لا تشك ليلك لا تراه طويلا — Khalil Khoury

Do not complain of your night; do not deem it long.

Morning has come—take a road toward it.

You complain of separation to one to whom you complained of its taste;

O wounded man, you have called upon one already slain.

Your protégée, whom you sent forth, has arrived,

revealing to me lovesick yearning and burning thirst.

I thought her shy, so I rose and gently coaxed her,

until I lifted her hanging veil.

I found her radiant, ravaging the darkness;

she shone forth, and the stars scattered toward their setting.

I meant to lift modesty from her countenance,

when suddenly she was drunk, trailing her skirts.

You infused her with spirit from the wine of your love,

so she came swaying, inclining and making others incline.

You gave her freely of the water of your kindness, and she found her way—

from Egypt, a visitor bringing the Nile as her gift.

It was as though she scattered the dew of her breath,

or exchanged a torrent of tears with an ailing man.

Thus I was refreshed, yet my burning thirst was not quenched.

Is there any pure water that can revive the slain?

She spread over me, with her fragrance, the fragrant breath of the east wind—

yet perfume is not welcome to a wounded man.

What use have I for a mere trace that increases my burning?

The person herself is my aim; I want no substitute.

She endowed her complaint with tenderness as delicate as your grace

when you set about sending a slender messenger to one grown wan.

Had your passion not made her dance, she would have vanished

from me—but can one lost soul ever find another?

An Egyptian maiden: I received her at her brightest bloom, but did not

kiss her until I glimpsed her wilting.

It was as though the heat of longing had toyed with her blossoms

at the morning draught; rise, then, and devise a remedy for it.

Do you think me one of those who turn away from fidelity?

Do you suppose I could take any friend but Khalil?

Humankind was fashioned for corruption and for harm;

so, if you can, leave even the mighty humbled.

They were fashioned for flattery, so beware their waywardness,

especially when they lavish glorification.

Though you may indeed find companions in abundance,

look, and you will see that people of fidelity are few.

I make no distinction between love and hatred,

and in each I see falsehood and a garland.

Just as I can sleep upon an ostrich’s wing,

I can spend the night as a guest in the viper’s dwelling.

I have none but you, and you see none but me, in this regard, as

a faithful friend, innately fashioned for fidelity.

Our love grew mighty and became a coat of mail

that left notches in the reproachers’ sword.

Separation intervened between us and melted us away,

had we not hoped for our longed-for reunion.

What are the passing tempests upon smooth stone

but storms that return it to you polished?

If the army of separation acts unjustly in its judgments,

reunion will raise its drawn sword.

The feast returned to all mankind, yet never was

my thought of you distracted by the return of another.

My feast is the joy of seeing you; indeed, it is

my hope, and nothing else is hoped for.

Ask your heart about its devoted companion, for often

one heart has been the guide to another.

I yearn for you in joy and in sorrow;

I sing of you morning and evening.

Your delicate meanings have stolen my soul,

as though they were love’s secret, slender and wasted.

Your qualities dazzled my gaze with their rays,

so I lowered a weary gaze before your radiance.

Alexander, revive your Khalil through reunion;

and if you merely suppose yourself one, then do not be a friend.

Return to the protected homeland: its nightingale has called you,

out of a longing that kindles burning thirst in hearts.

Leave the dwellings of the Nile and journey far away, for they have not

poured molten gold upon you.