ليلة معها — Jawahiri

لا أكذبَنّكِ إنّني بَشَرٌ

جَمُّ المساوي آثِمٌ أشِرُ

I will not lie to you: I am human,

Abounding in faults, sinful, wanton.

لا الحبُّ ظمآناً يُطامِنُ مِنْ

نفسي وليس رفيقيَ النظَر

Love, while I thirst, does not temper

My soul, nor is gazing my companion.

ولكم بَصُرْتُ بما أضيقُ به

فودِدْتُ أنّي ليس لي بصر

How often I have seen what distresses me,

And wished that I had no sight,

أو أنني حجر وربتَّمَا

قد بات أرْوَحَ منّيَ الحَجَر

Or that I were a stone—and how often

A stone has been more at ease than I.

لا الشيءُ يُعْجِبُهُ فَيَمْنَعُهُ

فإذا عداه فكلّهُ ضَجر

Nothing delights it only to deny itself to it,

So that, when it passes it by, it is wholly vexed.

ولكم ظَفِرتُ بما بصرتُ به

فحَمِدْت مرأى بعدَهُ ظفَر

And how often I have attained what I saw,

And blessed a sight followed by fulfillment.

شفتاي مُطْبْقَتَانِ سيدتي

والخُبْرُ في العينينِ والخَبَر

My lips are closed, my lady;

In the eyes are knowledge and its telling.

فاستشهِدِي النظراتِ جاحِمَةً

حمراءَ لا تُبْقي ولا تَذر

So call the blazing glances to witness,

Red, sparing nothing and leaving nothing.

ولرغبة في النفس حائرة

مكبوتة يتطايرُ الشرر

And from a restless longing in the soul,

Suppressed, the sparks fly.

إنا كلينا عارفان بما

حَوَتِ الثّيابُ وضَمَّتِ الأزُر

We both know well what

The clothes contain and the wraps enfold.

وبنا سواءً لا حياءَ بنا

الجذوةُ الخرساءُ تستعر

And in us equally—there is no shame in us—

The mute ember blazes.

فعلى مَ تَجتهدين مُرْغَمَةً

أن تَسْتري ما ليس يَنْسَتِر

So why do you strive, against your will,

To conceal what cannot be concealed?

كذب المنافقُ . لا اصطبارَ على

قدٍّ كَقَدِّكِ حينَ يُهتَصَر

The hypocrite lies: there is no forbearance before

A figure like yours when clasped.

ومُغَفَّلٌ من راح يُقنِعُه

منك الحديثُ الحلوُ والسمر

And a fool is he who comes to be satisfied by

Your sweet talk and evening conversation.

يُوهي الحجى ويُذيبُ كلَّ تُقىً

من مُدّعيهِ شبابُك النَّضِر

It weakens reason and melts away all piety

In those who profess it—your blooming youth.

ويَرُدُّ حلمَ الحالمين على

أعقابِهِ التفتيرُ والخَفَر

And drives the restraint of the forbearing back upon

Its heels—languid glances and bashfulness.

النَّفْسُ شامخةٌ إذا سعُدَتْ

بك ساعةً والكونُ مُحْتَقَر

The soul stands lofty when it finds happiness

With you for an hour; the universe is scorned.

وفداء " محتضن " سمحتِ به

ما تفجع الاحداثُ والغير

And as ransom for an embrace you granted:

All that events and reversals rob us of.

حلم أخو اللذاتِ مفتقد

امثالُهُ وإليه مفتقِر

A dream: the lover of pleasures is missing

Its like, and stands in need of it.

وسويعة لا أستطيعُ لها

وصفاً فلا أمْنٌ ولا حَذَر

And a little hour for which I can find no

Description: neither safety nor caution.

يدها بناصيتي ومحْزَمُها

بيدي . فمنتَصِرٌ ومندَحِر

Her hand upon my forelock, her waist

In my hand—a victor and a vanquished one.

فلئن غَلَبْتٌ فَخَيْرُ متَّسَدٍ

للشاعرِ الأعكانُ والسُرَر

So if I won, the finest pillow

For a poet is belly-folds and navels.

ولئن غُلِبْتُ فغالبي مَلَك

زاهٍ . بهِ صافحٌ عني ومغتفر

And if I lost, my conqueror is an angel,

In whom I glory, who pardons and forgives me.

أمسكتُ " نهديها " وأحسَبُني

أشْفَقْتُ أن تتدحرجَ الأُكَر

I grasped her breasts, and I believe

I feared the globes might roll away.

عندي من استمتاعةٍ صُوَرٌ

ومِنَ التَّغنُّجِ عندَها صُوَر

I have my forms of pleasure,

And she has her forms of coquetry.

قالت وقد باتَتْ تطاوعُني

فيما أُكَلِّفُها وتأتَمِر

She said, having begun to yield to me

In what I asked of her, and to obey:

أمعانياً حاولتَ تَنْظِمُها

تختارُ ما تَهْوى وتَبْتَكِر

“Were these meanings you sought to compose,

Choosing what you desire and inventing?”

إني وردتُ " الحوضَ "ممتلئاً

" شَهْداً " يفوحُ أريجُهُ العَطِر

I came to the pool, full

Of honey, its sweet fragrance wafting.

ولقد صدرتُ وليس بي ظَمَأٌ

للهِ ذاكَ الوِردُ والصَّدَر

And I departed with no thirst in me—

God be praised for that coming to drink and departure!

وإذا صدقتْ فانه بدَنٌ

لأطايب اللذاتِ مُخْتَبَر

And if she spoke truly, then it is a body

That is a testing ground for the choicest pleasures.

يا زهرةً في ريعها قُطِفَتْ

كأرقِّ ما يتفَتَّقُ الزَّهَر

O flower plucked in its prime,

Like the tenderest of blossoms unfolding.

نِعْمَ القضاءُ قضى بمرتشَفٍ

لي من " لماك " وحبّذا القَدَر

Blessed is the decree that decreed a sip

For me from your dusky lips; how lovely is fate!

ما إنْ أخَصِّصُ منكِ جارحةً

كلَّ الجوارحِ منكِ لي وطر

I do not single out one part of you;

Every part of you is an object of my desire.

يُزرْي بفلسفةٍ مطّولةٍ

والعلمُ شيءٌ فيك " مُخْتَصَر"

It puts long-winded philosophy to shame,

And learning too—a little thing within you.

" ومعبد " لم يبل منهجه

بالسالكيه . ولم يَلُحْ أثَر

And a temple whose path has not been worn

By those who tread it, nor has a trace appeared.

إني لآسَفُ أنْ يجورَ على

خدّيكِ خدٌّ كلُّهُ شَعَر

I truly regret the wrong done to

Your cheeks by a cheek that is all hair,

وعلى إهابٍ منكِ ممتلئٍ

مَرحَا إهابٌ مِلؤُهُ كَدَر

And to your skin, filled

With joy, by a skin filled with gloom.

هذا الحريرُ الغَضُّ مَلْمِسُهُ

حَيْفٌ يُخَدِّشُ جَنْبهُ الوبر

This silk, so tender to the touch—

It is unjust that body hair should scratch its side.

عيني فِدى قَدَمَيَكِ سيّدتي

عيناكِ قد أضناهُما السَّهَر

My eye is a ransom for your feet, my lady;

Your eyes have been worn out by sleeplessness.

لا أكتفي بالروحِ أُزْهِقُها

عُذرا اليكِ فكيف أعتذر

Even extinguishing my soul would not suffice

As an apology to you—how, then, can I apologize?

قلبٌ تجمَّعَتِ الهُمُومُ به

نَفَّسْتُ عنه فهو مزدهِر

A heart in which cares had gathered—

I relieved it, and now it flourishes.

ضنكُ المنافذِ لا مكانَ به

لمَسَرَةٍ واليومَ ينتشر

Its outlets cramped, it held no room

For joy; today it expands.

لَوْ لَمْ تُحلِّيه على سعةٍ

من رُحْبِ صدركِ كانِ يَنْفَجِر

Had you not lodged it in the wide expanse

Of your ample breast, it would have burst.

سَحَرٌ زماني كلُّهُ لِهَوَى

ليلٍ بقربِك كلُّه سَحَر

All my time is dawn, for love of

A night beside you that is dawn throughout.

وأرى لياليَّ الطِوالَ بها

شَبَهٌ ففي ساعاتِها قِصَر

And I see my long nights have within them

A likeness to it: their hours are brief.