راحَ رسولي وجاءَني عاشِقْ
وعاقَه عن رِسالتي عائِقْ
My messenger left, and a lover came to me,
And an obstacle prevented him from delivering my message.
وعاد لاَ بالجوابِ بل بجوىً
أَخرسَه والهوى به ناطِقْ
He returned not with an answer, but with yearning -
It made him speechless, though love made him eloquent.
ومُخْجِل الشَّمس بالملاحة قد
أَلبس خدَّيَّ خجلةَ الواثق
The confident sun clothes my cheeks with shyness,
Like one wearing a garment.
والعذرُ فيمن هَوِيتُ منبسطٌ
والعذرُ في مثلِ حُسنه لائِق
My excuse is valid for she whom I love,
And for one with beauty like hers, desire is fitting.
أَوعدني أَنَّه سيلْحقُني
وكان لا سابقاً ولا لاحِقْ
He promised he would come to me,
Though he was neither foremost, nor following after.
وكان ظنِّي أَن سوف يطْرقُني
لأَنَّه النَّجمُ واسمه الطارِقْ
I thought he would visit me in the night,
For he is the star, and his name is Al-Tariq.
وقالَ لي مسكني السَّماءُ فإِن شئـ
ـتَ أَو اسْطَعتَ فارْقَ أَو فَارِقْ
He said, "My dwelling place is the sky. If you wish,
Shine, or set, or abandon, or separate."
هيهات هيهات أَن تُقيم بها
تملُّها والسماءِ والطَّارقْ
Alas! Alas! That he would stay there -
He would grow bored of it, and of the sky and the knocker.
كيفَ يَقرُّ الحبيبُ في وطنٍ
ولم يَزل قطُّ في حَشاً خافِقْ
How can a lover settle in a land
When he has always dwelt in ardour and passion?
له فمٌ كم سَرت به قُبَلِي
بالوهم بين العُذيبِ أَوْ بَارِق
He has a mouth - how my kisses delighted in it,
In my imaginings, amid reproach or lightning flash.
إِن لم أَكن آكلاً حلاوتَه
بالفَمِ إِنِّي بناظري ذائِق
If I have not tasted its sweetness with my mouth,
I have still savoured it with my gazing eyes.
ريقتُه عاتِقٌ محرَّمة
يا قومِ للغلامِ والْعَاتِق
I have sipped its red wine - forbidden
To the boy and the one embracing him.
قل لِلثَامِ الغُلام قبِّل عَلَى
رغمي وقل يا قميصَه عَانِقْ
Say to the garment, "Let the boy kiss me
Despite myself," and say, "Oh his shirt, embrace him!"
سبقتَني للعِناق فاحْظَ به
وما رأَى النَّاسُ قطُّ لي سابِقْ
You preceded me in embracing him - rejoice in that,
For people have never seen me precede another.
سبقتُهمْ للعَلاءِ مُشترياً
حتى لصيَّرتُ سوقَها نَافِق
I outdid them in rising to excellence, purchasing it
Until I made its market faithless and hypocritical.
وفقتُهمْ بالكمالِ وليعلم الـ
ـخلقُ بأَنَّ الكمالَ بي فَائِقْ
I surpassed them in perfection, and let people know
That perfection in me is transcendent.
أَنَّى لي النْقصُ إِنَّ مجدَ أَبي
سامٍ كما أَنَّ قدرَه سَامِقْ
Whence would imperfection come to me? My father’s glory,
Like his worth, is lofty.
هو الرَّشِيدُ الَّذي رئاستُه
سارَتْ بلا زاجرٍ ولا سَائِقْ
He is Al-Rashid, whose authority
Marched on with no driver or guide.
عُلاً يفوقُ السَّماءَ منزِلَةً
أَين تقولون طرفُه رامِقْ
His eminence surpasses the sky in rank -
Where do you suppose its pinnacle touches?
وفي سُرى الجوِّ أَصلُ نبعتهِ
أَين يظنُّونَ فرعَه باسِقْ
In the spheres of space lies the source of his spring -
Where do they reckon its branch is lofty?
يرى ظهورَ النجومِ طالعةً
وكيف يَرمي بهنَّ من حَالِقْ
He sees the stars rising
And how he hurls them as they set.
يُكْنَى أَبا الفضل فهو يعشَق شخـ
ـصَ الفضلِ والمرُ لابْنِه عَاشِق
His nickname is Father of Excellence - he loves
The essence of excellence, and command suits his son, the lover.
ويسرُق الليلُ نورَ غرته
كأَنما ذُرَّ فوقَها شَارِقْ
The night steals the light of his beauty,
As if a dawn were sprinkled over it.
وإِن دجَت في الخطوب معضلةٌ
فهو لإصْباحِ فجْرِها فالِق
If knots of misfortune appear,
He can unravel them at the break of his dawn.
كما الدُّجى والضُّحى لو اختلطا
لكان ما بين ذَا وذَا فارِق
Like the darkness and daylight if intermingled,
There would be a distinction between this and that.
ذكاؤُه يعلَمُ الغيوبَ فقد
أَضحَى عليماً بسرِّها حَاذِق
His intellect knows the unseen - verily
He has become knowledgeable in its mysteries.
ورأْيُه يملأُ الزَّمانَ فقد
ضاق وما صدره به ضائِقْ
His opinion fills the times - they are straitened,
Yet his bosom is not constrained by it.
وسعدُه عبدُه وإِن أَبق الـ
ـعبدُ فلا كان عبدُه آبق
His servant prospers though the servant remains disobedient,
For he was no runaway slave.
لو أَصبح المشتَرِي يُعانده
لحطَّه عن مكانِه الشَّاهِقْ
If the buyer were to defy him in the morning,
He would depose him from his lofty position.
وجودُهُ مغرِق العُفاةِ فكم
أَصبحَ منهم بجودِه غَارق
His generosity floods the destitute - how many
Has his munificence caused to drown?
أَعطاهُمُ كُلَّ صامتٍ فغدا
الصامت مِنْهم بمدحِه نَاطِق
He gave every silent one speech, so the silent ones
Among them began praising him in eulogies.
يحنّ تقبيلُهم إِلى يده
كما يَحِنُّ المشوقُ للشَّائِق
The desire to kiss his hand inclines them,
As the passionate lover yearns for the beloved.
قل لعدوٍّ جرى ليلْحَقه
هيهَات هيهاتَ لستَ باللاَّحِق
Say to the enemy who tried to catch up with him,
"Alas! Alas! You cannot catch up."
يرتقِّ فتقَ العلا إِذا فُتِقَتْ
وأَنت لا فائِقٌ ولا رَاتِق
He climbed to the heights when they were split open,
While you are neither transcendent nor sublime.
طرتَ ولكن مثلَ الفراش فلا
تفخرْ فما كلُّ طائر باشِقْ
You flew, but like a moth - do not boast,
For not every flier is brilliant and radiant.
من ادّعى مجدَه مُسارَقَةً
فقل له قد مُسِكْت يا سارق
If someone falsely claimed his glory stole it,
Say to him, "I have caught you red-handed, you thief!"
يظن أَعداؤُه به خُنقوا
وما لَهم خانِقٌ سوى الْخَالِقْ
His enemies fancied they had strangled him,
But they have no executioner save the Creator.
يا من بإِنعامِه ونَائِله
أَنْقَض ظَهْري وأَثْقَل العاتِقْ
Oh you whose favours and gifts
Have broken my back and burdened my shoulders!
أَقطعْتني وسْطَ بلدتي بلداً
سُرَّ به كلُّ رامِقٍ وامِقْ
You have granted me, in the midst of my city, lands
That delighted every tall and short person.
تغدو الدنانيرُ وهْي غلته
وسعرُها قطُّ لم يزَل نَافِقْ
Gold dinars are its revenue, and their price
Has never ceased to be advantageous.
ليس يُبالي بالنِّيل حين أَتَى
ولا إِذا ضنَّ بالحيا بَارِقْ
He does not care whether the Nile comes
Or withholds its flashing waters.
قد طاب لي مُجتنىً بغيرِ عَناً
والمِسْكُ لِمْ لا يطيبُ للنَّاشِق
Pure wine is pleasant to me without toil,
And why should not musk be sweet to the smeller?
وعيشَتي قد صَفَتْ فمورِدُها
مع كَدرِ الدَّهْرِ رَيِّقٌ رائِقْ
My life is purified, so its spring
With the turbulence of fate is limpid and clear.
إِن لم تكن خالِقي فقد أَذِن الـ
ـخالِقُ فِي أَنْ تكونَ لي رَازق
If you are not my Creator, still the Creator has permitted
That you provide for me.
يا جعفراً قد صدقْتَ وعدَك لي
فأَنتَ لا شكُّ جعفرُ الصَّادِق
Oh Ja'far, you have proven true your promise to me,
So you are undoubtedly Ja'far the Truthful.
