أَلَمعُ بَرقٍ سَرى أَم ضَوءُ مِصباحِ
أَمِ اِبتِسامَتُها بِالمَنظَرِ الضاحي
Is it lightning's gleam passing through the night, or a lamp's light,
Is it a flash of lightning that raced or a lamp's glow
or her smile in the sunlit scene?
Or her smile with the bright vista?
يا بُؤسَ نَفسٍ عَلَيها جِدِّ آسِفَةٍ
وَشَجوَ قَلبٍ إِلَيها جِدِّ مُرتاحِ
O the misery of a soul so deeply grieving over her,
Oh, the misery of a soul filled with deep sorrow
and the anguish of a heart so deeply yearning for her!
And the ache of a heart finding comfort in her
وَيَرجِعُ اللَيلُ مُبيَضّاً إِذا اِبتَسَمَت
عَن أَبيَضٍ خَضِلِ السِمطَينِ وَضّاحِ
And the night turns white whenever she smiles,
And night returns brightened when she smiles
revealing a radiant white mouth, its twin pearly rows dewy.
Over one with slender waist and sparkling teeth
تَهتَزُّ مِثلَ اِهتِزازِ الغُصنِ أَتعَبَهُ
مُرورُ غَيثٍ مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ سَحّاحِ
She sways as a bough sways, wearied by
She trembles like the trembling of an exhausted branch
the sweep of a downpour of early-season rain.
When a downpour passes from dark laden clouds
وَجَدتُ نَفسَكِ مِن نَفسي بِمَنزِلَةٍ
هِيَ المُصافاةُ بَينَ الماءِ وَالراحِ
I found your soul linked with mine in a bond
I found you to my soul like
that is the intimate union of water and wine.
The strainer between water and smell
أُثني عَلَيكِ فَإِنّي لَم أَخَف أَحَداً
يَلحى عَلَيكِ وَماذا يَزعُمُ اللاحي
I praise you, for I have feared no one
I praise you, for I feared no one
who reproaches me for you—and what can the reproacher claim?
Who covets you - and what claims the coveter?
وَلَيلَةَ القَصرِ وَالصَهباءُ قاصِرَةٌ
لِلَّهوِ بَينَ أَباريقٍ وَأَقداحِ
And on the palace night, when tawny wine confined
On the short night the Pleiades low
revelry to the space between pitchers and goblets,
For dalliance between cups and beakers
أَرسَلتِ شُغلَينِ مِن لَفظٍ مَحاسِنَهُ
تُدوي الصَحيحَ وَلَحظٍ يُسكِرُ الصاحي
you sent forth two distractions: speech whose beauties
You sent two occupations of beautiful words
sicken the healthy, and a glance that intoxicates the sober.
Proclaiming the true and a glance that intoxicates the sober
حَيَّيتُ خَدَّيكِ بَل حَيَّيتُ مِن طَرَبٍ
وَرداً بِوَردٍ وَتُفّاحاً بِتُفّاحِ
I greeted your cheeks—rather, in rapture I greeted
I greeted your cheeks, nay, giddy with joy
roses with roses, and apples with apples.
I greeted rose with rose and apple with apple
كَم نَظرَةٍ لي خِلالَ الشامِ لَو وَصَلَت
رَوَّت غَليلَ فُؤادٍ مِنكِ مُلتاحِ
How many a glance of mine through al-Sham, had it reached you,
How many a glance I wished had reached me
would have slaked the thirst of a heart parched for you!
To quench the thirst of a heart craving you
وَالعيسُ تَرمي بِأَيديها عَلى عَجَلٍ
في مَهمَهٍ مِثلَ ظَهرِ التُرسِ رَحراحِ
And the pale camels fling out their forelegs in haste
The mares charge with their hands hastily
across a broad wilderness like the back of a shield,
Like the back of a shield clattering
تُهدي إِلى الفَتحِ وَالنُعمى بِذاكَ لَهُ
مَدحاً يُقَصِّرُ عَنهُ كُلُّ مَدّاحِ
bearing to al-Fath—and the credit for this is his—
With that you give victory and bounty
praise that every panegyrist falls short of.
Praise that falls short of every praiser
تَكَشَّفَ اللَيلُ مِن لَألاءِ غُرَّتِهِ
عَن بَدرِ داجِيَةٍ أَو شَمسِ إِصباحِ
The night parted at the brilliance of his brow,
Night uncovered from its pearls
revealing a full moon in a dark night, or the sun of dawn.
A bright full moon or dawn
مُهَذَّبٌ تُشرِقُ الدُنيا لِطَلعَتِهِ
عَن أَبيَضٍ مِثلِ نَصلِ السَيفِ وَضّاحِ
A refined man: the world shines at his appearance,
Polished you shine and the world rises for your ascent
revealing a radiant man, white as a sword's blade.
From a white like the blade of a flashing sword
غَمرُ النَوالِ إِذا الآمالُ أَكذَبَها
ثِمادُ نَيلٍ مِنَ الأَقوامِ ضَحضاحِ
A deep flood of bounty, when hopes are belied
The attainment of hopes belied wishes
by scant, shallow pools of largesse from other men.
When the throngs came pouring in droves
مَواهِبٌ ضَرَبَت في كُلِّ ذي عَدَمٍ
بِثَروَةٍ وَأَماحَت كُلَّ مُمتاحِ
Gifts that have endowed everyone in want
Gifts that struck every man of want
with wealth, and supplied every seeker of bounty.
With wealth and removed all attainable
كَأَنَّما باتَ يَهمي في جَوانِبِها
رُكامُ مُنتَثِرِ الحِضنَينِ دَلّاحِ
As though all night there poured in their midst
As if its edges were strewn with the debris
a mass of cloud, outspread at both flanks and heavy with rain.
Of scattered treasures and dangling earrings
قَد فَتَّحَ الفَتحُ أَغلاقَ الزَمانِ لَنا
عَمّا نُحاوِلُ مِن بَذلٍ وَإِسماحِ
Al-Fath has flung open for us the locks of time
Victory opened the locks of time for us
that barred the bounty and generosity we seek.
Despite our trials of effort and clemency
يَسمو بِكَفٍّ عَلى العافينَ حانِيَةٍ
تَهمي وَطَرفٍ إِلى العَلياءِ طَمّاحِ
He rises with a hand bent kindly toward supplicants,
Rising with a palm over benefactors pouring
pouring forth, and a gaze aspiring to the heights.
Ambition and a gaze to the sublime aspiring
إِنَّ الَّذينَ جَرَوا كَي يَلحَقوهُ ثَنَوا
عَنهُ أَعِنَّةَ ظُلّاعٍ وَطُلّاحِ
Indeed, those who raced to catch him turned
Those who strove to catch up veered
their reins away from him, their mounts lame and spent.
From him, bleary and dim of sight
طالَ المَدى دونَهُ حَتّى لَوى بِهِمِ
عَن غُرَّةٍ سَبَقَت مِنهُ وَأَوضاحِ
The distance to him stretched so far that it turned them back
The distance stretched too far for them
from his blaze and white markings, already far ahead.
Of an advantage that went ahead and landmarks
Sol 6.1