جَفى مقلةَ الصبِّ الكئيبِ هجوعُها
وكلّفها أشياءَ لا تستطيعُها
Sleep forsook the eye of the heartsick, sorrowing lover,
And burdened it with things beyond its power.
غَداةَ رأى ركبَ الخليطِ وقد نأى
بهيفاءَ إن ولّتْ بطيءٌ رُجوعُها
On the morning he saw the companions’ caravan depart,
Taking far away a slender beauty who, once gone, is slow to return.
أعاذلهُ رفقاً فبينَ ضلوعِه
صبابةُ قلب لا يُطاقُ نُزوعُها
O reproacher, be gentle, for between his ribs
Lies a heart’s passion whose uprooting cannot be borne.
رأى دَمَنا يشكو معالِمَها
شكَتْ كبِدٌ قد أوهنَتْها صُدوعُها
He saw deserted camps, their landmarks voicing complaint,
While an innermost heart complained, weakened by its fractures.
ولما التقينا يومَ منعرجٍ اللِوى
وفاضَتْ دموعي حيرة ودموعُها
When we met at the bend of al-Liwa,
My tears overflowed in bewilderment—and so did hers.
عقدنا مواثيقَ المودّةِ بيننا
سواءٌ وظني أنها لا تُضيعُها
We sealed covenants of affection between us,
Equally; and I thought she would never let them go to waste.
وما راعني إلا فراقُ مشبَّبٍ
فيا ليتَ شعري هل تراهُ يَروعُها
Nothing startled me but the parting of a love-struck man—
Would that I knew: do you think it startles her?
عجبتُ وفي الأيامِ كلُّ عجيبةٍ
لأسماءَ يَعصيني الهوى وأُطيعُها
I marvel—though the days contain every marvel—
At Asma: passion defies me, yet I obey her.
وما ذاكَ إلا أنني ذو صبابةٍ
تحكّمَ في قلبي فجارَ وُلوعُها
That is only because I am possessed by longing:
My ardor for her rules my heart and tyrannizes it.
علائقُ تُخْفيها الأضالعُ جُهدَها
مخافةَ واشٍ والدموعُ تُذيعُها
Bonds that the ribs labor with all their might to conceal,
For fear of a slanderer—yet tears proclaim them.
وأطمعَني في وصلها أن طيفها
يُوافي إذا الظلماءُ وافى هزيعُها
Her phantom enticed me to hope for union,
Visiting when darkness entered its nightly watch.
تخيّل لي أني إذا زار مضجعي
وإن نزّحَتْ منا الديارَ ضجيعُها
It made me imagine, whenever it visited my bed,
That though our homes lay far apart, I was her bedfellow.
إذا بوّأتنا العيسُ من أحمدَ الرضى
فِناهُ فلا شُدَّت عليها نُسوعُها
When the camels bring us to lodge with Ahmad al-Rida,
We attain him—then may no saddle-girths be tightened upon them.
وكيف وقد حلّتْ بنا في جِنابِ من
له غرةٌ يَنفي الظلامَ صديعُها
And why should they, when they have brought us into the court of one
Whose brow has a radiance that banishes darkness?
يُعيدُ ويُبْدي شيمةً بعد شيمةٍ
كمثل رياضِ الحُزْنِ جادَ ربيعُها
He renews and displays one noble trait after another,
Like gardens on rugged ground drenched by their spring rain.
سما للعُلى فرداً فجمّع شملَها
لديهِ ولولاهُ لشتَّ جميعُها
He rose alone toward the heights, then gathered their scattered parts
In himself; without him, all of them would be dispersed.
إذا عذلْتُه في المكارمِ عصبةٌ
عصتْها أياديهِ فليستْ تُطيعُها
If some faction would bar him from deeds of honor,
His beneficent hands resist it, refusing to obey.
لقد حسُنَتْ منه الصنائع شيمةً
وطبعاً إذا الأعداءُ سيءَ صنيعُها
His benefactions have become beautiful as an ingrained trait,
And so is your nature when your enemies’ conduct is vile.
حليفُ النّدى شهّادُ أنديةِ العُلى
به عمِرَتْ بعدَ العَفاءِ ربوعُها
Companion of bounty, constant presence in the assemblies of glory,
Through him their quarters, after desolation, have flourished.
حميتَ بفضلِ الجودِ أعراضَك العدى
فقد علموا أن لن يُنالَ منيعُها
By abundant generosity you guarded the honor of lofty deeds,
And they learned that its stronghold cannot be reached.
رأى العيدَ لما أن رآه عجائباً
يحدِّث عنها دائماً ويُشيعُها
When the Feast beheld him, it saw wonders
To recount forever and spread abroad:
غماماً وأصباحاً وطَوْداً ومُرْهَفاً
وبحراً وشمساً ما يغِبُّ طلوعُها
A raincloud, dawns, a mountain, a keen-edged blade,
An ocean and a sun whose rising never fails.
