أمورد يا ناظري أم وريد — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

أَمَورِدٌ يَا نَاظرِي أَم وريدْ

فكن شهيداً إِن نَوْمِي شهيد

Is it a watering place, O my eye, or a jugular vein?

So be a witness: my sleep is a martyr.

قد قُتِلَ النَّومُ وعاشَ الأَسى

وزَلَّ بل عِمادُ العميدْ

Sleep has been killed, and sorrow lives.

And faltered—rather, the lovesick one's mainstay.

وبي وإِنْ بَان الصِّبا صبوةٌ

شبَّ بها الشَّيخُ وشَابَ الوَلِيدْ

And in me, though youth has gone, is youthful passion.

Through it the old man grew young, and the child turned gray.

خليعُ قَلْبي لَمْ يزل هَائِماً

في كُلِّ يومٍ بحبِيب جَدِيدْ

My dissolute heart has never ceased to wander in love,

each day with a new beloved.

وأَغْيَد صُورتُه عُوذةٌ

لأَنَّ شَيْطانَ غرامي مَرِيد

And a graceful youth—his image is an amulet,

for the demon of my passion is rebellious.

مُذْ كَسَر الجفْنَ أَصَاب الحشَا

والقوسُ مكسورٌ بسهمٍ سدِيد

Since he lowered his eyelid, he struck my heart.

And the bow, though broken, has an unerring arrow.

وجْنَتُه الحمراءُ مع قلبِه ال

معرِضِ ذَا خزُّ وهَذا حَدِيدْ

His red cheek, beside his heart that

turns away—this is silk, and that is iron.

وثغرُه درٌّ نظيمٌ فكَمْ

يَظْلِمُه من قال طَلْعٌ نَضِيدْ

And his mouth is strung pearls—how greatly

does one wrong it who calls it clustered palm blossoms!

فالعاذِلُ العَاذِرُ والجاهِل ال

عَاقِلُ فيه والغَوِيُّ الرَّشِيد

Thus the reproacher is forgiving, and the ignorant

wise concerning him, and the misguided rightly guided.

عَهْدِي بِغزْلانِ الفَلا مِنْ الفَلاَ

تُصادُ لكن ذَا غَزالٌ يَصيدْ

I know the gazelles of the wild: from the wild

they are hunted; but this gazelle hunts.

جليدُ قَلبي ذَابَ مِنْ وَجْهه

والشَّمْسُ ما زالَتْ تُذيبُ الجَليدْ

The ice of my heart melted before his face,

and the sun has never ceased to melt ice.

يُرى ولكن من بعيدٍ نَعم

كذلِكَ الشَّمْسُ تُرى مِنْ بَعيدْ

He is seen, but from afar—yes,

likewise, the sun is seen from afar.

يا ذهبيَّ اللَّونِ أَذْهَبْتَني

ويا فريدَ الحسنِ دَمْعِي فَرِيدْ

O golden-hued one, you have swept me away!

And O matchless in beauty, my tears are unstrung pearls.

بِذكْرِكُم بِتْنَا كَما نَشْتَهِي

عَينٌ لعينٍ ثُمَّ جِيدٌ لجِيدْ

Remembering you, we spent the night as we desired:

eye to eye, then neck to neck.

ما كان فيها شَاهِدي غائِباً

عَنِّي وَلاَ كَان رَقيبي عَتِيدْ

My witness was not absent that night

from me, nor was my watcher at hand.

بات رَقيبي حَارِسي بَعْد أَنْ

مدَّ ذِراعيه لَنا بِالوَصَيدْ

My watcher spent the night as my guard, after

stretching his two arms out for us at the threshold.

ذاك زمانٌ قَدْ مَضَى وانْقَضَى

وبادَ سُبحانَ الَّذي لاَ يَبيدْ

That was a time that passed and ended,

and perished—glory to Him who does not perish!

وشابَ رَأْسِي قبلَ أَن يَلْتَحِي

مَنْ حُسنُه في كُلِّ يوم يَزيدْ

And my head turned gray before a beard grew on

the one whose beauty increases every day.

وكان يَوْمَ العيد لي وجهه

فصار يوم العيد يوم الوعيد

And his face was once my feast day,

then the feast day became a day of threat.

وأصبح الجوهر عِندي حصىً

وصارَت الأَغْصَانُ عِنْدي جَريدْ

And jewels became pebbles in my eyes,

and branches, to me, became bare palm stalks.

شَيَّبني بُعديَ عَنْ مجلس

أُسِّس لكِنْ بالعَلاءِ المَشِيدْ

My distance from a court turned me gray,

founded, yet built of lofty glory.

مجلِس عبدِ اللهِ ذَاك الَّذي

تُرى مُلوكُ الأَرضِ فيه عَبِيدْ

The court of Abd Allah, that one

where the kings of the earth are seen as slaves.

غبتَ فيا شَوْقِي إِلى وَقْفَةٍ

فيه أُوَالي بالمديحِ النَّشِيدْ

You are absent—oh, how I long to stand

there, keeping up my chant of praise,

وأَنْقَعُ الغُلَّةَ مِنْ طَلْعَةٍ

تُفيدُ رِيَّ القلبِ لِلْمُستَفِيدْ

and slake my thirst at the sight of a face

that grants the heart refreshment to whoever receives it.

وأَجْمَعُ الشَّملَ ونيلَ العُلاَ

وبعده صِرْتُ الفَقِيرَ الفَقِيدْ

And combine reunion with the attainment of high rank;

and after him I became poor and lost.

وأَبلغُ القصدَ بِقَصْدِي لَه

وإِنَّه للقصدِ بيتُ القصيدْ

And reach my goal by directing myself to him,

for he is the key verse of my quest.

هذا مُرادي مِنْ إِلهي وَمَا

يكذِبُ في الله مُرادُ المُريدْ

This is my wish from my God, and

a seeker's wish in God does not prove false.

لو أَسعدَ الدَّهرُ بما أَرْتَجي

من قُربِه كُنْتُ كَنَعْتي السَّعِيدْ

If time favored me with what I hope for

in nearness to him, I would live up to my epithet, 'the Fortunate.'

لابدَّ أَنْ أَطْوِي الفَيافِي إِلى

جَامعِ شملِ المكْرُماتِ البَدِيدْ

I must cross the vast deserts to

the one who reunites the scattered noble qualities,

الصَّاحِب السَّاحبِ أَذْيالَه

تِيهاً على الصَّاحِب وابْنِ العَميد

al-Sahib, trailing his hems

in pride above al-Sahib and Ibn al-Amid.

ذلَّ به الجبَّارُ حتَّى لكَمْ

مِنْ أَسدٍ أَضْحى له وهْو سِيدْ

Through him the tyrant was humbled—how many

a lion became, before him, a wolf!

واستعبدَ الخلقَ له أَنَّه

ذُو خلقٍ ليِّنٍ وبأْسٍ شَديدْ

And what has enslaved all people to him is that he

has a gentle character and formidable might.

والدَّهرُ قد قسم أعداءه

قسمين إما هلك أو شريد

And time has divided his enemies

into two groups: either dead or fugitive.

وكانوا جِبالاً ثم عادُوا حصىً

بل أَصْبَحوا منْه كَحَبِّ الحَصِيدْ

They were mountains, then became pebbles;

nay, through him they became like grains of the harvest.

يكْفِيه أَنَّ اللهَ سُبحانه

أَجْرى المقادِير عَلَى مَا يُريد

It is enough for him that God—glory be to Him—

made destinies run as he wishes.

يَسير وَالسَّادةُ منْ حولِه

لكنْ تَرَاهُ في عُلاه وَحِيدْ

He walks, with lords around him,

yet in his eminence you see him alone.

ففي عُلاَه مَالَه مُشْبهٌ

وفي نَداهُ مَالَه مِنْ نَدِيدْ

In his eminence he has no likeness,

and in his generosity he has no peer.

يُعيدُ ما يُبدِي نَدَاه فَما

تَقولُ قَدْ أَبْدأَ حتَّى يُعيدْ

He repeats what his bounty displays; no sooner

do you say, 'He has begun,' than he repeats it.

يُعْطِي الَّذِي يَطْلُبُ منه الَّذِي

يُطلَبُ مِنه وَلَديهِ مَزِيدْ

He gives whoever asks him whatever

is asked of him, and with him is still more.

يُجيد ما يُعطيه مِنْ جُوده

لِوَفْدِه فَهْو الْجَوادُ المُجيدْ

He excels in what he gives from his bounty

to his visitors, for he is generous and excellent in giving.

يسأَلُه الإِمساكَ من يَجْتدِي

مِنْه ويَستَعْفِيه مَنْ يَسْتَزِيدْ

He is asked to hold back by the one who begs

from him; and whoever seeks more asks him to desist.

يا مُعْطِيَ الدُّنيَا لِمَنْ أَمَّه

ثُمَّ يراهَا كالعَطاءِ الزَّهِيدْ

O you who give the world to whoever comes to you,

then regard it as a paltry gift!

أَنْتَ الَّذي السؤدُدُ مما تُني

ل الخلقَ والعلياءُ مِمَّا تُفِيدْ

You are the one: lordship is among what you bestow

on mankind, and high rank among what you impart.

أَشْكُو إِليكَ الشَّوقَ فَهْو الَّذِي

لِنَارهِ بَيْن ضُلوعِي وَقِيدْ

I complain to you of longing: it is that

whose fire has fuel between my ribs.

وإنَّني الصَّادِي الَّذِي قَدْ رَأَى ال

مَوْرِدَ لكِنْ كُلَّمَا رَامَ ذِيدْ

And I am the thirsty one who has seen the

watering place, but whenever he seeks it, he is driven away.

قد ذقْتُ طعمَ الموتِ من بعده

ذلك مَا قَدْ كُنتُ مِنه أَحِيدْ

I have tasted death through separation from him;

that is what I used to flee.

وصِرْتُ مدفوناً فما مَسْكَني

في مَصرَ لكن مَسْكني في الصَّعِيد

And I have become buried; my dwelling is not

in Egypt, but in al-Sa'id—the bare earth.

لو لم أَكُنْ أَشْعَرَهَا لم أُطِقْ

نظماً لبيت ولو أَنِّي لَبِيدْ

Had I not been its greatest poet, I could not have

composed a single verse, even were I Labid.

لأَنَّ هَمِّي مُقعِدٌ خاطِري

وعن يَميني وشِمَالي قَعيدْ

For my sorrow cripples my mind,

and sits at my right and my left.

لكنْ لُهَى الصَّاحِب يستنطِق ال

معجَم عِيّاً ويُذْكي البَلِيدْ

But al-Sahib's largesse gives speech to the

tongue-tied in their helplessness, and sharpens the dull-witted.

فقلتُها طنانةً جودةً

لأَنه جاد فَلِمْ لا أُجيد

So I uttered it, resounding in excellence,

since he was generous, why should I not excel?

وكُلُّ شِعْرٍ قلته في مَجْدِه

شَدَا بِه الشَّادِي وسَارَ البَريدْ

And every poem I uttered about his glory

the singer has sung, and the courier has traveled with it.

أَسكنتُه منه قصورَ العُلا

فكُلُّ بيتٍ منه قصرٌ مَشِيدْ

I housed him in palaces of glory fashioned from it,

for every verse of it is a lofty palace.