نهاني النهي الا عن المجد والحزم

نهاني النهي الا عن المجد والحزم

وعلمني هز العزيمة بالعزم

وعلمني هز العزيمة بالعزم

Reason restrained me from all but glory and sound judgment.

He forbade me naught but glory and resolve;

And taught me to stir determination through resolve.

And taught me to shake off irresolution with resolve.

فصابرت بالصبر الجميل ليالياً

فصابرت بالصبر الجميل ليالياً

قضت بعد لذات التواصل بالصرم

قضت بعد لذات التواصل بالصرم

So I endured, with gracious patience, nights

So I was patient with beautiful patience through the nights,

that decreed severance after the delights of communion.

That I spent, after the joys of communion, in isolation.

فاخلو ولي دفع تفيض سيوله

فاخلو ولي دفع تفيض سيوله

فتغلب هطال السحائب بالسجم

فتغلب هطال السحائب بالسجم

So I withdraw, with a surge whose torrents overflow,

Leave me alone to face the flood of tribulation,

outdoing the clouds' downpours with its streaming.

And overcome the pouring of clouds with endurance.

وتبصرني يا سعد في دست جلوتي

وتبصرني يا سعد في دست جلوتي

طروباً ولا من اطربته ابنة الكرم

طروباً ولا من اطربته ابنة الكرم

And you see me, O Sa'd, upon the throne of my unveiling,

And look at me, O Sa'd, in my splendor,

ecstatic, but not as one whom the vine's daughter has enraptured.

In contentment - and none whom I contented was ungenerous.

وريم بفيفاء الصريم تركته

وريم بفيفاء الصريم تركته

يغالط في دين الغرام على علم

يغالط في دين الغرام على علم

And a gazelle in the wilderness of al-Sarim—I left him

And a faint echo have I left, which deceives him

knowingly practising deceit in the creed of love.

Who errs in the religion of love, wittingly.

اضاع حقوقي جاهلا في حرمه

اضاع حقوقي جاهلا في حرمه

وحينا صغير الحرم يكبر بالجرم

وحينا صغير الحرم يكبر بالجرم

He squandered my rights, heedless in his withholding,

He wronged me in his ignorance within his sanctuary;

and sometimes a small deprivation grows great through wrongdoing.

And when the sanctuary is small the crime is magnified.

الى الله من هذا الزمان فانه

الى الله من هذا الزمان فانه

يسيءُ رفيع الهمة الشهم بالهم

يسيءُ رفيع الهمة الشهم بالهم

To God I complain of this age, for it

To God I complain of this age, for it injures

afflicts the noble man of lofty aspiration with sorrow.

The high-aspiring, bold, venturesome hero.

لقد طاب لي وقت تقضى شرابه

لقد طاب لي وقت تقضى شرابه

رحيق غدى بعد التفرق كالسم

رحيق غدى بعد التفرق كالسم

Sweet to me was a time now past; its drink

Sweet to me was the time when its potion was drunk

was nectar that, after parting, became like poison.

Pure, though after our separation it was like poison.

يريق به ريق الحبيب مدامتي

يريق به ريق الحبيب مدامتي

فراح وسماه اخو الظلم بالظلم

فراح وسماه اخو الظلم بالظلم

In it, the beloved's saliva pours forth my wine;

Therewith my beloved's saliva wets my bridle-bit -

then it passed, and a brother of injustice called it injustice.

Then he went away, and called the unjust man just.

امجهد عيس السائرين الى الحمى

امجهد عيس السائرين الى الحمى

رويدا فما الرسم المخيل بالرسم

رويدا فما الرسم المخيل بالرسم

O you who weary the pale camels of those bound for the sanctuary,

Slowly, O tireless travellers to the preserve!

gently—for the imagined trace is no true trace.

Not thus is the pictured idea fixed with exactitude.

ومهلا هداك الله رسم الالى عفا

ومهلا هداك الله رسم الالى عفا

وما منه الا ما يصور للوهم

وما منه الا ما يصور للوهم

And softly—may God guide you—the trace of those people has faded,

Gently! May God guide you to the pictured idea, from which

and nothing of it remains but what is pictured to the imagination.

Comes naught but what the imagination depicts.

تذكرني مذ سرت سيري ميمما

تذكرني مذ سرت سيري ميمما

مقام حبيبي ثابت العزم ذا حزم

مقام حبيبي ثابت العزم ذا حزم

Remember me from when I set out on my journey, heading

I remember when I took my course, intending

for my beloved's abode, steadfast in resolve and sound in judgment.

The steadfast one's abode whose will was resolute.

اطالبه احكام جنسية الهوى

اطالبه احكام جنسية الهوى

على انها في حكمها علة الضم

على انها في حكمها علة الضم

I ask him to strengthen the affinity of love,

I claimed from him the rights of my passion,

since, by its own law, it is the cause of union.

Though in his judgment it was unsoundness.

واسمع ما يحكي وانشق عطره

واسمع ما يحكي وانشق عطره

فاسكر في سمعي واسكر في شمي

فاسكر في سمعي واسكر في شمي

And I hear what he tells and inhale his fragrance,

And I listened to his words; and their perfume rent me,

so I grow drunk through hearing, and drunk through scent.

So that in my hearing and smell I was intoxicated.

مضى لم يكن الا الخيال مصورا

مضى لم يكن الا الخيال مصورا

تماثيل يدليها بلطف الى الفهم

تماثيل يدليها بلطف الى الفهم

It passed; there was only imagination, depicting

He went away: he was but a phantom figured

images that it gently conveys to the understanding.

In graceful forms which he suggested to the mind.

تمر على الفكر الكليل رمومها

تمر على الفكر الكليل رمومها

فاذهل حرنا عن خصيمي وعن خصمي

فاذهل حرنا عن خصيمي وعن خصمي

Their crumbling remains pass across the weary mind,

Their images pass through the drowsy mind,

so, in stubborn bewilderment, I forget my adversary and my foe.

And so perplex me that I forget my foe and my friend.

تساهمت والايام لا در درها

تساهمت والايام لا در درها

فصيرت البعد المبرح في سهمي

فصيرت البعد المبرح في سهمي

I cast lots with the days—may their milk never flow!—

I shared with the days, which know not how they pass,

and they assigned agonizing separation to my share.

Till I made the distant one who had gone far off my arrow's target.

عدت بتعدي الحد في لجهلها

عدت بتعدي الحد في لجهلها

بعلمي وعن علم اظن قلت علمي

بعلمي وعن علم اظن قلت علمي

They wronged me by exceeding the bounds, in ignorance

I exceeded the limit in ignorant youth,

of my learning; yet knowingly, I think, they hated my learning.

And in my knowledge - I think I said my knowledge.

وقد كتمت حقي لباطل زعمها

وقد كتمت حقي لباطل زعمها

وما فرقت بين التكتم والكتم

وما فرقت بين التكتم والكتم

And they concealed my rightful due because of their false claim,

I hid my right through the vanity of her claim,

and did not distinguish between secrecy and concealment.

Nor distinguished between concealment and suppression.

وقابلتها بالحلم علما بانها

وقابلتها بالحلم علما بانها

وان افرطت الطيش تغلب بالحلم

وان افرطت الطيش تغلب بالحلم

And I met them with forbearance, knowing that,

I met her with forbearance, knowing that she,

even when reckless to excess, they are overcome by forbearance.

Though extravagant in folly, is overcome by forbearance.

ورب نصوح قال وهو مخادع

ورب نصوح قال وهو مخادع

لزومك هذا الصبر ضرب من الاثم

لزومك هذا الصبر ضرب من الاثم

And many an earnest adviser said, though he was deceitful:

How many sincere monitors have said - and they were deceiving -

'Your clinging to this patience is a kind of sin.'

"Your perseverance in this forbearance is a kind of wrongdoing!"

فقلت له دع عنك نصحي فانني

فقلت له دع عنك نصحي فانني

أرى الصبر مني قام في عنصر الجسم

أرى الصبر مني قام في عنصر الجسم

So I said to him, 'Stop advising me, for I

I said to them: "Leave off your censure, for I

see my patience rooted in my body's very substance.'

See my patience springs in my being's essence."

واني من البيت الذي شاع مجده

واني من البيت الذي شاع مجده

ودان له الامجاد في العرب والعجم

ودان له الامجاد في العرب والعجم

And I am of the house whose glory is renowned,

And truly I am of the house whose glory is published aloud,

and to which the illustrious among Arabs and non-Arabs have bowed.

And whose glories among Arabs and Persians are proclaimed.

لان قمت في صحب اساءت مفاخري

لان قمت في صحب اساءت مفاخري

فحينا ترى بيض الجواهر في الفحم

فحينا ترى بيض الجواهر في الفحم

Though I have stood among companions who sullied my glories,

Though I consort with one who has injured my reputation,

at times you see white jewels amid coal.

You will see the pearl-white radiance in the coal.

ولم اعدم الغر الكرام فكم وكم

ولم اعدم الغر الكرام فكم وكم

تفانى بحبي اليوم من ماجد قرم

تفانى بحبي اليوم من ماجد قرم

Nor have I lacked illustrious nobles—how many, how many

Nor have I lacked noble sweet herbs, but many, many

noble, mighty chiefs have given themselves wholly to loving me today!

A glorious one has perished in love of me today.

ولي في الزوايا من خبايا احبتي

ولي في الزوايا من خبايا احبتي

اسود علوا بالعزم عن مطلع النجم

اسود علوا بالعزم عن مطلع النجم

And in the lodges, among my hidden loved ones, I have

And in the corners are dear beloved ones,

lions who rose, through resolve, beyond the star's rising-place—

Black but towering in will above the rising of the stars.

من الشامخين الاصل قوم فروعهم

من الشامخين الاصل قوم فروعهم

مكرمة التنسيق عالية النظم

مكرمة التنسيق عالية النظم

from lofty-rooted stock, a people whose branches

Sprung from the original stock of the noble whose branches

are nobly arrayed and loftily ordered.

Are honored, of lofty and harmonious structure.

ترد الردينيات عزمة رأيهم

ترد الردينيات عزمة رأيهم

وتقلب بيض الهند للغمد بالثلم

وتقلب بيض الهند للغمد بالثلم

The resolve of their judgment turns back Rudayni spears,

Their firm souls restore the tattered at their determination,

and sends India's white blades back, notched, to their sheaths.

And turn the silver of India to the sheath the brighter for wounds.

يؤاخذني بالصبر من هم وقته

يؤاخذني بالصبر من هم وقته

وعتم الهوى اعماه عن محكم الحكم

وعتم الهوى اعماه عن محكم الحكم

I am reproached for patience by one whom the sorrow of his time

One whose time is blemished blames me for patience,

and passion's darkness have blinded to sound judgment.

While blind desire has blinded him as to the wise ordinance.

رضيت بحكم الله في كل واقع

رضيت بحكم الله في كل واقع

وان دق معناه المطلسم عن فهمي

وان دق معناه المطلسم عن فهمي

I am content with God's decree in every event,

I acquiesced in God's judgment in everything that befalls me,

even if its talisman-veiled meaning is too subtle for my understanding.

Though its meaning, to one who seeks protection, is obscured.

لربيَ جل الفعل والغير عاجز

لربيَ جل الفعل والغير عاجز

ولو هو كاس بردة الفعل بالاسم

ولو هو كاس بردة الفعل بالاسم

Action belongs to my Lord—exalted is He—and all else is powerless,

My Lord does the deed and its opposite, while the helpless man

even if it wears the mantle of action in name alone.

Can but - if he is a cup - receive the deed in his receptacle.