لكل دمع من مقلة سبب — Mahmoud Samial Baroudi

لِكُلِّ دَمْعٍ مِنْ مُقْلَةٍ سَبَبُ

وَكَيْفَ يَمْلِكُ دَمْعَ الْعَيْنِ مُكْتَئِبُ

Every tear from an eye has a cause.

And how can a sorrowful man control the eye's tears?

لَوْلا مُكَابَدَةُ الأَشْوَاقِ ما دَمَعَتْ

عَيْنٌ وَلا بَاتَ قَلْبٌ فِي الْحَشَا يَجِبُ

Were it not for the torment of longing, tears would never be shed

By an eye, nor would a heart throb all night within the breast.

فَيَا أَخَا الْعَذْلِ لا تَعْجَلْ بِلائِمَةٍ

عَلَيَّ فَالْحُبُّ سُلْطَانٌ لَهُ الغَلَبُ

So, O brother of reproach, do not hasten to cast blame

On me, for love is a sovereign to whom victory belongs.

لَوْ كَانَ لِلْمَرْءِ عَقْلٌ يَسْتَضيءُ بِهِ

فِي ظُلْمَةِ الشَّكِّ لَم تَعْلَقْ بِهِ النُّوَبُ

If a man had a mind by whose light he could see

In the darkness of doubt, calamities would not cling to him.

وَلَوْ تَبَيَّنَ ما في الْغَيْبِ مِنْ حَدَثٍ

لَكَانَ يَعْلَمُ مَا يَأْتِي وَيَجْتَنِبُ

And if he discerned the events within the unseen,

He would know what to undertake and what to avoid.

لَكِنَّهُ غَرَضٌ لِلدَّهْرِ يَرْشُقُهُ

بِأَسْهُمٍ ما لَها رِيشٌ وَلا عَقَبُ

But he is a target for time, which pelts him

With arrows that have neither feathers nor sinew bindings.

فَكَيفَ أَكْتُمُ أَشْوَاقِي وَبِي كَلَفٌ

تَكَادُ مِنْ مَسِّهِ الأَحْشَاءُ تَنْشَعِبُ

How, then, can I hide my longings, with a passion within me

At whose touch my entrails almost split apart?

أَمْ كَيْفَ أَسْلُو وَلِي قَلْبٌ إِذَا الْتَهَبَتْ

بِالأُفْقِ لَمْعَةُ بَرْقٍ كَادَ يَلْتَهِبُ

Or how can I find solace, with a heart that, whenever there blazes

A flash of lightning on the horizon, almost bursts into flame?

أَصْبَحْتُ فِي الْحُبِّ مَطْوِيَّاً عَلَى حُرَقٍ

يَكَادُ أَيْسَرُها بِالرُّوحِ يَنْتَشِبُ

In love I have become folded around burning pangs,

The mildest of which almost fastens upon my soul.

إِذَا تَنَفَّسْتُ فَاضَتْ زَفْرَتِي شَرَراً

كَمَا اسْتَنَارَ وَرَاءَ الْقَدْحَةِ اللَّهَبُ

When I breathe, my sigh pours forth sparks,

As flame gleams after the striking of a spark.

لَمْ يَبْقَ لِي غَيْرَ نَفْسِي مَا أَجُودُ بِهِ

وَقَدْ فَعَلْتُ فَهَلْ مِنْ رَحْمَةٍ تَجِبُ

I have nothing left to give but my own soul;

And I have done so—is any mercy due?

كَأَنَّ قَلْبِي إِذَا هَاجَ الْغَرَامُ بِهِ

بَيْنَ الْحَشَا طَائِرٌ فِي الْفَخِّ يَضْطَرِبُ

It is as though my heart, when passion rages within it,

Were a bird within my breast, struggling in a trap.

لا يَتْرُكُ الْحُبُّ قَلْبِي مِنْ لَواعِجِهِ

كَأَنَّمَا بَيْنَ قَلْبِي وَالْهَوَى نَسَبُ

Love does not spare my heart its burning torments,

As though my heart and passion shared a bond of kinship.

فَلا تَلُمْنِي عَلَى دَمْعٍ تَحَدَّرَ في

سَفْحِ الْعَقِيقِ فَلِي في سَفْحِهِ أَرَبُ

So do not blame me for tears that streamed down on

The slope of al-Aqiq; upon its slope I have a longing.

مَنَازِلٌ كُلَّمَا لاحَتْ مَخَايِلُهَا

فِي صَفْحَةِ الْفِكْرِ مِنِّي هاجَنِي طَرَبُ

Dwellings—whenever their images appear

Upon the page of my thoughts, yearning stirs me.

لِي عِنْدَ سَاكِنِهَا عَهْدٌ شَقِيتُ بِهِ

وَالْعَهْدُ ما لَم يَصُنْهُ الْوُدُّ مُنْقَضِبُ

I have a pledge with their dweller, through which I have suffered;

And a pledge is broken if affection does not safeguard it.

وَعادَ ظَنِّي عَلِيلاً بَعْدَ صِحَّتِهِ

وَالظَنُّ يَبْعُدُ أَحْيَاناً وَيَقْتَرِبُ

And my expectation fell ill after being sound;

And expectation sometimes recedes and sometimes draws near.

فَيَا سَرَاةَ الْحِمَى ما بَالُ نُصْرَتِكُمْ

ضَاقَتْ عَلَيَّ وَأَنْتُمْ سادَةٌ نُجُبُ

So, O chiefs of the protected land, why has your aid

Become scant for me, though you are noble lords?

أَضَعْتُمُوني وَكانَتْ لِي بِكُمْ ثِقَةٌ

مَتَى خَفَرْتُمْ ذِمَامَ الْعَهْدِ يا عَرَبُ

You abandoned me, though I had placed my trust in you;

Since when have you betrayed the covenant's obligations, O Arabs?

أَلَيْسَ فِي الحَقِّ أَنْ يَلْقَى النَّزِيلُ بِكُمْ

إِمْناً إِذا خَافَ أَنْ يَنْتَابَهُ الْعَطَبُ

Is it not right that a guest among you should find

Safety when he fears that ruin may befall him?

فَكَيْفَ تَسْلُبُنِي قَلْبِي بِلا تِرَةٍ

فَتاةُ خِدْرٍ لَهَا فِي الْحَيِّ مُنْتَسَبُ

How, then, without a grievance, is my heart stolen by

A maiden of the curtained chamber, with lineage in the tribe?

مَرَّتْ عَلَيْنَا تَهَادَى في صَوَاحِبِهَا

كَالْبَدْرِ في هَالَةٍ حَفَّتْ بِهِ الشُّهُبُ

She passed by us, gliding gracefully among her companions,

Like the full moon in a halo, with bright stars clustered about it.

تَهْتَزُّ مِنْ فَرْعِها الْفَيْنَانِ في سرَقٍ

كَسَمْهَرِيٍّ لهُ مِنْ سَوْسَنٍ عَذَبُ

She sways in silk beneath her luxuriant tresses,

Like a straight lance bearing tassels of lilies.

كَأَنَّ غُرَّتَهَا مِنْ تَحْتِ طُرَّتِها

فَجْرٌ بِجَانِحَةِ الظَّلْمَاءِ مُنْتَقِبُ

As though her radiant brow beneath her forelock

Were dawn veiled in a wing of darkness.

كانَتْ لَنا آيَةً في الْحُسْنِ فاحْتَجَبَتْ

عَنَّا بِلَيْلِ النَّوَى وَالْبَدْرُ يَحْتَجِبُ

She was a marvel of beauty to us, then she was veiled

From us by separation's night—and the full moon is veiled.

فَهَلْ إِلى نَظْرَةٍ يَحْيَا بِهَا رَمَقٌ

ذَرِيعَةٌ تَبْتَغِيها النَّفْسُ أَو سَبَبُ

To gain a glimpse that would revive life's last spark, is there, then,

A means the soul might seek, or any way?

أَبِيتُ في غُرْبَةٍ لا النَّفْسُ رَاضِيَةٌ

بِها وَلا المُلْتَقَى مِنْ شِيعَتِي كَثَبُ

I spend my nights in exile: my soul is not content

With it, nor is a meeting with my companions close at hand.

فَلا رَفِيقٌ تَسُرُّ النَّفْسَ طَلْعَتُهُ

وَلا صَدِيقٌ يَرَى ما بِي فَيَكْتَئِبُ

So there is no companion whose appearance delights the soul,

Nor a friend who sees my plight and grows sorrowful.

وَمِنْ عَجَائِبِ ما لاقَيْتُ مِنْ زَمَنِي

أَنِّي مُنِيتُ بِخَطْبٍ أَمْرُهُ عَجَبُ

And among the wonders I have encountered in my time

Is that I was afflicted by a calamity whose nature is astonishing.

لَم أَقْتَرِفْ زَلَّةً تَقْضِي عَلَيَّ بِما

أَصْبَحْتُ فيهِ فَماذَا الْوَيْلُ والْحَرَبُ

I committed no fault that would condemn me to what

I now endure—why, then, this woe and ruin?

فَهَلْ دِفَاعِي عَنْ دِيني وَعَنْ وَطَنِي

ذَنْبٌ أُدَانُ بِهِ ظُلْمَاً وَأَغْتَرِبُ

Is my defense, then, of my faith and my homeland

A sin for which I am unjustly condemned and live in exile?

فَلا يَظُنّ بِيَ الْحُسَّادُ مَنْدَمَةً

فَإِنَّنِي صابِرٌ فِي اللهِ مُحْتَسِبُ

So let the envious not imagine that I feel remorse;

For I am patient for God's sake, seeking His reward.

أَثْرَيْتُ مَجْداً فَلَمْ أَعْبَأْ بِمَا سَلَبَتْ

أَيْدِي الْحَوادِثِ مِنِّي فَهْوَ مُكْتَسَبُ

I have grown rich in glory, so I cared not for what was stolen

From me by the hands of calamities, for it can be earned anew.

لا يَخْفِضُ الْبُؤْسُ نَفْساً وَهْيَ عَالِيَةٌ

وَلا يُشِيدُ بِذِكْرِ الْخَامِلِ النَّشَبُ

Poverty does not abase a soul that is lofty,

Nor does wealth exalt the reputation of the obscure.

إِنِّي امْرُؤٌ لا يَرُدُّ الخَوْفُ بادِرَتِي

وَلا يَحِيفُ عَلَى أَخْلاقِيَ الْغَضَبُ

I am a man whose initiative fear cannot check,

Nor does anger encroach upon my character.

مَلَكْتُ حِلْمِي فَلَمْ أَنْطِقْ بِمُنْدِيَةٍ

وَصُنْتُ عِرْضِي فَلَم تَعْلَقْ بِهِ الرِّيَبُ

I held fast to my forbearance, so I uttered no disgraceful word;

And I guarded my honor, so no suspicions clung to it.

ومَا أُبَالِي ونَفْسِي غَيْرُ خاطِئَةٍ

إِذا تَخَرَّصَ أَقْوامٌ وَإِنْ كَذَبُوا

And I care not, while my soul is blameless,

If people make baseless claims, even if they lie.

ها إِنَّها فِرْيَةٌ قَدْ كانَ باءَ بِها

في ثَوْبِ يُوسُفَ مِنْ قَبْلِي دَمٌ كَذِبُ

Lo, it is a fabrication once borne

Before me by false blood upon Yusuf's shirt.

فَإِنْ يَكُنْ سَاءَنِي دَهْرِي وغَادَرَنِي

في غُرْبَةٍ لَيْسَ لِي فيها أَخٌ حَدِبُ

So if my time has grieved me and left me

In exile, where I have no caring brother,

فَسَوْفَ تَصْفُو اللَّيَالي بَعْدَ كُدْرَتِها

وَكُلُّ دَوْرٍ إِذَا ما تَمَّ يَنْقَلِبُ

Then the nights will grow clear after their murk,

And every cycle, when complete, reverses.