نحافة الغصن غيظ من تثنيكا — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

نحافَةُ الغصنِ غيظٌ من تَثَنِّيكا

وجملةُ الهجْرِ جُزْءٌ من تَجَنِّيكا

The branch's slenderness is vexation at your swaying;

And all estrangement is but part of your unjust cruelty.

ما زلتُ والحبُّ لا تفنَى عجائِبهُ

أَموتُ فيكَ وأَحْيا من جَنَى فِيكا

I have never ceased—and love's wonders never fade—

To die for you and live on the fruit of your mouth.

فمن يَخَلُّك يأْخُذْ حظَّ مُهْجته

من الرَّشاد ولكِنْ مَن يُخَلِّيكا

So whoever forsakes you secures his soul's share

Of right guidance—but who can forsake you?

ولي إِذا هجر العشَّاق من مَلَل

هَجرٌ يراجيكَ أَو صدٌّ يُدانيكا

And I have, when lovers abandon out of weariness,

An estrangement that hopes for you, or a shunning that draws near you.

ورامَ قلبيَ أَنْ يسلو فقلتُ له

أَينَ الَّذِي عنه يا قلبي يُسلِّيكا

My heart sought to forget, so I said to it:

"Where, my heart, is one who could make you forget him?"

وليس آسيك من دَاءِ الغرام به

إِلاَّ رِضَاه ويا شوقاً لآسيكا

Nothing heals you of the sickness of loving him

But his favor—oh, how I long for your healer!

كم عاذلٍ فيك قد قبَّلتُ مَبسِمه

لمَّا جرى اسْمُك فيه إِذ يُسمِّيكا

How many a reproacher over you have I kissed on the mouth,

When your name passed through it as he named you!

غاضت دُموعي وقد قيل الْبُكا فَرحٌ

فلستُ أًحْسد إِلاَّ عينَ باكيكا

My tears have run dry, though they say weeping is joy;

I envy only the eye of one who weeps for you.

إِني لأَخْفَى وتبدو أَنْت مشتهراً

فالحزْن والحسنُ يُخْفيني ويُبدِيكا

Indeed I fade from sight, while you appear conspicuous;

For sorrow hides me, while beauty reveals you.

قالت لك الشُّهب قولاً وهْي صادِقَةٌ

ما أَحمقَ البدرَ لمَّا رام يحكيكا

The bright stars spoke these truthful words to you:

"How foolish the full moon was when it tried to imitate you!"

يا بدرُ إِن كنتَ تشكو في الظَّلام أَذىً

من الضَّلالِ فبدْرِي فيه يَهْدِيكا

O full moon, if in darkness you complain of harm

From losing your way, my full moon will guide you there.

وإِن أَردْت معانِي الحسن مُثْبتَةً

فاكتُب فوجْهُ حبيبِ القلبِ يُمليكا

And if you wish the meanings of beauty set down,

Write, for the face of the heart's beloved dictates to you.

إِيهاً فأَمْلِ أَحاديث الغَرامِ له

فما أَمانيه إِلاَّ في أَمَالِيكَا

Enough! Then dictate tales of passion to him;

For his wishes lie only in your dictations.

أَستغفرُ الله إِنَّي قد نسيتُ سوى

مواعد لكَ ضَاعَتْ في تَناسِيكَا

I ask God's forgiveness: I have forgotten all but

Your promises, lost through your feigned forgetfulness.

وسترُ ليلةِ وصلٍ بات يستُرنا

حتَّى ابتسمتُ فعاد السِّترُ مَهْتُوكا

And the veil of a night of union sheltered us all night,

Until I smiled; then the veil was torn away.

سكَاك لِلْبرق يا إِيماضَ مَبْسمه

ليلُ التَّمام فأَلْقَى البرقَ يَشكُوكَا

You were complained of to lightning, O flash of his smiling mouth,

By the longest night; and I find lightning complaining of you.

أَيامُ وصْلِك كانَتْ مِنْ ملاحَتها

للنَّاظِرين نجوماً في لَيالِيكا

The days of union with you were, in their loveliness,

Stars to onlookers amid your nights.

يا نازحَ الدَّارِ والذكْرَى تُقَرّبه

لئن نَزَحْتَ فإِنَّ الذكْرَ يُدْنِيكَا

O you dwelling far away, whom remembrance brings near,

Even if you have gone far, remembrance brings you near.

قرِّب فؤَادَك من قلبي مُعَانَقَةً

لعلَّ رِقَّةَ ذاكَ القلبِ تُعديكا

Bring your heart close to mine in an embrace;

Perhaps that heart's tenderness will prove contagious to you.

ملكتَ قلبي فقُلْ لي كَيْفَ أَصْرِفه

وحزتَ نَفْسي فقُلْ لي كيْفَ أَفْدِيكا

You own my heart—tell me how I can turn it away.

And you possess my soul—tell me how I can ransom you.

دعْ عَنْكَ مِلْكِي وعِتْقِي إِنَّني رجُلٌ

للفاضلِ بنِ عليٍّ صرتُ مملوكَا

Set aside owning and freeing me: I am a man

Who has become al-Fadil ibn Ali's slave.

تملَّكَ الدّهرَ معْ قلبِي فقلتُ له

يأَيُّها الدَّهْر يَهنيني ويَهنِيكا

He mastered Time along with my heart, and I said to it:

"O Time, may this gladden me and gladden you!"

القائلُ الفضلِ لا يُبديه منبهراً

والفاضلُ القولِ لا يُخفيه منْهوكا

The speaker of excellence does not display it breathlessly,

And the master of speech does not conceal it through exhaustion.

أُعيذُ مجدَك من تَرْكٍ لا سببٍ

يَقْضِي ظهوريَ أَن تَخْفَى لآلِيكا

I seek protection for your glory from neglect; no reason

Requires that my appearing should hide your pearls.

لا تأْتِه وأَقِمْ يا مُعْتَفِيه تَجِدْ

جَدْواه تأْتِيكَ والدُّنْيا تُواتِيكا

Do not go to him; stay, O seeker of his bounty: you will find

His bounty coming to you, and the world favoring you.

إِن كنتَ ضيِّق حالٍ فَهْو يُوْسِعُها

أَو كُنْتَ ميْتاً فبِالإِنْعامِ يُحْييكا

If your circumstances are straitened, he broadens them;

Or if you are dead, his bounty brings you to life.

قالَ الزَّمانُ لِمنْ يأْتِي سِوى يدِه

ما كانَ أَغْناك عَمَّن ليْس يُغْنِيكا

Time said to whoever approaches a hand other than his:

"How little need you had of one who cannot enrich you!"

رَدَّ الممالِكَ أَحْراراً وكم رجَعت

صنائعٌ منه أَحْراراً مَمَالِيكا

He returned slaves to freedom; and how often

Favors from him have turned free men into slaves!

تلكَ المكارمُ لم يُبقِ اليقينُ بها

في النَّفْس ظَنّاً ولا في القلبِ تَشْكِيكَا

Those noble deeds: certainty of them has left

No conjecture in the soul, nor doubt in the heart.

إِذا تغاليتُ فيها قال حاسِدُه

أَستغفرُ الله إِلاَّ مِنْ تَغَاليكا

If I extol them to excess, his envier says:

"I seek God's forgiveness, but not for your exaggeration."

يا من تَفَنَنَّ في إِعطائِه سرفاً

إِنِّي أَرَاك سَتُعطي مِنْ مَعالِيكا

O you, so inventive in your extravagant giving,

I see you will give away even some of your lofty virtues.

نلْقَى مَعاني المعالِي فيكَ باهرةً

ونستمدُّ المعانِي مِنْ مَعَانِيكا

We find the meanings of lofty virtues dazzling in you,

And draw our meanings from your meanings.

لا ينْبُتُ الجودُ إِلاَّ في ذُراك كما

لا يُحصَد الفَقْرُ إِلاَّ في مَغَانيكا

Generosity grows only upon your heights, just as

Poverty is cut down only in your dwellings.

يرومُ شأَوَك من أَضْنيتَه حسداً

أَنَّى وكيْف وما فيه الَّذِي فيكا

The one you have worn down with envy seeks to match your reach;

Whence, and how, when he lacks what is in you?

لمّا رأَيتُ المساعِي فيك مُعجِزَةً

عَذرْتُ مَنْ فيه عجزٌ عن مَساعِيكا

When I saw your endeavors were beyond others' powers,

I excused anyone unable to match your endeavors.

إِنِّي أَتَيْتُك يا غيثَ الْوَرى ظمئاً

في الحالِ لمّا أَغبَّتْه عَوادِيكا

I have come to you, O rain for humankind, thirsty

In my fortunes, since your returning favors reached them only at intervals.

تُعطي أَعادِيك حتَّى كدتُ من حَنقٍ

أَقولُ هبْ لي وهبْني مِنْ أَعَادِيكا

You give to your enemies, until I almost, in anger,

Say, "Give to me—and reckon me among your enemies!"

أُعيذُ مَجدك من تركِي بلاَ سببٍ

وكيفَ يُصبحُ مثلي منكَ مَتْروكا

I seek protection for your glory from abandoning me without cause;

And how could someone like me be forsaken by you?

وإِنَّما منك لي مولىً أَقولُ له

حَسْبي وحسْبُك أَنِّي مِنْ مَواليكا

And all I have in you is a patron to whom I say:

"It suffices me and you that I am among your clients."

فما بَقائيَ إِلاَّ مِنْك مُكْتَسبٌ

وَلا حَياتِيَ إِلاَّ مِنْ أَيَادِيكا

For my survival is gained from you alone,

And my life comes only from your benefactions.

وقد مَدَحتُ لأَنِّي فيكَ ممتَدحٌ

وقد رجوت لأَنِّي بتُّ أَرْجُوكا

And I have praised you, because through you I am praised;

And I have hoped, for I passed the night placing my hope in you.

فأَضْحَك اللهُ مَنْ والاكَ مبْتهِجَا

بالبِرِّ وأَخْزَى شَأْن شَانِيكا

So may God make whoever is loyal to you laugh in joy

In your goodness, and disgrace your hater's standing.