أنت الحبيب المرتضى ولك الهنا — Maawali Omani

أنتَ الحبيبُ المرتضى ولكَ الهنَا

وأنَا المحبُّ المبتلى ولى العَنَا

You are the chosen beloved, and joy is yours;

I am the afflicted lover, and hardship is mine.

أنتَ الغنىُّ ولَنْ ترَى مُتَواضِعاً

وأنا الفقرُ وليسَ لِي عنكم غِنَى

You are wealthy, and will never be seen humbled;

I am poverty itself, and cannot do without you.

لك دونَ خلقِ اللهِ حظٌّ وافرٌ

منى ولى منك الكآبةُ والضَّنَا

You alone among God's creatures have an ample share

Of me; from you I have sorrow and wasting sickness.

يا ساكني وادِى الأَرَاك أراكمُ

لا ترقُبون عقوبةً من ربَّنَا

O dwellers of Wadi al-Arak, I see that you

Do not expect punishment from our Lord.

غادرتُمُ مضنىَ الفؤادِ ميمَماً

بتهامةٍ وسكنتمُ وادي مِنَى

You left one sick at heart, making his way,

In Tihamah, while you settled in the valley of Mina.

لما التقينَا بعد حولٍ كاملٍ

لم تسمحنَّ بكيفَ حالُك بَعدنَا

When we met after a full year,

You did not even offer, 'How have you been since we left?'

ماذا جَنَيْتُ لأسْتحق جَفاءكُمْ

مَنْ دا من الواشين غيَّرَ عهدَنَا

What have I done to deserve your coldness?

Who is it among the talebearers who changed our bond?

إن كان قارفَ عبدُكم من زلةٍ

هو تائبٌ إن كان ذنْباً قد جَنَى

If your servant has committed any fault,

He is repentant, if he has indeed committed a sin.

رِقُّوا لمن أضحى وأمْسَى حالُه

مِنْ حبكم بعدَ النَّوى مُتَلَوِّنَا

Have pity on him whose condition, morning and evening,

Changes hue from loving you after separation.

إن كنتمُ لا تسمحونَ حقيقةَ

بزيارةٍ قُولُوا عسَى ولعَلَّنَا

If you truly will not consent

To a visit, say, 'Perhaps,' and 'Perhaps we will.'

فعساهُ يحيا منكمُ بتعلةٍ

ويكونُ ما قاسيتُ منكم هيَّنَا

So perhaps he may live on a consoling pretext from you,

And what I endured from you may become easy to bear.

لولا خيالُكمُ وذكرُ ملاعبٍ

بالمُنْحَنَى والرقمين لما اهْتَنَى

Were it not for your phantom and memories of places of play

At al-Munhana and al-Raqmayn, he would have found no joy.

إن الهوَى حُلْوُ المذاقةِ أولا

فإذا تحكم خِلْتَه مُرَّ الجَنَى

Love is sweet to the taste at first;

But once it takes command, you find its fruit bitter.

كادَت عقولٌ تضْمَحِلُّ وأنفسٌ

لولا رياحُ ربوعكم مَرّت بنا

Minds and souls would have all but vanished,

Had breezes from your dwellings not passed over us.

ها فانظرُوا يوماً علقت بحبكم

حالي من الأشواق كيف تكونَا

Behold! Look—one day I became bound to your love—

At how longing shapes my state.

مَرّ الغرامُ على الخلائق كلِّهم

فَعدَاهمُ لما رآني أمْعَنَا

Passion passed over all creatures;

It passed them by; when it saw me, it plunged deep.

فأقامَ واتخذَ الضمائر مَسْكناً

ما حُجتي لما ادَّعاهَا مَسْكَنَا

It settled and made the inner hearts its dwelling;

What defense have I, when it has claimed them as its home?

إن رمت أجحدُ ما ادّعاه مخالفاً

شهدتْ عدولُ الدمع سرك عندنا

If I seek to deny its claim, opposing it,

The tears, those upright witnesses, testify: 'Your secret is with us.'

سببُ العلاقةِ نظرةٌ بجمالهم

فتمكنتْ لما أدَرْت الأعينَا

Attachment began with a glance at their beauty;

It took firm hold when I turned my eyes.

كيفَ السبيلُ إلى الخلاصِ فإنني

عرضتُ نفسي للهوانِ تيقنَا

How can I find a way to escape? For I

Have exposed myself to humiliation—be certain of it.

فغدوتُ ذا وَلَهِ بذاكَ وحيرةٍ

وأنا الذي قد كنتُ قبل أَنَا أَنَا

So I became distraught with love and bewildered by that,

Though once I had been myself—my very self.

فإلى متى أفنى زماني بالمُنَى

وأقيمُ ما بين الورَى مُتَمَسْكِنَا

So how long shall I waste my time on wishes,

And dwell among mankind as an abject pauper?

لِمَ كفَّ عني كلُّ خطبِ حادثٍ

وأذلَّ ضدى بالقواضبِ والقَنَا

Why has every fresh calamity ceased to trouble me?

And he humbled my foe with sharp swords and spears,

وأضافتى عنه وسدّ خصاصتي

وأحلني دارَ الكرامة والسَّنَا

And gave me shelter from him and met my needs,

And lodged me in the abode of honor and splendor.

لا أشرْئبُ إلى وسائلِ غيره

إذ كنتُ معه في السعادةِ والغِنَى

I do not crane my neck toward anyone else's aid,

For with him I lived in happiness and prosperity.

ذاك الجوادَ المرتضى الملك الذي

مَا زُرْته إلا أجَاد وأحسنا

That is the generous, chosen king whom

I never visited without his giving freely and doing good.

نزَّهت شِعرى عن مدائح غيره

ما أمّ يوماً خالداً أو مُحْسِنَا

I have kept my poetry free of praise for anyone else;

It never once sought Khalid or Muhsin.

أنَا مُذْ نشأت بربعهِ وجوارِه

أجنى من اللذاتِ نعم المُجْتَنَى

Ever since I grew up in his abode and under his protection,

I have reaped the finest harvest of pleasures.

هو ذَابلي ومهنّدي يومَ الوغى

وذخيرني في الدهرٌ إن أمر عَنَا

He is my slender spear and my Indian sword on battle's day,

And my reserve against time, should some trouble arise.

وبنفسِيَ السمح الذي إحسانُه

يعتادُ ربعي إن نأَى أَوْ إن دَنَا

And my life be ransom for the generous man whose kindness

Regularly visits my dwelling, whether he is far or near.

الواسعُ للصدر الرحيب الواهب

الفطنُ الكمىُّ أخُو العُلَى رحبُ الفِنَا

Broad of breast, open-hearted, a giver,

Keen-witted, an armored warrior of lofty rank, with a spacious court.

جمُّ المواهبِ عمَّ سيبُ نواله

كلَّ الورى من مسرعٍ أو مَنْ وَنَى

Abundant in gifts, the flow of his bounty has reached

All mankind, those who hasten and those who lag.

يا خيرَ ماشٍ في التراب وراكبٍ

صهوات كل مطهَّمٍ عالي البِنَا

O best of those who walk upon the dust and of those who ride

The backs of every finely formed, tall-built steed!

يا ماجداً ما شادَ مجداً مِثْلُه

من سيّد أو ماجدٍ في ذَا الدُّنَى

O noble man, no glory like yours has been built

By any lord or nobleman in this world.

أمسى الذي كفَر النبيَّ محمداً

بنوالِ سيبِ يديك عبداً مؤمنَا

He who denied the Prophet Muhammad has become

Through the flowing bounty of your hands, a believing servant.

فالفضلُ يشهد لي بأنك واحدٌ

فينا وأنك أنت نعمَ المقتنّى

Excellence testifies for me that you are unique

Among us, and that you are the finest treasure one can gain.

كلَّت قريحتيَ التي كالبحرِ أنْ

تحصى ثناءك لو أقمتُ الأَزْمَنَا

My poetic gift, ocean-like, has grown too weary to

Count your praises, even were I to live through the ages.

يا واحداً في جودِه أنا واحدٌ

في شعرِه سامحْ وخذ ما أمكنَا

O peerless in generosity, I am peerless

In my poetry; be indulgent, and take what I could offer.

جاءتك من ربِّ الفصاحةِ مدحةٌ

نُزْرِى على غُرَرِ المدائحِ والثنَا

A panegyric has come to you from the master of eloquence;

We put to shame the choicest panegyrics and praise.

كالجوهرِ الشفاف تنثر لؤلؤَا

فالقطْهُ ممن سرَّهُ مَا أعْلنَا

Like translucent gems, it scatters pearls;

So gather them from one delighted by what we proclaimed.

هي متعة للناظرين وبهجةٌ

لكنها فيها المنية والمُنَى

It is delight and joy for those who behold it;

Yet within it lie death and wishes.

فهي المُنى لمن ارتدى بردائِكم

وهي المنيةُ للعِدى أهلِ الخَنَا

It is wish-fulfillment for whoever dons your mantle,

And death for the foes, those of foul speech.

خُذْها فإنك كُفْوُها من شاعرٍ

أضحتْ قريحتُه بمدحِك مَعْدِنَا

Take it, for you are worthy of it, from a poet

Whose poetic gift has become a mine through praising you.

لو أن أحمد خالهَا لأضافَها

في شعره وَصَغَى لها واستَحْسَنَا

If Ahmad had imagined it, he would have included it

In his poetry, lent it his ear, and admired it.

أوْ أنْشِدَتْ معه لفَضَّلهَا على

الحُبُّ ما منع الكلام الألْسُنَا

Or, had it been recited in his presence, he would have preferred it to

“Love is what keeps tongues from speaking.”