Sol 6.1

  1. شَمَّرتُ أرداني لنصفِ

    وغسلتُ أثوابي بكفّي

    I rolled my sleeves halfway up,

    and washed my clothes with my own hand,

  2. ونشرتُها للشمسِ للنَّظر

    اتِ، للأرواحِ تَسفي

    and spread them for the sun, for gazes,

    for breezes to sweep over them.

  3. خالفتُها عدّا، ولوْ

    ناً خُولِطَتْ صنفاً بصنف

    I varied them in number and

    color; one kind was mingled with another,

  4. ما بينَ أربدَ لا يشِفُّ

    وبين مفضوحٍ أشف

    ranging from a dusky, opaque one

    to a revealing, more transparent one.

  5. وظللتُ أرمقُهُا با

    سْجاحٍ، وترمُقُني بعُنف

    I kept looking at them with

    gentleness, while they eyed me harshly.

  6. لغةُ الثيابِ عَرَفْتُها

    و أجدتُها حَرفاً بِحَرْف

    The language of clothes—I knew it,

    and mastered it, letter by letter.

  7. لم أنخدعْ برفيفِها

    عِلماً بما تحتَ المرَفّ

    I was not deceived by their fluttering,

    knowing what lay beneath the fluttering cloth.

  8. فلطالما خفَقَتْ على

    شرِسٍ كجلدِ " الفيل " جِلفِ

    For often they fluttered over

    a savage, coarse as an elephant's hide,

  9. ولطالما خَلِقت على

    سَمْحٍ كضوءِ الفجر عَفّ

    and often they wore threadbare upon

    a gracious, chaste man, like dawn's light.

  10. نَعَظتْ إليَّ رؤوسُها

    فيها تغامزَ ألفُ طَرف

    Their heads rose erect toward me;

    a thousand eyes exchanged winks within them.

  11. واستلتِ الأكمامَ ألسنةً

    مُؤمِّنةً .. تُقفّي

    And the sleeves were drawn forth as tongues,

    assenting, answering in turn.

  12. قالتْ بأفصحِ ما احتوتْ

    لغةٌ بلا نحوٍ وَصَرف:

    They spoke with the greatest eloquence ever held by

    a language without grammar or inflection:

  13. حِقباً طوالاً كنتُ إلفَكَ

    بَرَّةً يا شرَّ إلِف

    For long ages I was your companion,

    devoted, O worst of companions.

  14. درءَ الحتوفِ عليك كنتُ

    وفي يديكَ مدبُّ حتفي

    I was your shield against death,

    yet in your hands lay the approach of my death.

  15. يا مُولعاً أبداً بطَرْ

    حي يَتّقي وَضَرِي وَحَذْفي

    O you, forever intent on casting

    me off, wary of my grime and of discarding me!

  16. ما كانَ من درَنَي، فمنك

    ومن دمٍ غثْيان صلفِ

    Whatever grime I bore came from you,

    and from nauseating, arrogant blood.

  17. كما أنت قاسٍ .. يابنَ حو

    اءٍ مُولعّةٍ بخصفِ

    How cruel you are, O son of

    Eve, so fond of stitching!

  18. هربتْ من "العُريِ" الطهورِ

    وَجَنَّةٍ تُدوي، وَتَشفي

    She fled from pure nakedness

    and a garden that afflicts and heals,

  19. وَتقيَّلتْ " وَعْثاً " تفجَّرَ

    عن قلوبٍ فيه غُلْفِ

    and took her rest on rough ground that sprang

    from hearts within it, sealed shut.

  20. أعطاكَ من سوّاكَ ملءَ

    العين من مَرَحٍ وظرفِ !

    He who fashioned you gave you a full

    eyeful of mirth and charm:

  21. أظفارَ غول سَبْطةٍ

    ونيوبَ ذئبٍ غير عُقْف

    a ghoul's long, straight claws,

    and a wolf's fangs, unbent.

  22. ما أفحشَ الغاوي بصا

    عِر قوةٍ .. وَمَهينِ ضَعف

    How foul the wayward man, in arrogant

    strength and abject weakness!

  23. يعرى، فتحسبُ، أنَّه

    "قرْدٌ" تَنَزّى تحت سقف

    He goes naked, and you think he is

    a monkey leaping beneath a roof.

  24. ما كان أحوجَ من يُر

    قِّصُه إلى " صنْجٍ " و " دُفِّ "

    How sorely whoever makes him

    dance needs cymbals and a tambourine!

  25. فإذا تَقمصني تبختَرَ

    لا يُطاقُ من التكفِّي

    But when he puts me on, he struts,

    unbearable in his swaying swagger,

  26. وانصاعَ "كالطاووس" يسحَبُ

    ذيلَهُ فوقَ المزفّ

    and moves off like a peacock, dragging

    his tail across the bridal dais.

  27. كم بينه عَرِماً يشبُّ

    حريقَ ملحمةٍ وَيُطفي

    What a gulf between him, unruly, kindling

    the blaze of battle and quenching it,

  28. يطأ الرقابَ .. وبينه

    قَزماً بسروالٍ وَخُفّ ؟

    trampling necks—and him,

    a dwarf in trousers and slippers!

  29. سمجَ الملامحِ فرَط ما

    غَصَبَ الضميرَ على التخفّي

    His features grown repulsive, so much

    has he forced his conscience into hiding,

  30. وكأنّ فوقَ جبينِه

    "طغراء" مسكنةٍ وخسفِ

    as though upon his forehead

    were a monogram of servility and abasement.

  31. يعمى.. ويحقرُ نظرَتي

    ويذوب في نَظراتِ خِشْفِ

    He turns blind and scorns my gaze,

    yet melts before a fawn's glances.

  32. وأراهما ،، " وحشين " في

    قفصينِ .. قُدّام وَخلْفِ

    And I see them both as beasts in

    two cages, one in front and one behind.

  33. سَفَهاً أريدُكَ وادعاً

    يفترُّ عن لمحاتِ عطف

    Foolishly, I wish you gentle,

    smiling with glimmers of kindness,

  34. وأنا التي عَرفتكَ إعصاراً

    يدمِّرُ غِبَّ عَصفِ

    though I am she who knew you as a hurricane,

    destroying in the wake of its gusts.

  35. لم تألُ تخرقُ رَيْطَتي

    مِزَقاً إلى رُبعٍ ونِصفِ

    You spared no effort in tearing my wrap

    to shreds, into quarters and halves.

  36. أأقولُ فيمَ هَتَكْتَني ؟

    أم إنّ بعضَ اللَّمحِ يَكفي ؟!

    Shall I say why you violated me,

    or will a few hints suffice?

  37. أُفٍ لِسِنِّكَ حلوةً

    ولما تُخَبِّي ألفُ أُفِ

    Fie on your tooth, sweet as it is,

    and on what you conceal, a thousand fies!

  38. وَتَعِسْتُ من مَظلومةٍ

    نَذْرٍ على " العَوْراتِ " وَقْفِ

    And wretched am I, a wronged one,

    a votive offering, devoted to private parts!

  39. كم فوقَ رُدني دمعةٌ

    بِدَمٍ أرقْتَ .. ولم يَجِفّ

    How many a tear upon my sleeve,

    mingled with blood you spilled, still undried;

  40. ورذاذُ " سُمٍ " للصديقِ

    يُدافُ في " عَسَلٍ " بِلُطْف

    and a spray of poison for a friend,

    gently dissolved in honey!

  41. كفٌّ تُصافِحهُ بها

    ختْلاً .. وتذبَحُه بكفّ

    One hand you shake his hand with,

    treacherously, while with the other you slaughter him.

  42. وتروحُ في خُدَعٍ، وفي

    ضَرَعٍ، وفي نَشْرٍ، وَلَفّ

    You go about amid deceptions, amid

    meekness, amid unfolding and folding,

  43. لِتَلِفَّ نعشَ جريمةٍ

    في بُرْدَتيْ عبثٍ.. وَقَصفِ

    to wrap the bier of a crime

    in the two mantles of frivolity and revelry.

  44. ووراءَ ذلكَ مُضْغةٌ

    مخنوقةٌ في أيِّ كهْفِ

    And behind all that, a morsel of flesh,

    strangled in some cave,

  45. تُلقي على قسماتِ وجهِك

    ظِلَّها " الكابي " وَتُضفي

    casts upon the contours of your face

    its gloomy shadow, cloaking you.

  46. أدركتُ سرَّك فوقها

    كالجُرحِ تعرِفُه بِنَزْف

    I discerned your secret above it,

    as you recognize a wound by its bleeding.

  47. أتُقيمها رَصَدا تضيقُ

    بهِ فتطردُه وَتُعفي ؟

    Do you appoint it a sentinel, then grow weary

    of it, banish it, and dismiss it?

  48. وتعودُ تمسحُ ما تبقّى

    فيكَ من " بَشَرٍ " فَتُصفي

    And again you wipe away what remains

    of humanity in you, purging it.

  49. وكذاك يهرُبُ سادرٌ

    خوفَ المُسِفّ إلى الأسَفِ

    Thus a heedless man flees,

    fearing degradation, into sorrow.

  50. لا كان يومُ قَطَفْتَني

    وَدَرجْتَ مزهوّاً بخطفي

    May the day you plucked me never have existed,

    and strutted, proud of snatching me!

  51. وحَسِبتُني أُلعوبةً ...

    نسجَ الخيوطِ على المَلَفّ

    And I thought myself a plaything,

    a weave of threads upon a reel.

  52. أكسو " العُراةَ " وينتهي

    أمري إلى " سَفَطٍ " و " رَفِّ "

    I clothe the naked, and my fate ends

    in a chest and on a shelf.

  53. نُشِّئتُ أطهرَ منك أر

    داناً وأطيبَ منك عَرفي

    I was raised purer than you in

    my sleeves, and sweeter than you in scent,

  54. في طينةٍ هي غيرُ طِينِكَ

    في حمى روضٍ ألفِّ

    in clay unlike your clay,

    within the sanctuary of a thick-grown meadow.

  55. فلكُ النجومِ الزُهر سقفي

    ومطاَرفُ " الكتانِ " سجفي

    The sphere of shining stars was my roof,

    and linen mantles were my curtains.

  56. وتلِف فتنة عُرْيَتي

    بِغدائرٍ للّيلِ وُحْفِ

    And the allure of my nakedness is wrapped

    in the night's thick tresses;

  57. ويرشُّني بطيوبه

    غَبَشُ الصباحِ المُستَشَفِ

    and I am sprinkled with its perfumes

    by the translucent haze of morning.

  58. وألوذُ من وَهَجِ الظهيرَةِ

    مُعْجِلاً نُضجي، وَقَطْفي

    I seek shelter from the midday blaze,

    which hastens my ripening and my plucking,

  59. بمساربِ الغُدرانِ تَسْقيني

    وتُطرِبني بِعَزْفِ

    in the channels of pools that water me

    and delight me with their music.

  60. ومن الغيومِ مظلّةٌ

    من ناعمِ الحَبَراتِ شَفِّ

    And from the clouds I have a canopy

    of soft, sheer, striped cloth.

  61. وأعُبُ من قطْرِ النّدى

    رشفاتِه فأهزُّ عِطفي

    I drink deep of the droplets of dew,

    sipping them, then swaying my flank.

  62. يا هذِه بعَض الشَّما

    تَةِ مُرَّةً، بعضَ التشفّي

    O you, a little less

    bitter gloating, a little less vindictive delight!

  63. أسرفتِ في شتمي، فكُفِّي

    وغلوتِ في نعتي ووصفي

    You have gone too far in reviling me: stop!

    And overreached in depicting and describing me.

  64. وكذَبتِ، إذ صوّرتِني

    مَن ليس يوماً في مَصفّي

    And you lied when you portrayed me as

    one who never stood in my ranks.

  65. وصدقتِ لو حَمَّلتني

    وِزْرَ الحليمِ المُستَخَفِ

    You would have spoken truly had you laid upon me

    the guilt of a forbearing man treated with contempt.

  66. وجهلتِ أيَّ بَواعثٍ

    تجترُّ من رِفقي، وَعُنفي

    And you did not know what impulses

    draw forth my gentleness and my violence.

  67. من دونِ خُلْفٍ حِلفةً

    وَلَرُبَّ أحلافٍ بِخُلْف

    An oath without breach of faith—

    and how many oaths are broken!

  68. إنّي أُحرِّقُ زَلَّتي

    وخطيئتي بجحيمِ لَهفي

    I burn away my lapse

    and my sin in the hellfire of my anguish,

  69. وأُديلُ سَيّءَ فَعْلةٍ

    ما اسْطَعتُ من حَسَنٍ بألْفِ

    and replace one evil deed,

    as best I can, with a thousand good ones.

  70. وغذا تَبجَّحَ من يُمرِّ

    غُ أصْغَرَيْهِ ومن يُعفِّي

    And if he boasts who soils

    his tongue and heart, and he who wipes the traces away,

  71. فأنا المُدِلُّ بقوَّتي

    في أن أُميطَ لِثامَ ضَعْفي

    then I take pride in my strength:

    in lifting the veil from my weakness,

  72. كالبدرِ من بَعْدِ الخسو

    فِ يُزادُ مِن وَضَحٍ وَكَشْفِ

    like the full moon after

    an eclipse, gaining in radiance and clarity.

  73. فَتَغَنجي أنْ كنتِ حِلْفَ

    أخي شجىً ، وندىً ، وَرِفِّي

    So be coquettish, since you are the ally

    of a brother of sorrow and dew—and flutter!