نسيت في أسماء حتى اسمي — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

نسيتُ في أَسماءَ حتَّى اسمِي

وصحَّحتْ سُقمِي لاَ جِسْمي

Lost in Asma, I forgot even my own name.

She made my sickness certain, not my body sound.

وواصلَتْ قطْعي ولا تَعجَبا

للقطْعِ إِن جاءَ من النَّجْم

She kept up her estrangement; do not marvel

at severance, if it comes from a star.

وأَصمَت القلبَ كِنَانيةٌ

بناظرٍ إِن شئتَ أَو سَهْمِ

A woman of Kinana struck my heart dead

with an eye—or, if you wish, an arrow.

تُصمي ولا ترمِي وكمْ نابلٍ

بنبلهِ يَرمِي ولا يُصْمي

She slays without shooting; how many an archer

shoots his arrows but does not slay.

قد جعلَت حُبِّي خَضَاب الحشا

فهْوَ كَما في كَفِّها يُنْمي

She has made my love a dye for the heart;

so it deepens, like that upon her palm.

ما هو في الكَفِّ كَحِنَّائِها

بل هُو فوق الخدِّ كالْوَشْم

It is not on the palm like her henna,

but on the cheek like a tattoo.

لها فمٌ وهْوَ لها خَاتَمٌ

جعلْتُ فيه فصَّه لَثْمي

She has a mouth that is her signet ring;

I set my kisses in it as its gem.

تختِّم عيني بتقبيلِها

وتُوثِق العِطْفَين بالضَّمِّ

She seals my eye with her kisses

and binds my two sides in an embrace.

فالجسمُ والعينانِ من لَثْمها

والضَّمُّ تحتَ القُفْلِ والختْمِ

So my body and eyes, through her kisses

and embrace, lie under lock and seal.

فلا ترى العينُ سِواها وهَل

عمّا أَقولُ البدرُ في التِّم

My eye sees none but her; and heedless

of what I say is the moon at its full.

يا قلبُ لا تعزِم على سلْوةٍ

فلستَ عندي من أُولي العَزْم

O heart, do not resolve to forget;

I do not count you among those of firm resolve.

أَنَا الَّذي أَعلمُ أَنِّي الَّذي

أَضلَّه الحبُّ على عِلْم

I am the one who knows that I am the one

whom love has led astray with full knowledge.

أَصابَ أَهلُ العشقِ بالعشق ما

أَصابَ أَهلُ الفهم بالْفَهمِ

Lovers attained through love what

people of understanding attained through understanding.

ينعمُ بي من ظِلْتُ أَشْقَى به

كأَنَّني النَّفس معَ الْجِسْم

The one I have long suffered for delights in me,

as though I were the soul with the body.

ظلمتُ عيني حينَ أَسهرْتُها

لأَعيُنٍ نامت على ظُلْمِ

I wronged my eye when I kept it awake

for eyes that slept upon injustice.

ونلتُ في نَوْمِي وفي يقْظَتي

رؤْيايَ في نوْمي وفي حُلْمي

I attained, both sleeping and waking,

my vision, in my sleep and in my dream.

أَكلتَ ورْد الخَدِّ لثماً له

وليسَ كلُّ الورْدِ للشَّمِّ

You ate the cheek's rose by kissing it;

not every rose is for smelling.

عذَّبْتِني يا أُختَ بدرِ الدُّجى

أَسكرتِ عقْلي يا ابنة الكَرْم

You tormented me, sister of night's full moon;

you intoxicated my mind, daughter of the vine.

وشاعَ حبِّي فيكِ مِن طيبِه

هلْ يقدر المسكُ علَى الكَتْم

My love for you spread abroad through its fragrance;

can musk keep itself concealed?

ودائعٌ لي كنتُ أَودعْتُها

عندَك بيْنَ الثَّغرِ والظَلْمِ

Deposits of mine I had entrusted

to you, between your mouth and your teeth's sheen.

ثغرٌ هو المسكِرُ في فِعله

لكنَّه السكَّرُ في الطَّعمِ

A mouth that is intoxicating in its effect,

but sugar in its taste.

يسدُّ تقبيليَ تفليجَه

حتى يُرى متَّسِق النَّظمِ

My kisses close the gaps between its teeth

until its array appears seamless.

عيشٌ أَتى لكن على مُنيتي

ثُمَّ مَضى لكن عَلَى رَغْمي

A life came—but just as I desired;

then passed—but against my will.

والهمُّ راسٍ بعده راسِخٌ

كأَنَّني أَوْدَعْتُه حِلْمِي

Grief, after it, is anchored and firmly rooted,

as though I had lodged my forbearance in it.

فكل ما يَروِي الصَّدى مُعطِشي

وكل ما يَجْلُوا القَذى يُعمي

All that quenches thirst makes me thirsty;

all that clears away eye-motes blinds me.

وكلُّ دمعٍ ليَ جدَّدْتُه

حُزْناً على أَيامِكَ القِدْم

And every tear of mine I have shed anew

in grief for your bygone days.

وراحَتي بل تَعبي أَنَّنِي

أَبكِي على الرَّسم على الرَّسْمِ

My rest—rather, my weariness—is that I

weep over the ruins, as is the custom.

والدَّهرُ لي خَصْمٌ ولا بدَّ أَنْ

يَصْطَلِحَ الخصْمُ مَع الخصْمِ

Time is my adversary, and inevitably

one adversary must make peace with the other,

بحكم مولىً لم يَزل حُكْمُه

يُنزلُ لي دهْرِي على حُكْمي

by the ruling of a lord whose rule has always

made my Time submit to my command.

الفاضِلُ المفضَلُ والحاكِم ال

محكَمُ والمعدِمُ لِلْعُدْمِ

The virtuous, the beneficent, the judge whose rule is

firm, the annihilator of want.

تأْتِي ملوكُ الأَرضِ أَبوابَه

لترتَوِي مِنْ عِلمه الجمِّ

Earth's kings come to his gates

to drink their fill of his abundant knowledge.

تكادُ تَنسى حاجَها عِنْدما

تُبصِره من فَخْرهِ الفَخْم

They almost forget their needs when

they behold him, so magnificent is his glory.

أَجلُّهم يَعْنُو له سَاجداً

مقبِّلاً للأَرضِ لا الكَمِّ

The greatest of them bows before him, prostrating,

kissing the earth, not his sleeve.

سيادةٌ أَنوارُها لم تَزل

تشْتَام مِنْ آبائِه الشُّمِّ

A lordship whose lights have always

been discerned in his lofty forefathers.

وهمَّةٌ عاليةٌ قد عَلَت

حتى يرَاها النَّجْمُ كالنَّجْمِ

An exalted ambition that has soared

till the star sees it as a star.

وهيبةٌ من لم يكن مُجرِماً

كأَنَّه مِنها أَخُو جُرْم

And such awe that one who has committed no crime

seems, before it, a man of guilt.

وديمةُ كلِّ وليٍّ له

عليه منْهاالوسْمُ كالوشْمِ

And a ceaseless rain: every friend of his

bears its mark upon him, like a tattoo.

ورقَّةٌ في الجسمِ سَيفيَّةٌ

دلَّت على سؤدُدِه الضَّخْمِ

And a swordlike slenderness of body

has shown his mighty nobility.

سحابَتا راحَتِه في الشِّتا

والصَّيف كلٌّ منهما تَهْمِي

The twin clouds of his palm, in winter

and summer, both pour down rain.

يا عجباً للطِّرسِ في كَفِّه

وكيفَ لا يبتَلُّ باليَمِّ

How wondrous the parchment in his palm!

How does it not get wet in the sea?

ردَّ الرَّدى منه بأَقلامِه

وجمَّ من إِنعامِه الجَمِّ

He warded destruction off it with his pens,

and it swelled through his abundant bounty.

ما تبلغُ الأَرماحُ في الحربِ ما

تبلغُ أَقلامُكَ في السَّلْم

Spears in war cannot accomplish what

your pens accomplish in peace.

فأَنتَ لا زلتَ بها عصمةً

للملكِ أَو مُسْتَنْزَل العُصْمِ

So may you ever, through them, be a safeguard

for kingship, or one who brings down mountain goats.

وكلُّ ما ينويه مستقبَلاً

يمضِي ولكن مِنْه بالحزْمِ

And all he intends for the future

goes forward, but through his firm resolve.

فاتَتْ معاليكَ عقولَ الوَرى

حتَّى اسْتَعانَ العقْلُ بالوَهْمِ

Your high achievements outstripped the minds of mankind,

till reason sought the aid of imagination.

وقصَّر الوُصَّافُ في فَرضِه

من مَدْحهِ يَخْشَى من الإِثْمِ

The eulogist has fallen short of his duty

to praise him, and fears incurring sin.

وكلُّ فَدْمٍ سادَ في عَصْرِه

ما أَقبحَ السُّؤْدُدَ مَعَ العَظْمِ

And every dullard has risen to rule in his age;

how ugly is lordship joined to bulk!

وأَشتَكِي من زَمَنٍ جائرٍ

أَشْرفَ في ظُلْمِي وفي غَشْمي

I complain of an unjust age

that has excelled in wronging and oppressing me.

يُمَالِئُ الأَعداءَ حتَّى رأَوْا

ما أَمَّلوُا في زمن الهضْمِ

It conspires with my enemies, till they have seen

what they hoped for in a time of injustice.

وكثَّروا ذمِّي وساداتُهم

تقِلُّ عن حَمدِي وعَنْ ذَمِّي

They have heaped abuse upon me, though their masters

are beneath my praise and my blame.

من كلِّ باغٍ حاسدٍ لا يَني

عندَك في ثَلْبِي وفي ثَلْمِي

From every envious aggressor who never ceases

before you to slander me and undermine me.

أَنتَ الَّذي صيَّرتَهم حُسَّدِي

بأَنعُمٍ قد زِدْن في حَجْمِي

You are the one who made them envious of me

through favors that have increased my stature.

زيَّنْتني طفْلاً وخوَّلتْني

كهلاً فأَسمَيْت بذاكَ اسْمِي

You adorned me as a child and endowed me

in maturity; thereby you exalted my name.

ومِنْك أَرْجُو فَرَحاً عاجِلاً

إِن جَاءَ أَنْجانِي مِنَ الْغَمِّ

From you I hope for swift joy,

which, if it comes, will save me from grief.

لا تقنَطنْ يا قلبُ في مِحْنَةٍ

فقد يكونُ الغُنْمِ في الْغُرْم

Never despair, O heart, amid an ordeal;

gain may indeed lie in loss.

كم نقمةٍ في طيِّها نعمةٌ

ويوجَدُ التِّرياقُ في السُّمِّ

How many an affliction holds a blessing in its folds;

the antidote is found in poison.

ما تمَّ إِلا الحظُّ فارقُب له

ولا تَقُل عقْلِي ولا حَزْمِي

Nothing succeeds but luck, so wait for it;

do not say, "My intellect," or "My resolve."

إِنَّ أَبِي في خِطَّةٍ صَعبةٍ

يدخلُ من سُْمٍ إِلى سُقْمِ

My father is indeed in a difficult plight,

passing from poison into sickness.

حتَّمتُ أَنِّي ضَائِعٌ إِنْ جَرى

عليه حُكْمُ القَدْرِ في الجِسْمِ

I am certain that I am lost if

fate's decree takes effect upon his body.

وإِنَّ عُمرِي ما بِه لم يَزل

إِنْ زال عنِّي سِمَة اليُتْم

My age, for all its years, will not erase,

if he leaves me, the mark of orphanhood.

وليس لي غيرُك من بَعدِه

يحمِلُ من همِّيَ أَو غمِّي

After him I have none but you

to bear any of my care or grief.

وتدفعُ الأَعداءَ عن حوزَتي

وتمنعُ الأَعداءَ مِنْ شَتْمي

You drive enemies away from my domain

and keep enemies from insulting me.

فليسَ ما تلبَسُه للبِلَى

وليس ما تَبْنِيه للهَدْم

For what you wear is not meant to wear out,

and what you build is not meant for demolition.