يا أَحسَنَ الناسِ لَولا أَنَّ نائِلَها
قِدماً لِمَن يَبتَغي مَيسورَها عَسِرُ
O fairest of people, if attaining you
Were not difficult for one who seeks ease,
وَإِنَّما دَلُّها سِحرٌ لِطالِبها
وَإِنَّما قَلبُها لِلمُشتَكي حَجَرُ
Your magic would guide the seeker to you,
And your heart would be tender to the complainer.
هَل تَذكُرينَ كَما لَم أَنسَ عَهدَكُم
وَقَد يَدومُ لِعَهدِ الخُلَّةِ الذِكَرُ
Do you remember, as I have not forgotten the covenant between us,
Though the memory of a dear one may persist.
قولي وَرَكبُكِ قَد مالَت عَمائِمُهُم
وَقَد سَقاهُم بِكَأسِ السَكرَةِ السَفَرُ
Say to her whose processions have departed,
As the journey has made them drunk with separation:
يا لَيتَ أَنّي بِأَثوابي وَراحِلَتي
عَبدٌ لِأَهلِكِ هَذا العامُ مُؤتَجَرُ
I wish I were, with my clothes and my mount,
A slave this year for your family, hired.
وَقَد أَطَلتِ اِعتِلالاً دونَ حاجَتِنا
بِالحَجِّ أَمسِ فَهَذا الحِلُّ وَالنَفَرُ
For you have delayed, without need,
Our pilgrimage at the prescribed time.
ما بالُ وَأيُكِ إِذ عَهدي وَعَهدُكُمُ
إِلفانِ لَيسَ لَنا في الوُدِّ مُزدَجَرُ
What is with you, that my covenant and yours
Are two intimates with no discord between us?
فَكانَ حَظُّكَ مِنها نَظرَةً طَرَفَت
إِنسانَ عَينِكَ حَتّى ما بِها نَظَرُ
So your share of it was a glance
That made a man of your eye, till he saw nothing.
أَكُنتِ أَبخَلَ مَن كانَت مَواعِدُهُ
دَيناً إِلى أَجَلٍ يُرجى وَيُنتَظَرُ
Was I stingy with one whose trysts
Were owed till a hoped for, expected term?
وَقَد نَظَرتُ وَما أَلفَيتُ مِن أَحَدٍ
يَعتادُهُ الشَوقُ إِلّا بَدَؤَهُ النَظَرُ
I have looked, and found none but the longing
That only begins with the looking.
أَبقَت شَجىً لَكَ لا يُنسى وَقادِحَةً
في اَسوَدِ القلبِ لَم يَشعُر بِهِ بَشَرُ
It has left an anguish for you that will not be forgotten,
And a burning in the blackness of the heart unfelt by mortals,
جِنِيَّةٌ أَو لَها جِنٌّ تُعَلِّمُها
رَميَ القُلوبِ بَقَوسٍ ما لَها وَتَرُ
A jinn-maid, or one who has taught her
To shoot hearts with a bowstring lacking bow.
تَجلو بِقادِمَتي وَرقاءَ عَن بَرَدٍ
حُوِّ المَفاخِرِ في أَطرافِها أُشُرُ
She came in the stinging cold, the wrap
Clinging to the litter's embroidered edges.
خَودٌ مُبَتَّلَةٌ رَيّا مَعاصِمُها
قَدرُ الثِيابِ فَلا طولٌ وَلا قِصَرُ
Cheeks soft with plentitude, her bracelets
Measuring out neither too long nor too short her sleeve.
إِذا مَجاسِدُها اِغتالَت فَواضِلَها
مِنها رَوادِفُ فَعماتٌ وَمُؤتَزَرُ
When her reassuring sides deceived her mantle,
You saw loincloths and sarongs within.
إِن هَبَّت الريحُ حَنَّت في تَنَسُّمِها
كَما يُجاوِبُ عودَ القَينَةِ الوَتَرُ
When the wind blew, she swayed gently, inhaling,
Like the playing of the bowed lute-string.
بَيضاءُ تَعشو بِها الأَبصارُ إِن بَرَزَت
في الحَجِّ لَيلَةَ إِحدى عَشرَةَ القَمَرُ
Dazzling white, as she went forth in the pilgrimage
On the night of the eleventh moon.
إِلا رَسولٌ إِذا بانَت يُبَلِّغُها
عَنّا وَإِن تُمسِ تُؤلِف بَينَنا المِرَرُ
Only a messenger, when she appears, can convey
On our behalf, and if she is inclined, make peace between us.
إِنّي بِآيَةِ وَجدٍ قَد ظَفِرتِ بِهِ
مِنّي وَلَم يَكُ في وَجدي بِكُم ظَفَرُ
In the throes of passion I have gained from her
A sign, though from my passion I gained no triumph.
قَتيلُ يَوم تَلاقَينا وَأَنَّ دَمي
عَنها وَعَمَّن أَجارَت مِن دَمي هَدَرُ
The slain on the day we met, my blood shed
For her and for whom she sheltered safe from my blood.
تَقضينَ فِيَّ وَلا أَقضي عَلَيكِ كَما
يَقضي المَليكُ عَلى المَملوكِ يُقتَسَرُ
You decide my fate, while I do not decide yours,
As the king decides the fate of the slave he subjugates.
إِن كانَ ذا قَدراً يُعطيكِ نافِلَةً
مَنّا وَيُعجِزُنا ما أَنصَفَ القَدَرُ
If one of rank gives you an unrequired gift from me
And makes me powerless, how unjust is fate!
