هو الشوق حتى يستوي القرب والبعد
وصدق الوفا حتى كأن القلى ود
It is longing, until nearness and distance become equal,
And loyalty of affection, as if hearts were united as one.
فلا رقدت عين يؤرقها هوى
ولا خمدت نار يسعرها خد
My eyes did not sleep, disturbed by passion,
Nor did the fire, ignited by my cheeks, subside.
ألا في سبيل الأعين النجل ما جرى
بمنعرج الجرعاء حيث انطوي العهد
Oh! For the sake of my beloved's eyes, the youths marched on,
Along the path of Al-Jur'a, where the covenant was folded.
عشية أدناني وأقصاهم الهوي
برغمي وأرضاهم وأسخطني البعد
One evening they brought me closer, and sent my beloved away,
Against my will, which pleased them and saddened me with the distance.
تذكر عيشاً قد طوى نشره النوي
وعفراً عفا من سربها الأجرع الفرد
Remember a life whose unfolding was folded by fate,
And a happiness that was blown away by the solitary, singular winds.
خليلي نجدٌ تلك أم أنا حالم
لقد كذبتني العين ما هذه نجد
My friend, is this Najd, or am I dreaming?
My eyes have lied to me, what is this Najd?
بلى هذه نجد فأين ظباؤها
أحجبها عزام اغتالها فقد
Yes, this is Najd, so where are its antelopes?
They are veiled by death which has killed them, so they are lost.
وما صنعت من بعدنا تلكم الدما
وكيف ذوت هاتيكم القضب الملد
What have those blood veins done after us?
And how have those slender twigs melted away?
أرثت يد الأيام برد جمالها
وخيط بأيدي الحادثات لها برد
The hands of time have ruined its perfect beauty,
And the accidents of fate have woven it a shroud.
كأن قد أضل البين في عرصاتها
مني أو عليها في فؤاد النوي حقد
As if the separation were lost in its plains,
Or hated it in the depths of my soul.
لقد خلدت مما دهاك جهنم
بأحشائنا يا جنة فاتها الخلد
It has been eternally stilled from what has destroyed it,
Oh paradise, it has lost its eternity in our hearts.
خليلي ما أبديتما ود مخلص
أما فيكما هزل إذا لم يكن جد
My friend, your affection was sincere,
Was there any jest between us, if there was no seriousness?
أفوق سواد الليل تبغي نجومه
غشاء فلم لم تصح أعينها الرمد
I wake in the dark night, whose stars
Are veiled, so why have not their eyes slept?
كأن تعالى اللَه ذا البدر في السما
مليك مطاع والنجوم له جند
As if God on high placed the moon in the sky,
A heeded King, and the stars are his soldiers.
كأن سماء الليل روض منمق
حمائله مسك أزاهره ند
As if the night sky is a well-kept garden,
Its fruits are musk, its flowers pearls.
كأن الدجى والبرق والزهر ناهد
من الزنج يزهيها فيضحكها العقد
As if the darkness, lightning, and flowers are a brunette
Adorned by the lightning, whose smile is pearls.
كأن الثريا كف نقاد استوى
على نطع سبج فوقه نثر النقد
As if the Pleiades are a palmful of coins
Pouring golden dinars on the back of the Hyades.
كأن نجوم الليل من حيرة بها
ركائب تسوي ما لها في السرى قصد
As if the stars are confused,
Like ships with no destination in their course.
كأن وميض البرق في حالك الدجا
صفاء بقلب قد توطنه الحقد
As if the flashing of lightning in the darkness
Is clarity in a heart filled with hatred.
كأن الكرى سر كأن الدجا حشا
كأن المنى طفل كأن الرجا مهد
As if fate is a mystery, and darkness a courtyard,
As if wishes are an infant, and hopes a cradle.
كأن السها معنى دقيق بفكرة
فآونة يخفى وآونة يبدو
As if meanings that come to my mind
Are flirtatious maidens who have visited without promise.
كأن الدجى والفجر يفتق رتقه
مواطن غي قد أناخ بها الرشد
As if the darkness and dawn unwrap their bond,
A relationship anchored in the places of wisdom.
كأن الصبار سل الصباح إلى الربى
بسر أذاع الشيخ خافيه والرند
As if the cactus asked the morning about the beloved
A secret the old man revealed, unlike the deceitful.
كأن طلابي المجد والدهر دونه ترقب
طيف حال من دونه السهد
As if my aspirations for glory and fate below it
Are a phantom I hope for unlike the unlucky.
كأن يراعي خائض بطن ظلمة
فيلفظ لي من فيه جوهره الفرد
As if one wades through the belly of darkness
And utters to me from within its unique essence.
كأن المعاني السانحات لخاطري
كواعب زارت ما لزورتها وعد
As if the spontaneous meanings that come to my mind
Are maidens who visited without a promised return.
كأن حسام الدين عاهد نجله
على طلب العليا فلم يخفر العهد
As if the sword of faith promised his son
To seek the heights, and he did not break his vow.
فقام بعبء الكد في طلب العلى
ومن واصل الراحات صارمه الجد
He took on the burden of struggle to seek the heights,
And for him who reaches comfort, his sword is sharp.
وكم بين من غد الظبا أعين الظبا
ومن دأبه ضرب المهند لا هند
And how often the antelope’s eyes came between the hunter
And his constant skill to shoot arrows, not spears.
همام تناجينا مخايل عزمه
بأن إليه يرجع الحل والعقد
They confided in me, praising his determination
That through him issues are resolved and decisions made.
وان على أعتابه تقصر العلى
وان إلى آرائه ينتهي الحد
That the heights are humbled at his doorstep,
And that conclusions end at his judgment.
همت راحتاه للعدى وعفاته
فمن هذه سم ومن هذه شهد
His comforts are for the enemies, and his restraint
From here is poison, and from here is honey.
من القوم قد صانوا حمى حوزة العلى
طريفاً وصابتهم معاليهم التلد
Among the people are those who protected the sanctuary of supremacy,
Virtuous and struck by tribulations without fatigue.
هنالك ألقى رحله البأس والندى
وألقى عصا التسيار واستوطن المجد
There lies the place I cast off might and conflict,
And cast off the staff of travel, and settled in glory.
حديقة فضل لا يصوح نبتها
وبحر عطاء ما لساحله رد
A garden of virtue that does not yellow,
And a sea of generosity with no shore to repel.
ورقة أخلاق تسير بها الصبا
وبأس له ترمي فرائسها الأسد
A page of manners that pleases the morning breeze,
And might that hurls its prey like lions.
قطفنا جنى جدواه حيناً ولم يزل
علينا له ظل من البر ممتد
We reaped the harvest of his constant toil for a time,
And his shade of kindness remains stretched over us.
وغاب وعندي من أياديه شاهد
وواعجبا من أين لي بعدها عند
He left and I still have witnesses of his generosity,
And how strange that after them I still have this fondness.
وآب فلا ورد البشاشة ناضب
لديه ولا باب المكارم منسد
He went away, and the cheer of affinity was not spent at his home,
Nor was the door of generosity shut.
فيا أوبة ذابت لها كبد النوى
لأنت برغم البعد في كبدي برد
Oh the inclined orbit that melted my heart’s liver
You are still a coldness in my heart despite the distance.
وفاء بلا وعد من الدهر حيث لم
يكن قبل قسطنطينية باللقا وعد
Loyalty without promise from fate, since before
Constantinople, there was no promise of reunion.
أروض المني واللَه يبقيك أخضرا
أبن لي هل آس نباتك أو ورد
I tend to the wishes – may God keep you verdant,
Tell me, has the plant of your wishes soured or withered?
هنيئاً لقسطنطينية الروم قد قضت
لبانتها واسترجع المنصل الغمد
Congratulations to Roman Constantinople, for she has fulfilled
Her appointment, and the sword returned to its sheath.
أرانيه فيها اللَه والدهر لائذ
بأعتابه والوفد يزحمه الوفد
May God show me there, taking refuge
At its threshold, as delegation crowds after delegation.
إليك إمام الفضل منا توجهت
ركائب مل الأفق يزجى لها الوفد
To you, O Master of Virtue, our course was set,
Like stars traversing the horizon, with crowds seeking you.
معان هي السحر الحلال وحسبها
من السحر ان يثني عليك بها الضد
Her meanings are lawful magic – and it is enough
That this magic praises you, even for opponents.
كأن قوافيها عمائم غلمة
خصورهم نحل قدودهم مُلد
As if her rhymes are hairless youths
Whose waist is a string of pearls and chest a coat of mail.
تهنى بك العيد الذي قد أفضته
على حلب مذ جئت يقدمك السعد
Halab congratulates you for the feast you have graced it with
Since you came, with good fortune introducing you.
سرور على الشهباء فاضت فعيدت
بفاضله الأمصار والغور والنجد
Joy poured over Damascus, so it celebrated
Its feast, and so did the cities, wilderness, and Najd.
