ولهي في الهوى حديث قديم — Abn Alsaati

ولهي في الهوى حديثٌ قديمُ

وعذابي بالغانيات أليم

My infatuation in love is an ancient tale,

and my torment through beautiful women is painful.

عجبي للجمال يهوى مع البخـ

ـل ويرضى بحكمهِ المظلوم

I marvel that beauty is loved despite its stinginess,

and that the wronged lover accepts its judgment.

أين أيامنا بساكنة الخيـ

ـف تقضَّت كأنها تهويم

Where are our days with the woman dwelling at al-Khayf?

They passed like a drowsy dream.

كم بذاك المغنى غنيٌّ من الوجـ

ـد فقير من التسلي عديم

How many in that dwelling were rich in longing,

poor in consolation, utterly bereft!

ظنه الكاشحون من كتمه الحـ

ـب سليم الأحشاء وهو سليم

His foes thought, because he concealed his love,

that his heart was sound, though he was venom-stricken.

حبذا والزمان طلق المحيا

ضحكُ الأرض حين تبكي الغيوم

How lovely, when time wore a smiling face,

was earth's laughter as the clouds wept!

أي ثوب مدبجٍ لخيوط المز

ن منه التوشيح والتسهيم

What a brocaded robe! The rain-clouds' threads

fashion its embellishment and patterned stripes.

والندامى تبني سماءَ مدامٍ

طلعت للحباب فيها نجوم

And drinking companions build a firmament of wine,

in which stars of bubbles have risen.

حيث شملي بالظاعنين جميعٌ

وبديد السرور عقد نظيم

There I was united with those who have departed,

and scattered joys were a neatly strung necklace.

ووجوه اللذّات تسفر بشراً

وعلى العيش نضرة ونعيم

The faces of pleasures beam with gladness,

and life wears freshness and delight.

وغزال الصريم لا ودهُ وا

ه ولا حبل عهده مصروم

And the gazelle of the thicket—his affection is not frail,

nor is the cord of his pledge severed.

لي من لفظهِ ومنه ومن خد

ديه نقل ومطرب ونديم

From his speech, his presence, and his cheeks, I have

sweetmeats, a singer, and a boon companion.

وجراحي دواؤها ورد خدَّيـ

ـه وبالوردِ قد تداوى الكلوم

My wounds find their cure in the roses of his cheeks,

and wounds have indeed been healed with roses.

فهو سقمٌ وصحة وحياة

وممات وجنةٌ وجحيم

He is sickness and health and life,

and death, a paradise and a hell.

خلسٌ ودعت كما ودع الـ

ـغيثُ فقلبي الظامي إليها يهيم

Stolen moments, bid farewell to as the rain is;

my thirsty heart wanders in longing for them.

والديار الديارُ حقاً ولكن

أين ذاك الوقوف والتسليم

The dwellings are still the dwellings, truly; yet

where are those stops to linger and exchange greetings?

ذهبت لذَّة الصبا وتولَّى

عنفوانُ الشباب وهو كريم

The pleasure of youth has gone, and departed

is youth's generous prime.

أسرعت في الذهاب ساعاته الشهـ

ـب فدهري من بعد ليلٌ بهيم

Its radiant hours sped away;

my days since then have been pitch-black night.

إنما البين وقعة نبلها الهد

ب وخطبها القوامُ القويم

Parting is a battle whose arrows are eyelashes,

whose ordeal is that straight, graceful figure.

حيث قلبي في قبضة الوجد مأ

سورٌ وصبري من اللحاظ هزيم

There my heart lies captive in longing's grasp,

and my patience is routed by glances.

ودموعي فيهن جهلٌ إلى نصـ

ـر ضلوعي ولكن سلوّي حليم

My tears carry rashness as they come to the aid

of my ribs, but my consolation is forbearing.

أشفق الشامتون من فرط سقمي

كيف تبقى بعد النفوس الجسوم

Even those who gloated pitied my extreme sickness;

how can bodies survive when souls have gone?

ويميناً لولا لقاءُ عماد الديـ

ـن ما اقصر الزمان اللئيم

I swear, but for meeting ‘Imad al-Din,

ignoble time would never have relented.

الجواد المقصودُ والسّيد المحمو

د صنعاً والصاحب المخدوم

The generous man all seek, the lord praised

for his deeds, the patron whom others serve.

كاتمٌ عرفه ويظهره الإطرا

ء عنه والعرف عرفٌ نموم

He conceals his beneficence, but praise reveals it;

praise of him—beneficence is a telltale fragrance.

ثاقب الفهم والسهامُ نواب

رابط الجأش إذ تخف الحلوم

Piercing in understanding while arrows come in volleys,

steadfast of heart when judgment grows flighty.

كم له من قنا وهن كلامٌ

وسيوفٍ للملك وهي عزيم

How many spears he has that are words,

and swords for the kingdom that are resolve!

وصفوف تثني الصفوف من الـ

ـأعداءِ وهي المنثورُ والمنظوم

And ranks that turn back the enemy's ranks,

though they are prose and verse.

ذو يراعٍ لمارق أجل يقـ

ـضى ورزقٌ لطارق مقسوم

He wields a reed-pen: for a rebel, a doom decreed,

and for a visitor, a portion of sustenance.

والمعاني زينت بهن المعالي

فهي وشيٌ لعطفها ورقوم

Meanings with which high eminence is adorned:

brocade and patterned embroidery for her sides.

لطفت رقة كما تلطف الخمرُ

ورقت كما يرقُّ النسيم

They grow delicate and subtle as wine grows subtle,

and gentle as the breeze grows gentle.

والكلام الذي نهاه أبوهُ

فلماذا يقال درٌّ يتيم

And speech, perfected by its father—

why should it be called an orphan pearl?

كلُّ حرف كأنه الحجر

الأسود فينا مقَّبل ملثوم

Each letter is like the Black Stone,

kissed among us and pressed to our lips.

راق بيتاً وفاق بيتاً ولكن

ن البنائينِ محدث وقديم

It enchants as a verse and surpasses a house, though

of the two builders, one is modern and one ancient.

في نداهُ التضمين من صنـ

ـعة الشعر وفيه إبطاؤهُ واللزوم

In his bounty is the binding found in the craft

of poetry, with its delay and constraint.

قرشيُّ الندى إذا عدد الأجوا

دُ أضحى لكفه التقديم

Qurashi in generosity, when the generous are counted,

his palm is given precedence.

خالهُ مفتئ بهدية مرجيـ

ـه وقد أنكر الخلافَ العموم

His hopeful petitioner deemed him an arbiter through a gift [wording uncertain];

and everyone rejected disagreement.

فهو قيسٌ على الطغاة فلا لا

ن ومن جنَّة الخطوب تميم

He is Qays against tyrants, never yielding,

and against calamities' madness, Tamim, a protecting charm.

من أناس هم إذا جرجرَ الفحـ

ـل فحولٌ مصاعب وقروم

Of a people who, when the bull-camel bellows,

are untamable bull-camels and mighty sires.

أي سحبٍ أمواههنَّ العطايا

وبحارٍ أمواجهنَّ العلوم

What clouds, whose waters are gifts,

and seas, whose waves are learning!

وجبال الحجى خليقٌ بها التخـ

ـليد لو كانت الجبال تدوم

And mountains of wisdom, worthy of immortality,

if mountains themselves could endure!

يبذلون القرى كما يمنعون الجا

ر والمحل كالعدى محسوم

They lavish hospitality as they defend their neighbor,

and drought, like their enemies, is cut off.

شرعوا مذهب السماحة والبأ

س وفيه التحليل والتحريم

They ordained a creed of generosity and valor,

with its permissions and prohibitions.

يطعنون الكماةَ بالخط والـ

ـخطي حذقاً وللكلام كلوم

They pierce armored warriors with script and Khatti spears,

with skill; speech, too, leaves wounds.

من عطاياهمُ المطهَّمة القبـ

ـب وبزل المنسمات الكوم

Among their gifts are finely bred, slender-bellied steeds,

and mature, high-humped camels with padded feet.

حاز منهم رقي محمدٍ المحـ

ـمود إذ عبدهُ الزمان ذميم

Muhammad attained from them his praiseworthy elevation,

while Time, his servant, was blameworthy.

أرضعتني أقلامه در نعما

ه وغيري من غيرها مفطوم

His pens suckled me with the flowing milk of his favors,

while others are weaned from pens other than his.

أمهات النَّدى وما كل أمٍ

ذات نسل على بنيها رؤوم

Mothers of bounty—but not every mother

who bears offspring is tender toward her sons.

جاءني من ولادها كل بنتٍ

كل فكرٍ بمثلهن عقيم

Every daughter of their bringing-forth came to me,

and every mind is barren of conceiving their like.

فهي في القرب منهلٌ ومع العبـ

ـد سحابٌ يسيم حيث أشيم

They are a watering-place when near, and with the servant,

a cloud that roams where I watch for lightning.

رب كف تكفُّ عادية الضـ

ـيق ووجهٍ به تداوى الهموم

Many a hand wards off the onslaught of distress,

and many a face brings healing to cares.

فهو لا مقفل الطلاقة والـ

ـبشرِ ولا بيت ماله مختوم

His openness and cheer are never locked away,

nor is his treasury sealed.

وكذا لا ترى مشيد المعا

لي قطُّ إلا ووفره مهدوم

So too, you never see a builder of high glory

without his wealth being laid in ruins.

صحَّ لي وده فلست أبالي

أن يبيت الزمانُ وهو سقيم

His affection has proved true to me; I no longer care

whether Time passes the night sick.

وكفاني الإيراقَ والأرقَ الـ

ـبرح منيلٌ من عزمه ومنيم

He spared me wakefulness and tormenting sleeplessness,

a giver through his resolve, and a giver of sleep.

حين حال الصديقُ والصاحبُ

المرجو عن عهدهِ وخان الحميم

When the friend changed, and the hoped-for companion

departed from his pledge, and the intimate friend betrayed me.

هان عندي هوانَ شأني من يقـ

ـعدُ عني من بعده أو يقوم

As little as my own standing, I care who hangs back

from me after him, or rises to my aid.

وثقت راحتاي بالعروة الوث

قى ففازت وغيرها مفصوم

My palms have trusted in the firmest handhold,

and prospered, while other bonds are snapped.

بتُّ من وجودهِ ومن ربعه الآ

هل في حيث زمزمٌ والحطيم

Through his presence and in his peopled dwelling, I spent the night

where Zamzam and al-Hatim are.

حرمٌ آمنٌ يطوف به الوفـ

ـد وبيتٌ به يصان الحريم

A safe sanctuary round which delegations circle,

a house where the household is kept safe.

فمناخي وسهل ووردي نميـ

ـرٌ والصبا قرةٌ وعشبي جميم

My resting-place is easy, my drinking-water sweet,

the east wind cool, and my grass lush.

ولحظي بموبقات الليالي

ظفرٌ ما لظفرهِ تقليم

My gaze, against the nights' ruinous deeds,

is a claw whose talon is never trimmed.

أيهاذا العهدُ الملثُّ سقى عهـ

ـدك لا مخدجٌ ولا مذموم

O abiding age! May your age be watered

with rain neither scant nor blameworthy:

ضاحك اللَّمع واكف الدمع جودٌ

يحمل السهلُ منه والخروم

a lavish rain, smiling in lightning, streaming in tears,

whose burden the plains and mountain clefts bear.

مستقلاً عني بشكر إيادٍ

مفحمات صفاتها من يروم

Undertaking, on my behalf, thanks for favors

whose qualities silence anyone who tries to describe them.

واقعاتٌ وطائراتٌ

في كل حي تحوم

Alighting and taking wing,

they hover in every tribe.

فتقبَّل هدية الفكر غيداء

هدياً باد عليها النعيم

Accept, then, thought's gift, a supple maiden,

graceful in bearing, with luxury evident upon her.

ذات حلمٍ خفت إليك كما

خف إلى فرصة العلاءِ

Possessed of forbearance, she hastened to you, as

one hastens to an opportunity for greatness.

فهي فوق الأعطافِ محكمة الـ

ـوشي وفوق الجباهِ در نظيم

Upon the shoulders she is finely wrought brocade,

and above the brows, a string of ordered pearls.

حسنت منظراً خلقاً وطابت

بك نشراً روق منها الأديم

She is lovely in appearance and form, and made sweet

in fragrance by you; her skin is refined.

فهي خوطٌ إذا تثنت وبدرٌ

إن تجلت وإن رنت فهي ريم

She is a slender shoot when she sways, a full moon

when revealed; and when she gazes, a gazelle.

نبعة فارسيةٌ أصلها أنـ

ـت لقد طاب فرعها والأروم

A Persian nab‘-tree, whose root is you—

indeed, both its branch and roots are fine.

لدنةٌ في يديك يدرد حسـ

ـاد أعاديك عودها المعجوم

Supple in your hands, she renders the envious toothless,

those among your enemies, with her bite-tested wood.

ونجوم السماء لحظٌ فإن

لاذ بها مارد فهن رجوم

The stars of heaven are glances; but if

a rebellious demon takes refuge there, they are missiles.

أي سحرٍ لكن حلال وصهـ

ـباءَ سلاف ما شانها تحريم

What magic, yet lawful! And a tawny wine,

the choicest vintage, marred by no prohibition.

كتمتها الخدود والبعد للعذرا

ء عذرٌ حتى جلاها القدوم

Cheeks concealed her, and distance excuses the virgin,

until arrival unveiled her.

فاسقها ماءَ بشركَ العذب صفـ

ـواً فالقوافي إليه حرَّى هيم

Give her the sweet water of your welcome, clear and pure;

the rhymes are burning with thirst and yearning for it.

وتمتَّع بها تنورزُ فينا

وتضحي مهنأً وتصوم

Enjoy her; may you celebrate Nawruz among us,

offer sacrifice amid congratulations, and keep the fast.

تتوالى مواسم الدهر جمعاً

وبنعماك كلُّها مسموم

May all the seasons of time follow one another,

and all be poisoned with your favors.