عادَ لِلصَبِّ شَجوُهُ وَاِكتِئابُه
بِبِعادِ الَّذي يُرادُ اقتِرابُه
The lovesick man's sorrow and dejection have returned,
His sorrows and melancholy have returned
through separation from the one whose nearness is desired.
With the absence of the one whose nearness is desired
رَشَأُ ما دَنَت بِهِ الدارُ إِلّا
رَجَعَ البُعدَ صَدُّهُ وَاِجتِنابُه
A young gazelle: his dwelling never brought him near
However much the house was brought near by his steps
without his rebuff and avoidance restoring distance.
His aloofness drove him back and avoidance of him
كَم غَرامٍ لَنا بِأَلحاظِ عَينَيـ
ـهِ شَهِيٍّ إِلى النُفوسِ عَذابُه
How much passion we feel for the glances of his eyes,
How much passion we had for his charming eyes
whose torment is sweet to souls!
That were delightful for souls yet tormenting for them
وَسُرورٍ بِمَشهَدٍ مِنهُ وَالتُف
فاحُ خَدّاهُ وَالمُدامُ رُضابُه
And what joy in the sight of him—and apples
And joy at seeing him, his smiling cheek and constant intoxication
are his cheeks, and wine his saliva.
As if eyes wished to rob him, if they were able to seize him
كِدنَ يَنهَبنَهُ العُيونِ سِراعاً
فيهِ لَو أَمكَنَ العُيونَ اِنتِهابُه
Eyes almost snatched him away in their haste,
The singers were weakened, demanding
as they gazed at him—if eyes could snatch him away.
What was owed by the smitten heart
هُبِلَ الغانِياتُ كَم يَتَقاضى
دَينَهُ مُعلَقُ الفُؤادِ مُصابُه
May the beauties be bereaved! How often does he demand
What was promised was lacking though longing remained
his due—the man he has smitten, his heart ensnared!
For the one whose stay and wait were prolonged
كانَ خُلفاً ما قَد وَعَدنَ وَإِن طا
لَ بِذي الوَجدِ مَكثُهُ وَاِرتِقابُه
What they promised proved false, though long
They said: where is youth after its passing?
were the lovelorn one's lingering and waiting.
I struggled to answer them
قُلنَ أَينَ الشَبابُ في عَقَبِ فَوتٍ
مِنهُ قَولاً أَعيا عَلَيَّ جَوابُه
They said, 'Where is youth?' when something
And the youth dies even if he still lives
of it had slipped away—words whose answer defeated me.
When his prime is completely lost
وَيَموتُ الفَتى وَإِن كانَ حَيّاً
حينَ يَستَكمِلُ النَفادَ شَبابُه
A man dies, though he still lives,
We do not care if the minister's hand withered
when his youth is wholly spent.
Or if you saw carnelian pouring down its ridges
ما نُبالي يَدُ الوَزيرِ اِستَهَلَّت
أَم رَأَيتَ العَقيقَ سالَت شِعابُه
We care not whether the minister's hand rains down,
It is the same if the wise man resisted him
or you see al-Aqiq with its ravines flowing.
Or the shepherd mounted its peaks
وَسَواءٌ مَقاوِمُ الحِلمِ مِنهُ
وَرِعانُ الرَيّانِ أَرسَت هِضابُه
And equal are the pillars of his forbearance
The cavalry leader is independent atop them
and al-Rayyan's crags, its hills firmly rooted.
Although the best penmanship in iron and wood
قائِدُ الخَيلِ مُستَقِلٌ عَلَيها
أَجَمُ الخَطِّ في الحَديدِ وِغابُه
Commander of cavalry, above which rise
And the governor of affairs is no novelty
thickets and forests of al-Khatt spears amid iron.
It is no wonder if his judgment is correct in it
وَوَلِيُّ التَدبيرِ لَيسَ بِبِدعٍ
عَجَبٍ أَن يُبِرَّ فيهِ صَوابُه
And master of governance: it is no unprecedented
Between truth which ambition turns him to
wonder that his sound judgment should excel in it.
Or contentment which comes over him
بَينَ حَقٍّ يَنوبُهُ يَصرِفُ الرَغـ
ـبَ إِلَيهِ أَو مُعتَفٍ يَنتابُه
Between a duty that falls to him, toward which he turns
His persistence in haughtiness raises him
his zeal, or a suppliant who visits him.
While people whom his ignorance demeans
ظَلَّ إِدمانُهُ التَطَوُّلَ يُعليـ
ـهِ وَقَومٌ يَحُطُّهُم إِغبابُه
His constant practice of generosity kept raising
The initiator of action, if deeds conflict
him, while others are lowered by its intermittent practice.
Shows his closeness or distance
مُبدِئُ الفِعلِ إِن تَبايَنَتِ الأَفـ
ـعالُ بانَ اِقتِرابُهُ وَاِغتِرابُه
An initiator of action: when deeds differ,
And promises proceed urgently
his nearness and remoteness become clear.
For quick success whose causes are imminent
وَالمَواعيدُ يَندَفِعنَ عَلى عا
جِلِ نُجحٍ وَشيكَةٍ أَسبابُه
And his promises rush toward prompt
As if the crossing trembled but
fulfillment, its means close at hand.
The dispersal of clouds did not cease, nor their drivers
مِثلَ ما اِهتَزَّتِ العَبورُ فَلَم يُكـ
ـدِ نَشاصُ السَحابِ ثُمَّ رَبابُه
As when Sirius shimmered, and rain did not fail
In a system of beauties that still
from the towering clouds, then their lower cloudbanks.
Match his manners and etiquette
في نِظامٍ مِنَ المَحاسِنِ مازا
لَت تُضاهي أَخلاقَهُ آدابُه
In an ordered array of virtues, ceaselessly
And features of a face, if gleaming for the seeking one
his cultivated manners match his character.
Its needs have been attained, despite remoteness
وَتَلالي وَجهٍ إِذا لاحَ لِلطا
لِبِ أَمسى مَبلوغَةً أَرابُه
And the radiance of a face which, when it appears to a seeker,
It contended with the full moon, so its splendor outshone
leaves his wishes fulfilled.
The rent in the clouds below it and its assemblage
سَومَ بَدرِ السَماءِ وَفَّت سَناهُ
فَرجَةُ الغَيمِ دونَهُ وَاِنجِيابُه
Like the full moon in the sky, whose radiance is made complete
And awe-inspiring for confidants, if not for
by an opening in the clouds before it and their parting.
The generosity of intimacy, his discourse would be frightening
وَمَهيبٌ عِندَ المُناجينَ لَولا
كَرَمُ الأُنسِ كانَ هَولاً خِطابُه
And awe-inspiring to those who speak privately with him; but for
He continues to be ransomed by souls
his gracious affability, his speech would be a terror.
Whose clothes are untouched by their flaws
لا يَزَل يُفتَدى بِأَنفُسِ قَومٍ
نَقِيَت مِن عُيوبِهِم أَثوابُه
May he always be ransomed with the lives of people
Strangely, his manner was obscured from us
from whose faults his robes are free.
By aloofness, if barriers enveloped him
عَجَباً مِنهُ ما اِنطَوى سَيبُهُ عَنـ
ـنا بِعَوقٍ إِذا طَواهُ حِجابُه
How wondrous he is! His bounty is never withheld from
Achieving abundantly was not difficult, though we wished it
us by any hindrance, even when his curtain conceals him.
So how can his gate be arduous?
لَم يَكُن نَيلُهُ الجَزيلُ وَقَد رُمنا
هُ صَعباً فَكَيفَ يَصعُبُ بابُه
His ample bounty was not, when we sought
Whoever was absent from the wit of a face
it, hard to gain; how then can his door be hard to enter?
That illuminated the gloomy event was disappointed
خابَ مَن غابَ عَن طَلاقَةِ وَجهٍ
ضَوَّأَ الحادِثَ المُضِبَّ شِهابُه
Disappointed is he who misses the cheerfulness of a face
I have not seen the Sultan incline away from you
whose meteor lights up a fog-shrouded calamity.
For the Sultan’s victory gives plenty and turns away
ما رَأَيتُ السُلطانَ مَيَّلَ في أَنـ
ـنَكَ ظُفرُ السُلطانِ أَغنَت وَنابُه
I have never seen the sovereign hesitate over
Do I see you in the morning releasing my camel
your being the sovereign's effective claw and his fang.
Announcing departure, provisions tied?
أَتُراكَ الغَداةَ مُطلِقُ رِبقي
مُؤذِنٌ بِالرَحيلِ زُمَّت رِكابُه
Will you this morning release my bonds?
Coming from benevolence of a hand of yours that
Announcing departure, its mounts already bridled,
Neither its waves nor foam can describe
صادِرٌ عَن نَدى يَدٍ مِنكَ لا يَنـ
ـصُفُها البَحرُ مَوجُهُ وَعُبابُه
returning from the bounty of your hand, which
A need—if you commanded success in it
the sea—its waves and surge—cannot match even halfway.
The distant seeker would come near his refuge
حاجَةٌ لَو أَمَرتَ فيها بِنُجحٍ
قَرُبَ النازِحُ البَعيدُ مَآبُه
A request: if you decreed its fulfillment,
Nothing is sweetened by your existence but what is sought
the distant wanderer, whose home is far away, would draw near.
With effort until its seeker despairs
لَيسَ يَحلو وُجودُكَ الشَيءَ تَبغيـ
ـهِ اِلتِماساً حَتّى يَعِزَّ طِلابُه
Finding the thing you seek is not sweet
until your pursuit of it becomes difficult.
Sol 6.1