طرقت طروق الطيف وهنا

مياسة الاعطاف حسنا

She came late at night, like a dream-phantom,

her graceful figure swaying in beauty.

مصقولة الخدين مثل ال

سيف ألحاظاً ومتنا

Her cheeks were polished, like a

sword in her glances and her back.

أرخت وشاحا فوق غصن

فوق دعص قد تثنى

She let a sash fall over a bough

above a sand-mound, bending gracefully.

ومشت قشيعها عبير

الروض من هنا وهنا

She walked, [escorted by] the fragrance

of the garden, from here and there,

في حلة من جنس ما يكسو

الربيع الغض دكنا

in a robe of the same stuff with which

the tender spring clothes dusky groves.

الدل ينبت من مسا

حب ذيلها والحسن يجنى

Coquetry sprouts in the places

where her train trails, and beauty is harvested.

تمشي فرادى ثم تم

شي خلفها الارداف مثنى

She walks alone; then

her buttocks follow behind her as a pair.

حوراء ان سمحت بكشف

قناعها ملأتك حسنا

A dark-eyed beauty: if she permits the lifting

of her veil, she fills you with beauty.

وإذا اشتهت رجعت عليك

فعاد ذاك الحسن حزنا

And when she wishes, she turns against you,

and that beauty turns to sorrow.

لو خاطبت وثناً

لحنّ مع الجمود لها وإنا

If she spoke to an idol,

despite its lifelessness it would yearn for her and moan.

طارحتها شكوى النوى

ولثمنها أعلى وأدنى

I shared with her complaints of separation,

and [I kissed her] above and below.

وعجبت من قبلي التي

ولهت بها وله المعنّى

I marveled at my kisses, which

were smitten with her like a tormented lover;

تركت يداً وفما وجيدا

وابتدت ذيلاً وردنا

they forsook hand, mouth, and neck,

and began with hem and sleeve.

فأقمت انصب نحوها

طرفا ونحو الباب اذنا

So I remained, directing toward her

an eye, and toward the door an ear.

اخشى بحس بنا النسيم

فيخبر الروض الاغنا

I fear the breeze might [sense] us

and tell the murmuring garden;

ويولد الوسواس لي

جرس الحليّ ذا ارنّا

and anxious suspicions are stirred in me

by the ornaments' jingling [when] they ring out.

فنقول مسكين المتي

م بالنسيم يسيء ظنا

Then we say, “Poor love-stricken fellow—

he thinks ill even of the breeze!

طب يا فتى نفسا فقد

نامت عيون الحي عنا

Take heart, young man, for

the eyes of the quarter sleep, heedless of us.

واجلب لنا تحف اللسا

ن ومن جميلك لا تدعنا

Bring us the treasures of the tongue,

and do not withhold your kindness from us.”

فاقول انت من المها

فتقول لي انى واني

I say, “You are one of the oryx.”

She says to me, “How so—and how?”

وإذا ذكرت لها ثنا

عبد العظيم تقول زدنا

And when I mention to her the praise

of Abd al-Azim, she says, “Tell us more!”

المتبع العذر العطا

لا المتبع الاحسان منا

He couples apology with giving,

not kindness with reminders of favor.

ملك النجار أبو الفخا

ر إذا يلقب أو يكنى

A king by lineage, Abu al-Fakhar (Father of Glory),

whether given a title or a kunyah.

يدعونه عبد العظيم

وجوده يدعوه معنا

They call him Abd al-Azim,

and his generosity calls him Ma'n.

لو كان للأيام وعد

كان أدرك ما تمنى

Had the days held a promise,

he would have attained what he wished.

ما كان أولاه ولكن

دولة الايام وعنا

How worthy he was! Yet

the turns of time are [rough ground].

قبل يديه ولا تقس

بنداهما سيلاً ومزنا

Kiss his hands, and do not compare

a torrent and rain-clouds with their bounty.

واستغن بالبحر الذي

أمواجه يسرى ويمنى

Find all you need in the sea whose

waves are his left hand and his right.

يا من هواه وهو الحبيب

لنا وحيث يكون كنا

O you whom we love, who are beloved

to us: wherever you are, there we are.

أنت الجواد فلا تبا

رى والوحيد فلا تثنى

You are the generous one, without rival,

the peerless one, without a second.

ولقد تتبعت الرجا

ل وزنتهم بالعين وزنا

Indeed, I have sought out men,

and carefully weighed them with my own eyes.

وصحبتهم ومدحتهم

وخبرتهم سهلا وحزنا

I kept their company and praised them,

and tested them on smooth ground and rough.

فرأيت ما يجنى به

داء القذى فبغض جفنا

I found that what is reaped through this

is the sickness of grit in the eye, making an eyelid hateful.

مسخوا النوال فصار بخلا

والوداد فصار ضغنا

They distorted giving, and it became miserliness,

and affection turned to rancor.

وغبيهم نفخوه بالتع

ظيم حتى صاردنا

They puffed up their fool with glorification,

until he became a wine-jar.

ما فيه غير الريح ان

قلبته ظهرا وبطنا

There is nothing in him but wind, if

you turn him over, back and belly.

والناس فوضى حوله

ان طن طيشا قبل غنى

The people mill around him in disorder;

if he clanks in folly, [they say] he sings.

قل عنده انا شاعر

وانظره كيف يموت جبنا

Say in his presence, “I am a poet,”

and watch how he dies of cowardice.

ومن البلية ان لي

معهم مداراة وسكنى

And among my afflictions is that I

must humor them and live among them.

عقدت خطاي يد القضا

لتعثري وقعدت وهنا

The hand of fate tied my steps

to make me stumble, and I sat in weakness,

في بلدة سبحان من

أغنى اللئام بها واقنى

in a town—glory be to Him who

enriched the base there and endowed them with possessions!

بلد اذا طلب الكريم

يعيش فيها مات غبنا

A town where, if a noble man seeks

to live, he dies of bitter frustration;

بلد أضعت بها الشبا

ب وبعده لم ألق خدنا

a town where I squandered my youth,

and afterward found no friend.

وكأنما نسجت برأ

سي عنكبوت الشيب وكنا

As though upon my head there had been woven

a nest by the spider of gray hair;

وكأن سندس عارضي

ندف المشيب عليه قطنا

and as though, on my cheeks' silk brocade,

gray hair had carded cotton.