ولى صاحب لا يمرض العقل جهله — Tamim Al Fatimi

ولى صاحب لا يُمْرِضُ العقلَ جهلُه

ولا تَتأذّى النفس منه ولا القلبُ

And I have a companion whose ignorance does not sicken the mind,

Nor does the soul suffer harm from him, nor the heart.

إذا قلتُ لا في قصّةٍ لم يقل بَلى

وإن قلتُ أصبو قال لا بدّ أن أصبو

If I say 'no' about a matter, he does not say 'yes.'

And if I say, 'I crave pleasure,' he says, 'I must crave it too.'

وإن قلت هاكَ الكأسَ قال مبادرِاً

ألاَ هاتِها طابَ التَّنادُمُ والشُّرب

And if I say, 'Take the cup,' he eagerly replies,

'Come, give it here! Sweet are conviviality and drinking.'

سريعٌ إذا لبّى صبورٌ إذا دَعا

يهَون عليه في رضا خِلّه الصَّعْب

Quick when he answers a summons, patient when he calls,

Hardship becomes easy for him in pleasing his dear friend.

غدوتُ به يوماً إلى بيت حانةٍ

وللغَيم دمعٌ ما يكُفّ له سكب

One morning I went with him to a tavern,

While the clouds shed tears in an unceasing downpour.

وقد نَفَحتْ رِيحُ الصِّبا بمَنافِسٍ

عَبِيرِيّة الأنفاسِ طاب لها التُّرْب

And the east wind had breathed through vents

Whose breaths were perfumed, making the soil sweet.

فأَفْضَى بنا الإدْلاَجُ بعد تَعسُّفٍ

إلى زَوْلةٍ شَمْطاءَ مَنزِلهُا رَحْبُ

And our night journey, after rough wandering, brought us

To a shrewd, gray-haired woman whose home was spacious.

مُزنَّرةٍ أمّا أبوها فقيصرٌ

وحَسْبُك مَلْك جَدّه قيصرٌ حَسْب

Wearing a girdle—as for her father, he was Caesar;

And a king whose grandfather is Caesar is enough for you—enough.

قُصَيريّةٌ ديرية هِرْقْليّةٌ

تقاصَر منها الخطو واحدَوْدب الصُّلْب

Of al-Qusayr, of a monastery, of Heraclius's line;

Her stride had shortened, and her spine had bent.

وقالت لنا أهلاً وسهلا ومرحباً

وقَلّ لكم منِّي البشاشة والرّحْب

And she said to us, 'Welcome, be at ease—a hearty welcome!

My smiles and welcome are too little for you.

مَنَ أنْتُمْ فقلنا عُصْبةٌ من بني الصِّبا

دعاهم إليكِ القَصْفُ والعَزْف واللِّعْب

Who are you?' We said, 'A band of the sons of youthful passion,

Called to you by revelry, music, and play.'

فقالت على اسم اللهِ حُطّوا رِحالَكم

فعندي الفتاة الرُّؤدُ والأَمْرَدُ الرَّطْب

Then she said, 'In God's name, set down your baggage;

For I have a tender young woman and a supple, beardless young man,

وراحٌ نفَى أَقْذاءَها طولُ عمرها

فجاءتْ كما يُذْرِي مَدامِعَه الصَّبُّ

And wine whose long life has banished its dregs,

So it came forth like tears shed by a lovesick man.

أَرّق إذا رَقْرقتَها في زجاجة

وألطَفُ من نَفْسٍ تَداولَها الحبُّ

Finer, when you make it ripple in a glass flask,

And subtler than a soul tossed about by love.

كَأنّ سِرَاجاً في تَرائب دَنّها

إذا أقبلتْ من ليلة الدّنّ تَنصَبّ

As though a lamp were in the breast of its wine jar,

When it comes pouring from the wine jar's night.'

فقلنا لها هاتي بها وتَعجَّلي

ولا يك فيما قلتِ خُلْفٌ ولا كِذْب

So we said to her, 'Bring it, and hurry;

Let there be no broken promise or falsehood in what you said.'

فجاءتْ تَجرُّ الزِّقَّ نحوي كأنه

على الأرض زِنجِيٌّ بلا هامةٍ يحبُو

Then she came dragging the wineskin toward me, as though it were

A headless Zanj man crawling along the ground.

فلمّا مزَجناها بدا فوق رأسها

حَبابٌ كما يَنْسابُ من سِلْكه الحَبُّ

When we mixed it, above its head there appeared

Bubbles like beads slipping off their string.

وطافت بها هيفاءُ مُخْطَفةُ الحَشا

مَعَاطفُها سلْمٌ وألحاظُها حَرْبُ

And a slender, narrow-waisted woman carried it around,

Her curves peace, her sidelong glances war.

تَمايَل رِدْفاها وأْدْرِج خصرُها

ليَاناً ولطفا مثل ما تُدْرَج الكُتْب

Her buttocks swayed, and her waist was folded,

Softly and delicately, as scrolls are rolled.

شكا كَشْحَها الزُّنّارُ ممّا يُجِيعه

وضاق بها الخَلْخالُ وامتلأ القُلْب

The girdle complained of her flank for starving it,

Her anklet was tight upon her, and her bracelet was full.

أغارُ على أعطافها كلَّما انثنت

مع الكأس أو فدَّى ملاحتَها الشّرْب

I grow jealous over her curves whenever she sways

With the cup, or the drinkers pledge themselves as ransom for her beauty.

أحلّت لي الصهباءُ تَقْبيلُ وجهها

وما كان قبل السُّكْرِ في لثمِه عَتْب

The tawny wine made kissing her face lawful for me,

And even before drunkenness there was no blame in kissing it.

كأنّي وقد أضجعتُها وعلوتُها

من الشكل رَفْعٌ تحت ضمّته نَصْبُ

It was as though, having laid her down and mounted her, I were

Among vowel marks, a nominative with an accusative beneath its embracing ḍamma.

وما فَضّ لامِي صادَها بجنايةٍ

سوى قولِها إن المسيح لها رَبُّ

And my lām did not break open her ṣād for any offense

Except her saying that the Messiah was her Lord.

فلمّا أغاظتنِي بإظهار كُفْرها

ذَببْتُ عن الإسلام إذ أمكن الذّبُّ

So when she angered me by revealing her unbelief,

I defended Islam, since defense was possible.

وضرَّجتُ فخْذَيْها دَماً بمصمِّمٍ

تُقِرّ له البِيضُ المهنَّدةُ القُضْب

And I stained both her thighs with blood, with a piercing blade

Whose superiority the bright, keen Indian swords acknowledge.

وقلت لها أَرْماحُنا عَلَويّة

تَقُدّ تِراس الرُّوس إن طعَنت عُرْب

And I said to her, 'Our spears are Alid;

They cleave the shields of the Rus if Arabs thrust them.'

فما تَرِحت حتى أنابتْ وأسْلَمتْ

فهل ليَ في فَتْكِ بها بعد ذا ذنب

She had scarcely felt distress before she repented and embraced Islam;

So is there sin upon me for assaulting her after that?

أبا حسنٍ هاك المُدامةَ واسقِني

فقد شاب رأسُ الشَّرْق وأحلَوْلَكَ الغربُ

Abu Hasan, take the wine and give me a drink,

For the East's head has turned gray, and the West has grown pitch-dark.

كأنّ الثريّا في مُلاءِة فجرِها

مَصابِيحُ إلاّ أنّها قد بدتْ تَخْبو

As though the Pleiades, in the mantle of their dawn,

Were lamps—except that they now seem to be fading.

سلامٌ على دَيْر القُصَيْر ومرحباً

به فَلَهُ مِنّي التَّخصُّص والقرب

Peace upon the monastery of al-Qusayr, and welcome

To it! It has my special regard and affection.

فكم لذّةٍ فيه قضيتُ وغُلة

شَفيتُ ولا واشٍ علنيا ولا شَغْب

How many pleasures I have enjoyed there, and burning thirsts

I have quenched, with no informer speaking openly and no disturbance.

منازلُ يَسْتنّ الصَّبا في عِراصها

ويَعْذُب فيها ماءُ ديمتها العذب

Abodes in whose courtyards the east wind gallops,

And the sweet water of their steady rain is delicious there.