ما جالَ بَعدَكِ لَحظي في سَنا القَمَرِ
إِلّا ذَكَرتُكِ ذِكرَ العَينِ بِالأَثَرِ
Since you left, my eyes find no joy in the moon's radiance
Except when I remember you like one remembers a ruin.
وَلا اِستَطَلتُ ذَماءَ اللَيلِ مِن أَسَفٍ
إِلّا عَلى لَيلَةٍ سَرَّت مَعَ القِصَرِ
I do not complain of the long nights out of sadness
Except for a night that passed quickly in your company.
ناهيكِ مِن سَهَرٍ بَرحٍ تَأَلَّفَهُ
شَوقٌ إِلى ما اِنقَضى مِن ذَلِكَ السَمَرِ
Not to mention the sleepless, wakeful nights
Full of yearning for times gone by with you.
فَلَيتَ ذاكَ السَوادَ الجَونَ مُتَّصِلٌ
لَو اِستَعارَ سَوادَ القَلبِ وَالبَصَرِ
If only the dark locks and languid eyes were still joined!
If only the darkness of my heart and sight borrowed that darkness!
أَمّا الضَنى فَجَنَتهُ لَحظَةٌ عَنَنٌ
كَأَنَّها وَالرَدى جاءا عَلى قَدَرِ
As for grief, a single instant summoned it,
As if grief and calamity came according to fate.
فَهِمتُ مَعنى الهَوى مِن وَحيِ طَرفَكِ لي
إِنَّ الحِوارَ لَمَفهومٌ مِنَ الحَوَرِ
So from your glances I understood the meaning of love:
Conversation is understood through subtle allusion.
وَالصَدرُ مُذ وَرَدَت رِفهاً نَواحِيَهُ
تومُ القَلائِدِ لَم تَجنَح إِلى صَدَرِ
And my heart, since your features entered its horizons,
Is adorned with necklaces that do not reach the chest.
حُسنٌ أَفانينُ لَم تَستَوفِ أَعيُنُنا
غاياتِهِ بِأَفانينٍ مِنَ النَظَرِ
A fleeting loveliness that our eyes never fully savored,
Not exhausting its subtleties through our gazing.
واهاً لِثَغرِكِ باتَ يَكلَؤُهُ
غَيرانُ تَسري عَواليهِ إِلى الثُغَرِ
Woe to your lips that now ache
With the throbbing of passions running wild through them.
يَقظانُ لَم يَكتَحِل غَمضاً مُراقَبَةً
لَرابِطِ الجَأشِ مِقدامٍ عَلى الغِرَرِ
Awake, never sleeping to keep watch
For the unsteady passions of one fixed on danger.
لا لَهوُ أَيّامِهِ الخالي بِمُرتَجِعٍ
وَلا نَعيمُ لَياليهِ بِمُنتَظَرِ
His days are not carefree with a returning loved one,
His nights have no joy with an awaited visitor.
إِذ لا التَحِيَّةُ إيماءٌ مُخالَسَةً
وَلا الزِيارَةُ إِلمامٌ عَلى خَطَرِ
For no greeting is a secret signal,
No visit an indication of ventured danger.
مُنىً كَأَن لَم يَكُن إِلّا تَذَكُّرُها
إِنَّ الغَرامَ لِمُعتادٌ مَعَ الذِكَرِ
I remember her as if she had never been
Though passion is accustomed to memories.
مَن يَسأَلِ الناسَ عَن حالي فَشاهِدُها
مَحضُ العِيانِ الَّذي يُغني عَنِ الخَبَرِ
Let whoever asks about me behold my state,
The clear reality that makes reports unnecessary.
لَم تَطوِ بُردَ شَبابي كَبرَةٌ وَأَرى
بَرقَ المَشيبِ اِعتَلى في عارِضِ الشَعَرِ
The freshness of my youth was not long
And I see the lightning of grey hair striking my hairline
قَبلَ الثَلاثينَ إِذ عَهدُ الصِبا كَثَبٌ
وَلِلشَبيبَةِ غُصنٌ غَيرُ مُهتَصِرِ
Before thirty, when the days of youth were still exuberant
And the branches of youth still unbroken.
ها إِنَّها لَوعَةٌ في الصَدرِ قادِحَةٌ
نارَ الأَسى وَمَشيبي طائِرُ الشَرَرِ
Oh, it is a burning anguish in my heart
And my greying hair, sparks flying from it!
لا يُهنَىءِ الشامِتَ المُرتاحَ خاطِرُهُ
أَنّي مُعَنّى الأَماني ضائِعُ الخَطَرِ
Let not the smug critic gloat in comfort
That I, aspirer to ambitions, am now in peril.
هَلِ الرِياحُ بِنَجمِ الأَرضِ عاصِفَةٌ
أَمِ الكُسوفُ لِغَيرِ الشَمسِ وَالقَمَرِ
Are the winds ravaging the star of the earth?
Or is the eclipse for other than the sun and moon?
إِن طالَ في السِجنِ إيداعي فَلا عَجَبٌ
قَد يودَعُ الجَفنَ حَدُّ الصارِمِ الذَكَرِ
If my imprisonment in the cell is prolonged, no wonder -
Oblivion can grip the eyelids despite their wakefulness.
وَإِن يُثَبِّط أَبا الحَزمِ الرِضى قَدَرٌ
عَن كَشفِ ضُرّي فَلا عَتَبٌ عَلى القَدَرِ
If the resolve of the wise father disappoints my hopes
Of relieving my pain, I cannot blame fate.
ما لِلذُنوبِ الَّتي جاني كَبائِرِها
غَيري يُحَمِّلُني أَوزارَها وَزَري
Why do sins whose grave transgressions are not mine
Burden me with their guilt and my own guilt?
مَن لَم أَزَل مِن تَأَنّيهِ عَلى ثِقَةٍ
وَلَم أَبِت مِن تَجَنّيهِ عَلى حَذَرِ
I have never ceased being wary in my confidence,
Nor refused to avoid transgressions out of caution.
ذو الشيمَةِ الرَسلِ إِن هيجَت حَفيظَتُهُ
وَالجانِبِ السَهلِ وَالمُستَعتِبِ اليَسَرِ
The noble Prophet, if angered, has a gentle nature
And is easily entreated and clement.
مَن فيهِ لِلمُجتَلي وَالمُبتَلي نَسَقاً
جَمالُ مَرأَىءً عَليهِ سَروُ مُختَبَرِ
In him the dejected and afflicted find sympathy,
His beauty plainly evident, a towering cypress observed.
مُذَلِّلٌ لِلمَساعي حُكمَها شَطَطاً
عَليهِ وَهُوَ العَزيزُ النَفسِ وَالنَفَرِ
He humbles ambitions that have gone astray
With his wisdom, honored in himself and by others.
وَزيرُ سَلمٍ كَفاهُ يُمنُ طائِرِهِ
شُؤمَ الحُروبِ وَرَأيٌ مُحصَدُ المِرَرِ
The minister of peace whom good fortune protected
From the ill omens of wars, with harvested insights.
أَغنَت قَريحَتُهُ مُغنى تَجارِبِهِ
وَنابَتِ اللَمحَةُ العَجلى عَنِ الفِكَرِ
His genius inspired by his experiences,
With no need for quick, unpondered thought.
كَم اِشتَرى بِكَرى عَينَيهِ مِن سَهَرٍ
هُدوءُ عَينِ الهُدى في ذَلِكَ السَهَرِ
How much serene insight his sleepless nights purchased!
The calm of true guidance was in those nights.
في حَضرَةٍ غابَ صَرفُ الدَهرِ خَشيَتَهُ
عَنها وَنامَ القَطا فيها فَلَم يَثُرِ
In his presence the turns of fate lost their terror,
And the spaniel slept undisturbed.
مُمَتَّعٌ بِالرَبيعِ الطَلقِ نازِلُها
يُلهيهِ عَن طيبِ آصالٍ نَدى بُكَرِ
Delighting in the open spring, his dweller
Distracted from the soft fragrance of morning dew.
ما إِن يَزالُ يَبُثُّ النَبتَ في جَلَدٍ
مُذ ساسَها وَيَفيضُ الماءَ مِن حَجَرِ
Unceasingly it brings forth plants from barren ground
And water flows from stone since he arrived.
قَد كُنتُ أَحسُبُني وَالنَجمَ في قَرَنٍ
فَفيمَ أَصبَحتُ مُنحَطّاً إِلى العَفَرِ
I used to think myself and the star were paired,
So why am I now demoted to ashes?
أَحينَ رَفَّ عَلى الآفاقِ مِن أَدَبي
غَرسٌ لَهُ مِن جَناهُ يانِعُ الثَمَرِ
When the boughs of my manners waved over horizons
A planted shoot of bountiful, ripening fruits.
وَسيلَةً سَبَباً إِلّا تَكُن نَسَباً
فَهُوَ الوِدادُ صَفا مِن غَيرِ ما كَدَرِ
No means or cause but noble lineage itself,
Which is a pure love, untainted.
وَبائِنٍ مِن ثَناءٍ حُسنُهُ مَثَلٌ
وَشيُ المَحاسِنِ مِنهُ مُعلَمُ الطُرَرِ
It dispenses with praise, its beauty being proof itself,
The example that guides all beauties.
يُستَودَعُ الصُحفَ لا تَخفى نَوافِحُهُ
إِلّا خَفاءَ نَسيمِ المِسكِ في الصُرَرِ
Recorded in books, its exhalations cannot be hidden
Except as the scent of musk is veiled in bottles.
مِن كُلِّ مُختالَةٍ بِالحِبرِ رافِلَةٍ
فيهِ اِختِيالَ الكَعابِ الرَودِ بِالحِبَرِ
Safe from the pretensions of every flashy scribe
whose script vaunts like the crowing of roosters.
تُجفى لَها الرَوضَةُ الغَنّاءُ أَضحَكَها
مَجالُ دَمعِ النَدى في أَعيُنِ الزَهَرِ
The dewy garden laughs off their false hues
In the tear-filled eyes of flowers.
يا بَهجَةَ الدَهرِ حَيّاً وَهُوَ إِن فَنِيَت
حَياتُهُ زينَةُ الآثارِ وَالسِيَرِ
O delight of time, greeting while you live!
When you are gone, your life adorns legends and chronicles.
لي في اِعتِمادِكَ بِالتَأميلِ سابِقَةٌ
وَهِجرَةٌ في الهَوى أَولى مِنَ الهِجَرِ
I have precedence in relying on your support,
And the first emigration in love is separation.
فَفيمَ غَضَّت هُمومي مِن عُلا هِمَمي
وَحاصَ بي مَطلَبي عَن وِجهَةِ الظَفَرِ
Why then have my aspirations faltered from their heights?
Why did my hopes fall short of attaining what they sought?
هَل مِن سَبيلٍ فَماءُ العَتبِ لي أَسِنٌ
إِلى العُذوبَةِ مِن عُتباكَ وَالخَصَرِ
Is there any way for the water of reproach to reach me,
Sweetened by your reproach and waist?
نَذَرتُ شُكرَكَ لا أَنسى الوَفاءَ بِهِ
إِن أَسفَرَت لِيَ عَنها أَوجُهُ البُشَرِ
I vowed to thank you and not forget to fulfill it
If your faces showed this to me.
لا تَلهُ عَنّي فَلَم أَسأَلكَ مُعتَسِفاً
رَدَّ الصِبا بَعدَ إيفاءٍ عَلى الكِبَرِ
Do not neglect me, for I did not ask you longingly
To restore my youth after fulfilling a pact.
وَاِستَوفِرِ الحَظِّ مِن نُصحٍ وَصاغِيَةٍ
كِلاهُما العِلقُ لَم يوهَب وَلَم يُعَرِ
And gain prosperity with sincere advice and favor,
Both priceless gifts not granted or learned.
هَبني جَهِلتُ فَكانَ العِلقُ سَيِّئَةً
لا عُذرَ مِنها سِوى أَنّي مِنَ البَشَرِ
I was ignorant so they were my failing,
With no excuse but that I am human.
إِنَّ السِيادَةَ بِالإِغضاءِ لابِسَةٌ
بَهاءَها وَبَهاءُ الحُسنِ في الخَفَرِ
Majesty is clad in overlooking faults -
Such is its splendor, and the splendor of beauty's veil.
لَكَ الشَفاعَةُ لا تُثنى أَعِنَّتُها
دونَ القَبولِ بِمَقبولٍ مِنَ العُذُرِ
You have the right of intercession which is never refused,
Unless the plea itself is not accepted as an excuse.
وَاِلبَس مِنَ النِعمَةِ الخَضراءِ أَيكَتَها
ظِلّاً حَراماً عَلى الآفاتِ وَالغِيَرِ
And wear the verdant blessings as your mantle,
A sanctum covering you from harms and strangers.
نَعيمَ جَنَّةِ دُنيا إِن هِيَ اِنصَرَمَت
نَعِمتَ بِالخُلدِ في الجَنّاتِ وَالنَهَرِ
The bliss of an earthly paradise, if it passes,
You will delight in eternity in the gardens and rivers.
