صَبٌّ نَأَى فَأَفاعي البَينِ تلسعه
وَلَيسَ عِندَ ذَوي الآلامِ يَنفَعُهُ
A love who has kept his distance, so separation's snakes bite him,
Yet he finds no solace with those who know sorrow and pain.
مشرق شَقَّ عنه ثَوبَ سَلوَتِهِ
حُزناً وَأَضحى سَلبياً مِنهُ ينزَعُهُ
The radiant one tore off the robe of intimacy in grief,
And so he was stripped bare, with it wrested from him.
في كُلِّ يَومٍ له من فِرطِ لَوعَتِهِ
جِنيَّةٌ في رَضى الأَحبابِ تَصرعُه
Each day his intense torment sends him a jinniyyah
Who promises consent from the beloved, only to fell him.
يا صاحِبيَّ أَصبِحاني راح عذركما
كَأَساً تردَّدَ في بؤسي تَشعشُعُه
My friend, you've left me at daybreak, excusing yourself,
A cup passed round and round again in my misery.
وَخَلِّياني وطرف الحُبِّ أَركضه
حَتّى تَكَلُّ عَناءً منه أَربعُهُ
Leave me to gallop on love’s heels awhile,
Till fourfold weariness falls away from me.
أَستودع اللَهَ في أَرض الحِجازِ رشاً
في رَوضَةِ القَلبِ مأواهُ وَمربَعُهُ
I commend to God in the land of Hijaz a secret:
A garden lodged in the heart, its place and bounds.
إِن يُعظِمُ البين قَلبي من تَعذُّبهِ
فَلِلصَّبابَةِ ثدي راح يُرضعُهُ
If remoteness enlarges my heart through its torment,
Then suckling’s breast has gone slack giving milk to me.
ما بنت عنه قِلىً مَنّي لصُحبَتِهِ
وَلا لودٍ سَها عنه يضيعُهُ
No love was built up for him from me, nor tenderness
Lavished on him, now squandered, lost to me.
بَل غالَني فيهِ واشٍ ما قدرتُ عَلى
مرادهِ في مضرّاتي فأدفعُهُ
But he has tempted me into error I cannot counter,
Blocking my desire in ways hurtful to me.
وآشٍ وَشا في أَذائي جهدَ طاقته
فَلا تَهنّا بحلو العيشِ يَجرَعُهُ
Tempted, tempted me to harm me, taxing his strength,
Never content with life’s sweetness he gulps down.
موكَّلٌ بِنَبات الخَيرِ يَحصُدُهُ
وَلا يَرى مِن صَوابِ الأي يَزرَعُهُ
Commissioned to reap good, he harvests it,
Never espying in reason what he might sow.
قَد كانَ يَحكُمُ ما يَهوى فَأَقبَلُهُ
وَما أَتى مِن خِطابٍ كُنتُ أَسمَعُهُ
Judging as he fancied, I found him erratic,
Hearing from him what words I used to hear.
فَرُحتُ أَفرقُ مِن مَوتي بِمَنزِلِهِ
إِذ كانَ لَيسَ لَهُ حِفظٌ فَيُردِعُهُ
I took comfort I might die, placed as he was,
Since he lacked all self-restraint to curb him.
بِاللَهِ يا وَجدُ رِفقاً بِالفُؤادِ فَما
أَطيقُ أَكثَرَ مَمّا أَنتَ تَصنَعُهُ
By God, O passion, treat my heart gently, for
More than you do, I cannot bear.
كَيفَ العَزاء لمن في الغرب مُهجَتُهُ
وَجسمه بَلدُ الفِسطاطِ مَرتَعُهُ
What consolation for one whose love lies west
While his body makes its home east in Fustat?
صَبٌّ سَرى النَوم عَن جفنيهِ مُرتَحِلاً
فَالدَمع في إِثرِهِ جارٍ يُشَيِّعُهُ
A love sleep carried off, leaving my eyelids,
And tears now flow in its wake, mourning it.
وَأَنتَ يا وَصلُ عُج في رَبع فُرقتنا
عَساكَ تَجمع شَملاً عِزَّ مَجمَعُهُ
As for you, O union, be quick to join us in our land of parting,
Where unity of power gathers itself whole.
وَأَسقِهِ من حَيا التَقريب ساريَة
فَإِنَّهُ داثِر قَد مُجَّ مَوضِعُهُ
Give him to drink from proximity’s flagon,
For he is abased, his place folded up.
عَسى اللَياليَ بِأَوطاي الَّتي سلفت
يرجعن فيهِ رُجوعاً لا تُوَدِّعُهُ
May the nights with their encampments gone before
Return to us in a return without farewell.
فَكَم تركنا هلال الكأسِ طالعة
فيهِ تُغَيِّب هَمَّ النَفسِ مطلِعُهُ
How many a crescent moon we left arising
Where it eclipsed the cares of the soul as it rose.
سَماؤُهُ كَفَّ من كَفَّ الغَرامَ بِهِ
مَمدودَةٌ نَحوَ حَبل الصَبرِ يَقطَعُهُ
Its sky cupped us away from cared by it,
Outstretched toward the cord of patience it severs.
وَالرّاح رائِحَةٌ فينا وَغادِيَة
عَلى مَجالِسِ رَبعٍ جَلَّ مرتَعُهُ
The scent of us blew about, coming and going
Over the seats of an encampment whose range lies waste.
راحٌ هيَ الرِيحُ فاجعلها عَلى طربٍ
تِجارة قَبلَ خُسرٍ لَيسَ يَنفَعُهُ
A scent—and it is the very wind—so let it waft gladness,
A commerce, before loss without gain.
وَمُت بِها مَوتُ مَن يُرجى الحَياة لَهُ
فَمَيِّتُ الرّاحِ مَيتٌ صَحَّ مَرجِعُهُ
Die by it the death of one life might be hoped for,
So the dead by scent revive in their burial-ground.
مَخبيَّةُ الدَهرِ كانَت في ذَخائِرِهِ
فَجادَ من صَفوِها ما كانَ يَمنَعُهُ
Fate's hidden hoards were in its treasures,
And it freely gave what it used to refuse.
كَأَنَّها شفقٌ وَالمزجُ يكسِبُها
غَيماً سرياً بِلا ريثٍ يُقشِّعُهُ
As if it were afterglow, with mingling
Lending it an unseen cloud without clearing.
وَلائِمٌ لامَني جَهلاً فَقُلتُ لَهُ
لي في الصَبابَةِ عُذرٌ لَيسَ تَدفعُهُ
A blamer blamed me for ignorance, so I said:
"For youth I have an excuse none can rebut."
لي فاصِرف اللَومَ قَلبٌ شاعَ منكَشِفاً
في مَذهَبِ الحُبِّ يا هَذا تَشَيُّعُهُ
"For me, so turn your blame aside, a heart displayed, laid open,
In passion's doctrine, O you who parade it."
وَمهجة لإِمام الحُسنِ يتبعها
فَالوجه عَهدٌ عَلَينا لَيسَ يَخلَعُهُ
"And the beloved of Imam al-Husayn follows it,
Our pact upon us in a face no turning aside can shake off."
