لا لَهفَةَ النَفسِ عَلى غابَةٍ
كُنتُ وَهِنداً نَلتَقي فيها
No yearning of the soul for a forest
Oh, the yearning of the soul for a forest,
Where I and Hind once used to meet
Where Hind and I used to meet.
أَنا كَما شاءَ الهَوء وَالصِبا
وَهيَ كَما شاءَت أَمانيها
I was as the breeze and youth wished me to be
I, as passion and youthfulness desired,
And she was as her fancies willed to be
And she, as her own wishes willed.
تَكادُ مِن لُطفِ مَعانيها
يَشرَبُها خاطِرٌ رائيها
Her gentle meanings are almost
Almost, from the delicacy of her essence,
Drunk in by a beholding mind
The imagination of her beholder drinks her in.
آمَنتُ بِاللَهِ وَآياتِهِ
أَلَيسَ أَنَّ اللَهَ باريها
I believe in God and His signs
I have believed in God and His signs;
Is not God her creator?
Is it not that God is her Creator?
نُباغِتُ الأَزهارَ عِندَ الضُحى
مُتَّكِئاتٍ في نَواحيها
I take the flowers unawares at dawn
We would surprise the flowers in the forenoon,
Leaning in their corners
As they reclined in the forest's corners.
أَلوى عَلى الزَنبَقِ نِسرينُها
وَالتَفَّ عاريها بِكاسيها
The narcissus bends its slender neck
Its wild rose bent over the lily,
And the lily unveils her finery
And the naked stem entwined with the leafy one.
وَاِختَلَجَت في الشَمسِ أَلوانَها
كَأَنَّها تَذكُرُ ماضيها
Their hues convulsed in the sunlight
Their colors quivered in the sunlight,
As though remembering their bygone days
As though remembering their past.
تَآلَفَت فَالماءُ مِن حَولِها
يَرقُصُ وَالطَيرُ تُغَنّيها
The waters round them harmonized
They fell in harmony, so the water around them
And the birds sing their praise
Dances, and the birds sing to them.
مَن لَقَّنَ الطَيرَ أَناشيدَها
وَعَلَّمَ الزَهرَ تَآخيها
Who taught the birds their melodies
Who taught the birds their anthems,
And the flowers their affinity?
And taught the flowers their fraternity?
يا هِندُ هَذي مُعجِزاتُ الهَوى
وَإِنَّها فين كَما فيها
O Hind, these are the miracles of love
O Hind, these are the miracles of passion,
They are here as they are in it
And truly, they exist within us just as within them.
لا تَستَحي الزَهرُ بِإِعلانِها
فَما لَنا نَحنُ نُواريها
The flowers are not shy to proclaim it
The flowers are not ashamed to declare them,
Why then should we conceal it?
So why is it that we conceal them?
وَتَهتِفُ الطيرُ بِها في الرُبى
فَما لَنا نَحنُ نُعَمّيها
The birds celebrate it in the thickets
And the birds proclaim them upon the hills,
Why then should we deny it?
So why is it that we obscure them?
لِلَّهِ في الغابَةِ أَيّامُنا
ما عابَها إِلّا تَلاشيها
To God belong our days in the forest
How wonderful, by God, were our days in the forest;
Only their passing saddens it
Nothing flawed them except their fleetingness.
طَوراً عَلَينا ظِلُّ أَدواحِها
وَتارَةً عَطفُ دَواليها
Now the shade of its branches covers us
At times, the shade of its great trees covered us,
Now the bend of its creeks
And at others, the embrace of its vines.
وَارَةً نَلهو بِأَعنابِها
وَتارَةً نُحصي أَقاحيها
Now we toy with its grapes
Sometimes we would amuse ourselves with its grapes,
Now count its unripe figs
And at others, we would count its daisies.
تَسكُتُ إِذ نَشكو شَحاريرُها
كَأَنَّما التَغريدُ يُؤذيها
Its birds fall silent should we complain
Its blackbirds fall silent when we whisper our complaints,
As though their song would annoy it
As if their singing would cause harm.
وَإِن تَضاحَكنا سَمِعنا الصَدى
يَضحَكُ مَعَنا في أَقاصيها
And if we laugh we hear the echo
And if we laughed together, we heard the echo
Laugh in return from its farthest reaches
Laughing along with us in its furthest reaches.
وَإِن مَشَينا فَوقَ كُثبانِها
لاحَت فَشاقَتنا أَدانيها
And if we walk atop its dunes
And if we walked upon its dunes,
Its sides shine as they split before us
Its nearest parts appeared and enchanted us.
وَفَوقَنا الأَغصانُ مَعقودَةٌ
ذَوائِبٌ طالَ تَدَلّيها
And above us, the branches entwined
While above us, branches were intertwined,
Tresses, long their dangling
Like tresses of hair hanging long.
إِذا هَزَزناها عَن غُرَّةٍ
أَلقَت مِنَ الذُعرِ لَآليها
If we shake them in sudden frolic
If we shook them unawares,
They cast down their trinkets in alarm
They would drop their pearly dew in panic.
نَسيرُ مِن كَهفٍ إِلى جَدوَلٍ
نَكتَشِفُ الأَرضَ وَنَطويها
We walk from cave to brook
We wander from a cave to a stream,
Discovering the land, unfolding it
Exploring the earth and traversing its expanse.
وَالنورُ عِطرٌ في تَعريجِها
وَالعِطرُ نورٌ في حَواشيها
The light is perfume in its winding path
The light is a fragrance in its winding paths,
The perfume, light on its edges
And the fragrance is light upon its borders.
وَتَختَبي هِندٌ فَأَشتقُها
وَأَختَبي عَنها فَأُغريها
And Hind hides so I miss her
Hind hides herself, and I track her trace,
And I hide from her so she wants me
And I hide from her to entice her search.
كَم أَوهَمَتني الخَوفَ مِن طارِئٍ
تَشجي بِذا نَفسي فَتُشجيها
How fear has fooled me of looming change
How often she feigned fear of some intruder,
To disturb my soul and unsettle it
Gripping my soul with anxiety to move hers.
فَرُحتُ أَعدو نَحوَها مُشفِقاً
فَكانَ ما حاذَرتُ تَمويها
I ran to her, afraid for her sake
So I would rush towards her in concern,
And what I dreaded came to pass
Only to find my fears were but a ruse.
فَاِعجَب لِأَطواري وَأَطوارِها
تَعبَثُ مِنّي وَأُجاريها
How strange are my ways and hers!
Marvel then at my moods and hers,
She plays with me and I oblige her
She toys with me, and I play along.
اللَهُ لَو دامَ زَمانُ الهَوى
وَدامَ مِن هِندٍ تَجَنّيها
God, if only the days of love lasted
Oh God, if only the time of passion had lasted,
And Hind's gathering of me lasted
And if only Hind's playful tyranny had endured.
لا غابَتي اليَومَ كَعَهدي بِها
وَلا الَّتي أَحبَبتُها فيها
My wilderness today would be like my pact with her
My forest today is not as I once knew it,
And she I loved in it would be too
Nor is she whom I loved within it.
وَلا تِلالٌ كَنُهودِ الدُمى
وَلا سُفوحٌ كَتَراقيها
And the hills like the curves of a beautiful woman
No hills remain like the breasts of idols,
And the slopes like their undulations
Nor slopes that resemble her collarbones.
وَلا النَدى دَرَّ عَلى عُشبِها
وَلا الأَقاحي في رَوابيها
Dew would drip on its grasses
No dew flows like pearls upon its grass,
And the unripe figs on its paths
Nor do daisies bloom upon its hillocks.
وَلا الضُحى يُلقي عَلى أَرضِها
شِباكَ تِبرٍ مِن أَعاليها
And the dawn strew its ground
The forenoon no longer casts upon its earth
With nets of light from on high
Nets of gold dust from its heights.
أَهبَطَني أَمسُ إِلى حُضنِها
شَوقي إِلى سَجعِ قَماريها
Yesterday, longing led me down to its bosom
Yesterday, longing brought me down to its bosom,
For the music of its dicing
Yearning for the cooing of its turtledoves.
فَلَم تُخَمِّشُني بِأَوراقِها
وَلَم تُهَلِّل لي سَواقيها
But it did not tear me with its leaves
But it did not graze me with its leaves,
Nor ring its channels for me
Nor did its streams sing out a welcome to me.
قَد بَدَّلَ الإِنسانُ أَطوارَها
وَاِغتَصَبَ الطَيرَ مَآويها
Man has changed its ways
Man has altered its very nature,
And robbed its birds of their nests
And usurped the sanctuaries of the birds.
وَفَتَّ بِالبارودِ جُلمودَها
وَاِجتَثَّ بِالفَأسِ دَواليها
He broke its inertia with gunpowder
He has shattered its boulders with gunpowder,
And uprooted its creeks with axes
And uprooted its vines with the axe.
وَشادَ مِن أَحجارِها قَريَةً
سُكّانُها الناسُ وَأَهلوها
And built from its stones a village
He raised from its stones a village,
Whose people settled and claimed it
Inhabited by people and their kin.
يا لَهفَةَ النَفسِ عَلى غابَةٍ
كُنتُ وَهِنداً نَلتَقي فيها
O yearning of the soul for a forest
Oh, the yearning of the soul for a forest,
Where I and Hind once used to meet
Where Hind and I used to meet.
جَنَّةُ أَحلامي وَأَحلامِها
وَدارُ حُبّي وَتَصابيها
The garden of my dreams and hers
The paradise of my dreams and hers,
The home of my love and our affinity
The abode of my love and her youthful play.
نَبكي مِنَ اليَأسِ عَلى شَوكِها
وَكانَ يُدميني وَيُدميها
We cry in despair over its thorns
We weep in despair over its thorns,
Though they drew my blood and drew hers
Which once drew blood from me and her.
كانَت تُغَطّينا بِأَوراقِها
فَصارَتِ الدورُ تُغَطّيها
It used to shelter us with its leaves
It used to cover us with its leaves;
Now buildings shelter it
Now, houses have come to cover it.
