ما مر ذكرك خاطرا في خاطري — Ibrahim Al Yaziji

ما مَرَّ ذِكرَكَ خاطِراً في خاطِري

إِلّا اِستَباحَ الشَوقُ هَتكَ سَرائِري

Never did your memory flit through my mind

but longing presumed to lay my secrets bare;

وَتَصَبَبَتْ وَجداً عَلَيك نَواظرٌ

باتَت بِلَيلٍ مِن جَفائكَ ساهِرِ

and eyes streamed with yearning for you,

keeping vigil through a night of your estrangement.

بَلَغَ الهَوى مِنِّي فَإِن أَحبَبتَ صِل

أَولا فَدَتكَ حشاشَتي وَنَواظِري

Love has overwhelmed me; if you wish, draw near—

or not: may my last breath and my eyes ransom you.

قَسَماً بِحُسنكَ لَم أُصادفْ زاجِراً

إِلّا وَحُسنك كانَ عَنهُ زاجِري

I swear by your beauty: I have met no reprover

without your beauty turning me away from him.

أَوَ ما كَفاكَ مِن الَّذي لاقَيتَهُ

وَلَهٌ كَساني الذُّلُّ بَينَ مَعاشِري

Has what you witnessed not been enough for you—

a passion that clothed me in humiliation among my companions,

وَضَنىً يَكاد يَشف عَن طَيِّ الحَشا

حَتّى خَشيتُ بِهِ اِفتِضاحَ ضَمائِري

and a wasting sickness that almost reveals my breast's hidden folds,

until I feared it would expose my inner secrets?

أَخَذتْ عُيونك مِن فُؤادي مُوثِقاً

وَعَلَيَّ عَهدُ هَواكَ لَستُ بِغادرِ

Your eyes took a binding pledge from my heart,

and I bear your love's covenant, no betrayer.

كُن كَيفَ شئتَ تَجدْ مُحبّك مِثلَما

تَهوى عَلى الحالين غَير مغايرِ

Be as you wish; you will find your lover just as

you desire, unchanged in either state.

صَبري عَلَيك بِما أَرَدت مُطاوعٌ

أَبَداً وَلَكن عَنكَ لَستَ بِصابرِ

My patience with you yields to whatever you desire,

forever; but apart from you, patience fails.

عَذّبتَ قَلبي بِالصُّدودِ وَإِن يَكُن

لَكَ فيهِ بَعض رِضىً فَدونَكَ سائِري

You tormented my heart by shunning me; and if there is

some pleasure for you in it, take the rest of me.

وَأَضَعتُ عُمري بِالدَّلالِ وَحَبَّذا

إِن صَحَّ عِندَكَ مَطمَعٌ في الآخرِ

And I wasted my life on coyness—yet how welcome,

if hope with you proves true in the next life.

كُثُرَ التَقَوُّلُ بَيننا وَتَحَدَّثوا

يا هاجِري حاشاكَ أَنَّكَ هاجري

Much false talk has passed between us, and people have gossiped:

O my forsaker—far be it from you to forsake me!

وَأَطالَ فيكَ معنِّفي فعذرتُهُ

وَعَساكَ في كَلَفي فديتك عاذري

My reprover spoke at length about you, and I excused him;

perhaps you will excuse my infatuation—may I ransom you.

حَسبي رِضاكَ إِذا مَنَنتَ بَزورةٍ

يَدري المزورُ بِها رَقيقَ الزائرِ

Your favor suffices me, if you graciously grant a visit

through which the visited one knows the visitor's tenderness.

مالأتُ أَيَّامي فَقبَّح وَجهها

جورُ الخطوبِ وَكُنتُ أَحسَن جائرِ

I made common cause with my days; their face was marred

by the tyranny of calamities, while I was the kindest tyrant.

بي يا وَقاك اللَهُ كُلّ مُلمَةٍ

أَمسى بِها جِلدي كَجَرفٍ هائرِ

I suffer—O may God shield you from every calamity.

Through them my skin became like a crumbling riverbank:

غِيَرٌ يديرُ بِها الحَكيمُ لِحاظَهُ

فَتردُّهُ عَنها بِطَرفٍ حائرِ

vicissitudes at which the sage turns his gaze,

only for them to turn him back with bewildered eyes.

بَكَرَتْ إِلَيَّ الحادِثاتُ فَلَم أَزَلْ

مِنهُنَّ بَينَ نَواجِذٍ وَأَظافِرِ

Calamities came upon me early, and ever since

I have been between their teeth and claws.

وَتَأَلَّفتْ عِندي الهُموم فَفَرَّقتْ

هِمَمِي وَما بَرِحَ القَضاءُ مساوري

Cares gathered around me and scattered

my ambitions; fate has never ceased assailing me.

نَزَلَتْ بِيَ الدُّنيا عَلى أَربابها

فَأَفضَتُ بَينَ مَواردٍ وَمَصادرِ

The world lodged me among its masters,

and I passed among places of arrival and departure.

وَبَلوتُ مِن أَهلِ الزَّمانِ سَرائِراً

هِيَ مَصرَعُ الساهي وَمُنجي السَّاهرِ

And I learned by trial the secrets of this age's people,

the heedless one's downfall and the watchful one's salvation.

فَسَمعتُ حَتّى لَستُ أَحمَدُ مُسمَعي

وَنَظَرتُ حَتّى لَستُ أَحمَد ناظِري

So much have I heard that I no longer bless my hearing,

and looked until I no longer bless my sight.

وَالعَينُ آذَى لِلبَصير وَرُبَّما

سَلِم الضَّريرُ وَكانَ عَين العاثِرِ

The eye brings greater hurt to one who sees; and often

the blind man escapes harm, becoming the stumbling man's eyes.

يا مَن يُطارِحُني المَودَّةَ غائِباً

إِيهِ وَقاكِ اللَهُ شَرَّ الحاضرِ

O you who exchange affection with me from afar,

say on! May God shield you from the evil of those present.

خَلقٌ يمرُّ بِها الكَريمُ وَوَجههُ

في أَعيُنِ النُّظارِ أَغرَبُ سافرِ

A people among whom the noble man passes, his face

the strangest unveiled face in the onlookers' eyes:

مِن كُلِ خَنَّاسٍ إِذا اِستَقبَلتَهُ

فَإِذا اِنقَلَبَت رَنا بِمُقلةِ شاذرِ

each a skulker when you confront him,

but once you turn away, he stares with a hostile eye.

وَلَقد رَأَيتُ فَما رَأَيتُ أَشَدّ مِن

مَرأى العَزيزِ عَلى حَسودٍ صاغرِ

Indeed I have seen, but never anything harsher than

the sight of an honored man to an abject envier.

وَمِن المهانةِ أَن تُقابلَ هيِّناً

يَقلاك إِلّا بِابِتسامةِ ساخرِ

And it is degrading to greet a paltry man

who hates you, save with a mocker's smile.

وَبِمَ اِعتدادُ الأَدعياء وَجُهدهُم

سَردُ الدَعاوي وَهيَ أَضعَفُ ناصرِ

On what do pretenders pride themselves, when all their effort is

reciting claims, the weakest of supporters?

كَذب الغَبيُّ أَيَبتَغي دَرك العُلى

بِفُؤادِ مَزهوٍّ وَمَنطقِ هاذرِ

The fool lies: does he seek to reach the heights

with a conceited heart and a babbler's speech?

أَم يَحسَب الرُّتب المُحسَّدِ فَضلُها

عِدةٌ بِوَصلٍ مِن حَبيبٍ هاجرِ

Or does he think ranks whose excellence is envied

are a promise of union from a beloved who shuns him?

كَلا قَد اِنحَسَر الحِجاب وَإِنَّما

أَبصار قَومٍ في حِجابٍ ساترِ

No: the veil has lifted; it is only

some people's eyes that remain behind a concealing veil.

وَكَذاكَ بَعضُ الجَهلِ يَسترُ بَعضهُ

فَاعذرْ إِذا خَفيَتْ كِرامُ مآثرِ

Thus some ignorance conceals the rest,

so be forgiving when noble achievements go unseen.

وَبِمُهجَتي مَن لَيسَ يَبرَحُ طَيفُهُ

تَحتَ الظَّلامِ مسامري وَمُحاوري

I would ransom with my lifeblood him whose phantom never ceases,

beneath the darkness, to keep me company and converse with me.

سَبَقتْ صَنائِعهُ إليَّ وَلطفهُ

وَهُوَ السَّبوقُ بِكُلِّ فَضلٍ باهِرِ

His favors and kindness reached me first,

and he is foremost in every dazzling excellence.

قَد أَذهَلتْ لبِّي الخَطوبُ بَوقعِها

عَنهُ وَكانَ عَلى ذُهولي ذاكِري

Calamities, with their impact, distracted my mind

from him, yet despite my distraction he remembered me.

فَعَرَفتُ عَجزي فيهِ غَيرَ مُكذِّبٍ

وَعَرَفتُ فَضلَ عُلاهُ غَيرَ مُكابِرِ

So I acknowledged my inadequacy toward him, without denial,

and acknowledged his lofty excellence, without conceit.

ذِممٌ ظَفرتُ بِها لَديهِ وَإِنَّها

إَرثٌ قَديمٌ مِن أَجلِّ ذَخائِري

Pledges I have gained with him; they are

an ancient inheritance among my most precious treasures.

تِلكَ المَواثِقُ ما بَرَحنَ وَهَكَذا

كانَ الوَفاء لَديهِ خَيرَ أَواصِري

Those covenants have endured, and thus

his fidelity has been the finest of my bonds.

اللَّوذَعِيُّ الفاضلُ القطب الَّذي

مَلَكَت يَداهُ الفَضلَ دونَ مَناظرِ

The keen-witted, virtuous guiding pillar, whose

hands possessed excellence without a rival.

أَدَبٌ حَكى زَهرَ الرُّبى وَشمائِلٌ

رَقَّتْ فَكانَت كَالنَّسيم السائرِ

Literary grace that mirrored the hills' blossoms, and qualities

so gentle they were like a passing breeze.

وَمناقِبٌ تَتلو مَدائِحِها عَلى

أَكبادِ أَهلِ الغيِّ سَورةَ فاطِرِ

And virtues whose praises recite upon

the livers of the misguided the surah of Fatir.

وَأَرى الزِّنادَ إِذا جَرَت أَقلامُهُ

أَرَتِ البَصائرَ أَيُّ لَمحٍ باصِرِ

And I see the fire-steels: when his pens flow,

they show discerning minds what a clear-seeing flash!

يَجلو القَوافي في الطُّروسِ كَأَنَّها

غِيدٌ جَلاها الحبرُ تَحتَ غَدائِرِ

He polishes rhymes upon the pages as though they were

graceful maidens whom ink unveils beneath their tresses.

وَلَهُ الفُصولُ المُحكَماتُ كَأَنَّها

شَذَراتُ دُرٍّ فَصِّلت بِجواهرِ

And his finely wrought prose pieces are as though

fragments of pearls interspersed with gemstones.

وَلرُبَّ زائِرَةٍ جَعَلتُ مَحَلَّها

قَلبي وَإِن باتَت مَناطَ الناظِرِ

And many a visitor I have given a home

in my heart, though she remained the focus of the beholder's gaze.

عَربيةُ النَفثاتِ وافَت تَنجلي

بِفَصاحةِ البادي وَظَرفِ الحاضِرِ

Arab in her utterances, she came into view

with the desert dweller's eloquence and the townsman's refinement.

بسمت فَما كَذَّبتُ حينَ رَأَيتَها

بَسمَ الثُّغورِ عَن الجُمانِ الناضرِ

She smiled; at the sight of her, I could not deny

the smile of mouths revealing lustrous pearls.

وَتَلَتْ عَليَّ حَديثَهُ فَوَجَدَتُ ما

يَجدُ الطَروبُ لذكرِ دَهرٍ عابِرِ

She recited his words to me, and I felt what

the enraptured feel at the memory of a bygone age.

يا نائياً أَيَّانَ أَعرضَ ذِكرهُ

تَركَ الفُؤادَ عَلى جَناحَيْ طائِرِ

O distant one, whenever his memory presents itself,

it leaves the heart upon a bird's two wings.

لَكَ ذمةٌ عِندي وَإِن عَزَّ اللُّقا

تَبقى عَلى مَرِّ الزَّمانِ الغابِرِ

You have a pledge from me, though meeting is hard,

that endures through the passage of time to come.

هِيَ مَوثقُ الأُخرى فَدونَكَ عِقدها

وَاللَهُ في القَلبينِ أَفضلُ ناظِرِ

It secures the other pledge; take its binding knot,

and God is the best watcher over both hearts.