Sol 6.1

  1. نسيم الصَّبا والليلُ منُتظمُ العقِدِ

    تحدثُ رَّياهُ فتفصح عن نجد

    An east-wind breeze, while night’s necklace is still strung,

    its fragrance speaks, telling plainly of Najd.

  2. أسائلهُ كيف الحمام ولا هوى

    ويسألني كيف الحياة مع الوجد

    I ask it, “How can there be death without love?”

    And it asks me, “How can there be life with passionate longing?”

  3. واعجب منه إذ تصافح كفه

    قدودَ القنا محميةً بالقنا المُلد

    I marvel at it when its hand clasps

    spear-like figures guarded by supple spears.

  4. ويهبُّ فيُهدي نشرَ لمياء موهناً

    وأن كان منسوباً إلى البان والزند

    It blows, bringing a dusky-lipped maiden’s fragrance late at night,

    though its origin is traced to the bān tree and the fire-stick.

  5. لي اللهُ من قلبٍ إذا ذكر الحمى

    فكالهائم العطشان خُلّيَ عن ورد

    God help me with a heart that, when it remembers the cherished grounds,

    is like a thirst-maddened wanderer left without a watering place.

  6. وقد كنت غُفلاً من جوىً وصبابةٍ

    بهندِ بني هندٍ وسعدى بني سعد

    Once I was untouched by burning grief or yearning

    for Hind of Banū Hind or Suʿdā of Banū Saʿd.

  7. أروح ولا ارجو وصالاً محَّلاً

    وأغدو ولا أخشى حراما من الصدَ

    I would return at evening, hoping for no lawful union,

    and set out at dawn, fearing no forbidden rejection.

  8. فواعطشا لوانها تنقع الصدى

    وواحزنا لو أن واحزنا تجدي

    Ah, my thirst—if only that cry could quench it!

    And ah, my sorrow—if only “ah, my sorrow” could help!

  9. سقى عهد جفني فهو أغزر ديمة

    اغن سقيم الجفن والوعد والعهد

    My eyelid, the most copious raincloud, watered the memory

    of a soft-voiced beauty, languid in eyelid, promise, and pledge,

  10. من الغيد معتل إلاَّ مجانبة الكرى

    وأدمعها إلا مصاحبة الخدَ

    one of the graceful maidens, ailing save in shunning sleep,

    and their tears, save in keeping the cheek company.

  11. وإني عليمٌ بالهوى وهوانه

    فوا عجباً ما لي هويت على عمد

    I know love well, and the humiliation it brings;

    how strange—why did I fall in love deliberately?

  12. تجور به هيف القدود على القنا

    وتحكم ألحاظُ الظباء على الأسد

    Through it, slender figures wrong the spears,

    and gazelles’ glances rule over lions.

  13. وكم سلكت بي والغرام تنوفةٌ

    تضل كما شاءَ الهوى سلوةٌ تهدي

    How many a wilderness led me along with passion,

    where guiding solace strays, as love wills.

  14. وكم جيش هم كنت كفوءًا المثله

    تلقَّيتهُ بالعيسِ والبيدِ والوَخد

    How many an army of care, whose like I was a match for,

    I met with pale camels, deserts, and swift strides,

  15. بغرامٍ إلى العلياءِ أمضى من الظَّبى

    وصبرٍ على الأيام أوقى من السَّرد

    with an ardor for the heights sharper than sword edges,

    and patience against the days more protective than chain mail.

  16. وديمومةٍ جاوزتها بعصابةٍ

    سَرَوا من حسام النائباتِ على حدّ

    And many a trackless waste I crossed with a band

    who traveled by night along the edge of calamities’ sword.

  17. أجازوا المطايا كلَّ نشرٍ ووهدةٍ

    إلى نشز العيش البعيد عن الوهد

    They drove the mounts across every rise and hollow,

    toward the high ground of life, far from low places,

  18. إلى ابن عليٍ خير داع إلى النَّدى

    وعادِ بنعماهُ على الحادث الإدِّ

    toward Ibn ʿAlī, the finest caller to generosity,

    who brings his blessings to bear against grievous calamity,

  19. إلى ثامن السبع العلى ثالث الهدى

    ومنهجه ثاني الحيا واحد المجد

    toward the eighth of the seven high heavens, a third alongside guidance

    and its path, a second alongside rain, unique in glory.

  20. بغوا منبت السعدان والعام مجدبٌ

    وصداء والاوشالُ تلغى إلى العدّ

    They sought the ground where saʿdān grows, though the year was barren,

    and Ṣadāʾ, where trickles count for nothing beside the unfailing spring.

  21. أخا العزم ماضي العضب في الشدو والونى

    وذو القول صدق العود في الهزل والمجد

    A brother of resolve, his blade keen in exertion and fatigue,

    and a man of speech, true in mettle, in jest and in glory.

  22. تعم عطاياه على القرب والنوى

    وتهمي غواديه على الحر والعبد

    His gifts reach those near and those far,

    and his morning rains pour upon free man and slave.

  23. فلو صافحت كفاهُ أرضا جديبة

    لأورق منها صفحة الحجر الصلد

    If his two hands clasped a barren land,

    even the face of its hard stone would put forth leaves.

  24. بعيد المدى هامي الجدا قاصم العدى

    أليف الندى خدن الهدى ثابت الود

    Far-reaching, pouring out bounty, breaking his enemies,

    a companion of generosity, a friend of guidance, steadfast in affection.

  25. يهون عليه الألف في كل حالة

    يجود بها حتى على السائل الفرد

    A thousand is little to him in every circumstance;

    he gives it freely even to a lone petitioner.

  26. سخي على جود الزمان ومنعه

    قريب على قرب المطالب والبعد

    Generous whether time gives or withholds,

    accessible whether the things sought are near or far.

  27. إذا اهتز في يومي سماح وسطوةِ

    فأي محل للحيا وظبى الهند

    When he stirs on the two days of generosity and might,

    what place remains for rain or Indian blades?

  28. أذاق فؤاد المال نار عطائه

    وأسكن شخص الحمد في جنة الخد

    He made wealth’s heart taste the fire of his giving,

    and housed the figure of praise in the garden of his cheek.

  29. فكم فصمت من عقد وفر بنانه

    وكم سد من ثغر وكم شد من عقد

    How many bonds of accumulated wealth his fingertips have broken,

    how many breaches he has closed, how many bonds he has tightened!

  30. جواد إذا استوحيته أنزل الغنى

    بربعك تتلو آيه السن الوفد

    A generous man: when you ask him, he sends wealth down

    upon your dwelling, its verses recited by the tongues of delegations.

  31. أحب العطايا عنده سورة الندى

    وأبغض شي عنده صورة الوعد

    His favorite gift is a surge of generosity;

    what he hates most is the mere image of a promise.

  32. إذا سار عن أفقٍ أقام ثناؤه

    وان حل في أرضٍ فنائله يجدي

    When he leaves a horizon, his praise remains;

    and if he settles in a land, his bounty enriches it.

  33. إذا ما حبا قصاده وهو محتبٍ

    تيقنت أن السيل ينشأ من أحد

    Whenever he gives to those who seek him, sitting with knees drawn up,

    you are certain that a torrent rises from Uḥud.

  34. تطيب به الأشعار في كل محفلٍ

    ولا عجبٌ طيب النسيم من الند

    Through him, poems grow fragrant in every gathering;

    no wonder that a breeze takes its fragrance from aromatic incense.

  35. هو المرء مستثنى من الناس وصفه

    ومنصرف الأفعال جمعاً إلى الحمد

    He is the man whose qualities set him apart from all others,

    and whose deeds all turn toward praise.

  36. مجيدٌ على نصر العلى بني اسمه

    وأطلق إطلاق الحسام من الغمد

    Glorious, his name was founded upon the triumph of the heights,

    and drawn forth as a sword is drawn from its sheath.

  37. إذا ما حبا قصّادهُ وهو محتبٌ

    تيقّنت أن السيل ينشأ من أحد

    Whenever he gives to those who seek him, sitting with knees drawn up,

    you are certain that a torrent rises from Uḥud.

  38. هو المنتضي داعيه والمنتضى الشبِا

    أو قد عز من يدعى وأعوز من يعدي

    He is drawn forth by his caller, his blade-edges unsheathed,

    or when one to call has grown scarce and one to give aid is lacking.

  39. بعيد مجال الهم إن رام غاية

    فما الطرف حتى يحتويها بمرتد

    His thoughts range far; if he seeks a goal,

    his gaze does not return until it has encompassed it.

  40. وليس لمن يسمو به غير نفسه

    لقد فرع العلياء بالجد والجد

    There is none to raise him but his own self;

    he has scaled the heights through diligence and good fortune.

  41. جلا ظلم الأحداث والظلم عدله

    فما الليل من أقطارهن بمسود

    His justice dispelled the darkness of mishaps and injustice;

    no night in their regions remains black.

  42. ففي الحل يغنيها عن السحب بذلهُ

    وفي الخوف تغنيها سطاهُ عن الجندِ

    In settled life, his bounty frees them from need of clouds,

    and in fear, his might frees them from need of armies.

  43. فعال جلا عن ناظر الزمن القذى

    وعزم شفى نفس المعالي من الجهد

    Deeds that cleared the mote from time’s eye,

    and resolve that cured the soul of lofty deeds of weariness.

  44. لأيّامه فضلٌ على الدهر كلّه

    كفضل نجوم الليل بالقمر السّعد

    His days have an excellence over all of time,

    as the night’s stars gain favor from the auspicious moon.

  45. لقد كفت اللأواء أنمل كفه

    بتمصل الأنواء منقطع الند

    The fingertips of his hand have kept hardship at bay,

    when the rain-stars run dry, himself without an equal.

  46. ومهد عذر الخلق دون مجله

    وقد بذ سبقا كونه ساد في المهد

    He established mankind’s excuse for falling below his station,

    for his lordship in the cradle had already won him the lead.

  47. هو الغيث ما احببت سله تفز به

    وإن كنت موموق الغنى سائغ الورد

    He is the rain: ask him for whatever you wish, and obtain it,

    even if you are beloved of wealth and drink with ease.

  48. فلو قدر البحر الخضمُّ لجاءهُ

    بآذيه من فيض كفّيهِ يستجدي

    If the vast sea were able, it would come to him

    with its billows, begging from the overflow of his two hands.

  49. يتيهُ الثرى يمشي عليه تواضعاً

    على المسكة الذفراءِ والعنبر الورد

    The earth he humbly walks upon boasts

    over pungent musk and rose-colored ambergris.

  50. يد المجد لا شلّت فتى اعزم لا ونى

    أبو الفتح لا أكدى أخو البذل والرفد

    Glory’s hand—may it never wither; a most resolute youth—may he never flag;

    Abū al-Fatḥ—may his bounty never fail; a brother of giving and support.

  51. ومثلُ صفيّ الدين من وهب المنى

    وحقّق في إحسانهِ أمل القصد

    One like Ṣafī al-Dīn is he who grants wishes

    and, through his beneficence, fulfills the hope behind the quest.

  52. تدقُّ معانيهِ وان جلَّ قدرها

    وتسمو أياديهِ عن الحصر والعدِ

    His meanings are subtle, however great their worth,

    and his benefactions rise beyond measure or counting.

  53. ويا ربُّ طاغٍ غاله بكتيبهٍ

    من القول قلّت عندها كثرة الحشد

    How many a tyrant he struck down with a battalion

    of words, beside which a vast host dwindled!

  54. وشامَ صفيح الخوف فالأمن شاملٌ

    فأغمدهُ في قلبهِ موضعَ الحقد

    He drew the blade of fear, while safety encompassed all,

    and sheathed it in the tyrant’s heart, in the place of hatred.

  55. ولو لم تبادرهُ الشؤون بمائها

    وقد سلك الأحشاء ذابَ من الوقد

    Had the tear-ducts not rushed to meet it with their water,

    after entering the entrails, it would have melted from the blaze.

  56. وقافيةٍ عذراء في كل مطلبٍ

    زهيد من الأيّام ظاهرة الزّهد

    And a virgin rhyme, in every quest

    asking little of the days, its renunciation plain,

  57. تعيد لبيداً تعيريه بلادةٌ

    وقلّ عبيد أن يكون بها عبدي

    brings Labīd back, taunting him with dullness,

    and ʿUbayd is too small, beside it, to be my slave.

  58. هي العلقم المرّ الجنا عند حاسدٍ

    وعند ذوي الآداب أحلى من الشهد

    To an envier, it is colocynth, bitter to harvest,

    but to people of letters, sweeter than honey.

  59. حباك بها منّي جوادُ فضائلٍ

    يفوت مدى الإفهام بالحضر والشد

    A noble steed of virtues from me has bestowed it upon you,

    outrunning the reach of understanding at gallop and sprint.

  60. ويستعظم الأقوام ما أنا قائلٌ

    ولا عجبٌ كون الشّرار من الزنّد

    People deem what I say immense,

    and no wonder: sparks come from the fire-stick.

  61. وإن لم أنل ما رمتُ والقول ممكنٌ

    فيا كم نبا عن مضربٍ قاطعِ الحدِّ

    And if I fail to gain what I sought, though speech is possible,

    how often a keen-edged blade has glanced off its target!

  62. وان لم يبن فضل الصباح على الدّجى

    فلا فرق ما بين الضلالة والرشد

    If morning’s superiority over darkness is not clear,

    there is no difference between error and right guidance.

  63. وما المدح فيكم مثله في سواكمُ

    ولكنه كالخال في صفحة الخدّ

    Praise of you is not like praise of anyone else;

    rather, it is a beauty mark on the surface of a cheek.

  64. وقد صحّف العيدَ الأنام وإنما

    هو العبد والموالى به بهجة العبد

    People have mispointed “the feast” (ʿīd), though in truth

    it is “the slave” (ʿabd), and through it the patrons are the slave’s joy.

  65. تكسّبتِ الأيام منك جلالةً

    كذلك حسن الجيد يظهر في العقد

    The days have gained majesty from you;

    likewise, a neck’s beauty shows in its necklace.