Nusaymat Al-Hima

By Baha’ Ad-Deen Zuhayr

بحر البسيط

إقرَأ سَلامي عَلى مَن لا أُسَمّيهِ … وَمَن بِروحي مِنَ الأَسواءِ أَفديهِ

Pass my greetings to the One whom I do not name ¹, the One for whom I ransom my spirit to above all others…

وَمَن أُعَرِّضُ عَنهُ حينَ أَذكُرُهُ … فَإِن ذَكَرتُ سِواهُ كُنتُ أَعنيهِ

The One whom I avoid when I mention Him, so when I mention someone besides Him, I intend Him in reality… ²

أَشِر بِذِكرِيَ في ضِمنِ الحَديثِ لَهُ … إِنَّ الإِشارَةَ في مَعنايَ تَكفيهِ

Allude of my mention, in the content of your conversation to Him; indeed, allusion to what I mean suffices Him! ³

وَاِسأَلهُ إِن كانَ يُرضيهِ ضَنى جَسَدي … فَحَبَّذا كُلَّ شَيءٍ كانَ يُرضيهِ

And ask Him if my body’s agony pleases Him; how lovely is everything that pleases Him!

فَلَيتَ عَينَ حَبيبي في البُعادِ تَرى … حالي وَما بِيَ مِن ضُرٍّ أُقاسيهِ

If only my Beloved’s eye, in distance, would see my state, and what I have within me of pain which I endure!

هَل كُنتُ مِن قَومِ موسى في مَحَبَّتِهِ … حَتّى أَطالَ عَذابي مِنهُ بِالتيهِ

Am I from Moses’ nation, in my love for Him, until my chastisement by Him was prolonged in wandering? ⁴

أَحبَبتُ كُلَّ سَمِيٍّ في الأَنامِ لَهُ … وَكُلَّ مَن فيهِ مَعنىً مِن مَعانيهِ

I love every one among humanity with His name for His sake, and so too whoever has a meaning from among His meanings!

يَغيبُ عَنّي وَأَفكاري تُمَثِّلُهُ … حَتّى يُخَيَّلَ لي أَنّي أُناجيهِ

He absents from me, so my thoughts fashion Him, until it is imagined to me that I speak intimately with Him…

لا ضَيمَ يَخشاهُ قَلبي وَالحَبيبُ بِهِ … فَإِنَّ ساكِنَ ذاكَ البَيتِ يَحميهِ

My heart fears no transgression so long my Beloved is in it, for indeed the inhabitant of that house protects it! ⁵

مَن مِثلُ قَلبي أَو مَن مِثلُ ساكِنِهِ … اللَهُ يَحفَظُ قَلبي وَالَّذي فيهِ

Who is like my heart? Indeed, who is like the One who inhabits it? God does preserve my heart and the One within it!

يا أَحسَنَ الناسِ يا مَن لا أَبوحُ بِهِ … يا مَن تَجَنّى وَما أَحلى تَجَنّيهِ

O the Best of people, O You who I divulge not of, O you who has wronged me, yet how sweet be You wronging of me! ⁶

قَد أَتعَسَ اللَهُ عَيناً صِرتَ توحِشُها … وَأَسعَدَ اللَهُ قَلباً صِرتَ تَأويهِ

God does make wretched any eye that You have estranged! God does make joyous any heart that You have sought refuge in! 

مَولايَ أَصبَحَ وَجدي فيكَ مُشتَهِراً … فَكَيفَ أَستُرُهُ أَم كَيفَ أُخفيهِ

O my Master, my ecstasy in You has become widely-known! How can I conceal or hide it?! ⁷

وَصارَ ذِكرِيَ لِلواشي بِهِ وَلَعًا … لَقَد تَكَلَّفَ أَمراً لَيسَ يَعنيهِ

And now my mention has become mania for the tale-bearer, who is now burdened by an affair which concerns him not… ⁸

فَمَن أَذاعَ حَديثاً كُنتُ أَكتُمُهُ … حَتّى وَجَدتُ نَسيمَ الرَوضِ يَرويهِ

So who was the one to broadcast a conversation that I concealed, such that I found even the garden’s breeze narrating it? ⁹

فَيا رَسولي تَضَرَّع في السُؤالِ لَهُ … عَساكَ تَعطِفُهُ نَحوي وَتَثنيهِ

So, O my messenger, plead, begging to Him! Haply you may incline and turn Him to me!

إِذا سَأَلتَ فَسَل مَن فيهِ مَكرُمَةٌ … لا تَطلِبِ الماءَ إِلّا مِن مَجاريهِ

If you ask, then ask the one who possesses nobility; do not request water except from His streams!

1. The lover here dares not even name his Beloved out of protective jealousy, as well, perhaps, out of preserving the modesty and honor of the Beloved by keeping them anonymous, just as a priceless treasure is kept hidden. ↩︎
2. Continuing the theme of the Beloved’s anonymity, the lover goes so far as to actively avoid speaking of Them, instead alluding to them by the name of others. ↩︎
3. The poet is speaking to a messenger who is there to relay his greetings to the Beloved. The bond the lover and Beloved seem to have is intimate enough that even an allusion of the lover will be understood by the Beloved, so both of them retain their anonymity while both exclusively know one another. ↩︎
4. The lover, wandering in his love, likens himself to Moses’ people, when the tribes of Israel were lost in the desert for 40 years. ↩︎
5. The heart is commonly likened to a house in which the Beloved lives. ↩︎
6. We mentioned before that a common theme in ghazal poetry is the ascribing of wrongdoing to the Beloved. This usually has various interpretations. One of them may be that the Beloved indeed wrongs the lover by avoiding them intentionally, thus hurting the lover, yet the lover endures it nonetheless. Another may be a coy tease regarding the Beloved, just as the Beloved also coquettishly plays “hard to get”. In any case, the lover never intends in it any real accusation with negative consequence, rather, it is all part of their appreciation for the Beloved, even if they are harmed by Their antics. ↩︎
7. The lover rarely divulges who they actually love, preferring to hide the Beloved under symbols or archetypes. If any divulging may occur, it may either be by accident or because this love manifests in various ways by which the lover is agitated and disturbed, becoming clear to onlookers. Here, tales are borne, and rumors spread. ↩︎
8. Those who are too self-righteous or secretly envious of the lover develop an obsession with reproaching or censuring his love, contributing to the burden of the lover, which he gladly bears for the Beloved’s sake. ↩︎
9. The lover’s love has become so widely renowned that even he begins to recognize it beyond himself, imagining even the breezes to carry news of it! ↩︎