حبيبتي دبي — Aref Al Khaja

رفعتُ في بحْركِ المِعْطاءِ أشْرعَتي

وغُصتُ حتى أضاءَ الدرُّ في لغتي

I raised my sails in your generous sea,

and I dived until pearls shone in my language.

وسِرت في روضِكِ البسّام أزمنة ً

حتى تفتّّحَ وردُ الحُبِّ في شَفَتي

And I walked for ages through your smiling garden,

until love's roses blossomed on my lip.

وقلتُ عنكِ أنيسٌ لا مثيلَ لهُ

فكُنتِ أُنساً رقيقا، كنتِ مُؤنِستي

And I said of you: "A companion without equal."

So you were tender solace; you were my comforting companion.

وقلتُ عنك عذابٌ لا يُفارقني

فكُنتِ نارَ الهوى، رفقاً مُعَذبتي

And I said of you: "A torment that never leaves me."

So you were the fire of passion—be gentle, my tormentor.

رفقا دبيُّ فشِعري لم يعُدْ خَجِل

من التَحَرّش، من إفشاءِ عاطفتي

Be gentle, Dubai—my poetry is no longer ashamed

of making advances, of revealing my feelings.

أنا الصَّبيّ ُالّذي مازالَ مُنْطَلِق

يُسابق الرّيحَ والآمالُ عافيتي

I am the boy who still runs free,

racing the wind, and hopes are my vigor.

أنا الصَّبيّ ُالّذي مازال مختَزن

نجوى النخيل ِعلى إيقاع ِعاصفتي

I am the boy who still holds within him

the palms' whispers to the rhythm of my storm.

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أنا الصبيّ الّذي أمْسَتْ مَرَاكِبُهُ

تَغْشَى الخيالَ وشوقُ الدار ِأمتِعَتي

I am the boy whose boats now

haunt the imagination, and longing for home is my luggage.

مازلتُ ألعَبُ عندَ البحر ِمُرْتَجِل

فيكِ القصيدَ ونبضُ الخَوْر ِقافيتي

I still play by the sea, improvising

verse about you, and the Creek's pulse is my rhyme.

مازلتُ أرسِمُ أحلامي على ورق ٍ

وصِرتُ أطْلِقُ عِنْدَ العَصْر ِطَائرتي

I still draw my dreams on paper,

and I began flying my kite in the afternoon.

مازلتُ في الفَصْل ِأتلو ما يُقَيّدُني

عن ِالحَرَاك وما يَسري بأوردتي

I still recite in class what restrains me

from movement, and what courses through my veins.

فالدالُ داري وباءُ البَّر ِيُشْعِلُني

والياءُ يُسْرٌ وَيُمْنٌ أنتِ مَدرستي

For dāl is my home, and the bāʾ of the land kindles me;

and yāʾ is ease and good fortune—you are my school.

أنا البريءُ الوسيمُ الطّفلُ يقتُلُني

ثوبُ التمَسْكُن ِإنْ غادرتُ شيطنتي

I am the innocent, handsome child; what kills me

is the garb of feigned meekness, if I abandon my mischief.

أنا السعيدُ التعيسُ الفظ ُتَسْحَبُني

عيناك ِمنْ آخِر ِالدّنيا لأمنيتي

I am happy, wretched, uncouth; I am drawn

by your eyes from the world's farthest edge toward my wish.

كلّ الدروبِ إلى عينيكِ آخِرُهَ

كل القلوبِ تناغي سِحْرَ ساحرتي

All roads end in your eyes;

all hearts coo to my enchantress's magic.

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أرتّبُ الحُلْمَ روضا في تَوَرُدّهِ

فيُصبحُ الحلمُ روضا في مُعَادَلتي

I arrange the dream as a garden in its rosy bloom;

so the dream becomes a garden in my equation.

وتصبحُ الأرضُ عرسا في تَبَسُّمِه

والناسُ زَندا بزندٍ حولَ أغنيتي

And the earth becomes a wedding in its smile,

and the people are arm in arm around my song.

دبيُّ يا (دانة) الدنيا ورَوْعَتَه

يا فورة َالحلم يا وَصْفي ويا صِفتي

Dubai, O great pearl of the world and its splendor,

O surge of the dream, O my description and my attribute,

يا جمرة َالشوق ِفي أنفاس ِحالمةٍ

يا ساحة َالعُرْس ِفي عُرْسي وأخيلتي

O ember of longing in dreaming breaths,

O wedding square in my wedding and my imaginings,

ما ارتدّ طرْفُكِ يوما نحوَ بَسْمَلتي

حتى تسامتْ إلى العلياءِ بسملتي

Never did your gaze turn back toward my invocation of God's name

without that invocation soaring to the heights.

ولا لمَحْتُكِ في دربٍ تَجَاذبََني

حتى أثَبْتُ إلى رُشْدي وَبَوْصَلِتي

Nor did I glimpse you on a path that tugged at me

without returning to my senses and my compass.

ولا ذكَرُتكِ مَحْزُونا على سَفَر ٍ

إلا تَقَطّعَ نَوْحُ الريح ِفي رئتي

Nor did I recall you, sorrowful on a journey,

without the wind's lament breaking off in my lung.

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ولا رأيْتُكِ في أطيافِ عاشقةٍ

إلا اتجهتُ أسِيراً نَحْوَ عاشقتي

Nor did I see you in the visions of a woman in love

without heading, a captive, toward my lover.

فكَمْ تخيّلتُ في عينيكِ أمثلة ً

تلتَفُّ حولَ زماني، حَوْلَ خاصِرَتي

So often I imagined likenesses in your eyes,

wrapping around my time, around my waist.

كَمْ مِنْ نساءٍ بِلا ذنبٍ أرقنَ دَمِي

كَمْ منْ نساءٍ جَعَلْنَ النارَ مَمْلَكَتي

How many women, without sin, spilled my blood;

how many women made fire my kingdom.

ويلاهُ مِنْهُنّ قد فَجّرْنَ أسْئِلتي

وَهُنّ يعرفْنَ أنّ الحُبّ َأجْوبتي

Alas for me because of them! They have made my questions explode,

and they know that my answers are love,

وهُنّ يعرِفْن أنّ الحُبّ مِلءُ دَمِي

وأنّ أنثى الهوى في الليل مُنْشِدَتي

and they know that love fills my blood,

and that the woman of passion is my singer at night.

لَكَمْ تخَيّلتُ أنثى التّوتِ جالسة ً

بالقربِ من كَتِفِي تنوي مُعَانقتي

How often I imagined the mulberry woman sitting

close to my shoulder, intending to embrace me.

دبيُّ لا أستحي من سَرْدِ قصّتِن

ولستُ أسعى إلى تلوين ِثَرْثَرَتي

Dubai, I am not ashamed to tell our story,

nor do I seek to embellish my chatter.

هذي حياتي وهذا الشوقُ يُجْبِرُني

على التّغُزّلِ في آلاءِ فاتنتي

This is my life, and this longing compels me

to praise my enchantress's blessings in love poetry.

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ما كلّ ُحُسْن ٍبهذا الكون ِيَذبَحُني

أوْ كُلّ رامِيَةٍ بالعين ِراميتي

Not all beauty in this universe slays me,

nor is every woman who shoots with her eyes my archer.

إلا سِهَامُكِ مُنْذ ُاسْتَوْطَنتْ جَسَدي

حتى أثارتْ جُنُوْنًا صَارَ مَوْهِبتي

Only your arrows, since they made their home in my body,

have stirred a madness that became my gift.

وَصِرتُ أدْعَى أسيرَ الوَصْل ِصِرْتُ أن

قيسَ البلادِ وليلى الحُسْن ِمُلهِمَتي

And I came to be called the captive of union; I became

the Qays of the land, and beauty's Layla is my muse.

يا شِقّة َالشمس ِيا شمسا ًمتوجة ً

على البسيطةِ يا تاجي ويا سِمَتي

O fragment of the sun, O sun crowned

upon the earth, O my crown and my hallmark,

قَدِ انْطَلَقْتِ إلى الجوزاءِ حامِلَة ً

قلبي وصوتي وأمجادي وألْويتي

you have set forth toward Gemini, carrying

my heart, my voice, my glories, and my banners.

لمْ يلْحَقوكِ ولنْ لَوْ أنهُمْ ركَضُو

عِشْرينَ قرْنًا وَقَرْنا خلفَ قافلتي

They have not caught up with you, nor will they, even if they ran

for twenty centuries and one more behind my caravan.

وحينَ خِفْتِ عليهِمْ من وَسَاوِسِهم

وحينَ قُلتِ سأدْعُوهُمْ لِمَأدُبَتي

And when you feared for them because of their troubling doubts,

and when you said, "I shall invite them to my banquet,"

قالوا غَدَوْتِ عن ِالتّسديدِ عاجِزة ً

وأنتِ سَهْمُكِ في التسديدِ مَلْحَمَتي

they said, "You have become unable to aim,"

yet you—your arrow, when aimed, is my epic.

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أدْمَيْتِ أفْئِدة ًقَدْ كُنْتُ أحْسَبُهَ

تَقوَى على فَهْم ِأفكاري وفلسفتي

You bloodied hearts I had thought

could grasp my thoughts and my philosophy.

الْمَرْكَزُ الأوّلُ الموعودُ في يَدِنَ

ورُؤيتي أصْبحَتْ نِبْرَاسَ مُعْجِزَتي

The promised first place is in our hands,

and my vision has become the beacon of my miracle.

دبيُّ يا نجمة ًيَرْنُو الزمانُ لَهَ

يا مِصْرُ يا شَامُ يا تاجي وأوْسِمَتي

Dubai, O star toward which time gazes longingly,

O Egypt, O Sham, O my crown and my medals,

أنشدتُ فيكِ نشيدا ًلسْتُ أنشِدُهُ

إلا لِمَنْ أصْبَحَتْ تِبْرا بمِحْبَرَتي

I sang of you a song I do not sing

except for her who has become gold in my inkwell.

لا مُشْكِلَ اليومَ عندي كَيْ أبُوحَ بِهِ

سِوَى أحِبُّكِ هذا لُبّ مُشْكِلَتي

I have no problem today that I might confess,

except "I love you"—this is the heart of my problem.