ما جال بعدك لحظي في سنا القمر — Abn Zaydun

ما جالَ بَعدَكِ لَحظي في سَنا القَمَرِ

إِلّا ذَكَرتُكِ ذِكرَ العَينِ بِالأَثَرِ

Since you left, my gaze has never roamed in the moon's radiance

without recalling you, as a presence is recalled through its trace.

وَلا اِستَطَلتُ ذَماءَ اللَيلِ مِن أَسَفٍ

إِلّا عَلى لَيلَةٍ سَرَّت مَعَ القِصَرِ

Nor have I found the night's lingering life too long in sorrow,

except over a night that delighted despite its brevity.

ناهيكِ مِن سَهَرٍ بَرحٍ تَأَلَّفَهُ

شَوقٌ إِلى ما اِنقَضى مِن ذَلِكَ السَمَرِ

What agonizing sleeplessness, kept company

by longing for those vanished nighttime conversations!

فَلَيتَ ذاكَ السَوادَ الجَونَ مُتَّصِلٌ

لَو اِستَعارَ سَوادَ القَلبِ وَالبَصَرِ

Would that that pitch-black darkness were unbroken,

even if it borrowed the blackness of the heart and eye.

أَمّا الضَنى فَجَنَتهُ لَحظَةٌ عَنَنٌ

كَأَنَّها وَالرَدى جاءا عَلى قَدَرِ

As for my wasting sickness, a chance glance brought it on,

as though it and death had come by the same decree.

فَهِمتُ مَعنى الهَوى مِن وَحيِ طَرفَكِ لي

إِنَّ الحِوارَ لَمَفهومٌ مِنَ الحَوَرِ

I understood love's meaning from your eye's revelation to me;

indeed, converse is clear in the black and white of eyes.

وَالصَدرُ مُذ وَرَدَت رِفهاً نَواحِيَهُ

تومُ القَلائِدِ لَم تَجنَح إِلى صَدَرِ

And since there came to your breast's reaches, to drink at will,

the necklace pearls, they have never inclined to depart.

حُسنٌ أَفانينُ لَم تَستَوفِ أَعيُنُنا

غاياتِهِ بِأَفانينٍ مِنَ النَظَرِ

A beauty of many forms: our eyes have not encompassed

its utmost limits with all their varied gazes.

واهاً لِثَغرِكِ باتَ يَكلَؤُهُ

غَيرانُ تَسري عَواليهِ إِلى الثُغَرِ

Ah, your mouth, kept under watch all night

by a jealous man whose spearheads travel by night to the frontiers!

يَقظانُ لَم يَكتَحِل غَمضاً مُراقَبَةً

لَرابِطِ الجَأشِ مِقدامٍ عَلى الغِرَرِ

Wakeful, he has not lined his eyes with sleep, keeping watch

for a steadfast-hearted man, daring in the face of perils.

لا لَهوُ أَيّامِهِ الخالي بِمُرتَجِعٍ

وَلا نَعيمُ لَياليهِ بِمُنتَظَرِ

The bygone pleasures of his days cannot be recovered,

nor can the bliss of his nights be expected:

إِذ لا التَحِيَّةُ إيماءٌ مُخالَسَةً

وَلا الزِيارَةُ إِلمامٌ عَلى خَطَرِ

when a greeting was not a furtively stolen gesture,

nor a visit a fleeting encounter made at risk.

مُنىً كَأَن لَم يَكُن إِلّا تَذَكُّرُها

إِنَّ الغَرامَ لِمُعتادٌ مَعَ الذِكَرِ

Wishes—as though nothing had existed but their remembrance.

Indeed, passion returns with memories.

مَن يَسأَلِ الناسَ عَن حالي فَشاهِدُها

مَحضُ العِيانِ الَّذي يُغني عَنِ الخَبَرِ

Whoever asks people about my condition—its witness

is direct observation alone, which makes reports unnecessary.

لَم تَطوِ بُردَ شَبابي كَبرَةٌ وَأَرى

بَرقَ المَشيبِ اِعتَلى في عارِضِ الشَعَرِ

Old age has not folded the cloak of my youth, yet I see

the lightning of grayness rising in the cloud-bank of my hair,

قَبلَ الثَلاثينَ إِذ عَهدُ الصِبا كَثَبٌ

وَلِلشَبيبَةِ غُصنٌ غَيرُ مُهتَصِرِ

before thirty, while the days of youth are still near,

and youth still has an unbroken branch.

ها إِنَّها لَوعَةٌ في الصَدرِ قادِحَةٌ

نارَ الأَسى وَمَشيبي طائِرُ الشَرَرِ

Behold, it is anguish in the breast, kindling

grief's fire; my gray hair is the sparks that fly.

لا يُهنَىءِ الشامِتَ المُرتاحَ خاطِرُهُ

أَنّي مُعَنّى الأَماني ضائِعُ الخَطَرِ

Let it not delight the gloater, pleased at heart,

that I am tormented in my hopes and bereft of standing.

هَلِ الرِياحُ بِنَجمِ الأَرضِ عاصِفَةٌ

أَمِ الكُسوفُ لِغَيرِ الشَمسِ وَالقَمَرِ

Do winds rage against the earth's low-growing plants,

or does eclipse strike anything but the sun and moon?

إِن طالَ في السِجنِ إيداعي فَلا عَجَبٌ

قَد يودَعُ الجَفنَ حَدُّ الصارِمِ الذَكَرِ

If my confinement in prison has been long, it is no wonder:

the edge of a hard-tempered sword is sometimes lodged in its sheath.

وَإِن يُثَبِّط أَبا الحَزمِ الرِضى قَدَرٌ

عَن كَشفِ ضُرّي فَلا عَتَبٌ عَلى القَدَرِ

And if fate holds back the esteemed Abu al-Hazm

from relieving my suffering, there is no reproach against fate.

ما لِلذُنوبِ الَّتي جاني كَبائِرِها

غَيري يُحَمِّلُني أَوزارَها وَزَري

Why, for sins whose gravest acts were committed

by someone else, does my protector make me bear their burdens?

مَن لَم أَزَل مِن تَأَنّيهِ عَلى ثِقَةٍ

وَلَم أَبِت مِن تَجَنّيهِ عَلى حَذَرِ

One whose deliberation I have always trusted,

and whose unjust accusations I have never feared;

ذو الشيمَةِ الرَسلِ إِن هيجَت حَفيظَتُهُ

وَالجانِبِ السَهلِ وَالمُستَعتِبِ اليَسَرِ

gentle in temper, even when his indignation is stirred,

easy of approach, and easy to reconcile.

مَن فيهِ لِلمُجتَلي وَالمُبتَلي نَسَقاً

جَمالُ مَرأَىءً عَليهِ سَروُ مُختَبَرِ

One in whom beholder and tester find, in harmony,

beauty of appearance crowned by proven nobility.

مُذَلِّلٌ لِلمَساعي حُكمَها شَطَطاً

عَليهِ وَهُوَ العَزيزُ النَفسِ وَالنَفَرِ

He tames the excessive demands of noble endeavors

upon him, though mighty in spirit and in his following.

وَزيرُ سَلمٍ كَفاهُ يُمنُ طائِرِهِ

شُؤمَ الحُروبِ وَرَأيٌ مُحصَدُ المِرَرِ

A minister of peace, whose favorable omen has spared him

war's ill luck—as has judgment of tightly twisted strands.

أَغنَت قَريحَتُهُ مُغنى تَجارِبِهِ

وَنابَتِ اللَمحَةُ العَجلى عَنِ الفِكَرِ

His native genius has done the work of experience,

and a swift glance has stood in place of deliberations.

كَم اِشتَرى بِكَرى عَينَيهِ مِن سَهَرٍ

هُدوءُ عَينِ الهُدى في ذَلِكَ السَهَرِ

How much wakefulness was bought with the sleep of his eyes,

for the repose of guidance's eye in that very wakefulness!

في حَضرَةٍ غابَ صَرفُ الدَهرِ خَشيَتَهُ

عَنها وَنامَ القَطا فيها فَلَم يَثُرِ

In a court where time's vicissitudes withdrew in fear of him,

and sandgrouse slept there, never roused to flight.

مُمَتَّعٌ بِالرَبيعِ الطَلقِ نازِلُها

يُلهيهِ عَن طيبِ آصالٍ نَدى بُكَرِ

He who dwells there enjoys the smiling spring;

morning dew distracts him from the sweetness of evenings.

ما إِن يَزالُ يَبُثُّ النَبتَ في جَلَدٍ

مُذ ساسَها وَيَفيضُ الماءَ مِن حَجَرِ

He has never ceased spreading growth across hard ground,

since he governed it, and making water gush from stone.

قَد كُنتُ أَحسُبُني وَالنَجمَ في قَرَنٍ

فَفيمَ أَصبَحتُ مُنحَطّاً إِلى العَفَرِ

I once thought myself and the star bound in one yoke;

why, then, have I fallen down into the dust?

أَحينَ رَفَّ عَلى الآفاقِ مِن أَدَبي

غَرسٌ لَهُ مِن جَناهُ يانِعُ الثَمَرِ

Is it just when, from my literary art, there sways across the horizons

a planting whose harvest yields him ripened fruit?

وَسيلَةً سَبَباً إِلّا تَكُن نَسَباً

فَهُوَ الوِدادُ صَفا مِن غَيرِ ما كَدَرِ

A means of approach, a bond—if it is not kinship,

then it is affection, clear without a trace of murk.

وَبائِنٍ مِن ثَناءٍ حُسنُهُ مَثَلٌ

وَشيُ المَحاسِنِ مِنهُ مُعلَمُ الطُرَرِ

And outstanding praise, whose beauty is a byword,

its brocade of virtues bearing ornamented borders.

يُستَودَعُ الصُحفَ لا تَخفى نَوافِحُهُ

إِلّا خَفاءَ نَسيمِ المِسكِ في الصُرَرِ

It is entrusted to pages; its fragrant wafts are no more hidden

than the breath of musk within pouches.

مِن كُلِّ مُختالَةٍ بِالحِبرِ رافِلَةٍ

فيهِ اِختِيالَ الكَعابِ الرَودِ بِالحِبَرِ

From every proud poem, trailing robes of ink,

strutting in it like a tender maiden in patterned garments.

تُجفى لَها الرَوضَةُ الغَنّاءُ أَضحَكَها

مَجالُ دَمعِ النَدى في أَعيُنِ الزَهَرِ

The lush garden is forsaken for it, though made to smile

by the play of dew's tears in the eyes of flowers.

يا بَهجَةَ الدَهرِ حَيّاً وَهُوَ إِن فَنِيَت

حَياتُهُ زينَةُ الآثارِ وَالسِيَرِ

O joy of the age while living—one who, if there comes an end

to his life, remains the ornament of recorded deeds and lives.

لي في اِعتِمادِكَ بِالتَأميلِ سابِقَةٌ

وَهِجرَةٌ في الهَوى أَولى مِنَ الهِجَرِ

I have a prior claim in turning to you with hope,

and a migration in love worthier than other migrations.

فَفيمَ غَضَّت هُمومي مِن عُلا هِمَمي

وَحاصَ بي مَطلَبي عَن وِجهَةِ الظَفَرِ

Why, then, have my cares lowered my lofty aspirations,

and my quest swerved with me from the path to victory?

هَل مِن سَبيلٍ فَماءُ العَتبِ لي أَسِنٌ

إِلى العُذوبَةِ مِن عُتباكَ وَالخَصَرِ

Is there a way—the water of reproach is stagnant to me—

to sweetness and coolness through your renewed favor?

نَذَرتُ شُكرَكَ لا أَنسى الوَفاءَ بِهِ

إِن أَسفَرَت لِيَ عَنها أَوجُهُ البُشَرِ

I have vowed to thank you, and will not forget to fulfill it,

if the faces of glad tidings unveil it to me.

لا تَلهُ عَنّي فَلَم أَسأَلكَ مُعتَسِفاً

رَدَّ الصِبا بَعدَ إيفاءٍ عَلى الكِبَرِ

Do not neglect me; I have not unreasonably asked you

to restore youth after coming to the verge of old age.

وَاِستَوفِرِ الحَظِّ مِن نُصحٍ وَصاغِيَةٍ

كِلاهُما العِلقُ لَم يوهَب وَلَم يُعَرِ

And take the fullest share of sincere counsel and loyal affection,

each a treasure that has never been given away or lent.

هَبني جَهِلتُ فَكانَ العِلقُ سَيِّئَةً

لا عُذرَ مِنها سِوى أَنّي مِنَ البَشَرِ

Suppose I acted foolishly, and the treasured thing became a fault:

there is no excuse for it save that I am human.

إِنَّ السِيادَةَ بِالإِغضاءِ لابِسَةٌ

بَهاءَها وَبَهاءُ الحُسنِ في الخَفَرِ

Indeed, lordship wears, through forbearance,

its splendor; and beauty's splendor lies in modesty.

لَكَ الشَفاعَةُ لا تُثنى أَعِنَّتُها

دونَ القَبولِ بِمَقبولٍ مِنَ العُذُرِ

Yours is intercession whose reins are never turned back

short of acceptance, with an acceptable excuse.

وَاِلبَس مِنَ النِعمَةِ الخَضراءِ أَيكَتَها

ظِلّاً حَراماً عَلى الآفاتِ وَالغِيَرِ

And wear the grove of verdant blessing,

as shade forbidden to calamities and changes of fortune:

نَعيمَ جَنَّةِ دُنيا إِن هِيَ اِنصَرَمَت

نَعِمتَ بِالخُلدِ في الجَنّاتِ وَالنَهَرِ

the bliss of an earthly paradise; if it comes to an end,

may you enjoy eternity in the gardens and beside the river.