لبيك داعية الغرام — Ahmad Alkiwani

لَبيكَ داعية الغَرامِ

أَهلاً بِأَرواح الشَئام

Here I am, O summoner of love!

Welcome, breezes of al-Sham!

شَرفتِ قَدري عِندَما

أَلصَقتِ خَدي بِالرغام

You exalted my worth when

you pressed my cheek into the dust.

أَذكرتِ لي الأَحباب أَم

عاطَيتني كَأس المُدام

Did you remind me of my loved ones, or

hand me the cup of wine?

حَييت يا وادي دِمَشق

الشام عَني بِالسَلام

May you be greeted, O valley of Damascus

of al-Sham, with salutations on my behalf.

وَبَكتكِ عَن جفني القَر

يح جُفون غادية الغَمام

And may there weep for you, in place of my wounded eyelid,

the eyelids of a morning raincloud.

حَيتك أَنفاس النَسيم

عَن المُحب المُستَهام

May the breaths of the breeze greet you

on behalf of the love-besotted lover.

وَهَفَّت بِقامات الغُصو

ن إِلى اِعتِناقٍ وَالتِزام

And may it sway the tall forms of boughs

toward embracing and clasping,

حَتّى تَنبه للحنين

شُجون نؤام الحَمام

until there awake to plaintive longing

the sorrows of slumbering doves.

وَتَعرضت وَهناً لفضّ

نَوافجِ المسك الخِتام

And late at night there came forth, to break

the seal of the musk-pouches,

مِن حَلِها طرر الظِبا

ء الغيد لا طُرر البشام

the loosened forelocks of gazelles—

the graceful ones, not the fringes of balsam trees.

مِن كُل أَحور فاتر ال

حَركات ميّاد القَوام

Of every dark-eyed one, languid in

movement, with a swaying figure,

يَجلو الظَلام مَتى تَبَ

سم في الدُجى أَدنى اِبتِسام

who dispels darkness whenever he

smiles in the night, the faintest smile.

ما بَينَ قُرحان القُلو

ب إِذا تَثَنى وَالهيام

What lies between wounded hearts [uncertain reading],

when he sways, and love's delirium,

الأَكما بَينَ الصَبا

ح إِذا تَبَسم وَالظَلام

[unclear wording] between morning,

when he smiles, and darkness.

جَذلان ساحر طَرفِهِ

يَلهو بِأَلباب الكِرام

Joyous, with an enchanting glance,

he toys with the minds of the noble.

خنت الشرئل مَطمع

متمنع صَعب المَرام

You betrayed [unclear word]; enticing,

withholding, hard to attain.

صَبغ الحَيا وَجَناتِهِ

فَتظُنَها أَبَداً دَوامي

Modesty dyed his cheeks,

so you think them forever blood-stained.

جادَت لَيالي وَصَلنا

بيض الغَوادي بِانسِجام

May the nights of our union be watered

by white morning rainclouds in steady showers,

إِذ لا رَقيب سِوى العَفا

ف وَلِأَوصال سِوى الكَلام

when there was no watcher but chastity,

and for bonds, only words [uncertain wording].

فَانفت مِن طيب الحَيا

ة كَما أَنفت مِن المَنام

So I shunned the sweetness of life

as I had shunned sleep.

إِن الحَياة مَع الفُرا

ق أَمَرُّ مِن طَعم الحَمام

For life in separation

is bitterer than the taste of death.

وَتَذكُر الأَلف البَعي

د أَشد مِن وَقع الحُسام

And remembering the distant beloved

is harsher than the stroke of a sword.

لا كُنتَ يَوماً إِن أَل

مَّ بِخاطِري نَقض الذمام

May you be no more, if ever

breaking the pledge should cross my mind.

قَد حارَ في ذَنفي الطَبي

ب وَملَّ مِن جِسمي سقامي

The physician has been baffled by my wasting illness,

and my sickness has grown weary of my body.

جسم تَجسم مِن ضَناً

مبلٍ وَقَلب مِن أَوام

A body formed of sickness

that wastes it away, and a heart of burning thirst.

وَلعت بِهِ أَيدي الأَسى

وَلَع العَواذل بِالملام

The hands of sorrow are besotted with it,

as reproaching women are with blame.

وَزَفير كَرب راح يَن

فخ في أَنابيب العِظام

And a sigh of anguish goes on

blowing through the hollow shafts of the bones.

وَحَوادث أَغرين في

كَيد الغَريب المُستَضام

And calamities, goaded into

plotting against the oppressed stranger.

إِن كانَ لا يُرضي الخُطو

ب سِوى اِغتِرابي وَاِهتِضامي

If nothing can appease misfortunes

except my exile and oppression,

فَقَد إِلتَجَأت إِلى النَ

هي كاشف الكَرب العِظام

then I have sought refuge in [possibly the Prophet],

the dispeller of mighty woes.

وَقَد أَستجرت مِن الخُطو

ب بِرَحمة الملك السَلام

And I have sought protection from misfortunes

in the mercy of the Sovereign, the Source of Peace.