لَقَد خَطَّ رَيحانُ الجَمالِ عِذارَهُ
فَأَبدى عَلى وَردِ الخُدودِ اِخضِرارَهْ
Beauty’s myrtle has traced his first beard.
It has shown its green upon the roses of his cheeks.
وَأَلقى عَلى تِلكَ المَعاطِفِ حُسنَهُ
نحولاً كَسا أَهلَ الغَرامِ شِعارَهْ
And it has cast its beauty over those slender limbs,
A leanness that has clothed lovers in its garb.
تَبارَكَ مَن وَلَّى عَلى الخَلقِ جفنَهُ
وَأَولى قُلوب العاشِقين اِنكِسارَهْ
Blessed is He who set his eyelid over creation
And brought heartbreak to lovers’ hearts.
تَظنُّ الظِّبَى فيها مِنَ الحُسن ما بِهِ
كَذبنَ فَما يَحكينَ إِلّا نِفارَهْ
The gazelles think they possess his beauty;
They are mistaken: they resemble only his flight.
تَعَزَّزَ حَتّى لا يُنالُ وَإِنَّما
رَأى ثَوبَهُ قَد مَسَّه فَأَغارَهْ
He holds himself so dear that none can reach him; yet
He saw his garment had been touched and grew jealous of it.
عَزيزٌ يخِرُّ الغُصنُ تلقاءَ عَطفِهِ
وَتَلثُم أَفواهُ الحِسان إِزارَهْ
So precious is he that a branch bows before his graceful bend,
And the mouths of beauties kiss the hem of his robe.
لَهُ إِمرةٌ في العاشِقينَ مُطاعَةٌ
وَجُندُ جَمالٍ قَد أَعَزَّ اِنتِصارَهْ
He commands the lovers, and they obey;
An army of beauty has made his victory secure.
وَلِلّهِ قَلبي يَومَ نُودِي لِلهَوى
وَقَد ضَمِنَت رُسلُ الجُفونِ اِئتِمارهْ
By God, my heart was his the day love called,
And the messengers of his eyelids assured its obedience.
وَلِلحَظ مَعنىً يَفهَمُ القَلبُ سرَّهُ
وَإِن لَم يُمط لَحظُ العُيونِ سِتارَهْ
A glance has a meaning whose secret the heart understands,
Even when the eyes’ glance has not lifted its veil.
وَلِلحُبِّ ما بَينَ النُفوسِ مسالكٌ
طَوَت دونَ إِدراك الجُسوم اِختِبارَهْ
Love has pathways between souls
Whose course is hidden from the perception of bodies.
وَبي مَن غَدَت روحي لَدَيهِ مُقيمةٌ
وَإِن أَبعَدَت عَني اللَيالي مزارَهْ
The one I love holds my soul in his keeping,
Though the nights have placed his dwelling far from me.
حَبيبٌ بَراه اللَه مِن طينةِ الوَفا
وَمِن كَرَمِ الأَخلاقِ صاغَ نجارَهْ
A beloved whom God fashioned from the clay of fidelity,
And whose nature He formed from noble character.
سَليمُ فُؤادٍ ثابتُ الودِّ مُخلِصٌ
رَأَيت سَواءً سِرَّهُ وَجَهارَهْ
Sound of heart, steadfast in affection, sincere:
I have found his private self and public self the same.
تَعوّدَ مِنهُ المُكرَمات مقصّرٌ
تَعوّد أَن يُلقي إَلَيهِ اِعتِذارَهْ
One who falls short of his kindness has grown used to receiving his favors;
He has grown used to offering him an apology.
وَرُبَّ فَتاةٍ أَبرَزَت لي مِعصَماً
خَضبتُ بِدَمعي كَفَّه وَسوارَهْ
Many a young woman has shown me a wrist;
With my tears I dyed her hand and bracelet.
سَقَتنيَ كَأساً مِن سُلافةِ لَفظِهِ
لفَظتُ إِنائي بَعدَها وَعقارَهْ
She gave me a cup of the finest wine of his speech;
After it, I cast away my vessel and its wine.
مُعتَّقَةٌ لَم يَفضُضِ الدَهرُ خَتمَها
وَقَد عاصَرَت عَدنانَهُ وَنِزارَهْ
A vintage whose seal time has never broken,
Though it was contemporary with Adnan and Nizar.
شَرِبَتُ بِها حَتّى سكرتُ فَلَم أَعِي
مِنَ السُكرِ إِلّا صَبوَتي وَأَذِّكارَهْ
I drank of it until I was drunk, and perceived nothing
In my intoxication but my yearning and remembrance of him.
أَيا قَمَراً حالَ النَوى دونَ وَجهِهِ
وَأَلقى عَلى جِسمي النَحيلِ سرارَهْ
O moon whose face distance has hidden,
Casting the darkness of the moonless night over my thin body.
وَيا قاسِماً شَطرينِ حَظَّ نَواظِري
فَيُؤنِسُها لَيلاً وَيَجفو نَهارَهْ
O you who have divided the fortune of my eyes in two:
You comfort them at night and shun them by day.
لَحى اللَهُ بَيناً قَد شَجاني وَطالَما
شَجيتُ عَلى قُربِ المَزارِ حِذارَهْ
May God curse the separation that has grieved me; long before it,
Even when a visit was near, I grieved in fear of it.
عَلِمتُ كِلا الشَجوينِ لَيسَ بِنافِعي
وَكَيفَ بِمَن لا يَستَطيعُ اِصطِبارَهْ
I know that neither kind of grief helps me;
But what can one do who cannot bear to wait?
وَمَن جَرَّبَ الشَكوى فَلَم تَجد طائِلاً
أَقَرَّ عَلى الصَبرِ الجَميلِ قَرارَهْ
Whoever has tried complaint and found it of no use
Settles upon the resolve to endure with grace.
Sol 6