Sol 6.1

  1. لِمَن دِمنَةٌ أَقوَت بِحَرَّةِ ضَرغَدِ

    تَلوحُ كَعُنوانِ الكِتابِ المُجَدَّدِ

    Whose campsite ruins lie deserted in Darghad’s lava field,

    standing out like the heading of a freshly written book?

  2. لِسَعدَةَ إِذ كانَت تُثيبُ بِوُدِّها

    وَإِذ هِيَ لا تَلقاكَ إِلّا بِأَسعُدِ

    They were Sa‘dah’s, when she rewarded me with her love,

    and when she met you with nothing but good fortune,

  3. وَإِذ هِيَ حَوراءُ المَدامِعِ طَفلَةٌ

    كَمِثلِ مَهاةٍ حُرَّةٍ أُمِّ فَرقَدِ

    and when she was delicate, her eyes dark against their white,

    like a noble oryx, the mother of a calf.

  4. تُراعي بِهِ نَبتَ الخَمائِلِ بِالضُحى

    وَتَأوي بِهِ إِلى أَراكٍ وَغَرقَدِ

    With it she seeks grazing among the thickets at forenoon,

    and shelters with it among arak trees and gharqad bushes.

  5. وَتَجعَلُهُ في سِربِها نُصبَ عَينِها

    وَتَثني عَلَيهِ الجيدَ في كُلِّ مَرقَدِ

    She keeps it in her herd, directly before her eyes,

    and bends her neck over it in every resting place.

  6. فَقَد أَورَثَت في القَلبِ سُقماً يَعودُهُ

    عِياداً كَسُمِّ الحَيَّةِ المُتَرَدِّدِ

    For she has left a sickness in the heart that revisits it,

    again and again, like a serpent’s coursing venom,

  7. غَداةَ بَدَت مِن سِترِها وَكَأَنَّما

    تُحَفُّ ثَناياها بِحالِكِ إِثمِدِ

    on the morning she emerged from behind her curtain, as though

    her front teeth were edged with jet-black antimony kohl.

  8. وَتَبسِمُ عَن عَذبِ اللِثاتِ كَأَنَّهُ

    أَقاحي الرُبى أَضحى وَظاهِرُهُ نَدِ

    And she smiles, revealing a sweet-gummed mouth, as though it were

    hillside daisies at forenoon, their surfaces wet with dew.

  9. فَإِنّي إِلى سُعدى وَإِن طالَ نَأيُها

    إِلى نَيلِها ما عِشتُ كَالحائِمِ الصَدي

    For I turn toward Su‘da, however long her absence,

    to win her while I live, like one thirstily circling water.

  10. إِذا كُنتَ لَم تَعبَء بِرَأيٍ وَلَم تُطِع

    لِنُصحٍ وَلا تُصغي إِلى قَولِ مُرشِدِ

    If you give no weight to judgment and do not yield

    to counsel, nor listen to a guide’s words,

  11. فَلا تَتَّقي ذَمَّ العَشيرَةِ كُلَّها

    وَتَدفَعُ عَنها بِاللِسانِ وَبِاليَدِ

    and so fail to ward off your whole tribe’s reproach,

    or defend it with tongue and hand,

  12. وَتَصفَحُ عَن ذي جَهلِها وَتَحوطُها

    وَتَقمَعُ عَنها نَخوَةَ المُتَهَدِّدِ

    or pardon its fools and protect it,

    or curb the arrogance of those who threaten it,

  13. وَتَنزِلُ مِنها بِالمَكانِ الَّذي بِهِ

    يُرى الفَضلُ في الدُنيا عَلى المُتَحَمِّدِ

    or take among them that station where

    superiority over the praise-seeker is seen in this world,

  14. فَلَستَ وَإِن عَلَّلتَ نَفسَكَ بِالمُنى

    بِذي سودَدٍ بادٍ وَلا كَربِ سَيِّدِ

    then you are not, though you console yourself with hopes,

    a man of evident lordship, nor even close to being a chief.

  15. لَعَمرُكَ ما يَخشى الخَليطُ تَفَحُّشي

    عَلَيهِ وَلا أَنأى عَلى المُتَوَدِّدِ

    By your life, a companion does not fear my abuse

    toward him, nor do I shun one who offers friendship.

  16. وَلا أَبتَغي وُدَّ اِمرِئٍ قَلَّ خَيرُهُ

    وَلا أَنا عَن وَصلِ الصَديقِ بِأَصيَدِ

    Nor do I seek the affection of a man whose kindness is scant,

    nor am I too proud to maintain ties with a friend.

  17. وَإِنّي لَأُطفي الحَربَ بَعدَ شُبوبِها

    وَقَد أُقِدَت لِلغَيِّ في كُلِّ مَوقِدِ

    And I indeed quench war after it has blazed up,

    when it has been kindled for wrongdoing at every hearth.

  18. فَأَوقَدتُها لِلظالِمِ المُصطَلي بِها

    إِذا لَم يَزَعهُ رَأيُهُ عَن تَرَدُّدِ

    So I have kindled it for the wrongdoer who warms himself at it,

    if his judgment does not restrain him from returning again.

  19. وَأَغفِرُ لِلمَولى هَناةً تُريبُني

    فَأَظلِمُهُ ما لَم يَنَلني بِمَحقِدي

    And I forgive an ally a fault that troubles me,

    so I wrong him, so long as he does not hurt me enough to rouse my rancor.

  20. وَمَن رامَ ظُلمي مِنهُمُ فَكَأَنَّما

    تَوَقَّصَ حيناً مِن شَواهِقِ صِندِدِ

    And whoever among them seeks to wrong me is as though

    he had broken his neck in a fatal fall from Sindid’s heights.

  21. وَإِنّي لَذو رَأيٍ يُعاشُ بِفَضلِهِ

    وَما أَنا مِن عِلمِ الأُمورِ بِمُبتَدي

    And I indeed possess judgment by whose excellence people live,

    and I am no beginner in knowledge of affairs.

  22. إِذا أَنتَ حَمَّلتَ الخَؤونَ أَمانَةً

    فَإِنَّكَ قَد أَسنَدتَها شَرَّ مُسنَدِ

    If you charge a treacherous man with a trust,

    then you have entrusted it to the worst keeper.

  23. وَجَدتُ خَؤونَ القَومِ كَالعُرِّ يُتَّقى

    وَما خِلتُ غَمَّ الجارِ إِلّا بِمَعهَدي

    I found the tribe’s traitor like mange, to be shunned,

    and I have never thought a neighbor’s grief was anywhere but in my own dwelling.

  24. وَلا تُظهِرَن حُبَّ اِمرِئٍ قَبلَ خُبرِهِ

    وَبَعدَ بَلاءِ المَرءِ فَاِذمُم أَوِ اِحمَدِ

    Do not show love for a man before you know his character;

    and after testing a man, blame him or praise him.

  25. وَلا تَتبَعَنَّ رَأيَ مَن لَم تَقُصُّهُ

    وَلَكِن بِرَأيِ المَرءِ ذي اللُبِّ فَاِقتَدِ

    Nor follow the judgment of one you have not examined;

    but follow the judgment of a man of understanding.

  26. وَلا تَزهَدَن في وَصلِ أَهلِ قَرابَةٍ

    لِذُخرٍ وَفي وَصلِ الأَباعِدِ فَاِزهَدِ

    Nor disdain keeping ties with your kinsfolk

    as a reserve for the future; but shun ties with distant folk.

  27. وَإِن أَنتَ في مَجدٍ أَصَبتَ غَنيمَةً

    فَعُد لِلَّذي صادَفتَ مِن ذاكَ وَاِزدَدِ

    And if you win a prize in the pursuit of honor,

    return to what you found there, and gain still more.

  28. تَزَوَّد مِنَ الدُنيا مَتاعاً فَإِنَّهُ

    عَلى كُلِّ حالٍ خَيرُ زادِ المُزَوِّدِ

    Take worldly goods as provisions, for they are

    in every circumstance, the best provisions a provider can supply.

  29. تَمَنّى مُرَيءُ القَيسِ مَوتي وَإِن أَمُت

    فَتِلكَ سَبيلٌ لَستُ فيها بِأَوحَدِ

    Muray’ al-Qays wished for my death; and if I die,

    that is a road on which I am not alone.

  30. لَعَلَّ الَّذي يَرجو رَدايَ وَميتَتي

    سَفاهاً وَجُبناً أَن يَكونَ هُوَ الرَدي

    Perhaps the one who hopes for my ruin and death,

    out of folly and cowardice, will himself be the one to perish.

  31. فَما عَيشُ مَن يَرجو هَلاكي بِضائِري

    وَلا مَوتُ مَن قَد ماتَ قَبلي بِمُخلِدي

    The life of one who hopes for my destruction does not harm me,

    nor does the death of one who died before me make me immortal.

  32. وَلِلمَرءِ أَيّامٌ تُعَدُّ وَقَد رَعَت

    حِبالُ المَنايا لِلفَتى كُلَّ مَرصَدِ

    A man’s days are numbered; already

    the ropes of death lie in wait for the young man at every ambush.

  33. مَنِيَّتُهُ تَجري لِوَقتٍ وَقَصرُهُ

    مُلاقاتُها يَوماً عَلى غَيرِ مَوعِدِ

    His death runs toward an appointed time, and his end is

    to meet it one day with no appointment.

  34. فَمَن لَم يَمُت في اليَومِ لا بُدَّ أَنَّهُ

    سَيَعلَقُهُ حَبلُ المَنِيَّةِ في غَدِ

    So whoever does not die today must surely

    be caught by the rope of death tomorrow.

  35. فَقُل لِلَّذي يَبغي خِلافَ الَّذي مَضى

    تَهَيَّء لِأُخرى مِثلِها فَكَأَن قَدِ

    So tell whoever seeks a fate unlike what has gone before:

    Prepare for another just like it—as though it had already come.

  36. فَإِنّا وَمَن قَد بادَ مِنّا فَكَالَّذي

    يَروحُ وَكَالقاضي البَتاتِ لِيَغتَدي

    For we and those of us who have perished are like one who

    departs at evening, and like one readying his gear to leave at dawn.