ما بال طرفك يسهر — Salim Anahouri

ما بال طرفكَ يسهر

ودمعهُ يتحدَّر

Why does your eye stay wakeful,

and its tears stream down?

يمشي الهُوينا لخدٍّ

بوَردِهِ يتعثَّر

They move gently toward a cheek,

stumbling over its roses,

كلؤلوءٍ عَهدَ كسرى

صباحَ نيروزَ يُنثَر

like pearls in Khosrau's reign,

scattered on Nowruz morning;

او انجم العقد رثَّت

اسلاكهُ فبتعثَر

or necklace-stars—worn out are

its threads, and so it scatters.

بهِ لظى الخدّ يَزهُو

كجنَّةٍ وهوَ مطهَر

Through it the cheek's blaze gleams,

like paradise, though it is purgatory.

وعَنبر الشَعرِ تُغري

بهِ البنَانَ المُكَوفَر

And with the hair's ambergris you entice

the camphor-scented fingertips.

يُفَتُّ باللمس منهُ

مسكٌ يفوح مُعَطّر

At a touch, there crumbles from it

fragrant musk, wafting its scent,

فيملأ الكونَ نشراً

بهِ الأوائلُ تُنشَر

filling the universe with fragrance

through which the ancients are resurrected.

عهدي بثغركَ يسمو

ماء السماء تَبَلوَر

I recall your mouth in its splendor:

heaven's water turned to crystal,

مُرَصَّفٌ في سموط اليا

قوتِ والكلُّ جَوهَر

set in strings of

rubies, all of it precious stone,

ما بين جمرٍ وخمرٍ

عنها الاعاجيب تُؤثر

between embers and wine,

of which wondrous tales are told.

وَسطَ اللهيب تراهُ

يفترُّ لا يتكدَّر

You see it amid the flame,

smiling, never clouded.

وهو الذي فيهِ طبع الا

لماس لا يتكّسر

And it is that which has the nature

of diamond: it does not shatter.

يدوم يطفحُ نوراً

هَدَى وأروَى وأسكر

It forever brims with light;

it has guided, quenched thirst, and intoxicated.

ما بالهُ صار سرًّا

في خاطر السُخط مُضَمر

Why has it become a secret,

concealed in the mind of wrath?

لماكَ أوصَدَ باباً

فيهِ الضياءُ تستَّر

Your dusky lips have shut a door,

within which the light has hidden.

بالغيظ أرصدَ قفلاً

بهِ الدراريُّ تؤسَر

In anger they set a lock,

with which the brilliant stars are captive.

أَنت لحزنٍ فأَبدت

ناراً ولم تتبخَّر

They moaned in grief and revealed

fire, yet did not evaporate.

فكيف يؤسرُ نجمٌ

وكيف يُحبَس كَوثر

How, then, can a star be imprisoned,

and how can Kawthar be confined?

ما للفؤاد خفُوقٌ

كالمَوج والريحُ صَرصَر

Why this throbbing of the heart,

like waves while a fierce wind howls?

يعلو ويسفل بين ال

عباب يخفى ويَظهَر

It rises and sinks amid the

billows, vanishing and appearing.

والصدر يبدي اضطراباً

كالقُرط في أذن جؤذَر

And the chest shows trembling,

like an earring in a young oryx's ear,

لا يستقرُّ ضلالا

في ظُلمة الشَعر يجهر

never still in its wandering,

gleaming in the darkness of the hair,

مع كونهِ جار نحرٍ

لكافر الليل ينحر

though it neighbors a neck

that slaughters the infidel night.

في طوقهِ الزُهرُ عقدٌ

بمطلع الفجر مَظهَر

In its collar, the stars form a necklace,

displayed at the rising dawn.

يحكي عَمُودَ ضياءٍ

في ذروة الطُّور أنوَر

It resembles a pillar of light

that shone on the summit of al-Tur,

قد صار في قفر سينا

لآل يعقوب محوَر

which became in Sinai's wilderness

a focal point for the house of Jacob,

وحلَّ في هيكل الحسن

للهداية مِنبر

and dwelt in beauty's temple,

a pulpit for guidance.

تلتفُّ حول سناهُ الا

أبصارُ تعشو وتُبهَر

Around its radiance gather the

eyes, dimmed and dazzled.

ما للواحظ غضبَى

تغزو السرورَ بعسكَر

Why are the glances wrathful,

invading joy with an army?

تصل الصفاءَ بحربٍ

فيها الإِباءُ تَغَشَمر

They join serenity to a war

in which pride has run roughshod.

ترنو الى الانس شزراً

يعود جمعاً مُكسَّر

They gaze askance at humankind,

which becomes a shattered throng.

تغدو القلوبُ هباءً

في الجوّ تُعقدُ عِثيَر

Hearts become fine dust,

gathered into dust-clouds in the air.

فالجفنُ يرمي سهاماً

والعينُ تسطو بأبتر

So the eyelid shoots arrows,

and the eye attacks with a keen sword,

والهدبُ يوترُ قوساً

والكحلُ يستلُّ خنجر

and the lashes string a bow,

and the kohl draws a dagger.

فكيف كل جيوش ال

عروش لا تتقهقر

How, then, can all the armies of the

thrones fail to retreat?

والبرُّ والبحر والكا

ئِنات لا تتحيَّر

And how can land and sea, and all

beings, not be bewildered?

بحقِّ أملاكِ عَرشٍ

بمهبط الوَحي تظهر

By the angels of the Throne,

who appear where revelation descends;

بحقِّ كل نبيٍّ

لله صامَ وكبَّر

by every prophet

who fasted for God and proclaimed His greatness;

بحقِّ الف وليٍّ

بالبعثِ والخُلد انذر

by a thousand saints

who warned of resurrection and eternity;

بحقِّ كلّ حبيسٍ

في مَعبَدِ القدس كَفَّر

by every recluse

who atoned in Jerusalem's temple;

بحقِّ تاج جمالٍ

بهِ سموتَ كقيصَر

by the crown of beauty

with which you rose like Caesar;

بحقّ رمح قوامٍ

اصاركَ اليومِ عنتر

by the spear of your stature

which made you an Antar today:

لقد نشات غزالاً

فكيف اصبحت قسوَر

you indeed grew up a gazelle,

so how have you become a lion?

هات الجواب والأَ

هذا الفؤاد تفطَّر

Give the answer, or else

this heart will shatter.

أطلتَ يا حلوَ هجري

فالعيش بعدك مَرمَر

You have shunned me too long, sweet one,

so life without you is bitter beyond bitter.

قد صار قلبك بعد ال

فراق صفحة مَرمَر

Your heart has become, after

parting, a slab of marble.

أقمتَ في مصرَ شهراً

فقلتُ شامي تمصَّر

You stayed in Egypt for a month,

and I said: a Syrian has turned Egyptian.

ألهَته آرام منفٍ

عن ذكر رامة عنجر

The gazelles of Memphis distracted him

from remembering Ramah of Anjar.

وخان عهد ودادٍ

بدر دمعي تسطَّر

And he betrayed a pact of affection

inscribed with the pearls of my tears.

وقد تناسى زماناً

من بهجة الروض انضَر

And he deliberately forgot a time

more radiant than the garden's splendor.

فصرتُ احسبُ عيشي

صحيفةً لا تُفسَّر

So I came to consider my life

a page that cannot be interpreted.

وحلَّ بي بعد صبري

يأسٌ أَملَّ وأضجر

And after my patience there befell me

despair that wearied and exasperated me.

فكان ما كان مني

وكلُّ شيءٍ مُقدَّر

So I did what I did,

and everything is ordained.

والظنُّ بالسوءِ إثمٌ

والحقُّ يعلو ويَظهر

And suspicion of evil is a sin,

and truth prevails and becomes manifest.

آليتُ من بعد هذا

الاَّ تراني مكدَّر

I have sworn after this

that you shall not see me troubled.

فاضرب بحقّك صَفحاً

ان المحبَّ ليُعذَر

So, by your own honor, overlook it:

for a lover is surely to be excused.