يا ساحِرَ الطَرفِ أَنتَ الدَهرُ وَسنانُ
سِرُّ القُلوبِ لَدى عَينَيكَ إِعلانُ
Oh enchanter of the glance, you are eternally drowsy-eyed,
The secret of hearts stands revealed before your eyes.
إِذا اِمتَحَنتَ بِطَرفِ العَينِ مُكتَتَماً
ناداكَ مِن طَرفِهِ بِالسِرِّ تِبيانُ
If you test a concealer of secrets with the glance of your eye,
A revelation from his own glance calls out the secret to you.
تَبدو السَرائِرُ إِن عَيناكَ رَنَّقَتا
كَأَنَّما لَكَ في الأَوهامِ سُلطانُ
Hidden mysteries appear if your eyes cast their spell,
As though you hold dominion over the realms of imagination.
ما لي وَما لَكَ قَد جَزَّأتَني شِيَعاً
وَأَنتَ مِمّا كَساني الدَهرُ عُريانُ
What is between me and you? You have torn me into scattered fragments,
While you remain bare of the burdens with which time has clothed me.
أَراكَ تَعمَلُ في قَتلي بِلا تِرَةٍ
كَأَنَّ قَتلِيَ عِندَ اللَهِ قُربانُ
I see you laboring to kill me without a blood-debt owed,
As if my slaying were a holy offering in the sight of God.
غادِ المُدامَ وَإِن كانَت مُحَرَّمَةً
فَلِلكَبائِرِ عِندَ اللَهِ غُفرانُ
Go early to the wine, even if it be forbidden,
For with God there is forgiveness for even the gravest sins.
صَهباءُ تَبني حَباباً كُلَّما مُزِجَت
كَأَنَّهُ لُؤلُؤٌ يَتلوهُ عِقيانُ
A golden vintage that raises bubbles whenever it is mixed,
As though they were pearls pursued by pure gold.
كانَت عَلى عَهدِ نوحٍ في سَفينَتِهِ
مِن حُرِّ شَحنَتِها وَالأَرضُ طوفانُ
It existed in the era of Noah, within his Ark,
Part of its precious cargo while the earth was a deluge.
فَلَم تَزَل تَعجُمُ الدُنيا وَتَعجُمُها
حَتّى تَخَيَّرَها لِلخَبءِ دِهقانُ
It ceased not to test the world, and the world to test it,
Until a Persian landlord selected it for concealment.
فَصانَها في مِغارِ الأَرضِ فَاِختَلَفَت
عَلى الدَفينَةِ أَزمانٌ وَأَزمانُ
He guarded it in the earth's hollows, and there passed over it
Successive ages and eras upon the buried treasure.
بِبَلدَةٍ لَم تَصِل كَلبٌ بِها طُنُباً
إِلى خِباءٍ وَلا عَبسٌ وَذُبيانُ
In a land where the tribe of Kalb never fastened a tent rope
To a pavilion, nor the tribes of 'Abs or Dhubyan.
لَيسَت لِذُهلٍ وَلا شَيبانِها وَطَناً
لَكِنَّها لِبَني الأَحرارِ أَوطانُ
It is not a homeland for the clans of Dhuhl or Shayban,
Rather, it is the homeland for the Sons of the Noble Free.
أَرضٌ تَبَنّى بِها كِسرى دَساكِرَهُ
فَما بِها مِن بَني الرَعناءِ إِنسانُ
A land where Khosrow established his royal estates,
And within it dwells not a soul from the sons of the uncouth.
وَما بِها مِن هَشيمِ العُربِ عَرفَجَةٌ
وَلا بِها مِن غِذاءِ العُربِ خُطبانُ
Nor does it hold a single withered shrub of the Arab desert,
Nor is there found the bitter grazing herbs of the Arabs.
لَكِن بِها جُلَّنارٌ قَد تَفَرَّعَهُ
آسٌ وَكَلَّلَهُ وَردٌ وَسوسانُ
But within it blooms the pomegranate flower, surmounted
By myrtle, and crowned with roses and lilies.
فَإِن تَنَسَّمتَ مِن أَرواحِها نَسَماً
يَوماً تَنَسَّمَ في الخَيشومِ رَيحانُ
If you were to breathe a breath of its fragrances,
The scent of sweet basil would linger in your nostrils for a day.
يا لَيلَةً طَلَعَت بِالسَعدِ أَنجُمُها
فَباتَ يَفتِكُ بِالسُكرانِ سَكرانُ
Oh, what a night! Its stars rose with auspicious fortune,
And one drunkard spent the night seizing another.
بِتنا نَدينُ لِإِبليسٍ بِطاعَتِهِ
حَتّى نَعى اللَيلَ بِالناقوسِ رُهبانُ
We passed the night professing our allegiance to Iblis,
Until the monks proclaimed the death of night with the tolling bell.
فَقامَ يَسحَبُ أَذيالاً مُنَعَّمَةً
قَد مَسَّها مِن يَدَي ظُلمٌ وَعُدوانُ
He rose, dragging his luxurious, pampered robes behind him,
Which had suffered transgression and assault at my hands.
يَقولُ يا أَسَفي وَالدَمعُ يَغلِبُهُ
هَتَكتَ مِنّي الَّذي قَد كانَ يُصطانُ
Saying "Oh, my sorrow," while tears overwhelmed him,
"You have torn from me that which was once preserved."
فَقُلتُ لَيثٌ رَأى ظَبياً فَواثَبَهُ
كَذا صُروفُ لَيالي الدَهرِ أَلوانُ
I replied: "A lion saw a gazelle and sprang upon him;"
"Thus are the turns of fate's nights; they come in many hues."
