أَخَفَّ ما نالَ مِنّي الطَرفُ ما أَرقا
وَخَيرُ ما سَرَّ مِنّي القَلبُ ما خَفَقا
The lightest hurt my eye has suffered is what kept it wakeful,
and the finest joy my heart has known is what made it throb.
وَنَزرُ ما كادَني ذا الدَهرِ جَورُ نَوى
أَصابَني بِسِهامٍ تَخَرَّقَ الدَرَقا
A trifling thing was what ruined me: this age’s tyranny of separation—
it struck me with arrows that pierced through shields.
طَمِعتُ بِالوَصلِ مُشتاقاً فَما طَلَني
وَجَدَ رَكبَ التَنائي بي فَما رَفَقا
Longing, I coveted reunion, but it granted me no respite;
the caravan of distance found me and showed no mercy.
ما إِن دَنَت مِن فُؤادي مُنيَةٌ قَصَدَت
إِلّا وَسَدَلَها مِن دوني الطُرُقا
No wish pursued by my heart ever drew near
but the roads lowered their curtains between me and it.
كَأَنَّما حَلَفَ الدَهرُ الخُؤونُ بِأَن
يَحولَ بَينَ فُؤادي وَالَّذي عَلِقا
It is as though treacherous Time had sworn
to stand between my heart and that to which it clung.
وَرابَني صَرفُهُ فيما يَعنَتُني
إِن كَيفَ خَلَفَ لي مِن بَعدِهِ رَمقا
Its reversals make me mistrust all the torment they bring—
for how can any breath remain to me after him?
لِلَهِ أَيُّ نَسيمٍ لَيسَ يُذكِرُني
وَأَيُّ ساجِعَةٍ لَم تَجِدني قَلِقاً
By God, what breeze does not remind me of him?
What cooing bird has not found me restless?
يَميلُ قَلبي وَقَد لَجَت نَوازِعُهُ
ما مَيَّلتُ نَسَماتِ الفَجرِ غُصنَ نَقا
My heart inclines, while its yearnings press insistently,
as the breaths of dawn bend a branch upon the dunes.
يا غائِباً مُخلِصاً لي في مَوَدَّتِهِ
وَلَستُ أَعرِفُ مِنهُ غَيرَ ما نَطَقا
O absent one, sincere toward me in his affection,
of whom I know nothing except what he has spoken—
فَدِر دَرَّكَ مِن خِلٍّ سَما خَلَقا
لِأَنتَ أَفضَلُ مَن في وُدِّهِ صَدَقا
splendid are you, a friend exalted in character;
you are the finest of all men in the truth of your affection.
تَفَدّى القَلائِدَ آثاراً لَهُ سَبَقَت
إِلَيَّ وَالفَضلُ لا يَخفى لِمَن سَبَقا
Let necklaces themselves ransom the traces of him that reached
you before him—for excellence is plain to those who came first.
لا غَروَ إِن أَرَها مِن قَبلُ صاحِبَها
إِنّي أَرى الصُبحَ لَكِن قَبلَهُ الشَفَقا
No wonder that I should see them before their maker:
I see the dawn, yet twilight comes before it.
لِلَهِ مِن صاحِبٍ صُغرى مَحامِدُهُ
مَوَدَّةً مَحَضَّتٌ لا تَعرِفُ المَلَقا
By God, what a friend—whose least praiseworthy quality
is a pure affection that knows no flattery.
مُهَذَّبٌ إِن بَدا مِنهُ الثَناءُ فَفي
شَريفِ أَخلاقِهِ رَوضُ الثَنا عَبِقا
Refined: if praise proceeds from him, then within
his noble character the meadow of praise breathes fragrance.
أَهدى إِلى قَريضاً مِن طَرائِفِهِ
يَوماً فَقَلَّدَ مِنّي الصَدرَ وَالعُنُقا
He gifted me a poem, one of his rare creations,
and one day hung it like a necklace upon my breast and neck—
كَالبَدرِ مُتَّسِقاً وَالدُرُّ مُنتَسِقا
وَالصُبحُ مُنبَثِقاً وَالغَيثُ مُندَفِقا
like the full moon in its symmetry, like pearls arranged in a strand,
like daybreak bursting forth, like rain pouring down.
شِعرٌ لِكُلِّ اِختِراعٍ جاءَ مُفتَتِحاً
مِن بَعدِ ما كانَ هَذا البابُ مُنغَلِقا
A poem that opened the way to every innovation
after this door had long remained closed;
سِحرٌ لَقَد لَعِبَت بِالقَومِ فِتنَتُهُ
بِلا طَلاسمٍ تَخفى سِرُّهُ وَرُقى
magic whose enchantment played upon the people,
with no obscure talismans, hidden secret, or incantation.
جازيكَ مِن شاعِرانِ تَستَجِدُّهُ إِلى
نَظمٍ مَضى فيهِ مِثلَ السَهمِ إِذ مَرَقا
A poet answered you—one newly summoned to
a poem through which he sped like an arrow in flight.
إِذا اِنبَرى في مَضاميرِ البَيانِ غَدَت
جِيادُهُ في المَعاني تَركُضُ الرَهقى
When he enters the arenas of eloquence,
his steeds of meaning gallop on through weariness.
يَرقَ في النَظمِ حَتّى يَستَرِقُّ بِهِ
وَيَستَرِقُّ إِذا ما جاءَ مُستَرِقا
He rises in verse until through it he captivates,
and grows exquisitely tender whenever he comes stealing hearts.
لَبَيَّكَ يا خاطِباً مِنّي الوِدادَ تَرى
مِنّي فَتىً ما دَرى نَكثاً وَما مَذَقا
At your service, you who seek affection from me: you shall see
in me a youth who has never known betrayal or adulterated love.
قَد طالَما سَمِعَت إُذُني وَما نَظَرَت
بَواصِري فَليُفاخِرَ مَسمَعي الحَدَقا
Long has my ear heard, although my eyes have not beheld;
so let my hearing boast against my sight.
فَإِن عَرَفَت فَإِنّي ناظِرٌ ثَمَراً
لَكِنَّني لَم أُصِب عوداً وَلا وَرَقا
If I have come to know you, I am one who has looked upon fruit,
though I have encountered neither bough nor leaf.
يا قاتِلَ اللَهِ حَظى وَالفِراقُ هُما
عَلى مُناصَبَتي دَهراً قَد اِتَّفَقا
May God confound my fortune and separation—the two
have long agreed to oppose me.
فَهَل أَرجى مِنَ الدُنيا الصَلاحَ وَلَم
تَزَل وَفيها غُرابُ البَينِ قَد نَعَقا
How can I hope for well-being from this world, while
the raven of parting has never ceased to croak within it?
لَكِن عَلى المَرءِ عِراكُ الدَهرِ طاقَتُهُ
وَلَو تَحمِل ذو الهِمّاتِ كُلَّ شَقا
Yet a man must wrestle with Time to the limit of his strength,
though one of lofty purpose must bear every hardship.
حُبَّ السَلامَةِ يُثني عَزمَ صاحِبِهِ
فَإِن جَنَحَت إِلَيهِ فَاِتَّخِذ نَفَقا
The love of safety bends its possessor’s resolve;
so if you incline toward safety, take yourself a tunnel.
