هي نغمة رددتها دهرا — Khalil Shayboub

هي نغمةٌ رَدَّدتُها دهرا

وقضيتُ في ترديدها العمرا

It is a melody I repeated for an age,

And spent my lifetime repeating:

شكوى من الحب الذي انفطرت

روحي به لما غدا هجرا

A lament for the love through which

My soul broke when it turned to estrangement.

ما أضيع الأيام مجفلةً

في قلب صب يألف الذكرى

How wasted are the days, fleeing in fright,

In a lovesick heart that clings to memory.

يبكي على الماضي وقد ضربت

نُوَبُ الليالي دونه سترا

It weeps for the past, while

The nights' vicissitudes have drawn a veil before it.

نهوى ولكن مرةً فإذا

من بعدها عاد الهوى مرا

We love—but only once; then,

Thereafter, love turns bitter.

تبع الفؤادُ شوارداً ومضى

لا يهتدي برّاً ولا بحرا

The heart followed elusive things and wandered on,

Finding no way on land or sea.

فيكون ما قد جدَّ تسليةً

للنفس فيها قد جرى مجرى

So what has newly arisen becomes a diversion

For the soul, within which it has found a course.

ما آثَرَت نفسي الجديدَ ولا

خَلَّيتُ فيه من دمي اثرا

My soul never preferred the new, nor

Did I leave in it a trace of my blood.

ودمي تقاضاه القديمُ ولا

منٌّ عليه أنه أحرى

And the old love claimed my blood; I claim no

Credit for it—it has the greater right.

يا هند قلي كان نابتةً

شربت جمالك شُربها القطرا

O Hind, [my heart] was a growing plant,

Which drank your beauty as it drank the rain.

فتحت على الجنات مقلتها

فرأتكِ في آفاقها بدرا

It opened its eye upon the gardens,

And saw you in their horizons as a full moon.

فمَضَت عليك حياتُها فإذا

أُبعدتَ عنها عوجلت قهرا

Its life passed sustained by you; and when

You were taken from it, it was swiftly crushed.

من لي بآماليَ وأنتِ لها

تولين قلبي العسر واليسرا

Who will secure my hopes, when for them you

Deal my heart hardship and ease?

فأرى ببعدكِ كل كارثةٍ

وغذا قربتِ الإنس والبشرا

In your absence I see every calamity,

And [when] you draw near, comfort and gladness.

الغابُ تؤنسها الطيورُ فإن

صمتت تثير الهول والذعرا

Birds bring comfort to the woods; but if

They fall silent, the woods awaken horror and dread.

والليلُ هذا النجمُ زينتهُ

إن غاب أرخى للأسى سترا

And the night—this star is its adornment;

If it vanishes, night lowers a curtain for sorrow.

أعطيت كل الحسن موهبةً

وهواي زادكِ حسنهُ وفرا

You were given all beauty as a gift,

And my love added its beauty to you in abundance.

يا حسنَ ذاك الوجهِ مندفقاً

نوراً وذاك الثغر مفترا

Oh, the beauty of that face, pouring forth

Light, and of that mouth, parted in a smile!

حلاكِ فكري حين حام على

صفاحتِ حسنك ينفثُ السحرا

My thought adorned you when it hovered over

The [pages] of your beauty, breathing enchantment.

يا ربةً حار الفؤادُ بها

فوق المحاسن تلبس الفكرا

O goddess who bewildered the heart,

Who wears thought above her charms!

هذا سناؤك لونُه وكذا

نور الصباح يموِّج الفجرا

This has your radiance for its color, just as

Morning light sets the dawn rippling.

لا غضَّ فيه على جمالك إذ

أخَذَ الذي أعطى وما أزرى

There is no belittling of your beauty in it, since

It took what it gave, and did not disparage it.

فالفكر عندي ليس باعثه

إلا جمالُكِ سامياً قدرا

For thought in me is inspired by nothing

But your beauty, exalted in worth.

هذا وذا سِرّانِ قد خفيا

للَه سرٌّ باعثٌ سرّا

This and that are two mysteries that have lain hidden:

God has a mystery that gives rise to a mystery.

وُقِفَت عليك مداركي فغدت

مثل النسيم يلاعب الزهرا

My faculties were devoted to you, and became

Like the breeze playing with blossoms.

وبذلتُ فيكِ عواطفي وأرى

هذي الأشعة تسكن القفرا

And I poured out my feelings for you, yet I see

These rays dwelling in the wasteland.

يا هند كم جاهدت فيك وما

أوليتني إلا الأسى أجرا

O Hind, how hard I strove for you, yet you

Granted me only sorrow as a reward.

أملتُ أعرافَ الهوى ولقد

خطَّأنَني وغدا الهوى نكرا

I put my hopes in love's customs, yet

They proved me wrong, and love became abhorrent.

من ذا يعاند رَبَّهُ وأرى

يا هند أجملَ ما أرى الصبرا

Who would defy his lord? And I find,

O Hind, patience the fairest thing I see.