لِمَن العيسُ لها في البيد نفحُ
شَفَّها التأويبُ وَالشَوقُ الملحُّ
For whom is the beauty whose fragrance wafts in the desert?
Whose lips are moistened by yearning and ardent longing,
ضُمَّرٌ تمرحُ شَوقاً في البُرى
وَبها من لاعج الأَشواقِ برحُ
Who roams ardently in the wilderness, consumed by desire,
And who plunges into the sea of passions without fatigue?
تقطعُ الأَرضَ وِهاداً ورُبى
وَلَها في لجِّ بَحر الآلِ سَبحُ
She traverses the land gently and at ease
And swims in the deep waters effortlessly.
وإذا ما لاحَ بَرقٌ بالحِمى
وَهي تَعدو مَرَحاً كادَت تُلحُّ
When lightning flashes in the darkness,
And she trots playfully, almost flying.
ما على من حَمَّلوها قَمَراً
يَهتَدي الرَكبُ به إِن جَنَّ جُنحُ
They likened her to the moon guiding lost travelers,
If shadows crept and the darkness thickened.
لو أَصاخوا للمُعَنّى ساعةً
يَشرح الوَجدَ وهل لِلوَجدِ شَرحُ
If they were to pause and contemplate the meaning,
It would relieve the passion, though passion has no relief.
خلَّفوهُ عانياً لا يُفتَدى
من هَواه وَعليلاً لا يَصِحُّ
They left him suffering, beyond ransom,
Enslaved by his love, beyond cure.
كَيفَ يَقفو إِثرَ من قد ظعنوا
تابعاً وَالدَمعُ للآثار يَمحو
How can he follow those who have forsaken him,
While tears erase their traces?
وَمَتى يَرجو التَسَلّي مُغرَمٌ
يَنطَوي منه على الأَحزان كَشحُ
When can the broken-hearted find consolation,
As sorrows fold around him like a bag?
كُلَّما حنَّ إِلى السَفح هوىً
بلَّ ردنَيه من الأَجفان سَفحُ
Whenever he inclines toward the stream,
His tears hold him back from the eyelids' rim.
ما لِوَرقاءِ الحِمى لا صَدَحَت
أَنا أَهوى وَهيَ بالشَكوى تلحُّ
Why are the gazelles of the sanctuary silent?
I yearn while she complains endlessly.
أَينَ مِن شَوقي وَرقاءُ الحِمى
للحِشا صدعٌ وَلِلوَرقاءِ صَدحُ
Where is my passion, gazelles of the sanctuary?
The groves echo the deer while the gazelles resound.
وَدَفينُ الشَوق يُبديه الجَوى
مِثلُ سِرِّ الزَند إذ يوريه قَدحُ
Buried passion is revealed through the wounds
As the spark reveals the secret essence of flint.
آهِ من ذِكرى لُييلاتِ اللِوى
حيث أَهلي جيرَةٌ وَالدَهرُ صُلحُ
Ah, the memory of nights of desire and bliss!
While my people were neighbors and fate was kind.
هَكَذا تفدحُ أَيّامُ النَوى
كَم لأَيّام النوى بالبين فَدحُ
Such are the days of pining that flee,
How many joys have vanished with separation!
وَعَناءٌ في تَصاريف الهَوى
عاذِلٌ يَلحو وأَشواقٌ تُلحُّ
Torment comes with the course of passion,
Reproaching and longing persistently call.
يا خَليليَّ اِبذلا نُصحَكما
إِن يكن عندَكما للخلِّ نُصحُ
My two friends, offer sincere advice,
If sincerity to the confidant can be found.
هَل قَضى حقَّ التَصابي كَلِفٌ
هو بالروح وحقِّ اللَهِ سَمحُ
Has the loyal fulfiller of promises been just?
By God, he is most generous and kind.
جدَّ في الحُبِّ بيَ الوَجدُ وقد
كانَ ظَنّي أَنَّ جدَّ الحبّ مَزحُ
Passion overwhelmed me, though I thought
The depths of love were jest and play.
وَالهَوى صَعبٌ على عِلّاته
وَقُصارى الحبِّ إِكداءٌ وكَدحُ
For passion's heat is hard to endure,
And the utmost of love is toil and struggle.
غير أَنّي بأَحاديث الصِبا
نَحوَ لذّات الصِبا وَاللَهو أَنحو
Yet I incline toward the pleasures of youth
And the enjoyments and games of boyhood.
لَستُ أَشكو لَفحَ نيران الجَوى
إِن يكن لي من رَسول اللَه نَفحُ
I do not complain of the fires of passion
If I can obtain the breath of God's Messenger.
سَيَّدُ الكونَين والمَولى الَّذي
غَمرَ الخلقَ له مَنٌّ ومَنحُ
The Master of Both Worlds, the Guardian
Who has immersed creation in His blessings.
بهرت آياتُه إِذ ظهرَت
فَلَها بالسَعد إِشراقٌ ولَمحُ
His signs shone brilliantly when they appeared,
Illuminating the horizon gloriously.
قامَ يَجلو ظُلَمَ الكفر بها
مثلما يَجلو ظَلامَ اللَيلِ صُبحُ
He dispelled the darkness of disbelief through them
As the dawn dispels the blackness of night.
وَفَرى الشِركَ بماضيهِ فَلَم
يُرأمُ الدَهرَ له مِن بَعد جُرحُ
So polytheism saw its past faults and since then
No wounds have touched it throughout time.
رجَحَ الخلقَ كمالاً فَلَه
النُهى الأَرجَحُ وَالقَولُ الأَصحُّ
He brought Creation to perfection so He holds
The most weighty prohibition and wisest word.
وله القِدحُ المُعَلّى في العُلى
كلَّما فازَ لذي العلياءِ قِدحُ
To Him belongs the sublime chalice in the Highest,
Whenever the Most High attains victory, He drinks.
كَم وَكَم مِن نِعمَةٍ وَشَّحَها
عاتقُ الدهر بكفٍّ لا تَشحُّ
How much grace has He bestowed bountifully,
With an open palm that never withholds!
وَشَفى قَرحاً بأسنى هِمَّةٍ
من عُلاهُ حين مَسَّ القومَ قَرحُ
He healed the deepest wound with His noble resolve
When affliction struck the people with its sting.
وإِذا خابَ لراجٍ أَملٌ
فَلَه عند رَسول اللَهِ نُجحُ
And when hope fails for one who hopes,
Salvation lies with the Messenger of God.
سَيِّدٌ أَدنى مَزاياهُ العُلى
وأَقلُّ النَيل من جَدواه سَحُّ
A Master whose least trait is sublimity,
And the least gained from His bounty is plenty.
يا رَسولَ اللَه يا مَن لم يَزَل
للوَرى من فَضلِهِ كسبٌ وربحُ
O Messenger of God! You whose nobility
Has always brought the world gain and profit.
أَنتَ أَنتَ المُرتَجى إِن سَنحَت
كُربَةٌ أَو أَعوزَ الإِقبالَ سُنحُ
You are the one hoped for if distress comes
Or the roads to success are blocked.
هب لراجيك وهَبهُ عاصيا
أَينَ منكَ اليومَ إِغضاءٌ وَصَفحُ
Show clemency to your errant supplicant
Where today is your pardoning and forgiving?
واِنتقِدهُ من يد البَين الَّذي
لَم يَزَل يَشذبُهُ جَوراً وَيَلحو
Save him from the hands of separation that
Has ceaselessly severed him ruthlessly.
أَدنِهِ منكَ جِواراً فَلَقَد
ضاقَ وَاللَه به في الهِند فَسحُ
Bring him near to You in sanctuary, for
The vastness of India has straitened him.
وَقوافٍ قُدتُها طوعَ يَدي
بعد أَن أَعيا الوَرى منهنَّ جَمحُ
Destinies I can control through my hands
After the world was worn out by their tyranny.
يَحسدُ الروضُ لآلي نَظمِها
إِذ حَكاها من سَقيط الطَلِّ رشحُ
The garden envies their subtle composition,
As soft rain describes them dripping from branches.
وَتَوَدُّ الخودُ إذ تُصغي لها
أَنَّها في جيدِها طَوقٌ ووشحُ
The cheek wishes, as it listens to them,
That it were the necklace encircling his neck.
كُلُّ غَرّاءَ اذا ما أنشِدَت
زانَها في شيَم المُختار مَدحُ
Every coquettish woman, when she recites them,
Is adorned by the virtues of the chosen elite.
