لو رأيت الكأس والوجه الصبيحا — Khalil Mardam Bek

لو رأَيتَ الكأَسَ وَالوجه الصبيحا

لم تلمْ في الراحِ من يعصي النصيحا

Had you seen the cup and the radiant face,

You would not blame the wine-drinker who defies the adviser.

تركتْ في كأْسها لي قُبلةً

طابتِ الراحُ بها طعماً وَريحا

She left a kiss for me in her cup;

Through it, the wine grew sweet in taste and fragrance.

أَرسلَ الإِبريقُ شؤبوبَ سنا

فإِذا أَقداحُنا قوسُ قُزَحْ

The pitcher sent forth a shower of radiance,

And behold, our goblets were a rainbow.

كشعاعِ الشمسِ لأْلآءً فهلْ

بعثَ النورَ أَم النارَ قدح

As brilliant as a sunbeam—did

A goblet send forth light, or fire?

صَعَّدَ الزفرةَ حَرّى وَبكى

حينما أَهوى عَلَى ثغرِ القدح

He heaved a burning sigh and wept

When he bent down upon the goblet's mouth.

كمحبَّيْنِ فَمٌ زقَّ فماً

علّتِ الأَنفاسُ والمدمعُ سحّْ

Like two lovers, one mouth fed another;

Breaths rose, and tears poured freely.

غصَّ بالشهقة لما ارتدَّ عن

شفةِ الكأْسِ وبالدمعِ المُلِح

He choked on a gasp when he drew back from

The cup's lip—and on relentless tears.

راعفَ المنقارِ خفافَ الحشا

من رآه خاله طيراً ذبيحا

Bleeding at the beak and light of belly,

Whoever saw him thought him a slaughtered bird.

وهي كالجذوَةِ تنزو قرحاً

فذرِ الماءَ يَرُضْ منها جَموحا

And she leaps like a live ember, in pain;

So let the water tame her headstrong spirit.

رامها ابنُ المزنِ فاستحيتْ فما

مَسَّها حتى تغشّاها حجابُ

The son of rainclouds sought her; she blushed, and no sooner

Had he touched her than a veil enveloped her.

صافيانِ امتزجا فاستترا

هكذا الماءُ عَلَى الشمسِ سحابُ

Two clear things mingled and veiled themselves;

Thus water is a cloud upon the sun.

هل رأَيتَ النارَ يعلوها دخانٌ

أَبيضٌ والشمسُ يغشاها ضبابُ

Have you seen fire with smoke rising above it—

White—and the sun shrouded in mist?

بسمتْ حتى ثناياها بدتْ

لا تخلْ أَنَّ الذي يطفو حباب

She smiled until her front teeth showed;

Do not think that what floats is bubbles.

أَصبحتْ بابنِ السما مثل السما

كوكبٌ يبدو وَينقضُّ شهاب

Through the son of heaven, she became like heaven:

A star appears, and a meteor plunges.

عبقتْ في الكأْسِ من أَنفاسها

نفحةٌ تهدي إِلى الندمان روحا

In the cup, from her breaths, there wafted

A fragrance bringing refreshment to the drinking companions.

وهي قبل المزجِ تحكي رقةً

أَدمع (العذراءِ) إِذ تبكي (المسيحا)

Before mixing, she resembled in delicacy

The Virgin's tears as she weeps for Christ.

قد رفعناها نحيّي بعضَنا

وَقرعنا بعد ذا كأْساً بكاس

We raised her to salute one another,

And afterward clinked cup against cup.

وَتعاهدنا علَى (السرِّ) وَما

أَضيعَ (السرَّ) عَلَى أَنفاسِ حاس

We pledged to keep the secret—and how

Readily a secret is lost on a drinker's breath!

وَعَلَى اسمِ (الحب) كانت نهلةٌ

تغمضُ العين وَتغري بالعطاس

In love's name came a draught

That shuts the eyes and provokes a sneeze.

ثمَّ ثنّينا فساغتْ سهلةً

راضها التقبيلُ من بعدِ شماس

Then we drank again, and she went down easily;

Kissing had tamed her after her restiveness.

أَنبتتْ في كل خدٍ وردة

ورمتْ في كلِّ عينٍ بالنُعاس

She made a rose grow on every cheek,

And cast drowsiness into every eye.

وَمن الأَلسنِ حلّتْ عُقدا

هكذا تجعل من عيٍّ فصيحا

And from tongues she untied knots;

Thus she makes the tongue-tied eloquent.

أَرهفتْ حساً وَهاجتْ شجنا

وَبها جوُّ المنى أَمسى فسيحا

She sharpened feeling and stirred melancholy,

And through her, the realm of wishes grew spacious.

أَيقظتْ عاطفةً وَثابةً

وَرمتْ جفناً وَجسماً بالفتورِ

She awakened a leaping passion,

And struck eyelid and body with languor.

هانتِ الدنيا عَلَى شارِبها

لا تساوي عنده شروى نقيرِ

The world grew insignificant to her drinker;

To him, it was not worth a speck on a date stone.

هي لولا الكَأْسُ لا معنى لها

دارتِ الدنيا عَلَى كفِّ المدير

Without the cup, it would have no meaning;

The world revolved upon the cupbearer's palm.

كلّمَا قبّلها هام بها

فحساها بصغيرٍ وكبير

Whenever he kissed her, he grew infatuated with her,

So he sipped her from cups small and large.

أيّ شيءٍ تبعث الراحُ به

من أمانٍ وَنعيم وَسرور

What things wine brings with it,

Of hopes, bliss, and joy!

ضمَّ من أَجفانه مستثبتاً

إِذ رأَى أَحلامَه تجلى وتوحى

He narrowed his eyes, seeking certainty,

As he saw his dreams unveiled and revealed.

السماديرُ رؤى سحريةٌ

فاتخذْ كأْسكَ (شِقَّا) وَ (سطيحا)

These hallucinations are magical visions;

So make your cup a Shiqq and a Satih.

يا رضيعَ الكأْسِ أَفديك أَخاً

في رضاعِ الكأْسِ قربى وَرحمْ

O nursling of the cup, I would ransom you, my brother!

In nursing at the cup are kinship and family bonds.

آختِ الخمرةُ فيما بيننا

بلبانٍ وَبروحٍ وَبدم

Wine has made brothers of us,

Through milk, through spirit, and through blood.

أَيّ أُمٍ بذلتْ من قبلها

لِبَنيها كل هذا أَيّ أُمْ

What mother before her ever gave

Her children all this—what mother?

حملتْ من كلِ من ترضعُهُ

عنتَ الطفلِ ولو كان هرم

She endured, from each one she suckled,

A child's fretfulness, even when he was decrepit.

طفَّلتْهُ فانتشى حتى انتهى

للكرى ينعم بالطيف الملم

She made him a child; he grew tipsy until he sank

Into slumber, enjoying the visiting dream.

كلما هشّتْ إِليه زادَها

ديدنَ الطفل قطوباً وكلوحا

Whenever she beamed at him, he gave her more—

As children habitually do—of scowls and grimaces.

أَيها الناعمُ بالأَحلام هلْ

عبّرتها الراح تعبيراً صحيحا

O you who delight in dreams, has

Wine interpreted them correctly?

وَأَليفينِ كما شاءَ الهوى

وَالصِبا جُنَّتْ به حباً وَجُنْ

And two lovers, as desire willed

And youth: she went mad with love for him, and he went mad.

هي كالطاوسِ من زهو الصِبا

وهو من غلوائه مهرٌ أَرِنْ

She was a peacock in youth's pride,

And he, in its exuberance, a frisky colt.

يُزهر البدرُ عَلَى جبهتها

وَعَلَى وَفرته الليلُ يَجِن

The full moon shines upon her brow,

And over his thick hair, night spreads its darkness.

فَتنتْ حسناً وَراقتْ زينةً

يكملُ الحسنُ إِذا واتاهُ فن

She bewitched with beauty and charmed with adornment;

Beauty is perfected when art assists it.

فترى الزخرفَ في حلّتها

نورُهُ ينهلُّ كالغيث الهتِن

You see the embellishment upon her robe,

Its light pouring down like steady rain.

فإِذا ما أَسرعتْ في مشيِها

عجَّ كالشلاّل ينصبُّ دَلُوحا

And whenever she quickens her step,

It roars like a waterfall pouring in torrents.

حلةٌ أَغرتْ بما قد سترتْ

حين زادتْ حسنَ ما أَبدتْ وضوحا

A robe that enticed with what it concealed,

As it made the beauty of what it revealed more vivid.

تركتْ من حاجبيها أَثراً

مرهفاً والسيفُ إِنْ دَقّ مضى

She left of her eyebrows a trace,

A fine trace—and a sword cuts when keenly edged.

وعَلى أَجفانها منْ كحلِها

ظلمةٌ من بينها النجمُ أَضا

And upon her eyelids, from her kohl,

Lay darkness through which a star shone.

إِنَّما الحمرةُ في مبسِهما

قبلةٌ حرّى حكتْ جمرَ الغضا

The redness at their kissing-place is but

A burning kiss, like the embers of ghada wood.

في يديها وعَلَى أَقدامها

مهجٌ سالتْ ودمعٌ غُيَّضا

In her hands and upon her feet,

Heart's blood had flowed, and tears been drained.

أَرأَيتَ العاجَ قَدْ قمَّعهُ

وهجُ الياقوتِ أَو شمعاً مُضا

Have you seen ivory that has been tipped

With a ruby's glow, or wax set alight?

رفَّ طيرُ الحلي في لَبَّتِها

يبتغي في صدرِها كِناً مريحا

The bird of jewelry fluttered in her throat's hollow,

Seeking a comfortable shelter in her breast.

عشيتْ مرْآتُها من طولِ ما

قابلتْ من وجهها برقاً مُليحا

Her mirror grew dazzled from so long

Facing the lovely lightning of her face.

مالتِ الخمرُ بأعطافِهما

من رأَى غصناً على غصنٍ يميلُ

Wine swayed their bodies;

Who has seen one branch leaning upon another?

الهوى طاغٍ عنيفٌ والنُّهى

غاله من سوْرةِ الصهباءِ غولُ

Desire was overpowering and fierce, while reason

Was destroyed by a ghoul from tawny wine's fury.

شوَّشتْ وَفْرتَه لما رأَتْ

رأْسَهُ ما بين ثدييها يقيلُ

She tousled his thick hair when she saw

His head napping between her breasts.

فسما بالطرفِ يرنو فإِذا

طرفُهُ من شدةِ السكرِ كليل

He lifted his gaze to look—and behold,

His gaze was dull from the intensity of drunkenness.

يا لمخموريْنِ مُلتخَّيْنِ لمْ

يعِ كلٌ منهما ماذا يقول

Ah, those two muddled drunkards! Neither

Knew what he himself was saying.

نضبتْ كأْسُهما فاستمسكا

ثم قاما بعد لأْيٍ ليروحا

Their cup ran dry, so they clung to one another;

Then, after much effort, they rose to leave.

أَشبها الميزانَ ما مِنْ طرفٍ

شالَ إِلاّ طرفٌ كان رجيحا

They resembled a balance: no side

Rose without the other weighing heavier.

بلغا بعد اللتيّا والتي

غرفةً فيها الهوى ناهٍ أَمُورُ

After troubles small and great, they reached

A room where desire forbids and commands.

هبّتِ الأَشباحُ مِنْ رقدتها

حينما أُوقِظَ في المشكاةِ نورُ

The shadowy figures sprang from their slumber

When a light was awakened in the lamp niche.

التماثيلُ بها عُريانةٌ

وَالدُمى وَالزهرُ نظمٌ ونثير

The statues there were naked,

And figurines and flowers were arrayed and strewn.

أَطبقَ البابُ فماً خلفهما

فهما كالسرِّ يحويه ضمير

The door closed its mouth behind them;

They were like a secret held within a heart.

والكُوى قد أَغمضتْ أَجفانَها

حينما ضُمّتْ عليهن الستور

And the windows had closed their eyelids

When curtains were drawn over them.

والكراسي فاتحاتٌ أَذرعاً

وَصدوراً للقا الأَحباب فيحا

And the chairs held their arms open,

And broad chests, to greet the lovers.

واحمرارُ النورِ في كِلَّته

مؤْذِنٌ أَنَّ له جفناً قريحا

And the light's redness within its veil

Was a sign that its eyelid was sore.

وَهُما برحَ اشتياقٍ في سعيرِ

لشميم الخُلدِ في ذاك السريرِ

And the two, in longing's torment, were ablaze

For the fragrance of eternity in that bed.

من رأَى (الزُهرة) في عُرْيتها

وَالذي تهوى عَلَى مهدٍ وَثير

Who has seen Venus in her nakedness

And the one she loves upon a soft couch?

رفّتِ الكِلَّةُ بِشْراً واحتفى

بهما المهدُ بخفْقٍ وَصرير

The canopy fluttered with joy, and a welcome

Came to them from the couch, with throbs and creaks.

أَسلمَ المصباحُ جفناً للكرى

وَغفا رغمَ شهيقٍ وَزفير

The lamp surrendered an eyelid to sleep,

And dozed despite gasps and sighs.

وَدَّ كلٌّ منهما لو ظلَّ في

نومِه هذا إِلى يوم النشور

Each of them wished to remain in

This sleep of theirs until the Day of Resurrection.

لا يبالي عاشقانِ اعتنقا

أَسريراً نزلاه أَمْ ضريحا

Two lovers clasped together do not care

Whether they have settled in a bed or a tomb.

فاغفرِ اللهم زلاّتِ الصِبى

وَتقبَّلْ توبةً منها نصوحا

So forgive, O God, the lapses of youth,

And accept sincere repentance for them.