لعل حداة العيش أن يترفقوا

بقلب دعاء فاستجاب التشوق

Perhaps life's drovers will show gentleness

to a heart whose prayer yearning answered.

فقد سار لا يلوي على الدار بعده

لئلا يراها وهي بالوجد تحرق

For it has departed, not turning toward the dwelling after him,

lest it see the dwelling burning with passionate anguish.

وما خان في تخلفيه الجسم

موثقاً ولكن رآه وبالذنب موثق

Nor did it betray, in leaving the body behind,

a pledge; rather, it saw it fettered by sin.

ففارقه لليأس منه وقلما

يدوم على عهد المفيد مطلق

So it abandoned it, despairing of it; seldom

does one set free keep faith with a benefactor.

أأحبائنا النائبين دعوة مبعد

يرى الباب عنه دونكم وهو مغلق

O our absent beloved ones, an outcast's plea

who sees the door to you closed against him.

غدا تلتقي أحشاؤه وزفيره

إذا ضمه منكم ومنه التفرق

His innermost heart and his sighing meet

whenever separation between you and him enfolds him.

وتركض في خديه حمر دموعه

إذا ما فدت تلك الركائب تعنق

His crimson tears race down his cheeks

when those riding camels set out at a swift pace.

ويصلي هجير الهجر إن غاب عنكم

وغصن أمانيه بكم ليس يورق

He burns in separation's noonday heat when absent from you,

and the branch of his hopes in you puts forth no leaves.

ويخلو وقد فرتم وخاب بوجده

كئيباًُ سميراه الأسا والتحرق

He sits alone in his anguish, you having fled and his hopes failed,

despondent, his nightly companions sorrow and burning longing.

وكم خط سطر العزم فرطحنينه

فظلت يد الحرمان تمحو وتمحق

How often his fierce longing has penned a line of resolve,

only for deprivation's hand to keep erasing and obliterating it.

وكم حام حول الورد شوقاً وناله

سواه فأمسي وهو بالدمعه يشرق

How often he has circled the watering place in longing, only for

another to reach it, leaving him choking on tears.

وكم ظن أن يسعى رفيقاً إلى الحمى

ليحظى فأضحى سعيه وهو مخفق

How often he thought to journey as a companion to the sanctuary,

to gain favor, yet his endeavor ended in failure.

خليلي ميلابي إلى الركب أنني

إليهم وما غابوا عن العين شيق

My two friends, turn with me toward the caravan: I

yearn for them, though they have not vanished from sight.

لعلهم أن يسعدوني بوفقة

أبثهم مابي من الشوق لاشقوا

Perhaps they will favor me with a halt,

that I may pour out my longing to them—may they never suffer—

وأودعهم شكوى ترق لشجوها

ورقتها صم الجبال وتفلق

and entrust them with a complaint, at whose grief

and tenderness the solid mountains soften and split.

عساهم إذا خاضوا من البرلجة

سفائها شم المناكب أنيق

Perhaps, when they plunge into an ocean of dry land,

whose ships are lofty-shouldered she-camels,

واضحوا على مثل الحنايا كأنهم

سهام بها الأغراض ترمي وترشق

and ride upon forms like bent bows, as though they were

arrows shot from them and hurled at targets;

وأسفر عن ليل المفازة بالمنى

لهم موهناً صبح المفازة يشرق

and the desert night brightens with hopes,

as the desert's dawn shines for them deep in the night;

وأومض برق النجيح من أبرق الحمي

فلاقاهم ومنه بشير مخلق

and the lightning of success flashes from the sanctuary's Abraq,

and from it a perfumed herald meets them,

يلوح لهم وهنا فتفهموا قلوبهم

إليه ويخفى بالهضاب فتخفق

glimmering for them by night, their hearts turning [reading uncertain]

toward it; it hides behind the hills, and they flutter;

إلي أن بدامعي النبوة واغتدى

لأبصارهم نور الهدى يتألق

until prophethood comes into view [wording unclear], and

the light of guidance glitters before their eyes.

فأحمد صبح الفوز ليل سراهم

وهان عليهم ما لقوه بمن لقوا

The dawn of triumph makes their night journey praiseworthy,

and what they endured becomes easy through the one they meet.

وأفحمهم ذاك المقام فما لهم

سوى الدمع في تلك المشاهد منطق

That station leaves them speechless: they have

no speech in those scenes but tears.

وأغشاهم نوراً فلو لم يكن لهم

مقاك رضي ما استطاع طرف يحدق

It envelops them in light; were it not for their

favored station, no eye could have gazed steadily.

هنالك أعباء الذنوب عن الورى

تحط ومأسور الجرائم يطلق

There, humankind's burdens of sin

are lifted, and the captive of transgressions is set free.

ولا طرف إلا وهو بالدمع مغرق

ولا قلب إلا وهو بالوجد محرق

No eye is left undrowned in tears,

and no heart unburned by yearning.

فيا حاملاً نجو أي بالله قف به

إلى أن تؤديها وأنت موفق

O bearer of my whispered plea, by God, pause with it

until you deliver it, blessed with success.

ففي طيها تشر التحية كامن

متى نشرت أضحى به الكون يعبق

For within its folds the fragrance of greeting lies hidden;

when it is unfolded, its scent fills the universe.

وقل يا رسول الله خلقت مفرداً

بحبك يطغو في الدموع ويغرق

And say: O Messenger of God, I left a solitary man [reading uncertain],

who, for love of you, overflows in tears and drowns.

يحاول أن ينحو إليك وبينه

وبينك سور من خطاياه محدق

He tries to make his way to you, but between him

and you stands an encircling wall of his sins.

له كلما اشتاق الحمى من دموعه

وأنفاسه الحرى عقيق وأبرق

Whenever he longs for the sanctuary, he has, from his tears

and burning breaths, an ʿAqīq and an Abraq.

تمثله الشواق بالباب ماثلاً

يلوح له نور التجلي فيصعق

Longings picture him standing at the door,

where the light of manifestation appears to him, and he swoons.

ربا أن ما مناه فرط اشتياقه

بوصلكم وفي عامه يتحقق

Perhaps what his fierce longing has promised him

of reunion with you will come true within his year.

فلا زنده وار بنيل مراده

ولا عود آمال رجاهن مورق

Yet his fire-stick sparks no fire through attaining his wish,

nor does the bough of the hopes he cherished put forth leaves.

ولما رأى المنى حيل دونها

وأن له الحرمان والنوق تروزق

When he saw his wishes barred from him,

and deprivation his lot, while the she-camels were provided for [reading uncertain],

غدا رافعاً ثوب التصبر بعدما

غدا وهو في أيدي الغرام ممزق

he began lifting the garment of patience, after

it had become torn in the hands of passion.

وأودع حتى للنسيم تحية

تفوق برياها اللطيمة تفتق

He entrusted even the breeze with a greeting

whose scent outdoes the opened wares of a perfume caravan.

وأهدي على بعد ضراعة بائس

يلوذ بذيل الجود منك ويعلق

From afar he offered the supplication of a wretched man

who seeks shelter in the hem of your generosity and clings to it.

فأنت شفيع المذنبين وقد غدت

جهنم ترمي المعتدين وترمق

For you are the intercessor for sinners, when

Hell assails the transgressors and fixes its gaze upon them.

ولا أحد حاشاك يا سيد الورى

هنالك إلا وهو حيران مطرق

No one, save you, O master of humankind,

stands there without bewilderment and a lowered head.

ولا جاه في ذاك المقام لشافع

سواك به للخلق طرا تعاق

No intercessor in that station has standing

except you; all creation relies on it [wording unclear].

وثم لك الحوض الرواء وفوقه

السلواء وساقي القوم أنت لقد سقوا

There is your thirst-quenching pool, and above it

solace; you are the people's cupbearer—truly, they are given drink.

أباريقه مثل النجوم وماؤه

على كثرة الوراد لا يترنق

Its pitchers are like the stars, and its water,

despite the throngs coming to drink, never grows cloudy.

فيا خاتم الرسل الكرام وأنه

لأولهم في حلبة الفضل أسبق

O seal of the noble messengers—he who

outstrips even their first in the racecourse of excellence!

ويامنإذا ما أمه الوفد بالحبا

بأخلاقه في جوده يتخلق

O you whom delegations approach bearing gifts,

emulating your character in generosity!

لبعض الذي أوتيت يا سيد الورى

من الفضل في كل الأنام مفرق

Indeed, some of what you were granted, O master of humankind,

of excellence is scattered among all beings.

ويامن به أضحت ذؤابة هاشم

على أنجم الجوزاء تسمو وتمق

O you through whom the crest of Hāshim

soars above the stars of al-Jawzāʾ [last word unclear]!

ويامن أضاء الأفق ساعة وضعه

فأوضع فيه التأهون واعتقوا

O you at whose birth the horizon shone,

so the bewildered hastened through it and were freed!

وإيوان كسرى انشق يةوم ولاده

وكان يزل الطرف منه ويزلق

Kisrā's vaulted hall split on the day of his birth,

a hall from which the eye would slip and slide.

وبشرت الأحبار من قبل وضعه

بمبعثه والملك في البعد ينشق

Before his birth, the learned doctors gave glad tidings

of his mission, while the kingdom, far away, split apart.

وأهوت إلي الجن الرجوم وقد مضت

إلى السمع تسري في السماء وتسرق

Missiles swooped upon the jinn, who had gone

stealthily through the sky to listen and steal a hearing.

وأصبحت الأوثان ساعة وضعه

منكسة فالروس منهن أسوق

At the hour of his birth, the idols became

inverted, their heads serving as legs.

وحن إليه الجذع حنة فاقد

غدا وهو من طول التفرق يفرق

The palm trunk yearned for him with the cry of one bereaved,

who had become terrified by long separation.

ولما حواه الغار كادله العدا

ليصرفهم عنه الحمام المطوق

When the cave sheltered him, his enemies plotted against him,

only for the ring-necked doves to turn them away.

وسدى عليه العنكبوت خديعة

ففاز وطرف الكفر خزيان مطرق

The spider wove over him as a ruse,

and he prevailed, while unbelief lowered its shamed gaze.

وأمضى بيمناه على ضرع حابل

وقد كاد منها الجلد بالعظم يلصق

He passed his right hand over a pregnant animal's udder,

whose skin had almost clung to its bones.

فدرت إلي أن روت الركب كله

ومحلبها ما زال ملآن يفهق

It gave milk until it quenched the whole caravan,

and its milking bowl remained brimful, overflowing.

وصعد كفيه وقد أمسك الحيا

فما صوباً حتى غدا يتدفق

He raised his two palms when rain had been withheld,

and did not lower them until it poured in torrents.

لبه معجزات كالنجوم وإن من

يحاول إحصاء النجوم لأخرق

His are miracles like the stars; indeed, whoever

tries to count the stars is foolish.

وإقصار من كانت إطالة نطقه

تقصر عن مرمامه أوفى وأوفق

For one whose lengthy speech

falls short of its aim, brevity is fuller and more fitting.

نهضت لألقاه وقد كنت عالما

بأن الذنوب الموبقات تعوق

I rose to meet him, though I knew

that ruinous sins would hold me back.

لكن حداني الشوق واقتادني الهوى

فوافى غراب الحظ ينعي وينعق

But longing drove me on, and love led me,

then the raven of fortune came, mourning and croaking.

هل أرى دمعي على ذلك الثرى

مكان مواطي ناظري يترفق

Will I ever see my tears upon that soil,

moving gently where my gaze has trodden?

وترفأ كف الوصل ثوب تصبر

يجاذبه الشوق الذي ليس يرفق

And will reunion's hand mend a garment of patience

tugged at by longing, which shows no gentleness?

إليك رسول الله دعوة من غدا

عليه نطاق النطق وهو مضيق

To you, O Messenger of God, comes the plea of one

around whom the girdle of speech has tightened,

تحامه حتى العذر من فرط ذنبه

وفارقه إلا الحنين المؤرق

whom even excuses avoid, so great is his sin,

and whom all have abandoned save sleepless longing.

غدا وهو مثر بالذنوب وأنه

من الخير لولا حبه لك مملق

He has become rich in sins, yet

would be destitute of goodness but for his love for you.

وأنت بمن أقصته عنك ذنوبه

وأشفق أحسني العالمين واشفق

You are, toward one whose sins have driven him far from you,

the kindest of all beings, and most compassionate [wording unclear].

وأن أخلقت أفعاله وجه عذره

فإنك بالإحسان أولى وأخلق

And if his deeds have worn away the face of his excuse,

you are more deserving of doing good, and more fitted for it.

عليك سلام الله ماجن نازح

رما ناح محزون وما أنت شيق

God's peace be upon you as long as a distant exile is maddened,

and the sorrowful lament, and the yearning sigh [reading uncertain],

وما غنت الورقاء أو أورق الفضا

وغرب ركبان الفلاة وشرفوا

and the gray dove sings, or the open country grows leafy,

and desert riders journey westward and are honored.