Sol 6.1

  1. في لَيلَةٍ تَنَهَّت غَلواءُ

    وَالبَدرُ في مَخدعِها إِتاءُ

    One night Ghalwa sighed,

    And the full moon in her bedchamber was a vessel,

  2. تَسيلُ مِنهُ فِضَّةٌ بَيضاءُ

    فَأَرهَفَت مِسمَعَها المَطروقا

    From which white silver flowed.

    So she pricked up her startled ear,

  3. فَسَمِعَت تَنَهُّداً عَميقا

    يَصدُر عَمّا يَنهَشُ العُروقا

    And heard a deep sigh,

    Issuing from what gnaws at the veins.

  4. وَأَرسَلَت نَظرَةَ بَرٍّ طاهِرِ

    فَها لَها في المَخدِع المُجاوِر

    And cast the glance of a pure, virtuous soul;

    And lo, before her, in the adjoining chamber,

  5. فَاِجرةٌ عَلى ذِراعِ فاجِرِ

    ما أَنتِ يا وَردَةُ تِلكَ الوَرده

    A wanton woman upon a wanton man's arm.

    You are not, Warda, that rose.

  6. بَل انتِ من أَشواكها مُسَوَّدَه

    أَميرَةَ الشَهوَةِ أَنتِ عَبدَه

    Rather, you are one of its blackened thorns.

    O princess of lust, you are a slave.

  7. أَيُّ خَيالٍ حَلَّ في غَلواءَ

    أَيُّ رَوّى مُحرِقَةٍ سَوداءَ

    What phantom had entered Ghalwa?

    What burning, black visions

  8. تَعَلَّقَت أَجفانَها العَذراءَ

    فَهرَّبت الى ضِفافِ البَحرِ

    Had clung to her virgin eyelids?

    So she fled to the shores of the sea,

  9. وَطَوَّفت بَين بَقايا الدَهر

    من خِربَةٍ لرجمةٍ لِقَبرِ

    And wandered among the remnants of time,

    From ruin to cairn to grave.

  10. وَكانَت المِياهُ وَالصُخورُ

    قائِمَةً ما بَينَها القُبورُ

    And there were waters and rocks,

    With graves standing in their midst;

  11. حَتّى السُكونُ حَولَها مَسحورُ

    وَالمَوجُ بَعدَ الموجِ كَيفَ ذابا

    Even the stillness around her was bewitched.

    And wave after wave—how it melted away,

  12. مُستَسلِما عَلى الحَصى مُنسابا

    يقبِّلُ القُبورَ وَالتُرابا

    Surrendering, gliding over the pebbles,

    Kissing the graves and the earth.

  13. كَأَنَّهُ جَمعٌ من العَذارى

    أَو ذِكرَياتُ عاشِق تَوارى

    As though it were a throng of maidens,

    Or the memories of a lover who had vanished,

  14. تَهمِسُ في أُذنِ الرَدى أَسرارا

    وَلِلمِياهِ زَبدٌ كَثيفُ

    Whispering secrets into Death's ear.

    And the waters bore a dense foam,

  15. يُنسَجُ مِنه كَفَنٌ خَفيفُ

    عَلَيهِ من نور الدُجى حُروفُ

    From which a light shroud was woven;

    Upon it were letters of the night's light.

  16. وَسَمِعَت غَلواءُ طَيرَ البومِ

    يَنعَقُ كالشُؤمِ عَلى الرُسومِ

    And Ghalwa heard the owl

    Hooting like an ill omen over the ruins,

  17. مُدَنِّساً نَقاوَةَ النَسيمِ

    وَاِستَيقظت في نَفسِها المَحمومَه

    Defiling the purity of the breeze.

    And in her fevered soul awoke,

  18. من وَردَةَ الحَبيبَةِ الأَثيمَه

    صارِخَةً أخيِلةُ الجَريمَه

    From beloved, sinful Warda,

    The screaming phantoms of crime.

  19. وَدبَّ في أَعضائِها النَحيفَه

    قَفقَفَةٌ وَرِجفَةٌ عَنيفَه

    And into her slender limbs crept

    A chattering shiver and a violent tremor.

  20. حُمّى سَرَت في جِسمِها خَفيفَه

    وَاِستَفحَلَت كَالشَرِّ حينَ يَبدَأ

    A slight fever coursed through her body,

    And grew rampant, like evil when it begins:

  21. فَهوَ صَغيرٌ إِنَّما لا يَفتَأ

    حَتّى يَصيرَ نَقمَةً لا تَبرَأ

    For it is small, yet never ceases

    Until it becomes an affliction beyond healing.

  22. وَمَرَّت الأَيّامُ وَاللَيالي

    سَوداءَ بِالفِتنَةِ وَالجَمالِ

    And the days and nights passed,

    Black with temptation and beauty,

  23. فَأَصبَحت غَلواء كَالخَيالِ

    وَبَرَزَت عِظامُها في الجِسمِ

    So Ghalwa became like a phantom.

    And her bones stood out in her body,

  24. مُصطَفَّةً عَظماً إِزاءَ عَظمِ

    كَأَنَّها أَقلامُ الاِعتِلالِ

    Aligned, bone beside bone,

    As though they were the pens of illness,

  25. تَكتُبُ في صَحيفَة الآجالِ

    وَسالَ في وَجنَتِها الذُبولُ

    Writing on the page of life's appointed ends.

    And withering seeped into her cheek,

  26. كَنِجمَةٍ هَمَّ بِها الأُفولُ

    وَاِمتقَعَ الجَبينُ بِاِصفِرارِ

    Like a star with its setting imminent.

    And her brow took on a yellow pallor,

  27. كَأَنَّهُ أَواخِرُ النَهارِ

    في لَيلَةٍ شَديدَة الغُسوقِ

    As though it were the last hours of day.

    On a night of deepest darkness,

  28. تَذكَّرت حَياتها في الزوقِ

    وَذَكَرَت مَواكِبَ الضَبابِ

    She remembered her life in Zouk,

    And recalled the processions of mist

  29. تَمتَدُّ كَالحُلمِ عَلى الهِضابِ

    وَالشَجَرَ الأَخضَرَ وَالسَنابِلا

    Stretching like a dream across the uplands,

    And the green trees and ears of grain

  30. تَبسُطُ لِلطَبيعَةِ الأَنامِلا

    وَذَكرت أَخيَلَة المساءِ

    Spreading their fingers to nature.

    And recalled the visions of evening,

  31. وَرَنَّةَ الأَجراسِ في الهَواءِ

    وَدَوحَةَ الكَنيسَةِ الحَقيرَه

    And the ringing of bells in the air,

    And the spreading tree of the humble church,

  32. وَبابَها الصَغيرَ وَالفَقيره

    وَصُفرَةَ الشَمسِ عَلى الجِبالِ

    And its little door, and the poor woman,

    And the sun's yellow glow upon the mountains,

  33. وَلِعِبَ الاطفالِ في الظِلالِ

    وَاِحتَشَدت أَخيلَةُ التِذكارِ

    And the children's play in the shadows.

    And the phantoms of remembrance thronged,

  34. تَطوفُ أَسرابا عَلى الجِدار

    وَجَحَظَت في صَدرِها الآلامُ

    Circling in flocks upon the wall.

    And pains stared wide-eyed within her breast,

  35. كَجِفنِها المَحمومِ لا تَنامُ

    وَحَبَكَت في مُقلَتَيها الحُمّى

    Like her fevered eyelid, never sleeping.

    And in her eyes the fever interwove

  36. بِقَلبِها العَفيفِ ذاكَ الإِثما

    وَاِنتَقَل الإِثمُ بِها اِنتِقالَه

    That sin with her chaste heart.

    And sin made its passage through her,

  37. أَجرَت عَلى خَيالَها خَيالَه

    فَعَظُمَ الوَهمُ وِفي الأَوهامِ

    Sending its image flowing across her imagination.

    So delusion grew; there are delusions

  38. أَفتَكُ بِالعَقلِ من السِرسامِ

    وَقامَ في أَحلامِها المُعَذَّبَه

    More deadly to reason than brain fever.

    And in her tormented dreams arose

  39. رُؤيا كَأَنَّما هيَ المُرتَكِبَه

    A vision, as though she herself were the perpetrator.