Sol 6.1

  1. بعينيهِ شُكْري لا بكأسِ عُقارِهِ

    رشاً صادَ آسادَ الشرى بنُفارِهِ

    My gratitude is for his eyes, not for the cup of his wine.

    A fawn who caught the lions of al-Shara by his flight.

  2. فيا حبّذا خمرُ الفتورِ يُديرُها

    على وردِ خديْهِ وآسِ عِذارِه

    How lovely the wine of languor he passes around

    over the roses of his cheeks and the myrtle of his cheek-down.

  3. سَقاني فلما أن تملّكَني الهَوى

    ثنى معطَفَيْهِ عن صريعِ خُمارِهِ

    He gave me drink; then, when passion possessed me,

    he turned his shoulders from the one felled by his wine's aftereffects.

  4. فللبدرِ ما يُبديهِ فوق لِثامِه

    وللغُصْنِ ما يُخفيهِ تحت إزارِه

    To the full moon belongs what he reveals above his veil,

    and to the bough, what he hides beneath his waistcloth.

  5. تضيءُ بروقُ البيضِ دون اجتلائهِ

    وتهوي نجومُ السُمرِ دون اقْتِسارِه

    The lightnings of white swords gleam before he can be beheld,

    and the stars of dark spears fall before he can be seized.

  6. وقد غَنيتْ أعطافُهُ عن رِماحِه

    كما غنِيَتْ أشْفارُهُ عن شِفارِه

    Yet his sides have no need of his spears,

    just as his eyelashes have no need of his blades.

  7. لئن كان طرْفي مُقْفراً من جَمالِه

    فإنّ فؤادي عامرٌ بادِّكارِه

    Though my gaze is desolate, bereft of his beauty,

    my heart is filled with remembrance of him.

  8. وواللهِ لولا أنه جنّة المُنى

    لَما كان محفوفاً لنا بالمكارِهِ

    By God, were he not the paradise of desires,

    he would not be surrounded for us by hardships.

  9. وفي فلكِ الأحداجِ بدرُ محاسنٍ

    كسَتْهُ أيادي البين ثوبَ سِرارِه

    In the orbit of the howdahs is a full moon of beauty,

    whom parting's hands have clothed in the robe of his dark phase.

  10. كأنّ الثريّا والهلالَ تقاسما

    جمالَهُما من قُرطِهِ وسِوارِه

    As though the Pleiades and the crescent had taken their shares

    of beauty from his earring and his bracelet.

  11. وكم جرّدتْ دونَ الظِباءِ من الظُبى

    لقتلِ شحٍ لا يُرْتَجى أخذُ ثارِه

    How many blades were unsheathed before the gazelles,

    to slay miserliness, with no hope of vengeance for it.

  12. وما أطلقت بالسّحْر غزلانُ بابلٍ

    لواحظَها إلا انثنى في إسارِه

    Never did Babylon's gazelles unleash, through sorcery,

    their sidelong glances without their magic falling captive in his bonds.

  13. إذا غرَسَتْ أيدي الصبابةِ في الحشا

    أصولَ الهوى فالوجدُ بعضُ ثِمارِه

    When the hands of longing plant within the breast

    the roots of love, anguish is but one of its fruits.

  14. إذا هبّ نجديُّ النسيمِ أخالَهُ

    سموماً بما يُمْليهِ من وهْجِ نارِه

    When the breeze from Najd blows, I imagine it

    a scorching wind, for it spreads the blazing heat of its fire.

  15. ومن لي بطيفٍ من تهامةَ طارقٍ

    على بُعْدِ مَسراهُ ونأيِ مزارِه

    Who can bring me a night-visiting vision from Tihama,

    despite its long night-journey and remote visiting-place?

  16. غراماً بباناتِ اللِوى وأراكِه

    وشوقاً الى قُلاّمِه وعَرارِه

    For love of al-Liwa's ban-trees and its arak-trees,

    and longing for its saltwort and oxeye flowers,

  17. ووجداً كوجدِ الحافظِ الحَبِر العُلا

    يضيءُ شموساً في سماءِ افتخارِه

    and yearning like the learned Hafiz's for high renown—

    he shines as suns in the heaven of his pride.

  18. يجودُ فللعافي جزيلُ نوالِه

    ويعفو فللجاني جميلُ اغتفارِه

    He gives generously: the supplicant receives his lavish bounty;

    and he pardons: the offender receives his gracious forgiveness.

  19. ويُغْني عيونَ المُجْتَدين وعيشُهُمْ

    بنضْرتِه مملوءة ونُضارِه

    He enriches the eyes and lives of those who seek his gifts,

    all filled with his radiance and his gold.

  20. نمَتْه الى المجدِ المؤمّلِ عُصبةٌ

    أشادوا بناءَ المجدِ بعد دثارِه

    A clan raised him to longed-for glory;

    they raised glory's edifice after its decay.

  21. رَقوا رُتَبَ العلياءِ إرثاً وسؤدداً

    وكم مستجدِ المجدِ أو مُستَعارِه

    They climbed the ranks of eminence through inheritance and lordship;

    and how much glory is newly acquired or borrowed!

  22. إذا ادّخر المالَ الأنامُ أفادَه

    جوادٌ يَرى الإسعافَ خيرَ ادّخارِه

    When people hoard wealth, he gives it away—

    a generous man who sees giving aid as his best provision.

  23. ولا فضلَ في نيلِ العُلا دون بذلِه

    كذا الماءُ يَرْوي من صدًى في قرارِه

    No merit lies in attaining eminence without spending wealth;

    thus water, in its resting-place, brings relief from thirst.

  24. إذا هزّ في الطُرْسِ اليراعَ منمَّقاً

    تصرّفتِ الأقدارُ طوعَ اقتدارِه

    When he flourishes the reed pen over parchment, embellishing it,

    the fates move in obedience to his power.

  25. جَلا سُدُفاتِ الجهلِ شارقُ عِلْمِه

    كما صدعَ الإظلامَ ضوءُ نهارِه

    The rising sun of his knowledge dispelled ignorance's darkness,

    as the light of his day cleft the gloom.

  26. إمامٌ غدا المحرابُ والجودُ دأبَهُ

    وكم عاكفٍ في خمرِه وخُمارِه

    An imam whose constant pursuits are the prayer-niche and generosity,

    while many a man is absorbed in his wine and its aftereffects.

  27. وجوٍّ يُصيبُ العيدَ غيثاً سحابُه

    وقدرُ سماءِ المجدِ قُطْبُ مَدارِه

    And a sky whose clouds shower rain upon the feast,

    and the height of glory's heaven is the pole of his orbit.

  28. عميمٌ بلِ الإحسانُ يُمْنُ يمينِه

    لمَنْ يترجّاهُ ويُسْرُ يسارِه

    All-embracing—nay, beneficence is his right hand's blessing

    for whoever hopes in him, and his left hand's ease.

  29. تضيءُ بروقُ البِشْرِ في صَفَحاتِه

    وتعشو عيونُ الطارقينَ لنارِه

    The lightnings of good cheer shine across his features,

    and the eyes of night-visitors seek the light of his fire.

  30. فحسبُ الأماني أن يُضيءَ جبينُه

    وحسبُ المنايا أن يُناخَ بِدارِه

    For wishes, it is enough that his brow should shine;

    and for death, enough that one alight at his abode.

  31. جدَتْ سُحُبُ الآمالِ ريحَ ارتياحِه

    يُحكمُها كيفَ اشتهتْ في بِحارِه

    The clouds of hope sought bounty from the breeze of his gladness;

    he lets them rule as they please within his seas.

  32. فبتْ جارَه إن شئتَ أن تُدْركَ العُلا

    وإن شئتَ أن تلقى المنونَ فجارِه

    So spend the night as his neighbor if you would attain the heights;

    but if you would meet death, rival him.

  33. هنيئاً له الشهرُ الأصمُّ وأنّهُ

    لَيسمَعُ ما نظّمْتُه في مَنارِه

    May the Deaf Month bring him joy; and it

    surely hears what I have composed about his beacon.

  34. فلا زال يُكْسى حُلّةَ الفضلِ عِطْفُهُ

    وكلُّ معادٍ لابسٍ ثوبَ عارِهِ

    May his shoulder ever be clothed in the robe of excellence,

    and every foe wear the garment of his own disgrace.