أذال على بالي الرسوم المدامعا — Almlk Alamjad

أذالَ على بالي الرسومِ المدامعا

مشوقٌ رأى برقاً على الغَورِ لامعا

He let tears flow over the weathered traces—

a yearning lover who saw lightning gleaming over al-Ghawr.

وخاطبَ اطلالاً رآها أواهلاً

بأهلِ الحمى دهراً فعادتْ بلاقِعا

And he addressed ruins he had seen inhabited

long by al-Hima's people, now turned to barren wastes.

فلم يرَ في الأطلالِ إلا ابنَ دايةٍ

يُرى طائراً فوقَ الربوعِ وواقعا

He saw among the ruins only Ibn Daya, the raven,

seen flying above the dwellings and alighting.

منازلُ قد كان الشبابُ إلى المها

زمانَ الحِمى والحاجبيَّةِ شافعا

Dwellings where youth once, with the white oryxes,

in the days of al-Hima and al-Hajibiyya, interceded for me.

مرابعُ سقّاها مِنَ المزنِ هاطلٌ

كدمعي إذا أصبحتُ مِلْهينِ جازعا

Spring grounds watered by a downpour from the clouds,

like my tears when I awaken [unclear word], distraught.

وحيّا الحيا قوماً على الجِزْعِ والحِمى

أضاعوا على حكمِ الضلال الودائعا

May the rain greet a people at the valley bend and al-Hima,

who, at waywardness's bidding, betrayed the trusts.

لئن ضيَّعوا عهدي فما ضاعَ عهدهمْ

وحاشا بعدَ الحفظِ يُحسَبُ ضائعا

Though they neglected my pledge, theirs was not neglected;

far be it, once preserved, to be thought forsaken.

حبائبُ أدنتني اليهنَّ في الهوى

نوازعُ شوقٍ لا أُرى عنه نازعا

Beloved women: toward them, in love, I was drawn

by urges of longing from which I am never seen to turn away.

وفي عرصاتِ الدارِ منَّيَ والهٌ

يُرى في ذُراه داميَ الجفنِ دامعا

And in the dwelling's courts is a lovesick man—myself,

seen on its heights, his eyelids bloodied, weeping.

أُسقَّي ثرى تلكَ الطلولِ بادمعي

وأخلُفُ في النوحِ الحمامَ السواجعا

I water the earth of those ruins with my tears,

and take the cooing doves' place in lamentation.

وأنظُر هاتيكَ الرسومَ خوالياً

فتنهلُّ فيهنَ الدموعُ هوامعا

I gaze at those deserted traces,

and tears pour down amid them in torrents.

ومما شجاني البرقُ في عرصاتِها

وقد لاحَ محمرَّ الذوائبِ ناصعا

Among what grieved me was the lightning in their courts,

as it flashed brightly, its tresses crimson.

فأَذكَى صباباتٍ تقادَمَ عهدُها

بأهلِ الحِمى حيَّ الحِمى والأجارعا

It rekindled long-standing passions

for al-Hima's people—hail al-Hima and the sandy stretches!

وأشتاقُ أيامَ الدنوَّ فهل أَرى

زمانَ التداني بالأحبَّةِ راجعا

I long for the days of nearness; shall I see

the time of closeness to loved ones return?

وما لغليلِ الشوقِ إلا دنوُّه

دواءٌ إذا جمرُ الهوى عادَ لاذعا

For longing's burning thirst, only his nearness

is a remedy when love's embers sting again.

وما شوقُ ورقٍ غابَ عنها هديلُها

وقد كانَ ما بينَ الحدائقِ ساجعا

Nor does the longing of gray doves whose cooing mate is gone—

though he once sang among the gardens—

تنوحُ سُحَيراً في الغصونِ كأنَّما

لها عَذَبُ الباناتِ أمستْ صوامعا

mourning at early dawn among the branches, as though

the ban trees' tender tips had become their hermitages,

فتصدعُ قلبي حينَ تصدحُ سُحرةً

وقد حلَّ أهلُ الرقمتينِ مُتالعا

splitting my heart when they sing at dawn,

while al-Raqmatayn's people have settled in Mutaliʿ,

كشوقي إلى جيرانِ سَلْعٍ وحاجرٍ

واِنْ ضيَّعوا سِرّى فأصبحَ ذائعا

match my yearning for the neighbors of Salʿ and Hajir,

though they let my secret slip until it spread abroad.

وهَجْلٍ به تُنضَى القَطا الكُدْرُ جُبْتُهُ

بأعيسَ يُدينهِ واِنْ كانَ شاسِعا

Many a broad hollow, where dusky sandgrouse grow exhausted, I crossed

on a pale camel that brings it near, however distant.

اخوضُ به لُجَّ العساقيلِ بعدَ ما

شقتُ به نحوَ الخليطِ اليَلامِعا

I plunge on it into the sea of mirages, after

cleaving the shimmering wastes on it toward the companions.

يُجاذِبني فضلَ الجديلِ وقد غدتْ

عياءً بُنيّاتُ الجَديلِ خواضِعا

It tugs against me at the slack rein, while

al-Jadil's young daughters have bowed in exhaustion.

يَطُسنَ بركبانِ الغرامِ على الوَجا

الى جيرةٍ بالرقمتينِ اليَرامِعا

They pound, bearing love's riders despite their sore feet,

the pale stones, bound for neighbors at al-Raqmatayn.

فأغدو على ظهرِ المطيَّةِ ساجداً

مِن الأينِ ما بينَ الصَّحابِ وراكِعا

So I go, prostrate on my mount's back,

from exhaustion among my companions, and bent low,

الى أن أرى شمساً شهيّاً بزوغُها

مِن الحيَّ أو بدراً مِن الخِدْرِ طالِعا

until I see a sun whose rising is sweet,

from the encampment, or a full moon rising from the curtained chamber.

وكم ليلةٍ قد بتُّ ارعى نجومَها

وقد حَسَدَتْ عيني العيونَ الهواجِعا

How many a night have I spent watching its stars,

while my eye envied slumbering eyes!

أُساهرُ ديجورِها النجمَ حائراً

وأهجرُ في ظَلْمائِهنَّ المضاجِعا

Bewildered, I keep the stars company in its pitch darkness,

and shun beds in those nights' gloom,

غراماً بوجهٍ لو بدا من خبائه

رأيتَ له نوراً على الأُفْقِ ساطِعا

for love of a face that, if it emerged from its tent,

you would see its light blazing on the horizon.

يعودُ له بدرُ السماءِ إذا بدا

له ورآه خاسئَ الطرفِ خاشعا

Heaven's full moon, whenever that face appears

before it and it sees it, becomes downcast and humble.

وما روضةٌ قد وشَّحَتْها يدُ الحيا

بدمعِ سحابٍ قد كساها الوشائعا

No meadow adorned by the hand of rain,

with a cloud's tears that clothed it in colored skeins,

فاصبحَ فيها النَّورُ يَبسِمُ ثغرُه

وفاحَ بها عَرفُ الأزاهيرِ رادِعا

where the blossoms' mouths began to smile

and the flowers' fragrance spread, overpowering,

بأحسنَ مِن شعري وأين كمثلِه

جواهرُ من لفظٍ تُحلَّي المسامعا

is lovelier than my verse. Where are its like—

jewels of words that adorn the ears?

يُحيَّرُ ربَّ المنطقِ الجزلِ لفظُه

فيصبحُ مِن بعدِ التعاظُمِ ضارعا

Its diction confounds the master of stately speech,

so, after his haughtiness, he becomes submissive.

تراه على ذاكَ الترفُّعِ نادماً

اِذا حطَّهُ شعري وللسنَّ قارعا

You see him regretting that arrogance,

when my verse brings him low, rapping his tooth.

ويغدو وما بينَ الأضالِعِ جذوةٌ

على الشعرِ نظمي قد حشاها الأضالِعا

He goes about with a live coal between his ribs,

over poetry—my verse has packed that ember into his ribs.