غارت عليّ

أنت أبهى
ترجمة إنجليزية
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غَارَتْ عَلَيَّ وَأَخْفَتْ فِي حَنَايَاهَاوَنَمَّ عَنْ بَعْضِ مَا فِيهَا مُحَيَّاهَا
تَصَنَّعَتْ بَسْمَةً وَالْجَمْرُ مُتَّقِدٌفِي قَلْبِهَا شَرَراً يَكَادُ يَغْشَاهَا
فَقُلْتُ: أَهْوَاكِ، قَالَتْ: قُلْتَهَا زَمَناًفَمَا الْجَدِيدُ بِهَا، بَلْ أَيْنَ جَدْوَاهَا
كَرَّرْتُ: أَهْوَاكِ، قَالَتْ دَعْكَ مِنْهُ وَلَاتُكَرِّرِ الْقَوْلَ مِثْلَ الطِّفْلِ أَوَّاهَا
قَدْ أَخْلَفَتْ عَادَةً كَانَتْ تُلَازِمُهَاإِذَا أَقُولُ لَهَا أَهْوَاكِ، تَلْقَاهَا…
فِي لَهْفَةٍ وَجَوًى تَلْتَذُّ قَائِلَةً:أَمُوتُ فِيكَ هَوًى، وَلَا أُلَقَّاهَا
تَصَنَّعَتْ أَنَّهَا لَا شَيْءَ يُرْبِكُهَاوَكُلُّهَا فِي ارْتِبَاكٍ، مَا أُحَيْلَاهَا
حَتَّى إِذَا ارْتَبَكَتْ زَادَ الْجَمَالُ، وَلَاتَرَى سِوَى الْحُسْنِ حَتَّى حِينَ مَبْكَاهَا
قَالَتْ تُسَائِلُ:«مَنْ تِلْكَ الَّتِي حَظِيَتْمِنْكُمْ بِتَرْحِيبِكَ الرَّاقِي لِلُقْيَاهَا
كَأَنَّهَا مَلَكَتْ مِنْكَ الْفُؤَادَ وَلَمْتَرْقُبْ لَهَا أَحَداً، هَلْ كُنْتَ تَهْوَاهَا؟
أَنْهَيْتَ مُعْتَذِراً فَوْراً مُكَالَمَتِيلَمَّا أَطَلَّتْ، وَكَانَ الشَّوْقُ مَثْوَاهَا
طَعَنْتَنِي طَعْنَةً لَعَنْتُ فِيهَا الْهَوَىوَكُلَّ مَنْ حَبَّ، وَالدُّنْيَا وَفَحْوَاهَا»
فَقُلْتُ: «يَا مُنْيَتِي، هَذِي عَجُوزٌ أَتَتْتَرْجُو نَوَالاً، وَإِنِّي أَرْقُبُ اللَّهَ!»
تَفَجَّرَتْ ضَحِكاً، «إِنِّي لَآسِفَةٌ،مَا كَانَ قَصْدِي» وَخَصَّتْنِي بِنَجْوَاهَا
وَضَمَّتِ الْأَضْلُعَ الْحَرَّى لِمَحْضَنِهَاوَقَبَّلَتْنِي وَطَابَ الْمُجْتَنَى فَاهَا

She Was Jealous Over Me

  1. She was jealous over me, and hid it deep within;
    and yet her face gave something of the secret away.
  2. She put on a smile, while embers blazed within her heart
    and flung out sparks that all but swept her away.
  3. I said, “I love you.” She replied, “You've said it for an age.
    So what is new in that? Or rather, what's its use, anyway?”
  4. Again I said, “I love you.” “Leave all that,” she said, “and don't
    keep saying it like some small child who sighs ‘ah’1 all day.”
  5. She'd broken with a habit that had always been her own:
    whenever I would tell her “I love you,” you'd find her straight away…
  6. eager and ardent, savouring the words she used to say:
    “I'm dying of love for you.” And now that's not the lot2 that comes my way.
  7. She made as if there were nothing that could fluster her,
    yet all of her was flustered. Oh, how sweet3 her disarray!
  8. So much so that her fluster made her beauty grow, and you
    see nothing in her but her loveliness, even when she weeps.
  9. She asked me, “Who was she, the woman who so won
    your gracious welcome when she came your way,
  10. as if she owned your heart, and you kept watch4 for no one else?
    Were you in love with her?
  11. You cut my call short, begging pardon, then and there,
    the moment she appeared; in your longing she had come to stay5.
  12. You stabbed me with a blow that made me curse at love,
    and all who ever loved, the world and all it holds.”
  13. I said, “My heart's desire, that was an old woman, come
    to ask for charity; and the one I watch4 is God!”
  14. She burst out laughing: “I'm so sorry, I didn't mean it,”
    and favoured me alone with her soft whisperings,
  15. and pressed my burning ribs against her breast, and kissed me;
    and sweet was the fruit I gathered: her mouth6.

Notes

  1. Awwāh, an intensive form from taʾawwuh, ‘sighing’, is one who keeps on saying ‘ah’: here a small child forever whimpering and sighing. She mocks his ‘I love you’ as just such a childish, endless sigh. ↩
  2. Talqāhā, 'you would find her', and ulaqqāhā, 'I am granted it', come from the same root (jinās). The second word also echoes the Qurʾanic wa-mā yulaqqāhā illā alladhīna ṣabarū, 'none is granted it but those who are patient' (41:35). The ellipsis in verse 5 carries the recollection across into verse 6, and the sting comes at the end: the loving reply he used to receive is now withheld. ↩
  3. Mā uḥaylāhā is an exclamation of wonder using the diminutive of 'sweet' (ḥulw). Arabic exclamations in the diminutive carry fond, playful endearment, which English can only suggest. ↩
  4. Lam tarqub lahā aḥadan in verse 10 means literally 'you watched out for no one on her account': you paid no heed to anyone else, or did not care who saw. The reply in verse 13 turns on the same verb: innī arqubu Allāh, 'I watch for God', that is, I keep God in view and fear Him. The accusation that he had eyes only for the other woman is answered by the claim that his eyes were on God. ↩
  5. Kāna al-shawqu mathwāhā, literally 'longing was her dwelling place': in the jealous woman's eyes, the other woman was received as one who already lodged in his longing, awaited and warmly welcomed. ↩
  6. Ṭāba al-mujtanā fāhā, literally 'sweet was the thing gathered, her mouth'. Mujtanā is fruit picked from the tree, so her kiss is pictured as ripe fruit plucked at last. ↩

English translation prepared by artificial intelligence and reviewed against the Arabic for accuracy of meaning and rhetoric.