لَعَلَّ رَسُولَ البَرقِ يَغتَنِمُ الأَجرَا

فَيَنثُرُ عَنِّي مَاءَ عَبرَتِهِ نَثرا

May the messenger of lightning seize the reward,

And scatter for me the water of his tears scattered.

مُعَامَلةٌ أَربَى بِهَا غَيرَ مُذنِبٍ

فَأَقضِيهِ دَمعَ العَينِ عَن نُقطَةٍ بَحرَا

A treatment that nourishes the innocent,

So I pay it with a tear of the eye for a drop of the sea.

لِيَسقِيَ مِن تُدمِيرَ قُطراً مُحَبَّباً

يَقِرُّ بِعَينِ القُطرِ أَن تَشرَبَ القَطرَا

To water a beloved shred with destruction,

It pleases the eye of the drop to drink the drop.

وَيُقرِضُهُ ذَوبَ اللُجينِ وَإِنَّمَا

تُوَفِّيهِ عَينِي مِن مَدَامِعِها تِبرَا

And lends it the melted alloy, and only

My eye fulfills it from its tears generously.

وَمَا ذَاكَ تَقصِيراً بِهَا غَيرَ أنَّهُ

سَجِيَّةُ مَاء البَحرِ أَن يُذوِيَ الزَّهرَا

And this is no shortcoming in it other than that

It is the temperament of sea water to melt the flowers.

خَلِيلَيَّ قُومَا فَاحبِسَا طُرُقَ الصَّبَا

مَخَافَةَ أن يَحمَى بِزَفرَتِيَ الحَرَّا

My two friends, arise and hold back the paths of the breeze,

Fearing that my sigh may kindle the heat.

فإِنَّ الصَّبَا رِيحٌ عَليَّ كَرِيمَةٌ

بآيَةِ مَا تَسرِي مِنَ الجَنَّةِ الصُّغرَى

For the breeze is a wind generous to me

With the sign of what flows from the Lesser Heaven.

خَلِيلَيَّ أعنِي أَرضَ مرسِيَةَ المُنى

وَلَولا تَوَخِّي الصِّدق سَمَّيتُها الكُبرَى

My friend, I mean the land where wishes alight,

And were it not for my adherence to truth, I would name it the Greatest.

مَحَلِّي بَل جَوِّي الَّذِي عَبقَت بِهِ

نَوَاسِمُ آدَابِي مُعَطَّرَةً نَشرَا

My abode, nay my atmosphere, which exudes

The manners of my refinement, perfumed and scattered.

وَوَكرِي الَّذِي مِنهُ دَرَجتُ فَلَيتَنِي

فُجِعتُ بِرِيشِ العَزمِ كَي أَلزَمَ الوَكرَا

And my den from which I graduated,

If only I had been equipped with the feathers of determination to adhere to the den.

وَمَا رَوضَةُ الخَضرَاءِ قَد مُثِّلَت بِهَا

مَجَرَّتُهَا نَهراً وَأَنجُمُهَا زهرَا

The green garden was not represented by it

With its stream as a river and its stars as flowers.

بِأبهَجَ مِنهَا وَالخَلِيجُ مَجَرَّةٌ

وَقَد فَضَحَت أَزهَارُ سَاحَتِهَا الزُّهرَا

More radiant than it, and the bay is a stream,

And its courtyard’s flowers have gleamed radiantly.

وَقَد أَسكَرَت أَعطَافَ أَغصَانِهَا الصَّبَا

وَمَا كُنتُ أَعدَدتُّ الصَّبَا قَبلَهَا خَمرَا

The breeze has intoxicated the branches of its boughs,

And I did not count the breeze as wine before it.

هُنَالِكَ بَينَ الغُصنِ وَالقَطرِ وَالصَّبَا

وَزَهرِ الرُّبَى وَلَّدتُ آدَابِيَ الغَرَّا

Therein between the branch, the drop, and the breeze

And the flower of the meadow, I conceived my sublime manners.

إِذا نَظَمَ الغُصنَ الحَيَا قَالَ خَاطِرِي

تَعَلَّم نِظَامَ النَّثرِ مِن هَهُنَا شِعرَا

When the living branch composes rhyme, my mind says:

Learn the system of prose from over here, poetry.

وَإِن نَثَرَت رِيحُ الصَّبَا زَهَرَ الرُّبَى

تَعَلَّمتُ حَلَّ الشِّعرِ أَسبِكُهُ نَثرَا

And if the wind of the breeze scatters the flower of the meadow,

I learned how to solve poetry, knitting it into prose.

فَوَائِدُ أَسحَارٍ هُنَاكَ اقتَبَستُها

وَلَم أَر رَوضاً غَيرَهُ يُقرئُ السِّحرَا

Benefits of secrets there I gleaned,

And I did not see a garden other than it that recites magic.

كَأنَّ هزِيزَ الرِّيحِ يَمدَحُ رَوضَها

فَتَملأُ فَاهَا مِن أَزَاهِرِهِ دُرَّا

As if the murmur of the wind praises its garden,

So it fills its mouth with its flowers, pearls.

أَيَا زَنَقَاتِ الحُسنِ هَل فِيكِ نَظرةٌ

مِنَ الجُرُفِ الأَعلَى إِلى السِّكَّةِ الغَرَّا

O lanes of beauty, is there a look

From the highest banks to the dusty lane?

فَأنظُر مِن هَذِي لِتِلكَ كَأَنَّمَا

أُغَيِّرُ إِذ غَازَلتُها أُختَهَا الأُخرَى

So I look from this to that as if

I am flirting when I courted her sister.

هِيَ الكَاعِبُ الحَسنَاءُ تُمِّمَ حُسنهَا

وَقَدَّت لَهَا أَورَاقُها حُلَلاً خُضرَا

She is the flirtatious beauty who completes her beauty,

And her leaves have clothed her with green robes.

إذا خُطِبَت أَعطَت دَرَاهِمَ زَهرِهَا

وَمَا عَادَةُ الحَسناءِ أَن تَنقُدَ المَهرَا

If she is proposed to, she gives the coins of her flowers,

It is not the habit of a beauty to pay a dowry.

وَقَامَت بِعُرسِ الأُنسِ قَينَةُ أَيكِهَا

أَغَارِيدُهَا تَستَرقِصُ الغُصُنَ النَضرَا

The songbird of intimacy stood for her wedding,

Its trills carefully provoke the tender branch.

فَقُل فِي خَلِيجٍ يُلبِسُ الحُوتَ دِرعَهُ

وَلَكِنَّهُ لا يَستَطِيعُ بِهَا نَصرَا

Say in a gulf that dresses the whale in armor,

But he cannot achieve victory with it.

إِذا مَا بَدَا فِيهَا الهِلالُ رَأيتَهُ

كَصَفحَةِ سَيفٍ رَسمُها قُبعَةٌ صَفرَا

When the crescent appears in it you see it

Like the page of a sword, its pommel designed yellow.

وَإِن لاحَ فِيهَا البَدرُ شَبَّهتَ مَتنَهُ

بِشَطِّ لُجَينٍ ضَمَّ مِن ذَهَبٍ عَشرَا

And when the full moon shines in it, you compare its surface

To a panel of alloy inlaid with ten pieces of gold.

وَفِي جُرُفَي رَوضٍ هُنَاكَ تَجَافَيَا

بِنَهرٍ يَوَدُّ الأُفقُ لَو زَارَهُ فَجرا

And on the banks of a garden there, adjacent

To a river the horizon wishes the dawn would visit.

كأَنَّهُمَا خِلَّا صَفَاءٍ تَعَاتَبَا

وَقَد بَكيَا مِن رِقَّةٍ ذَلِكَ النَّهرَا

As if they are two sincere friends reproaching

And they cried from tenderness, that river.

وَكَم لِي بِأَبياتِ الحَدِيدِ عَشِيَّةً

مِنَ الأُنسِ مَا فِيهِ سِوَى أَنَّهُ مَرَّا

And how many evenings I have at the verses of iron

Of intimacy in it except that it is bitter.

عَشِيَّاتُ كَانَ الدَّهرُ غَضّا بِحُسنِهَا

فَأَجلَت سِيَاطُ البَرق أفرَاسَهَا شقرَا

Evenings in which time was shy with their beauty

So the whips of lightning spurred their blond steeds.

عَلَيهِنَّ أُجرِي خَيلَ دَمعِي بِوَجنَتِي

إِذا رَكِبَت حُمراً مَيَادِينَها الصَّفرَا

Over them I raced the horses of my tears with my eyelids

When they rode reddish brown racetracks.

أَعَهدِي بالغَرسِ المُنَعَّم دَوحُهُ

سَقَتكَ دُمُوعِي إِنَّهَا مُزنَةٌ شَكرَا

I entrust you with the well-favored plant, its basin

My tears have watered you, they are grateful clouds.

فَكَم فِيكَ مِن يَومٍ أَغَرَّ مُحَجَّلٍ

تَقَضَّت أَمانِيهِ فَخَلَّدتُها ذِكرَا

So in you are many a day that tempted me veiled,

Fulfilling its wishes so I immortalized it in mention.

عَلَى مُذنِبٍ كَالبَحرِ مِن فَرطِ حُسنِهِ

تَوَدُّ الثُّرَيَّا أَن يَكُونَ لَهَا نَحرَا

For a sinner like the sea in its exceeding beauty

The Pleiades wish it could be their breast.

سَقَت أَدمُعِي والقَطرُ أَيُّهُمَا انبَرَى

نَقَا الرَّملَةِ البَيضَاءِ فَالنَّهرَ فَالجسرَا

My tears and the drops, which of them took precedence

Cleansing the white sands, then the river, then the bridge.

وَإِخوَانِ صِدقٍ لَو قَضَيتُ حُقُوقَهُم

لَمَا فَارَقَت عَينِي وُجُوهَهُم الزُّهرَا

And brothers of sincerity, if I fulfilled their rights

Their radiant faces would not part from my eye.

وَلَو كُنتُ أقضِي حَقَّ نَفسِي وَلَم أَكُن

لَمَا بِتُّ أَستَحلِي فِرَاقَهُمُ المُرَّا

And had I not fulfilled the right of myself, I would not

Spend the night allowing their separation, bitter.

وَمَا اختَرتُ هَذَا البُعدَ إِلا ضَرُورَةً

وَهَل تَستَجِيزُ العَينُ أَن تَفقِدَ الشَّفرَا

I did not choose this distance except out of necessity,

Does the eye permit that it lose sight?

قَضَى اللَّهُ أن تَنأى بِيَ الدَّارُ عَنهُمُ

أَرَادَ بِذَاكَ اللَّهُ أَن أَعتبَ الدَّهرَا

God decreed that the house distance me from them,

God intended by that for me to blame fate.

وَوَاللَّهِ لَو نِلتُ المُنَى مَا حَمِدتُّهَا

وَمَا عَادَةُ المَشغُوفِ أَن يَحمَدَ الهَجرَا

By God, if I attained wishes I would not praise them,

It is not the habit of the passionate to praise estrangement.

أَيَأنَسُ بِاللذاتِ قَلبي وَدُونَهُم

مَرَامٍ يُجِدُّ الرَّكبُ فِي طَيِّهَا شَهرَا

Does my heart enjoy pleasures without them,

An abode in which the traveling party finds in its folds months?

وَيَصحَبُ هَادِي اللَّيلِ رَاءً وَحَرفَهُ

وَصاداً وَنُوناً قَد تَقَوَّسَ وَاصفَرَّا

And accompany the guide of night drowsing and his letter

A “Raa”, a “Saad”, a “Noon” that curved and yellowed.

فَدَيتُهُمُ بَانوا وَضَنّوا بِكَتبِهِم

فَلا خَبَراً مِنهُمُ لَقِيتُ وَلا خُبرَا

I ransom them, they hid away with their books,

So I met no news from them nor tidings.

وَلَولا عَلَى هِمَّاتِهِم لَعَتَبتُهُم

وَلَكِن عِرَابُ الخَيلِ لا تَحمِلُ الزَّجرَا

And were it not for their endeavors I would have reproached them,

But the mares of glory do not carry rebuke.

ضَرَبتُ غُبَارَ البِيدِ فِي مُهرَقِ السُّرَى

بِحَيثُ جَعَلتُ اللَّيلَ فِي ضَربِهِ حِبرَا

I struck the dust of ruin in the racing field

Where I made the night, in its stroke, ink.

وَحَقَّقتُ ذَاكَ الضَّربَ جَمعاً وَعِدَّةً

وَطرحاً وَتَجمِيلاً فَأَخرَجَ لِي صِفرَا

And I actualized that stroke completely in number and amount,

In multiplication and embellishment, so it produced for me yellowness.

كأَنَّ زَمَانِي حَاسِبٌ مُتَعَسِّفٌ

يُطَارِحُنِي كَسراً وَمَا يُحسِنُ الجَبرَا

As if my time is an unjust accountant

Who subtracts me in problems and does not master remedying.

فَكَم عَارِفٍ بِي وَهوَ يَحسُدُ رُتبتِي

فَيَمدَحُنِي سِرّاً وَيَشتمُنِي جَهرَا

So how many who know me envy my position

And praise me secretly and insult me openly.

لِذَلِكَ مَا أَعطَيتُ نَفسِيَ حَقَّهَا

وَقُلتُ لِسِربِ الشِّعرِ لا تَرُم الذِّكرَا

For that I did not give myself its due

And I said to the flock of poetry, do not scatter mention.

فَمَا بَرِحَت فِكرِي عَذَارَى قَصَائِدِى

وَمِن خُلُقِ العَذرَاءِ أَن تَألَفَ الخِدرَا

So my thoughts did not cease being the virgins of my poems,

It is the nature of a virgin to befriend the womb.

وَلَستُ وَإِن طَاشَت سِهَامِي بِآيسٍ

فَإِنَّ مَعَ العُسرِ الَّذِي يُتَّقَى يُسرَا

And I am not, even if my arrows stray, in despair,

For with feared hardship comes ease.