Sol 6.1

  1. عَهْدِي بحَيِّك وهو حَيٌّ عامِرُ

    قامَ الرقيبُ له وقلاَ السَّامِرُ

    I remember your encampment when it was a thriving settlement;

    the watcher stood guard over it, and the night companion shunned it.

  2. فبَوارِقُ الزَّفَراتِ فيه خوافِقٌ

    وسحائبُ العَبَراتِ فيه مَواطرُ

    So flashes of sighs quivered within it,

    and clouds of tears rained down there.

  3. حيث الحُماةُ منَ الكُماةِ كأَنها

    فوق العِتاقِ قَسَاورٌ وجآذِرُ

    Where the defenders among the armored champions seemed

    lions and oryx calves upon thoroughbred steeds.

  4. وغصون مُلْدِكِ مثل قَدِّكِ مُيَّدٌ

    ومجالُ طِرفكِ مثلُ عَرْفِك عاطِرُ

    And the branches of your supple trees, like your figure, swayed,

    and your steed's roaming-ground, like your scent, was fragrant.

  5. فمُهَنَّدٌ عَضْبٌ وأَسمرُ عاسِلٌ

    ومُفاضَةٌ زُعْفٌ وأَجْردُ ضامِرُ

    So: a keen Indian sword and a quivering brown spear,

    and a supple, full-length coat of mail, and a sleek, lean steed.

  6. حتى مَضَتْ بصَبَا الصَّبابة شَمَأَلٌ

    واستَنْفَذَتْ أَصْلَ الوصالِ هَوَاجرُ

    Until a north wind carried off the east breeze of longing,

    and scorching noontides exhausted the root of union.

  7. وسطا عليَّ البُعْدُ بَعْدَكِ بالضنا

    فأَذَابَنِي لولا الخيالُ الزائرُ

    In your absence, separation assailed me with wasting sickness,

    and would have melted me away, but for the visiting apparition.

  8. ما كُنْتُ أُومِنُ بالمزارِ ودُونَنَا

    خِرْقٌ مَجُوسِيٌّ ولَيْلٌ كافِرُ

    I did not believe a visit possible, when between us lay

    a Magian wilderness and an unbelieving night.

  9. فاجْعَلْ يَدَيْكَ حميلتَين مُعَانِقاً

    فجُفونُ مُهْدِيكَ الحُسامُ الباترُ

    So, as you embrace, make your hands two sword-straps,

    for your sender's eyelids are the cleaving sword.

  10. واشدُدْ لِثامَك دُونَ لَثْمِكَ لا تُضِعْ

    حِرْمانَ جنْحٍ برْدُهُ لَك ساتِرُ

    And tighten your veil rather than kiss; do not squander

    the privation of a night whose mantle shelters you.

  11. فالليلُ يُذْهِبُهُ صَبَاحٌ مُسْفِرٌ

    بِيَدِ الغزالَةِ أَو صَبِيحٌ سافِرُ

    For night is dispelled by a radiant dawn,

    at the sun's hand—or by a fair one unveiled.

  12. واحمِلْ إِلى مُهْدِيك خَيْرَ تَحِيَّةٍ

    حَيَّا النَّسيمَ بها الرَّبيعُ الزاهرُ

    And carry to your sender the finest greeting,

    with which flowering spring greeted the breeze.

  13. وإِذا اسْتعادَكَ ما رَأَيْتَ فقُلْ له

    هُو في الهَوَى مَثَلٌ لَعَمْرُكَ سائِرُ

    And if he asks you to recount what you saw, tell him:

    In love he is, by your life, a widely repeated proverb.

  14. صالَتْ عليه صروفُ دَهْرٍ لَمْ يَكُنْ

    لولا أَبُو الأَيتامِ منها ناصِرُ

    Time's vicissitudes assailed him; there would have been

    no defender against them, but for Abu al-Aytam.

  15. الحافِظُ الحَبْرُ الذي لَوْلاَهُ لَمْ

    يجْبُرْ صُدوع الشَّرْعِ يوماً جابِرُ

    The guardian, the learned scholar, without whom no

    mender could ever have repaired the fractures of sacred law.

  16. عَلَمٌ أَقامَ منَارةً بتَيقُّظٍ

    عزَّ التَّقِيُّ به وذَلَّ الفاجِرُ

    A beacon who raised a guiding light through vigilance;

    through him the devout grew mighty, and the wicked were abased.

  17. نَظَرَتْ به العلياءُ عن مُتَنَبِّهٍ

    نامَتْ عيونٌ دونَهُ ومَحَاجرُ

    Through him, high glory looked out, ever watchful,

    while lesser eyes and eye-sockets slept.

  18. فكأَنَّها شَخْصٌ بديعٌ يجْتَلِي

    وكأَنَّه إِنسانُها والناظرُ

    As though she were a wondrous figure, gazing,

    and as though he were her pupil and her seeing eye.

  19. أَخلاقُه هي والرياضُ أَزاهِرٌ

    وصِفاتُه هي والنجومُ زَواهرُ

    His virtues and the gardens alike are blossoms,

    and his qualities and the stars alike are radiant.

  20. وكأَنما الأَمداحُ إِذْ عَلِقَتْ به

    دُرٌّ حواهُ منه بَحْرٌ زاخرُ

    And as though the praises, when they clung to him,

    were pearls held by the surging sea that he is.

  21. أَنا إِن نَظَمْتُ الشعرَ فيه ساحِرٌ

    حقًّا ولكنْ في سِواه ساخِرُ

    If I compose poetry about him, I am a magician,

    truly—but about anyone else, a mocker.

  22. فإِذا وَصَفْتَ عُلاهُ قال لِيَ الوَرَى

    للِّه ممدوحٌ ذَكَرْت وشاعِرُ

    And when you describe his eminence, people say to me:

    God bless the man you have praised—and the poet!

  23. حَبْرٌ تَغَايرتِ القوافِي في مدًى

    أَوصافُهُ فَكَأَنَّهُنَّ ضَرائِرُ

    A scholar: rhymes grew jealous of each other in the expanse

    of his qualities, as though they were rival wives.

  24. من آلِ ساسانَ الذين صِفاتُهُمْ

    في جبْهةِ الأَيامِ خَطُّ ظاهِرُ

    From the house of Sasan, whose qualities

    are a clear inscription on the forehead of days.

  25. قومٌ إِذا خَيَّمْتَ دون فِنائهم

    فاعلَمْ بأَنكَ للنجومِ مُجاورُ

    A people—if you pitch your tent before their forecourt,

    then know that you are a neighbor to the stars.

  26. حَلُّوا مَطَا العلْياءِ وَهْيَ مُضَمَّرٌ

    أَعيا على الأَقوامِ منه الحافِرُ

    They settled upon the back of glory, a lean-trained steed,

    whose very hoof proved beyond other peoples' reach.

  27. تُزْهَى بِهِمْ يوْم النِّزال ضوامر

    وتَميلُ في يومِ المقالِ منَابِرُ

    Lean steeds take pride in them on the day of battle,

    and pulpits sway on the day of oratory.

  28. يا أَولَّ السَّاداتِ غَيْرَ مُنَازَعٍ

    وإِنِ اعْتَلَى بكَ ذا الزمانُ الآخِرُ

    O foremost of the lords, undisputed,

    though through you this latter age has risen high.

  29. اِهْنَاْ بذا العَشْر المُعَظَّمِ قَدْرُه

    واعلَمْ بأَنك أَنتَ منه العاشِرُ

    Rejoice in these ten, whose worth is exalted,

    and know that you yourself are their tenth.

  30. واسلَمْ مدى الأَيامِ فرداً إِنني

    بصفاتِ مجدِكَ للنجوم مُكاثِرُ

    And live safely, peerless for all time; indeed, I

    rival the stars in number with the attributes of your glory.