مرض بقلبك ما يعاد — Sardar

مرضٌ بقلبك ما يعادُ

وقتيلُ حب لا يقادُ

A sickness in your heart goes unvisited,

and one slain by love goes unavenged.

يا آخر العشّاق ما

أبصرتَ أوَّلهم يذاد

O last of lovers, you have not

seen their first driven away.

يقضِى المتيَّم منهمُ

نحبا ولو رُدُّوا لعادوا

The love-enslaved among them meets

his death; and if restored, they would return.

ملكوا النفوسَ فهل لنا

من بعدها ما يسترادُ

They have possessed our souls; have we

anything beyond them still to seek?

أبداً جناياتُ العيو

ن بحَرِّها يَصلَى الفؤادُ

Forever, the crimes of the eyes—

the heart burns in their heat.

ما خلتُ غِزلان اللِّوى

كظباءِ مكَّةَ لا تصادُ

I never thought the gazelles of al-Liwa

were like Mecca's gazelles, never hunted.

يقظان تَنصلُ أحبُلى

عنها ويقنِصها الرقادُ

While I am awake, my snares slip

off them, but sleep captures them.

بالعذلِ تُوقَد لوعتى

وبقَدحِه يُوَرى الزنَّادُ

Reproach sets my anguish aflame,

and its striking kindles the fire-sticks.

لم يستطعْ إطفاءَها

دمعٌ كما انخرقَ المَزادُ

It could not be extinguished

by tears pouring as from burst waterskins.

لا تنكرا جُرحى فلل

عذَّال ألسنةٌ حِدادُ

You two, do not deny my wound, for

the reproachers have sharp tongues.

طمعٌ وأنتَ برامةٍ

فيمن تضمَّنه النِّجادُ

You hope, while you are at Rama,

for one whom the uplands enfold.

والحىّ قد هَبَطتْ خيا

مُهُمُ وقعقعقت العمادُ

And the tribe's tents have already been lowered,

and their tent-poles have clattered.

والوَردُ من زَهر الخدو

د كِمامهُ الكِدَلُ الوِرادُ

And the roses that bloom in the cheeks—

their calyxes are rose-colored veils.

لو يسمحون بوقفةٍ

أبتَ المطايا والجيادُ

Even if they allowed a pause,

the riding camels and steeds would refuse.

ظعنوا بأقمارٍ علي

ها تُحسدُ الكومُ الجِلادُ

They departed bearing moons, for which

the sturdy, high-humped camels are envied.

ولأجلها غَبَط الغَبي

طَ حجابُ قلبي والسوادُ

And for their sake the saddle-litter was envied

by my heart's covering and its black core.

فيقول أيّ الحالتي

ن أشدُّ هجرٌ أم بعادُ

So it asks, 'Which of the two states

is harsher—estrangement or distance?'

تعفو المنازلُ إن نأَوا

عنها وتغبرُّ البلادُ

The dwellings fade when they go

away from them, and the land grows dusty.

والحىُّ أولَى بالبِلى

شوقا إذا بَلىَ الجمادُ

The living have more cause to waste away

with longing, when even lifeless things decay.

ما ضرَّهم والحسنُ لا

يبقىَ لو امتنُّوا وجادوا

What harm would it do them—beauty does not

last—if they bestowed favors and were generous?

أتُرى حرامٌ أن يُرَى

في الناس معشوقٌ جوادُ

Do you think it forbidden to see

among people a generous beloved?

لعبٌ مفاتيحُ الهوى

والحرب أوّلُها طِرادُ

Playful games are the keys to passion,

and war begins with skirmishing.

أوَ ما رأيت فتى قري

شٍ وهو للجُلَّى عَتادُ

Have you not seen the youth of Quraysh,

a ready resource for the gravest crisis?

وله المعاني المستد

قَّةُ والكلامُ المستفادُ

His are the subtle meanings

and speech from which others learn,

وأَصالةٌ في الرأى بالسِّ

حر الموشَّى لا تُكادُ

and a soundness of judgment that sorcery,

however embroidered, cannot deceive.

وشواردٌ في القول قد

قُرِنتْ بها السَّبْع الشِّدادُ

And rare turns of speech, with which

the seven mighty heavens have been paired,

كالهرقليَّاتِ النوا

صعِ ليس يَنفيها انتقادُ

like gleaming Heraclian coins,

which no assay can reject.

فكأنه قَسٌ وها

شمُ حولَ منطقِهِ إيادُ

As though he were Quss, and Hashim

were Iyad gathered round his speech.

كيف ارتعَى زَهر الصبا

بةِ والغرامُ له قيادُ

How did he graze on the flowers of yearning,

with passion as his rein?

بعد التخيُّل والمِرا

حِ ونَى وذلّلهُ القيادُ

After swaggering and high spirits,

he flagged, and the reins subdued him.

نشوان لا في عطفه

بطرٌ ولا في الرأس صادُ

Intoxicated, yet in his bearing there is no

arrogance, nor any ache in his head.

فبه فلانٌ أو فلا

نٌ لا سُلَيمى أو سعادُ

He is smitten with this man or that,

not Sulayma or Su'ad.

يرضَى بطيفٍ قال مو

عدُنا الحشيَّةُ والوِسادُ

He is content with a phantom that said, 'Our meeting place

is the mattress and the pillow.'

وتُحَلُّ عُقدةُ نُسكهِ

بالشيء لفّفه البِجادُ

And the knot of his piety is undone

by the thing wrapped in a striped cloak.

يا مُصعبَا جرّته في

أرسانها اللِّممُ الجِعادُ

O untamed one, dragged along in

their halters by curly locks!

واستهدفته ال

لحظات مثنىَ أو أُحاد

And he has been made a target

by glances, in pairs or singly.

واستعطفته روادفٌ

كُثبانها نِعمَ المِهادُ

And buttocks have won his affection,

their dunes a fine resting place.

ولَمىً رضابُ النحل يش

هد أنَّ ريقتَه شِهادُ

And dusky lips—the bees' saliva bears

witness that their saliva is honey.

ولربما خار الجلي

دُ وغُلِّطَ الرأى المرادُ

And often the steadfast man gives way,

and the intended judgment is found mistaken.

قد كان قبلك في سبي

ل الحبّ لي أبدا جِهادُ

Before you, on the path

of love, I had an unceasing struggle,

حتى خبا ذاك الضرا

م وغاية النار الرَّمادُ

until that blaze died down—

and fire's final end is ash.

وإذا رأيتَ الكون فاع

لمْ أن سيتبعُهُ الفسادُ

And when you see something come into being, know

that decay will follow it.

واعجب لقومٍ في الزما

ن على السفاهة كيف سادوا

And marvel at people in this age:

how, despite their folly, they gained ascendancy!

لا عندهم كَلِمٌ تَغ

رُّ ولا نُضارٌ يستفادُ

They have no words that

dazzle, nor gold to be gained.

أستغفر الله العل

ىَّ لقد تذأَّبت النِّقادُ

I seek forgiveness from God the Most High:

the little sheep have indeed become wolves.