أَقُولُ اِشتِكاءَ بِالحَرامِ لِصاحِبي
وَذُو البَثِّ شَكُوهُ وَإِن كانَ مُقصَدا
I complain of forbidden love to my companion,
While he who suffers it should complain, even if intentional.
فَلَم أَرَ مَطرُوقاً كَلَيلي لِحاجَةٍ
أَضَنَّ بِها مِن غَيرِ فَقرٍ وَأَبعَدا
I have not seen anyone as sleepless as I am out of need
That has squeezed him without poverty or distance.
نَوالاً لِمُحتاجٍ يُريدُ نَوالَها
وَأَجدَرُ إِن حَدَّت بِهِ أَن تُصَرِّدا
An allowance for a needy man who wants her allowance,
And it is more fitting if hardship befalls him that she be gentle.
تَوَدَّدتُها قَبلاً فَما لانَ قَلبُها
وَأَقسى خَليلاً خِلتَهُ مُتَوَدِّدا
I courted her before, so why has her heart hardened,
And made the intimate friend whom she loved spurned?
فَلَو كُنتُ أُرقى بِالَّذي قَد رَقَيتُها
بِهِ يابِساً صَلداً مِنَ الصَخرِ جَلمَدا
If I were to attain what I have attained with her
With the dried, solid rock from the mountain, it would have melted.
اللانَ لِقَولي أَو لَعادَو وَما اِعتَصى
عَلَيَّ بِعاداً غِلظَةً وَتَشَدُّدا
It is not my words or enmity that made her disobey,
Nor has she been harsh and stern with me out of spite.
فَلَما بَدا لي أَنَّها مُستَفِزَّةٌ
قَد اضرَمَها الواشي عَلَيَّ وَأَوقَدا
So when it seemed to me she was provoked
By the slanderer against me, instigating her rage,
أَقُولُ لَها وَالعَينُ قَد فاضَ دَمعُها
وَقَد كانَ فيها دَمعُها قَد تَرَدَّدا
I said to her while her eyes overflowed with tears
That were flowing in them, repeatedly streaming,
أَسَلّاكِ عَنّي النَأيُ أَم عاقَكِ العِدى
بِما اِقتَرَفوا أَم جِئتِ صَرمى تَعَمُّدا
Did distance from me make you avoid me, or your chastity
Prevent you for what they did, or did you come, intending to refuse me?
أَلم أَكُ أَعصي فيكِ أَهل قَرابَتي
وَأُرغِمُ فيكِ الكاشِحَ المُتَهَدِّدا
Did I not oppose my family for your sake
And subdue the threatening admonisher for you?
وَأَمتَهِنُ الوَردَ الأَغَرَّ إِلَيكُم
مِن أَجلِكِ حَتّى لَحمُهُ قَد تَخَدَّدا
And I frequented the flowers most inclined to you
For your sake, until their flesh faded away.
فَقالَت مَنَنتَ الوَصلِ مِنكَ وَلَلَّذي
أَتَيتَ إِلَينا كانَ أَدنى وَأَزهَدا
So she said, “You have boasted of connection with me and made
The least and most trivial of what I found in you too much to enumerate.
مِنَ أَشياءَ قَد لاقَيتُها فيكَ لَم يَكُن
لِيُحصيها مَن مَنَّ وَصلاً وَعَدَّدا
Do not think the estrangement of a friend is chivalry,
Nor will you attain what you live by estrangement forever.”
وَلا تَحسَبَن صَرمَ الصَدِيقِ مُرُوءَةً
وَلا نائِلاً ما عِشتَ بِالصَرمِ سُؤدَدا
“Indeed, you have found affection with me
Of love that only grows and renews.”
وَإِنَّكَ قَد أَلفَيتَ عِندي مَوَدَّةً
مِنَ الحُبِّ ما تَزدادُ إِلّا تَجَدُّدا
“So be harsh to him who abandons you and gentle to him
Who visits you rarely and make him who is accustomed, accustomed.”
فَلِن لِلَّذي يَهواكَ وَاغلُظ عَلى الَّذي
قَلاكَ وَعَوِّدهُ الَّذي قَد تَعَوَّدا
“And appoint for me a tryst and do not fail me
At the station of lovers, if you desire an appointment.”
وَمِلآنَ فاضرِب لي وَلا تَخلُفَّنني
لَدى شُعبَةِ الأصغاءِ إِن شِئتَ مَوعِدا
So I said to her, “We will meet calmly in four nights,
When the people of the neighborhood have gone to sleep.”
فَقُلتُ لَها في أَربَعٍ سَوفَ نَلتَقي
هُدُوءاً إِذا ما سامِرُ الحَيِّ رَقَّدا
When four nights passed, I said, “Bring me
My steed and adorn it with a bridle and whip.”
فَلَمَّا تَقَضَّت أَربَعٌ قُلتُ هاتِيا
جَوادي وَقَلِّدهُ لِجاماً وَمِقوَدا
The servants brought it at night as if
They were leading an untamed colt when first saddled.
فَجاءَ بِهِ العَبدانِ لَيلاً كَأَنَّما
يَقُودانِ قَرماً ضارِياً حِينَ أُلبِدا
They tightened the saddle straps, then I mounted it
Like a pile of wood when struck by the whip it rages.
فَشَدّا عَلَيهِ السَرحَ ثُمَّ عَلَوتُهُ
كُمَيتاً إِذا ما مَسَّهُ السَوطُ أَهمَدا
It steps with the gait of a well-trained racer; whenever
It recovers from one bout of frenzy it goes into another.
خَبُوبَ الخَبارِ يَركَبُ الوَعثَ كُلَّما
تَسَلَّمَ مِن وَعثٍ إِلى غَيرِهِ عَدا
It surges ahead when the bridle chafes its lip
And bites the bit with its teeth, frothing.
يَزيدُ إِذا قاسَ اللِجامُ شَجاً بِهِ
وَعَضَّ بِنابَيهِ الشَكيمَ فَأَزبَدا
It brought me from afar as if it could see
The rugged, impregnable mountain, so it bounded.
فَقَرَّبَني مِن بَعدِ بُعدٍ كَأَنَّما
يَرى الجَبَلَ الوَعرَ المُمَنَّعَ فَدفَدا
When we reached the side of the tryst I had
Been promised, I almost hesitated to be evasive.
فَلَمّا بَلَغنا جانِبَ المَوعِدِ الَّذي
وُعِدتُ بِهِ أَقَللتُ أَن أَتَلَدَّدا
I waited a little while, then I was about to see
What I had hoped for- and how prolonged a lad’s wait seems!
مَكَثتُ قَلِيلاً ثُمَّ أَوشَكتُ أَن أَرى
وَما أَطوَلَ المُكثَ الغُلامَ المُوَلَّدا
It gave a whistling sound, then neighed with what I deserved,
I was delighted by it and fortune dealt me the best cards.
فَأَزجا فَأَنبا بِالَّذي كُنتُ أَهلَهُ
سُرِرتُ بِهِ مِنهُ وَلاقَيتُ أَسعُدا
Behind it a yellowish, dusty-cloaked woman
Sauntered nearby, sauntering affectionately.
وَمِن خَلفِهِ صَفراءُ غَرثٌ وِشاحُها
تَأَوَّدُ في المَمشى القَريبِ تَأَوُّدا
She walked like a wild cow passing through Dhu Ghusa
Meandering through the arid plain, bedding down.
تَمُورُ كَما مارَت مَهاةٌ بِذي الغُضا
تُزَجّى بِبَطحاءِ القَسِيَّةِ فَرقَدا
When we met, she smiled and showed gladness,
Both of us inclining toward the one each loved more.
فَلَمّا التَقَينا رَحبَّت وَتَهَلَّلَت
كِلانا إِلى ذي وُدِّهِ كانَ أَقوَدا
Both of us whispering privately in the darkness to his beloved,
Purity, affection- as long as we remained immortal.
كِلانا يُمَنّى في الخَلاءِ جَليسَهُ
صَفاءً وَوُدّاً ما بَقينا مُخَلَّدا
And my steed spent the night, its leg the leg of Talha,
At Abhar, belonging to my Mawla, the shooting star of dew.
وَباتَ جَوادِي غُلُّهُ ساقُ طَلحَةٍ
بِأَبهَرَ مَولِيِّ الرُبا ساقِطِ النَدى
It paws, so Ali turns it aside,
Bent is its branch, until it almost broke.
يَتُوقُ فَيَثنيهِ عَلِيٌّ مُقَوَّمٌ
نَما فَرعُهُ وَاخضَلَّ حَتّى تَخَضَّدا
The veins of the earth have been gouged out by it, so it encountered
At the side of a depression in the soil, soft and thick.
وَساخَت عُروق الأَرض مِنهُ فَصادَفَت
بِجانِبِ خَوّارٍ مِن التُربِ رَغَّدا
It is prevented from settling down by the fact
That it remembers a beautiful woman, so it remained saddled.
وَيَمنَعُهُ أَن يَطمَئِنَّ بِأَنَّهُ
تَذَكَرَ جُلّاً فَازدهاهُ وَمِقوَدا
And a home that protects it from heat in every summer,
And the place of filtered, cool water if it is cold.
وَبَيتاً يَقِيهِ الحَرَّ في كُلِّ صَيفَةٍ
وَمَصعَ ضَرِيبِ القَرِّ إِن هُوَ أَبرَدا
It did not recover from the intoxication of love between us,
An intoxication it has had for a long time, ever renewed,
فَلَم يَستَفِق مِن سَكرَةِ الحُبِّ بَينَنا
لَهُ سَكرَةٌ كانَت قَدِيماً تَعَدُّدا
Until the light of the dawn column appeared as if
The column of dawn on a day had been stripped bare.
بِضَوءِ عَمُودِ الصُبحِ حَتّى كَأَنَّما
تَجَلّى عَمُودُ الصُبحِ يَوماً مُوَرَّدا
