تريك مرور الليالي العبر — Kashajim

تُرِيْكَ مُرُورُ اللَّيَالِي العِبَرْ

وَلِلْوِرْدِ فِي كُلِّ حَالٍ صَدَرْ

The passing nights show you lessons;

and every coming to water must end in departure.

سَحَبْتُ عَلَى الدَّهْرِ ذَيْلَ الشَّبَابِ

وَمَا زِلْتُ أَنْضيْهِ حَتَّى غَبَرْ

I trailed youth’s hem across the years,

and kept wearing it thin until it faded.

وَلَمْ يَبْقَ لِي مِنْهُ إِلاَّ كَمَا

يُرَى فِي الرِّيَاضِ بَقَايَا الزَّهَرْ

And nothing of it remains to me except the like of

the remnants of flowers one sees in gardens:

سَوَادٌ أَطَلَّ عَلَيْهِ البَيَاضُ

كَلَيْلْ أَطَلَّ عَلَيْهِ السَّحَرْ

blackness over which whiteness has risen,

like night over which daybreak has risen.

فَرَائِيَ فِي اللَّهْوِ رَأْيُ الَّذِي

تَقَدَّمَ فِي الزَّادِ قَبْلَ السَّفَرْ

So my view of pleasure is the view of one

who lays in provisions before the journey:

بِبَزْلِ الدِّنَانِ وَعَزْفِ القِيَانِ

وَخَلْعِ العِذَارِ وَفَضِّ العُذَرْ

through tapping wine jars and the playing of singing-girls,

and casting off the bridle and breaking maidenheads.

وَنَادَى لِدَاتِي دَاعِي المَشِيْبِ

فَسَارُوا وَهَا أَنَذَا فِي الأَثَرْ

The herald of gray hair called my age-mates,

so they went, and here I am following their tracks.

تُنَشِّطُنِي أُخْرَيَاتُ الشَّبَابِ

وَتَقْتَادُنِي أُولَيَاتُ الكِبَرْ

The last remnants of youth invigorate me,

while the first signs of old age draw me along.

فَنَفْسي تَتُوقُ إِلَى الغَانِيَاتِ

وَقَلْبِي يَهُمُّ بِأَنْ يَنْزَجِرْ

My soul longs for beautiful women,

while my heart considers restraining itself.

وَيَأْبِى لَهُ ذَاكَ وَرْدُ الخُدُودِ

وَصُبْحُ الوُجُوهِ وَلَيْلُ الشَّعَرْ

But the roses of cheeks deny it that,

and the dawn of faces and the night of hair.

وَأُعْطِي قِيَادِيَ كَفَّ المُجُونِ

وَأُخْفِي فُنُونَاً وَأُبْدِي أَشَرْ

I give my reins to wantonness’s hand,

and conceal varied arts while displaying wanton glee.

وَأُكْذِبُ نَفْسِي في بَعْضِ مَا

أَحَصِّلُهُ مِنْ حِسَابِ العُمُرْ

And I deceive myself about some of what

I total in the reckoning of my years.

وَإنْ نَزَلَتْ فِي جِوَارِ الشَّبَا

بِ بَيْضَاءُ أَعْجَلْتُهَا أَنْ تَقَرْ

And if there alights in youth’s neighborhood

a white hair, I drive it off before it can settle.

وَأَكْتُمُ ذَلِكَ عَنْ خَطْرِهِ

فَيَفْضَحُنِي عِنْدَهَا إِنْ ظَهَرْ

I conceal that because of its danger,

for it betrays me before her if it appears.

سَقَى وَرَعَى اللَّهُ عَهْدَ الصِّبَا

لَيَالِيَ إِذْ أَنَا بالدَّهْرِ غِرْ

May God water and tend the days of youth—

those nights when I was naive about the world;

وَإِذْ عُذْرِي وَاضِحٌ بِالشَّبَابِ

وَسُكْرِي بِهِ مِنْ أَشَدَّ الشُّكَرْ

when youth made my excuse plain,

and my drunkenness with it was among the deepest forms of gratitude.

أَصِيْدُ وَتَصْطَادُنِي تَارَةً

ظِبَاءُ القُصُورِ بِسِحْرِ الحَوَرْ

I hunted, and sometimes was myself hunted

by palace gazelles, through their dark eyes’ magic,

إِذَا مَا تَتَوَّجْنَ أَكْوَارَهُنَّ

وَخَطَّطْنَ فِي العَاجِ شَكْكَ الطُّرَزْ

when they crowned themselves with their coiled headwraps,

and traced embroidery’s stitches on ivory,

وَعَلَّقْنَ سُودَ مَسَابِحِهِنَّ

دُوَيْنَ النُّهُودِ وَفَوْقَ السُّرَرْ

and hung their black strings of beads

just below their breasts and above their navels,

وَأَوْمَضْنَ نَحْوِي بُرُوقَ الثُّغُو

رِ عَنْ بَرَدِ فِيْهِ مِسْكٌ وَدُرْ

and flashed toward me the lightning of their mouths,

revealing hailstones with musk and pearls within.

وَمَا كَانَ أَكْلِي مَعَ الغَانِيَا

تِ فِلْذَاً وَلاَ مَشْرَبِي بِالْغُمَرْ

And never was my fare with beautiful women

mere morsels, nor my drink from a tiny cup.

يُرَوِّعُنِي شَامِتَاً بِالبَيَاضِ

أَخٌ قَدْ قَضَى مِنْ سَوَادْ وَطَرْ

He frightens me, gloating over my white hair—

a brother who has had his fill of black hair.

وَقَدْ كَانَ يَحْسُدُنِي بالسَّوَادِ

فَلَمَّا رَآنِيَ قَدْ شِبْتُ سُرْ

He once envied me my black hair;

but when he saw that I had grayed, he rejoiced.

وَمِثْلَكَ قَدْ صِرْتُ رَسْمَاً عَفَا

فَقِفْ بِي وَلاَ تَجْفُنِي يَاعُمَرْ

And like you, I have become a trace worn away;

so stand by me; do not shun me, O Umar.

وَسَاعِدْ أَخَاكَ عَلَى شُرْبِهَا

بِمَيْمَاسٍ حِمْصٍ وَشَطِّ النَّهِرْ

And help your brother drink it

at Maymas in Homs and on the riverbank:

وُدَامَاً كّدِيْنِكَ فِي لُطْفِهَا

وَأَخْلاَقِكَ الوَاضِحَاتِ الغُرَرْ

a wine as delicate as your faith

and your bright, radiant virtues.

إِذَا رَقَص المَاءُ فِي كَأسِهَا

أَطَارَ عَلَى جَانِبَيْهَا الشَّرَرْ

When water dances in its cup,

it sends sparks flying up either side.

كَأَنَّكَ شَاكَلْتَهَا بِالصَّفَاءِ

وَأَشْبَهْتَهَا بِالنَّسِيْمِ العَطِرْ

It is as though you matched it in clarity,

and resembled it in fragrant breath.

تَمَكَّنَتِ النَّارُ مِنْ جِسْمِهَا

فَلَمْ تُبْقِ فِي الصَّفْوِ مِنْهَا كَدَرْ

Fire has taken hold of its body,

leaving no cloudiness in its clarity.

وَحَلَّتْ بِذَاكَ لِشُرَّابِهَا

وَأُطْلِقُ مَا كَانَ مِنْهَا حُظِرْ

And thus it became lawful for its drinkers,

and I permit what was once forbidden in it.

ألسْتَ تَرَى المرجَ مُعْشَوْشَباً

أنيقَ الرّياضِ مَرِيْعاً خَضِرْ

Do you not see the meadow, thick with grass,

with lovely gardens, fertile and green?

كأنّ الذي دبَّجْتَ تُسْتَرُ

وطَرّزَتِ السوسُ فيه نُشِرْ

As though what Tustar brocaded

and Susa embroidered were spread upon it.

وقد ضُرِبَتْ فِيْهِ خَيْمَاتُهَا

وعدّل تَشْرِيْنُ حرًّا بِقُرْ

And its tents have been pitched there,

and Tishrin has tempered heat with cold.

وراحت تُجَاوِبُ أَطْيارَهُ

كما جَاوَبَ النّايَ قرعُ الوَترْ

Its birds began answering one another,

as plucked strings answer the flute.

وجاءَ الطُّهاةُ بما نَشْتَهِيْ

هِ مما استُزِيْدَ وَمِمّا حَضَرْ

And the cooks brought what we desired,

from extra fare requested and what was on hand.

وطاب المِزَاجُ ولذّا الشرابُ

ومُدّ الأُرُنْدِ بماءٍ خَصِرْ

The blend was pleasant and the wine delicious,

and the Orontes was replenished with chilly water.

تَعالِيْلُ إنْ أَنْتَ أَغْفلتَهَا

تَذَكّرتَها حينَ لا مُدَّكَرْ

Delights that, if you neglect them,

you will recall when remembrance comes too late.

فَخُذْ من صفا العيشِ قَبْلَ الكَدَرْ

ومن ظاهرِ الأرضِ قَبْلَ الحُفَرْ

So take your share of life’s clarity before its murk,

and of the earth’s surface before the grave-pits.