ما اسكندرُ اليازجُّي اليوم أعرفه

ما اسكندرُ اليازجُّي اليوم أعرفه

الا ثمالة كاسٍ لست أحسوها

الا ثمالة كاسٍ لست أحسوها

Today, the Iskandar al-Yaziji I know is

Iskandar al-Yaziji, as I know him today, is nothing

nothing but the dregs of a cup I do not sip.

but the dregs of a cup I do not sip.

من غيب الشاعر الخنذيذ عن أملي

من غيب الشاعر الخنذيذ عن أملي

وأى فاتنةٍ قد خصَّه فوها

وأى فاتنةٍ قد خصَّه فوها

Who has hidden the consummate poet from my hopes,

Who has hidden the master poet from my hopes,

and what enchantress’s mouth has claimed him for itself?

and which enchantress's mouth has singled him out?

ما كدت أعرف ألطافاً تَمثَّلها

ما كدت أعرف ألطافاً تَمثَّلها

حتىّ تغيبَّ واستبقاه هاووها

حتىّ تغيبَّ واستبقاه هاووها

Scarcely had I come to know the graces he embodied

Scarcely had I come to know the graces he embodied

when those graces vanished, while their admirers sought to keep him.

when he vanished, and their admirers kept him with them.

وعلني أنا أولى من يحف به

وعلني أنا أولى من يحف به

بحبه وبآىٍ منه أتلوها

بحبه وبآىٍ منه أتلوها

Perhaps I am the worthiest of those who gather round him,

And perhaps I, above all, deserve to surround him

through love for him and verses of his that I recite.

with love for him and with verses of his that I recite.

فلا رسائل تُحييني ينمقها

فلا رسائل تُحييني ينمقها

ولا مجالس تشدوني وأشدوها

ولا مجالس تشدوني وأشدوها

No letters he adorns bring me to life,

So there are no letters he embellishes to revive me,

nor gatherings enthrall me and move me to sing of them.

nor gatherings that sing to me and to which I sing.

كأنه حُلمُ الجنات فارقنِي

كأنه حُلمُ الجنات فارقنِي

فبنتُ عنها كسيفَ البال مشدوها

فبنتُ عنها كسيفَ البال مشدوها

It is as though a dream of Paradise had left me;

He is like a dream of gardens that has left me;

so I spent the night apart from it, dispirited and bewildered.

so I parted from them, downcast in spirit and bewildered.

هل رجعةٌ لرؤىً كنا نُغازلها

هل رجعةٌ لرؤىً كنا نُغازلها

وكنتَ تنفحها عَرفا وتغذوها

وكنتَ تنفحها عَرفا وتغذوها

Will the visions we once wooed ever return—

Will the visions return that we used to woo

visions you used to breathe fragrance upon and nourish?

and that you would endow with fragrance and nourish?

وهل لكأسك أن تبدو لنا ألقاً

وهل لكأسك أن تبدو لنا ألقاً

من الشموس فتغنينا ونرجوها

من الشموس فتغنينا ونرجوها

And can your cup appear to us as a radiance

And might your cup appear to us as radiance

from the sun, enriching us as we yearn for it?

from the suns, so it may enrich us and we may hope for it?