أطاعكَ الدمع الذي كان عصى
فابكِ دماً ما أمكن العينَ البكا
The tear that once disobeyed now obeys you,
So weep blood, if eyes can weep it.
وعاقبِ العينَ بدمعٍ هاطلٍ
أحقّ عندي بالعقاب من جَنى
And punish the eye with copious tears,
More deserving of punishment than one who committed a crime.
فطالما أمرجته في حدقٍ
لولا الفتور قلت أحداقُ الظبى
Long has it winked in an eyelid,
Were it not for languor, I would say the eyelids of gazelles.
يا لكِ من أيام وصلٍ سلفت
أعقبَها الدهرُ بأيام نوى
Oh you who lived days of union in the past
Followed by the days of separation made by fate.
ما فرقة الأحباب بعد وصلِهم
إلا كشيبٍ واقعٍ معَ الصبي
Nothing separates lovers after their union
Except like white hair falling on a youth.
إذا الهَوى حاولتَ منه سلوةً
ولم تطِقها فهو من أحلى الهوى
If you tried to find solace in love
And could not bear it, then it is the sweetest love.
ليس المحب من إذا فواده
رام سُلواً عن أحباه سلا
No lover is one whose heart
Seeks comfort away from his beloved.
وذات خلخالٍ من التبر غداً
من وضحِ الفضة محشواً حُلى
A wrist with a silver bangle tomorrow
Filled inside with inserted pearls.
كأنما قضيبُ نورٍ دائر
بدَورِه قضيبُ نارٍ قد أضا
As if it is a rod of light revolving
Around it the rod of fire has revolved.
لها لوىً من رِدفها يحمله
ذو دقةٍ يضعفُ عن حمل اللوا
It has a twist from its buttocks carrying it,
Of such slimness, too weak to carry the twist.
ومبسمٌ لاحَ لنا من ضَوئِه
بَرقٌ ولكن ليسَ للبرقِ بقا
And a smile whose light flashed upon us,
Lightning, but lightning does not last.
وروضةٌ برقعَها حياؤها
زهرة وردٍ باللحاظِ تجتَنى
A garden, its cover is its modesty,
A rose flower concealing itself with glances.
ومقلةٌ قتالةٌ بلَحظِها
ليس تخاف قوداً ولا أذى
And killing eyelashes in her glances,
Not fearing being led on a leash or harm.
لو نظرت مثالها في غيرها
ألبسها منظره ثوبَ الضنى
If she looked at her likeness in others,
Her appearance would clothe them in poverty.
وأهيفٍ تَحسبه إذا بدا
قضيبَ بانٍ حاملاً بدرَ دُجى
Delicate, you would think when it appears,
A shining crescent carrying the full moon.
يجمعُ للناظِر في منظرِه
إذا بدا لونَ الصباح والمَسا
It brings together for the onlooker in its sight,
If it appears, the color of dawn and evening.
ضدان لم يجتمعا إلا لِما
سام الورى فيه منونٌ ومُنى
Two opposites met only in what
Mankind has reached of prosperity and bliss.
تَستَحسنُ الغدر بنا أجفانُه
حتى كأن الغدر في الناسِ وفا
Her eyelids make betrayal of us seem good,
As if betrayal itself were loyalty among people.
دقّت على أفهامِنا أوصافُه
كأنّه في الأرضِ من أهل السما
Her attributes have stamped on our minds,
As if she were of the people of the heavens, not the earth.
بدلتُ من قلبي سواه فلقد
أقلقني بين ظباءٍ ومَهى
I changed my heart for another, and so
She disturbed me between does and grazing wildlife.
يحمل أثقال الهوى مجتهداً
وهو ضعيف الصبر منهدّ القوى
Bearing the burdens of love exerting effort,
Yet weak in patience, exhausted in strength.
إن كنت لا أبقى بغير نكبةٍ
تبقى فما فضل البقا على الفنا
If I do not remain except with misfortune,
Remaining has no merit over perishing.
في كل يومٍ أنا بين غادرٍ
وهاجرٍ أكرع كاسات الردى
Every day I am between a betrayer
And one who hurries the cups of calamity.
أبيننا يا دهرُ ثارٌ تبتغي
إدراكه مني أم سفكُ دِما
O fate, between us is a vengeance you seek
To accomplish through me or shed blood.
ما فيكَ للعتبِ مكانٌ يرتجى
نجاحه إلا لمدحٍ وهجا
In you there is no place for rebuke,
Hoping for success, except through praise and raving.
أشكو إليك بعض ما لقيته
منكَ وهل تنفع شكوى من شكا
I complain to you of some of what I faced from you,
But does complaining benefit one who complained?
أكلَّما غادرتَ وقتاً صافياً
من عيشتي كدَّرت منه ما صفا
Whenever you deserted a clear time
Of my life, you made turbid what was clear.
تأخذ من أحبّتي أصدقَهم
وداً وأوفاهم إذا عزّ الوفا
You take from my most beloved friends,
The most devoted and faithful when loyalty was rare.
أظلمَ في عينيَّ ما كان أضا
فلا ضحى بعدَ الحسين بن ضحى
The darkest in my eyes was what was most shining,
None shined after al-Husayn bin Dhi Yazan.
مات الندى والمجد في ميتته
والأدبُ البارع أودى والنهى
Civility and glory died in his death,
Eloquence perished and restrained itself.
سعى إلى مهجتِه حِمامها
ولو درى ما قدرُها لما سعى
His pigeons swooped down on his intestines,
If only they knew his worth they would not have swooped.
طرفت طرفي أيها الدهر بهِ
فصرت لا أطرف إلا عن قذى
I winked my eye, O fate, because of him
So I do not wink except from annoyance.
بما العزاء بعده فإنما
كان لنا عمن فقدناه عزا
What consolation after him, but rather
Our consolation was for whom we lost.
كم من فتىً تحت الثرى وفضلُه
على الأنام ليس يُحصى كالثرى
How many excellent men under the soil, their merit
Upon mankind cannot be counted like the soil.
مضى وأبقَت ذكرَه أفعالُه
أحسن ما خلَّفته حسن الثنا
He passed away but his deeds left his remembrance,
Better than what he left was leaving a good reputation.
وللذي دلَّ من الجودِ عَلى
سبيل مَن قُبيله كان سُدى
And for one who points the way of generosity,
It was a guide to those of his tribe.
سر على أيمن سعدٍ صالح
سار إليه من هدى
Go on in the auspices of virtuous Saʿd,
One who was guided to him from guidance.
