أَرَجٌ لِرَيّا طَلَّةٌ رَيّاهُ
لايَبعَدِ الطَيفُ الَّذي أَهداهُ
A lover's soliloquy in sleepless longing for his beloved
The phantom that inspired his love will not depart,
وَمُسَهَّدٍ لَو عادَ أَهلُ كَرىً إِلى
مُحتَلِّهِم مِنهُ لَعادَ كَراهُ
And were the tribe to return to their abode of yore
He would abhor it, so enthralled is he.
يَهواكِ لا إِنَّ الغَرامَ أَطاعَهُ
عَفواً وَلا أَنَّ السُلُوَّ عَصاهُ
You are his desire, for love has mastered him,
Not pardon, nor has composure restrained him.
مُتَخَيِّرٌ أَلفاكِ خيرَةَ نَفسِهِ
مِمَّن نَآهُ الوُدُّ أَو أَدناهُ
He chose you, finest of all he surveyed,
Of those drawn near or kept apart by love.
قَد كانَ مُمتَنِعَ الدُموعِ فَلَم تَزَل
عَيناكِ حَتّى استَعبَرَت عَيناهُ
Once miserly of tears, your eyes insisted
Until they moistened eyes holding them back.
طَلَبَت عَذابَ الصَبِّ مِن كَلَفٍ بِها
وَلَوَت بِنُجحِ الوَعدِ حينَ أَتاهُ
From a shackled heart you sought the pain of passion
And shone when fulfilling the promise you came to make.
فَانظُر إِلى الحُكمَينِ يَختَلِفانِ بي
في الدَينِ أَقضيهِ وَلا أُقضاهُ
Behold, two rulers dispute over me,
I judge yet am judged in faith’s domain.
عَيشٌ لَنا بِالأَبرَقَينِ تَأَبَّدَت
أَيّامُهُ وَتَجَدَّدَت ذِكراهُ
We lived between two flashes, days
Renewing, memories persisting still.
وَالعَيشُ مافارَقتَهُ فَذَكَرتَهُ
لَهَفاً وَلَيسَ العَيشُ ماتَنساهُ
Not life, when left, inspires remembrance
And yearning – absence keeps life unforgot.
وَلَوَ أَنَّني أُعطي التَجارِبَ حَقَّها
فيما أَرَت لَرَجَوتُ ما أَخشاهُ
Had I granted experience its due
In what was shown me I might hope and fear both.
وَالشَيءُ تُمنَعُهُ يَكونُ بِفَوتِهِ
أَجدى مِنَ الشَيءِ الَّذي تُعطاهُ
To forbid is more worthwhile than to grant
That which you give. So restrain
خَفِّض أَسىً عَمّا شَآكَ طِلابُهُ
ماكُلُّ شائِمِ بارِقٍ يُسقاهُ
Your sorrow for suspicions,
Each cloud has showers, and each lightning quenches thirst.
لا أَدَّعي لِأَبي العَلاءِ فَضيلَةً
حَتّى يُسَلِّمَها إِلَيهِ عِداهُ
For Abu al-‘Ala I claim no special merit
Unless foes concede it, to their shame.
ماّلمَرءُ تُخبَرُ عَن حَقيقَةِ سَروِهِ
كَالمَرءِ تَخبُرُ سَروَهُ وَتَراهُ
A man whose secret the palm tree tells
Is not like one whose secret and palm are seen.
طَمَحَت عُيونُ الكاشِحينَ فَغَضَّها
شَرَفٌ بَناهُ اللَهُ حَيثُ بَناهُ
Ambitious eyes looked up but were abased
By the nobility God built up where He willed.
كَم بُكِّتوا بِصَنيعَةٍ مِن طَولِهِ
تُخزى وُجوهُهُم بِها وَتُشاهُ
How they were brought to shame by his making,
Their faces darkened by his works exposed!
عادَت مَكارِمَهُ اللِئامُ وَجاهِلٌ
بِمُبينِ فَضلِ الشَيءِ مَن عاداهُ
To the base his virtues seem vices; fools decry
The obvious excellence of one they hate.
مُستَظهِرٌ بِكَتيبَةٍ يَلقى بِها
زَحفَ العِدى وَكَتيبَةٍ تَلقاهُ
Backed by a troop with whom he charged the foe,
And met their charge with his troop at his side.
صُبِغَت بِتُربَةِ أَرضِهِ راياتُهُ
وَقَنا بِمُحمَرِّ الدِماءِ قَناهُ
Their banners dyed by his country’s dust
And their lance-shafts tinged by his blood.
أَلوى بِنَهرِ أَبي الخَصيبِ وَلَم يَكُن
يُلوي بِنَهرِ أَبي الخَصيبِ سِواهُ
He bent the course of father-of-wisdom’s stream;
None but he could bend father-of-wisdom’s course.
أَسَدٌ إِذا فَرَسَت يَداهُ أَخيذَةً
لِلمَجدِ زاوَلَ مِثلَها شِبلاهُ
A lion, when his hands pounced aggressively
To seize glory, his cubs emulated him.
مَن كانَ يَسأَلُ بي الرِفاقَ فَإِنَّني
جارٌ لِمَذحِجَ أَكرَمَت مَثواهُ
When asked of me: describe his bosom friends,
I say: I border Majhij, abode of the honored dead.
حَسبي إِذا عَلِقَت يَدي ابنَي صاعِدٍ
لِلمَكرُماتِ وَصاعِداً وَأَخاهُ
I ask no more, when I see my sons ascend,
Seeking and attaining the glorious heights.
أَرضاهُمُ لِلحَقِّ أَغشاهُم بِهِ
وَأَقَلُّ مَن تَغشاهُ مَن تَرضاهُ
Those I pleased for truth’s sake I shielded with it,
And fewer are shielded by what they are pleased by.
لا عُذرَ لِلشَجَرِ الَّذي طابَت لَهُ
أَعراقُهُ أَلّا يَطيبَ جَناهُ
No excuse for a tree whose roots thrived
Yet whose fruit failed to thrive.
قالوا أَبو عيسى تَضَمَّنَ أَسوَما
جَنَتِ الخُطوبُ عَلَيكَ قُلتُ عَساهُ
They said: Abu ‘Isa exaggerated his metaphors,
I said: may his speech rise yet further!
سَمَّتهُ أُسرَتُهُ العَلاءَ وَإِنَّما
قَصَدوا بِذَلِكَ أَن تَتِمَّ عُلاهُ
His lineage aimed him for the heights, intending
His summit be completed, his distinction assured.
كُلُّ الَّذي تَبغي الرِجالُ تُصيبُهُ
حَتّى تَبَغّى أَن تُرى شَرواهُ
Men obtain all they desire, until desiring
To behold their most noble principles.
سِيّانِ بادِئُ فِعلِهِ وَتَلِيُّهُ
كَالبَحرِ أَقصاهُ أَخو أَدناهُ
It matters not if an act begins or ends it,
Like the sea – the furthest and nearest are one.
أَحمى عَلَيهِ الفاحِشاتِ حَياؤُهُ
مِن أَن يَراهُ اللَهُ حَيثُ نَهاهُ
Modesty restrained him from vices
More than fear God sees where He prohibited.
يُلغي الدَنِيَّةَ أَن يَروحَ مُؤَثِّراً
بِسَماعِها المُتَعَبِّدُ الأَوّاهُ
Meekness cancels lowliness when the devout
Gladly overhear and obey its call.
لا أَرتَضي دُنيا الشَريفِ وَدينَهُ
حَتّى يُزَيِّنَ دينُهُ دُنياهُ
I refuse the noble his worldly success unless
His conduct beautifies his success.
مازالَ مُنقَطِعَ القَرينِ وَقَد أَرى
مَن لايَزالُ مُشاكِلاً يَلقاهُ
Long bereft of a peer, though I see
He who always contends shall meet his match.
لَيسَ التَوَحُّدُ بِالسِيادَةِ عِندَهُم
أَن يوجَدَ الضُرَباءُ وَالأَشباهُ
To them supremacy is not uniqueness –
Rivals and carbon-copies abound!
ما الطَرفُ تَرجِعُهُ بِأَقصَرَ مِن مَدى
أُكرومَةٍ طالَت إِلَيهِ خُطاهُ
No glance returns in less than the expanse
Of a vast desert horizon stretching endlessly wide.
نَحوي بِسُؤدُدِهِ الحُظوظَ فَتارَةً
جودٌ يَطوعُ لَنا وَطَوراً جاهُ
My poetic expertise gives luck capriciously –
Sometimes generosity, then status pays heed.
كَالغَيثِ مايَنفَكُّ يَعتَقِدو الثَرى
خَلفٌ لِمُعظَمِ مُزنِهِ وَتُجاهُ
Like rain relentlessly watering the land –
Rivals succeeding but my supremacy confirmed.
