أَيا صاحِباً ساءَني بُعدُهُ
فَما سَرَّني القُربُ مِن صاحِبِ
O companion whose absence grieved me,
Nearness to a companion brought me no joy.
لَئِن كُنتَ عَن ناظِري غائِباً
فَعَن خاطِري لَستَ بِالغَائِبِ
Though absent from my sight,
You're not absent from my thoughts.
أَلَستَ تَرى الدَهرَ يَجري بِنا
كَجَريِ المَطِيَّةِ بِالراكِبِ
Do you not see how time carries us along
Like the running of the mounted beast with its rider?
فَزُرني أَعُد بِكَ مُستَدرِكاً
لِما فاتَ مِن عَيشِنا الذاهِبِ
Visit me, for I make up for what we missed
Of our fleeting life.
فَعِندي قَليلٌ مِنَ البَختَجوشِ
هَدايا فَقيهٍ إِلى تائِبِ
I have a little date liquor, a welcome gift
From a jurist to a penitent.
كَأَنَّ شَذا عَرفِها عَنبَرٌ
يُلاثُ بِهِ شارِبُ الشارِبِ
Its aroma is like ambergris
With which the drinker perfumes his drink.
وَغُرفَتُنا خَلوَةٌ لِلعُلومِ
أُعِدَّت كَصَومَعَةِ الراهِبِ
Our room is a sanctuary for learning
Prepared like a monk’s cell.
وَقَينَتي خَلفَ كُتبِ الصِحاحِ
تَحتَ الجِرارِ إِلى جانِبي
My companion behind books of authority
Next to me under the jars.
إِذا شَمَّها الناسُ كابَرتُهُم
وَأَقسَمتُ بِالطالِبِ الغالِبِ
When people smell it, it humbles them,
And I swear by the Seeker, the Victorious.
وَإِن شوهِدَت قُلتُ نَيمَختَح
أَداوي بِهِ وَجَعَ الحالِبِ
If it's seen, I say it's oil of nimkhath
With which I treat the pain of the lovelorn.
وَلَن يُنكِرَ الناسُ إِن زُرتَني
لِسَعيِ فَقيهٍ إِلى كاتِبِ
People won’t deny, if you visit me,
A jurist’s quest for a scribe.
فَحَيِّ عَلى الراحِ قَبلَ الدُروسِ
وَلا تَجعَلِ النَدبَ كَالواجِبِ
So hello to comfort before lessons
And don’t make keening obligatory.
وَخُذها بِأَوفَرِ أَثمانِها
وَلا تَأسَ مِن غِبطَةِ الكاتِبِ
Take it for its highest price
And don’t envy the scribe.
وَغالِ بِها أَنَّها جَوهَرٌ
فَقيمَتُها غَرَضُ الطالِبِ
Claim it’s a gem,
For that’s the seeker’s purpose.
