تذكرت بالبرق إذ يلمع — Ibn Alwardi

تذكرتُ بالبرقِ إذْ يلمعُ

منازلَ كانتْ بكمْ تجمعُ

As lightning flashed, I remembered

dwellings that once brought us together with you.

فيا زمنَ الوصلِ هَلْ عائدٌ

فتخمد ما حوتِ الأضلعُ

O time of union, will you return

and quench what my ribs contain?

وكيف يعودُ لأهلِ الهوى

سرورٌ ومستَبْعَدٌ أن يعوا

And how can there return to those in love

joy, when it is unlikely they will come to their senses?

هجرتُ النقا بعدَكم والصفا

لأني بكأسِ البكا أجرعُ

I forsook al-Naqa and al-Safa after you,

for I drink deep from the cup of weeping.

أبثكِ بَيْنَاً ودمعاً جرى

فهذا حجازٌ وذا ينبعُ

I tell you of separation and tears that flowed:

this is Hijaz, and that is Yanbu.

كأنَّ سهامٌ لقَوسِ النوى

فرامي الفراقِ بنا مولعُ

Like arrows for separation's bow—

for the archer of parting is intent on us.

وفي النازعاتِ لنا أنفسٌ

وفي المرسلاتِ لنا أدمعُ

And among 'Those That Tear Away' are our souls,

and among 'Those Sent Forth' are our tears.

أحبُّ الدمى وسوادَ اللمى

وربُّ السما خوفُهُ يردعُ

I love statue-like beauties and the dark hue of lips,

yet fear of the Lord of heaven restrains me.

فَمِنْ جهةِ الطبعِ لي مطمحٌ

وَمِنْ جهةِ الشرعِ لا مطمعُ

By nature, then, I have an object of longing,

but by sacred law, no hope of attaining it.

وما أجهلُ الحسنَ لكنْ أرى

بأنَّ النزاهةَ لي أرفعُ

I am not ignorant of beauty, but I see

that purity is nobler for me.

ولولا التقى كنتُ أبغي الشقا

ويجتمعُ اللهوُ لي أجمعُ

Were it not for piety, I would seek wretchedness,

and every pleasure would gather for me.

صحبتُ الملا وطمعتُ العلى

وجربْتُ ما ضرَّ أو ينفعُ

I kept company with people and aspired to high rank,

and tested what harms or benefits.

فَلَمْ أرَ أرذلَ مِنْ طامعٍ

ألا قاتلَ اللهُ مَنْ يطمعُ

I have seen none baser than a greedy man.

Ah, may God strike down whoever covets!

ولم أرَ أرفعَ من قانعٍ

فللِّهِ كلُّ فتى يقنعُ

Nor have I seen anyone nobler than one content;

to God belongs every youth who is content!

وما ذقتُ في عمريَ قهوةً

ولم يُجْلَ لي كأسُها المترعُ

I have never tasted wine in my lifetime,

nor has its brimming cup been displayed to me.

وما أصلحتْ قينةٌ عودَها

وغنَّتْ بهِ وأنا أسمعُ

Nor has a singing girl tuned her lute

and sung to its accompaniment while I listened.

ولو رمْتُ في وصلِها جهلةً

لما كانَ للسرِّ مستودَعُ

Had I sought some folly in intimacy with her,

there would have been no place to keep the secret.

ولا هزَّ لي أمردٌ عطفه

يُشبَّه بالبدرِ إذْ يطلعُ

Nor has a beardless youth swayed his body for me,

one likened to the full moon as it rises.

فَمَنْ كانَ بالمردِ مستمتعاً

فذاكَ به كان يستمتعُ

Whoever takes his pleasure in beardless youths—

that one was once himself an object of pleasure.

ومن يطعِ اللهوَ عصرَ الصبا

فذلكَ بالشيبِ لا يرجعُ

And whoever obeys pleasure in the season of youth

will not turn away from it when his hair turns gray.

أنا الكاسدُ النافقُ الشاردات

تسيرُ وأنوارُها تسطعُ

I am unsought, though my wandering verses are in demand;

they travel, and their lights shine.

جمعتُ إلى العلمِ نظماً لهُ

غصونٌ حمائمُها تسجعُ

I joined verse to learning, and it has

branches whose doves coo.

حمى اللهُ شعريَ عن ذلةٍ

فلا يستكينُ ولا يخضعُ

God has guarded my poetry from abasement,

so it neither submits nor bows.

وإن اكتسابَ الغنى بالمديحِ

مهينٌ له مؤلمٌ موجعُ

Indeed, acquiring wealth through praise-poetry

is degrading to it, painful and hurtful.

وخلَّفَنا والدي سبعةً

من الولْدِ مربعُهُمْ ممرعُ

And my father left seven of us behind,

children whose spring abode was lush.

رأى الدهرُ سبعَ شموس لنا

فعانَدَنا فإذا أربعُ

Time saw seven suns belonging to us,

so it turned against us—and suddenly there were four.

وكانَ توجعُهُمْ مُوجعي

ولكنْ فرقَتَهمْ أوجعُ

Their suffering was what pained me,

but separation from them is more painful.

هوَ الدهرُ يلحنُ في أهلِهِ

فيخفضُ مَنْ حقُّهُ يرفعُ

Such is Time: it errs in inflecting its people,

lowering those who rightfully should be raised.

أَلَمْ تَرَهُ ضدَّ أهلِ التقى

وَمَنْ ضدَّهُ الدهرُ ما يصنعُ

Have you not seen it set against the pious?

And what can one do when Time opposes him?

مساكينُ أهلُ النقا أُخرسوا

وَمَنْ ألفوا المنحنى لعلعوا

The people of purity, poor souls, have been silenced,

while those accustomed to the crooked path have clamored.

فكمْ ناقصٍ ثغرُهُ باسمٌ

وكمْ فاضلٍ سنَّهُ يقرعُ

How many a man of little worth has a smiling mouth,

and how many a worthy man gnashes his teeth!

فلا تعجبُنْكَ على جاهلٍ

فدولتُهُ بغتةً تقلعُ

Do not let an ignorant man's high rank astonish you,

for his power will suddenly be uprooted.

ولو بلغَ الجاهلونَ السُّها

فما تحتَ موضعِهِمْ موضعُ

Even if the ignorant reached al-Suha,

still, no rank is lower than theirs.

فخلِّ العلومَ إذا جئتَهُمْ

فليسَ لها عندهُمْ موقعُ

Leave learning aside when you visit them,

for it has no place with them.

ولا تذكرنْ أدباً عندهُمْ

فآدابُ أشعارِهمْ بلقَعُ

Nor mention literary culture in their presence,

for their poems' literary merits are a barren waste.

أجلَّ الورى عندهم رتبةً

وضيعٌ يزمزمُ أو يُصفعُ

The most esteemed of mankind in rank among them

is a lowly fellow who mumbles or gets slapped.

أرى البخلَ مستشبعاً فاحشاً

وسعيي إلى بابهم أَبشعُ

I see avarice, craving its fill, as vile,

and my seeking their door is uglier still.

فيا قبحَهُمْ في الذي خُوِّلوا

ويا حسنهم عندما يُنزعُ

How ugly they are in what they have been granted,

and how fair they are when it is stripped away!

ولو كنتُ أرضى بما القومُ فيه

لما كنتُ عَنْ نيلِهِ أُدفعُ

Had I been content with what those people are involved in,

I would not have been kept from attaining it.

رضيتُ الخمولَ فكم خلعةٍ

بها دينُ لابِسها يخلعُ

I accepted obscurity: how many a robe of honor

strips the faith from the one who wears it!

وكم فرحةٍ جَلَبَتْ ترحةٍ

وَكَمْ ضحكٍ بعدَهُ مدمعُ

And how many a joy has brought sorrow,

and how much laughter is followed by weeping!

إذا ما تضاحكتْ منْ حالهم

يظنونَ أني لهمْ أخشعُ

When I laugh at their condition,

they think I humble myself before them.

وما يَكْشرُ الليثُ ضحكاً بلى

يكشِّرُ إذْ سمُّه منقعُ

A lion does not bare its teeth to laugh; rather,

it bares them when its poison is deadly.

مضى ما مضى وانقضى ما انقضى

وعند المهيمنِ نستجمعُ

What passed has passed, and what ended has ended;

and before the Guardian we shall gather together.

فلا الجاهُ يومئذٍ نافعٌ

ولا المالُ حينئذٍ يشفَعُ

On that day, rank will be of no use,

nor will wealth intercede then.

فيا جامعَ المالِ بخلاً بهِ

رويدَكَ وانظرْ لمنْ تجمعُ

O hoarder of wealth, miserly with it,

take your time, and consider for whom you gather it.

ويا حاسدي كيفَ شِئْتَ كنْ

فإنِّي باللهِ أستدفعُ

O you who envy me, be however you wish,

for I seek protection through God.

وإنكَ لو رمْتَ لي هفوةً

أبى الشهداءُ إذا ما دُعوا

And were you to seek a lapse in me,

the witnesses would refuse when summoned.

وما في البريةِ مِنْ رافضٍ

لفضلي إلا لَهُ مصرعُ

No one in creation rejects

my merit without a downfall awaiting him.