غيرُ صبري في هَواهُ هيِّنُ
فمَلامي فيه ظُلمٌ بيِّنُ
All but my patience in loving him comes easily;
so to blame me for him is manifest injustice.
صرَّح اللاَّحي عليهِ أم كنَى
ما أراهُ رامَ شيئاً يُمكنُ
Whether my reproacher speaks openly of him or hints,
I do not see him aiming at anything possible.
رَشأٌ مَا خلتُ لولاهُ الهوَى
أَنَّه يُعبدُ فيه الوثَنُ
A young gazelle—were it not for him, I would never have thought love
a faith in which the idol is worshiped.
رامِحٌ صعدتُه أنَّى انثنَى
قامةٌ باللَّدنِ منها يَطعنُ
A lancer: wherever he bends, his spear is
a figure with whose supple shaft he thrusts.
ضاربٌ من مقلتيهِ صارمٌ
مُرهَفُ ما طبَعتهُ اليَمَنُ
A swordsman: from his two eyes flashes a blade,
keen-edged, though Yemen never forged it.
ساحرُ الألحاظِ كم قامت بهِا
وعليها في هَواهُ الفِتَنُ
A sorcerer of glances—how many tumults have risen through them
and over them, in love of him!
يا خليلي خلِّ داراً أقفرت
وَمحلا غابض عنه السَّكنُ
My friend, leave the dwelling now deserted,
and the campsite whose inhabitants have vanished.
واردَعِ الباكي على منزلةٍ
رحلت من ساحتَيها الظُّعُنُ
And restrain the weeper over a stopping-place
from whose two courts the departing caravan has gone.
كلُّ ربعٍ ليسَ يُقضَى وَطرٌ
فيهِ ما ذلِكَ عندي وَطَنُ
Every campsite where desire is not fulfilled—
that, to my mind, is no homeland.
فدعِ الرَّكبَ اليمانيَّ وما
ضمّهُ فيه الكَثيبُ الأيمنُ
So leave the Yemeni caravan, and whatever
the auspicious dune enfolded there,
ودماءً سفكَتهُنَّ الدُّمي
ما سلاحُ العيِنِ إلاَّ الأعينُ
and the blood those idol-beauties spilled.
The eye has no weapon but other eyes.
فاصرفِ الهمَّ بصِرفٍ دَنُّها
مرَّ في العُمرِ عليهِ الزَّمنُ
Turn care away with the pure wine of its vat—
time has passed over it throughout its life.
ذاتِ نُورٍ إن تَجلَّت في دُجىً
عادَ مثلَ الصبُّحِ منه الوَهَنُ
Possessed of light: if it unveils itself in darkness,
its faintest gleam becomes like dawn.
كلَّما طافَ بها السَّاقي تَرى ال
شمسَ بالبدرِ علينا تُقرَنُ
Whenever the cupbearer circles with it, you see the
sun joined to the full moon above us.
فاغتَنِمها من يَدي معتدِلٍ
قدُّهُ يَخجَلُ منه الغُصنُ
Seize it, then, from the hands of a well-proportioned youth
whose figure puts the bough to shame.
آفةُ العشَّاقِ منه خُلقٌ
سيءٌ صَعبُ وَخَلقٌ حَسنُ
The lovers’ bane in him is a character
bad and harsh—and a form most beautiful.
مُذ تبدَّى الشَّعرُ في سالفهِ
دارَ حول الوردِ منهُ السَّوسنُ
Ever since the down appeared along his cheek,
the lily has circled the rose there.
بعتُه رُوحيَ بلَى ما صحَّ لي
غيرَ مُرِّ الهجرِ منها ثَمنُ
I sold him my soul—indeed, no price proved fitting for me
except bitter estrangement from him as its price.
ولوَ انيِّ بخيالٍ بعتُها
لَغَدت بيعةَ من لا يُغبَنُ
Even had I sold it for the vision of you,
it would have been a bargain in which none is cheated.
أيُّ حُسنس وجَمالٍ فيهش لو
أنَّهُ يُجِملُ بي أو يُحسنُ
What beauty and loveliness there would be in him, if only
he dealt graciously with me, or acted kindly!
سَلبت عيناهُ عنِّي نومضها
فلهِذا زادَ فيه الوسَنُ
His eyes stole their sleep from me,
and so drowsiness grew in him.
أفردتهُ بالمعاني طَلعةٌ
حظُّنا منها شجىً أو شجَنُ
A countenance singled him out for every fine perfection;
our share of it is a grief-stricken one—or grief itself.
Sol 5.6