شاعر الحب والجمال دعوني

شاعر النور عاطرا والتغني

They called me the poet of love and beauty,

the poet of fragrant light and song.

أنا راض بما دعوني ولكن

أترى الفن يرتضي ما دعوني

I am content with what they called me, but

do you think art approves of what they called me?

ما الوجود الذي تراءى حيالي

ملء ذهني وإنما بعض ذهني

The existence that appeared before me is not

the fullness of my mind, but only part of my mind.

لا عرفت الحياة إن كان فني

ما بدا لي ولست أخلق فني

May I never know life, if my art is

what has appeared to me, and I do not create my art.

منحتني إيزيس ما يهب الخص

ب وخصبي كالروح يغنى ويغني

Isis granted me what is bestowed by fertili-

ty; and my fertility, like the spirit, grows rich and enriches.

أنا بعض من الوجود ولكن

كل ما في الوجود من بعض كوني

I am part of existence, yet

everything in existence comes from part of my being.

ملأت مهجتي الأثير طيوبا

وتناهت بكل ما ند عني

My soul filled the ether with perfumes,

and reached its utmost in all that escaped me.

أنظر الشمس إن فيها شعورا

كشعوري وكل ما شع مني

Look at the sun: within it is a feeling

like mine, and all that has shone from me.

وانظر النجم وهو يغمز للشم

س بشوق ولوعة لم تفتني

And look at the star, winking at the su-

n with longing and anguish that did not escape me.

وانظر السحب وهي تمضي نشاوى

باكيات وقد أصاخت للحني

And look at the clouds as they pass, intoxicated,

weeping, having listened intently to my melody.

ضمختها أنفاس شعري فحالت

في الأزاهير بين شهد ومن

The breaths of my poetry perfumed them, and they turned

among the flowers, now honey, now manna.

سنها من سني لو كنت تدري

أن هذي الآباد رفت بسني

Their age comes from my age, if you but knew

that these eternities fluttered with my years.

وشعاع الأجرام يحسد وجداني

ونفسي ككائن لم تسعني

And the heavenly bodies' radiance envies my sensibility,

and my soul, as a being, has proved too small to hold me.

أنا معنى من السلام من النور

من الحق والعلى لا التدني

I am a meaning of peace, of light,

of truth and sublimity, not abasement.

ما اضطهادي بنائل من جناني

لو رأيت الضياء يعو لغبن

Persecuting me cannot touch my heart—

if only you saw the light howling at injustice!

جاحدي يعلن الهزيمة لاقا

ها فما كان طعنه في طعني

My detractor proclaims defeat—he has met

it; his thrust did not wound me.

إن روحي تبر بالطائش الها

وي كأني مسدد بعض ديني

Indeed, my spirit is kind to the reckless, falling

one, as though I were settling part of my debt.

ليس فضل الحكيم أن ينشر الحك

مة قولا فحسب من دون عين

The sage's merit is not to spread wis-

dom in words alone, without embodiment.

رحمتي لا تضنّ بالصفح للآ

ثم إن خص من جموع بضن

My mercy does not begrudge pardon to the sin-

ner, even if the multitudes single him out for denial.

فكأني المسيح فدى غفورا

وتسامى من بعد صلب ودفن

So I am like Christ, who redeemed, ever forgiving,

and rose sublime after crucifixion and burial,

وتناهى مبادئا هي أبقى

من خلود العلى ومن أيّ كون

and culminated in principles more enduring

than the immortality of the heights, and than any universe,

باذلا روحه فتنمو وتسري

سريان الحياة في غير من

giving his spirit, so it grows and flows

as life flows, without boasting of favors.

فليحنّيَ الحساد بالعيب ما شاؤوا

ولا عاش حاسد لم يخنّي

So let the envious bow me down with blame as they please,

and may no envier live who has not reviled me.

وليغنّوا نقيض ما هم عليه

فبحسبي أني أقول وأعني

And let them sing the opposite of what they are;

for it is enough for me that I speak and mean it.

ولينادوا بنبلهم وهو زور

وبيأس لهم شبيه بجبن

And let them proclaim their nobility, though it is false,

and their despair, akin to cowardice.

وليباه الجناة لست حقودا

فأجاري ولا أثيما فأجني

And let the wrongdoers boast; I am not vindictive,

that I should match them, nor wicked, that I should do wrong.

ذاك صدري هو السماحة والرح

مة للعالمين رغم التجنّي

That is my breast: it is magnanimity and mer-

cy for all the worlds, despite slander.