Sol 6.1

  1. بدا والصُّبحُ غارَ على الظَّلامِ

    وعِقدُ النَّجم محلول النظامِ

    He appeared as dawn raided the darkness,

    and the necklace of stars lay unstrung.

  2. فحيَّا بالرُّضاب وبالحميّا

    فأحيا بالرّضاب وبالمدامِ

    Then he greeted me with lip-nectar and strong wine,

    and revived me with lip-nectar and wine.

  3. إذا ما الشيخ في الكأس احتساها

    غدا في الحال أنشط من غلام

    Whenever an old man sips it from the cup,

    he becomes at once livelier than a youth.

  4. لئِنْ عَلَّلْتَني يا صاحِ يوماً

    بأحبابي فَعَلّلْني بجام

    If someday, my friend, you console me

    with my loved ones, then console me with a goblet.

  5. دَعا عنِّي الملامة في التصابي

    فقد رَوَّعتُماني بالملام

    You two, leave off blaming me for youthful dalliance:

    you have indeed frightened me with blame.

  6. ألا يا صاحبيَّ وبي غرام

    أعيناني على داءِ الغرام

    Oh, my two friends, I am possessed by passion;

    help me against the malady of love.

  7. ويا ريح الصَّبا النجديّ بلِّغْ

    سُليْمى يا صَبا نجد سلامي

    And O Najdi east wind, convey

    to Sulayma, O breeze of Najd, my greeting.

  8. ومن لي بالكرى يوماً لعلي

    أرى طيفَ المليحة بالمنام

    And who will grant me sleep someday, so I might

    see the fair one's phantom in a dream?

  9. وما أنسى لها في الركب قولي

    وقد نظرت لأجفان دوامي

    Nor do I forget my words to her in the caravan,

    when she had gazed upon my bleeding eyelids:

  10. نحولي ما بخصرك من نحولٍ

    وسقمي ما بطرفك من سقام

    'My wasting is the slenderness in your waist,

    and my sickness is the languor in your gaze.'

  11. سقى الأثلاث في سلع سيولاً

    فقد جَلَبَتْ حمائِمها حمامي

    May al-Athlath in Salʿ be watered by torrents,

    for its doves have brought my death.

  12. بكيتُ وما بكت في الدَّوح وُرْقٌ

    تظنّ هيامها أبداً هيامي

    I wept, but the gray doves in the great trees did not;

    they always think their yearning is like mine.

  13. ولو كانَ الهوى من غير دمع

    قَضَينا بالغرام على الحمام

    And if love required no tears,

    we would have pronounced the doves lovesick.

  14. أداوي مهجةً يا سعد جرحى

    رماها من رماة الحسن رام

    I tend a wounded heart, O Saʿd,

    shot by an archer from among beauty's bowmen.

  15. رمين قلوبنا غزلانُ سلع

    فما أخطأتَ هاتيك المرامي

    The gazelles of Salʿ have shot our hearts,

    and those shots did not miss.

  16. فبتّ جريح ألفاظ مراضٍ

    ورُحتُ طعين ذياك القوام

    So I spent the night wounded by languid words,

    and went away pierced by that figure.

  17. قدود البيض لا سمر العوالي

    ولحظ السرب لا حد الحسام

    The forms of fair women, not dusky spear-shafts,

    and the herd's glances, not the sword's edge.

  18. كتمتُ الحبَّ متّهماً عليه

    وما لي طاقة بالإكتتام

    I hid my love, though suspected of it,

    yet I have no strength to keep it hidden.

  19. وكيفَ أطيقُ والعبرات منّي

    تعبّر عن فؤاد مستهام

    And how can I bear it, when my tears

    speak for a heart lost in love?

  20. وما نقص اشتياق الصَّبِّ شيئاً

    على وجه حكى بدر التمام

    And the lovesick one's yearning has not diminished at all

    for a face resembling the moon at its full.

  21. يَدِبُّ هواك يا سلمى بروحي

    دبيبَ الصَّرخدية في العظام

    Love for you, O Salma, creeps through my soul

    as Sarkhad wine creeps through the bones.

  22. وفيتُ بعهد من نقضت عهودي

    وما لوفاء ميّ من دوام

    I honored the pledge of her who broke my pledges,

    and Mayy's faithfulness never lasts.

  23. فليتَ المالكيّة حين صَدَّت

    رَعَيْتُ ذمامها وَرَعَتْ ذمامي

    If only, when the Maliki woman turned away,

    I had honored her bond, and she had honored mine.

  24. صَبَرتُ على الحوادث صَبْرَ حُرٍّ

    يَرى بالصَّبرِ إبلاغ المرامي

    I endured misfortunes with a free man's patience,

    who sees in patience the attainment of his aims.

  25. وقلتُ معلِّلاً نفسي ولكن

    مقالي كانَ أصدق من حذام

    And I said, consoling myself—yet

    my words were truer than Hadhām's:

  26. سأحمدْ عند محمود السجايا

    عواقبَ أمرِ أخطار عظام

    With one of praiseworthy character, I shall praise

    the outcomes of a venture fraught with mighty perils.

  27. وأستغني به عمَّا سواه

    كما يغني الركام عن الجهام

    And through him I shall need nothing else,

    as piled rain clouds dispense with rainless clouds.

  28. وأرجو أن تُظَفِّرَني سريعاً

    عنايَتُه بغايات المرام

    And I hope that I shall swiftly gain,

    through his care, the utmost ends of my desire.

  29. لقد دَرَّتْ سحائبه إلى أنْ

    زهَتْ فيهنّ أزهار الكلام

    His clouds have indeed poured forth until

    the flowers of speech flourished within them.

  30. فحَدِّثْ عن مكارمه فإنِّي

    لتعْجِبُني أحاديثُ الكرام

    So tell of his noble deeds, for I

    truly delight in tales of the generous.

  31. إذا ما جئتني بحديث جودٍ

    لقرم جوده كالغيث هامي

    Whenever you bring me a tale of generosity,

    of a noble lord whose bounty pours like rain,

  32. فما حَدَّثتُ إلاَّ عن أشمّ

    ولا أخبرت إلاَّ عن همام

    then I have spoken only of a lofty man,

    and have told only of a high-souled hero.

  33. ذكاءٌ فيه أروى من زنادٍ

    وكفٌّ منه أندى من غمام

    His wit strikes sparks more readily than a firesteel,

    and his hand is more bountiful than a rain cloud.

  34. وآراءٌّ إذا نَفَذَتْ لأمرٍ

    فهنّ اليوم أنفَذُ من سهام

    And his counsels, when applied to an affair,

    are today more penetrating than arrows.

  35. يرى فعل الجميل عليه فرضاً

    كمفترض الصَّلاة مع الصّيام

    He regards doing good as his obligation,

    like the duty of prayer along with fasting.

  36. وقامَ له على الأعناق شكر

    فلا يُقضى إلى يوم القيام

    And a debt of gratitude to him rests upon people's necks,

    never to be discharged until the Day of Resurrection.

  37. سريع الجود إنْ يُدْعَ لحسنى

    وها هو ذا بطيء الانتقام

    Swift in generosity when called to a good deed,

    yet here he is, slow to take revenge.

  38. أياديه حَطَمْنَ المال جوداً

    فما أبْقَتْ يَداه من حطام

    His hands have shattered wealth through generosity,

    so his two hands have left not a scrap.

  39. على أبوابه الآمال منّا

    قدْ ازدحمت لنا أيَّ ازدحام

    At his gates our hopes

    have indeed thronged for us—what a throng!

  40. تخيَّرْ ما تشاء وسَله تعطى

    من ابن المصطفى خير الأنام

    Choose what you wish and ask him; you will receive it

    from the son of the Chosen One, the best of humankind.

  41. تيقَّنْ أن أمرك سوف يقضى

    إذا ما شِمْتَ منه سنا ابتسام

    Be certain that your affair will be settled,

    if you glimpse from him the radiance of a smile.

  42. أخو الهمم الَّتي تحكي المواضي

    وتفتك فتك خواض القتام

    A man of high resolves that resemble keen blades,

    and strike with the deadliness of one who plunges into battle-dust.

  43. تسامى مجده فعلاً محلاً

    وإنَّ مَحَلَّ أهلِ المجد سامي

    His glory has risen in deed and rank,

    and the station of men of glory is indeed lofty.

  44. جميلك قاطن في كلّ أرضٍ

    وذكرك سار جوّان الموامي

    Your kindness dwells in every land,

    and your renown travels, roaming the desert wastes.

  45. طميتَ وأنتَ يوم الجود بحر

    وبحرك لا يزال الدهر طامي

    You overflowed, a sea on the day of giving,

    and your sea remains forever overflowing.

  46. ومن جدواك كم قد سال سيلٌ

    فروّى سيلُ جودك كل ظامي

    How many a torrent has flowed from your bounty!

    And the torrent of your generosity gave drink to every thirsty soul.

  47. لقد أوليتني نِعَماً جساماً

    فما أهداك للنعم الجسام

    You have indeed bestowed immense favors on me,

    and how well you know the way to immense favors!

  48. دَعاك لأمره المولى عليٌّ

    فكنتَ وأنتَ في أعلى مقام

    The lord Ali summoned you for his affairs,

    so you were then in the highest station.

  49. وعُدْتَ لديه يا عين المعالي

    برأيك ناظراً أمر النظام

    And you returned to him, O essence of eminence,

    with your judgment, overseeing the affairs of order.

  50. فتمّ لجيشه المنصور أمر

    وإنَّ الأمر يحسن بالتمام

    So a task for his victorious army was completed,

    and a task is made good by completion.