دست سعاد رسولا غير متهم — Rabia Al Ruqi

دَسَّت سُعادُ رَسولاً غَيرَ مُتَّهَمٍ

وَصيفَةً فَأَتَت إِتيانَ مُنكَتِمِ

Su'ad secretly sent a messenger above suspicion,

A maidservant, who came as one keeping hidden.

جاءَ الرَسولُ بِقَرطاسٍ بِخاتَمِهِ

وَفي الصَحيفَةِ سِحرٌ خُطَّ بِالقَلَمِ

The messenger came with a sheet of paper bearing its seal,

And in the letter was enchantment inscribed with the pen.

فيهِ فُتونُ هَوىً طَلَّت تُغَيِّبُهُ

عَلى الجَهولِ وَما يَخفى عَلى الفَهِمِ

In it lay love's enchantments, which she kept concealing

From the ignorant, though they are not hidden from the perceptive.

وَقَد فَهِمتُ الَّذي أَخفَت فَقُلتُ لَها

بوحي بِلا وَنَعَم مِن بَيّنِ الكَلِمِ

I had understood what she concealed, so I said to her:

Speak openly with 'no' and 'yes,' in plain words.

قالَت تَعالَ إِذا شِئتَ مُستَتِراً

وَالحُكمُ حُكمُكَ يا رَقِّيَّ فَاِحتَكِمِ

She said: Come, if you wish, in concealment.

The decision is yours, O Raqqi; set your terms.

أَقدِم رَبيعَةَ في رَحبٍ وَفي سَعَةٍ

في غَيرِ قَمراءَ وَالظَلماءَ فَاِغتَنِمِ

Come forward, Rabi'a, into ample room and ease,

On a night without moonlight; seize the darkness.

فُزرتُها واقِعاً طَرفي عَلى قَدَمي

وَقَد تَلَبَّستُ جِلبابَينِ مِن ظُلَمِ

So I visited her, my gaze lowered to my foot,

And I had clothed myself in two cloaks of darkness.

فَكانَ ما كانَ لَم يَعلَم بِهِ أَحِدٌ

وَما جَرَحتُ وَما عُلِّلتُ بِالحَرَمِ

Then happened what happened; no one knew of it.

I did no wrong, nor was I put off with prohibitions.

زارَتكَ سُعدى وَسُعدى مِنكَ نازِحَةٌ

فَأَرَّقتَكَ وَما زارَتكَ مِن أُمَمِ

Su'da visited you, though Su'da is far away from you;

She kept you awake, though she did not visit from nearby.

أَهلاً بِطَيفك يا سُعدى المُلِمّ بنا

طَيفٌ يَسيرُ بِلا نَجمٍ وَلا عَلَمِ

Welcome to your phantom, O Su'da, as it calls on us—

A phantom that journeys without a star or a landmark.

أَنتِ الضَجيعُ إِذا ما نِمتُ في حُلُمي

وَالنَجمُ أَنتِ إِذا ما العَينُ لَم تَنَمِ

You are my bedfellow when I sleep, in my dream,

And you are the star when the eye does not sleep.

ما أَكذَبَ العَينَ وَالأَحلامَ قاطِبَةً

أصادِقُ مَرَّةً في وَصلِها حُلُمي

How false are the eye and dreams, every one!

Is my dream ever truthful about union with her?

قولي نَعَم إِنَّها إِن قُلتِ نافِعَةٌ

لَيسَت عَسى وَعَسى صَبرٌ إِلى نَعَمِ

Say 'yes'; if you say it, it is beneficial.

It is not 'perhaps'; 'perhaps' is patience until 'yes.'

أَنعَمتِ نُعمى عَلَينا لَستُ أُنكِرُها

حَتّى أُغَيَّبَ في مَلحودَةِ الرَجَمِ

You bestowed a favor upon us; I do not deny it,

Until I am hidden in the grave's burial niche.

قَلبي سَقيمٌ وَداءُ الحُبِّ أَسقَمَهُ

وَلَو أَرَدتِ شَفَيتِ القَلبَ مِن سَقَمِ

My heart is sick, and love's disease has sickened it.

If you wished, you could cure the heart of sickness.

قالَت فُؤادُكَ بَينَ البيضِ مُقتَسَمٌ

ما حاجَتي في فُؤادٍ مِنكَ مُقتَسَمِ

She said: Your heart is divided among fair women;

What need have I of a divided heart from you?

أَنتَ المَلولُ الَّذي اِستَبدَلتَ بي بَدَلاً

قَصَّرتَ بي وَشَرَيتَ اللُؤمَ بِالكَرَمِ

You are the fickle one who took another in my place;

You slighted me and bought meanness at the cost of nobility.

قَد كُنتُ أَقسَمتُ أَنّي مِن هَواكِ فَما

بَرّى يَميني قَد أَغلَظتُ في القَسَمِ

I had sworn that I was [free] of love for you, yet I did not

Keep my oath, though I had sworn it solemnly.

اِستَغفَرُ اللَهَ قَد رَقَّ الفُؤادُ وَما

بَيني وَبَينَكَ يا رَقَّيُّ مِن رَحِمِ

I seek God's forgiveness; the heart has softened, and there is no

Kinship between me and you, O Raqqi.

يا لَيتَ مَن لامَنا في الحُبِّ جَرَّبَهُ

فَلَو يَذوقُ الَّذي قَد ذُقتُ لَم يَلُمِ

If only whoever blamed us for love had tried it!

If he tasted what I have tasted, he would not blame.

الحُبُّ داءٌ عَياءٌ لا دَواءَ لَهُ

إِلّا نَسيمُ حَبيبٍ طَيِّبُ النَسَمِ

Love is an intractable sickness with no cure,

Except the breath of a sweet-breathed beloved,

أَو قُبلَةٌ مِن فَمٍ نيلَت مُخالَسَةً

وَما حَرامٌ فَمٌ أَلصَقتُهُ بِفَمِ

Or a kiss obtained from a mouth in stealth.

And a mouth I press against a mouth is not forbidden.

هَذا حَرامٌ لمن قَد عَدَّهُ لَمَماً

وَلَن يُعَذِّبَنا الرَحمَنُ بِاللَمَمِ

This is forbidden to whoever counts it a minor lapse,

And the Merciful will not punish us for minor lapses.

هامَ الفُؤادُ بِسُعدى مِن ضَلالَتِهِ

يا لَيتَ قَلبي بِكُم يا سُعدَ لَم يَهِمِ

The heart went mad for Su'da in its waywardness;

If only my heart had not gone mad for you, O Su'd!

أَنتِ الَّتي أَورَثَت قَلبي مَوَدَّتُها

داءً دَخيلاً وَشَوقاً غَيرَ مُنصَرِمِ

You are she whose love bequeathed to my heart

A deep-seated sickness and yearning without end.

خُلِقتِ مِن مِسكَةٍ وَالناسُ خَلقُهُمُ

مِن لازِبِ الطينِ مِن صَلصالَةِ القَتَمِ

You were created from musk, while other people were made

From sticky clay, from a clod of dusky, dried clay.

ما صَوَّرَ اللَهُ إِنساناً كَصورَتِكُم

مِن بَعدِ يوسُفَ في عُربٍ وَلا عَجَمِ

God has fashioned no human in your likeness

Since Yusuf, among Arabs or non-Arabs.

أَعلاكِ مِن صَعدَةٍ سَمرا مُقَوَّمَةٍ

وَالمِرطُ فَوقَ كَثيبٍ مِنكِ مُرتَكِمِ

Your upper body is formed from a straight, dusky spear-shaft,

And your wrap lies over a heaped-up mound of you.

وَأَنتِ جَنَّةُ رَيحانِ لَها أَرَجٌ

أَو رَوضَةٌ نُضِحَت بِالوَبلِ وَالدِيَمِ

And you are a garden of fragrant herbs, exhaling perfume,

Or a meadow sprinkled by downpours and steady rains,

أَو بَيضَةٌ في نَقاً أَو دُرَّةٌ خَرَجَت

مِن زاخِرٍ مُزبِدِ الأَذِيِّ مُلتَطِمِ

Or an egg in a sand dune, or a pearl that emerged

From a surging sea of foaming, crashing waves.

لاقَيتُ عِند اِستِلامِ الرُكنِ غانِيَةً

غَرّاءَ واضِحَةَ الخَدَّينِ كَالصَنَمِ

At the touching of the Corner, I met a beautiful woman,

Radiant, with shining cheeks, like an idol.

مُرتَجَّةُ الرِدفِ مَهضومٌ شَواكِلُها

تَمشي الهُوَينى كَمَشيِ الشارِبِ الثَلِمِ

Her buttocks quiver; her flanks are slender.

She walks gently, like a drunken drinker's gait.

تَقولُ قَيناتُها وَالردفُ يُقعِدُها

مِن خَلفِها قَد أَتَيت الرُكنَ فاِستَلِمي

Her singing-maids say, as her buttocks weigh her down,

From behind her: You have reached the Corner; touch it.

فَاِسلَمَت ثُمَّ قامَت ساعَةً فَدَعَت

فَقُمتُ أَدعو وَلَولا تِلكَ لَم أَقُمِ

So she submitted, then stood awhile and prayed.

I stood praying too; but for her, I would not have stood.

حَتّى إِذا اِنصَرَفَت سَلَّمتُ فَالتَفَتَت

فَقُلتُ إِنَّكِ مِن هَمّي وَمِن سَدَمي

At last, when she departed, I greeted her, and she turned.

So I said: You are among my cares and sorrows.

قالَت وَمِن أَنتَ قُلنَ التابِعاتُ لَها

هَذا رَبيعَةٌ هَذا فِتنَةُ الأُمَمِ

She said: And who are you? Her attendants said to her:

This is Rabi'a; this is the temptation of peoples.

هَذا المُعَنّى الَّذي كانَت مَناسِبُهُ

تَأتيكِ فَاِستَتِري بِالبُردِ وَالقَتَمِ

This is the love-tormented one whose love verses used to

Reach you; veil yourself with a cloak and darkness.

شَيطانُ أُمَّتِهِ لاقاكِ مُحرِمَةً

فَبِالالَهِ مِنَ الشَيطانِ فَاِعتَصِمي

The devil of his people has met you while you are in consecration;

So take refuge in God from the devil.

قالَت أَعوذُ بِرَبّي مِنكَ وَاِستَتَرَت

بِعادَةٍ رَخصَةِ الأَطرافِ كَالعَنَمِ

She said: I seek refuge in my Lord from you—and veiled herself

With a [hand], its fingertips supple as 'anam shoots.

قُلتُ الذِمامُ وَعَهدُ اللَهِ خُنتِ بِهِ

لا عَهدَ لِلغادِرِ الخَتّارِ لِلذِمَمِ

I said: The pledge and God's covenant—you have betrayed them!

No covenant holds with the treacherous betrayer of pledges.

أَلَم تَقولي نَعَم قالَت بَلى وَهَماً

مِنّي وَهَل يُؤخَذُ الإِنسانُ بِالوَهَمِ

Did you not say 'yes'? She said: Yes, mistakenly,

On my part; is a person held accountable for a mistake?

تُبنا وَصُمنا وَصَلَّينا لِخالِقِنا

وَلَم تَتُب أَنتَ مِن ذَنبٍ وَلَم تَصُمِ

We repented, fasted, and prayed to our Creator,

But you did not repent of any sin, nor did you fast.

فَلُمتُ نَفسي عَلى بَذلي لَها مِقَتي

وبخلِها وَقَرَعتُ السِنَّ مِن نَدَمِ

So I blamed myself for lavishing my affection on her,

And for her stinginess; I gnashed my teeth in regret.

فَأَبعَدَ اللَهُ إِنساناً وَاِسحَقَهُ

أدامَ وُدّاً لِإِنسانٍ وَلَم يَدُمِ

So may God banish a person and cast him far away,

Who sustained love for someone who did not sustain it.