عفا الله عن قلب خذا الهم قسمه — Shibli Al Atrash

عَفا اللَه عَن قَلب خذا الهَم قسمه

وَنَفس أَبَت عَن مَطلب الناس زاهده

May God pardon a heart that took sorrow as its share,

And a soul that refused, renouncing what people seek.

وَنَفس أَبَت تَسلا مَواطن وَليفها

ون القَا فيها عَلى غَير رايده

A soul that refused to forget its beloved's dwelling places,

Though fate dealt with it against its wish.

وَن القَضا فيها وَشطط مَزارها

عَلى بعد شاسع راع قَلبي فَدافده

Though fate made its visiting-place distant,

Across a vast distance whose wastes terrified my heart.

وَزهقت عَلى فَقد المُحبين وَاِنزَوَت

وَضاق الفَضا وَالدَوح بيها مَنافده

It grew weary at losing loved ones and withdrew,

And the exits of open space and the groves narrowed around it.

وَضاق الفَضا وَالدَوح فيها مِن البَلا

وَحارَت وَمَجدول المَصايب مَوابده

Open space and the groves grew narrow with its affliction,

And it was bewildered amid calamity's braided cord of terrors.

وَاستنفرت مِن هَيكل الجسم عَالهفا

وَما عاد غَير المَوت عَيني تراصده

It fled the frame of the body into empty air,

And my eyes watched for nothing now but death.

كلمتها يا نَفس قرين وَاهجعي

ترى اللَه باب المرحمه مِن عَوايده

I spoke to it: O soul, be still and rest.

Know that opening mercy's door is God's accustomed way.

تَرى اللَه لازم يَفرج الهَم وَالشَقا

يا نَفس صَبراً وَالقَدر مَن يعانده

Know that God will surely relieve sorrow and hardship.

O soul, have patience—who can defy destiny?

يا بار يا مَعبود يا سامع الدُعا

بِالمُصطَفى المُختار تفرج شَدايده

O Beneficent One, O Worshipped One, O Hearer of prayers,

Through al-Mustafa, the Chosen One, ease its hardships.

بِالمصطَفى المُختاى تحسن خلاصنا

يا نَفس جُوزي وَاتركي الترك فايده

Through al-Mustafa, the Chosen One, grant us good deliverance.

O soul, desist and let go; relinquishing brings benefit.

أَبت غَير حُب الجوح وَالنوح وَالبكا

مِن مقلتا قلقا مِن الدَمع بايده

It wanted nothing but anguish, lamentation, and weeping,

From its anxious eyes, wasted away by tears;

مِن مقلتا قلقا حَزينة موجعة

عَلى فَقد مَن لا مستلا عَن مَوارده

From its anxious, sorrowful, aching eyes,

For losing one whose watering places cannot be forgotten;

عَلى فَقد مَن لا مستلا عَن جَمالهم

عُيوني عَلَيهم ساكبه الدَمع جايده

For losing those whose beauty cannot be forgotten.

My eyes pour tears for them abundantly.

عُيوني بطول اللَيل لا تَألف الكَرى

لَو مهدولي فَرشَها وَالوسايده

All night long my eyes find no companionship in sleep,

Even if they lay out bedding and pillows for me.

مِن الجَفا كَني عَلى جَمر الغَضا

أَرعا الثريا وَالغفر وَالفَراقده

From estrangement, I feel as though upon ghada embers,

Watching the Pleiades, al-Ghafr, and the Farqad stars.

وَعَيني تراعيهم من الهَم ساهرة

كَما يسهر المكلوم وَالناس راقده

My eyes watch them, kept wakeful by sorrow,

As a wounded man stays awake while others sleep.

وَجسمي ضَناه الوَجد وَالشَوق وَالنَوا

وَنيران قَلبي دايم الدُوم واقده

Passion, longing, and separation have wasted my body,

And my heart's fires burn continually.

أَيا علة بموسط القَلب وَالحَشا

أَشوفها يا ناس عَن قبل زايده

O sickness in the middle of my heart and inward parts,

I see it, people, growing worse than before.

عالجتها بِالنار لاما واسيتها

وَصارَت محاورها مِن القيح بارده

I treated it with fire until I had tended it,

And its hollows grew cold with pus.

أَبَت تقبل الطب الَّذي يوصفونه

وَراح الدَوا فيها عَلى غَير فايده

It refused the treatment they prescribe,

And medicine was spent upon it without benefit.

وَلا ظنتي لقمان يَشفي آلامها

وَلا كُل داء الطب يَقطَع موايده

Nor do I think Luqman could heal its pains.

Medicine cannot cut off the sources of every illness,

وَلا كُل داء الطب يبريه وَالدَوا

وَلا يَنفع العاشق سِوى شوف رايده

Nor can treatment and medicine cure every illness.

Nothing helps a lover but seeing the one he desires.

وَلا يَنفَع القَلب المَشقا علاجه

لا صار مِن سنتين تَخت سنايده

Treatment does not help the afflicted heart,

When for two years it has lain beneath its bolsters;

لا صار من سنتين مشفي عَلى الضَنا

جسمي حواب البُعد صارَت مَصايده

When for two years it has hovered on the brink of wasting away.

My body is caught in the snares of separation's afflictions.

دائي مِن الهجران لا شَك قاتلي

بِالرَغم لازم تخرج الرُوح صاعده

My illness from abandonment will surely kill me.

Against my will, the soul must depart, rising upward.

ما حيرَتي يالربع ضاقَت حظيرتي

وَعز الفرج وَالظَن خابَت مَواعده

How bewildered I am, friends! My enclosure has narrowed.

Relief is scarce, and hope's promises have failed.

وَاشفت عَلى جرف الهَلاك نفوسنا

وَباب الفرج الفين دجال راصده

Our souls have approached the brink of destruction,

And two thousand deceivers guard the door of relief.

من بعد ذا راودت نَفسي عَلى الجَفا

وَسار القَلم مِن فُوق مَصقول كاغده

After this, I urged my soul to bear estrangement,

And the pen traveled across its smooth paper,

يَشرَح عَلى ما حاق فينا من البَلا

وَيبدي غَرامي مثل جَمر المَواقده

Describing the affliction that has befallen us,

And revealing my passion like the embers of hearths.

يُبدي قَوافي مِن ضَميري جنيتها

جني الطرد مِن رُوس شمخ جرايده

It reveals rhymes I gathered from my inward thoughts,

Like gathering date clusters from the tops of lofty palm fronds.

سيرتها من ديرة الضيم وَالشَقا

عَلى مَتن قلاب الجَناحين ماده

I sent them from the land of oppression and hardship,

On the back of a bird beating its outstretched wings;

عَلى مَتن قمريا رعابي مدرب

عَلى شيل طرس اللي مفارق ودايده

On the back of a trained Ra'abi turtledove,

To carry the letter of one parted from those he loves.

الا يا حمام الرسل خذلي تَحية

مَرقومة بِالخَط تحزن قَصايده

Now, messenger dove, carry a greeting for me,

Written in script, its poems bringing sorrow.

تمد مِن عندي عَلى الرَحب وَالسعة

مِن أَزمير خاب اللي مِن الناس قاصده

Set out from me across the wide expanses,

From Izmir—disappointed is anyone who seeks it.

وَمِنها عَلى صاقص وَسيواس وَانتحي

وَعشي برودس حَيث دربك سنايده

From there to Saqis and Sivas, then head onward.

Spend the evening in Rhodes, where your route has resting places.

وَاغدي عَلى قبرص بلاداً عذية

وَجبالها شمخ عَن الأَرض زايده

At dawn go to Cyprus, a pleasant, pure-aired land,

Its lofty mountains rising above the earth.

هود عَلى بَيروت وَاحذر من البطا

عَلى جلق الفَيا هَناء مَوارده

Descend upon Beirut, and beware of delay,

Then to shady Jilliq, with its pleasant watering places;

عَلى نقرة الشام العذية بلادنا

وَانحر جبل حُوران خَليك عامده

To the pleasant basin of al-Sham, our homeland.

Head for Mount Hauran; keep your course toward it.

وَاحرص من الشاهين يا طير يخطفك

وَتروح تعبتنا عَلى غَير فايده

Beware the peregrine, bird, lest it snatch you,

And our labor come to nothing.

تَلفي عَلى الدار المهينة بعدنا

دارا أَشوف الدَهر هدم مصامده

Arrive at the home, humbled since we left,

A home whose bulwarks I see time has demolished.

وَاشكي لَها يا طَير عَني وَقُل لَها

أَيا دار مانتي عَلى المُحبين حاده

Tell it my sorrow, bird, and say to it:

O home, you do not turn your loved ones away.

يا دار أَين اللي بَقوا انس ربعتك

يا حيف صابتهم عُيون الحَواسده

O home, where are those who were the company of your guest hall?

What a pity! The eyes of the envious struck them.

يا دار أَين اللي بقوا سور منعتك

وَكنتي بِهم في مَوطن العز مايده

O home, where are those who formed your protective wall?

Through them you were a table spread in the abode of honor.

يا دار ابن اللي عَلى الضد غلمتك

وَمضر فيها عَن جَميع الطَرايده

O home, where are your young men who stood against the foe,

And were a scourge there to every raiding band?

يا دار أَين اللي كَريمة طباعهم

ياما لَهُم بِالجود سابق عَوايده

O home, where are those whose natures were generous?

How often their generosity followed time-honored ways!

أَين الَّذي كانوا يعزوا نَزيلهم

وَعز الدَخيل اليا لَفى الضَيم حاده

Where are those who honored their guests,

And honored the refugee who arrived, driven by oppression?

أَهلك هَفوا مِن دُون كُل الطَوايف

وَعَن دُون خَلق اللَه مالك شَرايده

Your people vanished, unlike all other communities,

And unlike all God's creatures, you have no scattered survivors.

البَعض ضمتهم لحود الدَوارس

وَراحوا مثل ما راح أَمس بجدايده

Some were embraced by timeworn graves,

And departed as yesterday departed with its new happenings.

وَالبَعض زجوهم وَخانوا عُهودهم

في سجن مُظلم يصفط الرُوح وارده

Some they thrust away, betraying their pledges,

Into a dark prison that crushes the soul of anyone entering.

وَالبَعض ساموهم رَهاين وَابعدوا

وَناسا عَلى سيناب يتووا قَلايده

Some they treated as hostages and sent far away,

And some in Sinab writhe beneath its collars.

بلعون أَشوفك لابسه الذل بَعدهم

ولا تَأنسي مَن جا مِن الناس قاصده

Truly, I see you clothed in humiliation after them.

You find no companionship in those who come seeking you,

وَلا تَأنسي مَن جاك يَندب بساحتك

يا دار كنتي قبل عالكل سايده

Nor in those who come to lament in your courtyard.

O home, you once were mistress over all.

يا دار كنتي بِالطنافس مفرشة

مِن الجُوخ وَالماهود الأَحمر مسانده

O home, you were spread with rugs,

With bolsters of broadcloth and red mahud.

أَرى فَرشك نسج العَناكب مِن الجَفا

وَمَهدوم سُورك بَعدَما كان زايده

I see your bedding woven by spiders from abandonment,

And your wall demolished after it had stood high.

يا دار مِن بَعد القَناديل وَالغوا

مِن بَعد مانتي للخطاطير مايده

O home, after the lamps and the hubbub,

After you had been a table spread for visitors,

في ربعتك ياما هفي كُل حايل

سكر مَع الليمون مع ماء بارده

In your guest hall, how much hayil was consumed—

Sugar with lemon, with cold water.

مِن الصُبح خطار الضحى ينحرونك

وَعِندَ العَصير تشوف صادر وَوارده

From morning, the forenoon's guests would make for you,

And in the afternoon you would see people leaving and arriving.

وَكنتي مَزار إِلى المَخاليق وَالمَلا

وَيصوطولك للمخاليق والده

You were a destination for people and the multitude,

And they proclaimed you a mother to the people.

ضيعه حصينه تكرمي الضيف لا لفي

وَيلطي بك المضيوم من شَر طارده

A fortified village, you honored the guest when he arrived,

And the oppressed sheltered in you from his pursuer's evil.

يَنفه وَلو يَطلب مِن البَدو وَالحَضَر

وَالتُرك ياما عوسجوا عَن مَقاصده

He breathed freely, even if pursued by Bedouin and townspeople,

And how often the Turks were thwarted in their aims.

القَصد كنتي خاص كُل المَنازل

مثل العَرين وَيأمن الخَوف وافده

In short, you were the choicest of all homes,

Like a lion's den, whose visitor was safe from fear.

إِلى أَن غدر فينا الزَمان الَّذي سَطا

عَلَينا وَعَيب الدَهر ما كثر شَواهده

Until time betrayed us and assailed

Us—how many proofs there are of time's disgrace!

أَيا دار ما فتك لَك اللَه بخاطري

وَلا يَوم الا أَندبك في نَشايده

O home, you have never left my thoughts—God be with you.

Not a day passes without my lamenting you in songs,

وَلا يَوم إِلا في أَفكاري أَخايلك

وَإِن نَمت كاني بربعك مشاهده

Not a day without my picturing you in my thoughts.

And if I sleep, it is as though I am there in your quarters.

لَو خَيروني بديرة الترك وَالعرب

ما بَد لك وَاللَه عالقول شاهده

If they offered me the lands of Turks and Arabs,

There would be no substitute for you; God witnesses my words.

لِأَنك وَطن موروث عَالغيظ وَالرضى

وَحُب الوَطَن ماحي بنكر فَوايده

For you are an inherited homeland, in anger and contentment,

And no one denies the blessings of love for one's homeland.

وَبك دفنت الغاليين من أَهلنا

وَحيي لذاك القَبر حيي شَواهده

Within you I buried the dear ones of our family.

Salute that grave; salute its headstones.

وَبك زرعث الحُور وَالتين وَالعنب

ونافت عَلى عُود البلنزي جَرايده

Within you I planted poplars, figs, and grapes,

And the Balanzi tree's fronds rose high upon its trunk.

وَبك بَنيت الدايرات بجوانبك

وَآمنت صرف الدَهر عَن كُل ماده

Within you I built dwellings along your sides,

And felt secure against every onslaught of time.

وَبِكَ بَنيت قُصور شمخ عَوالي

بِعقود مِن تَحت الأَساسات شاده

Within you I built lofty, towering palaces,

With arches firmly bracing them from beneath the foundations.

شَيدت بنيانك عَلى رغم حاسدك

وَلا كُنت أَسمَع فيكي قَول الحَواسده

I raised your buildings despite your envier,

And never heeded what the envious said about you.

وَاليَوم أَشوف البُوم يَصرَخ بجانبك

وَالقَراميل معششا في نَوافذه

Today I see the owl crying beside you,

And qaramil nesting in its windows.

رَمله فَلا تلقي وَريثاً يعاشرك

وَن جا نهار العيد مالك معايده

Widowed, you find no heir to share your life,

And when the feast day comes, none offers you greetings.

صرتي كَصيمه دُون كُل المَنازل

وَلا مِن وَريث يضمدك في رَفايده

You have become cut off among all homes,

With no heir to bind your wounds with his aid.

أَيا دار أَين الكَيف وَالعز وَالرَخا

وَعوج المَناسف فَوقَها السَمن جامده

O home, where are pleasure, honor, and plenty,

And the curved feast platters, with congealed ghee upon them?

أَيا دار أَين الأُنس وَالونس لِلمَلا

أَينَ الَّذي كانوا الرفاقه جَنايده

O home, where are companionship and company for the people?

Where are those companions, those companies of men?

يا دار كُنت العصر أَرعى بجوانبك

ديجان مِن كُل الملل دُوم وافده

O home, in the afternoons I used to watch beside you

Groups of every faith, always arriving.

يا دار أَين الخَيل كانَت مربطة

وركابها كانَت عَلى الزاد قاعده

O home, where are the horses that were tethered,

Their riders seated over food?

يا دار أَين الكَيف وَالحَسَن وَالغنا

وَجلبة صياح الناس لِلجَو عاقده

O home, where are pleasure, beauty, and song,

And the uproar of people's cries hanging thick in the air?

يا دار ما تحصر تَواصيف منحتك

صَبراً جَميل عَلى الدَهر مَع مَنافده

O home, descriptions cannot encompass your bounty.

Bear time and all its ways with gracious patience.

السر بالسكان يا مَوطن النيا

لَو أَن حجارك وَالأَساسات صامده

The secret lies in the inhabitants, O dwelling of desire,

Even if your stones and foundations stand firm.

لَونك مثل عاد الَّذي يوصفونها

قفرا بِلا سكان مِن غَير فايده

Even were you like 'Ad, as they describe it,

Empty of inhabitants, you would be of no use.

ردت عَلي الدار تَبكي مِن النَوى

وَتقسم ديان البُعد ما هُوَ برايده

The home answered me, weeping from separation,

And swore by the Judge: separation was not my wish.

وَلا عودوني مَوطن الهَجر وَالجَفا

وَلا كانَ ظَني الدَهر تبدا مكايده

They never accustomed me to being a place of abandonment and estrangement.

Nor did I think time would reveal its schemes.

وَلا كان ظَني الدَهر يَعزي بحبايبي

وَيخوننا بَعد الصَفا وَالمراودة

Nor did I think time would bring condolences for my loved ones,

And betray us after harmony and closeness.

وَلا كان ظَني يَوم أَحرم وَصالهم

وَأَضحى عَليهم ذاهله اللب فاقده

Nor did I think I would one day be denied their company,

And become distraught for them, bereft of reason.

يا لَوعَتي يا حَسرَتي يا مُصيبَتي

ما حيلَتي فَخ التقادير صايده

O my burning grief, O my regret, O my calamity!

What can I do? Fate's trap has caught me.

وَاللَه ما كان الفراق بخاطري

أَما الدَهر خوان هذي عَوايده

By God, separation was never my wish.

But time is treacherous; these are its ways.

خان الدَهر غرار غدار بِالفَتى

مثل السَراب يَزول عَن وَجه طارده

Time betrayed us, deceiving and cheating the young man,

Like a mirage disappearing before its pursuer.

أَنا إِن خَيروني بِالمَخاليق كُلَها

ما يُوم عَن حُب المُحبين حايده

If they offered me all humankind,

I would never turn away from loving my loved ones.

ما يُوم قَلبي كان يَسلا وَلا يَفو

وَمرجاي باب اللَه ما خاب قاصده

My heart has never forgotten or grown indifferent.

My hope is God's door; whoever seeks it is not disappointed.

وَإِن ما رجيت اليَوم أَرجاه باكر

واد جَرى لا بُد تَجري مَوارده

If I find no hope today, I shall hope for it tomorrow.

A wadi that once flowed must have its watercourses flow again.

سيور ما تجلا وَيتغير الهَوا

وَيهب ريح مِن التَقادير بارده

In time it will clear, and the air will change,

And a cool wind will blow from destiny.

وَيَأمر بجمع الكُل رَبي وَخالقي

وَنفرح بشوف الغاليين البعايده

My Lord and Creator will command everyone's reunion,

And we shall rejoice to see the dear ones far away.

وَنفرح بهم وَالغايبين جَميعهم

وَنشخص الفرقو مثل فَصل عايده

We shall rejoice in them and in all the absent ones,

And send separation on its way, like a season that comes round.

وَاختم كَلامي بِالصَلاة عَلى النَبي

المُصطَفى اللي يقصدوه النجايده

I conclude my words with blessings upon the Prophet,

Al-Mustafa, whom the valiant seek.

يَختم لَنا بِالخَير وَيلم شملنا

ويفكنا مِن بَين قَوم جَواحده

May He grant us a good ending and gather us together,

And free us from among an ungrateful people.