# Al Faswlul Awwalu · الْفَصْلُ الْاوَّلُ

From [Qasida Al Burda · قصيدة البردة](https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/qasaaid/691c712ac9a45b73e98077a8) by [Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Sa'id al-Busiri](https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/authors/691c70fac9a45b73e980779f)

**1.** أَمِنْ تَذَكُّرِ جِيرَانٍ بِذِي سَلَمِ / مَزَجْتَ دَمْعًا جَرَى مِنْ مُقْلَةٍ بِدَمِ

_Amin tadhakkuri jīrānin bi dhī salami / Mazajta damʿan jarā min muqlatin bidami_

Is it from remembering neighbours at Dhū Salam
That you shed tears admixed with blood from your eyes?

**2.** أَمْ هَبَّتِ الرِّيحُ مِنْ تِلْقَاءِ كَاظِمَةٍ / وَأَوْمَضَ البَرْقُ فِي الظَّلْمَاءِ مِنْ إِضَمِ

_Am habbatir rīhu min tilqāʾi kādhimatin / Wa awmaḍal barqu fīẓ ẓulmāʾi min iḍami_

Or because wind has blown from the direction of Kāẓima
And lightning has flashed in the dark of Iḍam?

**3.** فَمَا لِعَيْنَيْكَ إِنْ قُلْتَ اكْفُفَا هَمَتَا / وَمَا لِقَلْبِكَ إِنْ قُلْتَ اسْتَفِقْ يَهِمِ

_Famā li ʿaynayka in qultakfufā hamatā / Wa mā li qalbika in qultastafiq yahimi_

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?

**4.** أَيَحْسَبُ الصَّبُّ أَنَّ الحُبَّ مُنْكَتِمٌ / مَا بَيْنَ مُنْسَجِمٍ مِنْهُ وَمُضْطَرِمِ

_Ayaḥsabuṣ ṣabbu annal ḥubba munkatimun / Mā bayna munsajimin minhu wa muḍṭarimi_

Does the lovelorn man think that love can be hidden
Behind a torrent from his [eyes], or a heart’s raging fire?

**5.** لَوْلاَ الهَوَى لَمْ تَرِقْ دَمْعًا عَلَى طَلَلٍ / وَلاَ أَرِقْتَ لِذِكْرِ البَانِ وَالْعَلَمِ

_Lawlal hawā lam turiq damʿan ʿalā ṭalalin / Wa lā ariqta li dhikril bāni wal ʿalami_

But for passion, you would not shed tears at an abandoned camp,
Or lie awake at night recalling the fragrant willow or the mountain;

**6.** فَكَيْفَ تُنْكِرُ حُبًّا بَعْدَمَا شَهِدَتْ / بِهِ عَلَيْكَ عُدُولُ الدَّمْعِ وَالسَّقَمِ

_Fakayfa tunkiru ḥubban baʿda mā shahidat / Bihi ʿalayka ʿudūlud damʿi was saqami_

So how can you deny this love when tears and sickness,
truthful witnesses, have testified to it against you?

**7.** وَأَثْبَتَ الوَجْدُ خَطَّيْ عَبْرَةٍ وَضَنىً / مِثْلَ البَهَارِ عَلَى خَدَّيْكَ وَالعَنَمِ

_Wa athbatal wajdu khaṭṭay ʿabratin wa ḍanā / Mithlal bahāri ʿalā khaddayka wal ʿanami_

Lovesickness has etched two lines, of tears and gauntness,
Upon your cheeks, like yellow spice and red ʿanam

**8.** نَعَمْ سَرَى طَيْفُ مَنْ أَهْوَى فَأَرَّقَنِي / وَالحُبُّ يَعْتَرِضُ اللَّذَّاتِ بِالأَلَمِ

_Naʿam sarā ṭayfu man ahwā fa arraqanī / Wal ḥubbu yaʿtariḍul ladhdhati bil alami_

Yes, my beloved’s apparition came to me and denied me sleep,
For love always opposes pleasures with pain!

**9.** يَا لاَئِمِي فِي الهَوَى العُذْرِيِّ مَعْذِرَةً / مِنِّي إِلَيْكَ وَلَوْ أَنْصَفْتَ لَمْ تَلُمِ

_Yā lāʾimī fīl hawal ʿudhriyyi maʿdhiratan / Minnī ilayka wa law anṣafta lam talumi_

O you who blame me for this chaste love, pardon me!
But had you judged fairly, you would not have blamed me.

**10.** عَدَتْكَ حَالِيَ لاَ سِرِّي بِمُسْتَتِرٍ / عَنِ الْوُشَاةِ وَلاَ دَائِي بِمُنْحَسِمِ

_ʿAdatka ḥāliya lā sirrī bi mustatirin / ʿAnil wushāti wa lā dāʾī bimunḥasimi_

May you be spared my condition! My secret cannot be concealed
From detractors, nor is there any cure for my ailment!

**11.** مَحَضْتَنِي النُّصْحَ لَكِنْ لَّسْتُ أَسْمَعُهُ / إِنَّ المُحِبَّ عَنْ العُذَّالِ فِي صَمَمِ

_Maḥḥaḍtanī nuṣḥa lākin lastu asmaʿuhu / Innal muḥibba ʿanil ʿudhdhāli fī ṣamami_

You have given me sincere advice, but I cannot hear it;
A lover’s ears are deaf to the reproaches of critics.

**12.** إِنِّي اتَّهَمْتُ نَصِيحَ الشَّيْبِ فِي عَذَلٍ / وَالشَّيْبُ أَبْعَدُ فِي نُصْحِ عَنِ التُّهَمِ

_Innit tahamtu naṣīḥash shaybi fī ʿadhalin / Wash shaybu abʿadu fī nuṣḥin ʿanit tuhami_

I hold suspect even the advice of my own grey hairs,
Even though their advice is far from deception.

Source: https://qasaaid.zayfir.app/app/qasaaid/691c712ac9a45b73e98077a8/book/691c7161c9a45b73e98077db/chapter/691c718ac9a45b73e98077e3