Sol 6.1

  1. وقف الهوى بك بعد طول وجيفِهِ

    وأفاق من يلحاك من تعنيفِهِ

    Passion halted with you after its long galloping,

    and your reproacher awoke from his harsh rebuking.

  2. ولقد يروقك بارتجاج نبيله

    قمر النساء وباهتزاز قضيفِهِ

    How the quivering of her fullness once delighted you,

    that moon among women, and her slender frame's sway.

  3. قَبحَ الهوى ملكُ السماء فلم يزل

    دَيناً يدين قويه لضعيفه

    May the King of Heaven condemn passion, which has always been

    a debt making its strong beholden to its weak.

  4. ولحا الصِّبا بعد المشيب فإنه

    شأوٌ يريك الحرَّ خلفَ وصيفه

    And may He rebuke youthful desire after graying, for it is

    a race that shows the free man trailing his young slave.

  5. يا جارتي أودى بياضُ مُسرَّحي

    وبريقه بسواده ورفيفه

    O my neighbor, my combed hair's whiteness has destroyed,

    along with its glare, its blackness and shimmer.

  6. والشيب ضيف لايزال موكّلا

    بمعقَّةٍ ومساءةٍ لمُضيفه

    Gray hair is a guest forever charged

    with ingratitude and mistreatment of its host.

  7. وأرى قوامي لج في تقويسه

    ولقد يلج اللين في تعطيفه

    I see my frame insisting on curving itself,

    and pliancy may indeed persist in bending it.

  8. إن يحمني بيض المشيب وشيبه

    مرعاي من بيض الشباب وهيفه

    If graying's white hairs and hoariness deny me

    my pasture among youth's fair and slender beauties,

  9. أو يقرني دهري مذيقَ حليبه

    فلقد قراني من وَريَّ سديفه

    or if my age offers me its diluted milk,

    it once entertained me with its rich hump-fat.

  10. ومُنعَّمٍ كالماء يشفي ذا الصدى

    كشفائه ويشفُّ مثل شفيفه

    And many a pampered youth, like water, quenches the thirsty,

    as water does, and is equally translucent.

  11. ممن له حسن الرحيق وطيبه

    ومراحُ شاربِه ومشيُ تريفه

    One who has pure wine's beauty and fragrance,

    its drinker's merriment and its pampered reveler's gait.

  12. تلقى جنى التفاح في وجناته

    وترى جنى العنّاب في تطريفه

    You find ripe apples in his cheeks,

    and see ripe jujubes in his dyed fingertips.

  13. متَّعتُ منه مسامعي ومراشفي

    بنثير لؤلؤِهِ وماء رصيفه

    I delighted my ears and my lips through him,

    with his scattered pearls and the dew of his close-set teeth.

  14. رويت سامعتي من ترجيعه

    بيتَيْ زيادٍ في سقوط نصيفه

    I quenched my hearing with his singing

    Ziyad's two verses about a veil's fall.

  15. وطفقت أرشف ريقه عن ثغره

    حتى شفيت جوى الهوى برشيفه

    I began sipping his saliva from his mouth,

    until those sips cured love's burning anguish.

  16. فالآن بدل صحوه من لهوه

    لاه وطول عزوفه بعزيفه

    Now a reveler has taken sobriety in place of his revelry,

    and long abstention in place of his music.

  17. أنَّى لذي شيب نسيمُ نسيمه

    أنى له التتريف من تنزيفه

    How can a gray-haired man enjoy his gentle beloved's breeze?

    How can he find indulgence in his intoxication?

  18. نسخ الزمان سخافة بحصافة

    فأتى حصيف الرأي دون سخيفه

    Time erased foolishness with prudence,

    bringing sound judgment instead of folly.

  19. وطوى المشيب تغزلي بتجملي

    فطوى لذيد تمتعي بعفيفه

    Gray hair folded away my love-songs with dignified restraint,

    and my sweet enjoyment with its chaste replacement.

  20. ما زال مرتاد الزمان مطوِّفاً

    حتى أصاب الرشد في تطويفه

    Time's questing scout kept roaming,

    until his roaming found right guidance.

  21. عفَّى بإسماعيل في شيبانه

    ما كان من حَجَّاجه وثقيفه

    Through Isma'il among its Shayban, it effaced

    what had been of its Hajjaj and its Thaqif.

  22. لبس الزمانُ من الوزير وعهده

    برداً تحار العين من تفويفه

    From the minister and his tenure, Time donned

    a striped mantle whose pattern bewilders the eye.

  23. ناهيك من حسن الرواء جميله

    عفِّ المغيب لدى الخلاء نظيفه

    How splendid his handsome, beautiful bearing,

    chaste in secret and spotless when alone!

  24. أو ليس تطريف الزمان بمثله

    ما شئت أو ما شاء من تطريفه

    Is not Time's gift of someone like him

    all you—or Time—could wish of its rare gifts?

  25. خُصَّ الوزير ببيت مجد زاده

    بيديه تشريفاً على تشريفه

    The minister was singled out for a house of glory, which he raised

    with his own two hands, adding honor to its honor.

  26. لو لم يُسقَّف بالسماء بناؤه

    عجزت ظلال المزن عن تسقيفه

    Had its structure not been roofed with heaven,

    the cloud-shadows could not have roofed it.

  27. يا حاسباً حسب الوزير وحقُّهُ

    أن يعجز الحساب عن تنصيفه

    O you who reckon the minister's nobility—its due

    is that reckoning cannot account for even half of it!

  28. أنى تروم يداك إحصاء الحصى

    ويداه دائبتان في تضعيفه

    How can your two hands seek to count the pebbles,

    when his two hands never cease doubling them?

  29. لم يخل دهر فيه إسماعيله

    من أمن خائفه وخوف مخيفه

    No age that has its Isma'il in it has lacked

    safety for its fearful and fear for its intimidators.

  30. منجاةُ هاربه محل طريده

    منهاة طالبه غياث لهيفه

    Refuge for its fugitive, a home for its exile,

    restraint for its pursuer, relief for its anguished.

  31. قدر يبور المترفون بسيفه

    بحر يلوذ المعتفون بِسِيفه

    A doom whose sword destroys the pampered,

    a sea whose shore shelters seekers of bounty.

  32. وهب الزمان له فضائل نفسه

    ورجاله فحكاه في تصريفه

    Time granted him the virtues of its own nature

    and of its men, so he mirrored it in his governance.

  33. لا حزم قشعَمِهِ تراه يفوته

    في النائبات ولا شذى غطريفه

    Neither its elder's resolve eludes him

    in calamities, nor its young noble's bounty.

  34. وكأنما إشراقه وسماحه

    إغداق مشتاه وصحو مصيفه

    His brightness and generosity are like

    its winter's pouring rain and its summer's clear skies.

  35. وترى له نعماً كجوِّ ربيعه

    وكروضه وكطيِّبات خريفه

    You see his favors like the air of its spring,

    like its meadows and the good things of its autumn.

  36. بسطت يداه العدل في سلطانه

    حتى استوى بدنيِّه وشريفه

    His two hands spread justice throughout his dominion,

    until it dealt equally with lowly and noble.

  37. جُزِي الوزير عن الرعية صالحاً

    بنواله والرفق في تثقيفه

    May the minister be well rewarded on behalf of his subjects

    for his bounty and gentleness in correcting them.

  38. يعد العقوبة فهي في تأخيرِهِ

    ويرى المثوبة فهي من تسليفه

    He promises punishment, but keeps it deferred;

    he considers reward, and pays it in advance.

  39. يا سائلي عن جوده بجزيله

    ورضاه من شكر امرئ بطفيفه

    O you who ask me about his abundant generosity,

    and his satisfaction with even a man's slight thanks:

  40. أضحى حليفاً للسماح ولم يكن

    ليراه ربك غادراً بحليفه

    he became generosity's ally, and never would

    your Lord see him betray his ally.

  41. نغدو بمدح فيه أيسرُ حقِّه

    فنحوز كل تليده وطريفه

    We come at morning with praise that is his slightest due,

    and gain all his inherited and newly acquired wealth.

  42. واسوأتي والله من تطفيفه

    إذ لا تخاف هناك من تطفيفه

    Alas, by God, for my shortchanging him,

    when there one never fears his shortchanging!

  43. نمتاحه والجور في توظيفنا

    ويسوسنا والعدل في توظيفه

    We draw from him, unjust in what we demand,

    while he governs us, just in what he levies.

  44. متطول نشتط في تكليفنا

    أبداً ولا يشتط في تكليفه

    A benefactor: we make excessive demands,

    always, while he never demands excessively.

  45. أمواله وقف على تثقيلنا

    وثناؤنا وقف على تخفيفه

    His wealth is devoted to weighing us down,

    and our praise devoted to lightening his load.

  46. وبه نحوك الشعر فيه لأننا

    تبع لمفتقر الفعال مَقِيفه

    Through him we weave poetry about him, because we

    are followers in need of deeds, with him as our model.

  47. يبني العلا ونقول فيه فإنما

    تأليفنا يُحذى على تأليفه

    He builds greatness and we speak of him; indeed,

    our composition is patterned upon his composition.

  48. عجباً له أنى يثيب معاشراً

    يتعلمون الشعر من توقيفه

    How strange that he should reward people

    who learn poetry through his instruction!

  49. كم جاد فيه من مديح لم يجد

    عن نحت شاعره ولا تحذيفه

    How much fine praise of him has flowed, yet not

    from its poet's carving or trimming!

  50. غيث نعيش بصوبه ونرى العدى

    ضعفين تحت لهيبه ورجيفه

    A raincloud by whose showers we live, while we see the foes

    enfeebled beneath its blaze and thunder,

  51. متبادرين قصيفه بوميضه

    متناذرين حريقه بقصيفه

    anticipating its thunderclap at its lightning's flash,

    warning one another of its fire at its thunderclap.

  52. ليث تراعى الوحش حول حريمه

    وترى الأسود مجانبات غريفه

    A lion: wild beasts watch warily around his precinct,

    and you see lions keeping clear of his thicket,

  53. متبادراتِ دليفِه بزئيره

    متناذرات وثوبه بدليفه

    anticipating his advance at his roar,

    warning one another of his leap at his advance.

  54. كم قد نجا منه الرفيق وما نجا

    منه العنيف بلفِّه ولفيفه

    How many a gentle man escaped him, while no

    violent man escaped, with his band and following!

  55. كالريح والزرعُ استكان لمرِّها

    وعتت فلم تقدر على تقصيفه

    Like the wind: the grain bowed to its passing,

    and it raged, yet could not break it.

  56. وتماتن الجزع الأبيُّ مهزُّه

    فأتت عليه ولم تُرَع بحفيفه

    The defiant trunk stiffened against its shaking,

    so it destroyed the trunk, undaunted by its rustling.

  57. ملك تضمن لي بلوغ محبتي

    عند اعتلال الدهر أو تخويفه

    A ruler who guaranteed I would attain my desire

    when Time afflicted or frightened me.

  58. فإذا رهبت أقلني في ربعه

    وإذا رغبت أحلني في ريفه

    When I feared, he carried me into his abode;

    when I desired, he lodged me in his fertile land.

  59. ما قلت فيه كأنَّ إلا أعوزت

    أشباهه فعجزت عن تكييفه

    Whenever I said of him, 'as though,'

    likenesses failed me, and I could not define him.

  60. لكنني استفرغت في تشبيهه

    جهد المطيق وحدت عن تحريفه

    Yet in likening him I exhausted

    all the strength I could muster, and avoided distortion.

  61. فأريت معناه العقول كما يُرى

    معنى كلام المرء في تصحيفه

    I showed his essence to minds as one sees

    a person's meaning through his words' misspelling.

  62. ولواصف في جملة من وصفه

    شغلٌ لعمر أبيك عن تصنيفه

    A describer, in a mere summary of his qualities,

    has, by your father's life, work enough without classifying them.

  63. يا من إذا ناديته بصفاته

    دون اسمه بالغت في تعريفه

    O you whom, when I call by your qualities

    rather than your name, I identify most fully:

  64. كم ظلِّ يأسٍ مطبق كشَّفته

    عند اعتقاد اليأس من تكشيفه

    how many a shrouding shadow of despair you have dispelled,

    when hope of dispelling it had been abandoned!

  65. بك طِيف تدبيرٌ يكيِّف لطفه

    سداً صلاح الناس في تكييفه

    Through you a design was set in motion, its subtlety fashioning

    a barrier whose design secures the people's welfare.

  66. يبني الكثيف من اللطيف وإنما

    تكثيف ذي التحصين من تلطيفه

    It builds the massive from the subtle; indeed,

    a fortification's solidity comes from his subtle skill.

  67. متخصّراً قلماً نحيفاً جسمه

    في وزن ضخم الشأن غير نحيفه

    With a pen held at his waist, slender in body,

    yet weighing as something mighty in consequence, not slight,

  68. لله أي مصدَّرٍ ومردَّفٍ

    يهتز بين ثقيله وخفيفه

    by God, what a forepart and a hindpart,

    swaying between its heavy end and its light end!

  69. ناهيك من صدر ومن تسنينه

    ناهيك من ردف ومن تسنيفه

    How splendid its front, and its sharpening,

    how splendid its rear, and its beveling!

  70. كُسِي المهابة كلها بغنائه

    في كل نازل مضلعٍ ومُطيفه

    It was clothed in all majesty by its usefulness

    in every crushing calamity and all that surrounds it.

  71. فترى السنان يلوح في تصديره

    وترى الحسام يلوح في ترديفه

    You see a spearhead gleaming in its front,

    and a sword blade gleaming in its rear.

  72. وظليمِ أسفارٍ إذا افترش الفلا

    بارى الظليم فزفَّ مثل زفيفه

    And a journey's ostrich, when it ranged across the wastes,

    raced the ostrich and sped with its swift gait.

  73. كلَّفتُه حملي إليك فخفَّ بي

    وابتاع خطوته بقرب أليفه

    I charged it to carry me to you, and it sped with me,

    buying its stride with nearness to its companion.

  74. يممت وجهك أهتدي بنجومه

    عند احتشاد الليل في تسجيفه

    I turned toward your face, guided by its stars,

    when night mustered its veiling darkness.

  75. وصدرت عما قال فيك مجرِّبٌ

    لا عن مقالة عائفٍ ومعيفه

    I acted on what an experienced man said of you,

    not on a bird-diviner's words and his augury.

  76. ومؤمَّل أغنيته ومؤمِّلٍ

    رجَّى غناك لججت في تسويفه

    Many a man others counted on you enriched; and many who hoped

    for your own enrichment you persistently kept waiting.

  77. لم تأل في تقديم مالك غائظاً

    لمسابق لم تأل في تخليفه

    You spared no effort in advancing your wealth, vexing

    a rival you spared no effort to leave behind.

  78. فاسلم وكن أبداً أمام عنانه

    سبقاً وكن عُمراً وراء رديفه

    Live unharmed, and always be ahead of his reins,

    first in the race, and in years beyond his rear rider.

  79. وأما وأشراف الرجال أليَّةً

    من مخلص يغنيك عن تحليفه

    And—by the noblest of men—an oath

    from a sincere man, sparing you the need to make him swear:

  80. ليُشنِّفنَّهُمُ بمدحك صائغٌ

    لا تكبر الآذان عن تشنيفه

    a craftsman shall surely adorn them with earrings of your praise;

    no ears are too proud for his earrings.