كذب المسمي والمسمى أنهم

ذروا الرماد على العيون ولو حوا

The namer and the named lied; they

cast ashes over eyes and waved.

ما أنصفوا لما دعوك عفيفةً

لكنهم شتموا العفاف وقَبَّحوا

They were unfair when they called you chaste;

rather, they insulted chastity and made it ugly.

للَه حسنك والعفافُ حجابه

ما كان أوضَحَه لمن يستوضح

God be praised for your beauty; chastity is its veil!

How clear it was to anyone seeking clarity!

أيامَ ترتد القلوبُ خواشعاً

ولها إلى عليا جمالك مطمع

In the days when hearts drew back in reverence,

and hoped to reach the heights of your beauty;

أيام ترمقك العيون حواسراً

ولها احترامُ الطهر فرضٌ أرجح

when eyes gazed upon you, unveiled,

and reverence for purity was their weightier duty;

أيام قدك إن تثني خاطراً

فالغصن من مَرَحِ الصبا يترنح

when, if your figure bent in its swaying walk,

a bough would reel with the east wind's play;

أيام لحظُك إن رمى وإذا رنا

فالنبلُ يرشق والمهند يذبح

when your glance shot forth, and when it lingered,

arrows struck, and the Indian blade slew;

أيام ثغرُك لؤلؤٌ كَنَزَ اللمى

مكنونَهُ كالزهر حين يفتح

when your mouth was pearls, the lips' dusk hoarding

its hidden treasure, like flowers as they open;

أيام جيدك فَضةٌ مسبوكه

بالنور تسبي الزاهراتِ وتفضح

when your neck was silver, cast

in light, captivating the radiant ones and putting them to shame;

أيام وجهك كالصباح تزينه

ضُفُرٌ مجعدةٌ تتيه وتمرح

when your face was like morning, adorned

by curly braids that flaunted themselves and frolicked;

أيام جسمك هيكلٌ لجلاله

سجد الأولى عبدوا الإله وسبحوا

when your body was a temple, before whose majesty

those who worshipped God prostrated themselves and offered praise.

يا بنتَ من عميت بصائرهُم فما

فهموا جمالَكش وهو حقٌ أفصح

O daughter of those whose insight was blind, who never

understood your beauty, though it was a most eloquent truth!

قذفوا به من حالقٍ في هوَّةٍ

هَجَرَت معالِمَها الغوادي الرُوَّح

They hurled it from a lofty height into a chasm

whose landmarks morning and evening wayfarers had forsaken.

قد زوَّجوك ولا ملامَ وإنما

ذاك التهوُّر منهم مستقبح

They married you off—no blame in that; but

that recklessness of theirs was reprehensible.

ما كان بينهم محبٌّ مخلصٌ

يصف الدواءَ ولا حكيم ينصح

There was no one among them who loved sincerely,

to prescribe the remedy, nor any sage to offer counsel.

ومن النساءِ مليحة لا بد أن

تتزوَّجَ الرجل الذي تستملح

And a beautiful woman has no choice but to

marry the man she finds appealing.

تأبى طباعك حمل قيدٍ متعبٍ

والجسم رخصٌ والسلاسل ترزح

Your nature refuses to bear a wearisome fetter;

the body is tender, and the chains weigh heavily.

فكسرتها وسلكتِ ما نهج الهوى

للعاثرات كأَن ذلك أربح

So you broke them and followed the path desire had laid

for fallen women, as though that were more profitable.

الذنبُ ذنبهم صدقتِ وإنما

للقلب حَدٌّ عنه لا يتزحزح

The fault is theirs—you spoke truly—but

the heart has a limit from which it will not budge.

يا ليتهم دفنوكِ في قبرٍ به

سكن الظلامُ فشيَّعتك النُوَّح

Would that they had buried you in a grave where

darkness dwelt, and wailing mourners had escorted you;

وذهبتِ خطبُكِ فادحٌ لكنما

موتُ العفاف اليومَ خطبٌ أفدح

and you had passed away! Your loss would be grievous, but

the death of chastity today is a graver calamity.

اليوم قَدُّكِ ذابلٌ واليوم لح

ظك ذاهلٌ واليوم ثغرك أكلح

Today your figure is withered, and today your gaze

is vacant; today your mouth is grim.

واليوم جيدك عاطلٌ واليوم وج

هك باطلٌ واليوم جسمُك مسرح

And today your neck is unadorned, and today your face

is worthless; today your body is a playground.

مات الجمالُ بمقلتيك وأذبلت

خدَّيكِ محرقةٌ تهبُّ وتلفح

Beauty has died in your eyes, and a scorching wind has withered

your cheeks, blowing and searing.

إن المعاصي كالسموم فحرَّها

أبداً به زهر الجمال مصوَّح

Indeed, sins are like poisons; their heat

forever withers beauty's blossom.

قالوا بأَنكِ تُبتِ قلتُ لك الهنا

أَلذنبُ تغسله دموعٌ تسفح

They said you had repented. I said, 'Joy be yours!'

Sin is washed away by tears that flow.

وإذا المدامعُ طهَّرت حسناً غدا

كالصبح أصبى ما يكونُ وأصبح

And when tears purify beauty, it becomes

like dawn, as youthful and fair as can be.

إني يشقُّ عليَّ طرفك فاتناً

يرمي القلوبَ بناره ويطوِّح

I am pained by your enchanting gaze,

shooting its fire at hearts and sending them reeling.

وأراكِ ساهيةً فيقلق مهجتي

وجدٌ يهزُّ صبابتي ويُبَرِّح

And I see you distracted; then my heart is troubled

by passion that shakes my yearning and torments me.

وأنا الذي بَغَضَ الرياضَ لأنها

مسرى لكل العالمين ومسرح

And I am the one who hated gardens, because they are

a roaming ground and a playground for all the world.

لولا نضارتُها ولولا طهرُها

لرأيتِ كلَّ الناس عنها ينزح

Were it not for their freshness and their purity,

you would see everyone retreating from them.

فإذا نهضتِ من العثار عفيفةً

أصبحتُ أَوَّلَ من يَغُضُّ ويصفح

So when you rise from your fall, chaste,

I shall be the first to overlook and forgive.

إن تُبتِ فالربُّ الكريمُ مسامحٌ

لكنما هذا الورى لا يسمح

If you have repented, the generous Lord forgives;

but the people of this world do not forgive.

الناسُ بعضُ خلائقٍ ممزوجةٍ

هذا يُخطِّئُ ذا وذاكِ يصحِّح

People are a blend of varied dispositions:

this one calls that one wrong, and that one declares him right.

لا يُبصرون النورَ يهبط من علٍ

مترقرقاً يهدي الصدورَ ويشرح

They do not see the light descending from on high,

shimmering, guiding hearts and opening them.

كم مصلحٍ بَعَثَ الإلهُ وإنما

بقيت خلائقهم ومات المصلح

How many a reformer God has sent! Yet

their dispositions remained, and the reformer died.