كَانَ اللِّقَاءُ عَلَى رِيَاضٍ مُمْرِعِ
وَكَأَنَّنِي بَيْنَ السَّحَابِ بِمَرْبَعِ
The meeting was in a verdant meadow,
As if I were amidst clouds in an enclosure,
وَالأُفْقُ صَارَ مُقَيَّدًا بِجَوَانِحِي
وَكَأَنَّنِي مَلِكُ النُّجُومِ الطُّلَّعِ
The horizon became confined by my wings,
As if I were the king of radiant stars.
وَالْبَدْرُ صَارَ سَنَاهُ رَهْنَ لِقَائِنَا
فَالْكَوْنُ فِي الظُّلُمَاتِ إِلَّا مَوْضِعِي
The full moon became captive to our meeting,
So the universe was in darkness except my place.
فَأَخَذْتُ أَحْتَضِنُ السِّهَامَ كَأَنَّنِي
وَسَطَ الْوَغَى أَلْقَيْتُ كُلَّ الأَدْرُعِ
I began to embrace the arrows as if
Amidst the chaos, I had shed all armor.
وَالسَّهْمُ مَا يُصِبِ الْفُؤَادَ فَإِنَّهُ
يَهَبُ الدُّنَى أَزْكَى دَمٍ مُتَضَوِّعِ
The arrow that strikes the heart, verily it
Gives the world the most precious spilled blood.
دَمِ عَاشِقٍ كَانَ الرَّنَا هُوَ حُلْمَهُ
فَإِذَا الرَّنَا مِلْكٌ لِقَلْبٍ قَدْ نُعِي
The blood of a lover whose dream was delight,
So when delight is owned by a heart it was lamented.
فَإِذَا الْحَيَاةُ تَعُودُ لِلْقَلْبِ الشَّجِي
وَيَصِيرُ نَبْعًا لِلْقَرِيضِ الْمُمْتِعِ
Thus life returns to the most ecstatic heart,
And becomes a spring for the inspired poem.
فَتَصِيرُ مُلْهِمَةَ الْخَلِيِّ بِشِعْرِهِ
فَيَرَى الْوَرَى: مَا قَبْلَهُ مِنْ مُبْدِعِ
It becomes the inspiration of the composer through his poetry,
Thus the world sees what came before it was created.
هِيَ غُنْوَةٌ كُتِبَتْ بِقَلْبِي لَحْنُهَا
شَوْقُ الْحَنَايَا نَغْمَةٌ لَمْ تُسْمَعِ
It is the rhythm composed in my heart, its melody never heard,
Yearning sighs are a tune never perceived.
هِيَ قِصَّةٌ فِي كُلِّ حَرْفٍ سَكْرَةٌ
كَالْحُلْمِ يَحْكِي لَذَّةً لَمْ تُقْمَعِ
It is a story in every intoxicating letter,
Like a dream telling of an unmatched bliss.
هِيَ فَرْحَةٌ تَمْحُو الْأَسَى بِضِيَائِهَا
كَالشَّمْسِ تَبْدُو بَعْدَ لَيْلٍ مُتْرَعِ
It is a joy that wipes away sorrow with its light,
Like the emerging sun after a gloomy night.
هِيَ دَمْعَةُ الْأَشْوَاقِ وَالْفَرَحِ الَّتِي
جَعَلَتْ مَرَارَ الدَّمْعِ عَذْبَ الْمَدْمَعِ
It is the tear of longing and joy
That made the bitterness of tears sweet elixir.
هِيَ بَدْرُ لَيْلٍ مُظْلِمٍ قَدْ أَشْرَقَتْ
جَعَلَتْهُ لَيْلاً مُشْرِقًا لَمْ يَطْلُعِ
It is the full moon of a dark night that shone,
Making the night a luminous one that never rose.
هِيَ دِيمَةٌ جَعَلَتْ فُؤَادِي جَنَّةً
قَدْ كَانَ قَفْرًا كَالصَّحَارِي الْبَلْقَعِ
It is a beauty that made my heart into a paradise,
When it once was a barren desert.
هِيَ بَسْمَةٌ يَغْزُو ضِيَاهَا الْكَوْنَ، إِنْ
غَابَتْ، عَرَاهُ لَوْعةُ الْمُتَفَجِّعِ
It is a smile whose light fills the universe, if
It's gone, it's loss fills it with the bereaved's agony.
كَمْ أَطْرَبَتْنِي مِنْ حِكَايَةِ عَاشِقٍ
فَعَلِمْتُ أَنَّ سِوَايَ كُلٌّ يَدَّعِي
How many tales of lovers intoxicated me,
Thus I knew all other claims were false.
أَنَا عَاشِقٌ مَا كَانَ يَوْمًا فِي الْوَرَى
أَحْكِي الْهَوَى بِصَفَائِهِ الْمُتَوَرِّعِ
I am a lover that was never in this world
Telling of love in its reticent sincerity.
أَحْكِي حِكَايَةَ عَاشِقٍ مُتَوَلِّهٍ
حَتَّى ظَنَنْتُ الْعِشْقَ فِيهِ مَصْرَعِي
I tell the tale of a devoted lover
To the point I thought love would be my demise.
