هَل تَعلَمُ العيسَ إِذ يَحدو بِها الحادي
إِنَّ السُرى فَوقَ أَضلاعٍ وَأَكبادِ
Does the night traveler know when the guide leads the way,
That resolve comes from ribs and hearts so steadfast?
وَهَل ظَعائِنُ ذاكَ الرَكبَ عالِمَةً
إِنَّ النَوى بَينَ أَرواحٍ وَأَجسادِ
Do the walkers in that caravan know
That purpose lies between souls and bodies?
تَحَمَّلوا فَفُؤادي مُنذُ بَيَّنَهُم
في إِثرِهِم نَضوُ تَأويبٍ وَإيسادِ
Since they left, my heart has composed
Elegies and songs of sadness in their wake.
يَرتادُ مَنزِلُهُم في كُلِّ قاصِيَةٍ
وَحَجبُهُ لَو دَرى أَحرى بِمُرتادِ
Their dwellings are visited in every far reach,
And their veil, if it knew, would better love the visitor.
بَينَ الجَوانِحِ ما لَو أَنتَ جائِبُهُ
أَغناكَ عَن لَفِّ أَغوارٍ بِالبادِ
Between souls lies what would suffice you,
If you sought the depths, against traversing the wasteland.
كَم بِتُّ أَنشُدُ أَحبابي وَأُنشِدُهُم
في الهِندِ يا شَدَّ ما أَبعَدَت إِنشادي
How many times I recite poetry to my loved ones, and they to me
In India - oh how far my recital has removed me!
وَلَو أُناجي ضَميري كُنتُ مُسمِعَهُم
قَولي كَأَنَّهُم في الغَيبِ أَشهادي
Were I to confide in my soul, it would make them hear
My words as if they were witnesses though absent.
مَن كانَ دونَ مَرامي العيسِ مَنزِعُهُ
فَلي هَوى دونَ أَمواجِ وَأَزبادِ
Whoever's goal is less than the night traveler's
Should desire less than waves and mirages.
دونَ الخَضارِمِ إِن ضَلَّ الحَبيبُ سُرىً
فَإشن وَجدِيَ نِعمَ القائِفِ الهادي
Beneath the Pleiades, if the beloved wanders astray
Then my bliss - what an excellent guide he finds!
هَوىً بِأَروَعِ لَو أَنَّ الزَمانِ دَرى
لَمّا أَحَلَّ سِواهُ الصَدرُ بِالنادي
A passion as lovely as if the age knew
That nothing else would settle in the breast but the companion.
سامي الأَرومَةِ في أَعراقِهِ نِسَبِ
في المَجدِ لا يَشتَكي مِن ضَعفِ إِسنادِ
Sami of lofty lineage - his origins
Have no lack of support in glory's realm.
أَرَقَّ مِن شَمأَلِ الوادي شَمائِلِهِ
وَعِندَ شَدِّ اللَيالي صَخرَةَ الوادي
Smoother than the evening shadows of the valley are his features,
And at the darkness of night, the rock of the valley.
مِن مَعشَرِ لَو يَقيسُ الناسِ شَأوِهِمُ
إِلى العُلا اِفتَقَروا فيهِ لِأَرصادِ
If people measured their status
Against the lofty, they would need for help in it ladders.
يا مَن لَنا رَدُّهُ مِن فائِتٍ عَوَضِ
يُمحي بِهِ وَزرَ أَحقابِ وَآمادِ
O you whose return would replace our past
Erasing thereby the burden of epochs and ruins.
أَن يَحجِبوكَ فَما ضَرَّ النُجومَ دُجىً
وَلا زَرى السَيفَ يَوماً طَيُّ أَغمادِ
That they hid you did no harm to the veiled stars
Nor did the sheathing of a sword harm it when sheathed.
لا بَأسَ إِن طالَ تَجِزُّ السَعدَ مَوعِدُهُ
فَأَعذَبَ الماءَ شَرباً في فَمِ الصادي
No harm that fortune's tryst is delayed for long
For the sweetest water to drink is from the rain-channel.
عَسى لَياليكَ إقَد سُلَّت ضَغينَتُها
وَقَد صَفَت كَأسَها مِن سُؤرِ أَحقادِ
May your nights' resentments be folded away,
And may their cup be drained of bitterness and grudges.
وَاِستَأنَفَ الدَهرُ سَلماً لا يَكدَرُها
فَالدَهرُ قَد يَرتَدي حالاتُ أَضدادِ
May time resume peace unperturbed,
For time can wear the raiment of opposites.
لَو كانَ يسعِدُ قَومَ قَدرٍ فَضَلَّهُم
ما لاقَ مِثلَكَ أَن يَحظى بِإِسعادِ
If fate had favored a people with grace,
None would meet the likes of you with felicity.
