بريد الغربة — Jawahiri

لقد أسرى بيَ الأجلُ

وطولُ مسيرةٍ مَللُ

Indeed, my allotted span has borne me by night,

and a long journey is weariness.

وطولُ مسيرةٍ من دونِ

غايٍ مطمعٌ خَجِلُ

And a long journey without

a destination is a bashful longing.

على أن يَطْوي غدٌ

طُولَ السُرى وجلُ

That a morrow might fold away

the long night journey is cause for dread.

تماهلَ خطوهُ صدداً

وعُقبى مهلِهِ عجَلُ

It deliberately slowed its steps,

yet the outcome of its delay is haste.

وخُولِط سيرهُ جنفاً

كما يتقاصرُ الحَجلُ

And its gait was tinged with crookedness,

as the partridge takes short steps.

أشاع اليأسَ بي عُمُرٌ

وكنتُ وكلُهُ أملُ

A lifetime has spread despair within me,

though I once knew it as all hope.

وعُمرُ المرءِ فضلُ منىً

بها ما شَقَّ يُحَتَملُ

A person's life is the bounty of hopes,

through which hardship can be borne.

فان ولّت فلا ثقةٌ

ولا حَوْلٌ ولا قِبَلُ

If they depart, no confidence remains,

nor strength, nor power to endure.

أقول وربما قولٍ

يُدَلُّ بهِ ويُبتَهَلُ

I speak—and many a word

is spoken boldly, and in prayer:

الا هل تُرجِعُ الأحلامُ

ما كُحْلِت به المُقلُ

Ah, can dreams bring back

what once was kohl upon the eyes?

وهل ينجابُ عن عَينيَّ

لليلٌ مُطبقٌ أزلُ

And will there lift from my eyes

an all-enclosing, oppressive night?

كأن نجوَمه الأحجارُ

في الشطرنج تنتَقَلُ

As though its stars were pieces

moving about upon a chessboard,

يُسَاقِطُ بعضُها بعضاً

فما تنفكُ تقتتِلُ

some toppling others,

never ceasing to fight.

ألا هل قاطعٌ يصلُ

لما عيَّت به الرُسُلُ

Ah, will one who broke ties reconnect,

where messengers have failed?

ويا أحبابيَ الأغنينَ

من قطعوا ومَن وصَلوا

And O my sweet-voiced beloveds,

those who broke ties and those who kept them,

ومن هُمُ نُخبةُ اللذَّاتِ

عِندي حِينَ تُنتَخَلُ

and those who are the choicest pleasures

to me, when pleasures are sifted—

هُمُ إذ كلُ من صافيت

مدخولٌ ومُنتَحَلُ

those very ones, while all whom I befriended

are tainted and counterfeit—

سلامٌ كلُهُ قُبَلُ

كأن صَمِيمَها شُعَلُ

a greeting made entirely of kisses,

as though their very core were flames;

وشوقٌ من غريب الدارِ

أعيَتْ دونهُ السُبُلُ

and longing from one far from home,

whom all roads have failed to reach,

مقيمٌ حيثُ يَضْطربُ المنى

والسعيُ والفشلُ

dwelling where hopes are in turmoil,

and striving and failure;

وحيثُ يُعاركُ البلوى

فتلويهِ ويعتدلُ

and where he wrestles with affliction,

which bends him, yet he straightens;

وحيثُ جَبينُهُ يَبَسٌ

وحيثُ جَنانُه خَضِلُ

and where his brow is parched,

and where his heart is dewy;

وإذْ نَضّبَتْ أفاويقُ الصِّبا

فهِباتُها وشَلُ

and now that youth's draughts have run dry,

its gifts are but a trickle.

سلامٌ من أخي دَنَفٍ

تَناهتْ عندهُ العِللُ

A greeting from one wasting with sickness,

in whom all ailments have reached their height,

وحيدٍ غيرَ ما شَجَنٍ

بلوحِ الصدرِ يعتملُ

alone, except for a sorrow

stirring on the tablet of his breast,

وذكرى مُرّةٍ حَلِيت

بها أيامُنا الأُوْلُ

and a bitter memory that sweetened

our earliest days;

تُعاودُه كفيءِ الظلِّ

رؤياها وتنتقلُ

revisiting him like the return of shade,

its vision moves on.

وحيدٍ بالذي غنّى

وساقى يُضربُ المثلُ

A solitary man whose singing

and shared cups are proverbial;

وفيما قال من حَسَنٍ

وَسْيءٍ يَكثُرُ الجْدَلُ

and about his words, both good

and bad, debate abounds.

سلاماً أيُّها الذاوونَ

إنّي مُزمعٌ عجلُ

Greetings, O withering ones;

I am resolved, in haste.

سلاماً أيُّها الخالونَ

إنَّ هواكُمُ شُغلُ

Greetings, O carefree ones;

love of you keeps me occupied.

سلاماً أيُّها الندمانُ

إني شاربٌ ثَمِلُ

Greetings, O drinking companions;

I am a drinker, drunk.

سلاماً أيُّها الأحبابُ

إنَّ مَحبةً أملُ

Greetings, O beloveds;

love is hope.

سلاماً كُلُهُ قبلُ

كأنَّ صَمِيمَها شُعَلُ

A greeting made entirely of kisses,

as though their very core were flames.