ذكراها في الحما إن تنظراها — Khalil Khoury

ذِكراها في الحِما إِن تَنظُراها

إِنَّني مُضنىً عَلى عَهدِ هَواها

Remind her in the sanctuary, if you two see her,

that I am worn with longing, faithful to the pledge of her love.

وَأَسالاها إِن أَجازَت سائِلاً

هَل تَرى بَعدَ النَوى قَلبي سَلاها

And ask her, if she permits a questioner,

whether she thinks my heart has forgotten her since we parted.

وَأَزيلا شَكها إِن وَهِمَت

لا رَعى اللَهُ خَليلاً ما رَعاها

And dispel her doubt, if she imagines so:

May God not cherish a lover who has not cherished her.

وَأَعلَما مِنها لِماذا نَفَرَت

يَومَ لُقيانا عَلى سَفحِ حِماها

And learn from her why she shied away

the day we met on the slope of her sanctuary.

أَعرَضت عَني بِطَرفٍ حائِرٍ

وَجَبينٍ فَوقَهُ الرُعبُتَناهى

She turned from me with a bewildered glance

and a brow upon which terror had reached its height.

راعَها طَرفٌ رَقيبٍ ساخِطٍ

لازم الغيرَةَ مِنّي فَنَهاها

The gaze of an angry watcher alarmed her;

ever jealous of me, he held her back.

كَمَهاةٍ في الرُبى سانِحَةٍ

هالَها الصَيادُ يَوماً فَثَناها

Like an oryx passing over the hills,

startled one day by a hunter who turned her back.

وَأَعطَفاها نَحوَ صَبٍّ هائِمٍ

لا يَرى في الكَونِ مَعشوقاً سِواها

And turn her toward a wandering, love-stricken lover

who sees no beloved in all existence but her.

وَإِذا عَنَت عَن ذِكرِ الهَوى فأَديرا

الكاس صَرفاً وَأَسكَراها

And if she turns away from mention of love, pass round

the cup of pure wine, and make her drunk.

خَمرَةُ الحُبِ عَظيمٌ سِرُّها

كُلَما طالَ المَدى زادَت قِواها

The wine of love has a mighty secret:

the longer time passes, the greater its power.

وَإِذا ما ذَكَرَت عَهدَ الصِبا

فَاندَبا مَعَها وَلَكن لِاطفاها

And whenever she remembers the days of youth,

then lament with her, but treat her gently.

عِلّلاها بِمَواعيدِ الهَوى فيها

سَلوى لِإِطفاءِ جَواها

Soothe her with promises of love: in them

lies solace to extinguish her inward fire.

وَأَمسحا أَدمُعُها إِن هَطَلَت

عِندَ ذِكري إِنَّما لا تَلمُساها

And wipe away her tears if they pour down

at mention of me—only, do not touch them.

بَل دَعها إِنَّها تَنشفُ مِن نارِ

حُسنٍ أَشعَلَتها وَجَنتاها

Rather, leave them; they will dry in the fire

of beauty kindled by her two cheeks.

وَخَذا مِن دَمِ قَلبي نُقطَةً وَأَمزَجاها

بِالطَلا ثُمَّ أَسقياها

And take a drop of my heart's blood and mix it

with wine, then give it to her to drink.

وَإِذا هاجَت عَلى حَرِّ اللَظا

فَأَسكَبا دَمعي لِتَبريدِ لَظاها

And if she is stirred by the blaze's heat,

then pour out my tears to cool her flame.

وَأَجُلبا لي مِن لَماها جُرعَةً

رُبَّما جادَت بِبرءي شَفتاها

And bring me a draught from her dusky lips;

perhaps her lips will bestow my cure.

وَإِذا ضَنَّت دَعا اسمي يَرتَوني

إِذ تَسميني بِتَقبيلِ لَماها

And if she refuses, let my name drink its fill

when she speaks my name with a kiss of her dusky lips.

ذاكَ حَسبي في مُصابي بَعدَما

كانَت الأَيّام توليني صَفاها

That is enough for me in my affliction, after

the days had once granted me their unclouded joy.

مُدَّة في قُربِها طابَت لَنا

أَجَلُ الرَغدِ اِنقَضى عِندَ اِنقِضاها

A time near her was sweet for us;

our span of bliss ended when that time was done.

بَينَنا الآنَ جِبالٌ وَرُبىً

وَسُهولٌ يَعجَزُ الطَيرَ فَضاها

Between us now lie mountains and hills,

and plains whose vastness defeats the birds.

إِنَّما فِكري لَهُ في قَطعِها

حَرَكاتٌ يَسبُقُ البَرقَ سَراها

Yet my thought has, in crossing them,

movements whose night journeys outstrip lightning.

هِيَ مَوضوعُ هَيامي دائِماً

وَلَئن كانَ عَلى البَأسِ اِقتِفاها

She is forever the object of my passion,

even if pursuing her entails hardship.

دَهشَتي صحبي حَياتي نُزهَتي

بِهجَتي كانَت فَلا كانَ سِواها

My wonder, my company, my life, my pleasure,

my joy she was—may no other ever be.

دَوحَةُ الحُسنُ الَّتي في رَوضِنا

كانَ لي التَقبيلُ قَسَماً مِن جَناها

The great tree of beauty that stood in our garden—

kissing was my allotted share of its fruit.

فَإِذا حَنَّت وَأَنتَ أَضلُعي فَعَلى

ذكرِ هَواها وَسَناها

So when my ribs yearn and groan, it is at

the memory of her love and radiance.

وَإِذا ما لاحَ لي وَجهُ الضُحى

لا تَراهُ أَعيُني أَلّا بَهاها

And whenever the face of morning shines upon me,

my eyes see only her splendor in it.

لِذَّةُ الآصالِ عِندي أَمحَلَت

بَعدَما قَد طابَ لي عَذبُ اِجتَناها

The pleasure of late afternoons has grown barren for me,

after their sweet harvest had delighted me.

وَإِذا جَنَّ الدُجى ذكَّرَني

خَلواتٍ بِأَحاديثِ هَواها

And when night's darkness falls, it reminds me

of private hours filled with talk of her love.

وَإِذا ما صاعِقاتٌ أَرعَدَت

خِلتُ سَخطاً هالَني بَعدَ رِضاها

And whenever thunderbolts rumble,

I imagine a wrath that appalls me after her favor.

وَإِذا الأُفقُ اِكتَسى ثَوبَ الصَفا

خِلتُها لاحَت فَحَيّاني صَفاها

And when the horizon puts on a robe of clarity,

I fancy she has appeared, her serenity greeting me.

هِيَ ذاتي عَن سِماتي اِنفَصَلَت فَإِنا

لَستُ أَنا بَعد نَواها

She is my very self, parted from my outward traits; so I

am not myself since her departure.

وَوجودي في رُبوعي بَعدَها كَخَيالٍ

تَركتهُ في حِماها

And my existence in my own haunts after her is like a phantom

I left behind in her sanctuary.

غَيَّرَ الدَهرُ صِفاتي لاعِباً

بِحَياتي بَعدَما طالَ هَناها

Time has changed my traits, toying

with my life after its long happiness.

مَزَّقَ البينُ كُبودي فاتِكاً

بِوُجودي آهِ لَو يَشفي ضَناها

Separation tore my vitals, ravaging

my being—ah, if only their wasting could be healed!

قَد زَوى غُصنُ شَبابي في الصِبا

يا لَهُ غُصناً زَوى عِندَ إِنزِواها

The branch of my youth has withered in youth itself;

alas for a branch that withered when she withdrew!

صادَمتهُ عاصِفاتٌ لِلهَوى

أَوشَكَت تَقصفُهُ حينَ اِتَقاها

Storms of love battered it,

nearly snapping it as it tried to fend them off.

يَومَ سارَت سارَ قَلبي ضائِعاً وَلَذا

للآن لَم أَعشَق سِواها

The day she left, my heart departed, lost; and so

to this day I have loved none but her.

فَإِنا الآن وَحيدٌ زاهِدٌ

اِنظُرُ الدُنيا بِعَينٍ لا تَراها

So now I am alone, renouncing the world;

I look at the world with an eye that does not see it.

قَد عَصيتُ الحُسنَ حَرّاً بَعدَما

كُنتُ عَبداً في جَوى الحُبِّ تَناهى

I have defied beauty as a free man, after

being a slave, utterly consumed by love's anguish.

فَأَخبَرا الغاداتِ إِني هارِبٌ

مِن سِهامِ العَين لا نالَت مُناها

So tell the maidens that I am fleeing

from the eye's arrows—may it never attain its wish!

وَرَنين القَوس خَلفي صارِخٌ

قف قَليلاً قُلتُ لا لا قالَ ها ها

And the bow's twang behind me cries:

'Stop a moment!' I said, 'No, no!' It said, 'Ha, ha!'

يُطلِعُ الوَجهَ الَّذي مِن نورِهِ

تَطلَعُ الشَمسُ إِذا جَنَّ دُجاها

It reveals the face from whose light

the sun rises when its darkness falls.

إِنَّما شَمسُ غُرورٍ قاتِلٍ تَكمَنُ

الظُلمةُ في طَيِّ حَشاها

Yet it is a sun of deadly delusion; there lurks

darkness in the folds of its heart.

وَجيناً كَتَبَ الحُسنُ بِهِ بِزَغَ

الفَجرُ بِأَنوارٍ جَلاها

And a cheek on which Beauty wrote: 'There rose

the dawn, with radiance it unveiled.'

وِمِن الفَجر كَذوبٌ ماكِرٌ

يَخدَعُ المَرءَ إِذا قَلَّ اِنتِباها

And among dawns is one false and cunning,

deceiving a man when his attention wanes.

فَوقَهُ تاجُ شُعورٍ مُرسِلٌ

سللاتٍ تَربُطُ القَلبَ عُراها

Above it is a crown of hair, sending down

chains whose loops bind the heart,

كَأَكاليلٍ زَهورٍ حَمَلَت

عَقرَباً يَلسَعُ مِن تاهَ وَتاها

like garlands of flowers that carry

a scorpion stinging whoever strays and loses his way.

وَقِواماً قُلتُ غُصناً في تُقاً

يَتَلوّى تابِعاً أَثَرَ خُطاها

And a figure I called a bough upon a dune,

swaying as it follows the trace of her steps.

إِنَّما غُصنٌ خَفيفٌ ناحِلٌ

تَلعَبُ الأَهواءُفيهِ كَهَواها

Yet it is only a frail, slender bough;

winds play upon it, as caprice plays upon her.

وَعُيوناً خاطِفاتٍ لِلهُدى مُسكِراتٍ

إِنَّما الزيغ عَراها

And eyes that snatch away right guidance, intoxicating—

yet it is mere waywardness that has overtaken them.

خِلتُها الحَولاءَ إِذ عاينتُها

تَنظُرُ الحُبَّ مَثنىً في حِماها

I thought her cross-eyed when I saw her

seeing love in twos within her sanctuary.

كُلُ عَينٍ في الهَوى تَحلو لَها

كُلُّ عَينٍ آهِ ما أَحلى عَماها

Every eye in love finds sweet

every eye—ah, how sweet its blindness!