كم نَهَتهم صَبابَتي وغَرامي
عن مَلامي فَما انتَهوا عن مَلامي
How much did my youth and passion forbid me
From blame, yet they did not cease from blame.
سكِروا سَكرةَ المُدام فَظَنُّوا
أنَّ سُكرَ الهَوى كسُكرِ المُدامِ
They became drunk with the inebriation of wine and thought
The intoxication of love was like the intoxication of wine
فَحَذاراً مِن زَفرَةٍ أيُّها اللا
ئِمُ أمسَت نِيرانُها في اضطِرامِ
So beware of a sigh whose fires, O blamer,
Have flared up intensely.
أحرَقَت لائمِيَّ قَبلكَ حتَّى
أصبَحَت جُنَّةً من اللوَّامِ
It burned my blamers before you until
They became a paradise free from blamers.
فعلُ نارِ القُلوبِ فيما عَدا الأج
سامِ هَذا فكيفَ في الأجسامِ
Such is the work of the fire of hearts, besides bodies—
So how would it be in bodies?
هيَ نارُ الخَليلِ في الوَقدِ لكِن
خَالَفَتها في بَردِها والسَّلامِ
It is the fire of Khalil in the kindling, but
It differed from it in its coolness and safety.
يا لأَهلِ الهَوى لِمَعرَكِ حَربِ ال
بَينِ خَدِّي بَحرٌ منَ الدَّمِ طامِ
O people of love, the battlefield of the war of separation
My cheek is an ocean of spilt blood.
مَوقِفُ البَينِ كالسَّما تَرى في
هِ عُيُوناً مُنهلَّةً كالغَمامِ
The stance of separation is like the sky in which
You see pouring eyes like clouds
وعُيوناً من البكاءِ علَيها
كجَهامٍ مُقابلٍ لِرُكامِ
And eyes shedding tears upon it
Like confronting waves against rocks.
كانَ ذمُّ الشَّآمِ مُذ كنتُ شأني
فَنَهتني عنهُ دِمَشقُ الشَّامِ
The blame of Damascus had been my way
Until Damascus in Syria forbade me from it.
بَلدٌ ساكِنوهُ قد جَعلُوا ال
جنَّةَ قَبلَ الحِسابِ دار مُقامِ
A land whose inhabitants have made
Paradise, before the Reckoning, a land of stay.
أكسَبَتها الأيَّامُ رَونقَ حُسنٍ
ليسَ يَفنَى ولا معَ الأيَّامِ
The days have given it the polish of beauty
That does not vanish, even with days.
ظاهِرٌ ظاهِرُ الجَمالِ كَما البَا
طِنِ خَلقاهُما مَعاً في تَمامِ
Its external beauty is apparent, just as
Its inner self—both created perfect.
غير أنَّ الرَّبيعَ يَحكمُ في الظَّا
هِرِ إذ كانَ أوضَحَ الأحكامِ
Except that spring rules the external
As it was the clearest of rulers.
برياضٍ أوصافُها أبد الدَّه
رِ تَراها رِياضَةَ الأفهامِ
With gardens whose traits are forever
Blossoming, you see them as the blossoming of perceptions.
نثرَت طَلَّها يَدُ الغَيثِ فيها
فأفانِينُ زهرِها في انتِظامِ
The rain's hand scattered its freshness upon it
So its flowers are arranged in harmony.
لَم تُفَضَّل بِطيبِها جَنَّةُ الخُل
دِ عَليها بَل فُضِّلَت بالدَّوامِ
The garden of eternity was not preferred over it in fragrance
But it was preferred in permanence.
قَسَمَت بينَ أهلِها قِسَمَ العَد
لِ فعمَّتهُمُ يَدا قَسَّامِ
It divided between its inhabitants the division of justice
So the hand of the Just Apportioner encompassed them.
هِمَّةٌ هَمُّها العلوُّ فما تَن
فَكُّ مِن ذاكَ دَهرها في اهتِمامِ
An ambition whose only concern is ascendance
Never slackening from that, busy with resolve.
وندىً ذكرُهُ إلى ما تَولا
هُ مِن الأنجُمِ السَّعيدَةِ سامِ
And a fame whose mention rises to
The fortunate stars it has set out to.
صارِمُ العَزمِ كلُّ عُمرٍ وإن طا
لَ إِذا شاءَ مُؤذِنٌ بانصِرامِ
Determined in will every age, though long,
When a proclaimer signals its expiration.
وكَذا المَجدُ ليسَ تُحسَمُ عَنه
عادِياتُ العِدى بغيرِ حُسامِ
And thus glory cannot be forfeited from it
By the transgressions of enemies without swords.
خاصَمَتني صُروفُ دَهري إليهِ
فرأتني بهِ ألدَّ الخِصامِ
The turns of fate disputed me, towards it
And saw me as the fiercest disputant.
بفَتىً راحَتاهُ مُذ عُدِمَ الجو
دُ لَنا راحَةٌ مِن الإعدامِ
With a youth whose palms, since generosity vanished,
We had a rest from annihilation.
