دعوني بين ندمان وساقي — Omar Onsi

دَعوني بَينَ ندمان وَساقي

تَقوم قِيامَتي عَن كَشف ساقِ

Leave me between a drinking companion and a cupbearer;

My resurrection comes at the baring of a shin.

دَعوني وَالغَرام غَريم قَلبي

أُلاقي مِن شُجوني ما أُلاقي

Leave me to passion, my heart's creditor,

To suffer from my sorrows what I suffer.

دَعوني إِن حَللت رياض أُنسٍ

أحلّ أَسير عقلي مِن وِثاقِ

Leave me, when I alight in gardens of delight,

To free my captive mind from its bonds.

شَجاني صَوت صادِحَة تَغَنَّت

عَلى أَيك تَظلّل كَالرواقِ

The voice of a singing bird stirred my sorrow,

In a grove that cast shade like a portico.

فَقُلت لَها أَلا يا أُخت نَجد

أَمن وَجد ألاعكِ أَم فراقِ

So I said to her, “O sister of Najd,

Is it passion that torments you, or parting?”

كِلانا في الرِياض حَليف شَجوٍ

وَأَشجانٍ وَشَوق وَاِشتِياقِ

Both of us in the gardens are bound to grief,

And sorrows, yearning, and longing.

قِفي نجرِ الدُموع جَوىً وَوَجداً

سواءً بَينَ منهملٍ وَراقي

Stay; let us pour tears of heartache and longing,

Alike, whether streaming or stilled.

لِتَختَلسي وَأَستَرق الأَماني

فَواها لاِختلاسك وَاِستِراقي

So you may snatch, and I may steal, the wishes—

Ah, for your snatching and my stealing!

أَرقت وَقَد أَراقَ دَمي غَزالٌ

بِخَدّيهِ شُهود دَمي المُراقِ

I lay sleepless, while a gazelle had spilled my blood;

On his cheeks were witnesses to my spilled blood.

يُداعبني فَأطمع بِالتَداني

وَأَلقاهُ فَيَجنح لاِفتراقي

He teases me, and I hope to draw near;

And when I meet him, he inclines to part from me.

أَكاد أَقول يا مرَّ التَجنّي

إِذا ما قُلت يا حُلوَ المَذاقِ

I almost say, “O bitter in your cruelty!”

Whenever I say, “O sweet to taste!”

بخالك خَلِّ عَنك مَلام خالٍ

فَقَد خَلط النَصيحة بِالنِفاقِ

By your beauty spot, dismiss the reproach of one untouched by love;

He has mixed advice with hypocrisy.

وَربّ نَصيحة غلطت فَكانَت

أَحدّ مِن المهنّدة الرقاقِ

And many a counsel has erred and proved

Sharper than slender Indian-forged swords.

بِروحي مَن لَهُ أَسلَمت روحي

فَبَدَّلها التَنعّم بِالتَشاقي

My soul for him to whom I surrendered my soul,

Who exchanged its bliss for misery.

وَلَو جارَت جِياد هَواه قَلبي

لَحارَت والفُؤاد عَلى براقِ

Even if the steeds of his love raced my heart,

They would be bewildered, with my heart upon Buraq.

أَلا يا غُصن ما لك مِلت عَنّي

وَقَد شَقَّ الوداد عَصا الشَقاقِ

O branch, why have you turned away from me,

When affection has broken discord's staff?

فَدَيتك أَنتَ بَدر التَمِّ لَكن

أَنا المَخصوص دونك بِالمحاقِ

May I be your ransom! You are the full moon, yet

I, not you, am singled out for utter waning.

وَيا قَمَراً رَسول اللَحظ عَنهُ

رَمى قَلبي بِمُعجزة اِنشِقاقِ

And O moon, whose emissary—a glance—

Struck my heart with the miracle of splitting.

أَبيت بِدَمع عَينٍ غَير راقٍ

وَلبٍّ ما له في الناس راقي

I spend the night with unceasing tears from my eye,

And a mind with no healer among mankind.

مَتى أَكتم هَواك أَجد دُموعي

وَشت بغوامض السرّ الدقاقِ

Whenever I hide my love for you, I find my tears

Have betrayed the secret's subtlest mysteries.

سَأَجعل ديدني كَأسي وَأنسي

بذكرك في اِصطِباحي وَاِغتِباقي

I shall make my cup my constant habit, and find my solace

In remembering you at my morning and evening draughts.

أَلا يا عُصبة طَلَعوا فَكانوا

كَأَمثال الكَواكب في اِتِّساقِ

O company who appeared and were

Like stars in ordered array,

قِفوا وَتَسابَقوا اللذّات نَهباً

وَلا تَدَعوا مِن اللذّات باقي

Stay, and race to plunder pleasures,

And leave no pleasure remaining.

وَلوذوا بِالصَبابة وَالتَصابي

عَلى وفق الخَلاعة باِتِّفاقِ

And seek refuge in ardent love and youthful dalliance,

In keeping with wanton revelry, in harmony.

وَميلوا حَيثما مالت قُدود

كَأَعطافٍ مِن السُمرِ الرِشاقِ

And lean wherever figures bend,

Like the bending shafts of slender brown spears.

وَلا تَتَغافلوا عَن هَصر خصرٍ

وَفي العنق اِجعَلوا إِثم العناقِ

And do not neglect clasping a waist,

And bear the sin of embracing upon your necks.

فَمَجلس أُنسنا فَلك التَهاني

وَنَحن ثُبي من السَبع الطِباقِ

Our gathering of delight is the sphere of joys,

And we are bands from the seven layered heavens.

وَفيهِ مِن الأَكارم كُلّ شَهم

تَنَزّه في الغَرام عَن الفساقِ

In it is every noble man among the generous,

Who in love keeps clear of libertines.

علت بعليٍّ الأَفراح فيهِ

فَبتنا وَالزَمان عَلى وِفاقِ

Through Ali, its joys rose high;

And we passed the night in harmony with Time.

عراقيّاً دَعوهُ وَما رَأَينا

لَهُ ندّا بِشام أَو عِراقِ

They called him Iraqi, yet we have seen

No peer for him in Sham or Iraq.

إِذا رَكب الحِجاز صَبا لمصر

تَرى العُشّاق تَصبو لِلعراقي

When he rides Hijaz and yearns for Egypt,

You see lovers longing for the Iraqi.

يَسوق لَها الهَوى سَوقاً وَشَوقاً

فَتَذكر يَوم يؤذن بِالمساقِ

He drives passion to her, with urging and yearning,

So you recall the day when the driving forth is announced.

أَتى بَيروت فَاِبتَهَجَت سُروراً

بِهِ وَتَباشَرَت عِندَ التَلاقي

He came to Beirut, and she rejoiced in delight

In him, and was glad at their meeting.

وَحيّانا فَأَحيا كُلّ قَلب

بِنيران الصَبابة ذي اِحتِراقِ

He greeted us, reviving every heart

That burned in the fires of yearning.

وَغنّانا فَكَم طربت نُفوس

وَأَشجانا فَكَم سالَت أَماقي

He sang to us—how many souls were thrilled!

And stirred our sorrow—how many eye-corners streamed!

فَتى أَفنى الهُموم بِكُلّ فَنٍّ

لَهُ الذكر الجَميل الدَهر باقي

A youth who banished worries through every art,

Whose fair renown endures throughout time.

حَكَت أَلحانه مِن غَير لَحن

كُؤوس الحان طاف بِهنّ ساقي

His melodies, without a false note, resembled

The tavern's cups, passed round by a cupbearer.

خَلاعة مُطرب خَلَعت فُؤادي

فَراجَعت الهَوى غبّ الطلاقِ

A singer's revelry tore out my heart,

And I took love back after divorce.

سَقى دُمياط غَيث الفَضل ثَغرا

تَبَسَّم وَاِحتَوى أَحلى مَذاقِ

May the rain of bounty water Damietta, a port

That smiled and held the sweetest taste.

سَمَت بِالسَيّدِ اللوزيِّ عزّاً

وَفاقَت بِالتَرَقّي وَالتَراقي

Through Sayyid al-Lawzi she rose in honor,

And excelled in rising and ascending.

بِها أَضحَت مَنازله العَوالي

بِمَنزلة العُقود مِن التَراقي

There his lofty residences became

As necklaces are to collarbones.

همام لا يُفارقه اِهتِمام

بِأَعباء العُلى فَوق المطاقِ

A noble man whose concern never leaves him

For the burdens of greatness beyond what can be borne.

بَشوش بِالصَديق لَهُ اِئتلاف

كَذا البَرق المغيث لَدى اِئتلافِ

Cheerful with his friend, and given to harmony,

So too is rain-bringing lightning at convergence.

كَآل حَمادة بَلَغوا المَعالي

فَضمّتهم لَها ضمَّ النِطاقِ

Like the family of Hamada, who reached the heights,

Which drew them close as a girdle clasps.

وَفَوا دَين العلى كَرَماً وَأَمسَت

مَحامدهم بذمّتنا بَواقي

They nobly paid the debt of greatness, and now

Their praiseworthy deeds remain a debt upon us.

رِجال لا يُقاس بِهم سِواهم

فَلا تَقس البحار عَلى السَواقي

Men to whom no others can be compared:

So do not compare seas with irrigation channels.

وَلا عَجَباً إِذا سبَقوا لفضلٍ

فَإِنّ السَبق مِن شِيَم العِتاقِ

And no wonder if they lead in excellence,

For leading is among the traits of thoroughbreds.

مَنازلهم مَطالع لِلدَراري

وَقاها اللَه وَهوَ أَجلّ واقي

Their dwellings are the rising places of brilliant stars;

May God guard them; He is the greatest guardian.

بِها القَمَر المُنير أَبو خَليل

أَحاطَ بِه كَواكب مِن رِفاقِ

There is the radiant moon, Abu Khalil,

Encircled by stars among his companions.

سَعوا يَتسارَعون إِلَيهِ حبّاً

كَأَنّ قُلوبَهُم خَيل السِباقِ

They hastened, racing toward him in love,

As though their hearts were racehorses.

وَطافوا مِن حِماه بِبَيت فَضلٍ

حَوى خلق الكَمال بِلا اِختِلاقِ

And in his precinct they circled a house of virtue,

That embodied perfect character without pretense.

مَقام للوُصول سَما اِرتِقاءً

بِنَفحة ذي المَعارج وَالمَراقي

A station for attainment, rising ever higher,

Through a breath from the Lord of ascents and stairways.

كَريم بِالمَكارم حازَ سَبقاً

فَقَصَّر من سِواه عَن اللحاقِ

A generous man who won precedence in noble deeds,

So all others fell short of catching up.

تَواضع وَاِعتَلى شَرَفاً وَحلماً

فَأَبدَع في الكَرامة وَالطِباقِ

He was humble yet rose in honor and forbearance,

And excelled in nobility and antithesis.

فَياللَه مِن نَفحات قُدس

بِها تَحيا النُفوس لَدى اِنتِشاقِ

O God, what breaths of holiness,

By which souls revive when they are inhaled!

تَراه بِفَيض أَنوار التَجلّي

يَغيب كَشاربِ الكَأس الدهاقِ

You see him, in the flood of lights of revelation,

Lose himself, like one drinking a brimming cup.

يَغيب مَع الشُهود لِفَرط وَجدٍ

كَما يَلقى أَحبّته الملاقي

He loses himself while witnessing, from overwhelming rapture,

As does one meeting his loved ones.

وَهَل يَخلو خَليلٌ مَع خَليلٍ

بِلا سرّ هُناك وَلا اِعتِلاقِ

And can one intimate be alone with another

Without a secret there, or any bond?

عَرائس مِن خدور الغَيب زفَّت

بِلا مَهر إِلَيه وَلا صداقِ

Brides from the chambers of the unseen were led

To him, without dower or bridal gift.

وَفَضل اللَه لَيسَ بِفَرط سَعيٍ

يُنالُ وَلا بِرَكضٍ وَاِستباقِ

And God's grace is not through excessive striving

Attained, nor by running and racing.

إِذا لَحظتكَ عَين العَون مِنهُ

وَجَزت البَحر آذن بِاِنفِلاقِ

If the eye of His aid looks upon you,

And you cross the sea, it announces its parting.

سَأَلتك بِالخَليل أَبا خَليل

وَبِالسامي سَميّك ذي البراقِ

I beseech you, Abu Khalil, by the Friend,

And by your exalted namesake, he of Buraq,

محمّد الَّذي أَولاك حَمداً

وَنالَكَ باِسمه خَيرُ اِشتِقاقِ

Muhammad, who bestowed praise upon you,

And through whose name the finest derivation came to you,

بِأَن تَدعو لَنا بِدُعاءٍ خَير

يَعمّ جَميع صَحبك وَالرِفاقِ

To offer for us a prayer of goodness

That embraces all your companions and fellows.

لِيَشملني بِها فَوزٌ فَإِنّي

رَقيق لَيسَ يَرغَب في عِتاقِ

May success through it encompass me, for I

Am a bondsman who has no wish to be freed.

أَحنُّ إِلى رُبوعك كُلّ حين

كَما حَنَّ الفَصيل إِلى النِياقِ

I yearn for your dwellings at every moment,

As a weaned camel-calf yearns for the she-camels.

فَأَنتَ وَسيلَتي وَالكَون فانٍ

بِمَشهَد لَيسَ غَير اللَه باقي

You are my means of approach, while all creation passes away,

In a vision where none but God remains.

نَظيرك عزّ في خُلقٍ وَخَلقٍ

وَلَيسَ لِمَن يَشينك مِن خلاقِ

Your equal is rare in character and form,

And whoever maligns you has no share of goodness.