Qasida Burda - Chapter 1

أَمِنْ تَذَكُّرِ جِيرَانٍ بِذِي سَلَمِ
مَزَجْتَ دَمْعًا جَرَى مِنْ مُقْلَةٍ بِدَمِ
أَمْ هَبَّتِ الرِّيحُ مِنْ تِلْقَاءِ كَاظِمَةٍ
وَأَوْمَضَ البَرْقُ فِي الظَّلْمَاءِ مِنْ إِضَمِ
فَمَا لِعَيْنَيْكَ إِنْ قُلْتَ اكْفُفَا هَمَتَا
وَمَا لِقَلْبِكَ إِنْ قُلْتَ اسْتَفِقْ يَهِمِ
أَيَحْسَبُ الصَّبُّ أَنَّ الحُبَّ مُنْكَتِمٌ
مَا بَيْنَ مُنْسَجِمٍ مِنْهُ وَمُضْطَرِمِ
لَوْلَا الهَوَى لَمْ تُرِقْ دَمْعًا عَلَى طَلَلٍ
وَلَا أَرِقْتَ لِذِكْرِ البَانِ وَالْعَلَمِ
فَكَيْفَ تُنْكِرُ حُبًّا بَعْدَمَا شَهِدَتْ
بِهِ عَلَيْكَ عُدُولُ الدَّمْعِ وَالسَّقَمِ
وَأَثْبَتَ الوَجْدُ خَطَّيْ عَبْرَةٍ وَضَنىً
مِثْلَ البَهَارِ عَلَى خَدَّيْكَ وَالعَنَمِ
نَعَمْ سَرَى طَيْفُ مَنْ أَهْوَى فَأَرَّقَنِي
وَالحُبُّ يَعْتَرِضُ اللَّذَّاتِ بِالأَلَمِ
يَا لَائِمِي فِي الهَوَى العُذْرِيِّ مَعْذِرَةً
مِنِّي إِلَيْكَ وَلَوْ أَنْصَفْتَ لَمْ تَلُمِ
عَدَتْكَ حَالِيَ لَا سِرِّي بِمُسْتَتِرٍ
عَنِ الْوُشَاةِ وَلَا دَائِي بِمُنْحَسِمِ
مَحَّضْتَنِي النُّصْحَ لَكِنْ لَسْتُ أَسْمَعُهُ
إِنَّ المُحِبَّ عَنِ العُذَّالِ فِي صَمَمِ
إِنِّي اتَّهَمْتُ نَصِيحَ الشَّيْبِ فِي عَذَلِي
وَالشَّيْبُ أَبْعَدُ فِي نُصْحٍ عَنِ التُّهَمِ

ʾamin tadhakkuri jīrānin bidhī salami
Mazajta damʿan jarā min muqlatin bidami
ʾAm habbati ar-rīḥu min tilqāʾi kāẓimatin
Wa ʾawmaḍa al-barqu fī aẓ-ẓalmāʾi min ʾiḍami
Famā liʿaynayka ʾin qulta ikfufā hamatā
Wamā liqalbiqa ʾin qulta istafiq yahimi
ʾAyaḥsabu aṣ-ṣabbu ʾanna al-ḥubba munkatimun
Mā bayna munsajimin minhu wa muḍṭarimi
Lawlā al-hawā lam turiq damʿan ʿalā ṭalalin
Walā ʾariqta lidhikri al-bāni wal-ʿalami
Fakayfa tunkiru ḥubban baʿdamā shahidat
Bihi ʿalayka ʿudūlu ad-damʿi was-saqami
Wa ʾathbata al-wajdu khaṭṭay ʿabratin wa ḍanan
Mithla al-bahāri ʿalā khaddayka wal-ʿanami
Naʿam sarā ṭayfu man ʾahwā faʾarraqanī
Wal-ḥubbu yaʿtariḍu al-ladhdhāti bil-ʾalami
Yā lāʾimī fī al-hawā al-ʿudhrīyi maʿdhiratan
Minnī ʾilayka walaw ʾanṣafta lam talumi
ʿAdatka ḥāliya lā sirrī bimustatirin
ʿAni al-wushāti walā dāʾī bimunḥasimi
Maḥḥaḍtanī an-nuṣḥa lākin lastu ʾasmaʿuhu
ʾInna al-muḥibba ʿani al-ʿudhdhāli fī ṣamami
ʾInnī ittahamtu naṣīḥa ash-shaybi fī ʿadhalī
Wash-shaybu ʾabʿadu fī nuṣḥin ʿani at-tuhami

Is it from remembering neighbours at Dhū Salam
That you shed tears admixed with blood from your eyes?
Or because wind has blown from the direction of Kāẓima
And lightning has flashed in the dark of Iḍam?
So what ails your eyes that when you tell them ‘stop’, they continue to weep still more?
And what ails your heart that when you bid it awake, it wanders further in distraction?
Does the lovelorn man think that love can be hidden
Behind a torrent from his [eyes], or a heart’s raging fire?
But for passion, you would not shed tears at an abandoned camp,
Or lie awake at night recalling the fragrant willow or the mountain;
So how can you deny this love when tears and sickness,
truthful witnesses, have testified to it against you?
Lovesickness has etched two lines, of tears and gauntness,
Upon your cheeks, like yellow spice and red ʿanam
Yes, my beloved’s apparition came to me and denied me sleep,
For love always opposes pleasures with pain!
O you who blame me for this chaste love, pardon me!
But had you judged fairly, you would not have blamed me.
May you be spared my condition! My secret cannot be concealed
From detractors, nor is there any cure for my ailment!
You have given me sincere advice, but I cannot hear it;
A lover’s ears are deaf to the reproaches of critics.
I hold suspect even the advice of my own grey hairs,
Even though their advice is far from deception.