لو كان يعلم أنها الأحداق — Alhbal

لو كانَ يَعْلَمُ أنّها الأحداقُ

يومَ النّقا ما خَاطرَ المشتاقُ

Had he known that they were those eyes,

the yearning lover would not have ventured forth that day at al-Naqa.

جَهِلَ الهوى حتى غَدا في أسرِهِ

والحُبّ ما لأسيرهِ إطلاقُ

He knew nothing of love until he became its captive,

and love grants its captive no release.

يا صاحبَيَّ وَمَا الرَّفيقُ بصاحبٍ

إن لَم يكنْ مِن دأبه الإشفاقُ

O my two companions—a fellow traveler is no true companion

unless compassion is his habit.

هَذَا النّقا حَيثُ النّفوسُ تُباح

والأَلْبابُ تُسْلَبُ والدَماءُ تُراقُ

This is al-Naqa, where lives are forfeit,

minds are stolen, and blood is spilled.

حيثُ الظِّباءُ لهنَّ سوقٌ في الهوى

فيها لأَلْبابِ الرِّجالِ نَفَاقُ

Where the gazelles hold a market in love,

in which men's minds are in brisk demand.

فَخُذا يُميناً عن مَضَاربه فَمِنْ

دُونِ المضَارِبِ تُضْربُ الأعناقُ

So you two turn right, away from its encampments; for

before those tents, necks are struck.

وحذارِ مِنْ تِلكَ الظباءِ فما لَها

في الحُبِّ لا عَهْدٌ ولا مِيثاقُ

And beware those gazelles, for they have

neither pledge nor covenant in love.

وَبِمهْجَتي مَنْ شاركتْني لُوَّمي

وجداًُ عليهِ فَكُلُّنا عُشَاقُ

And my lifeblood for the one for whom my reproachers joined me

in longing: we are all his lovers.

كالبدْرِ إلاّ أنّه في تِمّهِ

لا يَخْتشي أن يَعْتَريهِ محاقُ

Like the full moon, except that in his fullness

he fears no waning into darkness.

كالغُصْنِ لكنْ حُسْنُه في ذَاته

والغُصنُ زانتْ قدَّهُ الأوراقُ

Like a branch, yet his beauty is his own,

whereas leaves adorn the branch's form.

مَهْما شكوتُ لَه الجفاء يقول لي

ما الحُبُّ غلاّ جفوةٌ وفِراقُ

Whenever I complain to him of coldness, he tells me,

'Love is nothing but coldness and separation.'

أو أَشتكي سَهَري عليه يَقُلْ مَتَى

نَامَتْ لِمَنْ حَمَلَ الْهوى آماقُ

Or if I complain of sleeplessness for him, he says, 'When

have the eyes of one who bears love ever slept?'

أو قلتُ قد أشْرَقْتني بمدامعي

قال الأهلّةُ شأنُها الإشْراقُ

Or if I say, 'You have made me choke on my tears,'

he says, 'It is the nature of crescents to shine.'

ما كُنْتُ أدْري قَبْلَه أنّ الْهَوى

مُهَجٌ تَصَدَّعُ أو دَمٌ مُهْراقُ

Before him I did not know that love

was hearts split asunder, or blood poured out.

كنتُ الخَليّ فَعَرَّضَتْني لِلْهَوى

يومَ النَّقا الوَجَناتُ والأَحداقُ

I was free of love, until I was exposed to it

that day at al-Naqa by cheeks and eyes.

ومِن التَدَلّهِ في الغَرامِ وهكَذا

سُكرُ الصَّبابةِ مالَهُ إفراقُ

From bewilderment in passion—and such is

the drunkenness of longing, with no sobering—

إنّي أُعبّر بالنّقا عَن غيرِهِ

وأقول شامٌ والمرادُ عراق

I speak of al-Naqa while meaning somewhere else,

and say 'Sham' when 'Iraq' is meant.

ما لِلنَّقا قَصْدي ولا بمحَجّرٍ

وجْدي ولا أَنا لِلْحِمَى مُشتاقُ

Al-Naqa is not my aim, nor is Muhajjar

the object of my passion, nor do I yearn for the protected grounds.

بَرِحَ الخفا نعمانُ أقْصَى مَطْلبي

لَوْ سَاعَدَتنْي صحْبةٌ ورفاقُ

The secret is out: Nu'man is my utmost goal,

if companions and fellow travelers would aid me.

يا بَرْقَ نعمانٍ أفِقْ حتّى مَتى

وإلى مَتَى الأرعادُ والإِبراقُ

O lightning of Nu'man, come to your senses! How long,

and until when, this thundering and flashing?

قُلْ لي عَن الأحباب هَل عهدي على

عَهْدي وهل ميثاقيَ الميثاقُ

Tell me of the beloveds: does my pledge still hold

as before, and is my covenant still the same?

يا ليتَ شعري إنّ ليتَ وأختَها

لَسَميرُ مَنْ لَعِبَتْ بهِ الأشواق

Would that I knew! Indeed, 'would that' and its sister

are night companions to one whom longings toy with.

أيعودُ لي بعدَ الصّدودِ تَواصلٌ

ويُعادُ لي بعد البعادِ عناقُ

Will communion return to me after rejection,

and will an embrace be restored to me after distance?

إنّي أَقولُ لعُصْبَةٍ زَيْديّةٍ

وخَدَتْ بهمْ نَحو العِراقِ نياقُ

I say to a Zaydi company,

borne toward Iraq by swiftly striding she-camels,

بأبيْ وبيْ وبِطَارفي وبتَالدي

مَنْ يمَمُوهُ ومَنْ إليه سَاقُوا

'My father, myself, my new wealth and inherited wealth for

the one they seek, toward whom they drive!'

هَل مِنّةٌ في حَمْل جسْمٍ حَلّ في

أرضِ الْغَريّ فؤادُه الخفّاق

Will you grant the favor of carrying a body? Settled in

the land of al-Ghari is its beating heart.

أَسْمَعتُهُمْ ذكرَ الغَريِّ وقَد سَرت

بعقولِهمْ خَمرُ السُّرَى فأَفَاقوا

I spoke al-Ghari's name to them; there had coursed

through their minds the wine of night travel, but they sobered—

حُبَّاً لِمَنْ يَسْقي الأَنامَ غداً ومَنْ

تُشْفى بتُرْبِ نعالِه الأَحداقُ

out of love for him who gives mankind drink tomorrow, and him whose

sandals' dust brings healing to eyes.

لِمَنِ اسْتَقامَتْ مِلّةُ الباري بهِ

وعَلَتْ وقامَتْ للعُلى أسواقُ

For him through whom the Creator's faith was set upright

and rose high, and markets for glory were established;

ولمن إليهِ حديثُ كلِّ فضيلةٍ

من بَعْدِ خيرِ المرسلين يُساقُ

and him to whom the account of every virtue,

after the best of messengers, is led;

لمحطِّم الرّدْنِ الرّماح وقد غَدا

لِلنّقعِ مِن فوق الرّماح رواقُ

for the breaker of Rudaynian spears, when

battle-dust formed a canopy above the spears;

لِفتىً تَحِيّتُهُ لِعْظمِ جَلاَلِهِ

مِنْ زَائريه الصِّمتُ والإِطراقُ

for a hero whose greeting, because of his great majesty,

is silence and bowed heads from his visitors.

صِهرُ النبيّ وصنِوهُ يا حَبَّذا

صِنوان قَدْ وَشَجَتْهما الأَعْراق

The Prophet's son-in-law and kindred equal—how splendid

these twin stems, intertwined by their ancestral roots!

وأَبو الأُولى فَاقُوا وراقُوا والأُلَى

بمديحهِمْ تتزيّنُ الأوراقُ

And father of those who excelled and shone, those

with whose praises pages are adorned.

انْظرْ إلى غاياتِ كلِّ سيادةٍ

أَسواهُ كانَ جوادُها السبّاقُ

Look to the furthest goals of every eminence:

was anyone but he their foremost racing steed?

وامدَحْهُ لا متحرِّجاً في مدحه

إذ لا مبالغةٌ ولا إغراقُ

Praise him without misgivings in your praise,

for there is neither exaggeration nor excess.

ولاَه أحمدُ في الغديرِ ولايةً

أَضحتْ مطوَّقةً بها الأعناقُ

Ahmad vested him at al-Ghadir with an authority

with which necks became encircled.

حتّى إذا أَجْرَى إليها طِرفَهُ

حادُوهُ عَنْ سنَنِ الطَّريقِ وعاقوا

Yet when he urged his steed toward it,

they turned him from the road's straight course and hindered him.

ما كانَ أسرعَ ما تَناسوا عَهْدَه

ظُلماً وحُلَّتْ تِلكُمُ الأطواقُ

How quickly they chose to forget his pledge,

unjustly, and those collars were undone!

شَهِدوا بها يَومَ الغَديرِ لحيدَرٍ

إذْ عمَّ من أنوارِها الإشراق

They bore witness to it for Haydar on the day of al-Ghadir,

when radiance from its lights spread everywhere.

حَتَى إذا قُبِضَ المُذلُّ سُطاهمُ

وَغَدتْ عليهِ مَن الثرى أطباقُ

Until, when he who humbled their might was taken in death,

and layers of earth lay over him—

يا لَيْتَ شعري ما يكونُ جوابُهمْ

حين الخلائق لِلْحساب تُساقُ

would that I knew what their answer will be

when all creatures are driven to the reckoning,

حينَ الخصيمُ محمّدٌ وشهودُه

أهْلُ السَّما والحاكمُ الخلاَّقُ

when Muhammad is the plaintiff, and his witnesses

are heaven's inhabitants, and the Creator is the judge!

قَدْ قيّدتْ إذْ ذاَكَ ألْسنُهم بمَا

نكَثُوا العُهودَ فما لَها إطلاقُ

By then their tongues will have been bound for

breaking the covenants, with no release for them.

وتظلّ تذْرِفُ بالدِّما آمَاقُهم

لِلْكَربِ لا رَقأَتْ لَهُمْ آماق

Their eyes will keep shedding blood

from anguish—may their eyes never cease to weep!

رامُوا شَفاعةَ أحمدٍ مِنْ بَعْدِما

سَفكوا دِما أبنائِه وأراقوا

They sought Ahmad's intercession after

shedding his sons' blood and pouring it out.

فَهُناكَ يدعو كيفَ كانتْ فيكمُ

تلكَ العهودُ وذلك الميثاق

Then he calls, 'How fared among you

those pledges and that covenant?

الآنَ حين نكَثْتمُ عَهْدي

وذَاقَ أقاربي مِنْ ظُلْمكمْ ما ذاقوا

Now, when you have broken my pledge,

and my kin have tasted what they tasted of your injustice?

وأخي غدَتْ تَسْعى لَهُ مِن نَكْثكمْ

حيّاتُ غَدْرٍ سُمّهنَ زُعَاقُ

And through your pledge-breaking there came creeping toward my brother

serpents of treachery, their venom deadly;

وأصابَ بنتي من دفائِن غدرِكم

وجفاءِكم دهياءُ لَيسَ تُطاقُ

and upon my daughter, from your hidden treachery

and your coldness, there fell an unbearable calamity;

وسَنَنْتمُ من ظُلم أَهْلٍ سنّةً

بكمُ اقْتَدى في فِعْلها الفُسَّاق

and you made the oppression of a household a precedent,

with evildoers following you in its practice;

وبسَعْيكمُ رُمي الحُسَينُ وأهلُه

بكتائبٍ غُصّتْ بها الآفاقُ

and through your efforts Husayn and his family were assailed

by battalions that choked the horizons;

فَغَدَتْ تَنُوشُهمُ هُناكَ ذَوابِلٌ

سمرٌ ومُرهَفَةٌ المتونِ رقاقُ

and there they were assailed by slender

brown spears and thin, finely honed swords;

وكذاكَ زيدٌ أَحْرقَتْهُ مَعَاشِرٌ

ما إنْ لَهُمْ يومَ الحِساب خَلاقُ

likewise Zayd was burned by people

who have no share on the Day of Reckoning.

مِنْ ذلِكَ الحَطَبِ الذي جَمَّعْتُمُ

يَومَ الفعيلة ذَلكَ الإحراق

From that firewood which you gathered

on the day of that deed came that burning.

ولكَمْ دَمٍ شرِّكْتم في وزْرِهِ

لِبَنِيّ في الحَرَمِ الشَّريفِ يُراقُ

And how much blood have you been made to share the guilt of,

shed from my sons in the noble sanctuary!

ولكَمْ أَسيرٍ مِنهمُ وأَسِيرةٍ

تدْعُو أَلاَ مَنُّ أَلاَ إعتاق

And how many captive men and captive women among them

cry, 'Is there no clemency? Is there no release?'

أَجَزاء نَصْحِي أَنْ يَنَالَ أقاربي

من بَعْدِ الإِبْعادُ والإزهاق

Is the reward for my counsel that my kin should meet

banishment and death afterward?

فالآن جِئتم تَطْلبون شفاعتي

لَمّا علا كَرْبٌ وضَاقَ خِنَاقُ

So now you come seeking my intercession,

when anguish has risen and the noose has tightened!

أَتَرونَ بعدَ صَنيعكمْ يُرجَى لكمْ

أبداَ خَلاصٌ أو يُحلّ وثاقُ

Do you think, after what you have done, that you may hope for

deliverance ever, or that a bond will be loosened?

أَتَرونَ بعدَ صَنيعكمْ يُرجَى لكمْ

أبداً خَلاصٌ أو يُحلّ وثاقُ

Do you think, after what you have done, that you may hope for

deliverance ever, or that a bond will be loosened?

يا ربّ جرِّعْهمْ بِعَدْلِكَ غبَّ مَا

قَدْ جَرَعُوه أَقاربي وأَذاقوا

O Lord, in Your justice make them drink the aftermath of what

they made my kin swallow and taste.'