صح من دهرنا وفاة الحياء — Ibn Sanaa Almalk

صحَّ من دهرِنا وفاةُ الحَياءِ

فليَطُلْ منكما بُكَاءُ الوَفاءِ

The death of modesty in our age is confirmed.

So let you two weep long in fidelity.

ولْيَبن ما عقدتُماه من الصبـ

ـرِ بأَن تَحْلُلا وِكَاءَ البُكَاءِ

And let the patience you two bound be undone,

by loosening the cord that holds back weeping.

وأَهِيَنا الدُّمُوعَ سَكْباً وعَطْلاً

وهَبا أَنهن مِثْلُ الهَباءِ

Hold tears cheap, pouring them out and leaving them unstrung,

and suppose them no more than drifting dust.

وامْنحا النَّوْمَ كلَّ صبٍّ ينادي

من يُعيرُ الكَرَى ولَوْ بالكِرَاءِ

And grant sleep to every lovesick soul who cries:

'Who will lend me slumber, even for a fee?'

ليست العينُ منكما لي بِعَيْنٍ

أَو تعاني حَمْلاً لبَعْضِ عنَائي

Neither of you is an eye of mine,

unless it labors to bear some of my suffering.

قد رماني الزَّمانُ منه بخطبٍ

أُفْحِمَتْ عنه أَلْسُنُ الخُطَباءِ

Time has struck me with a calamity

before which the tongues of orators are silenced.

ودهاني بما أُعزَّى فيه

عن ثباتِي له وحُسْنِ عَزائي

It has afflicted me so that I receive condolences

for the loss of my steadfastness before it and my graceful endurance.

صار منه يرى الغِنَاءَ نُواحاً

مسْمَعِي والنواحَ مِثْلَ الغِنَاءِ

Because of it, song seems lamentation

to my ears, and lamentation seems like song.

وأَرَانِي حَالِي الأَنِيقةَ قد قلَّ

بعينيَّ ما بها من بهاءِ

And it has shown me how my splendid condition has lost

some of its splendor in my eyes.

وقضى لي بطولِ عُمْري نَحيبي

مذ قَضى نَحْبَه لديَّ رجائي

My sobbing has sentenced me to a long life,

since my hope met its death before me.

وأَناخت ركائبُ الهمِّ في قَلْـ

ـبي ولم تَحْتَشِمْ لطول الثَّواءِ

The mounts of sorrow have knelt within my heart,

unashamed of their long stay.

ثم آلت أَلاَّ تُفارِقَ رَبْعِي

وفِنائي إِلا عقِيبَ فَنائِي

Then they swore never to leave my dwelling

or my courtyard until after my own demise.

صادَفَتْ منهلاً يَصُبُّ من العين

وناراً تُشبُّ في الأَحْشَاءِ

They found a watering place pouring from the eye,

and a fire kindled in the entrails;

وأَلُوفاً لو فارقتْه لأَرْوَى

جفْنُه الأَرضَ من سماءِ الدِّماءِ

and a devoted companion whose eyelid, if they left him, would drench

the earth from a sky of blood.

وإِذا كان يشتكي فُرْقَةَ البَلْ

وى فماذا يقولُ في النَّعْمَاءِ

And if he laments being parted from affliction,

what would he say of prosperity?

أَيُّ عذرٍ لدهرنا إِذْ دَهَاني

بِمُصَابٍ أَلَمَّ فِيهِ دَهَائِي

What excuse has our age, when it afflicted me

with a calamity in which my resourcefulness was stricken?

وأَرانِي البلاءَ قد حلَّ منه

بالَّتي لو تَزَلْ تُزِيلُ بلائي

And showed me its affliction settled

upon her who, if she stirred, would remove my suffering.

والتي بعضُ جُودِها لِي وُجُودِي

والتي من حِبائِها حَوْبَائِي

She whose generosity to me included my very existence,

and whose gifts included my soul.

قَدْ تَيقَّنْتُ مُذُ غَدَتْ لِيَ أَصلاً

أَنَّني مُثْمِرٌ فُنَونَ العلاءِ

Since she became my root, I have been certain

that I would bear manifold fruits of eminence.

يعذُر الناس من تكونُ له أُمّاً

إِذا ما ازْدَهَى على الآباءِ

People excuse anyone who has her for a mother

when he boasts of her above fathers.

ويَرَوْنَ الصوابَ أَن تنسب الأَو

لادُ لا للرجال بلْ للنِّساءِ

And they deem it right that children be ascribed

not to men, but to women.

هي من قدّمت لهَا حسناتٍ

تقتضي غَرْسَها رجاءَ الحِباءِ

She is one who sent good deeds ahead for herself,

whose sowing warrants hope of reward.

أَتعبتْ كاتِبَ اليمينِ فكم أَغْـ

ـفَل إِثْبَاتَها من الإِعْيَاءِ

She exhausted the scribe on her right—how often he failed

to record them through sheer weariness!

تُنْفِقُ العُمْر في اكتسابِ ثوابٍ

لمآبٍ لا لاقْتِنَاءِ ثناءِ

She spends her life earning recompense

for the final return, not for acquiring praise.

وترى مُشْتَري العلاءِ رخيصاً

ولَو أَنَّ العُلا بأَغلى الغلاءِ

She deems the purchase of eminence cheap,

even if eminence costs the dearest price.

ولقد خلَّفت أَحاديثَ تُغْني الـ

ـأَنْفَ عن نَشْرِ رَوضةٍ غنَّاءِ

She has left behind accounts that spare

the nose any need of a lush garden's fragrance:

خَفَرٌ مع ديانةٍ وذكاءٌ

في زاكةٍ وعفةٌ مَعْ سخاءِ

modesty with devotion, and intelligence

in purity, and chastity with generosity.

كم تمنت قُرْبَ المنيةِ دَهْراً

رغبة في الخباءِ والإِختباءِ

How long she wished for death to draw near,

longing for the tent's shelter and concealment.

وأَرادت حجبَ الثَّرى ليتَ شِعْرِي

مَنْ دَعَا للثَّرى بهذَا الثَّرَاءِ

She desired the earth's veils—would that I knew

who prayed for the dust to have such riches!

إِن عِلمِي بِمَا حوَتهُ من المجْـ

ـدِ قَضَى لِي بِبَسْطِ عُذْرِ القَضاءِ

My knowledge of the glory she possessed

has led me to grant fate a full excuse.

غيرَ أَنِّي لا أَستقِل من الوَجْـ

ـدِ ولاَ أَسْتَقِيلُ مِنْ بُرَحائي

Yet I do not rise free of grief,

nor seek release from my anguish.

وإِذا أَعْرَضَ التصبُّرُ للقلـ

ـب أَبَى منَّةً عليَّ إِبَائِي

And if patient endurance presents itself to the heart,

my proud refusal rejects its favor to me.

وإِذا أَبْطأَتْ ركائُب دمْعِي

فأَنيني في حَثِّها كالْحُداءِ

And if the mounts of my tears slow down,

my groaning urges them onward like a camel-driver's song.

ليتَها بالوَفاةِ أَعْدَتْ حَيَاتِي

حينَ لمْ أُعْدِها بِنزْرَ بَقَائِي

Would that she had infected my life with death,

when I did not infect her with my scant survival.

كنتُ أَرجُو إِنفَاقَ مالِي عليْها

فغَدتْ أَدْمُعِي لها كالفِدَاءِ

I had hoped to spend my wealth on her;

instead, my tears became like a ransom for her.

لهْف نفسي عليكِ يا مَا بقلبي

منكِ يا طُولَ حسْرَتِي وعَنائِي

How my soul aches for you! Oh, what lies in my heart

from you—oh, my long regret and suffering!

ليتَ شِعْرِي هل تعلمينَ بأَنَّ ابـ

ـنَكِ بينَ الورَى قليلُ الرُّوَاءِ

Would that I knew: do you know that your son,

among humankind, has little comeliness left?

ذو نحيبٍ قاضٍ وحُزْنٍ غَريمٍ

وسَقَام عَدْلٍ وبِشْر مُرَائِي

With sobbing for a judge, sorrow for a creditor,

sickness for an honest witness, and cheer for a hypocrite;

وفؤادٍ ما بيْن هَاءٍ وميم

لم يَكُفَّا عنهُ بمِيمٍ وهَاءِ

and a heart between hāʾ and mīm—'worry'—

which have not spared it at mīm and hāʾ—'enough!'

شغلت قلبَه همومٌ عظامٌ

وخَلاَ سرُّه من السَّرَّاءِ

Great sorrows have occupied his heart,

and his innermost self is empty of joy.

ليس ينفكُّ ساكباً عبرةً حمـ

ـراءَ في ذكرِ مِنَّةٍ بيْضاءِ

He never ceases shedding a red tear

in remembrance of a white, unsullied kindness.

فهْوَ في الميِّتين يُحْسَبَ حَقّاً

وَمَجازاً يُعَدُّ في الأَحْيَاءَ

He is truly reckoned among the dead,

and only figuratively counted among the living.

حلفَ الصبْرُ للفؤادِ يميناً

أَنَّهُ لاَ لِقاءَ حتَّى اللِّقاءِ

Patience swore an oath to his heart

that there would be no meeting until the reunion.

فَتَحَقَّتْتُ أَنَّ مَا أَصْدَأَ الصـ

ـد من القلبِ مالَهُ مِن جِلاءِ

So I knew that whatever estrangement has rusted

in the heart has no polish to restore it.

وتعذَّبتُ بينَ يأْسٍ فَسِيحٍ

ورَجَاءٍ مُضَيقِ الأَرْجَاءِ

I am tormented between boundless despair

and hope whose confines are narrow.

فمسائِي من السُّهَادِ صَباحي

وصبَاحي من السَّوَادِ مَسَائِي

My evening, through sleeplessness, is my morning;

my morning, through darkness, is my evening.

وصدِيقي لِعذْلهِ كعَدُوِّي

وَعَدُوِّي قد صار مِن أَصدقائي

My friend, through his reproaches, is like my enemy;

and my enemy has become one of my friends.

كلُّ مَنْ فارق النَّعيم عليمٌ

أَن لاَبُدّ مِنْ لِقَاءِ الشَّقاءِ

Everyone who parts from bliss knows

that misery must inevitably be met.

كنتُ في جنةٍ فأُخرجتُ منها

واستعادَ العطاءَ ربُّ العَطاءِ

I was in Paradise, then was expelled from it,

and the Lord of giving reclaimed His gift.

أَتُرَاني أَطعتُ إِبليسَ في الأَكْ

لَةِ معَ آدمٍ ومعْ حواءِ

Did I, I wonder, obey Iblīs over that mouthful

along with Adam and along with Eve?

ليسَ إِلاَّ السكوتُ والصبْرُ كُرْهاً

في أُمورٍ أَعْيَتْ علَى العُقَلاءِ

There is nothing but silence and reluctant patience

in matters that have baffled the wise.

إِنَّ غَيْظِي عَلَى الزمانِ لَجَهْلٌ

هُوَ مثلِي يُصابُ بالأَزْرَاءِ

My anger at time is surely ignorance;

like me, it too is afflicted by misfortunes.

قد دَهَاهُ من فقدِها ما غَدا منه

قليلَ البهَا قليلَ الضِّياءِ

Her loss has struck it with what has left it

with little beauty and little light.

أَنتِ عِنْدِي أَجَلُّ مِنْ كُلِّ تأَبيـ

ـنٍ ولو صُغْتُ بالثُّريَّا رثائي

To me you are greater than any eulogy,

even were I to fashion my elegy with the Pleiades.

في ضَمِيري ما ليسَ يُبْرِزُ شِعْري

لا ولو كنتُ أَشْعَر الشُّعَراءِ

In my heart is what my poetry cannot reveal,

not even were I the most poetic of poets.

أَيّ عُذْرٍ في تركِ نفسي وقدْ عَيَّـ

ـتْ أَيَا قُبْح قَسْوَتِي وجَفَائِي

What excuse have I for sparing my soul, when it has faltered?

Oh, the ugliness of my hardness and neglect!

وإِذا ما دعوتُ قبرَكِ شوقاً

فبحقِّي أَلاَّ تُخيبي نِدَائي

And when I call to your grave in longing,

then, by my claim upon you, do not disappoint my call.

هل دَرَى القبرُ ما حُواهُ وما أَخـ

ـفاهُ من ذلِكَ السَّنى والسَّنَاءِ

Does the grave know what it contains, and what it hides

of that radiance and grandeur?

فلكمْ شَفَّ باهرُ النورِ منْهُ

فرأَيتُ الإِغضاءَ في إِغْضَائِي

How often its dazzling radiance has shone through,

so I saw forbearance in my own closing of the eyes.

فاحتفظْ أَيُّهَا الضريحُ ببدر

صرتَ من أَجْلهِ كمثلِ السَّمَاءِ

Guard, O tomb, a full moon

for whose sake you have become like the sky.

وترفَّقْ بهِ فإِنكَ تُسْدِي

مِنَّةً جَمَّةً إِلَى الْعَلْياءِ

And be gentle with it, for you bestow

a mighty favor upon eminence.

أَنتَ عنْدِي لما حويتَ من الطُّهْـ

ـرِ يُحَاكيكَ مسجدٌ بِقُبَاءِ

To me, for the purity you contain,

a mosque at Qubāʾ resembles you.

لَكَ حَجِّي وهِجْرتي ولمنْ فيـ

ـكَ ثنائي ومدْحَتي ودُعائِي

To you belong my pilgrimage and my migration; to the one

within you, my praise, my encomium, and my prayers.

وسلامٌ مني لَهُ النَّدُّ نِدٌّ

وتُرى مِنهُ كبوةٌ لِلْكبَاءِ

And a greeting from me, with fragrant perfume for its peer,

before which incense is seen to stumble.

أُذْكُريني يومَ القيامة يا أُمّ

لِئلاَّ أُعَدَّ في الأَشْقِياءِ

Remember me on the Day of Resurrection, Mother,

lest I be numbered among the wretched.

واشفعِي لي فجنَّتي تحتَ أَقدا

مِكِ من غيرِ شُبْهةٍ وامْتِرَاءِ

And intercede for me, for my paradise lies beneath your feet,

without doubt or uncertainty.

فقريباً لاَ شكَّ يأْتيك عَنِّي

بقدُومِي عليكِ وفدُ الهَنَاءِ

Soon, without doubt, there will reach you from me

a delegation of glad tidings of my arrival at your side.

عجّل الله راحتي مِنْ حَيَاتِي

إِنَّها في الزَّمانِ أَعظمُ دَائِي

May God hasten my release from life;

it is my greatest sickness in this world.

وإِذا ما الحياةُ كانَتْ كمثل الدا

ءِ كانَ المماتُ مثلَ الدَّوَاءِ

And if life is like a disease,

then death is like the cure.