Sol 6.1

  1. نفسٌ عن الحبِّ ما حادت ولا غفلت

    بأيّ ذنبٍ وقاك الله قد قتلت

    A soul that never strayed from love or grew heedless—

    for what sin—may God protect you—has it been slain?

  2. وعين صبٍّ إلى مرآك قد لمحت

    كفى من الدمع والتسهيد ما حملت

    And a lovesick lover’s eye that caught a glimpse of you—

    enough of tears and sleeplessness has it borne.

  3. دعها ومدمعها الجاري فقد لقيت

    ما قدمت من أذى قلبي وما عملت

    Leave it with its flowing tears, for it has met

    the harm it inflicted on my heart, and what it wrought.

  4. أفديك من ناشط الأجفان في تلفي

    والسحر يوهن طرفي أنها كسلت

    I would ransom you, whose eyelids are active in my ruin,

    and their languor is the magic that weakens my gaze.

  5. وواضح الحسن لو شاءت ذوائبه

    في الأفق وصل دجى الظلماء لاتصلت

    And one radiant in beauty—if his locks wished

    to join night’s deep darkness on the horizon, they would.

  6. معسل بنعاسٍ في لواحظه

    أما تراها إلى كلّ القلوب حلت

    Honeyed with drowsiness in his glances—

    do you not see how sweet they have grown to every heart?

  7. من لي بألحاظ ظبي تدَّعي كسلاً

    وكم ثياب ضناً حاكت وكم غزلت

    Who can bring me a gazelle’s glances that claim to be languid?

    Yet how many robes of wasting sickness they have woven, and how many spun!

  8. وسمرة فوق خدَّيه ومرشفه

    هذي تروَّت مجانيها وذي ذبلت

    And a dusky hue upon his cheeks and lips:

    this one’s fruits have drunk their fill, while that one has withered.

  9. أما كفانيَ تكحيل الجفون أسىً

    حتَّى المراشف أيضاً باللّمى كحلت

    Was the kohling of the eyelids not grief enough for me,

    that even the lips were also kohled with dusky brown?

  10. لو ذقتَ بردَ رضابٍ في مراشفه

    يا حارُ مل لمَّت أعضائي التي ثملت

    Had you tasted the coolness of the saliva on his lips,

    O Har, you would [not?] blame my limbs that grew drunk.

  11. أستودع الله أعطافاً شوَت كبدي

    وكلما رمتُ تجديد الوصال قلت

    I entrust to God the curving flanks that scorched my liver;

    and whenever I sought to renew our union, they grew averse.

  12. ومهجةٌ ليَ كم ألقت بمسمعها

    إلى الملامِ ولا والله ما قبلت

    And my heart—how often it has lent its ear

    to reproach—yet no, by God, it never accepted it.

  13. كأن عيني إذا أرفضت مدامعها

    عن المؤيد أو صوب الحيا نقلت

    It is as though my eye, when its tears burst forth,

    had copied al-Mu’ayyad or the downpour of rain.

  14. ملكٌ له في الوغى والسلم بسط يد

    مأثورة الفضل إن صالت وإن وصلت

    A king whose hand is outstretched in war and peace,

    its excellence renowned, whether it strikes or bestows.

  15. تعطي الألوف إذا جادت لمطلبٍ

    ومثل أعدادها تردِي إذا قتلت

    It gives thousands when it answers a request with bounty,

    and fells as many when it slays.

  16. في كلِّ نهجٍ ومرماة ركاب سرى

    لولا ابن أيوب ما شدَّت وما رحلت

    On every road and distant reach are night-traveling mounts;

    but for Ibn Ayyub, they would never have been saddled or set out.

  17. إن تغش أبواب مغناه التي فتحت

    فطالما بالعطايا والندى قفلت

    If they approach the gates of his dwelling, standing open,

    how often they have returned with gifts and bounty!

  18. سل عن عطاياهُ تسأل كلّ وافدةٍ

    من المدائح فازت قبلما سألت

    Ask about his gifts: you will question every arriving

    praise-poem, which won its reward before it ever asked.

  19. فضلٌ أبرُّ فوفي الحمد غايته

    وراحة فعلت كل الندى فعلت

    A bounty most beneficent, so praise was given its full measure;

    and a palm that performed every act of bounty, and so rose high.

  20. وسيرةٌ عدلت في الخلق قاطبةً

    مع أنها عن سبيل الحق ما عدلت

    And conduct that was just toward all people,

    though it never turned aside from the path of truth.

  21. وهمَّةٌ في العلى والعلم دائبة

    شبَّت على شرف الفنيين وابْتهلت

    And an ambition tireless in pursuit of greatness and learning,

    reared on the nobility of both arts, striving earnestly.

  22. هذي السيادة تعلو كلما اتضعت

    وأنمل الفضل تهمي كلما عذلت

    This is lordship that rises whenever it humbles itself;

    and the fingers of bounty pour forth whenever reproached.

  23. أنى يقايس بالأنواءِ نائله

    وهي التي باحمرار البرق قد خجلت

    How can his bounty be compared with the seasonal rains,

    when they have blushed with shame in the lightning’s red glow?

  24. جادت يداه بلا منٍّ ينغِّصها

    والمنّ يظهر في الأنواء إن نزلت

    His hands gave without reminders of favors to sour their bounty;

    yet manna appears in the rains when they descend.

  25. وشاد بالجود ما شادت أوائله

    والسحب قد تهدم البنيان إن هطلت

    And he built through bounty what his forebears had built,

    while clouds may tear buildings down when they pour.

  26. لا شيء أليق من مرأى أنامله

    إذا تأمَّلت أمرّيها وما كفلت

    Nothing is more fitting than the sight of his fingers,

    when you consider their two tasks and what they undertake:

  27. تخط بالرمحِ في الأجسادِ صائلة

    وتطعن العسر بالأقلام إن بذلت

    they write with the spear on bodies as they charge,

    and stab hardship with pens when they give.

  28. لحملة الحرب أو حمل الندى خلقت

    فليس تنفكّ من شكرٍ لما حملت

    They were created for war’s onslaught or for bearing bounty,

    and are never without thanks for what they bear.

  29. لو قيل إن شموس الصحو خافية

    ما قال عنها عدو أنها بخلت

    Even if one said the suns of clear skies were hidden,

    no enemy would say of those fingers that they were miserly.

  30. يممه والسحب عقم واخشَ سطوته

    والخيل من حدبِ الهيجاء قد نسلت

    Seek him when clouds are barren, and fear his onslaught

    when horses have rushed down the ridges of battle.

  31. ذاكَ الكريم الذي يجدي مدائحنا

    وكان يكفي من الجدوى إذا قبلت

    That is the generous man who rewards our praise-poems;

    and their acceptance alone would have been bounty enough.

  32. من مبلغ الأهل أني ضيف أنعمه

    وإن كفِّي على الآمالِ قد حصلت

    Who will tell my kin that I am a guest of his favors,

    and my hand has indeed laid hold of my hopes?

  33. عزيمة السعي ما خابت وسائلها

    وآية المنطق السحَّار ما بطلت

    The resolve to strive—its means have never failed,

    and the miracle of enchanting speech has not proved vain.

  34. وانْشر على الناسِ أمداحِي التي اشْتهرت

    فإنها في معاني مجده اشْتغلت

    And spread among the people my renowned praise-poems,

    for they have dwelt on the qualities of his glory.

  35. أما ووصف ابن شادٍ قد سما وعلا

    والله ما قصرت عيني ولا سفلت

    Indeed, the praise of Ibn Shad has risen and soared;

    by God, my gaze has neither fallen short nor sunk low.

  36. لا أسأل الله إلاَّ أن يدوم لنا

    لا أن تزاد معانيهِ فقد كملت

    I ask God only that he remain with us,

    not that his virtues increase, for they are already complete.