Sol 6.1

  1. طالَ الزَّمانُ وما ثَناهُ ولا انثَنَى

    فَقِفا على شَحطِ النَّوى وتَبيَّنا

    Time has dragged on, yet it has not bent him, nor has he bowed.

    So pause, you two, at separation's far remove, and discern:

  2. هَل تَعرفانِ البَينَ يومَ تَعانَقا

    وتفارَقا إِلا مُسِيئاً مُحسِنا

    Do you two know parting, on the day they embraced

    and parted, as anything but one who hurts and helps?

  3. كَلا وفَضلِ غناكما في عَذلهِ

    ما زدتُماهُ بعَذلهِ إلا عَنا

    No! By the worth of your efforts in reproaching him,

    you have only increased his suffering by reproaching him.

  4. يا صاحِبَيَّ المُنكِرَينِ من الهَوى

    ما لا تَدلُّ عَليه أثوابُ الضَّنا

    O my two companions, who deny in love

    what the robes of wasting sickness do not reveal,

  5. تحتَ الضَّمائِر في السَّرائرِ لَوعَةٌ

    لم تُطلِق العُشَّاقُ فيها الألسُنا

    beneath what hearts conceal, in their secrets, burns an anguish

    about which lovers have never loosed their tongues.

  6. وعَساكُما فيما تُريدانِ الهَوَى

    يأتي بهِ قدَرٌ فيَعدلُ بَينَنا

    And perhaps, amid what you two desire, love

    will be brought to you by fate, which will deal justly between us.

  7. ما للسَّقامِ أتَى يَعمُّ جَوارِحي

    جَمعاً وليسَت للظَّعائِنِ أعيُنا

    Why has sickness come to pervade my limbs

    all at once, though they are not eyes upon the women in their litters—

  8. من كلِّ غُصنٍ تَجتَني ثَمراتُهُ

    ثمَرَ القُلوبِ وما أراها تُجتَنَى

    each a bough whose fruits pluck

    the fruit of hearts, though I never see those fruits plucked?

  9. أنا للخُطُوبِ إذا دَعَت أقرانَها

    إذ لا يَقولُ لَها أنا إلا أنا

    I face calamities when they summon their worthy opponents,

    for none says to them, 'Here I am,' but I.

  10. ولَطالَما صرَخَت صُروفُ الدَّهرِ بي

    فأجَبتُ صارِخَها ذَليلاً مُذعِنا

    And often the reversals of time have cried out to me,

    and I answered their caller, abased and submissive,

  11. حتَّى استَجرتُ من الزَّمانِ براحةٍ

    تركَتهُ منِّي يَستَجيرُ الأزمُنا

    until I sought refuge from time in a palm

    that left time pleading with the ages for refuge from me.

  12. بَسطَ العَزيزُ بنُ المُعِزِّ بِناءَها

    فِينا فكانَ اللَّهُ يَرفعُ ما بَنَى

    Al-Aziz, son of al-Mu'izz, extended its edifice

    among us, and God exalted what he built.

  13. مَولى الموالفِ والمُخالفِ عنوةً

    من تحتِ شَكٍّ كانَ أو مُتَيقِّنا

    Lord of ally and adversary, by force,

    whether one was under doubt or certain.

  14. ومحجَّةٌ للَّهِ هاديةٌ إلى

    سُبُلِ الهُدَى وضَحَت بِنعمتِهِ لَنا

    And God's clear path, leading to

    the ways of guidance, was made plain to us through his favor.

  15. ومُقيمُها من بَعدِ طُولِ قُعُودِها

    عَلويَّةَ الأنسابِ عالِيةَ السَّنا

    And he who set it upright after it had sat so long,

    Alid in ancestry, lofty in radiance,

  16. بيضاءَ يَجلُوها الوَزيرُ بحُلَّتي

    سُمرِ اليَراع وزُرقِ أطرافِ القَنا

    white, which the vizier burnishes with the two robes

    of brown reed-pens and blue spear-points.

  17. يَرمي جَوانبها بِرأيِ مُهَذَّبٍ

    متجنِّبٍ فيهِ الخِيانَةَ والخَنا

    He brings refined judgment to its sides,

    shunning in it treachery and baseness,

  18. حتَّى أتَتنا وهيَ ذاتُ قَلائِدٍ

    جَعلَ الإمامُ فَريدَهُنَّ فَريدَنا

    until it came to us wearing necklaces;

    the Imam made their peerless jewel our own peerless one—

  19. القائِدُ الجَرّارُ في يَوم الوَغى

    ذَيلَ الوَغى عُجباً بِها وتَزَيُّنا

    the commander who, on the day of battle, drags

    battle's trailing hem, proud of it and decking himself in it.

  20. فإذا تَناكَرتِ الفَوارسُ واختَفَت

    خَوفَ الوُقُوفِ بها تَسَمَّى واكتَنَى

    And when the horsemen become unrecognizable and hide,

    for fear of standing in it, he declares his name and byname,

  21. ليُريكَ نارَ الحَربِ كيفَ يَشُبُّها

    ماءُ النُّفوسِ تَرُشُّه أيدي الفَنا

    to show you the fire of war—how it is kindled by

    the water of souls, sprinkled by the hands of annihilation.

  22. يَبدوُ فيُبدي مِن صَفِيحةِ وَجهِهِ

    وحُسامِه في النَّقعِ بَرقأ موهِنا

    He appears, revealing from the surface of his face

    and his sword, amid the battle-dust, a flash of lightning at night.

  23. صَحِبَ الأئمَّة واثِقاً ما خَانَهُ

    مِيثاقُهُ ومُوَثَّقاً ما خُوِّنا

    He accompanied the Imams, trusting; never did his

    covenant fail him; trusted, he was never accused of treachery.

  24. فتَوارَثَت مِنه الهُداةُ نَصِيحةً

    عَصَتِ الهَوى وعَزِيمةً أبَتِ الوَنا

    So the guides inherited from him sincere counsel

    that defied caprice, and resolve that rejected slackness,

  25. حتَّى تمكَّنَ عندَهُم في رُتبةٍ

    ما كانَ فيها غيرُهُ مُتَمَكِّنا

    until he was firmly established with them in a rank

    in which no one else was established.

  26. إن قالَ كانَ به لعادَةِ صِدقهِ

    عَن أن يَدُلَّ عَلى مَقالتِهِ غِنَى

    If he speaks, his habitual truthfulness leaves him

    without need to provide proof of his words.

  27. يا مُستَغاثَ النَّاسِ في يَومِ الوَغى

    ما بالُ مالِكَ يَستَغيثُ من الثَّنا

    O you to whom people cry for help on the day of battle,

    why does your wealth cry for rescue from praise?

  28. حصَلَت بمِصرٍ همَّتي واستَوطنَت

    وأفادَ لي عُدمي سِواها مَوطِنا

    My ambition has come to Egypt and settled there,

    and my poverty has provided me a home elsewhere.

  29. فغدَوتُ للخَطبِ الكَبيرِ مُصَغِّراً

    فيها ولِلأمرِ الشَّديدِ مُهَوِّنا

    Thus I have come to make great calamity small

    there, and to make severe matters easy.

  30. وقَد اعتَمدتُ عليكَ فاجمَع بَينَنا

    وخذِ الحَوادثَ قبلَ فتكَتِها بِنا

    I have indeed put my trust in you, so bring us together,

    and seize misfortunes before they strike us down.

  31. فَلَكَ الهَناءُ بدُونِ ما بلِّغتُه

    وبدُونِ ما بلِّغتَهُ وجَبَ الهَنا

    So congratulations are yours, even for less than what I was granted;

    and for less than what you were granted, congratulations are due.