Sol 6.1

  1. روَتْ عن تَراقيها العُقودُ عن النّحْرِ

    محاسِنَ تَرويها النُجومُ عن الفَجْرِ

    The necklaces told, through her collarbones, on her throat's authority,

    of beauties the stars recount on the authority of dawn.

  2. وحدّثَنا عن خالِها مسكُ صُدغِها

    حديثاً رواهُ الليلُ عن كُلفةِ البَدْرِ

    And the musk of her temple told us of her mole,

    a tale that night narrated from the full moon's dark mark.

  3. وركّب منها الثّغرُ أفرادَ جُملةٍ

    حكاها فمُ الإبريقِ عن حَبَبِ الخَمْرِ

    And her mouth composed the separate elements of a sentence

    that the ewer's mouth repeated from the bubbles of wine.

  4. بصحّة جِسمي سُقْمُ ألفاظِها التي

    روى المِسكُ عن إسنادها خبرَ النّشْرِ

    My body's health would ransom the languor of her words, through whose

    chain of transmission musk narrated the tidings of fragrance.

  5. وبالخدِّ وردٌ نارُ موسى بصحنِه

    وميمُ فمٍ من عينه جُرعةُ الخُضْرِ

    And on her cheek is a rose, with Moses' fire in its heart,

    and a mīm-shaped mouth, from whose spring comes al-Khidr's draught.

  6. عَذيريَ من عذراءَ قبل تمائمي

    خلعْتُ على العُذّالِ في حبّها عُذري

    Who will defend me against a maiden? Before my amulets,

    I draped my reproachers in my excuse for loving her.

  7. ولي مدمَعٌ في حبّها لو بكى الحَيا

    به نبتَ الياقوتُ في صدَفِ الدُرِّ

    I have a tear-spring for her love: if rain wept

    through it, rubies would grow in the shells of pearls.

  8. بروحيَ منها جؤذراً في غلائلٍ

    وجيدَ مَهاةٍ قد تلفّع بالجمْرِ

    My soul would ransom the gazelle-fawn she is, in gauzy robes,

    and her oryx's neck, wrapped in embers.

  9. لقد غصبَتْ منها القُرون لَيالياً

    من الدهرِ لولا طُولُها قلتُ من عُمري

    Her tresses have indeed stolen nights

    from time; but for their length, I would say: from my lifetime.

  10. أمَا وسُيوفٍ للحُتوف بجَفْنِها

    تجرَّدُ عن غِمدٍ وتُغمدُ في سحْرِ

    Indeed, by the swords of death in her eyelid,

    drawn from a scabbard and sheathed in enchantment;

  11. وهُدبٍ تسقّى نبلُه سُمَّ كُحلِها

    فذبّ بشوكِ النّحلِ عن شَهْدةِ الثّغرِ

    and lashes whose arrows drank the poison of her kohl,

    guarding the mouth's honeycomb with the thorns of bees;

  12. وصمتَةِ قلبٍ غصّ منها بمعصَمٍ

    ووَسواسُهُ الخنّاسُ ينفثُ في صدري

    and the silence of a bracelet choked by her wrist,

    whose furtive whispering breathes into my breast—

  13. لَفي القلب منّي لوعةٌ لو تُجِنّها

    حَشا المُزنِ أمسى قَطرُها شَرَر الجَمرِ

    there is a burning grief in my heart: were it harbored

    in the depths of rainclouds, their drops would become ember-sparks.

  14. ممنّعةٌ غير الكرى لا يزورُها

    وتُحجَبُ عن طَيْفِ الخيال إذا يسْري

    Inviolate, none but sleep visits her,

    and she is veiled from fancy's phantom when it comes by night.

  15. وطوقِ نُضارٍ يستَسرُّ هِلالُه

    مع الفَجرِ تحت الشمسِ في غَسَقِ الشّعْرِ

    And by a collar of pure gold, whose crescent hides

    with dawn beneath the sun, in the dusk of her hair.

  16. إذا مرّ في الأوهام معنى وِصالِها

    رأيتُ جِيادَ الموتِ تعثُر بالفِكْرِ

    When the thought of union with her crosses the imagination,

    I see death's steeds stumbling over the thought.

  17. رَفيعةُ بيتٍ هالةُ البدرِ نورُه

    وقَوسُ مُحيطِ الشمسِ دائرةُ السِتْرِ

    Her dwelling is lofty; the full moon's halo is its light,

    and the arc encircling the sun is its curtain's circle.

  18. يُرى في الدُجى نهرُ المَجرّة تحتَه

    على درِّ حَصباءِ النُجومِ به تجري

    Beneath it, in darkness, the river of the Milky Way is seen,

    flowing there over the stars' pearl-pebbles.

  19. فأطنابُه للفرقَدَين حَمائلٌ

    وأستارُه في الحِنج أجنحةُ النّسْرِ

    Its tent-ropes are shoulder-belts for the two Farqad stars,

    and its curtains at the side are the Eagle's wings.

  20. وليلٍ نُجومُ القَذفِ فيه كأنّها

    تَصولُ علينا بالمهنّدةِ البُتْرِ

    And a night whose shooting stars seemed

    to assail us with cleaving Indian-forged swords.

  21. رَكِبْتُ به مَوجَ المَطايا وخُضْتُ في

    بِحارِ المَنايا طالِباً دُرّةَ الخِدرِ

    In it I rode the wave of mounts and plunged into

    seas of death, seeking the curtained chamber's pearl.

  22. فعانَقْتُ منها جُؤذرَ القَفرِ آمِناً

    وصافحْتُ منها بالخِبا دُميةَ القَصْرِ

    Safe, I embraced the wilderness fawn she was,

    and in the tent clasped hands with the palace's sculpted beauty.

  23. فلمّا دَنا منّا الوداعُ وضمّنا

    قميصُ عِناقٍ بزّنا ملبسَ الصّبْرِ

    When farewell drew near us and we were enfolded

    by an embrace's shirt, it stripped us of patience's garment.

  24. بكَتْ فضّةً من نرجِسٍ مُتناعِسٍ

    وأجرَيْتُ تِبراً من عقيقٍ أخي سَهْرِ

    She wept silver from a drowsy narcissus,

    and I poured gold from agate, brother to sleeplessness.

  25. فأمسَتْ عُيونُ البَدرِ في شفَق الضُحى

    تسيلُ وعينُ الشمسِ بالأنجُم الزُهْرِ

    So the full moon's eyes, in morning's red glow,

    streamed, and the sun's eye streamed with radiant stars.

  26. وقُمْتُ وزَنْد الليثِ منّي مطوّقٌ

    لها ويَمينُ الظّبي قد وشّحَتْ خَصري

    I rose, my lion's forearm wrapped

    around her, while the gazelle's right hand girdled my waist.

  27. فكادَتْ لِما بي أن تُذيبَ سِوارَها

    ضُلوعي وإن كانت حَشاهُ من الصّخْرِ

    So great was my anguish that her bracelet was almost melted

    by my ribs, though its core was of stone.

  28. وكاد فَريدُ العِقدِ منها لِما بها

    يَذوبُ ويجري كالدّموعِ ولا تَدْري

    And her necklace's solitary gem, for her anguish, almost

    melted and flowed like tears, though she did not know.

  29. سَقى اللَّهُ أكْنافَ العقيقِ بَوارِقاً

    تُقطّعُ زَندَ الليلِ في قُضُبِ التّبرِ

    May God water al-Aqiq's environs with flashes of lightning

    that cleave night's forearm amid rods of gold.

  30. ولا زال محمَرُّ الشّقائقِ موقَداً

    به شُعَلُ الياقوتِ في قُضُب الشّذْرِ

    And may the red of anemones remain alight,

    with ruby flames there upon stems of golden beads.

  31. حِمىً تتحامى الأُسْدُ آرامَ سِرْبِه

    وتَصْرَعُهُم من عَينه أعيُنُ العُفْرِ

    A sanctuary whose herd's gazelles the lions avoid,

    and from its spring the eyes of dust-colored gazelles strike them down.

  32. تُحيطُ الظُّبا أقمارَه في أهلّةٍ

    وتَحمي نُجومَ البيضِ في أنجُمِ السُّمْرِ

    Sword-edges encircle its moons in crescents,

    and guard the stars of bright swords amid the stars of dusky spears.

  33. ألا حَبّذا عصْراً مضى ولَيالياً

    عرائسُ أُنسٍ يبتَسِمْنَ عن البِشْرِ

    Ah, how dear an age gone by, and nights,

    brides of intimacy, smiling with gladness!

  34. وأيّامُنا غُرٌّ كأنّ حُجولَها

    أيادي عليٍّ في رِقابِ بَني الدّهْرِ

    And our days were radiant, their anklets as though

    Ali's benefactions on the necks of Time's sons.

  35. أيادٍ عن التّشبيهِ جلّتْ وإنّما

    عبَثْنَ بعَقلي ساحِراتٍ رُقى السِّحْرِ

    Benefactions exalted beyond comparison; they have only

    toyed with my mind as enchantresses, spells of magic.

  36. بَوادٍ يُزانُ المجدُ منها بأنجُمٍ

    هَوادٍ لمن يَسري إلى موضِع اليُسْرِ

    Manifest favors: glory is adorned by them with stars

    guiding night-travelers toward the abode of ease.

  37. مَواضٍ لمُرّانِ المَعالي أسنّةٌ

    وقُضْبٌ بها العافونَ تَسطو على الفَقْرِ

    Keen spearheads for the ash-wood lances of high attainment,

    and blades with which suppliants assail poverty.

  38. نبَتْنَ بكفّيْهِ نَباتَ بَنانِه

    فدلّت قُطوفَ الجُودِ في ثمَرِ الشُّكْرِ

    They grew in his two palms as his fingers grew,

    and lowered bounty's clusters among the fruits of gratitude.

  39. هو العَدَدُ الفرْدُ الّذي يجمَعُ الثّنا

    وتصدُرُ عنهُ قِسمةُ الجَبْرِ والكَسْرِ

    He is the singular number that sums all praise,

    and from him comes the division of mending and breaking.

  40. صنائِعُه عِقدٌ على عاتِقِ العُلا

    ومَعروفُهُ تاجٌ على هامةِ الفَخرِ

    His good deeds are a necklace on eminence's shoulder,

    and his bounty a crown on pride's head.

  41. ربيعٌ إذا ما زُرْتَهُ زُرْتَ روضةً

    يفتّحُ فيها رُشدُه حدَقَ الزّهْرِ

    A springtime: whenever you visit him, you visit a garden

    where his sound judgment opens the eyes of flowers.

  42. تَهيمُ به عِشقاً لخُلقٍ كأنّه

    يهُبُّ علينا في نَسيمِ الهوى العُذْري

    You are mad with love for him, for a character that seems

    to waft upon us in the breeze of chaste love.

  43. أيا وارِدي لُجَّ البِحار اِكْتَفوا به

    فسَبْعَتُها في طيِّ أُنمُلِهِ العَشْرِ

    O seekers of the oceans' depths, be content with him:

    all seven lie folded within his ten fingertips.

  44. إذا يَدُه البيضاءُ أخرَجَها النّدى

    فيا وَيلَ أمّ البيضِ والورقِ الصُّفْرِ

    When bounty brings forth his white hand,

    woe to the mother of white coins and yellow leaves!

  45. أخُو هِمَمٍ يستغرِقُ الدِّرعُ جِسمَه

    ومن عجَبٍ أن يغرَقَ البحرُ بالكَرِّ

    A man of high resolve, whose body armor engulfs,

    and how strange that the sea should drown in the charge!

  46. تكادُ الرّماح السّمرُ وهي ذَوابلٌ

    براحتِهِ تهتزّ بالوَرَقِ الخُضرِ

    The dusky lances, though withered, almost

    quiver with green leaves in his palm.

  47. فكم من بُيوتٍ قد رماها بخَطبِه

    فأضْحَتْ ومنها النّظمُ كالخُطَبِ النّثرِ

    How many houses has he struck with calamity,

    till they—and their ordered verse—became like prose orations!

  48. فلِلّه يومُ الكَرخِ موقِفُه ضُحىً

    وقد سالتِ الأعرابُ بالجحفَل المَجْرِ

    God be praised for his stand, at forenoon on the day of al-Karkh,

    when the Bedouins surged with a vast army!

  49. أتَوهُ يمدّون الرِقابَ تطاوُلاً

    فأضحوا ومنهم ذلك المدُّ للجَزرِ

    They came to him, stretching their necks in arrogance,

    then that swelling tide of theirs was turned to ebb.

  50. رَمَوْهُ بحربٍ كلّما قام ساقُها

    ركضْنَ المَنايا في القلوبِ من الذُعرِ

    They hurled a war at him; whenever it stood on its leg,

    deaths galloped through hearts out of terror.

  51. يبيعُ الرّدى في سوقِها صفقةَ المُنى

    بنَقدِ النُفوسِ الغالِيات لمَن يَشْري

    He sells death in its market, a bargain of wishes,

    for payment in precious souls, to whoever buys.

  52. سَطَوْا وسَطا كاللّيثِ يَقدُمُ فِتيةً

    يَرَونَ عَوانَ الحربِ في صورِة البِكرِ

    They pounced, and he pounced like a lion, leading young warriors

    who see seasoned war in the form of a maiden,

  53. وفُرسانَ موتٍ يُقدِمون إلى الوغى

    إذا جمحَتْ أُسْدُ النِزالِ عن الكَرِّ

    and knights of death, who advance into battle

    when the lions of combat shy away from the charge,

  54. وخَيلاً لها سُوقُ النّعامِ كأنّها

    تطيرُ إذا هبّتْ بأجنِحةِ الكُدْري

    and horses with ostriches' shanks, as though

    they fly, when they spring up, on dusky sandgrouse wings.

  55. فزوّجَ ذُكرانَ الظُبى في نُفوسِهمْ

    وأنقدَهُم ضَربَ الحديدِ عن المَهْرِ

    He married the male sword-blades into their souls,

    and paid them blows of iron as the bridal dower.

  56. وأضحتْ وُحوشُ البرِّ ممّا أراقَهُ

    من الدّمِ كالحيتان في لجّة البَحرِ

    And the wild beasts of the land, from what he shed

    of blood, became like fish in the sea's depths.

  57. بَنى بِيَعاً من هامِهم وصَوامِعاً

    تبوّأ منها مسجِداً راهِبُ النَّسْرِ

    He built churches and hermitages from their heads,

    where the vulture-monk took a mosque as his abode.

  58. لَقوهُ كأمثال البُزاةِ جَوارِحاً

    وولّوْا كما تمضي البُزاةُ عن الصّقْرِ

    They met him like hawks, birds of prey,

    and fled as hawks retreat before the falcon.

  59. فمنْ واقعٍ في الأرض في شبَكِ الرّدى

    ومن طائرٍ عنه بأجنحةِ الغُرِّ

    Some fell to earth into the net of death,

    and some flew from him on the wings of white-blazed steeds.

  60. وأنّى لهمُ جُندٌ تُلاقي جُنودَه

    وأين رِماحُ الخَطِّ من خشَبِ السِّدْرِ

    How could they have troops to face his troops?

    How can al-Khatt's lances be compared with lote-tree sticks?

  61. بغَوْا فبغَوْهُ بالّذي لو تعمّدَتْ

    له الشُهْبُ لاقَتْ دونَه حادِثَ الكَسْرِ

    They rebelled and tried against him what, had

    meteors attempted it, would have shattered them short of him.

  62. وبانت عن الكفّ الخضيبِ بنانُه

    وضاقَ به ذَرْعُ الذِراعِ عن الشّبْرِ

    And the fingers parted from the Henna-Dyed Hand,

    and before him the Arm's reach fell short of a handspan.

  63. فراعِنُه همّتْ به فتلقّفَتْ

    عَصا عزمِه ما يأفكون من المكْرِ

    His Pharaohs plotted against him; then it swallowed up—

    the staff of his resolve—what guile they fabricated.

  64. بهمْ مرضٌ من بُغضِه في قُلوبِهم

    وسيفِ عليٍّ ذي الفقارِ الّذي يَبري

    There is sickness in their hearts from hatred of him

    and of Ali's cleaving sword, Dhu al-Fiqar.

  65. فيا ابْنَ رسولِ اللّهِ والسيّدَ الّذي

    حَوى سُؤدُداً يَسمو به شرفُ العَصْرِ

    O son of the Messenger of God, and master who

    holds a lordship through which the age's honor rises,

  66. أرادتْ بك الأسْباطُ كَيْداً فكِدْتَهُم

    وأكرَمَ مثواكَ العزيزُ من النّصرِ

    the tribes sought to plot against you, so you outplotted them,

    and victory's mighty lord honored your dwelling.

  67. ترجّوْا لديهم لو تَبورُ بِضاعةٌ

    فقادَهُمُ راعي البَوارِ إلى الخُسْرِ

    They hoped that some merchandise might perish among them,

    so the shepherd of ruin led them to loss.

  68. لِيَهْنِكَ نصرٌ عزُّهُ يخذُلُ العِدا

    وفتحٌ يحلُّ المُغلَقاتِ من الأمرِ

    May a victory gladden you, whose might leaves foes helpless,

    and a conquest that unlocks what is closed in affairs.

  69. وحسبُك فخراً كفُّكَ الموتَ عنهمُ

    وحسبهُمُ ذاك الخُضوعُ من الأسْرِ

    Enough for your pride is your holding death back from them,

    and enough captivity for them is that submission.

  70. ألا فاِعْفُ عنهم إنّهم لَعبيدُكُمْ

    وإنّ سَجايا العَفْوِ من شِيَمِ الحُرِّ

    Ah, pardon them, for they are surely your slaves,

    and the qualities of pardon are among a free man's traits.