بَرحُ اشتياقٍ وادّكَارِ
ولَهِيبُ أَنفاسٍ حِرَارِ
The torment of longing and remembrance;
and the blaze of fevered breaths;
ومدامعٌ عبراتُها
ترفض عن نوم مُطَارِ
and tearful eyes whose streaming drops
send sleep flying away.
للهِ قلبي ما يَجِنْ
نُ من الهمومِ وما يُوَاري
By God, my heart—what it conceals
of cares, and what it hides!
لقد انقضَى سُكرُ الشَّبا
بِ وما انقضى وَصَبُ الخُمَارِ
The intoxication of youth has passed,
yet the ache of its wine-sickness has not.
وكبرت عن وصل الصغا
رِ وما سلوت عن الصغارِ
I have grown too old for union with beauties,
yet I have not forgotten those beauties.
سَقياً لتَغلِيسي الى
بابِ الرُصافةِ وابتكَاري
Blessed be my setting out before dawn
to al-Rusafa’s gate, and my early arrival—
أيامَ أخطرُ في الصِّبا
نشوانَ مسحوبَ الازَارِ
the days when in youth I strutted,
drunk, my trailing robe loose;
حَجّي الى حَجَرِ الصَّرا
ةِ وفي حدائِقها اعتماري
when my pilgrimage was to the Stone of al-Sarat,
and in its gardens I made my lesser pilgrimage;
ومواطن اللذاتِ أو
طاني ودار الرومِ داري
the haunts of pleasure were
my homeland, and Dar al-Rum my home.
كم رُضتُ فيها من نِفَا
رِ مُحَرَّمٍ خَلِقِ النِّفَارِ
How often there I tamed a skittish
forbidden one, shy by nature;
ورعيتُ من قَطْرَبُلٍ
روضَ الشقائقِ والبَهَارِ
and from Qatrabbul I grazed upon
a meadow of anemones and fragrant blooms.
وَزَفَفْتُهَا مِسكيَّةً
في ريطتي خَزٍّ وقَارِ
I led her forth, musk-scented,
wrapped in silk, in dignity and grace.
يُعطى النديمَ بِزالُها
ما شئتَ من نورٍ ونَارِ
To the boon companion she gave of her radiance
whatever he wished of light and fire.
كيفَ اعتدالُ مُعَذَّلٍ
صَحَبَ الغواة بلا عِذَارِ
How can my censor remain temperate
when he consorts with the wayward, unbridled?
يَسْتَنُّ في طُرُقِ الصِّبا
ويَعِيثُ في سُبلِ الخَسَارِ
He races down the paths of youth
and wreaks havoc along the roads of ruin;
فيصيدُ غزلانَ الكِنا
سِ ويَدَّرِي بَقرَ الصِّوَارِ
he hunts the gazelles of curtained chambers
and grazes among a herd of fawns—
من كلِ عَطشانِ الوِشا
حِ مُمَيَّلِ شَرِقِ السِّرارِ
every thirsty, sash-slender beauty,
languid, her whispered speech caught in her throat;
بيضٌ غريراتٌ طُبِع
نَ من الدلالِ على غِرَارِ
fair, inexperienced girls, fashioned
by dalliance after a single pattern;
وعقائلٌ تصفو وحا
فُ شعورهنَّ على المَدَارِ
and noble women, serene, whose hair
weaves dark circles all around them.
هيفٌ يَصِلْنَ من الروا
دِفِ بالزَّنابيرِ القِصَارِ
How can their heavy haunches join
those short, wasp-like waists?
وَتَعَلُّقي من طاعةِ ال
أستاذِ بالحبلِ المُغَارِ
My bond to obedience to the
master was a tightly twisted rope.
لقد اجتلبتُ مُنى النفو
سِ من ابيضاضٍ واحمِرَارِ
I gathered the desires of souls
from whiteness and redness;
ولحظتُ ما فترَ اللوا
حظ من فتورٍ واحورَارِ
and in their languid glances I beheld
a wealth of languor and the eyes’ intense dark-and-white contrast—
يومَ استقلوا والدمو
عُ تجودُ روضَ الجُلَّنَارِ
the day they departed, while tears
watered the meadow of pomegranate bloom.
لهفي على صبحِ الجبا
هِ يَشيْ به ليلُ الطِرَارِ
Ah, the dawn of their foreheads,
disclosed by the night of black hair;
وتواضعِ الخدِّ الأسي
لِ لعطفةِ الصُّدغِ المُدَارِ
and the smooth cheek bending
beneath the curving, circling side-lock.
خذ في هَزارِكَ يا غلا
مُ فقد غنيتُ عن الهَزَارِ
Boy, take up your nightingale-song—
I have no need of the nightingale.
حَسبي بأَلحانٍ قَمَر
تُ بهن تغريدَ القُمارِي
The melodies of moon-faced beauties suffice me;
with them I rival the cooing of doves.
لم يبقَ لي عيشٌ يلذْ
ذُ سِوى معاقرةِ العُقَارِ
No life remains sweet to me
except keeping company with wine.
واذا استهلَّ ابن العمي
دِ تضاءلتْ ديمُ القِطَارِ
When Ibn al-Amid pours forth like rain,
the downpour’s clouds dwindle away;
خِرقٌ صَفَتْ أَخلاقُه
صفوَ السبيكِ من النُّضَارِ
a generous man whose character is pure,
like refined gold cleansed of dross.
فكأَنما رُفِدَتْ موا
هبُهُ بأَمواجِ البِحَارِ
It is as though his gifts were supplied
by the surging waves of the seas,
وكأَنَّ نشرَ حديثهِ
نشرُ الخُزامى والعَرَارِ
and as though the fragrance of his speech were
the scent of lavender and arar.
وكأَننا مما تُفَرْ
رِقُ راحتاه في نِثَارِ
It is as though, from what his palms
scatter freely as largesse,
مُتَثَبّتٌ يغنى بمح
مودِ الاناةِ عن البَدَارِ
he wins praise through steadiness,
through deliberation and freedom from haste.
كلفٌ بطي السِّرِ تح
سبُ صدرَه ليلَ السِّرَارِ
Devoted to keeping secrets, so slow to divulge,
you would think his breast the night of concealment.
يأوى الى حِلم يُعا
ذ به ورأي مُستشَارِ
He takes refuge in a forbearance
that shelters him, and in counsel worth seeking;
ومرحبٍ يلقى الحوا
دثَ باحتمالِ واصطبارِ
in a broad welcome that meets calamities
with endurance and patient resolve.
يَربَا بِه عزُّ الفخا
رِ عن التعرضِ للفَخَارِ
Through him the glory of high deeds rises
above competing for mere pottery.
وتصونُ مسمعَه المها
بةُ عن مماراةِ المُمَاري
Awe guards his hearing
from wrangling with the contentious.
ويقول أَيسرُ سعيِهِ
جهدُ المنافسِ والمباري
The very least of his striving proclaims
the utmost effort of rival and contender.
كم يستر الباغى عُلا
ه وما لهنَّ من استِتَارِ
How often the seeker of his heights tries to hide them,
though they admit of no concealment!
هيهاتَ لا يَخفى على
لحظِ العيونِ سَنا النَّهَارِ
Never can the radiance of day
be hidden from the eyes.
قل للمخيَّبِ وِشمكي
رَ هدمتَ مجدَ بنى زِيارِ
Tell the thwarted Washmgir:
you have ruined the glory of the house of Ziyar.
خَرَّبتَ دورَ محمدٍ
فأَبى جوارَكَ للدّيارِ
You laid Muhammad’s dwellings waste,
but those dwellings rejected your protection.
وقريتَها ناراً فخص
ص صميم قلبكَ بالاوارِ
You offered them fire as hospitality; therefore
the blaze singled out your heart’s core.
جلبَ الجيادَ الى قرَا
رِكَ فاجتبيتَ من القَرَارِ
The horses drove onward to your abode,
and you chose flight instead of remaining.
زج النسورَ من الصفا
شعثَ المسوكِ من الخبارِ
He loosed the eagles from al-Safa,
their hides shaggy with dust;
تروى كغزلان الفَلا
ةِ بمثلِ جِنَّانِ القِفَارِ
they ranged like desert gazelles
through gardens resembling the wilderness;
ككواسرِ العُقبانِ طِرْ
نَ اليكَ بالاسدِ الضَّوارِي
like predatory eagles they flew
toward you, bearing ravenous lions.
لما طلعنَ علمتَ أَن
نكَ من جموعكُ في اغترَارِ
When they rose, you knew
your confidence in your troops was delusion.
وفللت من ذاتِ اليمي
نِ لشدةٍ ذات اليَسَارِ
You were routed from the right
by a fierce assault coming from the left.
وبالخيل صانَ صدورَها
في البقتينِ من الصدارِ
With cavalry he guarded their breasts
at the foremost ranks against every charge.
ومَغاورٌ يغريهم
من لا يسلُّ من الغوارِ
And raiders whom he urges onward—
one who never ceases or tires of raiding.
ليثٌ يثورُ فيستثي
رُ قساطلَ النقع المُثَارِ
A lion who springs and stirs up
billows of already churning dust;
فكأَنما هبوانُها
خَرقٌ من العَيوقِ هَارِ
as though their clouds of dust were
a rent by the star al-Ayyuq, collapsing.
في وقعةٍ قسمتْ كما
تَكَ للمنيةِ والأَسَارِ
In a battle that apportioned your troops
between death and captivity.
وفررتَ فيمن لا يعِدْ
دُ لمثلها غيرَ الفِرَارِ
And you fled among men who had prepared
for such a battle nothing but flight.
مُتسربلاً من لؤم فع
لكَ حلتى خِزىٍ وَعَارِ
Clad in baseness,
disgrace and shame became your lot.
هذى النكايةُ ولا النكا
يةُ في البنيةِ والجدَارِ
This is true devastation, not devastation
confined to buildings and walls.
ان الكبارَ من الامو
رِ تُنالُ بالهممِ الكِبَارِ
Great affairs
are attained by great resolves.
والى أَبى الفضلِ اتبع
تُ هَواجِسَ الهممِ السوَارِ
Toward Abu al-Fadl I sent in pursuit
the charging impulses of high ambition.
ولقد تخيرتُ الرجا
لَ فما دُفعتُ عن الخَيارِ
I had carefully chosen men,
and was not turned away from the best choice,
حتى سكنتُ ظلاله
بعد ابتلاءٍ واختبَارِ
until I came to rest with Abu al-Fadl,
after trial and testing.
يغدو على حَرِّ البلا
دِ غُدُوَّ مطلوبٍ بثَارِ
A lion against the freeborn of the land,
a jealous avenger, sought for blood-revenge;
فتزيلُه فتكاتُه
وتُذيقُه طعمَ الصغارِ
his sudden blows remove the foe
and make him taste humiliation.
فتراه في العُسرِ المضرْ
رِ يجودُ جود أُولى اليَسَارِ
In constricted hardship you see him pour forth
such bounty that it leads to ease;
مُتهلِلاً للزائري
نَ مرحباً بالمستَزَارِ
beaming upon visitors,
welcoming to those who seek him.
انى اغتنمتُ بيمنهِ
فَوقيتُ أَسبابَ العِثارِ
I seized the blessing of his good fortune
and was spared the causes of stumbling.
يا منْ له طيبُ الارو
م ومن له طيبُ النِّجَارِ
O you whose roots are fragrant,
whose protection of the neighbor is sweet;
يا من له نورُ البدو
رِ ومن له شرف الدَّرارِي
O you who possess the light of full moons
and the glory of the stars;
ما من بِه مرضُ الحيا
ءِ ومن به حصرُ الوَقَارِ
O you through whom modesty grows lovesick,
and dignity is struck speechless;
يا من لديهِ حيا العفا
ةِ ومن لديهِ حِمى الذِّمَارِ
O you who hold the life-giving rain of chastity,
and the inviolate sanctuary of honor;
أَنتَ الذي وهبَ الجَرا
ئِر عن علو واقتدَارِ
you are the one who pardoned offenses
from a height of sovereign power.
أَنتَ الذي ضمنَ الوفا
ءَ لجارهِ كرمُ الجوَارِ
You are the one whose noble protection
guaranteed fidelity to his neighbor.
أَنتَ الذي حازَ الخطَا
رَ مضاؤه يومَ الخِطَارِ
You are the one whose keen resolve seized
every danger on the day of peril.
فحويتَ مضِمارَ العلا
وجريتَ فيه بلا مُجَارِ
You won the racecourse of glory
and ran in it without a rival.
يَفديكَ من ظنَ المكا
رمَ في اقتصادٍ واقتصَارِ
May one who imagines noble deeds can be won
through moderation and restraint redeem you!
فعداه عن طلقِ الجيا
دِ سقوطه دونَ العِثَارِ
His falling short even of stumbling kept him
from the swift gallop of noble steeds.
خها ثمارَ عُلاكَ لا
عَرِيَتْ علاك من الثِّمَارِ
It bears exalted fruits—may it never
be stripped of its fruits for you:
عذراءُ يُخجِلُ حسنُها
ما فيَّ من خَلعِ العِذَارِ
a virgin poem whose beauty makes blush
the very wantonness within it.
