صب تحرقه أسى لرعاته — Mohamed Almawali

صبٌّ تحرِّقه أسىً لرعاتُه

وجوٍ تؤرِّفه هوىً روْعاتُه

A lovesick man, burned with sorrow by his pangs;

and one love-stricken, whose frights keep him sleepless with passion.

صبٌّ إذا ذكر الحبيب تصَّدَتْ

أنفاسُه وتردَّدت حسراتُه

A lovesick man: when he recalls the beloved, forth come

his breaths, and his regrets recur.

وتناثرت عبراتُه وتكدَّرت

أوقاتُه وتكاثرت زَفَرَاتهُ

His tears scatter, and troubled grow

his hours, while his sighs multiply.

ومتَّمٌ لعب الغرام بقلبه

لماس استقلت بالحبيب سراتهُ

And one enslaved by love, whose heart passion toyed with

when his night-travellers departed with the beloved.

يا سائقَ الأظعانِ مَهْلاً خلفكم

صبٌّ تقطِّعه جَوىً حُرُفاته

O driver of the camel-litters, slowly! Behind you is

a lovesick man, torn apart in anguish by his torments.

ومعذّبٌ طالَ الغرام به وقد

مضت الدهور وما انقضت حاجاته

And a tormented man whose passion has long endured, while

ages have passed and his yearnings have not ended.

وطريحُ وَجْدٍ مَلّهُ عُوَّاده

ومريض شوقٍ أمرضته أُساتُه

And one laid low by passion, whom his sickbed visitors tire of;

and one sick with longing, whom his physicians have made sicker.

ومعَلّلٌ ذهبت حُشاشة قلبه

وتحركت من بُعْدِكم مُهجاته

And one soothed with hopes, whose heart's last spark of life has gone,

and whose heart's lifeblood stirs at your distance.

ما راحة المشتاق بعدكمُ وقد

ذهبت سريعاً بعدكم بُرْحاته

What rest has the yearning lover after you have gone, when

his joys swiftly vanished after your departure?

إن رام يكتم سرَّه عن صحبه

دلَّت على ما كنَّه عَبَراتُه

If he tries to conceal his secret from his companions,

his tears reveal what he has hidden.

يا هاجري أنكرت قتلى بعد ما

شَهِدَتْ عليه بقتله وجناتُه

O you who forsake me, you denied my slaying, even after

his cheeks testified against him to his killing me.

فأنا القتيلُ هَوَى بسيف لحاظه

وقساوَةً مثل الظُّبا لحظاتُه

So I am the one slain by love with the sword of his glances,

and in cruelty his glances are like sword-edges.

قالوا كبدر النِّمِّ غُرَّةُ وجهه

كذبوا فأين صفاؤه وصفاتُه

They said his face's radiance was like the moon at the full.

They lied—where, then, are its clarity and its qualities?

هذا له قَدٌّ رشيق مُذْهَبٌ

قد أذهبت عقل الورى حركاتُه

This one has a slender, gilded figure;

his movements have robbed humankind of reason.

هذا له طرفٌ غضيضٌ أَحْوَرٌ

يَفْرِى النُّهَى مبهورةً شفراتُه

This one has a downcast eye, dark against pure white;

its eyelid-blades cleave bewildered minds.

نشوانُ لا يصحو بخمر رَضابه

تَثنيه تيهاً في الصِّبا نَشَواتُه

Drunk, he never sobers from the wine of his sweet saliva;

his raptures sway him proudly in youth.

لو لم تكن صهباءُ ريقة ثغره

ما أنكرت عقلَ الورى خطراتُه

Had the saliva of his mouth not been tawny wine,

his swaying steps would not have bewildered humankind's reason.

في خَدِّه تَسْعَى عقارب صُدْغِه

تحمى بها عن ثغره رشَفاتُه

On his cheek creep the scorpions of his temple-curls;

by them, sips are kept away from his mouth.

مرموقةٌ لفتاته معشوقة

حركاتُه محبوبةٌ نظراتُه

His turns are admired; adored are

his movements, and beloved are his glances.

وبنفسيَ الظبيُ الأغَنُّ إذا بدا

من خدِّه وتناوَحَتْ نفحاتُه

And I would ransom with my soul the soft-voiced gazelle, when he appears,

and his fragrant breezes blow to and fro from his cheek.

يا أيها الربْعُ الذي قد أوحشت

من بعد رحلة أهله عَرَصاتُه

O dwelling-place, where desolate have grown

the open grounds since its people departed;

وتنكَّرت من بعده آياتُه

وتكدَّرت من فقدهم ساحاتُه

and after him, its landmarks grew unfamiliar,

and its courtyards darkened at their loss.

أمسى فلا سُكَّانُه سكّانُه

كلا ولا غاداته غاداتُه

By evening, its inhabitants were no longer its inhabitants—

no, nor its maidens its maidens.

وغدَا ولا فتيانُه فتيانُه

كلا ولا ظبياتُه ظبياتُه

And by morning, its young men were no longer its young men—

no, nor its gazelles its gazelles.

هل أنت في الأحزان مثل متيَّم

دهمته بعد فراقهم غمراتُه

Are you, in your sorrows, like a lovesick man

whose afflictions engulfed him after parting from them,

لما تَوَلّى مسرعاً عصر الصِّبا

وتبسَّمَتْ عن ثغره ليلاتُه

when the age of youth swiftly turned away,

and its nights smiled, revealing its mouth?

وأخو المشيبِ وإن تلطَّفَ في الهَوى

عند الحِسانِ مثالبٌ حسناتُه

And as for the gray-haired man, however gentle in love,

in beautiful women's eyes, his virtues are faults.

وأخو الشباب وإن تزايد جفوةَ

عند الحِسانِ حميدةٌ جَفَواتُه

And as for the young man, though he grows ever more aloof,

in beautiful women's eyes, his slights are praiseworthy.

وأخو المشيبِ وإن صَفَتْ أَحوالُه

عند الحِسانِ ذميمةٌ حالاتُه

And as for the gray-haired man, though his conduct is pure,

in beautiful women's eyes, his ways are blameworthy.

وأَخو الكهولة لا يقالُ إذا هَفَا

وأخو الصِّبا مقبولةٌ هفواتُه

And the middle-aged man is not pardoned when he slips,

while the youthful man's slips are accepted.

وأَخو الصِّبا مغفورةٌ ذَلاّتُه

وأَخو المشيبِ عظيمةٌ ذَلاّتُه

And the youthful man's errors are forgiven,

but the gray-haired man's errors are deemed grave.

سَقياً لأيام الشبيبة والصِّبا

إذ مَفْرِقى مسودَّةٌ شعراتُه

May rain bless the days of youth and boyhood,

when the hairs along my parting were black;

أَيامَ عود اللهو غَضٌّ ناضِرٌ

والحبُّ يائعةُ الجَنا ثمراتُه

days when the bough of pleasure was tender and fresh,

and love's fruits were ripe for harvest;

والعيشُ أغيدُ والزمانُ مساعِدٌ

والدهر زاهرةٌ لنا زهراتُه

and life was supple, and time was favorable,

and the age's blossoms bloomed for us.

كنتُ الحبيب إلى الحسان فمذ نَضَا

ثوبَ الشبابِ تباعدت ظبياتُه

I was beloved of beautiful women; but when I shed

the robe of youth, its gazelles drew away.

أَمسيتُ كالملقَى الطريح موسداً

صفر البنان شديدةٌ لوعاتُه

I became like one cast aside, prostrate, pillowed,

empty-handed, with severe pangs.

لا ذَنْبَ لي إلا المشيبُ وهَكذا

كل الأنام إذا انتهت غاياتُه

I have no fault but gray hair; and so it is with

all humankind when their course reaches its end.

وكذا الزمان مُفَرِّقٌ ومؤلِّفٌ

هذا الزمانُ وهذه عاداتُه

Thus time parts people and brings them together;

this is time, and these are its ways.

لولا ابن سيفِ اليعربيُّ لما غدا

شملُ الهدى مجموعةً أشتاتُه

But for Ibn Sayf al-Ya'rubi, never would

the scattered ranks of right guidance have come together.

فيه تبسَّمَ كل دهرٍ عابسٍ

وبه انجلت عن ديننا ظُلُماتُه

Through him every frowning age smiled,

and through him its darkness lifted from our faith.

وبه تبدَّد شملُ أَرباب الهوى

بعد التِئام وانقضى ميقاتُه

And through him the ranks of the followers of caprice were dispersed

after their union, and their appointed term came to an end.

ذاك الإمامُ العادلُ الشهمُ الذي

دون الورى مشهورةٌ كرَّاتُه

That is the just, noble-hearted imam whose

charges are renowned above all others;

وكذا ابنه الزاكى أبو العرب الفَتى

ربُّ النَّدَى مرهوبةٌ سطواتُه

and likewise his virtuous son, the young Abu al-Arab,

lord of bounty, whose onslaughts are feared.

يا آل يعربَ أَنتمو غيثُ الورى

بكم استطابَ بدهرنا ساعاتُه

O house of Ya'rub, you are the rain of humankind;

through you, our age's hours have grown sweet.

أَضحى الزمان بعدلكم ونوالكم

وبعطفكم محمودةً أَوقاتُه

Time has become, through your justice and generosity,

and through your compassion, praiseworthy in its hours.

بكم استقام الملكُ واعتدلَ القَضَا

وغدت بكم منشورةً راياتُه

Through you, sovereignty was set straight and judgment grew equitable,

and through you its banners were unfurled.

بكم استنارَ الدينُ بعد طُموسه

لولاكمُ ما أُوضحت آياتُه

Through you the faith shone after being obscured;

without you its signs would not have been made clear.

وبكم أُقيم العدلُ وانتشر الهدى

لو لاكم ما أورفت شجرانه

And through you justice was established and guidance spread;

without you its trees would not have spread their shade.

يا سادة الأملاك طرا في الورى

طوبَى لدهرٍ أنتمُ ساداتُه

O lords of all kings among humankind,

blessed be an age whose lords you are.

لا غروَ إن دان الزمانَ وأنتمُ

أبطالُه ولَيوثه وحُماتُه

No wonder if time submits, when you are

its heroes, its lions, and its protectors.

فَلْيَهْنَ دهرٌ أنتمُ أَقيلُه

ومُلوكه ووُلاتُه وقُضاتُه

So let an age rejoice, for you are its princes,

its kings, its governors, and its judges.

مدحي لكم أبداً لأكبتَ حاسداً

ذهبتْ بفطنة قلبِه سكراتُه

My praise for you is unceasing, that I may confound an envier

whose stupors have swept away his heart's discernment,

وأُذيبَ قلبَ الحاسدين بمدحكم

وأُذِلَّ مَن لعبت به شبهاتُه

and melt the heart of the envious with praise of you,

and humble whoever is toyed with by his doubts.

إن لم تُغنِكُم راحتي بمهنَّدٍ

فبقْوَلِي ترُدى العِدَى كلماتُه

If my palm has not served you with an Indian-steel sword,

then through my speech, its words lay the foes low.

خذها عروساً تُزْدَهِى قسماتها

كالبدر زانَتْ نورَه هالاتُه

Take her as a bride whose features glow,

like the full moon, whose halos adorn its light.