أجمل على بخل الغواني وإجمال — Ibn Hamdis

أجمْلٌ على بُخْلِ الغواني وإجمالُ

تفاءلتُ باسمٍ لا يصحّ به الفالُ

Are Juml and Ijmal bent on the lovely women's stinginess?

I took a hopeful omen from a name that offers none.

وحَلّيْتُ نفسي بالأباطيلِ في الهوَى

ونفسٌ تُحَلّى بالأباطيل مِعْطالُ

I adorned my soul with delusions in love,

yet a soul adorned with delusions is unadorned.

وكنتُ كصادٍ خالَ رِيّاً بقفرةٍ

وقد غيضَ فيها الماءُ واطّرَد الآلُ

I was like a thirsty man imagining water in a wilderness,

where the water had dwindled and the mirage stretched on.

أيَشْكو بِحَرِّ الشوقِ مِنكَ الصّدى فَمٌ

وَماءُ المآقي فَوقَ خَدِّكَ هَطّالُ

Does your mouth complain of thirst in yearning's heat,

while water from your eye-corners pours over your cheek?

وَتَغْرِسُ مِنكَ العينُ في القلبِ فتنةً

وَوَجْدٌ جَناها بِالضميرِ وبلبالُ

Your eye plants temptation in the heart,

whose harvest within is longing and turmoil.

وَلا بُدَّ مِن أمنيَّةٍ تَخدَعُ الهوى

لِتُدْرَكَ منها بالتعلّلِ آمالُ

There must be some wish to deceive desire,

so that hopes may be attained through self-consolation.

فَمَثِّلْ لِعَينَيكَ الكرى فَعَسى الكرى

يزورُكَ فيه من حَبيبِكِ تِمثالُ

Conjure sleep before your eyes; perhaps in sleep

an image of your beloved will visit you.

وَسَلْ أَرَجَ الريحِ القبولَ لَعَلَّهُ

لِمعرِضَةٍ عَطْفٌ عَلَيكَ وَإِقبالُ

Ask the wind's fragrance for acceptance: perhaps it

is tenderness and a turning toward you from one who shuns you.

وَإِن لم تَفُزْ فوزَ المُحِبِّينَ بِالهَوى

فقد نِلْتَ من بَرْحِ الصّبابةِ ما نالوا

Even if you have not won lovers' success in love,

you have gained as much anguish of yearning as they have.

وليلٍ حكى للناظرين ظَلامُهُ

ظَليماً له من رَوْعَةِ الصبحِ إِجفالُ

And a night whose darkness resembled, to those watching,

a male ostrich fleeing in terror from the morning.

كَأَنَّ لَهُ ثَوباً عَلى الأفقِ جَيبُه

وقد سُحِبَتْ مِنهُ على الأَرضِ أَذيالُ

It seemed to have a robe whose neckline lay on the horizon,

while its skirts were dragged across the earth.

عَجِبتُ لِطَودٍ مِن دُجاهُ تَهيلُهُ

لَطائفُ أَنفاسِ الصباحِ فَيَنهالُ

I marveled at a mountain of its darkness, loosened by

the delicate breaths of morning, until it crumbled.

وقد نَشَرَتْ في جانبيه ليَ النّوى

قِفاراً طَواها بي طِمِرٌّ وَشملالُ

Separation had spread out for me on either side

deserts that a fleet, swift mount folded beneath me.

وَدونَ مَصُوناتِ المَها بَذلُ أَنفُسٍ

تُريكَ ولوعَ البيضِ فيهِنَّ أبطالُ

Before the guarded oryx-does lie lives to be sacrificed;

heroes show you how white swords hunger for those lives.

وَفي مُضمَرِ الظلماءِ كالِئُ ظَبيَةٍ

بِثَعلَبةٍ يُسقى بها المَوتَ رِئبالُ

In darkness's hidden depths stands a doe's guardian,

with a 'she-fox' spear that makes a lion drink death.

فصيحٌ بأسماءِ الكماةِ مبارزاً

لِتُعْملَ فيها بالمهنَّدِ أَفعالُ

Fluent in naming armored champions as he challenges them,

so that deeds may be worked upon them with an Indian sword.

فيا بُعْدَ قُرْبٍ لم يبتْ فيه نافعاً

بسيرك بالبزلِ الرّواسمِ إيغالُ

How far off is a nearness where no deep advance

in your journey on mature, swift-striding camels avails!

وَيا بِأَبي مَن لَم يَزَلْ مِن حُلِيِّها

لَدى الغيدِ غَرثانانِ قَلبٌ وَخلخالُ

May my father ransom her, among whose adornments there remain,

amid graceful beauties, two hungry things: a heart and an anklet.

فَتاةٌ تداوي كلَّ حين بِصحَّتي

سقامَ جفونٍ ما لها منه إبلالُ

A maiden who constantly uses my health to treat

a languor in her eyelids from which they never recover.

منعَّمةٌ سَكْرَى بصهباءِ ريقةٍ

لها في اللمى طعمٌ وفي الخدّ جريالُ

A pampered maiden, drunk on the tawny wine of her saliva,

with a savor on her dusky lips and wine-redness in her cheek.

نَظرتُ إِلَيها نَظرَةً عَرَفَتْ بِها

إشارةَ لحظٍ بالصبابةِ عُذّالُ

I looked at her with a glance in which

reproachers recognized the eye's signal of ardent love.

فَقَالوا لَأدْمَى خَدَّها وَحْيُ طَرْفِهِ

فَقُلتُ لَعَمري فَتَّحَ الوردَ إِخجالُ

They said, 'His glance's message has surely bloodied her cheek!'

I said, 'By my life, embarrassment has made the roses bloom!'

فَلَجُّوا وقَالوا جَنَّةٌ كَذَّبَتْ بِها

ظنونٌ ظنَنّاها ويا صِدْقَ ما قالوا

They persisted, saying, 'A garden belied by

the surmises we entertained!' How truly they spoke.

أَبِنتَ كريمِ الحيِّ هل من كرامةٍ

تُرَفّعُ مَخفوضاً بِهِ عِندكِ الحالُ

O daughter of the tribe's nobleman, is there any kindness

to raise one whose standing with you has fallen low?

نَهَضتِ إِلى هَجْرِ الوصالِ نَشيطَةً

وَأَنتِ أَناةٌ في النواعِمِ مِكْسالُ

You rose eagerly to forsake our union,

though among soft-living women you are unhurried and languid.

أَرى العِينَ مِن عَينَيكِ جانَسْنَ خِلْقةً

فَمِن أَجلِها حَوليكِ تَرتَعُ آجالُ

I see that wide-eyed oryx share your eyes' natural form;

for that resemblance, herds graze all around you.

فَما لكِ عنّا تَنفُرينَ نِفَارَهَا

أَفي الخَلْقِ مِنَّا عِندَ شَكلِك إِشكالُ

Why, then, do you shy away from us as they do?

Is there something perplexing in our form to one of your kind?

متى نَتَلَقّى منكِ إنجازَ مَوْعِدٍ

وفِعلُكِ ذو بُخلٍ وقَولُكِ مِفضالُ

When shall we receive from you fulfillment of a promise,

when your deeds are miserly and your speech generous?

وفيكِ الرُّوَّاضِ إدلالُ صعبةٍ

ينالُ بها عزَّ امرئ القيس إذلالُ

In you, before tamers, is a restive mount's haughty coyness,

through which humiliation strikes even Imru' al-Qays's pride.

ويُقْسمُ للتقبيلِ فوكِ مُصَدَّقاً

بِأَنَّ الَّتي تَحوي القَسيمَةَ مِتْفَالُ

Your mouth swears, and is believed, to obtain a kiss,

that she who holds the perfume pouch wears no perfume.

وَلَو سُلَّ روحي مِن عُروقي لَرَدَّهُ

إِلَيَّ رُضابٌ مِن ثَناياكِ سِلسالُ

Were my soul drawn out of my veins, it would be restored

to me by smooth-flowing saliva from your front teeth.

أَرى الوَقْفَ أضحى مِنكِ في الزندِ ثابِتاً

وَلَكِنْ وِشاحٌ منك في الخَصرِ جَوّالُ

I see your bracelet now fixed firmly upon your wrist,

but your sash wanders loosely around your waist.

وَأَنتِ كَعَذبِ الماءِ يُحْيي وَرُبَّما

غدا شَرَقٌ مِن شربه وهوَ قَتّالُ

You are like sweet water: it gives life, yet sometimes

choking comes from drinking it, and that is deadly.

أَيُؤمَن مِنك الحَتفُ وَالكَيدُ في الهَوى

وطرفُكِ مُغْتالٌ وعِطْفُك مُخْتالُ

Can death and treachery in love be safely ruled out with you,

when your glance murders stealthily and your figure struts?

حبيسٌ عليكِ العُجْبُ إذْ ما لبستِهِ

مِنَ الحُسْنِ نَعلاً عند غَيركِ سِربالُ

Vanity belongs to you alone, since the beauty you wear

as a sandal is, on anyone else, a whole robe.

وَلابِسةٍ ظِلَّيْ دُجاها وَأَيْكِها

وللسجع منها في القلائد أَعمالُ

And a bird clad in the twin shadows of her night and thicket,

her cooing busy among her necklaces.

تَكَفّلَ في الوادي لها بنعيمها

رياضٌ كوَشيِ العبقريّ وأوشالُ

Her bliss in the valley was assured by

meadows like embroidered rich carpets, and trickling streams.

شَدَت فانثَنى رَقصاً بكلِّ سَميعةٍ

مِنَ الطيرِ مُهتزٌّ مِنَ القضب ميَّالُ

She sang, and with every listening bird

a quivering, bending bough swayed in dance.

فهل علماءٌ في الشوادي مصيخةٌ

إليهنّ خُرْسٌ بالتّرنّم جُهّالُ

Are there learned listeners among the songbirds,

hearkening to them, yet mute and unversed in melody?

فورقاءُ لم تأرقْ بحزنٍ جفونُها

وبلبلةٌ لم يدرِ منها الأسى بالُ

A gray dove whose eyelids never lost sleep through sorrow,

and a nightingale whose mind never knew grief.

وَأَذكَرتِني عَصْرَ الشبابِ الذي مضى

لِبرديَ فيه بالتَّنَعُّمِ إِسبالُ

You reminded me of youth's bygone time,

when my two cloaks trailed in luxurious ease;

ونضرةَ عيشٍ كان همّيَ جامداً

بِهِ حَيثُ تَبري في الزجاجَةِ سَيّالُ

and life's freshness, when my care was frozen

within it, while my gold flowed in the glass;

وَدارٍ غَدَونا عَن حِماها وَلَم نَرُحْ

وَنَحنُ إِلَيها بِالعَزائِمِ قُفّالُ

and a home whose sanctuary we left one morning, never returning,

though we remain resolved to journey back to it.

بها كنتُ طفلاً في ترعرع شِرّتي

أُلاعبُ أيّام الصّبا وهي أطفالُ

There I was a child, my unruly spirit budding,

playing with the days of youth while they too were children.

كستني الخطوبُ السودُ بيضَ ذوائبٍ

ففي خلّتي منها لدى البيض إخلالُ

Black misfortunes clothed me in white locks,

and through them my fellowship with fair women was marred.

أبعد أنسياتِ الهوى أقطعُ الفلا

ويسنحُ لي منْ وحشها الجأبُ والرّالُ

After love's familiar companions, must I cross the wastes,

while wild asses and ostrich chicks cross my path among their beasts?

وَمِن بَعدِ وَردٍ في مقيلي وَسَوْسَنٍ

أقيلُ ومشمومي بها الطّلْحُ والضالُ

After roses and irises at my noonday resting place,

I rest with acacias and wild lote-trees for my fragrance.

أُخالفُ كُورَ الحرفِ من كلّ مهمهٍ

تَوَارَدَ فيه الماءَ أطْلَسُ عَسّالُ

I leave the lean she-camel's saddle in every trackless waste

where a gray, loping wolf frequents the water.

له في حِجاجِ العين ناريّةٌ لها

إذا طُفِئَتْ ناريّةُ الشَّمسِ إِشعالُ

In his eye-socket is a flame that

kindles when the sun's flame is quenched.

وَيَهديهِ هادٍ مِن دَلالَةِ مَعْطِسٍ

إلى ما عليه من ظلامِ الفلا خالُ

A guide, through the guidance of his nose, leads him

toward what bears a black spot of the desert's darkness.

إِذا جاءَ في جنح الدجى نحو غيله

تَصَدّى له في القوس أسمَرُ مُغْتالُ

When he comes beneath night's wing toward his lair,

a dark, murderous shaft confronts him in the bow.

تطيرُ معَ الفولاذِ والعُودِ نحوَهُ

مِنَ الموتِ في الريشِ الخفائِفِ أثقالُ

With the steel and wood, toward him fly

death's heavy burdens amid the light feathers.

وَلي عَزْمَةٌ لا يَطْبَعُ القَيْنُ مثلَها

وَلَو أَنَّهُ في الغمدِ لِلهامِ فَصّالُ

I have a resolve whose like no smith can forge,

though even sheathed it can cleave heads.

وَحَزمٌ يَبيتُ العَجزُ عَنهُ بمعزلٍ

ورأيٌ به في اللبس يُرْفَعُ إشكالُ

And prudence from which helplessness stays apart,

and judgment that clears uncertainty amid confusion.

أُصَيِّرُ أَخفافَ النجيب مفاتحاً

لِهَمٍّ عليه للتنائف أقْفالُ

I turn the choice camel's padded feet into keys

for a care upon which trackless wastes have set locks.

وَأَركَبُ إِذ لا أَرض إلّا غُطامِطٌ

مطيّةَ ماءٍ سَبْحُها فيه إرقالُ

I ride, where no land remains, only a surging sea,

a water-mount whose swimming through it is a swift trot.

حمامةَ أيْكٍ ما لها فوق غُصْنها

غِناءٌ له عند المعرِّيّ إِعوالُ

O thicket-dove, whatever song you have upon your branch

is wailing in al-Ma'arri's ears.

وأُقسمُ ما هوّمتُ إلّا وَزَارَني

عَلَى بُعْدِهِ الوادي الَّذي عِندَهُ الآلُ

I swear I never doze without being visited,

despite its distance, by the valley where my family dwells.

بِأَرضٍ نَباتُ العزِّ فيها فَوارِسٌ

تَصولُ المنايا في الحروبِ إِذا صَالوا

In a land where the growth of glory is horsemen,

death charges in battle whenever they charge.

تُظِلُّهمْ والرَوعُ يشوي أُوارهُ

ذوابلُ فيها للأسنّة ذُبّالُ

They are shaded, while terror's blaze scorches,

by slender lances, with wicks for their spearheads.

إذا أطفأ الدجنُ الكواكبَ أسرجوا

وجوهاً بها تُهْدَى المسالكَ ضُلّالُ

When cloud-darkness quenches the stars, they kindle

faces by which the lost are guided along the paths.

فَمِن كُلِّ قَرْمٍ في الندِيِّ هَديرُهُ

إِذا ما احتَبى قيلٌ مِنَ المجدِ أَو قالُ

From every champion comes his roar in the assembly,

a prince or king of glory when he sits with knees drawn up.

شُجاعٌ يَصيدُ القِرْنَ حَتَّى كَأَنَّهُ

إِذا ما كَساهُ الرمحُ أحقبُ ذَيّالُ

A brave man hunts his opponent until the latter seems,

when clothed by the spear, a white-bellied, long-tailed wild ass.

وَمَوسومَةٌ بالبِيضِ وَالسمرِ هُلْهِلَتْ

عَلَيهِنَّ من نَسْجِ العجاجاتِ أجلالُ

And steeds branded by white swords and brown spears; loosely woven

over them are saddlecloths spun from clouds of dust.

فَقُرّحُهَا يوْمَ الوغى وَمِهَارُهَا

فوارسُها منهم ليوثٌ وأشبالُ

Their mature horses and their foals, on battle's day,

have riders from those men who are lions and lion-cubs.

أَلا حَبّذا تِلكَ الدِّيارُ أواهلاً

ويا حبّذا منها رُسومٌ وأَطلالُ

How dear those dwellings, filled with their people!

And how dear their traces and deserted ruins!

وَيا حَبّذا مِنها تَنَسُّمُ نَفحَةٍ

تُؤَدّيهِ أَسحارٌ إِلَينا وَآصالُ

How dear a breath of their fragrance,

borne to us by dawns and late afternoons!

وَيا حَبّذا الأحياءُ مِنهُم وَحَبَّذا

مفاصلُ منهم في القبور وأوْصَالُ

How dear their living, and how dear

their joints and limbs within the graves!

وَيا حَبّذا ما بَينَهُمْ طولُ نَوْمَةٍ

تُنَبّهُني منها إلى الحشْرِ أهوالُ

How dear a long sleep among them,

from which terrors would rouse me to the Resurrection!