أما سمعت حمام الأيك إذ صدحا — Sharif Al Murtaza

أمَا سمعتَ حَمامَ الأيْكِ إذْ صَدَحا

غَنَّى ولمْ يدرِ أنّي بعضُ مَنْ جَرحا

Have you not heard the thicket's doves when they sang?

They sang, unaware that I was among those they wounded.

لم أقترحْ منه ما غنّى الغداةَ بهِ

وربّ مَنْ نال ما يهوى وما اِقتَرحا

I had not asked them for what they sang this morning;

yet many have gained what they desired without requesting it.

ولِي جفونٌ من البَلْوى مُسَهَّدَةٌ

لا تعرفُ الغَمْضَ ممّا ترقُبُ الصُّبُحا

My eyelids are kept sleepless by affliction,

and know no closing as they watch for dawn.

فقلْ لممرضِ قلبي بعد صحّتِهِ

إنّ السّقيم الّذي أدويتَ ما صَلُحا

Tell the one who made my healthy heart ill:

The sick one you afflicted has not recovered.

قد جدّ بِي المزحُ من صَدٍّ دُهيتُ بهِ

وطالما جدّ بالأقوامِ من مَزَحا

Jest has become earnest with me through the rejection that afflicted me;

and often one who jested has dealt earnestly with others.

ماذا على القلبِ لولا طولُ شِقْوتِهِ

مِنْ نازلٍ حلَّ أو من نازِحٍ نَزَحا

What harm would the heart suffer, but for its long misery,

from one who arrives and stays, or one who departs far away?

يا مُثْكِلِي نومَ عينٍ فيه ساهرةٍ

جَفْنِي عليك بدمعي فيك قد قُرِحا

O you who rob me of an eye's sleep while it lies awake for him,

my eyelid is sore over you, wounded by my tears for you.

وفِيَّ ضدّانِ لا أسطيعُ دَفْعَهُما

نارٌ بقلبي وماءٌ بالهوى سَفَحا

Within me are two opposites I cannot drive away:

fire in my heart, and water poured forth by love.

وَقَد عَذلتمْ فُؤاداً بِالهَوى كَلِفاً

لو كان يقبل نُصْحاً للّذي نَصَحا

You have reproached a heart infatuated with love—

if only it would accept its counselor's advice!

صَحا الّذي يشرب الصَّهْبَاءَ مُتْرعةً

وشاربُ الحبِّ أعيا أنْ يُقالَ صَحا

The drinker of ruddy wine from brimming cups sobers up,

but of love's drinker no one can say, 'He has sobered.'

لم يبرَحِ الوجدُ قلبي بعد أنْ عَذَلوا

على صبابتِهِ لكنّه بَرِحا

Passion did not leave my heart after they reproached it

for its longing; instead, it grew more grievous.

وقد ثوى أمَّ رأسي للصبابةِ ما

يُغرِي بمعصيتِي مَنْ لامَنِي ولَحا

Longing has lodged in the core of my head something

that urges me to defy whoever blames and censures me.

ليت الفراقَ الّذي لا بدّ أكرعُ مِنْ

كاساتِهِ الصَّبْرَ صِرْفاً لا يكون ضحا

Would that separation, from whose cups I must drink

unmixed bitter aloes, did not come at midmorning.

وليت أدْمَ المَهارَى النّاهضات بما

تحوِي الهوادجُ كانت رُزَّحاً طُلُحا

And would that the white Mahri camels rising beneath what

the howdahs hold were exhausted and spent.

طوَوْا رحيلَهُمُ عنّي فنمَّ بهِ

عَرْفُ اليَلَنْجوجِ والجادِي إذا نَفَحا

They hid their departure from me, but it was betrayed

by the scent of aloeswood and saffron as it wafted.

وقد طلبتُ ولكنْ ما ظَفِرتُ به

من الفراقِ الّذي أَمُّوه مُنْتَدَحا

I sought, but could not find,

an escape from the separation they intended.

أهوى من الحيِّ بدراً ليس يطلعُ لِي

يوماً وظَبْيَ فَلاةٍ ليتَه سَنَحا

I love a full moon among the tribe that never rises for me

on any day, and a desert gazelle—would that it crossed my path.

أبَتْ ملاحَتُهُ من أنْ يجودَ لنا

فليتَه في عيونِ العِشقِ ما مَلُحا

His beauty refused to let him be generous to us;

would that he had not been lovely in the eyes of love.

وكان لي جَلَدٌ قبلَ الغرامِ به

فَالآن أفنَى اِصطباري وَجْدُهُ ومَحا

I had endurance before my passion for him,

but now longing for him has consumed and erased my patience.

وزائرٍ زارَني واللّيلُ معتكرٌ

والصُّبحُ في قبضةِ الظّلْماءِ ما وَضَحا

A visitor came to me while the night was thick,

and dawn was in darkness's grasp, not yet bright.

كَأنّهُ كَلِمٌ راعتْ وليسَ لَها

مَعْنىً ولَمعةُ برقٍ خلَّبٍ لَمَحا

He was like words that startled, yet had

no meaning, and a flash of rainless lightning that flickered.

لو أنّه زارَني والعينُ ساهرةٌ

أعطيتُه من نصيبِ الشّكرِ ما اِقتَرحا

Had he visited me while my eye was awake,

I would have given him all the thanks he asked.

أَعطى إلى العَينِ مِنّي قُرّةً وأتى

قلبي فأذْهبَ عنه الهمَّ والتَّرَحا

He gave cool comfort to my eye and came to

my heart, driving out its worry and sorrow.

زَوْرٌ أبِيتُ به جَذْلانَ منتفعاً

وكم من الزَّوْرِ ما طرنا به فرحا

A visitation with which I spend the night joyful and comforted—

how many visits have made us soar with joy!

وبات يسمحُ لِي منه بنائِلِهِ

لكنّه راجعٌ فيما بهِ سَمَحا

He spent the night freely granting me his bounty,

but he takes back what he has granted.

يا صاحبي إنْ تُرِدْ يوماً موافقتِي

فقد بلغتَ بِيَ الأوطارَ والنُّجَحا

My companion, if ever you wish to accord with me,

then you will have brought me to my desires and success.

جَنِّبْنِيَ اللّهوَ في سرٍّ وفي عَلَنٍ

وعاطِ غيرِي إذا غنّيتَه القَدَحا

Keep me from amusement, in secret and in public;

and pass the cup to someone else when you sing to him.

ولا تُهِبْ بِي إلى ثِنْيَيْ بُلَهْنِيةٍ

وَاِجعَلْ نِداءَك لِي من فادحٍ فَدَحا

Do not summon me to the twin folds of ease;

let your summons to me arise from a crushing burden.

فَلَستُ أَفرحُ إلّا بالّذي مَدَحَتْ

مِنّي الرّجال فَلا تطلبْ لِيَ الفَرَحا

For I rejoice only in what men have praised

in me; so do not seek merriment for me.

وَكُنْ إِذا اِصطبَح الأقوامُ في طَرَبٍ

بالمجدِ مُغتَبِقاً والحمدِ مُصْطَبِحا

When people take their morning draught in revelry, be

a drinker of glory at dusk and of praise at dawn.

مَنْ لِي بِحُرٍّ من الأقوامِ ذي أنَفٍ

ينحو طريقي الذي أنحوه حين نَحا

Who can find me a free man among people, possessed of pride,

who follows the path I follow whenever he chooses his course?

تَراهُ وَالدّهرُ شتّى في تقلّبِهِ

لا يَقبَلُ الذلّ كيما يقبلُ المِنَحا

You see him, though time varies in its vicissitudes,

accepting no humiliation merely to receive gifts.

وإنْ مضى لم تُعِجْهُ الدّهرَ عائجةٌ

ولا يُقادُ إلى الإقدامِ إنْ جَنَحا

Once he presses on, no diversion ever turns him aside,

nor is he led into bold action if he chooses to turn away.

حَلفتُ بِالبيتِ طافَتْ حولَه عُصَبٌ

من لاثمٍ ركنَه أو ماسحٍ مسحا

I swore by the House, around which bands have circled,

some kissing its corner, others stroking it;

والبُدْنِ حلّتْ ثرى جَمْعٍ وقد وُدِجَتْ

وَإِنّما بَلغ الأوطارَ من رَزَحا

and by the sacrificial camels settled on Jamʿ's soil, their jugulars cut—

only those who fall exhausted attain their desires;

وَبِالحُصيّاتِ يقذَفنَ الجمارُ بها

وبالهَدِيِّ على وادي مِنى ذُبحا

and by the pebbles with which the jamrahs are pelted,

and by the sacrificial animals slaughtered in the valley of Mina;

وشاهِدِي عَرَفاتٍ يومَ موقِفِهمْ

يستصفحون كريماً طالما صَفَحا

and by those attending Arafat on the day of their standing,

seeking pardon from the Generous One, who has so often pardoned:

لقد حللتُ من العَلياءِ أفنيةً

ما حلّها بشرٌ نحو العُلا طَمحا

I have indeed dwelt in the courtyards of eminence

where no mortal aspiring to the heights has dwelt.

وقد مُنِحتُ وضلّ الناسُ كلُّهُمُ

عنه طريقاً لطيبِ الذّكر ما فتِحا

I was granted—while all other people strayed

away from it—a path to fair renown never opened before.

كان الزّمان بهيماً قبل أنْ مَنَحتْ

فضائلِي جِلدَه الأوضاحَ والقُرحا

Time was dark and unmarked before

my virtues gave its hide white markings and forehead stars.

وقد رجحتُ على قومٍ وُزِنتُ بهمْ

وما عليَّ من الأقوامِ مَنْ رَجَحا

I outweighed a people against whom I was weighed,

and none among people has outweighed me.

فإنْ كدَحتُ ففي عزٍّ أَضنُّ بهِ

وضلّ مَنْ في حطامٍ عمرَه كَدَحا

If I toil, it is for honor I jealously guard;

astray is one who spends his life toiling for worldly chaff.

ما زلتُ أُسّاً وباقي النّاسِ أَبنَيةٌ

وكنتُ قُطباً وحولِي العالمون رَحا

I have always been the foundation, and other people buildings;

I was the axle, the worlds around me a millstone.

وأيُّ ثِقْلٍ وقد أعيا الرّجالَ على

ظَهري الّذي حَمل الأثقال ما طُرِحا

What burden, though it exhausted men,

was not laid on my back, which bore heavy loads?

وَسُدْتُ قومِيَ في عَصرِ الصِّبا حَدَثاً

وَلَم يسودوا مَشيباً لا ولا جَلَحا

I led my people in boyhood, still a youth;

they never became chiefs when gray-haired—no, nor when bald.

فكمْ قدحتُ وأضرمتُ الورى لهَباً

وكمْ من النّاس قد أكْدى وما قَدَحا

How often I struck sparks and set mankind ablaze!

How many among men have failed, striking no spark!

فَقُلْ لِقَومٍ غرستُ البِرَّ عندهُمُ

فما رَبحْتُ وكم من غارسٍ رَبِحا

Tell those among whom I planted kindness,

yet gained nothing, though many a planter has profited:

ليت الّذي غرّ قلبي من تجمّلكمْ

ما سال فينا له وادٍ ولا رَشَحا

Would that your fair seeming, which deceived my heart,

had flowed through no valley among us, nor even trickled.

وَلَيتَني لَم أَكُنْ يوماً عرفتكُمُ

وَكُنتُ مِنكُمْ بعيدَ الدّار مُنتَزِحا

Would that I had never known you,

and had lived far from you, in a distant home.

قَد عادَ صدرِيَ منكمْ ضيِّقاً حَرَجاً

وكان من قبل أنْ جرّبتُ منشرِحا

My breast has become tight and constricted because of you,

though before I tested you it had been open and at ease.

فَلا تَروموا لِوُدِّي أوْبَةً لكُمُ

إنّ الجوادَ جوادَ الودِّ قد جَمَحا

Do not hope that my affection will return to you;

the steed—the steed of affection—has bolted.

طَرحتموني كَأنّي كنتُ مُطَّرحاً

ولُمْتُموني كأنّي كنتُ مُجتَرِحا

You cast me aside as though I were a castaway,

and blamed me as though I were a wrongdoer.

وخلتُ أنّكُمُ تجزونَنِي حَسَناً

فالآن أوْسعتمونِي منكمُ القُبَحا

I thought you would repay me with good,

but now you have heaped your vileness upon me.

فَلا تَظنّوا اِصطِلاحاً أَنْ يَكون لنا

فَلم يدع ما أَتَيتمْ بَيننا صُلُحا

Do not imagine there can be reconciliation between us,

for what you did left no peace between us.

وَلو جزيتُكُمُ سوءاً بسَوْءتِكُمْ

لَكُنتُ أنْبِحُ كلبَ الحيِّ إنْ نَبَحا

If I repaid you evil for your vile deed,

I would bark back at the tribe's dog whenever it barked.

وَلا سَقَتكمْ منَ الأنواءِ ساقيةٌ

ولا نَشَحْتُمْ إذا ما معشرٌ نَشَحا

May no shower from the rain-stars water you,

nor may you drink when others drink.

وَلا يَكن عَطَنٌ مِنكمْ ولا وَطَنٌ

مُتّسعاً بالّذي تَهْوَوْنَ مُنفسِحا

May neither a camel resting-ground of yours nor a homeland

be broad and spacious with what you desire.

وَلا لَقيتمْ بضرّاءٍ لكمْ فَرَجاً

ولا أصبتم بسرّاءٍ بكمْ فَرَحا

May you find no relief in your adversity,

nor find joy in your prosperity.