متى يبدي الكثيب لنا غزاله — Sharif Al Murtaza

متى يُبدِي الكثيبُ لنا غزالَه

ويُدني من أنامِلنا منالَهْ

When will the dune reveal its gazelle to us

and bring him within reach of our fingertips?

وكيف يُنيلنا مَن ليس نَلقى

وقد وعد النّدى إلّا مِطالَهْ

How can one we never meet grant us—

though he has promised bounty—anything but his stalling?

أراد زيارتي غلطاً فلمّا

مددتُ لنيلها كفِّي بدا لَهْ

He meant to visit me by mistake, but when

I stretched out my hand to gain it, he changed his mind.

ولمّا أنْ جفا عيني نهاراً

رضيت بأنْ أرى ليلاً خيالَهْ

And when he shunned my sight by day,

I was content to see his phantom by night.

وعِفتُ حرامَه فأنال عيني

وقلبي في الدُّجى منه حلالَهْ

And I spurned what was forbidden of him, so he granted my eyes

and my heart, in the darkness, what was lawful of him.

يُرِي عيني الكرى أنِّي أراه

ولم أرَ في الكرى إلّا مِثالَهْ

Sleep makes my eyes believe that I see him,

yet in sleep I saw only his likeness.

عدمتُ صحيحَه فرضيتُ قَسْراً

بأنْ ألقى على سِنَةٍ مُحالَهْ

I lacked his real presence, so I was forced to be content

to meet his unreal image in a drowse.

وقولٍ زارني فوددتُ أنّي

وقيتُ بمهجتي مَن كان قالَهْ

And a saying visited me, so I wished that I

could shield with my lifeblood the one who had spoken it.

ذكرتُ به التّصابي والغواني

وأيّامَ الشّبيبةِ والبطالَهْ

Through it I recalled youthful dalliance and fair women,

and the days of youth and idleness.

وكيف ألومُ إمّا لمتُ دهراً

ضللتُ به فأطلعَ لِي هِلالَهْ

And how can I, if I blame at all, blame an age

in which I strayed, yet which raised its crescent for me?

ولمّا أنْ ظمئتُ به سقاني

عذوبتَه وأوْرَدَني زُلالَهْ

And when I grew thirsty in it, it gave me to drink

its sweetness and led me to its limpid water.

وكان من العِدا قلبي نفوراً

على حَذَرٍ فكان له الحِبالَهْ

And my heart was averse to enemies,

ever wary; yet it became a snare for my heart.

غفرتُ له ذنوبَ الدّهرِ لمّا

أَتى كفّي فأعلقها وصالَهْ

I forgave it the sins of time when

it reached my hand and fastened its bond to it.

وَما أَنا مصطفٍ إلّا خَليلاً

رضيتُ على تجاربه خلالَهْ

And I choose none but a close friend

whose qualities I approved after putting him to the test.

تركتُ بجانبِ الوادي ثُماماً

فلم أعرض له وجنيتُ ضالَهْ

I left thumam grass beside the valley,

so I paid it no heed and gathered its wild lote fruit.

وإنّك من أُناسٍ ما رأينا

لهمْ إلّا الرّياسةَ والجلالَهْ

And you belong to a people in whom we have seen

nothing but leadership and majesty.

علَوْا قُلَلَ الكلام الجَزْلِ فينا

وحلّوا كيفما شاؤوا جبالَهْ

They have scaled the peaks of mighty speech among us,

and occupied its mountains as they pleased.

وكم رام اِمرؤٌ بهمُ لُحوقاً

بطرقِ المأثُراتِ فما اِستوى لَهْ

And how many a man has tried to catch up with them

on the paths of noble deeds, yet never succeeded!

وما زالوا بيوم ندىً سيولاً

لمفخرةٍ ويوم وغىً نِصالَهْ

And they have always been torrents on a day of generosity,

for glory, and on a day of battle, its blades.

وكم ماضي البيان رددتَ منه

غبيَّاً لا تبين له مقالَهْ

And how many a man of incisive speech you have turned

into a dullard who cannot find a clear word!

وذى لَسَنٍ رجعتَ به صَموتاً

وذى جَدَلٍ عكستَ له جِدالَهْ

And many an eloquent man you have rendered silent,

and against many a disputant you have turned his own argument.

فخذها اليومَ قافيةً شروداً

تجوب بها البلادَ ولا ضلالَهْ

So take it today, a far-roaming rhyme,

with which you traverse the lands without straying.

فإنْ قَصُرَتْ فقد أغنتْك منها

إِشاراتٌ لَطُفْن عن الإطالَهْ

For if it is brief, you have enough in its

hints, too delicate for lengthy elaboration.

فلا مَلَلٌ لقلبي منك دهراً

وحاشا اللَّهَ قلبي من مَلالَهْ

So my heart shall never tire of you,

and may God keep my heart from weariness.