وكساها ثوب البها والجمال

He has granted her every comfort of his company,

And clothed her in the robe of splendor and beauty.

وبدا من اكفه ودق جود

فاض جودا من فيضه والنوال

And from his palms came a shower of bounty,

Overflowing in generosity from his abundance and largesse.

البسته آدابه ثوب مجد

حيك حسنا بنسج طيب الخصال

His refinement has clothed him in a robe of glory,

Beautifully woven from the fabric of fine qualities.

ساد حزما ونال قدرا عليّا

وتسامى بنشر حسن الفعال

He prevailed through resolve and attained a lofty rank,

And rose high through the renown of his fine deeds.

فهو شهم والمكرمات حلاه

وسحاب مما يداه توالي

For he is noble-hearted, and noble deeds are his ornaments,

And a rain cloud in the gifts his hands bestow unceasingly.

وسنيّ زاكي الأصول عليّ

في مقام يسمو على كل عال

And illustrious Ali, pure of lineage,

In a station towering above all who are exalted.

ومجيد في يوم سلم كريمٌ

وجريّ بالفتك يوم الجدال

And glorious, generous in times of peace,

And bold in deadly assault on the day of battle.

ليث حرب تحت العجاج مجدّ

بكعوب يصمي ليوث النزال

A lion of war, relentless beneath the swirling dust,

With spear-shafts he strikes the lions of combat dead.

ذو جنان غضنفري ثبات

يوم نقع احناك سمر العوالي

Possessed of a heart lionlike in its steadfastness,

On the day the jaws of tall, tawny spears are slaked.

وبسلم يروي الظميّ بوكف

وبكف يروي ظمي الصقال

And in peace he slakes the thirsty with a shower,

And with his hand he slakes the thirst of polished blades.

نال مجدا مثل اسمه وتسامى

في سماء الفخار بدر الليالي

He gained glory matching his name, and rose high

In the sky of honor, the full moon of the nights.

قيس راي وحاتميّ أياد

بل سريّ من خير قوم موالي

Qays in judgment, Hatim-like in generosity,

Rather, a loyal nobleman of the finest people.

يا عليّا سور الفؤاد حماه

وهماما سما باسمى منال

O Ali, sheltered by the rampart of my heart,

And valiant man, risen to the highest attainment,

بنت فكر لديك تجلى بحسن

ذات مدح من الجوار الغوالي

A daughter of thought is unveiled before you in beauty,

Bearing praise, one of the precious handmaidens.

ترتجي العفو حيث لاح سناها

بثناء يا ذا الرضيّ الموالي

She hopes for pardon as her radiance appears

With praise, O gracious, loyal one.

لك وافت من مخلص عيسويّ

وتبدّت ترجوك حسن المآل

To you she has come from a sincere Christian,

And appears, hoping you will grant her a happy outcome.