أضرَّ بك الوجدُ لمّا تَمادى
وَصارَ صلاحك فيه فَسادا
Love's torment, when prolonged, did aggrieve you,
And seeking relief therein brought you distress.
وَقاضَك بعد الكرى والهجو
ع حكم الهوى بالهجوعِ السهادا
So, after estrangement and censure galore,
You were sentenced by passion for sleeplessness.
كأنّ جفونَك قَد أَقسَمت
هنالكَ ألّا تذوقَ الرُقادا
Your lids, it appears, have covenanted there
Henceforth to know not the taste of repose.
أَيا مُخبري عَن فريقٍ طوت
بِهِم أذرعُ اليعمُلاتِ الوهادا
O you, who inform me about a group
With whom the hands of Time are at close quarters:
أَعد في الأحاديث لي عنهمُ
فإنّي أحبّ له أن يُعادا
Recount to me tales of them, for tales of theirs
I do love to hear told and retold.
فَريقٌ تخيّلت أسرابهُ
شموساً تصوّرن بيضاً خرادا
A band, it seems, whose troops I imagined
As gleaming suns, as pearls of white flawless.
فَو الله لم أَنسَ يوم الودا
عِ سرّاً دعاني لهنّ ونادى
God! Never the day of parting have I forgot,
When he called me aside and invited me.
دَعاني إِليهنّ مُستملكاً
مَقادي فملّكهنّ المقادا
He summoned me to them, his sovereign
Right confirmed, to give them sovereignty absolute.
غديّةَ ساروا وَأَنفاسنا
تصعّد مَثنى معاً أو فرادا
On the morn we set out, and our spirits,
As singles or couples, soared up apace.
أُسائلُ ربعاً لَهم قد تعفّا
وَقَد زايلوهُ نوىً وَاِبتِعادا
I question a meadow of theirs turned desolate
Though they had but newly quit it in haste.
سَقاهُ حيا المزنِ من مربعٍ
وَرايحهُ مستهلّاً وَغادا
The red snapdragons fed it clear wine from goblets,
While the basil sweet breathe forth profusely and fades.
وَصافَحهُ مِن ربيع إِلى
ربيع واِنحسم شهر جُمادى
The narcissi tenderly, season by season,
Embraced it from Spring well into July.
فَيا ويحَ قلبي إِلى كم أنا
عليهِ أُحاذر مِن أَن يُصادا
Alas, my poor heart! How oft must I charge it
Not to break should rejection come nigh?
وَفي كم أقسِّمه إذ بعدما
غَدا بديداً في الغرامِ ونادى
How oft must I adjure it, now they have turned
My affliction in love to proclaim and decry?
أَأمنحه هنداً أم فرتنا
وَأَسما وعاتكة أَو سُعادا
Shall I offer it Hinda, or Fitna,
Asma, or Su'ad for its mad desires?
فهنَّ اللّواتي رسمنَ الهوى
بِقلبي وأَعلقنَ فيه الودادا
For they are my idols of love, they who traced
Out its labyrinths twisty and torturous.
وَهنَّ منَ الوجدِ أَوقدن لي
ضِراماً سوى ما جفنّي ودادا
They it was who kindled the fires of yearning
Now scorching my lids that had shut out all cheer;
وَهنَّ منَ الوجدِ أوقدن لي
ضِراما أذابَ الحشا والفؤادا
Who kindled fires a-flame with high flames
That consumed bridle and rider like fuel set afire.
كَتبنَ الهوى لي سطوراً وما اِت
تَخذنَ سِوى ماء قلبي مدادا
They inscribed lines of passion, they only
Who made of my heart's blood the red of their ink.
وَبي وصبٌ لَو سرى بالجما
دِ من حرّه لأذابَ الجمادا
By my life, were its secret revealed to a rock
Of solid stone, even that rock would run molten!
سَقى اللّه عصرَ الصِبا وَالشبا
ب مِن معصرات الملاهي عِهادا
God watered the days of my youth from a vineyard
Of pleasures, whose vintage enraptures the mind.
عَصرٌ بهِ طالما نلتُ من
لذيذِ الهوى وبلغت المُرادا
Those days whose sweet tensions I oft did enjoy,
And whose goals in love's fancies fulfilled had.
وَجرّرت أَذيال تيهي به
وَأَجريت في ملهياتي جيادا
Those days when I dragged in the dust the long skirts
Of my loose robe, and gave my fillies their heads.
تولّى وولّت بشاشاته
ونهنه منّي البياضُ السوادا
But those days have verily taken their leave,
And no more beam their smiles on me.
أَرى زَمني لم أَخل أنّهُ
تودّد لي بعد منه إلّا بعادا
All I see is a time become harsh and unfriendly,
Starkly unwilling e'er again to show me its grace.
وَما إن شكوت منهُ الخطو
ب إلّا رَمى بالخطوبِ وزادا
As soon as I utter one pitiful peep of complaint,
It loads me instead with redoubled distress.
تنكّر لي بعد صفو الودا
دِ واللطفِ واِبتزّني ما أفادا
Estranged now, when once it would show me good will,
It plays me but sourly its charms to evince.
وَفوّق لي سهمَهُ راشقاً
وجرّد لي منهُ بيضاً حدادا
It sharpens its arrows and strips me of arms,
Then assails me in armor hideous black.
عرفت بهِ غيرَ أنّي له
صبرتُ على الحادثاتِ اِعتِمادا
Thus I know very well its caprice though forbear,
Putting always my trust in the turn of its wheel;
يريشُ ويبري عَلى أنّهُ
يُعاودُ فيما به كانَ جادا
For it yet may relent, and with kindness surprise me,
May yet turn the days in which once it took pride.
فَكم فيهِ مِن مترفٍ قد قضى
وَما منه يوماً تزوّدَ زادا
Oh, the feats of illusion that vanished away!
And no single bright day has it left as my stay!
وَكلّ اِمرئٍ مِن جميع الورى
أسيرٌ لأحداثهِ لن يفادا
For each man of mankind is Time's thrall, nor shall any
Contrive to escape from its prisoning chains.
وَما المرء إلّا كمثلِ الشها
بِ بعدَ الوقودِ يصيرُ رمادا
Man's estate is as ashes when fuel is spent,
Or a ruin when bolstering pillars collapse.
وَبيداء قفراء كلّفتها
أموناً منَ العيسِ جرفاً سنادا
It is wilderness, arid, where once did encamp
A rich tribe of nomads their black goats and white.
أَلا فَاِطلبنّ الغنى واِتّخذ
لكَ العيسَ دونَ المهادِ مهادا
Seek you riches! Let nomads and luxury be
Your endeavour, but never a bare life of need!
وَلُذ بالمظفّر وَاِستجدهِ
يفدكَ الطريقَ معاً والبلادا
Win victory! Make your own good fortune!
Command road and dominion! a king be acclaimed!
مَليكٌ على عسرهِ والغنى
يَرى الجودَ ديناً لهُ واِعتقادا
Spend freely your silver when means run distressed!
See high generosity as solemn faith bound!
تَرعرعَ مكتهلاً وَاِرتَقى
مَنارَ المفاخرِ طفلاً وسادا
A sapling at first, it shot up a tall palm,
Reached high on the ladder of glory though young.
جَوادٌ تتابعَ آباؤهُ
إِلى المكرماتِ جَواداً جوادا
Of generous breed, and its sires too displayed
Their worth down long lines in most generous kind.
بَنى بيتَ مجدٍ له سامياً
أَقامَ لهُ مِن نداهُ عمادا
A mansion he built, tow'ring to heaven, and raised
Its pillars from virtues his nature had formed.
أباعثها للعداةِ شراباً
تدافعنَ بيضاً وسمراً صِعادا
To his foes I could proffer a deathly black draft
That would smite them with pallor and coal-colored fear.
وَمن لَو ثمودٌ وعادٌ بقوا
عَليهِ لأردى ثَموداً وعادا
And were Thamud and 'Ad bound against him combined,
I would scatter their throngs as though milling locusts.
فَما في الحميّةِ جسّاسها
بشاكٍ وَلا من أَجار الجرادا
Nay, in love with brave death stands no weakling who'd quaver
At friend or at stranger - no coward who'd flee.
فَمَن ذا يُساميكَ مِن بعد ما
رقيتَ مِن المجدِ سبعاً شدادا
So who dare vie with you now you have gained
Such a crown of high glory invincible strength?
