هل الطِّيبُ من ليلى على النأي طارقُهْ
فيشفي جوى الوجدِ الذي هو شائقُه
Does the fragrance of Layla's night visitor heal
The agony of passion that so consumes me?
لقد هاج لي بينُ الخليل صبابةً
عشيّةَ زُمَّتْ للفراق أَيانِقُه
Between the encampments love provoked tumult—
On the eve when the time of parting was appointed.
ألم تر ما ألقى من الشوقِ كلما
رميتُ بطرفي حيث كانت حزائقه
Have you not seen how, whenever my eyes
Wander her way, longing leaps up inside me?
وقفنا على الربع الذي بان أهلُهُ
ولا دمعَ إلا وهو تجري سوابقه
We halted in a camp whose folk had struck their tents
And gone, and there remained no tear but flowed
كأن بقايا ما عفا من رسومه
كتابُ يهوديٍّ أُمِحَّت مَهارقه
As if what ruins survived of their traces
Were pages a Jew had erased of its diacritics.
ولم أنسَ إذ قالوا الرحيل ويمَّمتْ
حُدوجُهُمُ قُفّاً طوالاً شواهقه
I'll not forget, when they said "Depart!" and turned
Their camel-litters away, tall and towering.
وقالوا غرابُ البين ينعقُ بالنوى
فيا ليت أنَّ البين يَخرَسُ ناعقه
They said, "The crow of estrangement caws with the pack-beasts!"
Would that estrangement's crow were struck dumb!
فشبهتُ ظُعنَ الحيِّ لما تحمَّلوا
بيانعِ نخلٍ يزدهي العينَ باسقه
So I compared the stabbing pain of their leaving
To the swaying of a lissome palm's topmost crown.
يُغازلني من جانب الخدر جُؤذَرٌ
يتيهُ بما تحويه منه قَراطقه
A little fox from the thicket professes his love,
Lost in the maze his vixen has within her.
أبى الحُسنُ إلا أن يكون هلالُهُ
مغاربُه في وجهه ومشارقهْ
My friend refused any but a new moon for his crescent,
Its settings in his face, its risings too.
كأنّ على أنيابِهِ بعد هجعةٍ
رحيقَ مدامٍ شجَّه لك غابقُه
As if, when his yawning mouth gapes after slumber,
The spittle in it were old, aged wine.
أُحبُّ لحبِّيهِ الربيعَ لأنه
بِخَدَّيْهِ يبدو وَرْدُهُ وشقائقُه
For my love the spring—for his cheeks disclose
A rose blossoming, and there bud violets.
له بَشَرٌ أهدى إلى المسك مثلما
إلى الجَيْبِ والأردان أهدى ملاعقُه
His down guides the musk, as his fingers guide
Coins to his purse, the spoon to the table.
وَخَصْرٌ به أضحى يليقُ وشاحه
إذا ما بدا ما لا تليقُ مناطِقُه
His smooth cheek adorns the wine-haunted revels
When all cheeks the vine's inebriation decks.
يزيِّن أثناءَ المخانقِ جيدُه
إذا كلُّ جيدٍ زَيَّنَتْهُ مخانِقه
Were his bright cheek to meet the gaze of one vigil-keeping,
That gaze in his cheek would confound its intent.
فلو قابلتْ خَدَّيْهِ ألحاظُ رامقٍ
لأتَّرَ في خديْهِ باللحظِ رامقُه
Between us nothing but a stolen glance, I thieving
At times, and at times he stealing from me.
فما كان إلا اللحظُ بيني وبينه
يسارِقُنِيْهِ تارةً وأُسارقه
If only a heart not weaned, still at the breast,
Could know the grief in the heart of one sundered!
ولو أنَّ ما أبقى بقلبي من أسىً
بقلب الذي في المهدِ شابتْ مفارقه
My care is stirred by night's falling starless curtain,
My tears flowing free in the morn's bright daybreak.
يهيِّجُ همّي الليلُ ما لاحَ نَجْمُهُ
وَيُكثرُ بثي الصبحُ ما ذَرَّ شارقه
How monks' voices have rasped my hearing with litanies,
Yet he never heard what his comrade complained of!
وكم سَلَقَ العُذَّلُ سمعي بألْسُنٍ
حدادٍ فلم يَسْمَعْ لما قال سالقه
A rending when the riding camels spread out their bedding—
As if their hobbles and pegs were those of eagles!
وَخَرْقٍ إذا جابَ المطيُّ بَسَاطَهُ
تقسَّمها أصواحُهُ وَسَمالِقُه
Their leg joints seem as if seared by sparks from the hearthfires,
Whenever their towering bodies swerve in the saddle.
كأنَّ ضرامَ النارِ يلفحُ رَكْبَهُ
إذا احترَّ من وقدِ الهجير شواهقه
The firewood's blaze on their backs brings to mind flashes
Of lightning amid ships' timbers floating in darkness.
يُشَبَّهُ وَقْدُ الآل فيه بِلُجَّةٍ
يعوم بها عَوْمُ السفينِ نَقانقه
I traversed, while night's darkness spread out its skirts,
A mettlesome steed the mountains cannot turn back.
قَطَعْتُ وقد جَرّ الظلامُ مُتُونَهُ
على متْنِ هِرْكَوْلٍ تورعُ شقاشِقُه
Scornful his legs of bit's constraint and whip's coercion—
His bridle apt in the hand of a guide who knows horsemanship.
أبى القودَ والسَّوْقَ الشَّديدَ مِراحُهُ
فقائدُهُ عنه يجيدُ وسائقه
He courses like the wind through every stony waste,
Far from the land of myrrh's tender, pliant boughs.
يمرُّ كمرِّ الريح في كل صَحْصَحٍ
بعيدِ مَرام الوِرْدِ شُهبٍ ودائقه
His hooves make the pebbles fly as though they were
Golden dinars from the striking of the engraver's die.
وتَنفي الحصى أخفاقُهُ فكأنها
دنانيرُ ضرَّابٍ نَفَتها مطارقُه
You'd think the tangled, dusty mane upon his chest
Was a cloud of pigeons fluttering up in alarm.
كأن اللُّغامَ الجعدَ فوق خَشاشِهِ
سبائخُ من بُرْسٍ تطيرُ شبارقُه
He folded the fifth mile upon the fifth until
I saw him dark red with the straining and the sweat.
طوى الخِمْس بعد الخِمْسِ حتى رأيتُهُ
من الشدِّ والإيغالِ حُمْراً حَمالقه
How many a chestnut in the horse herds grew up fatherless,
Many a bay tawny as resin orphaned of dam!
وكم مُحَّ من مَهْريَّةِ العيسِ غاربٌ
وَجُبَّ سنامٌ تامِكُ النيِّ زاهقه
Without him to ride I could not have spanned those deserts—
He it was made me dare so long and grueling a trek.
وما كنتُ أَطوي سبسباً بعد سبسبٍ
بعيد الفضا لولا الذي أَنا وامقه
There watered the valley of the two meadows a downpour
From a raincloud each time its lightning flashed.
سقى جنباتِ الرقتين مزمجرٌ
سكوبُ الغَزالي كلما عنَّ بارقُه
A lodging that when the Pleiades set within it
Is embraced by its ruins and open courts.
محلٌّ متى تَحْلُلْ به المزنُ تشتملْ
بنواره أَدماثُهُ وأَبارِقُه
It takes on the lovely features of a garden at dawn,
For beauty's detail enhances loveliness.
فيغدو وقد دَقَّتْ محاسنُ رَوْضِهِ
وما كان فضْلُ الحسنِ لولا دقائقه
You see blossoms like wrought gold when it shows
Its pearls and thin stamens that nod.
ترى الزهرَ كالحَلْيِ المَصُوغِ إذا بدا
يلوحُ عليه دُرُّهُ وعقائقه
The dewdrops mimic what wells up in the eyes
When they glance—just like mercury gleaming.
يحاكي العيونَ ما ترقرق دَمْعُها
إذا هو جالت في ذُراهُ رقارقه
Bough over bough bends gently breeze-stirred
As friend toward friend leans, embracing him close.
وَغُصْنٍ على غُصْنٍ تُمَيِّلُهُ الصَّبا
كما مال إِلفٌ نحو إِلفٍ يعانقه
Gardens of beauty to steal eyes' sight,
For the garden owes its beauty to these gardens.
حدائقُ روضٍ يحسرُ العينَ حُسْنُها
وما كان حُسْنُ الروض لولا حدائقه
How many sealed books whose bindings were undone
For slave girls' hands to unravel and unfold!
وكم مُكْمَحٍ بالقارِ فُضَّ ختامه
لتجلى على أيدي الوصائفِ عاتقه
At a joyful gathering I shared in its cheer,
Competing in revels with all its fair maidens.
لدى مجلسٍ ألقى به اللهوُ رَحْلَهُ
تُنازعني فيه الشَّمولَ غَرانِقُه
I spent the night being openhanded with wine along with
Some beauty whose manners no fault could be seen in.
فبتُّ أعاطَى الراحَ معْ كلِّ ماجدٍ
جميلِ المحيّا لا تُذَمُّ خلائقه
When the cupbearer poured it forth it glowed and shone
To delight them, his goblets and ewers.
إذا صبَّها الساقي أضاءت وأشرقت
لبهجتها أكوابُهُ ودوارقه
When the boon companions smelled its fragrance it was as though
Musk's scent from it came wafting through breaches.
إذا ما النديمُ اشتمَّها فكأنما
تنشَّقَ ريَّا المسك منها مناشقه
No beloved has ever estranged me who loved me,
No friend I befriended has ever spoken harshly.
وإني لأنفي الهمَّ عني بقهوةٍ
إذا طَرَقَتْ في جُنح ليل طوارقه
Yet if the door of misfortune one day should gall me
I'd not be distressed by its straitening influence!
وما كان يجفوني حبيبٌ أُحبُّهُ
وما كان يَقليني صديقٌ أُصادقُه
In my dealings I've always sought the path
Of doing what's right, for that shows the true heart.
على أنني لو أن بابَ ملمَّةٍ
تضايقَ يوماً لم يَهْلني تضايُقُه
Loyal am I if I pledge my word to another,
No good the one whose documents prove his betrayal.
وإِني إلى قَصدِ الخلائق لم أزلْ
إذا ما الأمرُ نابت حقائقه
Only he attains the heights who shows his hand and character
To be worthy of trust, and his promises valid.
وفيٌّ إذا أعطى الوثائقَ لامرئٍ
ولا خير فيمن لا تصحُّ وثائقه
My nature refuses abasement when perils encircle—
The bane rending the souls of our armed companies.
ولم يبلغ العلياءَ إلا الفتى الذي
تُرجَّى أياديه وتُخشى بوائقه
O Lord of an army whom morning surprised with a raid
Rendering useless their javelins and shield rims—
أبت خِندفي إلا سُموّاً إذا الوغى
يمزِّقُ أرواحَ الكتائب مازقُه
All were a feast for the birds in every quarter,
Ravens and kites picking bare their remains.
فيا ربَّ جيشٍ قد صَبَحنا بغارةٍ
فلم يُغنِ عنه زَغفُهُ ويلامِقُه
We are a people staunch in the face of battle-dust
Whenever war's dust rises fog-like in clouds.
بكلِّ حسامٍ لم يُسَلَّ لأنه
يُردُّ إليه جفنه ومعالقه
Yet some envy my poetry, though I've never envied
Another creature—when God Most High is the Provider.
فأضحوا قرىً للطير في كل موطنٍ
تنقّرهم غربانُه وعقاعقه
So you who aim to surpass me—I have seen
The hybrid outpaced by the thoroughbred racer.
وإِنّا أَناسٌ ما يُقَامُ لحربنا
إذا ما غبار الحرب مُدَّ سُرادقه
With my words' poison I have made foes taste
The viper's venom—and that venom destroys the taster.
ويحسدني في الشعر قومٌ ولم أكن
لأحسُدَ مخلوقاً وذو العرش رازقُه
Ask them, when he sucked venom from his mother's teat
Did it flow sweet, or corrode the sucker's palate?
فيا ذا الذي يسعى ليدركَ غايتي
رأيت هجيناً مع جوادٍ يُسابقه
Where now can the wretch look for one like me
When my lines hurl down lightning upon him?
أَذَقتُ دعيَّ القوم من سمِّ منطقي
وأَحجِ بأنَّ السمَّ يتلَف ذائقه
I have tasted the calumny of fellow poets—
But poison only kills the one who swallows it.
سلوه إذا ما امتصَّ من بظرِ أُمه
صديدَ أيورِ القوم هل هو باصقه
وأين لحاهُ الله يطلبُ موثلا
إذا عارضي سالت عليه صواعقه
