هاتها حمراء تحكي العندما — Abdul Ghafar Al Akhras

هاتها حمراءَ تحكي العَنْدَما

واسقنيها من يَدَيْ عَذْبِ اللّمَى

Bring it, red as dragon's-blood dye.

And give it to me to drink from the hands of one with sweet, dusky lips.

وانتهزها فُرْصةً قد أمكَنَتْ

فاغتنمها واتَّخذها مغنما

And seize it as an opportunity now available;

so grasp it and take it as a prize.

وانتهبها لذَّةً إنْ تنقضِ

يا نَديمي أعْقَبَتْك الندما

And snatch it as pleasure: if it passes,

O my drinking companion, it will leave you regret.

وأَعِدْ لي من شبابي ما مضى

بعجوز لم تلاق الهرما

And restore to me the youth that has passed

with an old woman untouched by decrepitude.

حبَّذا أُختُ عروس زُوِّجَتْ

وهب بكرُ الدَّن من ماءِ السَّما

How lovely the sister of a bride given in marriage;

the wine-jar's virgin was gifted water from the sky.

أخْبَرت عن نار كسرى ما رَوَتْ

من أعاصير الأُلى ما قدما

It told of Kisra's fire in what it recounted

of the ancients' whirlwinds, of things long past.

لطُفَتْ حتَّى كأَنْ لم نرها

فتخيَّلْنا الوجودَ العدما

It grew so delicate that we seemed not to see it,

so we imagined existence to be nonexistence.

في رياضٍ أخَذَتْ زُخْرُفها

وبكى الغيثُ لها وابتسما

In gardens that had donned their finery,

the rain wept for them and smiled.

يوم أُنسٍ نشر السحب به

في نواحي الجوّ بُرداً معلما

On a day of delight, the clouds spread

across the reaches of the sky a patterned cloak.

حجب الشمس فأبْرَزْنا لنا

شمسَ راح والحباب الأَنجما

They veiled the sun, so we brought forth for ourselves

a sun of wine, with bubbles for stars.

معْ مليح قد قضى الحسن له

أن يرى الظلم إذا ما حكما

With a beautiful one for whom beauty decreed

that he choose injustice whenever he passed judgment.

لو رآه عاذل يعذلني

في هواه عاد فيه مغرما

Were a reproacher who reproaches me to see him

for loving him, he too would become enamored of him.

أشتكي الظلمَ وهذا ظالمي

يا لقومي من حبيبٍ ظلما

I complain of injustice—and this is my oppressor!

O my people, save me from a beloved who has wronged me!

ورماني عامداً من لحظه

أيَّ سهم ذلك اللحظ روى

And he deliberately shot at me with his glance;

what an arrow that glance drenched!

ما اتّقى الله بأحشائي ولا

راقبَ المأثم فيما أثما

He did not fear God for my innermost heart, nor

heed the sin in his wrongdoing.

حرَّمَ الوَصْلَ على مغرمه

ليتَه حَلَّلَ ما قد حرَّما

He forbade union to the one enamored of him;

would that he had permitted what he forbade!

يا مليحاً أنا في طاعتِهِ

وأُعاصي في هواه اللّوَّما

O beautiful one, I am obedient to him,

and, for love of him, defy the reproachers.

منك أشكو ما أُقاسيه ومِن

سُقم أجفانك أشكو السقما

I complain of the suffering you cause me, and from

your eyelids' languor I complain of sickness.

وسواء فيك مسلوب الحشا

باح بأسرار الهوى أو كتما

For one whose heart you have stolen, it is all the same:

whether he reveals love's secrets or conceals them.

يا لقومي من مشيرٍ بدمي

من دم طُلّ بألحاظ الدُّمى

O my people, save me from one who calls for my blood—

blood shed unavenged by the glances of doll-like beauties.

كم وكم في الحبِّ لا في معرك

صَرَع الظبيُ الأَغنُّ الضيغما

How many, how many times in love, not in battle,

has the sweet-voiced gazelle felled the lion!

وفنون لشجون أطلَقَتْ

عَبرة الصّبّ من الوجد دما

And many kinds of sorrow have released

the ardent lover's tears as blood from longing.

لستُ أنسى ليلةً باتت بها

أعينُ الواشين عنَّا نوَّما

I do not forget a night in which

the slanderers' eyes slept, oblivious to us.

وسهرناها كما شاءَ الهوى

نتعاطى الكأسَ من خمر اللّمى

We stayed awake through it as love desired,

sharing the cup of wine from dusky lips.

تلك أعراسُ زمان سَلَفَتْ

فأقِم يوماً عليها مأتما

Those were the wedding feasts of days gone by;

so hold a day of mourning for them.

لم أزلْ من بعدها أرجو لها

عَوْدَة تبري بقلبي الأَلما

Ever since, I have kept hoping for them

to return and heal the pain within my heart,

مقرناً قولي عسى في ربَّما

وعسى تُغني عسى أو ربَّما

coupling my 'may it be' with my 'perhaps.'

And perhaps a 'may it be' or a 'perhaps' will help:

ينعم الدهر علينا مرَّةً

فنرى شمل المنى منتظما

Time may favor us once,

and we shall see our wishes gathered in harmony.

ما رأتْ عَيني أمراً حيثُ رأتْ

مثل إبراهيم برًّا منعما

My eye has seen nothing, wherever it has looked,

like Ibrahim, righteous and bountiful.

عَلَويٌّ قد علا أعلى العُلى

وعلى أعلى السّماكين سما

An Alid who has climbed the highest heights,

and risen above the higher of the two Simāk stars.

مذ رأيناهُ رأينا ماجداً

وعرفناهُ عرفنا الكرما

Since we first saw him, we have seen a noble man;

and when we knew him, we knew generosity.

فهو كالغيث إذا الغيث همى

وهو كالبحر إذا البحر طمى

For he is like the rain when the rain pours,

and like the sea when the sea swells.

باسطٌ للجود منه راحَةً

ساجَلَتْ يومَ العطاءِ الدِّيما

He extends his own palm in generosity,

a palm that rivaled the steady rains on the day of giving.

أشرف العالم أُمًّا وأَباً

ثمَّ أوفاهم وأندى كرما

The noblest in the world through mother and father,

and the most faithful, the most openhanded in generosity.

هو من أشرفِ قومٍ نسباً

خير من تلقاه فيهم منعما

He comes from a people most noble in lineage,

the finest benefactor you will meet among them.

سيِّد إنْ يعتزِ أم ينتمِ

فإلى خير النبيِّين انتمى

A lord who, whether he claims honor or declares his lineage,

traces his descent to the best of the prophets.

لودَعيٌّ لم تدع آراؤه

من أُمور الرأي أمراً مبهما

A keen-witted man whose judgments have left

none of the matters of judgment unclear.

قسماً بالفخر في عليائه

أوَتبغي فوق هذا قسما

I swear by the glory of his exalted station—

and would you seek an oath higher than this?

إنَّه للفَردُ في أقرانه

كانَ والمجد تليد التوأما

Truly, he is peerless among his peers;

he and glory were twins of ancient stock.

سالكٌ ما سلكتْ آباؤه

بمعاليه السبيلَ الأَقوما

He follows where his forefathers trod,

through his lofty deeds, along the straightest road.

نَشَرَتْ أَيمانُه ما ملكت

لنظام الحمد حتَّى نظما

His right hands scattered what they possessed

to form a necklace of praise, until it was strung.

أنا في مدحي له خادمه

إنَّ مَن يخدم علاه خدما

In my praise of him, I am his servant;

truly, whoever serves his exalted rank is himself served.

وقليلٌ ولو أنِّي ناظم

لعلاه في القريض الأَنجما

And little it would be, even were I to string

the stars into verse for his exalted rank.

شِيَمٌ ممدوحة في ذاته

فتأَمَّل فيه تلك الشِّيما

Praiseworthy qualities dwell in his person;

so contemplate those qualities in him.

فتراه للندى حينئذٍ

مُسْبَغاً في كلِّ يومٍ نعما

Then you see him, in his generosity,

lavishing blessings every day.

هو ترياق من الدهر الَّذي

كانَ في اللأواء صِلاًّ صَيْلما

He is an antidote to Time, which

in adversity was a deadly serpent.

فإذا ما حارَبَتْ أيَّامه

حادث الأيام ألقى السلما

Whenever his days wage war

on Time's calamity, that calamity offers peace.

نتَّقي ما نتَّقي من بأسه

وإذ أقْدَمَ خطبٌ أحجما

We fend off whatever we dread of its violence,

and whenever a calamity advances, it draws back.

لا بلغتُ إرباً إنْ لم أكنْ

ناقلاً إلاَّ إليه قدما

May I never achieve a wish if I am not

taking my steps toward him alone.

إنَّما البصرة في أيَّامه

أبْصَرَتْ أعيُنُها بعدَ العَمى

Only in his days did Basra

open its eyes after blindness.

جعل الله لها في ظلِّه

خيرَ ظلٍّ منه بل خير حمى

God has given it, beneath his shade,

the finest shade from him—indeed, the finest refuge.

مكرماً من أَمَّهُ مسترفداً

راحماً من جاءهُ مسترحما

He honors whoever approaches him seeking bounty,

and shows mercy to whoever comes asking for mercy.

فجزاه الله عنها خير ما

جُوزي المنعم عمَّا أنعما

So may God reward him on its behalf with the best

reward a benefactor receives for his beneficence.