خلِّ الكئيبَ يقاسي ما يقاسيهِ
ويسبل الدَّمع قطرا من مآقيهِ
Leave the sorrowful one to suffer his sorrows,
And let tears flow as drops from his afflictions.
لا تلحه إن بكى أو حنَّ من ولهٍ
ودعه يرسبُ وجداً في ملاهيهِ
Do not pester him if he weeps or grieves from anguish,
Let him drift in ecstasy amid his diversions.
وليس إن صدَّ عن هاديه من عجب
فالصبُّ ليس يرى هاديه هاديهِ
It's no wonder if he's distracted from his guide,
For the enthralled cannot see his guide leading.
صبٌّ على ظهرِ نضو الغيّ مركبُه
والوجدُ قائدُه والشوقُ حاديهِ
He rides the steed of passion in the dark night,
Ecstasy is his leader and yearning his guide.
لم يبق من روحِه إلّا حشاشته
تردَّدت منه في أقصى تراقيهِ
Nothing remains of his soul except his whim,
Which ebbs and flows to its furthest extremes.
يميتهُ في هواه هجرُ قاتِله
والوصل بعدَ خروج الرّوحِ يحييهِ
His love kills him in his passion, while union
After the soul's departure brings him back to life.
يا صاحبيَّ اِنظراني ساعةً وقِفا
لي في مقامٍ تعفَّى بعدَ أهليهِ
My friend, look at me standing reverently -
For one whose hand the reins have left I pay respects.
ربعٌ نحيّيه إجلالاً لمن وجدت
أيدي المطيِّ به أن لا نحيِّيهِ
A halt we honor out of awe for one who found
My hands unfit to even greet him anymore.
عَهدي به وظباء القفر ناصبة
منهنّ للأسد أشراك الهوى فيهِ
My pact with him - while the bare plains held
Pits for the lion of love to snare him.
وَكَم قد سحبت به ذيلَ الشبابِ وقد
جرَّرت فيه بأذيالٍ لساميهِ
How often have I dragged the tail of youth with him,
Pulling him along by the train of my garment's hem.
وَكم سحبت به ذيلَ الشبابِ وكم
جنيتُ غصنَ الهَوى فيهِ وغانيهِ
How often have I plucked the branch of passion with him,
And gathered the bloom of love through him and his songs.
أيَّام روض الصِّبا خضر شقائقُه
موشيّة بالبها منه حواشيهِ
The days of youth's garden - green are its anemones,
Adorned with splendor along its edges.
عصرٌ مضى وتقضَّى طيب لذَّته
ما كان أحلى وما أبهى لياليهِ
A bygone era whose sweet delight has waned -
How beautiful, how marvelous were its nights!
أفدي الحبيبَ الّذي نحوي سرى سحراً
كأنَّه البدرُ وافى في تجلِّيهِ
I would ransom the beloved who crept to me at night
As if he were the full moon rising in its brilliance.
أفديهِ من زائرٍ جاء الخيالُ به
من بعدِ طولِ الجفا أفديهِ أفديهِ
I would ransom him - after long estrangement
Imagination brought him back - I ransom him, ransom him!
زارت سعادُ وشهبُ الجوِّ شاخصة
بأعين ناظراتٍ في دياجيهِ
Good fortune and the stars of the night sky visited me,
With expectant eyes amidst its darkness.
وأقبلت لي تهادى في مجاسدها
بمنظرٍ مكتسٍ بالحسنِ عاريهِ
She came to me, coquetting in her gatherings,
Dressed in beauty, though clad only in charm.
أبدَت عتاباً على طولِ النَوى ولها
لفظ يحاكي لبالبها لباليهِ
She chided my lengthy estrangement, and she had
Words that echoed the laments of my heart.
فقمتُ ألثمُ صدغَها ومبسمَها
وأحتسي عسلاً عذباً لجانيهِ
So I rose to kiss her cheek and her smile,
And sipped the sweetest intoxicating nectar from her mouth.
فَجال ماء الحيا في وجهها خجلاً
واِصفرّ لوناً بتوريد وتمويهِ
The water of life blushed on her face in shyness,
Her complexion turning pale in embarrassment and denial.
وجه تضاحك فيهِ الدُّرُّ مبتسماً
ما بين أبيضه حُسناً وقانيهِ
A face whose pearls smile amidst its beauty and perfection,
With radiant charm between its fairness and luminescence.
فالجلّنار يناغي غضَّ نرجسه
ورائق الورد دانٍ من أقاحيهِ
As the narcissus flirts with the rose's tender sprout,
And the fragrance of roses humbly bows before it.
غيداء ليِّنة الأعطاف مائسة
كأنّها غصن بان في تثنِّيهِ
A delicate, gentle-limbed gazelle, so delicate,
As if she's a tender branch bending in the breeze.
لا زلت أصبو إليها ما حييتُ كما
يصبو فلاح إلى إكرامِ عافيهِ
I still yearn for her as long as I live, just as
A farmer yearns for the safety of his bountiful crop.
متوَّج في اِرتكاب المشكلات حظي
بأوَّلِ الحمدِ عن سعي وتاليهِ
Triumphant in taking on challenges, Fortune
Smiled on him as the foremost in praise and stature.
رقا مراتبَ من سمك العُلا وسمت
به سماءُ المعالي في معاليهِ
He rose up the ranks of lofty heights, and thereby
Ascended the heavens of grandeur in his loftiness.
وصار في رتبةٍ شمَّاء عاليةٍ
ما في نهايتها خلق يباريهِ
He attained a sublime, brilliant station,
Which no creature can parallel in the ends of its bounds.
نورٌ تصوَّر في إجلالِه بشراً
سبحانَ باريه بل سبحانَ باريهِ
A light imagined, in its veneration, some human -
Glory to its Creator! Nay, Glory to its Creator!
يا أَيُّها الملكُ القرمُ الهمامُ ومن
خطَّت له الحمدَ والعليا مواضيهِ
O King, O brave lion, O protector, who
Was destined for praise and the most noble paths.
ملكٌ تفرَّد في عزٍّ تفرَّد في
ما قَد تكسَّبه والمجد ثانيهِ
A King who triumphed with unique might, unique
In all he earned, while glory trails him.
أفقه لمن قد حباك النَّظمَ متَّسقاً
تُنبي بصفوِ الحجا منه معاليهِ
May he grant success to the one who gifted him this poem,
Whose excellent traits it highlights from his grandeur.
قد جاءَ يقطعُ آفاقَ البلادِ إلى
أن لوَّحته الذَواري في مواهيهِ
He came to traverse the horizons of every land
Until the mountain peaks waved to him at their passes.
وصارَ عن أفرخٍ والكلّ من ولهٍ
متيَّم القلب غمر الشوقِ ظاميهِ
And he became, for every chick, a doting mother,
While pining hearts drowned in oceans of passion.
والدَمع منه ومنهم واكف هتنٌ
مسترسلٌ بينهم لم يرقَ جاريهِ
With tears flowing from them, from him, stifled wails
Poured forth between them, no stream contained.
حتّى أتيت لهم أمٌّ تعلّلهم
إلّا بإسمك إذ ظلَّت تصدِّيهِ
Until I came to them, a mother who consoles them
Only by your name, as it shredded her heart.
فعلَّلتهم بذا كانت تعلّلهم
وقد شجا قلبها بالوجدِ شاجيهِ
She consoled them as she was wont to console,
While grief itself cleaved her heart in two.
وبشَّرتهم بما كانت تؤمِّله
منكَ الغداةَ وما كانت ترجِّيهِ
She gave them good tidings of what she hoped from you
In the morn, and all that she wished for and desired.
فاِنعم له منك بالفسحان في عجلٍ
واِقضِ مآربَه واِصدق أمانيهِ
So delight him with your hospitality promptly,
And fulfill his needs, and answer his prayers.
