Sol 6.1

  1. جدَّ الغرامُ وزاد القال والقيلُ

    وذو الصّبابة معذورٌ ومعذول

    Passionate love grew intense, and talk and gossip increased;

    the ardent lover is both excused and reproached.

  2. يا دمية الحيِّ ما حزني لفرقتكم

    دعوى ولا جدوى العذريُّ منحول

    O idol-like beauty of the encampment, my grief at your departure is no

    mere claim, nor a gift borrowed from the ‘Udhri lover.

  3. ظللتُ في الدار أبكيها ويضحكها

    دمعٌ على تلكم الأطلال مطلول

    I spent the day in the dwelling, weeping over it, while making it smile

    were tears sprinkled upon those very ruins.

  4. لا جرَّ حين خلتْ ملاعبها

    ذيلُ النسيم عليها وهون مبلول

    May there never trail, now their playgrounds are empty,

    the breeze’s hem over them, damp as it is.

  5. مجالسٌ أوحشتْ منهم وانديةٌ

    على العويل بها للصبِ تعويل

    Gathering places deserted by them, and assemblies

    where the lovesick can rely on nothing but wailing.

  6. بالحلي ما بي فكم للوشح من قلقٍ

    بادٍ وكم غصَّةٍ تشكو الخلاخيل

    The ornaments share my plight: how often the jeweled sashes show agitation,

    plain to see, and how much choking grief the anklets lament!

  7. يا واليَ القلب أهواهُ ويظلمني

    وكلُّ والٍ بحكم الدهر معزول

    O ruler of the heart—I love him, though he wrongs me—

    every ruler, by Time’s decree, is deposed.

  8. أشكو فينصركم قلبي ويخذلني

    وفي المحبة منصورٌ ومخذول

    I complain, but my heart champions you and forsakes me;

    in love, one is championed and another forsaken.

  9. للبرق فيك إشاراتٌ لها طربي

    وللنسيم حديثٌ عنك منقول

    Lightning makes signs of you that stir my delight,

    and the breeze carries tidings of you.

  10. خلا من البدر طرفي وهو منزلهُ

    والقلب وهو أخوهُ منهُ مأهول

    My eye is empty of the full moon, though it is his dwelling,

    while the heart, its brother, is inhabited by him.

  11. يجني وفي كل جزء منه من محاسنه

    عذرٌ جميلٌ إلى العشاق مقبول

    He wrongs me, yet in every part of him, through his beauties,

    lies a lovely excuse, acceptable to lovers.

  12. لدنُ المعاطف لا تصحو شمائله

    كأنما هو بالصهباء مشمول

    Supple of form, his graces never sober,

    as though he were steeped in tawny wine.

  13. وسنانُ أشقى بعطفيه وريقته

    فآقتي عاسلٌ منهُ ومعسول

    Drowsy-eyed, he makes me wretched with his flanks and his saliva;

    my affliction is his swaying suppleness and honeyed sweetness.

  14. قالوا بكيت دماً والعيس سائرة

    بكل خالٍ به في الحي مشغول

    They said, “You wept blood while the pale camels journeyed,

    over every beauty-mark that engrossed you in the camp.”

  15. والومض يغمض في جفنيَّ صارمهُ

    لا غرو للسيف يدمى وهو مسلول

    The lightning sinks its sharp sword into my eyelids;

    no wonder a sword should be bloodied when unsheathed.

  16. وقفتُ والدمع جارٍ يوم بينهمِ

    وكيف أمضي وحدّ الصبر مفلول

    I stood, tears flowing, on the day they departed;

    how could I move on, with patience’s edge blunted?

  17. همُ المنى والأماني غير صادقة

    وعداً وسؤلي همُ لو يدرك السول

    They are my wishes, and wishes are not true

    to their promises; they are my desire—if only desire could be attained.

  18. عج بالمنازل وأسأل عن أوانسها

    فهي المحاريب أو هنَّ التماثيل

    Turn toward the dwellings and ask after their fair women:

    these are the sanctuaries—or those women are the statues.

  19. أبكي وأندب رسميها بكاظمةٍ

    وفيهما لعليل الشوق تعليل

    I weep and lament their two ruined traces at Kazimah;

    in them the sick with longing find solace.

  20. وكم ركبتُ بهيم الليل في غرضٍ

    وبدره غرةٌ والصبح تحجيل

    How often I have ridden the pitch-black night in pursuit of a goal,

    its full moon a white forehead-blaze, and dawn its white stockings.

  21. ووردة الفجر في خدَّي مطالعهِ

    كأنها أثرٌ أبقاهُ تقبيل

    The rose of dawn upon the cheeks of its rising-places

    seems a mark left by a kiss.

  22. مضت قصارُ ليالينا وأعقبها

    ليلٌ طويل وفي ليل الأسى طول

    Our brief nights passed, and after them came

    a long night—how long the night of sorrow is!

  23. فالأنجم الزّهر في الآفاق واقفة

    كأنما علقت منها قناديل

    The bright stars stand still on the horizons,

    as though lanterns had been hung from them.

  24. فعلّلاني وإن أبصرتما شفقاً

    فذاك نضح دمٍ والصبح مقتول

    So comfort me, you two; and if you see twilight,

    that is blood’s spatter, for morning has been slain.

  25. يا حاسداً نال من فضلي بمنقصةٍ

    عليك نفسك إن الجهل مفضول

    O envious one who assailed my merit with disparagement,

    attend to yourself: ignorance is an inferior thing.

  26. حسبي الثلاثة بالتبريز شاهدةً

    البيدُ والليلُ والعيسُ المراسيل

    Three witnesses suffice to attest my preeminence:

    the deserts, the night, and the swift pale camels.

  27. ومن عجائب ما تحدى الرّكاب به

    صيتٌ يطير بفضلي وهو محمول

    Among the marvels of what camel-mounts are urged onward by

    is renown that flies with my merit, though itself carried.

  28. وكيف أخمل في دنيا وآخرة

    ومنطقي ورسول الله مأمول

    How could I be obscure in this world or the next,

    with my speech, and God’s Messenger my hope?

  29. هو البشير النذير العدلُ شاهدهُ

    وللشهادة تجريحٌ وتعديل

    He is the bringer of good tidings, the warner; the Just is his witness,

    and testimony admits discrediting and accreditation.

  30. لولاه لم تكُ شمسٌ لا ولا قمرٌ

    ولا الفرات وجاراها ولا النيل

    But for him there would have been no sun, no, nor any moon,

    nor the Euphrates and its two neighbors, nor the Nile;

  31. ولم يجبْ آدمٌ في حال دعوته

    نعم لم يكُ قابيلٌ وهابيل

    nor would Adam, when summoned, have answered

    “Yes”; nor would Cain and Abel have existed.

  32. مرتّلُ الوحي يتلوهُ ويدرسهُ

    ولم يكن لكلام الله ترتيل

    He chants revelation, reciting and studying it;

    without him, God’s word would have had no chanting.

  33. فسيّد الرسل حقاً لا خفاءَ به

    وشافعٌ في جميع الناس مقبول

    He is truly the lord of messengers, with no obscurity about him,

    and an accepted intercessor for all mankind.

  34. له تزخرف أفناء الجنان وعن

    رضوانه حلَّ منها العرضُ والطول

    For him the courts of Paradise are adorned, and through

    his good pleasure their breadth and length are opened.

  35. كم برّدت غلةٌ من ماء كوثره

    أذن وكم فكَّ مصفودٌ ومغلول

    How often has water from his Kawthar cooled the burning thirst

    of an ear; how many a shackled and fettered man has been freed!

  36. بثّت نبوته الأخبارُ إذ نطقت

    فحدّثت عنهُ توراةٌ وأنجيل

    Reports proclaimed his prophethood when they spoke;

    the Torah and Gospel told of him.

  37. أضاء هدياً وجنحُ الكفر معتكرٌ

    ووجهَ حقٍ وسترُ الشكِّ مسدول

    He shone as guidance while unbelief’s darkness was thick,

    and as the face of truth while doubt’s veil hung down.

  38. وكيف يصبو إلى الدنيا وزينتها

    والقلبُ من دنس الأطماع مغسول

    How could he yearn for this world and its adornment,

    his heart washed clean of the stain of greed?

  39. خذ فضلهُ جملةً جاء الكتاب بها

    فعزَّ أن يحصر التفضيلَ تفصيل

    Take his merit whole, as the Book has proclaimed it:

    no detailed account can encompass his excellence.

  40. لم يثو في أهله أهل العباء ففا

    ت القومَ وحيٌ بمثواهُ وتنزيل

    He did not dwell among his kin, the People of the Cloak; thus

    a revelation sent down concerning his dwelling passed the others by.

  41. الخمسةُ الغرُّ لم يقضَ اجتماعهم

    إلاّ وسادسهم في الجمع جبريل

    The five radiant ones had not concluded their gathering

    before Gabriel was the sixth among them.

  42. فعنهمُ أخذ التنزيل أجمعهُ

    في الكافرين وفي الباغين تأويل

    From them all revelation was received;

    concerning unbelievers and rebels, there is interpretation.

  43. فضيلتا شرفٍ ما ناله بشر

    أولى وأخرى بهم تردى الأضاليل

    Two distinctions of honor no mortal has attained,

    one and another: through them falsehoods perish.

  44. يعدُّها الغمرُ إسرافاً ومنقصة

    وإنما هي تتيم وتكميل

    The inexperienced fool counts them excess and a defect,

    whereas they are love’s enthrallment and perfection.

  45. ترعرعَ الدين طفلاً بين أظهرهم

    وما ألمَّ به وهنٌ وتكهيل

    Religion grew up as a child in their midst,

    without weakness or aging ever touching it.

  46. بيضهم فرعت عليا منابره

    وفي بيوتهم الإسلام مكفول

    Their radiant ones ascended its highest pulpits,

    and Islam was fostered in their homes.

  47. هم ألفوا من تمادى في قطيعتهم

    وأمنوا من تولَّى وهو إجفيل

    They befriended those who persisted in severing ties with them,

    and gave security to those who turned away in terror.

  48. جزى عن السيّئ الحسنى وعامل بالبقـ

    ـيا وقد كثرت فيه الأقاويل

    He repaid evil with good and dealt with

    clemency, though much was said about him.

  49. أقام سوقاً من المعروف زاكيةً

    لاينفقُ الأفكُ فيها والأباطيل

    He established a flourishing market of kindness,

    where falsehood and vanities find no currency.

  50. وكلُّ عفٍّ طليقٍ في فصاحته

    لسانه بحريز العقل معقول

    Every chaste man, free-flowing in his eloquence,

    has his tongue bound by reason’s secure restraint.

  51. ذو المجد مازال معروفاً فليس به

    نكرٌ وفي المجد معروفٌ ومجهول

    The man of glory has always been known; there is nothing

    unrecognized in him, though glory has its known and unknown.

  52. قومٌ لهم زمزمٌ لا دفعَ عنهُ ووضـ

    ـعُ الركن لمّا تعاطتهُ البهاليل

    A people who possess Zamzam, beyond dispute, and the placing

    of the Corner, when the noble chiefs strove for it.

  53. والبيت نكّب عنهُ الفيل مكرمةً

    لهم فلولاهمُ ما نكّب الفيل

    For their honor, the Elephant was turned away from the House;

    but for them the Elephant would not have been turned aside.

  54. فضيلةٌ عرفتْ من عبدِ مطّلبٍ

    والقوم صرعى كعصفٍ وهو مأكول

    A distinction known through ‘Abd Muttalib,

    while the people lay slain like eaten straw.

  55. ردَّت أعاديه في بدرٍ ويومئذ

    جيادهُ القبُّ والطّيرُ الأبابيل

    His enemies were repulsed at Badr, on that day,

    by his lean chargers and the birds in flocks.

  56. فالنفس والبيت أشباهٌ مطهروٌ

    والآل والصحب أنجاد مفاضيل

    The soul and the House are counterparts, purified;

    the family and companions are valiant men of excellence.

  57. من كل أزهر والألوان حائلة

    من طينةِ الحسن والإيمان مجبول

    Each is radiant while other faces change color,

    fashioned from the clay of beauty and faith.

  58. يردي الكميَّ ويردى رمحه قصدا

    فرمحهُ قاتل للقرن مقتول

    He fells the armored warrior, while his lance falls in fragments;

    his spear is its adversary’s slayer, itself slain.

  59. ليثٌ إذا جرّ من ذيل الحديد لغـ

    ـير الكبر فالجيش مكفوف ومشلول

    A lion: when he trails his iron hem—not

    out of pride—the army is checked and paralyzed.

  60. إن صال أو قال أودى في مواقفه

    مجدّل من أعاديه ومجدول

    Whether he charges or speaks, there perishes before him

    a felled enemy, or a tightly woven argument.

  61. السادة القادة الحامون دينهم

    بالمشرفيّة والبيض المقاويل

    The lords, the leaders, who defend their faith

    with Mashrafi swords and eloquent bright blades.

  62. المبكياتُ عيون الزّغف سمرهم

    دماً وإن ضوعفت منها السرابيل

    Their brown lances make the eyelets of fine mail weep

    blood, though its shirts be doubled.

  63. سمُّ العداة وفرسان البيات فمن

    فوق الأجادل منها الغاب والغيل

    Poison to their enemies, knights of the night assault; from

    above their falcons rise forests and thickets.

  64. الموثرون وإن جلّت خصاصتهم

    وهم لأمثالها ضعفاً مفاعيل

    They put others first, though great their own privation,

    and in such straits they do twice as much.

  65. لهم تحلُّ الحبى والأرض وأجفة الحـ

    ـثى ويعقد في الملك الأكاليل

    For them knee-bands are loosened, while the earth quakes with

    scattered soil; and crowns are bound upon kingship.

  66. تردى بساحتهم جردُ الرباط لنـ

    ـصر الله أو تخدُ العوذ المطافيل

    Lean steeds kept ready gallop in their courtyards for

    God’s aid, or newly calved camels with their young stride swiftly.

  67. فالسرح نهبٌ ونسل الكفر أجمهُ

    سبيٌ بأيديهم والعرش مثلول

    The grazing herds are plunder, and unbelief’s offspring, all of them,

    captives in their hands, its throne overthrown.

  68. والشمس رمدا بوجه اليوم بادية

    فجفنها أمرةٌ بالنقع مكحول

    The sun appears bleary-eyed in the face of day,

    its eyelid a sign, kohled with battle-dust.

  69. والصفّ سطر بسمر الخط ينقط والـ

    ـبيدُ الطروس والهنديّ مشكول

    The battle-line is a written line, dotted with brown Khatt spears, and the

    deserts are the parchment pages, the Indian blade vowel-marked.

  70. أسدٌ إذا نازلوا شهب إذا سفروا

    لدٌ إذا جادلوا سحب إذا سيلوا

    Lions when they fight, meteors when they unveil their faces,

    stubborn disputants when they argue, rainclouds when petitioned.

  71. فلا مفاريحُ إن نالت رماحهم

    ولا مجازيع في البأساء إن نيلوا

    They are not overjoyed when their lances strike home,

    nor given to panic in hardship when struck themselves.

  72. العالمون بأن النفسَ هالكة

    يوماً وإنَّ قضاءَ الله مفعول

    They know the soul must perish

    one day, and God’s decree must be fulfilled.

  73. فما كواحدهم في فضله أحدٌ

    ولا كجيلهمِ في فضله جيل

    No one equals any one of them in merit,

    nor any generation theirs in excellence.

  74. وإنَّني لا رّجي أجرَ حبّهم

    في يومَ حبّهمُ أجرٌ وتنويل

    And I surely hope for the reward of loving them

    on a day when loving them is reward and bounty.