ألا ليت ريعان الشباب جديد — Jamil Buthaina

أَلا لَيتَ رَيعانَ الشَبابِ جَديدُ

وَدَهراً تَوَلّى يا بُثَينَ يَعودُ

Ah, would that youth's prime were renewed,

And a time gone by, O Buthayn, would return.

فَنَبقى كَما كُنّا نَكونُ وَأَنتُمُ

قَريبٌ وَإِذ ما تَبذُلينَ زَهيدُ

Then we might remain as we used to be, with you

Close by, when what you bestowed was little.

وَما أَنسَ مِنَ الأَشياءِ لا أَنسَ قَولَها

وَقَد قُرِّبَت نَضوي أَمِصرَ تُريدُ

Whatever else I forget, I will not forget her words,

When my worn-out camel had been brought near: 'Is it Egypt you seek?'

وَلا قَولَها لَولا العُيونُ الَّتي تَرى

لَزُرتُكَ فَاِعذُرني فَدَتكَ جُدودُ

Nor her saying, 'Were it not for the eyes that watch,

I would visit you; forgive me—may forefathers be your ransom.'

خَليلَيَّ ما أَلقى مِنَ الوَجدِ باطِنٌ

وَدَمعي بِما أُخفي الغَداةَ شَهيدُ

My two friends, the yearning I endure lies hidden,

And this morning my tears witness what I conceal.

أَلا قَد أَرى وَاللَهِ أَن رُبَّ عُبرَةٍ

إِذا الدار شَطَّت بَينَنا سَتَزيدُ

Ah, I see, by God, that many a tear

Will multiply when our dwellings lie far apart.

إِذا قُلتُ ما بي يا بُثَينَةُ قاتِلي

مِنَ الحُبِّ قالَت ثابِتٌ وَيَزيدُ

When I say, 'O Buthayna, I am being killed

By love,' she says, 'It endures and grows.'

وَإِن قُلتُ رُدّي بَعضَ عَقلي أَعِش بِهِ

تَوَلَّت وَقالَت ذاكَ مِنكَ بَعيدُ

And if I say, 'Give back some of my reason, so I may live by it,'

She turns away and says, 'That is far beyond your reach.'

فَلا أَنا مَردودٌ بِما جِئتُ طالِباً

وَلا حُبُّها فيما يَبيدُ يَبيدُ

So I am not sent back with what I came seeking,

Nor does my love for her perish with all that perishes.

جَزَتْكِ الجَوازي يا بُثَينَ سَلامَةً

إِذا ما خَليلٌ بانَ وَهُوَ حَميدُ

May the powers of recompense reward you with safety, O Buthayn,

When a dear friend departs, still worthy of praise.

وَقُلْتُ لَها بَيني وَبَينَكِ فَاِعلَمي

مِنَ اللَهِ ميثاقٌ لَهُ وَعُهودُ

And I told her, 'Between me and you—know this—

There is a covenant from God, and pledges to Him.'

وَقَد كانَ حُبّيكُم طَريفاً وَتالِداً

وَما الحُبُّ إِلّا طارِفٌ وَتَليدُ

My love for you has been both newly won and long-held,

And love is only the newly won and the long-held.

وَإِنَّ عَروضَ الوَصلِ بَيني وَبَينَها

وَإِن سَهَّلَتهُ بِالمُنى لَكَؤودُ

Yet the path to union between me and her,

Though she smooths it with hopes, is steep indeed.

وَأَفنَيتُ عُمري بِاِنتِظارِيَ وَعدَها

وَأَبلَيتُ فيها الدَهرَ وَهوَ جَديدُ

I have spent my lifetime awaiting her promise,

And worn out time for her, though it was new.

فَلَيتَ وُشاةَ الناسِ بَيني وَبَينَها

يَدوفُ لَهُم سُمّاً طَماطِمُ سودُ

Would that the people's slanderers between me and her

Had black foreigners mixing poison for them.

وَلَيتَهُمُ في كُلِّ ممسىً وَشارِقٍ

تُضاعفُ أَكبالٌ لَهُم وَقُيودُ

And would that they, at every dusk and dawn,

Had their shackles and fetters doubled.

وَيَحسَبُ نِسوانٌ مِنَ الجَهلِ أَنَّني

إِذا جِئتُ إِيّاهُنَّ كُنتُ أُريدُ

Some women think, out of ignorance, that I

Whenever I come, am seeking them.

فَأَقسِمُ طَرفي بَينَهُنَّ فَيَستَوي

وَفي الصَدرِ بَونٌ بَينَهُنَّ بَعيدُ

So I divide my gaze equally among them,

Yet in my breast a vast gulf lies between them.

أَلا لَيتَ شِعري هَل أَبيتَنَّ لَيلَةً

بِوادي القُرى إِنّي إِذَن لَسَعيدُ

Ah, would that I knew: shall I ever spend a night

In Wadi al-Qura? Then I would indeed be happy.

وَهَل أَهبِطَن أَرضاً تَظَلُّ رِياحُها

لَها بِالثَنايا القاوِياتِ وَئيدُ

And shall I descend into a land whose winds all day

Have a heavy tread in the desolate mountain passes?

وَهَل أَلقَيَن سُعدى مِنَ الدَهرِ مَرَّةً

وَما رَثَّ مِن حَبلِ الصَفاءِ جَديدُ

And shall I meet Su'da once in all my days,

With the frayed cord of affection made new?

وَقَد تَلتَقي الأَشتاتُ بَعدَ تَفَرُّقٍ

وَقَد تُدرَكُ الحاجاتُ وَهيَ بَعيدُ

Scattered ones may meet after parting,

And desires may be attained, however distant.

وَهَل أَزجُرَن حَرفاً عَلاةً شِمِلَّةً

بِخَرقٍ تُباريها سواهِمُ قودُ

And shall I urge on a lean, rock-hard, swift she-camel

Across a vast waste, with lean, long-necked camels racing her,

عَلى ظَهرِ مَرهوبٍ كَأَنَّ نَشوزَهُ

إِذا جازَ هُلّاكُ الطَريقِ رُقودُ

On the back of Marhub, as though its heights

Were sleepers when the road's weary travelers pass?

سَبَتني بِعَينَي جُؤذُرٍ وَسطَ رَبرَبٍ

وَصَدرٌ كَفاثورِ اللُجَينِ وَجيدُ

She captivated me with a wild-ox calf's eyes amid a herd,

And a bosom like a silver platter, and a neck.

تَزيفُ كَما زافَت إِلى سَلِفاتِها

مُباهِيَةٌ طَيَّ الوِشاحِ مَيودُ

She struts as one struts toward her sisters-in-law,

Proud of the folds of her sash, swaying.

إِذا جِئتُها يَوماً مِنَ الدَهرِ زائِراً

تَعَرَّضَ مَنفوضُ اليَدَينِ صَدودُ

If on some day I come to visit her,

An empty-handed, forbidding man stands in my way.

يَصُدّ وَيُغضي عَن هَوايَ وَيَجتَني

ذَنوباً عَلَيها إِنَّهُ لَعَنودُ

He rebuffs me, turns a blind eye to my love, and gathers

Faults to charge against her—he is obstinate indeed.

فَأَصرِمُها خَوفاً كَأَنّي مُجانِبٌ

وَيَغفلُ عَنّا مَرَّةً فَنَعودُ

So in fear I break with her, as though estranged,

And for a while he is heedless of us, so we return.

وَمَن يُعطَ في الدُنيا قَريناً كَمِثلِها

فَذَلِكَ في عَيشِ الحَياةِ رَشيدُ

Whoever is given in this world a companion like her

Is well-guided in the life he lives.

يَموتُ الهَوى مِنّي إِذا ما لَقيتُها

وَيَحيا إِذا فارَقتُها فَيَعودُ

My passion dies when I meet her,

And comes alive when I leave her, returning again.

يَقولونَ جاهِد يا جَميلُ بِغَزوَةٍ

وَأَيَّ جِهادٍ غَيرُهُنَّ أُريدُ

They say, 'Fight, O Jamil, on a campaign.'

But what struggle apart from them do I desire?

لِكُلِّ حَديثٍ بَينَهُنَّ بَشاشَةٌ

وَكُلُّ قَتيلٍ عِندَهُنَّ شَهيدُ

Every conversation among them brings cheer,

And everyone slain among them is a martyr.

وَأَحسَنُ أَيّامي وَأَبهَجُ عيشَتي

إِذا هيجَ بي يَوماً وَهُنَّ قُعودُ

The best of my days, the brightest of my life,

Are when my passion is stirred one day while they sit.

تَذَكَّرتُ لَيلى فَالفُؤادُ عَميدُ

وَشَطَّت نَواها فَالمَزارُ بَعيدُ

I remembered Layla, and my heart is love-stricken;

And her dwelling lies far away, so the place to visit is distant.

عَلِقتُ الهَوى مِنها وَليداً فَلَم يَزَل

إِلى اليَومِ يَنمي حُبُّها وَيَزيدُ

I fell in love with her as a child, and still,

To this day, my love for her grows and increases.

فَما ذُكِرَ الخلّانُ إِلّا ذَكَرتُها

وَلا البُخلُ إِلّا قُلتُ سَوفَ تَجودُ

Whenever dear friends are mentioned, I recall her,

And whenever stinginess is mentioned, I say, 'She will be generous.'

إِذا فَكَّرَت قالَت قَدِ اِدرَكتُ وُدَّهُ

وَما ضَرَّني بُخلي فَكَيفَ أَجودُ

When she thinks it over, she says, 'I have won his love,

And my stinginess has not harmed me—how, then, should I be generous?'

فَلَو تُكشَفُ الأَحشاءُ صودِفَ تَحتُها

لبَثنَةَ حُبٌّ طارِفٌ وَتَليدُ

Were my entrails laid bare, beneath them would be found

A love for Bathna, both newly won and long-held.

أَلَم تَعلَمي يا أُمَّ ذي الوَدعِ أَنَّني

أُضاحِكُ ذِكراكُم وَأَنتِ صَلودُ

Do you not know, O mother of the cowrie-wearer, that I

Share smiles with the memory of you, while you are hard as stone?

فَهَل أَلقَيَن فَرداً بُثَينَةَ لَيلَةً

تَجودُ لَنا مِن وُدِّها وَنَجودُ

Shall I ever meet Buthayna alone one night,

As she gives us of her affection, and we give too?

وَمَن كانَ في حُبّي بُثَينَةَ يَمتَري

فَبَرقاءُ ذي ضالٍ عَلَيَّ شَهيدُ

And if anyone doubts my love for Buthayna,

Then Barqa' Dhi Dal bears witness against me.