كان الوداد منغصا لوشاتنا — Sardar

كان الوداد منغِّصا لوُشاتنا

ولو ارتموا ما بيننا بفواقرِ

Our affection was a vexation to our slanderers,

even if they hurled crushing blows between us.

تُحظى ظواهرُنا فنُغِمضُ عيننا

عنها ونطمحُ في صوابِ ضمائرِ

Our outward appearances were favored; we would close our eyes

to them and look to the soundness of inner intentions,

متحلِّلِى عُقَد الضغائنِ كلَّما

نصبَ الحسودِّ لنا حِبالة ماكرِ

untying the knots of rancor whenever

the envier laid a schemer's snare for us.

أيامَ لا عِرسٌ غلإخاء بطالقٍ

منّا ولا أُمّ الصفاءِ بعاقرِ

In days when no bride of brotherhood was divorced

by us, nor was the mother of sincerity barren.

فالآن أقلقنا الحسودُ كما اشتهى

فينا ونفّرنا صفيرُ الصافرِ

Now the envier has unsettled us, as he wished

to do to us; the whistler's whistle has scattered us.

وكأنّما كانت وساوسَ حالم

تلك المودّةُ أو فكاهةَ سامرِ

And as though it had been a dreamer's fancies—

that affection—or an evening companion's jest.

ومتى ثكَلت مودْةً من صاحبٍ

فلقد عِدمت بها سوادَ الناظرِ

Whenever you are bereaved of a friend's affection,

you have indeed lost, with it, the pupil of your eye.

ولذاك نُحْتُ على إخائك مثلما

ناحَ الحمامُ على الربيع الباكرِ

And so I mourned your brotherhood, just as

the doves lamented the early spring.

هيهات لستَ بواجدٍ من بعدها

مِثلى ببذلِ بضائعٍ ومَتاجرِ

Never! Afterward, you will not find

my equal in exchange for goods and trading stock.

لا تَنبِذ الخُلاّنَ حولك حَجْرةً

فالعينُ لا تبقى بغَير مَحاجرِ

Do not cast the friends around you aside,

for the eye cannot survive without its sockets.

ما كنتُ أحسبُ أنّ صِبغةَ ودِّنا

مما تحولُ على الزمان الغابر

I never thought that the dye of our affection

was something that would fade with passing time.

ولو أننى حاذرتُ ذاك فد يتُها

منه بلونِ ذوائبي وغَدائرى

And had I feared that, I would have ransomed it

from fading with the color of my forelocks and braids.

لكنَّ كلَّ غريبةٍ وعجيبةٍ

من فعلِ هذا المَنْجَنونِ الدائرِ

Yet every oddity and marvel

is the work of this revolving waterwheel.

فلئن أقمتَ على التصرمُ لم تجدْ

رَيْبا سِوى عَتِب الحبيب الهاجرِ

If you persist in severing ties, you will encounter no

trouble beyond the reproach of a beloved who withdraws.

وإن استقلتَ أقلتُها وجزاؤها

منّى مَثوبةُ تائبٍ من غافرِ

And if you seek pardon, I shall forgive it; its recompense

from me will be a penitent's reward from one who forgives.

حتى ترى سُحُب الوصال معيدةً

ذاك الهشيمَ جميمَ روضٍ ناضرِ

Until you see the clouds of reunion restoring

that dried brushwood to the lush growth of a verdant meadow.

إن الغصونَ يعودُ حُسنُ قَوامِها

من بعد ما مالت بهزِّ صراصرِ

Indeed, branches regain the beauty of their form

after bending under the buffeting of fierce, cold winds.

أنا من علمتَ إذا المناطقُ لجلجتْ

ألفاظها أو غامَ أُفْقُ الخاطرِ

I am the one you know: when speech falters

in its words, or the horizon of thought grows cloudy,

ما بين ثغرِى واللَّهازِم بَضعةٌ

هزِئتْ بشِفشقةِ الفنيِق الهادرِ

between my mouth and jaw hinges lies a piece of flesh

that has mocked the throat sac of the pampered, bellowing camel.

متحكَّمٌ في القول يلقُط دُرَّه

غَوصِى ولو من قعر بحر زاخرِ

I am master of speech; its pearls are gathered

by my diving, even from the floor of a surging sea.

وإذا نثرتُ سمَت بلاغةُ خاطبٍ

وإذا نظمتُ علتْ فصاحةُ شاعرِ

And when I compose prose, an orator's eloquence rises;

and when I compose verse, a poet's eloquence soars.

لي في المطايا الفضلِ كلُّ شِمِلةٍ

أبدا أرحِّلها لزادِ مسافرِ

Among the mounts of excellence, every swift she-camel is mine;

I always saddle her to carry a traveler's provisions.

كم موردٍ عرضَ الزُّلالَ لمشربي

روَّعتُه وفجعتُه بمصادرى

Many a watering place offered clear water for my drinking;

I alarmed it and bereaved it with my departures.

إن رثَّ غِمدى لم ترِثَّ مَضاربي

أو فُلَّ لم تُفَلَّ بصائري

If my scabbard wears out, my cutting edges do not;

or if it is chipped, my insights are not blunted.

تأتي جيادي في الرَّهان سوابقا

وجيادُ غيري في الرعيلِ العاشرِ

My steeds come in ahead in the race,

while others' steeds are in the tenth rank.

ومجالسُ العلماء حشوُ صدورها

أنا والذُّنابَى للجهول الحائرِ

And in scholars' assemblies, the seats of honor are filled

by me; the rear is for the ignorant, bewildered man.

إن قال أقوامٌ علىَّ مَناقصا

لم يضرُر الحسناءَ عيبُ ضرائرِ

If people charge me with shortcomings,

a beauty is not harmed by rival wives' faultfinding.

لو لم تكن في وسط قلبي حَبَّةً

لسلوتُ عنك سُلوَّ بعِض ذخائرى

If you were not a kernel at the center of my heart,

I would forget you as I forget some of my treasures.

ولقلتُ ما هذا بأوّلِ ناقضٍ

عهدا ولا هذا بأوّلِ غادرِ

And I would say: this is not the first to break

a pledge, nor is this the first betrayer.

لكن حللتَ من الفؤاد بمنزلٍ

أصبحتَ فيه ربيبَ بيتٍ عامرِ

But you settled in a place within my heart,

where you became the foster-child of a flourishing home.

شِيَمِى على جَوْر الزمان وعدلِه

أنى أقولُ لَعاً لرِجلِ العاثرِ

My way, through time's injustice and its fairness,

is to say, “May you recover!” to the foot of one who stumbles.