بَكَيتُكِ بالْعَينِ التي أَنْتِ أُختُها
وشمسُ الضحى تبكيك إِذ أَنتِ بنتُها
I wept for you with the eye whose sister you are;
and the noonday sun weeps for you, since you are her daughter.
وتَضحَكُ غِزْلانُ الفَلاةِ لأَنَّني
بعينيك لمَّا أَنْ نظرتُ فضحْتُها
The gazelles of the wilderness laugh, because I—
when I looked with your eyes—put them to shame.
ويا منيةً يا ليتني لم أَفز بها
وأمنيةً يا لَيْتَني ما بلغْتُها
O heart’s desire, would that I had never won her!
O cherished wish, would that I had never attained her!
شهدْتُ بأَنيَّ فيك أَلأَمُ ثاكل
لليلةِ بَيْن مِتِّ فيها وعشتُها
I bear witness that I suffer the anguish of one bereaved
because of a night in which I both died and lived.
أَفادِيتي يا ليت أَنِّي فديتُها
وسابقتي يا ليت أَنِّي سَبَقْتُها
Did you ransom me? Ah, would that I had ransomed her!
She outstripped me—ah, would that I had preceded her!
وقد كنتِ عندي نعمةً وكأَنني
وقد عِشْتُ يوماً بعدها قد كفرتُها
You were indeed a blessing in my keeping, and it is as though I—
having lived one day after her—have denied that blessing.
وما بال نفسي فيِك ما كان بخْتُها
مماتي لمَّا لم يَعِش مِنْك بختُها
What ails my soul? Why was it not its good fortune in you
to die when you died, since none of its good fortune in you survived?
نعَمْ كبِدي لا وَجْنتي مُذْ لطمْتُها
عليكِ وعيشي لا ثيابي شققْتُها
Yes, it was my heart’s core—not my cheek—that I struck
for you; and my life—not my garments—that I tore apart.
أَيا دهر قد أَوجَدتْني مُذْ وَجدتها
فما لك لا أَعْدمْتني إِذْ عَدِمتُها
O Time, you brought me into being when I found her;
why did you not annihilate me when I lost her?
تطلَّبتها من ناظِرِي بعد فقدِها
فضَاعَتْ ولكن في فؤادِي وَجدْتُها
After losing her, I sought her within my very sight;
I redoubled my search, yet found her in my heart.
ثكلتكِ بدراً في فؤادِي شروقُه
وفاكهةً في جنةِ الخلد نبْتُها
I lost you—a full moon whose rising was in my heart,
a fruit whose growth was in the Garden of Eternity.
على رغْمِها خانتْ عُهُودِي وإِنَّه
جزاءٌ لأَنِّي كمْ وفتْ لي وخنتُها
Against her will, she broke her covenants with me; and that
is just recompense—for how often she was faithful while I betrayed her.
وأَنفقتُ من تِبْرِ المدامِع للأَسى
كنوزاً لهذا اليوم كُنْتُ ذخَرْتُها
In sorrow I spent, from the pure gold of tears,
treasures I had stored up for this day.
وسَالت على خدَّيَّ م لوْعَة الجَوى
سيُولُ دموع خُضْتُها ثم عُمْتُها
Down my cheeks, from the burning anguish of consuming grief, flowed
torrents of tears that I waded through, then swam.
لآلئُ دمعي من لآلئَ ثغْرها
ففي وَقْتِ لثْمي كُنْتُ منهُ سرقتُها
The pearls of my tears came from the pearls of her mouth:
when I kissed her, I had stolen them from there.
قد اعتذرت نفسي بأَنَّ بقاءَها
لتندَبها لكنَّني ما عَذرتُها
My soul pleaded that its survival was
so that it might mourn her—but I did not excuse it.
وجُهْدِي إِمَّا زفرةٌ قد حَبَسْتُها
عَلْيها وإِمَّا دمْعةٌ قد سَكبْتُها
All I can manage is either a sigh I have stifled
for her, or else a tear I have shed.
أَصارتْ حصاة القلبِ مني حقيقةً
حصاةً لأَنِّي بعدها قد نَبَذْتُها
Has my heart’s hard core truly become
a pebble—a pebble because, after her, I cast it away?
ومعشوقةٍ لي لسْتُ أَعشقُ بَعدها
نعَمْ لي أُخرى بَعْدها قد عشِقْتُها
She was a beloved: after her I love no one—
yes, I have another whom, after her, I have come to love:
عَشِقْتُ على رَغْم الحياةِ مَنيَّتي
تراني لمَّا أَن عَشِقْتُ أَغرْتُها
against life’s will, I fell in love with my death;
you see me—when I loved death, I made life jealous.
أَزورُ فؤادِي كلما اشْتقْتُ قبْرها
غرَاماً لأَني في فؤادِي دفنْتُها
Whenever I long for her grave, I visit my heart,
out of ardent love—for it was in my heart that I buried her.
وأَشرَقُ بالماءِ الَّذي قد شربتُهُ
وما شرَقي إِلاَّ لأَنِّي ذكرْتُها
I drink from the water that she once drank,
and I choke only because I remember her.
وأَمْنحُها نفْسِي ورُوحي وأَدْمُعِي
ولو طلبتْ مني الزِّيادَةَ زِدْتُها
I offer her my soul, my spirit, and my tears;
and if she asked me for more, I would give her more.
محاسِنُها تحت الثرى ما تغَيبت
كذا بجَناني لا بعَقْليَ خِلْتُها
Her beauties have never vanished beneath the earth;
thus I picture her with my heart, not my reason.
ولو بَلِيت تلك الحُلى وتنكَّرتْ
وأَبصرتَها بعد البلى لعرَفْتُها
Even if those ornaments decayed and became unrecognizable,
were I to see her after decay, I would know her.
يُريني خيالي شخْصَها وبهاءَها
ونضْرتَها حتى كأَنِّي نظرْتُها
My imagination shows me her form and her splendor,
her radiance, until it is as though I see her.
غدتْ في ثرَاها عَاطِلاً وبجيدِها
عقودُ لآلٍ من دُمُوعِي نظمْتُها
In her earth she has become unadorned, yet around her neck
are strings of pearls from my tears, which I have threaded.
فيَا لحدَها يا ليت أَنِّي سَكنْتُه
وأَكْفانَها يا ليْتَ أَنِّي لبسْتُها
O her grave—would that I had dwelt in it!
O her shrouds—would that I had worn them!
فلا تجحدي إِن قلت قبرُك جَنَّةٌ
فرائحةُ الفردوسِ منه شمَمْتُها
So do not deny it when I say: your grave is a garden;
for from it I have breathed the fragrance of Paradise.
Sol 5.6