Sol 6.1

  1. مرّتْ بنا بمصلَّى الخَيْفِ سانحةٌ

    كظبيةٍ أفلتتْ أثناء أشواكِ

    A woman crossed our path at al-Khayf's prayer-ground,

    Like a gazelle that slipped free from amid thorns.

  2. نبكي ويضحكها منّا البكاء لها

    ماذا يمرّ من المسرور بالباكي

    We weep, and our weeping for her makes her laugh.

    What can pass from the joyful one to the weeper?

  3. فَقلتُ والقول قد يَشْفِي أَخا شَجنٍ

    وربّما عطف المشكوُّ للشاكي

    So I said—for speech may heal one burdened with sorrow—

    And sometimes the one complained of takes pity on the complainant:

  4. أُعطيتِ منّا الّذي لم نُعطَ منك فلو

    رام الهوَى النَّصْف أعطانا وأعطاكِ

    You received from us what we did not receive from you; so if

    Love sought fairness, it would give to us as well as to you.

  5. ولستِ بالرِّيمِ لكنْ فيكِ أحسنُهُ

    ولستِ ظَبْيّاً وريّا الظَّبْيِ رَيّاكِ

    You are no white gazelle, yet its fairest beauty is in you;

    Nor are you a gazelle, yet the gazelle's fragrance is yours.

  6. تودّ شمسُ الضّحى لو كنتِ بهجتَها

    وودّ بدرُ الدّجى لو كان إيّاكِ

    The morning sun wishes you were its splendor,

    And the full moon of darkness wished it were you.

  7. قد كنتُ أحسبني جَلْداً فأيْقظنِي

    مِنِّي على الضَّعفِ أنّي بعضُ قتلاكِ

    I once thought myself steadfast; then I was awakened

    To my own weakness by the fact that I am among your slain.

  8. لا باركَ اللَّهُ في قلبٍ قَلاكِ ولا

    أبكي السّماءَ لمن بالسّوءِ أبكاكِ

    May God bless no heart that hates you, nor

    Make the sky weep for anyone who cruelly made you weep.

  9. ولا تولَّى الّذي ولّاكِ جانِبَهُ

    وَلا عدا الخيرُ إلّا مَنْ تعدّاكِ

    Nor take into His care the one who turned his back on you;

    Nor may good fortune pass anyone by but the one who passed you by.

  10. أشقيتِ منّا قلوباً لا نقول لها

    أشقى الإلهُ الّذي بالحبّ أشقاكِ

    You have made hearts among us wretched; we do not tell them:

    "May God make wretched the one who made you wretched with love."

  11. وكنتِ ملذوذةً والمرُّ منك لنا

    وما أمرَّكِ شيءٌ كان أحلاكِ

    You were delightful, and even your bitterness was delightful to us;

    And nothing that once made you sweet has made you bitter.

  12. هل تذكرين وما الذكرى بنافعةٍ

    مَسْرَى الرّكائب يومَ الجِزعِ مسراكِ

    Do you remember—though remembrance is of no use—

    The mounts' night journey that day at al-Jiz‘—your own journey?

  13. في ليلةٍ ضلّ فيها الرَّكبُ وجهتهمْ

    لولا ضياءُ جمالٍ من مُحيّاكِ

    On a night when the caravan would have lost its way,

    But for the radiance of beauty from your face.

  14. بِتنا نَميلُ على أقتادنا طَرَباً

    مُصغين نَحو الّذي بالحسن أطراكِ

    We spent the night swaying upon our saddle-frames in rapture,

    Listening intently to the one who extolled your beauty;

  15. مسهّدين ولولا داءُ حبِّكمُ

    أكرى العيونَ لنا مَن كان أكراكِ

    Sleepless—and were it not for the sickness of loving you,

    He who put you to sleep would have lulled our eyes to sleep.

  16. إنْ بتِّ آمنةً مِنّا عليك كما

    شاء العَفافُ فإنّا ما أمِنّاكِ

    If you spent the night safe from our harming you, as

    Chastity willed, we have not been safe from you.

  17. أو كنتِ ساليةً لمّا خطاكِ هوىً

    غدا علينا فإنّا ما سلوناكِ

    Or if you are free of longing, since a passion passed you by

    That came upon us, we have not forgotten you.

  18. وإِنْ ملَلْتِ فقوماً لا ملالَ بهمْ

    وإنْ سَئِمتِ فإنّا ما سئمناكِ

    And if you have grown weary, it is of people who never weary;

    And if you have grown tired, we have not tired of you.

  19. أيُّ الشّفاءِ لداءٍ في يديكِ لنا

    وأيُّ ريٍّ لصادٍ مِن ثناياكِ

    What cure for our sickness lies in your hands?

    And what quenching for the thirsty comes from your front teeth?

  20. لَولا الغُواةُ وخوفٌ مِن وشايتهمْ

    ما كانَ مَثواي إلّا حيثُ مثواكِ

    Were it not for the mischief-makers and fear of their malicious gossip,

    My abode would be nowhere but where yours is.

  21. ملكْتِنا بالهوى والحبُّ مَتْعَبَةٌ

    فحبّذا ذاك لو أنّا ملكناكِ

    You have possessed us through passion, and love is a burden;

    Then how delightful that would be, if we possessed you!

  22. ولو أُصِبْتِ بداءٍ قد أصِبْتُ به

    علمتِ ما في فؤادٍ بات يهواكِ

    And if you were stricken with the sickness that has stricken me,

    You would know what is in a heart that spends the night loving you.

  23. إِنْ تَشكري فاِشكري من لم يُذِقْكِ هوىً

    ومَن بحبّك أبلانا وأبلاكِ

    If you give thanks, thank the one who has not made you taste passion,

    And the one who has tried us and you through your love.

  24. وكيف يصحو فؤادٌ فيكِ مختبلٌ

    تسرِي سُرى دَمِهِ فيه حُميّاكِ

    And how can a heart made mad by you grow sober,

    While your intoxicating heat courses through it like its blood?

  25. ولو رميتِ ورَيْعانُ الشّباب معي

    أصميتِ منِّيَ مَن بالحبّ أصماكِ

    And had you shot while youth's first bloom was mine,

    You would have slain in me the one who slew you with love.

  26. كم مرّةٍ زرتِنا وَهْناً على عَجَلٍ

    سريتِ فيه وما أسْرَتْ مطاياكِ

    How often you visited us late at night, in haste!

    You traveled through it by night, though your mounts made no night journey.

  27. حَتّى اِلتَقينا على رغم الرُّقادِ وما

    ذاك اللّقاء سوى وسْواسِ ذكراكِ

    Until we met despite sleep; and

    That meeting was nothing but the whispering of your memory.

  28. فإنْ هجرتِ وقد أخلَفْتِ واعدةً

    فبالّذي زرتِ ما واعدتِنا ذاكِ

    So if you forsake us, having broken the promise you made,

    Then, by the one you visited, that is not what you promised us.