أنت الحبيب المرتضى ولك الهنا — Mohamed Almawali

أنتَ الحبيبُ المرتضى ولكَ الهنَا

وأنَا المحبُّ المبتلى ولى العَنَا

You are the chosen beloved, and yours is bliss;

and I am the afflicted lover, and mine is suffering.

أنتَ الغنىُّ ولَنْ ترَى مُتَواضِعاً

وأنا الفقرُ وليسَ لِي عنكم غِنَى

You are the wealthy one, never to be seen humbled;

and I am poverty itself, yet cannot do without you.

لك دونَ خلقِ اللهِ حظٌّ وافرٌ

منى ولى منك الكآبةُ والضَّنَا

You alone among God's creatures have an abundant share

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

يا ساكني وادِى الأَرَاك أراكمُ

لا ترقُبون عقوبةً من ربَّنَا

O dwellers in 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, turning his face [reading uncertain],

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 would not grant even '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 among the talebearers has altered our bond?

إن كان قارفَ عبدُكم من زلةٍ

هو تائبٌ إن كان ذنْباً قد جَنَى

If your servant has committed any lapse,

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

رِقُّوا لمن أضحى وأمْسَى حالُه

مِنْ حبكم بعدَ النَّوى مُتَلَوِّنَا

Show tenderness to one whose condition, morning and evening,

changes through loving you since separation.

إن كنتمُ لا تسمحونَ حقيقةَ

بزيارةٍ قُولُوا عسَى ولعَلَّنَا

If you truly will not grant

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

فعساهُ يحيا منكمُ بتعلةٍ

ويكونُ ما قاسيتُ منكم هيَّنَا

Perhaps he may live on a consoling pretext from you,

and what I have suffered from you may become easy to bear.

لولا خيالُكمُ وذكرُ ملاعبٍ

بالمُنْحَنَى والرقمين لما اهْتَنَى

Were it not for your imagined presence and remembered places of play,

at al-Munhana and al-Raqmayn, he would find no delight.

إن الهوَى حُلْوُ المذاقةِ أولا

فإذا تحكم خِلْتَه مُرَّ الجَنَى

Love is sweet to the taste at first;

but when it takes control, you think its fruit bitter.

كادَت عقولٌ تضْمَحِلُّ وأنفسٌ

لولا رياحُ ربوعكم مَرّت بنا

Minds and souls would almost have faded away,

had breezes from your dwellings not passed over us.

ها فانظرُوا يوماً علقت بحبكم

حالي من الأشواق كيف تكونَا

Behold, then look, on the day I fell in love with you,

at what longing makes of my condition.

مَرّ الغرامُ على الخلائق كلِّهم

فَعدَاهمُ لما رآني أمْعَنَا

Passion passed over all created beings;

it passed them by, but seeing me, went deeper.

فأقامَ واتخذَ الضمائر مَسْكناً

ما حُجتي لما ادَّعاهَا مَسْكَنَا

So it settled and made the innermost hearts its dwelling;

what defense have I, once it 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,

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

سببُ العلاقةِ نظرةٌ بجمالهم

فتمكنتْ لما أدَرْت الأعينَا

The cause of attachment was 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 the way to deliverance? For I

have exposed myself to humiliation—be certain of it.

فغدوتُ ذا وَلَهِ بذاكَ وحيرةٍ

وأنا الذي قد كنتُ قبل أَنَا أَنَا

Thus I became distraught with love through that, and bewildered,

I who before had been myself—my very self.

فإلى متى أفنى زماني بالمُنَى

وأقيمُ ما بين الورَى مُتَمَسْكِنَا

How long, then, shall I waste my time on wishes

and dwell among mankind in abject need?

لِمَ كفَّ عني كلُّ خطبِ حادثٍ

وأذلَّ ضدى بالقواضبِ والقَنَا

Why has every new calamity drawn back from me?

He humbled my foe with keen swords and spears,

وأضافتى عنه وسدّ خصاصتي

وأحلني دارَ الكرامة والسَّنَا

took me in from it, and relieved my need,

and lodged me in the abode of honor and radiance.

لا أشرْئبُ إلى وسائلِ غيره

إذ كنتُ معه في السعادةِ والغِنَى

I do not strain toward anyone else's means of support,

since with him I have enjoyed happiness and wealth.

ذاك الجوادَ المرتضى الملك الذي

مَا زُرْته إلا أجَاد وأحسنا

That is the generous, chosen king, whom

I never visit without his giving lavishly and doing good.

نزَّهت شِعرى عن مدائح غيره

ما أمّ يوماً خالداً أو مُحْسِنَا

I have kept my poetry free of praises of anyone else;

it has never sought out Khalid or Muhsin.

أنَا مُذْ نشأت بربعهِ وجوارِه

أجنى من اللذاتِ نعم المُجْتَنَى

Since I grew up in his abode and neighborhood,

I have reaped the finest harvest of pleasures.

هو ذَابلي ومهنّدي يومَ الوغى

وذخيرني في الدهرٌ إن أمر عَنَا

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

and my reserve through time, if some affair arises.

وبنفسِيَ السمح الذي إحسانُه

يعتادُ ربعي إن نأَى أَوْ إن دَنَا

My life as ransom for the generous one whose kindness

visits my dwelling, whether he is far or near.

الواسعُ للصدر الرحيب الواهب

الفطنُ الكمىُّ أخُو العُلَى رحبُ الفِنَا

Broad of breast, expansive, a giver,

keen-minded, a mailed warrior of high rank, with a spacious courtyard.

جمُّ المواهبِ عمَّ سيبُ نواله

كلَّ الورى من مسرعٍ أو مَنْ وَنَى

Abundant in gifts, the stream of his bounty embraces

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 earth and ride

the backs of every fine-bred, tall-built steed,

يا ماجداً ما شادَ مجداً مِثْلُه

من سيّد أو ماجدٍ في ذَا الدُّنَى

O noble one, no one has built such glory—

no 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 streaming bounty of your hands, a believing servant.

فالفضلُ يشهد لي بأنك واحدٌ

فينا وأنك أنت نعمَ المقتنّى

Your excellence bears witness for me that you are unique

among us, and that you are indeed the finest treasure.

كلَّت قريحتيَ التي كالبحرِ أنْ

تحصى ثناءك لو أقمتُ الأَزْمَنَا

My poetic gift, though like the sea, has grown weary of trying

to count your praises, even if I remained for ages.

يا واحداً في جودِه أنا واحدٌ

في شعرِه سامحْ وخذ ما أمكنَا

O you unique in generosity, I am unique

in poetry; be indulgent, and take what was possible.

جاءتك من ربِّ الفصاحةِ مدحةٌ

نُزْرِى على غُرَرِ المدائحِ والثنَا

A eulogy has come to you from a master of eloquence;

we put the choicest praises and encomiums to shame.

كالجوهرِ الشفاف تنثر لؤلؤَا

فالقطْهُ ممن سرَّهُ مَا أعْلنَا

Like transparent jewels, it scatters pearls;

gather them from one gladdened by what he proclaimed.

هي متعة للناظرين وبهجةٌ

لكنها فيها المنية والمُنَى

It is a delight to onlookers and a joy,

yet within it are death and cherished hopes.

فهي المُنى لمن ارتدى بردائِكم

وهي المنيةُ للعِدى أهلِ الخَنَا

It is cherished hope for those who don your mantle,

and death to enemies, the people of foulness.

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, in praising you, a mine.

لو أن أحمد خالهَا لأضافَها

في شعره وَصَغَى لها واستَحْسَنَا

Had Ahmad imagined it, he would have added it

to his poetry, hearkened to it, 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.'