Sol 6.1

  1. بين التصبّر وهو خير الأدرع

    وتجلّدي بجلاله المترفّع

    Between patient endurance—the finest armor—

    and my fortitude in its exalted dignity,

  2. لجج من الحزن العميق تدافعت

    أمواجها الحرّى تمور بأضلعي

    deep seas of sorrow surged against one another;

    their searing waves churn within my ribs.

  3. ومَشاهد الإخوان والأخوا

    ت والأبناء يغري أعيني بالأدمع

    And the sight of brothers and sisters

    and children tempts my eyes to tears.

  4. والأهل كالمأخوذ من هول الذي

    قرع المسامع بالأشد الاصدع

    And the family seemed stunned by the horror of what

    struck their ears with the fiercest, most shattering blow.

  5. نبأ كوقع البرق شلّ قلوبنا

    فاسّاقطت فرقاً وإن لم تجزع

    News like the strike of lightning paralyzed our hearts;

    and they collapsed in terror, though they did not yield to anguish.

  6. قد ثار قبل الفجر ثم تواترت

    رعداته لتقض هاني المضجع

    It erupted before dawn; then came in succession

    its thunderclaps, to unsettle whoever lay at ease.

  7. نبأ برغم يقيننا بوقوعه

    أنحى علينا بالخطير المفجع

    News which, despite our certainty it would come,

    assailed us with grave, heartbreaking force:

  8. أن التي حملت وربّت واعتنت

    ورعت وضحّت بالنفيس الأروع

    that she who bore us, raised us, and cared for us,

    and tended us, sacrificing what was precious and finest,

  9. نُعيتْ إلينا وهي تُسلم روحها

    بعد السنين من العناء الموجع

    was reported dead to us as she surrendered her soul,

    after years of painful suffering.

  10. تهفو مودّعةً قبيل رحيلها

    ولهى إلى الروض النضير الأينَع

    She yearns, bidding farewell just before her departure,

    in longing for the fresh, luxuriant garden,

  11. وإلى جنان الخلد تستبق المنى

    وهي التي سبقت بمدّ الأذرع

    and for the gardens of eternity, outstripping hopes,

    she who had gone ahead with arms outstretched.

  12. أمي ووالدتي وبلسم مهجتي

    ونضير روض معيشتي المتفرّع

    My mother, she who bore me, the balm of my soul,

    and the verdure of my life's branching garden.

  13. شمسي وظلي نورها وحنانها

    وحديثها نغم الهناء بمسمعي

    My sun and shade are her light and tenderness,

    and her speech is the melody of happiness in my ear.

  14. مذ أبصرت عيني الحياة بعينها

    غدت الحياة بعينها في مدمعي

    Ever since my eye saw life through hers,

    life itself has come to dwell in my tearful eye.

  15. أهفو إليها كلما ضاقت بي الدنـ

    ـيا فأمرح في فضاها الأوسع

    I yearn for her whenever the world closes in on me,

    and revel in her widest expanse.

  16. وأعود كالطفل المدلل عندها

    هيهات أكبر عندها في موجعي

    And I become again her pampered child;

    in my pain, I can never grow up in her presence.

  17. أمي ومدرستي وراية مفخري

    وسماء عزّي واعتزازي الأنصع

    My mother, my school, the banner of my pride,

    and the sky of my honor and my purest self-respect.

  18. فهي التي كنا ببارد ظلها

    نُلقي حمائل ثقلنا المتجمّع

    For she was the one in whose cool shade we would

    lay down the shoulder-straps of our accumulated burden.

  19. وبدفء مبسمها تذوب همومنا

    وكأنما هو بلسم المتوجّع

    In the warmth of her smile, our cares would melt,

    as though it were a balm for one in pain.

  20. وبنسمة من طيب نشر حديثها

    تغدو القضايا في مهبٍّ زعزع

    And with a breeze from the sweet fragrance of her speech,

    our troubles would drift into a blustering wind.

  21. وهي التي كانت رياض عطائها

    غدّاقةً لذوي العفاء المدقع

    And she was the one whose gardens of giving were

    overflowing for those in grinding poverty.

  22. وهي التي شهدت لها صلواتها

    والليل ساهٍ في عيون الهُجّع

    And she was the one for whom her prayers bore witness,

    while night lay oblivious in the eyes of sleepers.

  23. وهي التي شهد الصيام ببرده

    وبحرّه من وصلها لم يُقطع

    And she was the one for whom fasting bore witness, in its cold

    and its heat, its bond with her never broken.

  24. وهي التي نقشت بخط يمينها

    أوفاق صاحبها بقدرة مُبدع

    And she was the one who inscribed in her right hand's script

    her companion's magic squares, with a creator's skill.

  25. وهي التي كتبت بماء عيونها

    والزعفران المحوَ للمستنفع

    And she was the one who wrote with the water of her eyes

    and saffron, wash-off inscriptions for those seeking benefit.

  26. أمي الثريا يا ابنة العلماء والأ

    علام أهل الفضل أهل المَفزَع

    My mother, Thurayya, O daughter of scholars and

    eminent figures—people of virtue, a refuge in distress—

  27. من آل كندة صنو نور العلم والـ

    ـخلق الرفيع وكل فضل مجمع

    from the house of Kinda, kindred to the light of learning and

    lofty character, and every virtue gathered together.

  28. يا بنت احمد ذي الكرامة والندى

    نجل الأُلى ملأوا الدنى بالأنفع

    O daughter of Ahmad, possessed of honor and generosity,

    scion of those who filled the worlds with the greatest good.

  29. مَن لي بوالده سعيد في التقى

    والزهد والعلم العليّ الأجمع

    Who can bring me the like of his father, Saʿid, in piety,

    asceticism, and lofty, all-embracing knowledge?

  30. فلأنتِ منهم نبعة عربية

    رُويتْ بنور عُلاهمُ المتشعشع

    For you are an Arab sapling sprung from them,

    watered by the radiant light of their eminence.

  31. ولأنتِ دوح المكرمات تفرّعت

    أكرم بذاك الأصل ثم الأفرع

    And you are a grove of noble deeds, its branches spreading;

    how noble that root, and then its branches!

  32. ولأنت مهبط وحي شاعرك الذي

    يرنو إليك كبدره المتربع

    And you are where your poet's inspiration descends, he who

    gazes toward you as his full moon enthroned.

  33. وأميرة لأمير سحر بيانه

    ما بين ختم رويّه والمطلع

    And a princess to a prince of enchanting eloquence,

    between his rhyme's close and his opening verse.

  34. ولأنت زهرة روضه وجِنانه

    وجَنانه بعبيرك المتضوّع

    And you are the blossom of his meadow and his gardens,

    and of his heart, with your fragrance wafting abroad.

  35. قد كنت والدنيا لديك سمائل

    تهتزّ تحت خُطاك هِزة طيّع

    You once lived, with Samail your whole world;

    it swayed beneath your steps like one obedient.

  36. وهواك حولدِغالأوسُبحيةٍ

    يختال ملتاعاً وإن لم ترتعي

    And your love [unintelligible text]

    moves proudly, anguished, even if you do not revel.

  37. أماه لا أحصيك عمريَ ذاكراً

    أو شاكراً لنداك في مُتَتبَّع

    Mother, all my life I cannot do you justice in remembrance,

    or in thanks, however closely I trace your generosity.

  38. وأنا المقصّر دون حقك فاعذري

    أماه تقصيري أفُزْ في مرجعي

    I fall short of what is due to you, so forgive,

    Mother, my failings, that I may prosper on my return.

  39. يا من لكِ الحق المؤثل ثابتاً

    في الشكر بعد الله غير مزعزع

    O you whose deeply rooted right stands firm

    to gratitude after God, unshaken:

  40. فإذا رضيتِ رضي وذلك مطمحي

    أرضاك ربك بالمقام الأرفع

    if you are pleased, He is pleased; that is my aspiration.

    May your Lord please you with the highest station,

  41. في جنة عليا مع الخُلصاء من

    خير العباد بأنعم لم تُنزع

    in a lofty paradise, with the pure-hearted among

    the best of His servants, in blessings never taken away.

  42. رباه وارضِ أبي بعفوك شاملاً

    يوم الحساب فظل عدلك مطمعي

    Lord, grant my father contentment through Your all-embracing pardon

    on the Day of Reckoning; the shade of Your justice is my hope.

  43. رباه واكتب لي جوامع رحمةٍ

    وسعت بفضلك كل شيءٍ واجمع

    Lord, decree for me the full measure of mercy

    that, by Your grace, encompasses all things; and gather together;

  44. واشفع دعائي بالصلاة على الذي

    شفّعته في الصالحين الخُشّع

    and accompany my prayer with blessings upon the one

    whose intercession You accepted for the righteous, humbly devout.

  45. واختمه بالتسليم والبركات ما

    همت السماء بوابل من أدمع

    And seal it with salutations and blessings for as long as

    the sky pours down a deluge of tears,

  46. والآل والأصحاب والأتباع من

    أهل الهدى في حقه المتمنّع

    and upon his family, companions, and followers among

    the rightly guided in honoring his unassailable right.