حَبيبَتي منذُ كان الحبُّ في سَحَرٍ
حُلوَ النسائمِ حتى عَقَّهُ الشَّفقُ
My beloved, since love was in enchantment
Sweet breezes, until the twilight stung it
ومذ تلاقى جَناحانا على فَنَنٍ
منه إلى العالَم المسحورِ ننطلقُ
And since our two wings met over arts
From it to the enchanted world we take off
نَصونُ عهدَ ضميرَيْنا وبينهما
نجوى بها همساتُ الروح تُستَرَق
We safeguard the covenant of our two consciences between them
The whispers of the soul steal its murmurs
يا حلوةَ المُجْتَلَى والنفسُ غائمةٌ
والأمرُ متخلِطٌ، والجوُّ مختنق
O sweet gathering and the soul is gloomy
And the matter is confused, and the air is suffocated
ويا ضحوكةَ ثغرٍ والدُّنَى عَبَسٌ
ويا صفيّة طبعٍ والمُنى رَنَق
And O smiling of a lip, and the world frowning
And O pure natured, and wishes are frustrated
ويا صبوراً على البلوى تلطِّفُها
حتى تعودَ كبنتِ الْحانِ تُصْطَفَق
And O patient with afflictions, soothing them
Until they return like the daughter of the compassionate crying
مني إليك سلامٌ لا يقومُ له
سِنُّ اليراعِ، ولا يَقوى به الورق
From me to you is a greeting that does not stand
The age of the meadow, nor is it strengthened by the paper
كأن نفسيَ إذ تغشَيْنَ وَحْدَتها
إنسانُ عينٍ بمرأى أختِها غَرِق
It is as if my soul when its loneliness overwhelms it
A person with insight sees his sister drowning
حبيبتي لم تخالِفْ بيننا غِيَرٌ
إلا وعُدْنا لماضينا فنتَّفقُ
My beloved, no one has disagreed between us
Except our appointment to our past, we agree
ولا اشتكى جانبٌ فَرْطَ الجفافِ بهِ
إلا ارتمى جانبٌ مخضوضرٌ أنِق
No side complained of the drought upon it
Except a green side, delicate, complained
نَهَشُّ لُطْفاً بلُقياهُمْ كما انتفضتْ
غُنُّ الرياض سَقاها الرائحُ الغَدِق
We softly bite their gentleness as the gardens awoke
When the heavy rain saturated it
حبيبتي والهوى، كالناسِ، خِلْقتُهُ
تُمَلُّ ما لم تغايَرْ عنده الخِلَق
My beloved, and love, like people, was created
Bored unless morals change with it
ما لذة الوصل لم يلوِ الصُّدودُ بهِ
والحبِّ لم يختلِسْ من أمنه الفَرَق
The pleasure of connection if the estrangement was not flavored with it
And love was not stolen from its safety by separation
بئستْ رتابةُ لحنٍ عودُه وتَرٌ
وبئسَ طعمُ حياة لونُها نَسَقُ
Miserable is the suspicion of a lute whose strings and body
And miserable is the taste of a life whose color is pale
تلك الثلاثون والتسعُ التي دَلَفتْ
تستاقنا عَنَتا طوراً وترتَفِق
Those thirty nine that sneaked in
Squeeze us for a while, then become gentle
للآن نَعْجَبُ من ألواحِ سيرتِها
مما تشابك فيها الحِلْمُ والخرَق
Until now we are amazed at the panels of its march
From what wisdom and tearing intertwined in it
جُعنا بها وشبِعنا، لا الغنى بَطَرٌ
ولا الطَّوى بَرَمٌ يجتَرّهُ الأرق
We both enjoyed it and we were full, not rich with satiation
Nor tired with saturation that insomnia drags
تَزيدُنا ثقةً بالنفس ضائقةٌ
كما يزيد جمالَ الضحوةِ الغَسَق
It increases our self-confidence when distress
As the darkness increases the beauty of twilight
معاُ نُعاطِي بأنفاسٍ مُصعَّدةٍ
معذَّبِينَ تعاطَوا كأسَنا وسُقُوا
Together we rise with ascending souls
Those who suffered, drank our cup and were quenched
كم ساء قوماً غُنُوا عِزّا فما سكتوا
مصابُ قومٍ غُنُوا ذُلاّ فما نَطَقوا
How bad are people who sang pride, and did not stop
The affliction of people who sang humiliation, and did not speak
نُصلَى بنارَينِ يُصلَى الخَلْقُ حرَّهما
سِيّانِ من حُرِموا منهم ومن رُزِقوا
We pray with two fires that people pray for their heat
Both those deprived of them and those granted them
في اليُسْرِ نارٌ لمعسورين أجّجها
نُبْلٌ وفي العسرِ نارٌ شبَّها الحنَق
In luxury a fire for the distressed it ignited
Nobleness, and in hardship a fire, hatred ignited it
ما إن نُحسّ بها حتى تُصَيِّرَها
بَرْداً مصايرُ قومٍ قبلنا احترقوا
We do not sense it until it makes
Cold the fates of people before us who burned
ماذا تظنينَ هل كانت لنا خِيَرٌ
فيما عداها ؟ وهل كانت لنا طُرُق
What do you think, did we have goodness
In anything other than it? And did we have ways?
وشِركَةٌ ومآسيها لها ثقةٌ
بنا ونحنُ بعُقْبَى أمرِها نثِق
And partnership, and its tragedies have confidence
In us, and we trust the outcome of its matter
حبيبتي لم تُصَرِّفْ زحفَنا " صدَفٌ "
كما يُصرِّف زحفَ الركب مُفتَرَق
My beloved, no swerving has diverted our crawl, seashells
As the crawling of caravans diverts the separated
ولا اصطفى القَدَرُ المظنونُ رحلتَنا
كنّا لها قَدَراً يَمضي ويَستبق
Nor did fate choose our imagined trip
We were fate that passes and outstrips
سِرْنا على الشوكِ يُدمينا ونألَفُهُ
وفي مفاوزَ ترمينا ونلتصق
We walked on thorns, wounding us, and we befriend it
And in desolate places it throws us, and we stick together
كنا نرى الجمرَ مشبوبا ونحترق
ومغرِسَ الرِّجْلِ ملغوماً ونَخْتَرِق
We saw the embers subdued and we burn
And the planted foot is mined, and we penetrate
مُجانفينَ دُروبا ذلَّ سالكُها
من فرط ما عبّدوا منها وما طَرَقوا
Facing paths that humiliated its travelers
Because they paved so much of it and did not tread
كأنّ ما استمرأوا منْ رَعيِها حَسَكٌ
فظٌ، وما استعذبوا من وِرْدها طرقُ
It is as if what they approved of its pasture was
Harsh, and what they found sweet of its nectar, paved ways
حبيبتي مَسَّنا ضُرٌّ بمجتمع
كلُّ الذي فوقَهُ في ضدّه شَرِقُ
My beloved, harm touched us in a society
All that above it, in its opposite, shone
تَسُدُّ فيه فراغَ الرّوح وحشَتُها
كما يُشوِّهُ فَتْقَ الرِّيْطةِ الرّتَق
It closes the vacuum of the soul and its loneliness
As deformity closes the slit of ripped
كأنّ ما يُتَخطّى منْ حواجزِهِ
حواجزُ الموتِ تخطوها فتَنْصعِق
It is as if what is crossed of its barriers
Are barriers of death, crossed, so it cracks
نُشْوَى بأحكامِهِ يوماً ونَرفُضُها
ونستَرقُّ له يوماً وننعتِق
We are heated by its rulings one day, and reject them
And one day we long for it, and we are freed
نسوم أنفُسَنا خسفاً يُجنِّبها
خَسْفا ويسخَرُ منّا الناهزُ اللّبِق
We make ourselves like a pit that saves it
A pit, and the mocker ridicules us, sly
ويحسَبُ العيشَ ما يُغنى الكفافُ به
إذِ الكفافُ لدى مَنْ حولَنا حُمُق
And considers life what livelihood is sufficient for it
Since for those around us livelihood is foolishness
ونُكْرِمُ الحرفَ أن يُودِي الهوانُ به
ويستبيحَ حِماهُ الواغل المذق
And we honor the craft if indignity carries it
And the transgressor plunders its sanctuary
وما سَلِمْنا منَ العَدْوى تلاحقنا
فعندنا من ثيابٍ نُفِّضَتْ شِقق
And we were not safe from the contagion chasing us
For with us are clothes that slits were opened in them
وقد أفاض علينا من جرائرِهِ
ما ساورت مسحَهُ الآهاتُ والحُرَق
And it has poured upon us from its monstrosities
What sighs caressed its touch, and burning
وبئسَ ذاك عزاءً، غير أنّ يداً
تكافحُ الموجَ قد يُوقَى بها الغَرَق
And miserable is that consolation, but a hand
That struggles with the wave may be saved from drowning
حبيبتي سيقُصُّ الدهرُ قِصّتنا
حتى لَيُكْذَبُ أقوامٌ وإن صدقوا
My beloved, time will recount our story
Until some people believe it, even if they were truthful
وكيف لا وخفايا أمرِها عجَبٌ
به علينا ضحايا سرِّهِ غَلَق
And how not, and the secrets of its matter are wondrous
With it, victims of its mystery were locked
ماذا لقينا ؟ أنُبدي مِسْخَ خِلقته
أم سوف يُلْعَنُ فيه الخَلْقُ والخُلُق ؟
What did we face? Do I reveal the distortion of its creation?
Or will people and morals be cursed in it?
من شامتينَ تبنَّوا خِزْيَ مُخْتَلِق
وغاضبينَ، وحيّاً ظلّ مُخْتَلِق
From gloaters who adopted the shame of the innovator
And angry, alive the innovator's shadow
أم سوف يندى من التاريخ زَوَّرَهُ
ما شاء وغدٌ جبينٌ بَلَّهُ العرَق
Or will it be erased from history, he who falsified it
What he wanted, and tomorrow a forehead he sweated on
لم يبقَ في الغاب من ذئبٍ به كَلَبٌ
إلا ومن دَمِنا في نابه لُعَق
No wolf remains in the forest that a dog remains in its fangs
Except from our blood is on its teeth, gluttonous
تشجّعي كم أدالَ الحقُّ من سَفَلٍ
داسوا عليه وكم دِيسوا وكم سُحِقوا
Take courage, how much truth from lowness
They walked on and how many were trampled and crushed
لسنا بأولِ مخضوبٍ دماً هَدَراً
ولا بآخِرِ من يقفو ويلتحق
We are not the first to be stained with blood wasted
Nor the last to follow and join
إن السهام التي ما راشها صَيَدٌ
ولا تَكافَى بها مَرْمَىً ومُرْتَشَق
Indeed, arrows that no game dodged
And no target or shooter was equaled with it
كِبْراً صَمَدنا لها فَاسّاقطتْ كِسَراً
كما تساقطَ حول الأيكةِ الوَرَق
Out of arrogance we withstood them, so they made us lose face
As the leaves fall around the lonely palm tree
لا نكذبُ الفخرَ، في أعماقنا عُقَدٌ
ممّا يَمُجّ وفي أطباعنا عُلَق
We do not lie about pride, in our depths are knots
From what boils, and in our nature ropes cling
حبيبتي والخطايا في الورى نِسَبٌ
وللخُطاة، على ما أضمروا، فِرَقُ
My beloved, and sins in existence are ancestry
And for sinners, for what they harbored, separations
تبقى الجريمةُ يشتطُّ العقابُ بها
حتى يمصَّ دماءَ المجرمِ العَلَق
The crime remains, punishment intensifies upon it
Until it sucks the dripping blood of the criminal
وللضمائر آفاقٌ مُجاوِبَةٌ
إذا دجا أُفُقٌ جلّى له أفق
And for consciences there are horizons that reciprocate
If one horizon darkens, it brightens a horizon for it
وقد يثوبُ ضميرٌ خاب آمِلُهُ
والنبعُ حتى من الجُلْمود ينبثق
And a conscience that failed its hopes may return
And the spring even from petrification gushes
ما نبّ شرٌّ فإنّ الخير يَقْحَمُهُ
وما استقام الدّجى فالنجْمُ يأتلق
No good announces it, for good invades it
And no darkness straightens unless the star shines
حبيبتي إنما أغرَى اللئامَ بنا
أنّا جُبِلنا بطينٍ غيرِ ما خُلقوا
My beloved, what really tempted the wicked about us
Is that we were created of clay other than what they were created from
خِيطَتء عليهِمْ جُلودٌ عندنا قَرَفٌ
من ريحها، وعليهم نثرُها عبِق
Over them are skins, with us diseased
From its stench, and its shedding is aromatic on them
كم سرَّنا عُسْرُنا مستعلياً بدلاً
عن يُسرِهم يمتطيهِ الذُّلُّ والملَق
How much our hardship pleased us, lofty instead
Of their luxury, ridden by humiliation and submission
نفوسُنا كثيابٍ فوقَهم جُدُدٌ
وثوبُنا كنُفوسٍ عندهمْ خَلَق
Our souls are like clothes, over them new
And our clothes like their souls, with them worn out
حبيبتي وسيبقى منكِ مُصْطَبَحٌ
تندَى عليَّ حواشيه ومُغتَبَق
My beloved, and something illuminated will remain from you
Its margins obscure to me, and clasped
وسوف تُستلُّ من رَيْعان نَشوته
مرارة بشَغاف القلب تعتلق
And it will be picked from the buddings of its bliss
Bitterness clinging to the fold of the heart
مرّغْتُ زَهْرَكِ في شوكي أجرّره
فكلُّ أوراقِهِ منزوعةٌ، مِزَق
I rubbed your flower in my thorns, dragging it
So all its petals are stripped, torn
وقد تحمّلتِ عنّي وِزرَ محتَرِبٍ
فجٍّ بعاتقهِ من حَملِهِ رهَقُ
And you have endured for me the burden of a warrior
Rough shouldered, from its carrying fatigued
محلَّماً فوقَ ما ترضى الحُلُومُ به
ومُستَخَفّاً بما لا يَطمعُ النّزِق
Ulcered over what serenity accepts
And careless with what the greedy do not hope for
وحابسٍ رأيَهُ والنفسُ نازعةٌ
وحابسٍ نَزْعَها والرأيُ منطلق
And holding his opinion while the soul disputes
And holding its dispute while the opinion sets forth
يغشَى المكارِهَ لم يفحَصْ مضاربَه
والسّيفُ يُفُحَصُ حدّاه ويُمْتَشَق
It overwhelms difficulties without discerning its lands
And the sword is examined for its sharpness and unsheathed
إن الجبينَ الذي ضوَّى جوانبَهُ
من جَعْدِ شَعرِكِ ما قد زرّد الحَلَق
Indeed the forehead whose sides its braiding of your hair straightened
Creases marched over it
مشتْ عليه تجاعيد يُضارِبُها
عَبْرَ الغيوم صباحٌ مُشْرِقٌ ألِق
At dawn shining through the clouds, scattered
How many hands of yours in which you protected a foot for me
كم من يدٍ لكِ فيها صُنْتِ لي قَدَماً
كادت على النُّمرقِ المفروشِ تَنْزَلِق
Nearly slipped on the paved floor
On those who fascinate the infatuated, grieving them
على التي تسحَرُ " الغاوين " تَفْجَعُهُمْ
بالعبقريات تُرْقيها فتنمحق
With genius, elevating it, so it crumbles
They tore through storms flapping sails
شقّوا الأعاصيرَ خفّاقين أشرعةً
واستروحوا النَّسَمَ الغافي فما خَفَقوا
And took rest in the sleeping breeze, but did not flutter
My eye and yours, I do not wish for a lamp
إنّى وعينيكِ لا أُمْنَى بداجيةٍ
إلا وأنتِ ليَ الإصباحُ والفلق
Except you are for me the dawn and the cleft
Yesterday you asked me in a private whisper that shakes
سألتِني أمسِ في نجوَى يَهُزُّ بها
خوفَ النهاياتِ مَنْ هاموا، ومن عَشِقوا
The fear of endings, those who raved, and those who loved
Why in its time of neglect
علامَ يُجمعُ في إبّانِ غَفْلتِهِ
شَمْلٌ وإذ يزدهيهِ الوعيُ يفترق
A group, and when awareness intensifies, disperses?
My beloved, the secret still remains in blindness
حبيبتي ما يزالُ السرُّ في عَمَهٍ
على أسارَى بأنيابِ الرّدَى عَلِقوا
On prisoners with the fangs of doom, stuck
They ventured into a world whose destinies gloomed
تقحّموا عالَماً غُمّتْ مصايرُهُ
كأنّهم من مَصيرٍ غيرِه سُرِقوا
As if they were stolen from a destiny other than it
They cannot unlock from its orbit
لا يستطيعون فكّا منْ محاورِهِ
إلا إذا اسطاعَ فكَّ المَحْجِر الحَدَق
Unless the petrification of the frozen unlocks
Every oblivious person, his intention was outlined for him
من كلِّ مستَغْفَلٍ خُطَّتْ منيّتُهُ
عليه ليلةَ وافى أمَّهُ الطَّلَق
On it the night his mother's period came
And if you wonder, so from "scrap" it climbed
وإن عجبتِ فمن " معلوفةٍ " درجَتْ
ترعى " الهشيم " ويُستَبْقَى لها رَمَق
Shepherding "chaff", and a respite is left for it
Two generations in the butcher's fist, not trusting
جيلين في قبضة الجزّارِ لا أمِنَتْ
على الحياةِ، ولم تُضْرَبْ لها عُنُق
On life, and their necks were not struck
Contradictions the liberated mind carouses with
نقائضٌ يرسُفُ العقلُ الطليقُ بها
وإن تفلسف أقوامٌ، وإن حَذَقوا
Even if people philosophize, even if they are shrewd
So why are spirits assigned to death howling at us
أَوْلاَن ففيمَ عفاريتٌ موكّلة
بالموتِ ما رَعَدوا فينا وما بَرَقوا
And neither thundering nor lightning against us?
And why the youth's pride and tenderness, crushing it
وفيمَ زهوُ الصِّبا واللطفُ يسحقه
والحبّ، والخيرُ عاتٍ سادرٌ نَزِق
And love, and good is languishing, dripping
Ignorance diminished until its examination knocked
تقلَّص الجهلُ حتى دقَّ مَفْحَصُه
وسُمِّنَ العلمُ حتى كاد ينفلق
And knowledge was poisoned until it almost ruptured
And thought ascended until the universe was stunned
واصّاعد الفِكرُ حتى الكونُ في رَهَجٍ
به، وحتى نسيجُ الكونِ منخرقُ
By it, and the fabric of the universe torn
And harm still persists, and misery is mortgaged
وما يزالُ الأذى، والبؤسُ مرتهنا
والحقدُ والخبثُ والإدقاعُ والقلقُ
And hatred, and cunning, and deceit, and anxiety
And civilizations still glare
وما تزال حضاراتٌ مشعشِعَةٌ
في قبضة الذرّ وحشاً يوم ينطلقُ
In the grasp of the nucleus, a beast when it breaks free
