لعمري لئن أضحى عن الغيد عاديا — Alkadhi Alfadil

لَعَمري لَئِن أَضحى عَنِ الغيدِ عادِيا

لَقَد فَضَّهُ سِرّاً إِلى البيدِ بادِيا

By my life, if he now turns away from graceful maidens,

He has indeed laid his secret bare, manifest in the desert wastes.

وَوَدَّعَهُ مَغنىً مِنَ اللهو آهِلاً

وَأَرخَصَهُ دَمعاً عَلى المَجدِ غالِيا

He bade farewell to a dwelling thronged with pleasure,

And freely spent tears precious for glory.

وَأَصبَحَ في بَحرٍ مِنَ الهَمِّ غائِصاً

فَأَطلَقَها مِن مُقلَتَيهِ لَآلِيا

He came to dive into a sea of sorrow,

And let pearls fall from his two eyes.

أَساءَكِ أَن أَضحى عَنِ الذُلِّ راحِلاً

وَسَرَّكِ أَن أَمسى على الغَيرِ ثاوِيا

It grieved you that he departed from humiliation,

And pleased you that he stayed amid vicissitudes.

أَبيحيهِ عَدلاً مِن خَلائِقِكِ الَّتي

أَراها بِأَيدي الحادِثاتِ عَوارِيا

Grant him fairness from those qualities of yours

That I see lent into the hands of calamities.

إلى الأَمنِ مِنّي أَن تَرِثَّ وَصائِلي

وَإِن قَطَعَت بَعدَ اللَيالي لَيالِيا

Take reassurance from me against my bonds of union wearing thin,

Even if night after night is cut away.

أَتَخشَينَ إِن طالَ اللِقاءُ تَسَلِّيا

وَتَخشَينَ إِن طالَ الفِراقُ تَأَسِّيا

Do you fear forgetfulness if our meetings grow long,

And consolation if our parting grows long?

هِبي لي عِنانَ الرَكبِ كَالدَمعِ بَعدَها

فَإِنَّكِ ما اِستَغدَرتِ إِلّا وَفائِيا

Grant me the caravan's reins, like tears in her wake,

For you have deemed nothing treacherous but my fidelity.

لَغادَرتِ بِالعَهدِ الغَوانِيَ أَن وَفَت

رِجالاً وَبِالغَدرِ الرِجالَ غَوانِيا

You have indeed made the beauties, through the pledge they kept,

Into men, and through betrayal made men into beauties.

وَلا تُخدَعي بالدَمعِ فَالدَمعُ بَعضُهُ

سَرابٌ وَظَنّي نَحوَهُ ما سَرى بِيا

Do not be deceived by tears; some tears

Are a mirage; my suspicion of them carried me by night.

وَلَكِن أَبَت هَذي الخُدودُ بِأَن تُرى

عَلى عَطَلِ الأَحوالِ إِلّا حَوالِيا

Yet these cheeks refused to be seen

As anything but adorned, though circumstances were bare.

عَجِبتُ لَها إِذ ضَلَّ عَقلي وَناظِري

بِها وبَدَت لِلناظِرينَ دَرارِيا

I marveled at them when my reason and my gaze went astray

In them, though they appeared to beholders as brilliant stars.

تَقولُ أَتَرمي النَفسَ قُلتُ لِعِلَّةٍ

وَتَرمي النَوى بِالمُقتِرِينَ المَرامِيا

She says, “Will you cast your life away?” I said, “For a malady.”

And separation casts the destitute into distant reaches.

لَعَلِّيَ يَشفيني البِعادُ فَأَنشَدَت

كَفى بِكَ داءً أَن تَرى المَوتَ شافِيا

Perhaps distance will cure me; then she recited:

“It is illness enough in you that you see death as a cure.”

وَقالَت أَمانٍ وَدَّعَت فَأَجبتُها

ولِلَهِ أَلطافٌ تُنيلُ الأَمانِيا

She said, “Hopes have departed”; I answered her:

“And God has gentle mercies that grant wishes.”

بَكَيتُ فَما آنَستُ لِلدَمعِ راحَةً

نَعَم ما شُفِيَ مَن ظَنَّ أَن لا تَلاقِيا

I wept, but found no relief in tears.

Indeed, none is healed who thinks there can be no reunion.

وَإِنّيَ مِن فَوقِ التُرابِ وَتَحتَهُ

لِأَحمِلُ عَهداً مِثلَ حُبِّكِ باقِيا

And I, above the dust and beneath it,

Will surely bear a pledge enduring like my love for you.

وَأَبلى وَإِن لَم يَبلَ حُبّي فَإِنَّهُ

كَعَهدِكَ لَم يَشمَت بِهِ الدَهرُ بالِيا

I shall decay, though my love will not; for it,

Like your pledge, has not let time gloat over its decay.

وَفيك لَبِسنا اللَيلَ ما شابَ رَأسُنا

إِلى أن خَلَعناهُ وَشِبنا نَواصِيا

For you we wore the night before our heads turned gray,

Until we cast it off and our forelocks grew white.

وَأَرضَيتُ في حبّيكِ مَن أَغضَبَ العُلا

وَيا لَيتَهُ لَو كانَ عَنِّيَ راضِيا

In loving you I pleased one who angered glory,

And oh, would that he were pleased with me!

وَأَروَيتُ خَدّي مِن دُموعٍ وَرُبّما

غَضِبتُ فَأَروَيتُ العُلا وَالعَوالِيا

I drenched my cheek with tears, and sometimes

Grew angry, then gave glory and the lofty spears their drink.

وَفيكِ دَعَتني قَفرَةٌ فَأَجَبتُها

فَهابَ صَداها أَن يَكونَ جَوابِيا

For your sake a wilderness called me, and I answered it,

But its echo feared to become my reply.

أَبَحتُكِ سِرّاً في الفُؤادِ بِرَدِّهِ

سَيبقى وَإِن أَفنَيتُ فيكِ فُؤادِيا

I revealed to you a secret in my heart; on its return,

It will remain, though I destroy my heart for you.

شَفى ناصِحٌ فيكُم يُرَدُّ بِغَيظِهِ

عَلى أَنَّهُ كانَ الصَديقَ المُصافِيا

A counselor sought to cure me of you, but is turned back in anger,

Though he had been a friend of pure affection.

وَوَاللَهِ لا حكَّمتُ واشِيَ حُبِّها

وَلَو كانَ فيها الحُبُّ بِالحُبِّ واشِيا

By God, I have never let a tale-bearer judge her love,

Even were love itself telling tales against love concerning her.

تَمَلّى بِقَلبٍ سَرَّ دَهرَكِ شُغلُهُ

فَلَم يَخلُ مِن هَمٍّ بِأَن كانَ خالِيا

Take your pleasure in a heart whose occupation delighted your days,

It did not lack care merely because it was empty.

أَغِثني بِماءِ الوَصلِ مَأواكِ إِنَّهُ

حِمىً كانَ مِن رَهجِ الحَمِيَّةِ كاسِيا

Rescue me, your refuge, with the water of union; it

Was a sanctuary clothed in the dust of ardent pride.

وَأَروَيتُ نارَ الحُبِّ فيهِ وَرُبَّما

تَعَلَّقَتِ النيرانُ ما كانَ حامِيا

I watered the fire of love within it, and sometimes

Flames take hold of what was already hot.

وَمِن أَجلِها أَبكي جُفوناً وَأَتَّقي

جُفوناً وَأَخشاها جُفوناً عَوادِيا

For her sake I make eyelids weep, and guard against

Eyelids, and fear them—eyelids that assail me.

وَأُثني عَلى نارٍ ضُلوعاً وَأَلتَظي

وُلوعاً وَأَستَشفي دُموعاً جَوارِيا

I fold my ribs over a fire and blaze

With passion, seeking healing in flowing tears.

إِلَيكَ وَلا أُسميكَ أَضمَرتُ رِحلَةً

وَأَبدَأَها لِلخَلقِ كَونُكَ بادِيا

Toward you—without naming you—I planned a journey,

And your manifest presence set it in motion before the world.

وَغَيرُكُمُ الأَسماءُ تَسمو بِقَدرِهِ

وَقَدرُكُمُ زادَ الأَسامي تَسامِيا

For others, names rise through their worth,

But your worth has raised names to greater heights.

سُلَيمانُ مَلكٌ إِذ سَما بِيَ قَصدُهُ

رَكِبتُ إِلَيهِ الريحَ أَبغي الغَوادِيا

Sulayman is a king; when seeking him raised me,

I rode the wind toward him, seeking the morning voyagers.

تَراها وَلُجُّ البَحرِ يُزبدُ ماؤُهُ

عَقارِبَ يَستَبطِنَّ مِنهُ أَفاعِيا

You see them, while the sea's deep waters foam,

As scorpions harboring serpents of the sea within.

وَأَحسَبُ أَخلاقَ اللَياليَ ما عَفَت

لَها عَن سُراها أَو حُسِبنَ لَيالِيا

I suppose the nature of nights has not pardoned

Them for their night-faring—or they have been reckoned nights.

وَلَو لَم تَكُن مِثلَ اللَياليَ لَم تَكُن

تُثيرُ مَنايا أَو تُنيلُ أَمانِيا

If they were not like nights, they would not

Stir up deaths or grant wishes.

فَيا عَجَباً مِنها لَيالي جيرَةٍ

سَرَينَ فَيَمَّمنَ النُجومَ هَوادِيا

How wondrous they are: nights of neighborly company,

Traveling by night, turning toward the stars as guides.

طَلَعنَ مَعَ التَقويسِ مِنها أَهِلَّةً

وَكُنَّ مِنَ الأَلوانِ مِنها دَآدِيا

They rose in their curved shapes like crescents,

And in their colors they were dark, moonless nights.

يَطِرنَ بِحِملٍ وَاِسوِدادِ خَواطِرٍ

وَيَسلُكُ فَيا راكبوها مَغانِيا

They fly with a load and darkened thoughts,

And—O riders of them!—he traverses dwelling-places.

وَجُنحٍ أَرَشنا بِالصَباحِ جَناحَهُ

فَسِرنا سِهاماً كَالسِهامِ مَواضِيا

And many a dusk whose wing we feathered with dawn,

So we traveled as arrows, swift as piercing arrows.

وَنُصغي لَها بِالقَلبِ أُذناً سَميعَةً

يَبيتُ لَها فَختُ السِماكِ مُناجِيا

We lend them, with the heart, an attentive ear,

While al-Simak's light spends the night whispering to them.

عَشِيَّةَ أَعطَينا الرِياحَ عِنانَها

وَأَعطَيتُ أَحكامَ الزَمانِ عِنانِيا

That evening we gave the winds their reins,

And I gave my reins to the decrees of time.

نَسيرُ رِياحاً وَالرِياحُ نُسيرُها

وَنَثبُتُ أَطواداً خِفافاً رَواسِيا

We move like winds, and make the winds move,

And stand like mountains, light yet firmly anchored.

بَنَينا فُوَيقَ الماءِ مِنها مَعاقِلاً

وَلا أَسرَ إِلّا أَن وَضَعنا المَراسِيا

From them we built fortresses just above the water,

No bondage held us save our setting down the anchors.

فَأَرسَلتُ فَوقَ الريحِ مِنها طَوافِياً

وَأَمسَكتُ تَحتَ البَحرِ مِنها طَوافِيا

I sent some of them floating above the wind,

And held some of them floating beneath the sea.

رَكَضنَ مُنيباتٍ إِلى اللَهِ أَرجُلاً

وَقُمنَ مُنيباتٍ إِلَيهِ صَوارِيا

They galloped, their feet turning repentantly toward God,

And stood, their masts turning repentantly to Him.

وَأَيُّ غُرابٍ يَجمَعُ الشَملَ غَيرُها

وَيَرجو الغَريبُ الدارِ مِنها التَدانِيا

What raven but these reunites those parted,

And through which the stranger far from home hopes for nearness?

عَلَيَّ لِنَفسي أَن أُطيعَ اِشتِطاطَها

عَلَيَّ إِذا لَم تَبغِ إِلّا المَعالِيا

I owe it to my soul to obey its excessive demands

Upon me, when it seeks nothing but lofty attainments,

وَأَلّا أَكُرَّ القَلبَ صُبحاً أَمامِيا

وَأَلّا أَجُرَّ الطَرفَ لَيلاً وَرائِيا

And not send my heart charging ahead of me at dawn,

And not drag my gaze behind me at night.

إِذا ناصِرُ الأَملاكِ ناجَتهُ هِمَّتي

فَهَيهاتَ يَمضي مِن يَدي الدَهرُ ناجِيا

When my ambition confides in the champion of kings,

Far be it that time should escape my grasp unscathed.

وَأَوَّلُ شَرطٍ بَعدَ شَوقي التَزَمتُهُ

بِأَنَّ ثَنائي لا أُوَلّيهِ ثانِيا

And the first condition, after my longing, that I pledged to keep:

That I would not grant my praise to a second.

نَزَلتُ فِناءً مِنكَ كَالدَهرِ رَحبُهُ

فَأَملَيتُ شُكراً فيكَ لِلدَهرِ مالِيا

I alighted in a courtyard of yours as spacious as time,

And dictated thanks for you to time, filling it.

أَرى كُلَّ ذِكرٍ غَيرَ ذِكرِكَ يَنقَضي

فَدونَ العُلا ما لا يَمَلُّ التَقاضِيا

I see every remembrance but remembrance of you come to an end,

For glory, then, take what never tires of pressing its claim.

يَجودُ وَلَو بِالسَيفِ إِن ظَلَّ غائِراً

وَيَندى وَلَو بِالماءِ إِن باتَ صادِيا

He gives freely, even with the sword, when he spends the day raiding,

And is lavish, even with water, when he spends the night thirsty.

إِذا غَضبَةٌ مِنهُ كَفى اللَهُ شَرَّها

أُفيضَت عَلى الأَيّامِ عادَت لَيالِيا

When a fit of his anger—may God avert its harm—

Is poured upon the days, they turn to nights,

بِآيَةِ أَنَّ النَقعَ يَأكُلُ نورَها

وَتَرجِعُ بِالبيضِ النُجومُ بَوادِيا

As shown by battle dust devouring their light,

And stars returning, visible in the bright swords.

وَكانَت بُيوتُ المُلكِ مَنقوضَةَ البِنا

فَجِئتُم عَلى الأَعقابِ فيها قَوافِيا

The houses of kingship had their structure torn down,

And you came in their wake as the rhymes that complete them.

سَطَوتُم فَلَم تَبقوا عَدُوّاً مُبائِناً

وَجُدتُم فَلَم تَبقوا عَدُوّاً مُداجِيا

You struck, leaving no openly hostile enemy,

And gave freely, leaving no enemy hiding his hatred.

وَجَرَّدتُمُ بَينَ الزَمانِ وَبَينَنا

سِيوفاً عَلى أَيدي العَوادي عَوادِيا

Between time and us you drew

Swords that assailed the hands of assailing calamities.

وَأَمهَرتُمُ الدُنيا سُيوفاً بَواسِماً

نَكَحنَ رِقاباً لِلأَعادي بَواكِيا

You gave the world a dowry of smiling swords,

Which wed the enemies' weeping necks.

بَعَثتَ الرَدى نَحوَ المَقاتِلِ رائِداً

وَقامَ النَدى بَينَ الأَماني مُنادِيا

You sent death scouting toward the vital spots,

And generosity stood among wishes, calling aloud.

فَأَبقى بِها الرَحمَنُ مُلكَكَ إِنَّها

مَواضٍ بِها الأَعمارُ تَغدو مَواضِيا

May the Merciful preserve your kingdom through them; they are

Keen blades through which lifespans pass into the past.