الحسن يأمر والعشاق تأتمر — Khalil Al Yaziji

الحسنُ يأمرُ والعُشّاقُ تأتَمِرُ

فَلَيسَ للَّومِ وجهٌ لا وَلا أَثرُ

Beauty commands, and lovers obey.

So blame has no ground—no, nor any effect.

وَلا ملامَ على اهل الجمال اذا

صدوا فهم منهُ بالإِدلال قد أُمروا

Nor is there blame upon the people of beauty when

they turn away, for beauty has commanded them to be coy.

وَبي رشاً كان مأمورَ البها فَغَدا

وُهُوَ الأَميرُ مُطاعاً امرهُ الخطِرُ

And I am smitten with a gazelle, once ruled by splendor, who became

a prince whose weighty command is obeyed.

مليكُ حسنٍ على عبد الغَرام سطا

فكان في كل حالٍ شأنهُ الظفرُ

A king of beauty, he assailed a slave of passion;

so in every circumstance his lot was victory.

لما رأَيتُ ندى نيسانَ في صَدَفٍ

من فيهِ قلتُ لِنَفسي هَهُنا دُرَرُ

When I saw April's dew within the shell

of his mouth, I told myself, 'Here are pearls.'

وإِذ رأَيتُ الثريّا ضمن مبسمِهِ

قلتُ المَجرَّةُ فَبِهِ ماؤُها الخَصِرُ

And when I saw the Pleiades within his smiling mouth,

I said, 'The Milky Way! For in him is its cool water.'

فافترَّ من عَجبٍ واهتزَّ معطفُهُ

عُجباً وَقالَ لِهَذا وردهُ عَسِرُ

Then he smiled in wonder, and his body swayed

in pride, and he said, 'For this one, its water is hard to reach.'

وَقلت للصَحب هَذا ليل طُرَّتِهِ

ايضاً فهل بعدٌ ريبٌ أَنَّهُ قَمَرُ

And I told my companions, 'Here is the night of his forelock

as well; is there, after this, any doubt that he is a moon?'

حلو الوصال ولكن لست اعرفُه

فالضدُّ بالضدِّ عند الجَهلِ يُختَبَرُ

Union is sweet, but I do not know it;

for, when knowledge fails, one opposite is tested against the other.

بادي البشاشة الّا اذ أُقابِلُهُ

فيوتِرُ القوسَ لكن ما لَها وترُ

He shows a cheerful face, except when I meet him;

then he strings the bow, yet it has no string.

بل كُلُّ اعضائِهِ نَبلٌ وكليَ في

غَرامِهِ أَكبُدٌ بالشَوقِ تَستعرُ

Rather, all his limbs are arrows, and all of me, in

love for him, is livers blazing with longing.

وان يغِب فسهامُ الشوقِ ترشقني

في القرب خَوفٌ وَفي شَحطِ النوى خَطَرُ

And if he is absent, the arrows of longing strike me;

in nearness there is fear, and in far-flung separation, danger.

ما طالَ في حبِّ ذيّاك الرَشا زَمَني

الا ومنهُ لآمال اللِقا قِصَرُ

Never has my time in loving that gazelle grown long

without him cutting short my hopes of meeting,

مثل اليراعةِ في كَفِّ النَجيبِ وكم

تَوَدُّ لَو اشبهتها البيضُ والسُمُر

like the reed pen in Najib's palm—and how often

bright swords and brown spears wish they resembled it!

تَجري البراعةُ فيها منهُ مُحييةً

لَها فَنُفصح ما من دونِهِ حَصَر

Eloquence flows through it from him, bringing life

to it; so we give voice to what, without him, is speechless.

مَن كانَ يُنكِرُ أَنَّ العودَ في يَدِهِ

يَندى فيُثمِرُ هَذا العودُ والثمرُ

Whoever denied that wood in his hand

grows moist and bears fruit—here are the wood and the fruit!

أَو قال لا بدَّ دون الشهد من إِبَرٍ

للنحل ذا شهدُها ما دونهُ إِبَرُ

Or said, 'Before reaching honey, one must face stings

from bees'—here is their honey, with no stings in the way.

مهذَّبُ اللَفظِ وَالمَعنى اذا كَدرَت

موارِدُ الحسنِ لم يلحقهما كدرُ

Refined in wording and meaning: when turbidity clouds

beauty's wellsprings, neither is touched by turbidity.

وَكُلُّ وردٍ فعنهُ يُبتَغى صَدَرٌ

وعن ورودهما لا يُبتَغي صَدَرُ

And after every visit to water, departure is sought;

but after coming to these two, no departure is desired.

راحٌ لأَرواحِ أَنفاسِ النفوس عَلى

رَيحانِ انسٍ اريجٍ نشرُهُ العَطِرُ

Wine for the spirits of the souls' breaths, upon

fragrant basil of companionship, with its sweetly wafting scent.

وَرُبَّ كأسٍ سَقاني من سُلافتِهِ

صَحَت وقد رشفتها النَفسُ والبصرُ

And many a cup he gave me of his pure wine—

the soul grew sober, though soul and sight had sipped it.

تَضَمَنَّت من صفاتِ الخمرِ اعذبها

مِمّا يَلذُّ بهنَّ العقل والنظرُ

It held the sweetest of wine's qualities,

those in which mind and gaze delight.

يا من تكلَّف لي مدحاً أَفيهِ بِهِ

لانَّ باعيَ في الإِيفاء معتذِرُ

O you who took pains to praise me—I repay you with this,

for my reach in full repayment can only offer excuses.

قَصيدَةٌ قصدَت لي فاِنثنيتُ بِها

ايتهُ لكن لعمري لستُ افتخرُ

A poem sought me out, so I turned back with it;

I came to him; yet, by my life, I do not boast.

اذا افتخرتُ ادَّعيتُ الفضل لي ولَهُ

عين التفضل منها عنديَ الاثرُ

If I boast, I claim the merit for myself, though to him belongs

the very essence of generosity; mine is the effect that comes from it.

انتَ النَجيبُ مسمى اسمٍ تليقُ بِهِ

لَم يُحصِ وصفَكَ الّا وَهوَ مُختَصِرُ

You are Najib—the noble one—bearing a name that befits you;

it sums up your qualities only in brief.

جارَيتُهُ فاِختصرتُ الوصفَ منك وان

قُلتُ النَجيبُ كفاني وهو مُقتَصَرُ

I followed its lead and abridged my description of you; and if

I say 'Najib,' it suffices for me—a brief summation.