Sol 6.1

  1. فؤادٌ أطاع الوجدَ بين المعالمِ

    وطرفٌ عصى غيرَ الدموع السواجمِ

    A heart obeyed longing among the landmarks,

    And an eye defied everything but streaming tears.

  2. متى لاح برقٌ فاضَ دمعي صبابةً

    فلولا الهوى ما كنت أبكي لباسمِ

    Whenever lightning flashed, my tears overflowed with yearning;

    But for love, I would not weep for one who smiles.

  3. أسكَّانَ نجدٍ لم يكن عهدُ وصلكم

    وغضِ الصبا إلاَّ كأحلام نائمِ

    O dwellers of Najd, the days of union with you,

    And of tender youth, were only a sleeper's dreams.

  4. هبونا هدىً إن لم تجودوا بسلوةٍ

    فإنَّا ضللنا في صباح المباسمِ

    Grant us guidance if you will not bestow solace,

    For we have lost our way in the dawn of smiling mouths.

  5. وقد حجبتْ عنَّا شموس دياركم

    فما بالنا من ففقدها من سمائمِ

    The suns of your dwellings have been veiled from us;

    Why, then, do we face scorching winds through their loss?

  6. لي الله من وجدٍ يهيجهُ الصَّبا

    وحر هوى يذكيه نوحج الحمائمِ

    God help me against longing stirred by the east wind,

    And love's heat, kindled by the doves' lament.

  7. يقوم خطيبُ الدمع في موقف النَّوى

    فيفصح عن سجع الحمام الأعاجمِ

    The orator of tears rises at the place of parting,

    And voices the rhymed cooing of the speechless doves.

  8. تناوحنَ في عرس من الدوح قائمٍ

    ولكنَّنا من شدوها في مآتمِ

    They lament together at a wedding held among the great trees,

    Yet their song leaves us at funeral gatherings.

  9. سقى الله أيام التَّداني فإنَّها

    ألذُ من التَّهويم في جفن حالمِ

    May God water the days of closeness, for they were

    Sweeter than drowsing in a dreamer's eyelid.

  10. أقمتم بها سوقَ الصبابة مثلما

    أقيمت بنجم الدين سوق المكارمِ

    In them you established longing's market, just as

    The market of noble deeds was established through Najm al-Din.

  11. هوَ الملك لو يستطيع فعلاً لقبَّلت

    يديه ثغورُ المكرمات البواسمِ

    He is the king: could they truly act, they would kiss

    His hands—the smiling mouths of noble deeds.

  12. إذا قال لم يحتج لسحبان وائلٍ

    وإن جادَ أنسى طيئاً ذكرَ حاتمِ

    When he speaks, he has no need of Sahban Wa'il;

    And when he gives, he makes Tayyi' forget the memory of Hatim.

  13. وإمَّا انبرى جدبٌ وجادت بنائه

    نظرتَ إلى جيثي هزيمٍ وهازمِ

    If drought arises and his [fingers?] give lavishly,

    You see two armies: one defeated and one victorious.

  14. أقامتْ عطايا كفّهِ كل قاعدٍ

    أخو سطواتٍ أقعدتْ كل قائمِ

    His hand's gifts set every seated man on his feet;

    He wields onslaughts that lay every standing man low.

  15. لقد أضحكتْ وحشَ الفلا من عداتهِ

    ولكنها أبكت جفونَ الصوارمِ

    They made the desert beasts laugh at his enemies,

    Yet made the keen swords' scabbards weep.

  16. سيوفٌ تطير الهام عن وكناتها

    بحيث جناح النقع وجفُ القوائمِ

    Swords that send heads flying from their nests,

    Where the pounding of legs is the wing of battle-dust.

  17. فأقسم لو تعطو السماء ظباتها

    نثرنَ نجوم الليل نثرَ الدراهِم

    I swear: if their edges could reach the sky,

    They would scatter the night's stars like scattered dirhams.

  18. سماهمُ والبيدُ منهم أواهلٌ

    يعلّمهم فيها بكاءَ المعالمِ

    He advanced upon them while the deserts teemed with them,

    Teaching them there to weep over the landmarks.

  19. سطورُ جيادٍ أطلق البيض شكلها

    وما ذاك إلَّا بعد نقط اللهاذمِ

    Lines of steeds, whose fetters the white swords released,

    And that only after sharp lances had dotted them.

  20. وكم حاز ذاك اليوم من ذي بسالةٍ

    فأنساهً ركض الشهب مشي الأداهمِ

    How many a valiant man he captured that day,

    Whom the tread of black fetters made forget the gallop of gray steeds.

  21. فتىً يقنص الآساد وهي كواسرٌ

    تبارى بعقبان البنود الحوائمِ

    A youth who hunts lions while they are ravening,

    Vying with the circling eagles of the banners.

  22. فليس سواهُ للرؤوس باثرٍ

    وليس سواهُ للقوب بناظمِ

    None but he severs heads,

    And none but he strings hearts together.

  23. كأنَّ الضُّحى سرٌّ غداة لقائهِ

    من الهبوات السُّود في صدر كاتمِ

    The forenoon on the morning of meeting him seems a secret,

    In a concealer's breast, beneath the black dust-clouds.

  24. يردُّ شعاعَ الشمس عنهُ قتامهُ

    سقيماً حشاياهُ ظهورُ القشاعمِ

    His dust drives the sunbeam back from him,

    Sickly, with old vultures' backs for its bedding.

  25. فلم يسرِ إلاَّ في ليالي عجاجهُ

    ولا سار إلاَّ في صباح العزائمِ

    He traveled by night only through the nights of his dust,

    And journeyed only in the morning of firm resolve.

  26. وما سمرهُ إلاَّ الأراقم في الوغى

    ولا زنفهُ إلاَّ جلود الأراقمِ

    His brown lances are only speckled snakes in battle,

    And his [mail?] only the skins of speckled snakes.

  27. تجوهرَ بالملكِ المؤيد منطقي

    وما نفعُ سيفٍ لم يؤَّيد بقائمِ

    My speech became a jewel through King al-Mu'ayyad;

    What use is a sword not supported by a hilt?

  28. لذيذ صفاتٍ أكسد المسكَ نشرها

    فلولاهُ ما اسودَّت قلوبُ اللطائمِ

    Sweet are his qualities; their fragrance made musk unsalable;

    But for him, the hearts of perfume-caskets would not have blackened.

  29. من القوم نادوا بالنَّدى في مهودهم

    وتمُّوا كمالاً قبل شدِّ التمائمِ

    Of a people who proclaimed generosity in their cradles,

    And attained perfection before their amulets were tied.

  30. وذادوا عن الإسلام زرقّ عدائه

    بسمر العوالي والعتاق الصلادمِ

    They shielded Islam from its blue-eyed foes,

    With brown lances and mighty thoroughbred steeds.

  31. فبؤساهمُ في الحرب موتُ محاربٍ

    وفي السلم نعماهم حياة المسالمِ

    Their ferocity in war is death to the combatant,

    And in peace their bounty is life to the peaceable.

  32. وكم دينٍ جودٍ ما سواهم بشارعٍ

    وداء نفاقٍ ما سواهم بحاسمِ

    How many a creed of generosity none but they have instituted,

    And how many a malady of hypocrisy none but they have cut away!

  33. أقاضوا على الآفاق أنوار عدلهم

    فجلَّت عن الدنيا ظلامَ المظالمِ

    They poured the lights of their justice over the horizons,

    And swept the darkness of oppression from the world.

  34. إذا بقيت للناس أيام ملكهم

    فأهونْ بأيام الصبا المتقادمِ

    If the days of their rule remain for people,

    How little the days of bygone youth matter!

  35. أعاد بساط الأرض بسطُ أكفُّهم

    وإطلاقها كالخضرم المتلاطمِ

    Their palms' unfolding has made the earth's carpet—

    Together with their free giving—like a vast, surging sea.

  36. فما قبضت إلاَّ نفوس عداهمُ

    ولا أمسكت غير الظبي والشكائمِ

    They seized nothing but their enemies' souls,

    And held nothing but sword-edges and bridle-bits.

  37. رجعتُ إلى الأوطان كاسمك بعدما

    شقيتُ بخصمٍ من زماني وحاكمِ

    I returned to my homeland, as your name suggests, after

    My times, both adversary and judge, had made me wretched.

  38. فكم نعمةٍ للأعوجيَّة حمدها

    وكم منَّةٍ مشكورةٍ للمناسمِ

    How many a blessing for which the A'waji steeds deserve praise,

    And how many a kindness for which camel-hooves are thanked!

  39. ألذَّ من الأحباب في قلب عاشقٍ

    وأحلى من الأوطان في عين قادمِ

    More delightful than loved ones in a lover's heart,

    And sweeter than home in an arriving traveler's eyes.

  40. أعدتَ دجى الدنيا ضحىً بعدما سرى

    به الصبحُ في جنحٍ كنقعك فاحمِ

    You turned the world's darkness to forenoon, after

    Dawn had traveled through it in gloom coal-black as your battle-dust.

  41. لك الفضل يا ابن الغيث في كلِّ بلدةٍ

    ولا تنكر البطحاء فضل الغمائمِ

    Yours is the bounty, O son of rain, in every town;

    Nor does al-Batha' deny the clouds' bounty.

  42. رماحك عن مجد الحجاز حواجزٌ

    وما هي إلاَّ عصمةٌ للعواصمِ

    Your spears are barriers guarding the glory of the Hijaz,

    And nothing but a safeguard for the fortified cities.

  43. وكم تحت أفق الغرب من أنت شمسهُ

    وبالشام من طرفٍ كبرقكِ شائمِ

    How many beneath the western horizon have you as their sun,

    And in al-Sham, how many an eye watches for lightning like yours!

  44. لوجهك وجهُ الأرض بعد قطوبهِ

    طليقٌ وطرف العدل ليس بنائمِ

    Thanks to your face, the earth's face, once frowning,

    Is cheerful, and justice's eye is not asleep.

  45. ولولاك كان الملك منخفض السَّنا

    قصير مجال اللحظِ واهي الدعائمِ

    But for you, kingship would have a lowered radiance,

    A narrow range of vision and feeble pillars.

  46. وهذا أخي أفضى إليك انتجاعهُ

    ورؤياكَ عندي من أجلِّ الغنائمِ

    This is my brother, whose quest for bounty has brought him to you;

    And a vision of you is, to me, among the greatest spoils.

  47. فإن حضر النعمى فلست بغائبٍ

    وإن وجد الحسنى فلست بعادمِ

    If he is present at bounty, I am not absent;

    And if he finds favor, I am not deprived.

  48. فيا ربَّ مقصور عليك ثناؤهُ

    وممدود كفٍّ ما أبيحت لحازمِ

    How many a man confines his praise to you,

    And many an outstretched hand, never yielded to a resolute man;

  49. ومنتصبٍ يوليك رفع دعائهِ

    يبيت بخفضٍ لا يراع بجازمِ

    And many a man standing upright, offering you his uplifted prayer,

    Who sleeps in ease, unafraid of one who cuts him off.

  50. لقد غادرت نعماك عندي صبابةً

    يضيق بها ذرعُ االحشى الحيازمِ

    Your favors have left within me a longing

    Too great for the heart and breast to contain.

  51. فجدْ لي بأبكار المعالي وغيدها

    فلستُ إلى غير المعالي بهائمِ

    Grant me glory's virgins and its graceful maidens,

    For I am enamored of nothing but lofty deeds.

  52. فكم لي من عيدٍ أعدت بهِ الغنى

    وشيكاً وعام في نوالكِ عائمِ

    How many a feast day when you restored wealth for me,

    Swiftly, and a year afloat in your bounty!

  53. كفلتَ به ردّ الشباب وعصره

    وجئتَ مجيءَ العارضِ المتراكمِ

    Through it you guaranteed the return of youth and its season,

    And came like a gathering rain-cloud.

  54. فلا زلت للأيَّامِ حسناً وبهجةً

    فما أنت إلاَّ موسمٌ للمواسمِ

    May you ever be beauty and delight for the days,

    For you are a festival for all festivals.

  55. إذا ما خلت منك البلاد وأهلها

    فمن يرتجى فيها لدفع العظائمِ

    If ever the lands and their people are left without you,

    Who then could be hoped for there to ward off great calamities?