دع العين مني تسكب الدمع أو تفنى — Alarjani

دَعِ العَينَ منّي تَسكُبُ الدّمعَ أو تَفنَى

فليس لعَين لا أراك بها مَعنَى

Let my eye pour out tears or perish,

for an eye through which I cannot see you has no meaning.

حَرام عليها إنْ رأيتُ بها الوَرى

ولم تكُ فيهمْ أن أُجِفَّ لها جَفْنا

It is forbidden—if through it I see humankind,

and you are not among them—for me to dry its eyelid.

لأمْحو سوادَ العَينِ بعدَك مثْلما

محا المرءُ يوماً من صَحيفتهِ لَحْنا

I shall erase the black of my eye after you, just as

a man once erased an error from his page.

لقد سرَقَت كَفُّ الرّدَى ليَ دُرّةً

أطالَ لها الإعزازُ في مُقْلتي خَزْنا

The hand of death has stolen a pearl of mine,

which cherishing had long kept stored within my eye.

فصيَّرتُها بَحراً منَ الدّمعِ بعدَها

لَعَلِّى بطُولِ الغَوصِ ألقَى بها خِدْنا

So I made that eye a sea of tears after the pearl was gone,

hoping that through long diving I might find a companion there.

وهَيهاتَ ما بحرُ البكاء بمَعْدِنٍ

فمن أين تأميلُ اعتياضي ومِن أنّى

But alas, the sea of weeping is no mine of pearls;

whence, then, this hope of finding a replacement—from where?

فَحُيِّيتَ مِن ماضٍ أقام ادِّكارُه

وأفديهِ من فَرْدٍ مَناقبهُ مَثْنى

Greetings to you, departed one whose remembrance abides;

I would ransom him: one alone, his virtues twofold.

إليه انْتَمى كُلُّ المَحاسنِ مُذْ بَدا

فحُقَّ لعَمري بالمحاسنِ أن يُكْنى

All beauties traced their lineage to him from his first appearance;

so, by my life, he deserved an epithet drawn from those beauties.

وكان رجاءً لي فَفُتُّ بفَوتْهِ

كأنّيَ كنتُ اسْماً وكان هو المَعْنى

He was my hope, and through losing him I was lost,

as though I had been a name and he its meaning.

غدا وجههُ عندي من الحُسنِ روضةً

فراحَ لها دَمعي وقد صوَّحَت مُزنْا

His face was to me a garden of beauty,

and, once it withered, my tears became its rain clouds.

وكان يَدي اليُمنَى فأصبَحْتُ ضارعاً

أُوسّدُه في لَحْدِه يَدَه اليُمنْى

He was my right hand; now, humbled,

I pillow him in his grave upon his own right hand.

وأظلمتِ الدُّنيا فأيقنتُ عندها

بأنّي دَفنْتُ الشّمسَ في قبره دفْنا

The world grew dark, and then I knew

that I had truly buried the sun in his grave.

كأنّيَ فيها طائرٌ صِيدَ فَرْخُه

منَ الوكْرِ حتى صار لا يأْلَفُ الوَكنْا

Within it I am like a bird whose fledgling was captured

from its nest, until it no longer feels at home upon its roost.

رآه معَ الإصباحِ في كَفِّ جارحٍ

وقد أنشبَتْ فيه مَخالبَها الحُجْنا

At daybreak it saw its fledgling in a bird of prey's grip,

its curved talons already sunk into him.

فِدىً لكَ منّي النّفسُ كيف رَضيتَ لي

تَهدُّمَ بَيتٍ أنت كنت له رُكنْا

May my soul ransom you! How could you consent to my

house collapsing, when you had been its pillar?

تَقطَّعُ آمالٌ لنا فيك أُمِّلَتْ

وأعرضَ خَطْبٌ ما حَسبِنا وما خِلْنا

The hopes we cherished in you are severed,

and a calamity appeared that we neither expected nor imagined.

وأحسَنْتُ بالأيّامِ ظَنّي فما وفَتْ

وما الحزْمُ بالأيّامِ أن تُحسنَ الظَّنّا

I thought well of the days, but they proved faithless;

it is no prudence to think well of the days.

أما كان زَيْناً للزّمانِ اجْتماعُنا

فلِمْ كان منه القَصْدُ حتّى تفرَّقْنا

Was not our being together an adornment to time?

Why, then, did time assail us until we parted?

وكنّا كما نَهْوَى فيا دهرُ قُلْ لنا

أفي الوُسْعِ يوماً أن نَعودَ كما كُنّا

We were as we wished; O Time, tell us:

is it possible that one day we might return to what we were?

أَعِدْ نحوَ مَغْنىً منه قد سِرْتَ نظرةً

لتُبصرَ ماذا حَلَّ في ذلك المَغْنى

Turn your gaze back toward a dwelling you have left,

to see what has befallen that dwelling.

وجَدِّدْ بذاكَ المنطقِ العَذْب نُطقَهُ

لتسألَ عنّا أيُّ أمرٍ لنا عَنّا

Renew its utterance with that sweet eloquence,

to ask about us: what has befallen us?

وأرْعِ فدْتكَ النّفسُ سمعَك مَرّةً

لنُسمِعَك الشّكْوى الّتي بَلغتْ منّا

Lend your hearing once—may my soul ransom you—

so we may tell you the grief that has overwhelmed us.

وهَيهاتَ عاقَتْ دوَن ذلك كُلّه

عوائقُ أقدارٍ فحالَتْ وما حُلْنا

But alas, all this was blocked by

the barriers of destiny: they intervened, while we did not change.

لقد راعني صَرْفُ اللّيالي ورابَني

من الدهرِ أن أخنَى عليَّ بما أَخنْى

The reversals of the nights have terrified and disquieted me:

time has ravaged me as it has.

وقد جُدْتُ بابْنٍ كان عزىَ روحُه

فها أنا منّي سوى جَسَدٍ مُضْنى

I have yielded a son whose spirit was my solace;

here I am, with nothing left of me but an exhausted body.

على حينَ منه أبدَر الوجهَ سنُّه

وَهلّلَ منّي القدُّ في مِشْيَتي سِنّا

Just as his age made his face a full moon,

age curved my figure like a crescent in my gait.

وما كنتُ إلاّ أرتَجي عند كَبْرتي

لعَظْمي به جَبْراً فزِدتُ به وَهْنا

I had hoped only that in my old age

he would mend my bones; instead, through him my frailty grew.

فلَهْفي على غُصْنٍ رَجوْتُ ثمارَهُ

ولم أر أبهى منه لمّا اعْتلى غُصْنا

Alas for a branch whose fruit I hoped to gather!

I saw no lovelier branch than him when he grew tall.

كفَى حزَناً ألاّ أرى منه في يَدي

سوى حَسَراتٍ بعده كُلَّ ما يُجْنى

It is sorrow enough that in my hand I see from him

only regrets—all that can be harvested after him.

أحينَ اغتدَى في حَلبةِ النُّطْقِ فارساً

وأبدَى لنا في ثُغْرةِ الحُجّةِ الطَّعْنا

Was it just when he became a horseman in the arena of speech,

and showed us thrusts into the breach of an argument,

وأرخَى وقد أجرَى عِنانَ ابْن همّةٍ

أبَى دونَ أقصَى غايةِ الهمّ أن يُثْنى

and, once underway, loosed the reins of high ambition's son,

who refused to turn back before ambition's farthest goal,

وصَرَّفتِ الأقلامَ في الكُتْبِ كَفُّه

فأخجلَ في أيدي الكُماةِ القنا اللُّدْنا

and his hand wielded pens in writings,

putting supple spears in warriors' hands to shame,

بخَطِّ بنانٍ رائقِ الحسنِ ناطَه

بخَطّ بيانٍ فاستَبى العينَ والأُذْنا

through exquisitely graceful handwriting, which he joined

to lines of eloquence, captivating eye and ear,

وأُكمِلَ في عصْرِ الصِّبا فبدا لنا

عن الحِلْمِ مُفترّاً وفي العلْمِ مفتّنا

and he was perfected while still young, showing us

forbearance in his smile and mastery of many branches of learning,

أشارتْ إليه عند ذاك أصابِعٌ

له أَصبَحتْ تُثْنى على الفضل أَو تُثْنَى

and fingers pointed to him then,

praising his excellence or bending to count it?

فلمّا أبَى الأقرانُ شقَّ غُبارِه

أتى الدّهرُ في جيشٍ فبارزَه قِرْنا

When his peers refused to break through his dust,

Time came with an army and challenged him as a rival.

ولمّا بدا في أُفْقِ عُلْياه طالعاً

يَبُثُّ سناً واللّيلُ كالدّهر قد جَنّا

When he appeared, rising on the horizon of his eminence,

spreading radiance while night, like Time, had darkened,

وعَدّتْ ليالي البدرِ أعوامَ عُمْرهِ

فكنّ سواءً لا نَقصْنَ ولا زِدْنا

the nights of the full moon were counted against his years,

and they were equal, neither fewer nor more.

أتاه سِرارُ الموتِ عند تَمامهِ

فحَجَّبنا عنه وحَجَّبه عَنّا

Death's moonless darkness came to him at his fullness,

veiling us from him and him from us.

وعينٌ أصابَتْنا لدَهْرٍ مُشتِّتٍ

فلا نظرَتْ عَينٌ لدهرٍ أصابَتْنا

An eye of sundering Time struck us;

may the eye of the Time that struck us never see!

أُؤمِّلُ يوماً صالحاً بعدَ بُعده

وقد فاتَني من قُربه حَظِّيَ الأْسنى

Do I hope for a good day after his departure,

when I have lost my highest share of his nearness?

وأصبحتُ في قَيْدٍ منَ العُمرِ راسفاً

كأنّيَ عند الدّهرِ خَلَّفني رَهْنا

I drag my shackles now, fettered by life,

as though he left me with Time as a hostage.

ولو كنتَ تُفْدَى لافْتدَيتُكَ طائعاً

بماليَ لو أَجْدى ونَفْسيَ لو أَغْنى

If you could be ransomed, I would willingly ransom you

with my wealth, if it availed, and my life, if it sufficed.

ولكنْ حياتي بَعدَك اليومَ هكذا

حياةٌ لعمْري لا أُقيمُ لها وَزْنا

But my life today, after you, is thus:

a life, by my life, to which I give no weight.

مَرقْتَ مُروقَ السَّهْمِ منّي مُودِّعاً

على حينَ ظَهري كالحنيّة إذْ تُحنى

You shot forth from me like an arrow, bidding farewell,

just when my back was like a bow bent low.

وليس سوى التَّسليمِ للهِ وَحْدَه

وإنْ عَزَّ منهُ كلَّ صَعبٍ وإنْ عنّى

There is nothing but submission to God alone,

though every hardship from Him be grievous and torment me.

صَبرتُ ولم أُصبرْ عزاءً وإنّما

رأيتُ سبيلَ الصَّبرِ نحوك لي أدْنى

I endured, not because I found consolation, but only

because I saw patience as my nearest path to you.

عسى الصَّبرُ أن يَجْزي لدى اللهِ زُلْفةً

بِذاك فيَقْضي في جِوارِك لي سُكْنى

May patience earn nearness to God,

so that He decrees for me a dwelling beside you.

بقُربِكَ في الدُّنيا مُنيتُ وإنّني

بقُربك في الأُخرى لأحذَرُ أَن أُمنى

Through nearness to you in this world I was afflicted, and I

fear being afflicted through nearness to you in the next.

عليك سَلامُ اللهِ يا خيرَ رائدٍ

ولازلتَ من مَثواك في روضةٍ غنّا

God's peace be upon you, O best of pioneers;

may you ever rest in a luxuriant garden.

ولازال يَسْقي ما حلَلْتَ من الثَّرى

قِطارُ الغَمام الغُرِّ هاتِنةً هَتْنا

May the soil where you have settled always be watered by

showers from bright clouds, pouring abundantly.

فواللهِ لا أنساكَ ما هَبّتِ الصَّبا

وما ناح في الأيكِ الحمامُ وما غَنّى

By God, I shall not forget you while the east wind blows,

while doves mourn in the grove, and while they sing.

غدا سَمُراً في الأرضِ عُظْمُ رزيئتي

بما وعَدَ الإقبالُ فيك وما منّي

The enormity of my loss became the world's evening talk,

for all that good fortune promised in you and all the hopes it held out.

فكُلُّ امرئٍ قد كان باسْمِكَ سامعاً

يُرَقْرِقُ لي دمعاً على الخدِّ مُسْتّنّا

Everyone who had heard your name

lets tears stream glistening down his cheek for me.

إذا الرَّكْبُ في البيداء أَجرَوْا حديثَنا

أقاموا فَردُّوا العيسَ وانتظروا السُّفنا

When the caravan in the desert recounts our story,

they halt, turn back their pale camels, and wait for ships.

أحِنُّ إلى الكأسِ الَّتي قد شَرِبْتَها

ومثْلي ولم يُظْلَمْ إلى مثلها حَنّا

I long for the cup that you have drunk;

one like me would long for such a cup, even without being wronged.

فإنْ تك قد أَسأرْتَ في الكأسِ فَضْلةً

فهاتِ تكُنْ عندي هيَ المَشْرَبَ الأهْنى

If you have left a remnant in the cup,

bring it: to me it will be the sweetest draught.

فواللهِ لم أسمَحْ بشَخْصِك للرَّدى

ولكنّني استَوْدَعتُه في الثرى ضَنّا

By God, I did not willingly yield your person to death;

I entrusted it to the earth in jealous care.

كَنزْتُك في بَطْنِ التُّرابِ نفاسةً

وأعززْ به كنزاً لآخِرتي يُقْنى

I stored you as treasure in the earth's belly for your preciousness;

how precious a treasure to acquire for my afterlife!

وشِمتُك لي سَيفاً ولو كنتُ قادراً

لكان مكان التُّرب جَفْني لك الجَفنا

I sheathed you as a sword for myself; had I been able,

my eyelid, instead of earth, would have been your sheath.

وقد كنتَ لي عَضْباً حُساماً فلم تَزلْ

تُوشّحُ لي صَدْراً من العزِّ أَو ضِبْنا

You were my keen, cutting sword, and never ceased

adorning my breast or side with glory.

فتُصِبحُ لي طَوراً يداكَ حَمائلاً

وآونةً يُضْحي مناطُكَ لي حِضْنا

At times your hands became my sword-belts,

and at others my lap became your hanging-place.

ولكنْ أَمامي كان يومَ مَخافةٍ

إذا ما دَنا طارَ الفؤادُ له جُبْنا

But before me lay a day of dread:

whenever it approached, my heart flew with fear.

فصُنْتُك في الغِمْدِ ارْتقابَ وُرودِه

لعلَّك ذاك اليومَ تُصبحُ لي حِصْنا

So I safeguarded you in the sheath, awaiting its arrival,

that on that day you might become my fortress.

فيا فُرُطي والوِرْدُ وِرْدُ مَنيّةٍ

تنظَّرْ قليلاً فالمسافةُ تُستَدْنى

O my forerunner—the watering-place is death's watering-place—

wait a little: the distance is being shortened.

أليس عُقوقاً منك أن قد سبَقْتَني

إلى غايةٍ كُنّا إليها تَسابَقْنا

Is it not disobedience that you have preceded me

to a goal toward which we raced together?

فسِرْتَ أمامي بعدَ أن كنتَ واطِئاً

على أثَري من طاعةٍ حَيثُما سِرْنا

You went ahead of me, after once treading

obediently in my footsteps wherever we went.

كأنّك لمّا خِفْتَ عُظْمَ جرائمي

تَقدَّمتَ تَبغي في الشَّفاعة لي إذْنا

As though, fearing the enormity of my sins,

you went ahead to seek permission to intercede for me.

فبيَّتَنا صَرْفُ المنايا بجُنْدِه

إذا نحن بِتْنا مِلْءَ أعيُنِنا أَمْنا

The vicissitudes of death attacked us by night with their army,

while we slept with eyes full of safety.

هو الموتُ لا يُغْضي حياءً ولا يَقي

ولا يُطلقُ الأسرى فداءً ولا مَنّا

It is death: it neither averts its gaze from shame nor protects;

it releases no captives for ransom or as a favor.

ولا هو في ابنٍ إن سَطا يَتَّقى أباً

ولا في أبٍ يرعَى فيَصفَحُ عَن أَبْنا

When it strikes a son, it does not defer to a father;

nor, when taking a father, does it show regard and relent for his sons.

ولو كان يَستثني الرَّدى ابنَ كريمةٍ

لقد كان قِدْماً لابْنِ ماريةَ اسْتَثْنى

If death exempted the son of a noblewoman,

it would long ago have spared Mariya's son.

سليلٌ لخيرِ الخَلْقِ إذ حان يَومُه

تَخطَّفَهُ رَيْبُ المَنونِ وما اسْتأْنى

An offspring of the best of creation—when his appointed day came,

death's vicissitudes snatched him away without delay.

وقد سَنّ من إرسالِ دَمْعٍ لأجله

وإرْسالُ قَولٍ يُسخِطُ الرَّبَّ ما سَنّا

He sanctioned shedding tears for his sake,

but sanctioned no utterance that would anger the Lord.

فيا أسفي حُزْناً غداةَ غدَوْا لكَيْ

يُغيَّبَ عن عَينيْ ويا يُوسُفي حُسْنا

O my sorrow and grief that morning, when they went to

hide him from my sight! O my Yusuf in beauty!

عزَزْتَ فلمّا لم تكنْ لك إخْوةٌ

أحلَّك بطْنَ الأرضِ ذو نَسَبٍ أدْنى

You were precious; and since you had no brothers,

the nearest of your kin laid you in the earth's belly:

أبوكَ الَّذي ألقاك في الجُبّ راغماً

فأَخلِقْ بعَيْنَيْهِ أن ابيضَّتا حُزْنا

your father, who unwillingly cast you into the well.

How fitting, then, that his eyes should whiten with grief!

سَيُكرِمُ مَثْواكَ العزيزُ فإن تكُنْ

لديهِ مكيناً يومَ ذلك فاذْكُرْنا

The Mighty One will honor your resting-place; if you are

secure in His presence on that day, remember us.

وقُلْ لي أبٌ شَيخٌ كبيرٌ فَجَعْتُه

فأحسِنْ بعَفْوٍ عنه يا مُوليَ الحُسْنى

Say: 'I have an aged, elderly father whom I bereaved;

show kindness by pardoning him, O Bestower of goodness.'

عسى أن يكونَ اللهُ ساقَ التقاءنا

إلى المُلْتقَى الأعلَى من المُلْتقَى الأدنى

Perhaps God has led our meeting

from the lower meeting-place to the higher.

وهل نحنُ إلاّ رُفقةٌ قد تَسايَرتْ

إلى مَنْزلٍ دانٍ كأنْ قد تَلاحَقْنا

Are we anything but companions who have journeyed together

toward a nearby dwelling, as though we had already caught up?

وما بَيْننا إلاّ خُطاً قد تَقاربَت

تَقدَّمْنَ حتّى نَلْتَقي أو تأَخَّرْنا

Between us are only steps that have drawn close:

they move ahead until we meet, or we lag behind.

وما الأرضُ إلاّ كالكتابِ يَخُطُّنا

بها اللهُ خَطّاً يَملأُ الظَّهْرَ والبَطنا

The earth is only like a book: we are written

upon it by God, in script that fills its back and belly.

لها يومَ نَشْرٍ فيه يُظْهِرُ للورَى

خفايا من الأسرارِ كُنَّ لها ضِمْنا

It has a day of unfolding, when He reveals to humankind

hidden secrets once contained within it.

فيا راقداً قد خاط عينَيْهِ غَفلةٌ

تأهّبْ فإنّ الحيَّ قد قَدَّموا الظُّعْنا

O sleeper whose eyes heedlessness has sewn shut,

prepare, for the tribe has sent its departing caravans ahead.

ويا نَفسُ صَبراً إن خطَتْ قَدمُ الرَّدى

إلينا على حال فكم قد تَخَطّتْنا

O soul, be patient if death's foot steps

toward us: how often it has passed us by!

فُنونٌ لذي الأيّامِ أثوابُ مَرّها

إذا أخلقَتْ فينا أجدَّتْ لها فَنّا

Varied are the garments these days wear as they pass;

when they wear out upon us, the days renew their pattern.

ومَنْ يَمتطي شُهْبَ الزَّمان ودُهْمَهُ

فلابُدَّ من أنْ يَسلُكَ السَّهْل والحَزْنا

Whoever rides Time's gray steeds and its black ones

must travel both smooth ground and rough.

وديعةُ ربٍّ كان ثُمَّ استَردَّها

فكم ذا أقولُ الدَّهرُ أعطَى وما هَنّا

A trust from the Lord he was; then He reclaimed it.

How long shall I say, 'Time gave, but brought no joy'?

وما ساءني مِن أخْذِه وعطائهِ

وما بَيْنَ أن أفنَى حميداً وأن أَقْنى

Nothing grieved me in His taking and giving,

nor in His taking Hamid's life and His bestowing wealth,

سوى أنّ مَن يُودِعْ نفيساً ويَرتَجعْ

سريعاً فمِنْ ظَنٍّ به سَيءٍ ظَنّا

except that whoever entrusts a precious thing and reclaims it

quickly has formed an ill opinion of its keeper.

أجَلْ لم أكنْ فيه أميناً ولا بهِ

قَميناً وقد سَنَّ له اللهُ ما سَنّا

Yes, I was neither trustworthy in guarding him nor

worthy of him; God ordained for him what He ordained.

ولكنّني أرجو على ذاكَ نظرةً

بعَيْن رضاً للهِ منْ نالَها استَغْنى

Yet despite that I hope for a glance

of God's favor: whoever receives it needs nothing more.

وإنّي لأستَحيْي منَ الله أن أُرَى

مُشيناً له فِعلاً مُسيئاً به ظَنّا

I am truly ashamed before God to be seen

disparaging His deed or thinking ill of Him,

وأنْ أتلقَّى محنةً ثمّ منحةً

فأضعُفَ عن حَمْلي لكليتهما مَتْنا

or to receive an ordeal and then a blessing,

and prove too weak in backbone to bear them both.

قضَى ما قضَى من تَرحةٍ بعدَ فَرحةٍ

فلا الشّكْرَ أكمَلْنا ولا الصّبْرَ أجمَلْنا

He decreed what He decreed: sorrow after joy;

we neither perfected gratitude nor made patience beautiful.

وما ذاك عَن جَهْلٍ بنا غَيرَ أنّنا

عَلِمْنا ولم نَعْمَل فيا ربَّنا ارحَمْنا

That was not through ignorance on our part; rather,

we knew but did not act. O our Lord, have mercy on us!