Sol 6.1

  1. مَعَاهِدُهُمْ بالأبْرقَيْنِ هَوَامِدُ

    رُزقْنَ عِهَادَ المُزْنِ تِلكَ المعاهِدُ

    Their familiar haunts at al-Abraqayn lie lifeless.

    May those haunts receive the rainclouds' recurring showers.

  2. ولولا احمرارُ الدَّمعِ ما انبعثتْ لَهَا

    سَحَائِبُ دَمْعٍ بالحَنينِ رَوَاعِدُ

    And but for the tears' redness, there would not rise for them

    Clouds of tears, thundering with longing.

  3. وَقَفْتُ بِهَا والوَحْشُ حَوْلي كأنَّني

    بِهِنَّ مَلِيكٌ حَولَهُ الجُنْدُ حَاشِدُ

    I stood there, wild beasts around me, as though I were

    A king in those haunts, with troops massed around him.

  4. أُسَرِّحُ في أكنافِها الطرفَ لا أرَى

    سِوَى أَشْعَثٍ شَجَّتْهُ أَمسِ الولائِدُ

    I let my gaze roam their surroundings, seeing nothing

    But a ragged stake the maidens split yesterday,

  5. وإلاّ ثلاثاً كالحَمَائِمِ جُثَّماً

    ونُؤْياً عَفَتْهُ الدَّاهِيَاتُ العَوائِدُ

    And three hearthstones, crouching like doves,

    And an encircling trench erased by returning calamities.

  6. وأَسْأَلُها عن أَهْلِها ثمَّ لا تُحِرْ

    جَوَاباً وهل يَسْتَنْطِقُ العُجْمَ ناشِدُ

    I ask them about their people, but they return no

    Answer; can a seeker make the mute speak?

  7. لكَ الخيرُ لا تذهبْ بحِلْمِكَ دِمْنةٌ

    مَحاها البِلَى واستوطَنَتْها الأَوَابِدُ

    May good be yours: let no abandoned campsite steal your reason,

    One decay has effaced and wild creatures have inhabited.

  8. فَمَا هِيَ إنْ خاطبتَها بمُجيبَةٍ

    وإنْ جَاوبَتْ لم تُشْفِ ما أَنتَ وَاجدُ

    For if you address it, it will not answer;

    And if it answered, it would not heal the grief you feel.

  9. ولكنْ هَلُمَّ الخَطْبُ في رُزْءِ سَيِّدٍ

    قضَى ظَمَأً والماءُ جَارٍ ورَاكِدُ

    But come—the calamity is the loss of a lord

    Who died thirsty, while water flowed and stood still.

  10. كَأَنِّي بِهِ في ثُلَّةٍ من رِجَالِهِ

    كما حَفَّ بالليثِ الأُسُودُ اللوابِدُ

    I seem to see him among a band of his men,

    As crouching lions gather around the lion.

  11. يَخُوضُ بِهِمْ بَحْرَ الوغَى وكأنَّهُ

    لِوَاردِهِ عَذْبُ المجاجَةِ بَارِدُ

    He plunges with them into the sea of battle, as though it were

    Sweet in the mouth and cool to whoever enters it.

  12. إِذَا اعْتَقَلُوا سُمْرَ الرِّمَاحِ وجَرَّدُوا

    سُيوفاً أَعَارتْها البُطُونَ الأَساوِدُ

    When they couch their tawny spears and draw

    Swords to which black serpents have lent their bellies,

  13. فليسَ لها إلاّ الصُدورُ مَرَاكِزٌ

    وليسَ لهاإلاَّ الرُؤُوسُ مَغَامِدُ

    They have no planting places but chests,

    And no sheaths but heads.

  14. يُلاقُونَ شَدَّاتِ الكُمَاةِ بِأنفُسٍ

    إذَا غَضِبَتْ هَانَتْ عليها الشَّدَائِدُ

    They meet the charges of armored champions with souls

    That, once angered, find hardships easy.

  15. إلى أنْ ثَوَوْا في الرمْلِ صَرْعَى كأنَّهُمْ

    نَخيلٌ أَمَالتْهُنَّ أَيْدٍ عَوَاضِدُ

    Until they lay fallen in the sand, as though they were

    Palm trees felled by hewing hands.

  16. أُولَئِكَ أَربَابُ الحِفَاظِ سَمَتْ بِهِمْ

    إلى الغايَةِ القُصْوَى النفوسُ المَوَاجِدُ

    Those were the guardians of honor, raised

    To the utmost height by their noble souls.

  17. ولم يبقَ إلاَّ واحدُ الناسِ واحِداً

    يُكابِدُ مِنْ أَعْدائِهِ ما يُكَابِدُ

    And none remained but the peerless man, alone,

    Enduring from his enemies what he endured.

  18. يكُرُّ فينثالونَ عنه كأنَّهُمْ

    مَهاً خلفَهُنَّ الضَّارياتُ شَوَارِدُ

    He charges, and they scatter away from him, like

    Fleeing oryx with fierce predators behind them.

  19. يحامي وَرَاءَ الطَّاهِراتِ مُجَاهِداً

    بأَهْلي وبي ذَاكَ المحامِي المجَاهِدُ

    He fights in defense of the pure women;

    May my family and I ransom that defender and fighter!

  20. فما الليثُ ذُو الأشْبَالِ هِيجَ على الطَّوَى

    بأشجعَ منه حِينَ قَلَّ المُسَاعِدُ

    No lion with cubs, roused while hungry,

    Is braver than he when helpers are few.

  21. ولا سمعتْ أُذْني ولا أُذْنُ سَامِعٍ

    بأثبتَ منهُ في اللّقا وَهْو وَاحِدُ

    Neither my ear nor any listener's ear has heard

    Of anyone firmer in battle, though he stood alone.

  22. إلى أنْ أسَالَ الطعنُ والضربُ نفسَهُ

    فخرَّ كما أهوَى إلى الأَرضِ سَاجِدُ

    Until spear-thrusts and blows spilled out his life's blood,

    And he fell as one prostrating sinks to the ground.

  23. فلَهْفاً لَهُ والخيلُ مِنْهنَّ صَادِرٌ

    خَضِيبُ الحَوَامِي من دِمَاهُ وَوَارِدُ

    Alas for him, as the horses—some drawing away,

    Their hoof-sides dyed with his blood, and others approaching!

  24. فَأَيُّ فتًى ظلَّتْ خُيُولُ أُميَّةٍ

    تُعَادِي على جُثْمانِهِ وتطارِدُ

    What a youth! Umayya's horses kept

    Galloping over his corpse and racing one another.

  25. وأَعظمُ شَيءٍ أنَّ شِمْراً لَهُ على

    جَنَاجِن صَدْرِ ابنِ النبيِّ مَقَاعِدُ

    And worst of all: Shimr had, upon

    The ribs of the Prophet's son's chest, places to sit.

  26. فَشُلَّتْ يَدَاهُ حينَ يفرِي بسيفِهِ

    مُقَلَّدَ مَنْ تُلقَى إليهِ المَقَالِدُ

    May both his hands be paralyzed when his sword cuts

    The neck of the one to whom the keys are entrusted.

  27. وإنَّ قتيلاً أَحرزَ الشِّمْرُ شِلْوَهُ

    لأكرمُ مَفقودٍ يُبَكِّيه فَاقِدُ

    Truly, the slain man whose remains Shimr seized

    Is the noblest lost one any mourner weeps for.

  28. لَقَىً بِمحاني الطفِّ شِلْواً ورأسُهُ

    ينوءُ بِه لَدْنٌ من الخَطِّ وارِدُ

    A discarded body in the bends of al-Taff, while his head

    Weighs upon a supple, long-reaching spear from al-Khatt.

  29. وَلَهْفي على أنصارِهِ وحُمَاتِهِ

    وهُمْ لِسَرَاحِينِ الفَلاةِ مَوَائِدُ

    And my anguish for his supporters and defenders,

    Now feasts for the wolves of the wilderness!

  30. مُضمَّخةٌ أَجْسادُهُم فكأنّما

    عَلَيهنَّ من حُمْرِ الدَّماءِ مَجَاسِدُ

    Their bodies are drenched, as though

    Dyed robes of crimson blood lay upon them.

  31. تضيءُ بِهِمْ أكنافُ عَرْصةِ كربلا

    وتُظلِمُ منهم أَرْبُعٌ ومَشَاهِدُ

    The reaches of Karbala's plain shine with them,

    While dwellings and gathering places darken at their loss.

  32. فيا كربلا طُلْتِ السَّمَاءَ وربّما

    تنَاولَ عفواً حَظَّ ذي السعيِ قَاعِدُ

    O Karbala, you have overtopped the sky; sometimes

    One sitting idle gains, unbidden, the striver's share.

  33. لأَنتِ وإن كُنْتِ الوضيعةَ نِلْتِ مِنْ

    جَوارِحِهِمْ ما لمْ تَنَلْهُ الفَرَاقِدُ

    Indeed, though lowly, you have gained from

    Their limbs what the Farqad stars never gained.

  34. سُرُرتِ بِهِمْ أنْ آنَسُوكِ وسَاءَني

    مَحَارِيبُ مِنْهُمْ أَوْحَشَتْ ومَسَاجِدُ

    You rejoiced in them, for they kept you company; but I grieve

    For prayer-niches and mosques left desolate without them.

  35. بذا قضتِ الأيَّامُ ما بينَ أهلِها

    مَصَائِبُ قَوْمٍ عندَ قَومٍ فَوَائدُ

    Thus the days have decreed among their people:

    One people's calamities are another people's gains.

  36. لِيهنَكِ أنْ أَمْسى ثَرَاكِ لطيبهِ

    تُعطَّرُ منهُ في الجِنَانِ الخَرَائِدُ

    May it gladden you that your soil has become so fragrant

    That maidens in Paradise's gardens perfume themselves with it.

  37. وإِنْ أَنْسَ لا أنْسَى النِّسَاءَ كأنَّها

    قَطاً رِيعَ عَنْ أوكارِهِ وَهْو هَاجِدُ

    Whatever I may forget, I shall not forget the women, like

    Sandgrouse startled from their nests while sleeping.

  38. خَوَارِجُ من أبياتِها وَهْي بَعْدَها

    لأرجَاسِ حَرْبٍ بالحريقِ مواقِدُ

    Emerging from their tents, which, once they were gone,

    Were blazing hearths for Harb's foul men.

  39. سَوَافِرُ بعد الصَّونِ مَا لوجوهِهَا

    بَرَاقِعُ إلاَّ أَذْرُعٌ وسَوَاعِدُ

    Unveiled after being guarded, their faces have no

    Veils but their arms and forearms.

  40. إذا هُنَّ سُلِّبْنَ القَلائِدَ حُدِّدَتْ

    من الأَسْرِ في أَعْناقِهِنَّ قَلائِدُ

    When they are stripped of necklaces, there are wrought in iron

    Necklaces of captivity about their necks.

  41. وتُلْوَى على أَعْضَادِهِنَّ مَعَاضِدٌ

    من الضَّرْبِ إذْ يُبتَزُّ منها المَعَاضِدُ

    And around their upper arms are twisted armlets

    Of blows, as their bracelets are snatched away.

  42. نَوَادِبُ لو أنَّ الجِبَالَ سَمِعْنَها

    تداعَتْ أَعَاليهنَّ فَهْي سَوَاجدُ

    Lamenting women—had the mountains heard them,

    Their summits would have collapsed, bowing in prostration.

  43. إِذا هُنَّ أَبْصَرنَ الجُسُومَ كأنَّها

    نجُومٌ على ظَهْرِ الفَلاةِ رَوَاكِدُ

    When they saw the bodies, like

    Stars lying still upon the face of the wilderness,

  44. وَشِمْنَ رُؤُوساً كالبدورِ تُقِلُّها

    رِمَاحٌ كأَشْطَانِ الرَّكيِّ مَوَارِدُ

    And beheld heads like full moons, borne up by

    Spears like well-ropes reaching down to water,

  45. تَدَاعَينَ يَلْطِمنَ الخُدُودَ بعَوْلةٍ

    تُصَدَّعُ منها القاسِياتُ الجَلامِدُ

    They called to one another, striking their cheeks with cries

    That would split the hardest boulders.

  46. ويَخمشْنَ بالأَيدي الوجوهَ كأنَّها

    دَنانيرُ أَبْلاهُنَّ بالحَكِّ نَاقِدُ

    And clawed their faces with their hands, as though they were

    Gold dinars worn down by an assayer's rubbing.

  47. وظِلْنَ يُرَدِّدْنَ المَنَاحَ كأنَّما

    تَعلَّمَ منهنَّ الحَمَامُ الفَواقِدُ

    And kept repeating their lament, as though

    Bereaved doves had learned from them.

  48. فَمَا الوُرْقُ بَزَّتْها البُزَاةُ فِراخَها

    وحَلأَّها عن حَوْمَةِ الوَكْرِ صَائِدُ

    No gray doves whose chicks hawks have snatched,

    Driven from the vicinity of their nests by a hunter,

  49. ولا رُزَّحٌ هِيمٌ تكادُ قلوبُها

    تطيرُ إذا عنَّتْ لهنَّ المَوارِدُ

    Nor exhausted, thirst-crazed camels, whose hearts almost

    Fly when watering places come into view,

  50. تَهُمُّ بِوِرْدِ الماءِ ثمَّ يردُّها

    أُخَيْرقُ مَرْهُوبُ البَسَالةِ ذَائِدُ

    Longing to reach the water, then driven back by

    A petty, brutish warder, feared for his fierceness,

  51. يدافعُها عن وِرْدِها وَهْي لا تني

    تُدافعُهُ وَهْو الأَلَدٌّ المُعَانِدُ

    Who keeps them from their watering, while they never cease

    Struggling against him, obstinate and defiant as he is—

  52. فَيُرْجِعُها حَرَّى القُلُوبِ كأنَّما

    يُؤجِّجُ في أَحْشَائها النارَ وَاقِدُ

    He sends them back with burning hearts, as though

    Someone were stoking a fire in their entrails—

  53. بأكثرَ منها تلكَ نَوْحاً وهَذهِ

    حَنيناً وأنَّى والعُيُونُ جوامِدُ

    Are more sorrowful than the women: those in mourning, these

    In yearning. How could they be, when their eyes are tearless?

  54. فَيَا وَقْعَةً ما أَحْدَثَ الدهرُ مثلَها

    يُبيدُ الليالي ذِكْرُها وَهْو خَالِدُ

    O battle, time has never brought forth your like!

    Its memory wears the nights away, while itself remains immortal.

  55. لأَلبَسْتِ هَذَا الدينَ أثوابَ ذِلَّةٍ

    ترثُّ لها الأيامُ وَهْي جَدَائِدُ

    You have indeed clothed this faith in garments of humiliation;

    The days wear out before them, while those garments remain new.

  56. لَحَى اللهُ قيساً قيْسَ عَيْلانَ إنني

    عليهم لَمسجُورُ الحشاشةِ حَاقِدُ

    May God curse Qays—Qays 'Aylan! I am

    Burning at heart against them, full of rancor.

  57. لأُمِّهِمُ الويلاتُ ما ذَنبُ هَاشِمٍ

    عليهم أَمَا كَفُّوا إِذَا لم يُسَاعدوا

    Woe upon their mother! What offense had Hashim committed

    Against them? Could they not refrain, if they would not help?

  58. أَغَرْتُمْ فحلَّلْتُمْ أَوَاصِرَ بينَكم

    لها مُضَرٌ في سَالِفِ الدهرِ قَاعِدُ

    You raided and undid the bonds between you,

    Whose foundation Mudar laid in ages past.

  59. وَأَبكيتُمُ جَفْنَ النبيِّ مُحمَّدٍ

    ليضحكَ كَلْبٌ من أُميّةَ قَاعِدُ

    You brought tears to the Prophet Muhammad's eyes,

    So a dog of Umayya could sit laughing.

  60. أُميّةُ هُبِّي من كَرَاكِ فما جنَى

    كفعلِكِ جَانٍ وَهْو مثلُكِ رَاقِدُ

    Umayya, rise from your slumber! No criminal has wrought

    A deed like yours while sleeping as you do.

  61. لأَغْرَقتُمُ في رَمْي هَاشِمَ بَعْدَمَا

    أَحلُّوكُمُ حَيثُ السُّهَا والفَرَاقِدُ

    You have gone too far in assailing Hashim, after

    They placed you where Suha and the Farqad stars are.

  62. على غَيْرِ شَيءٍ غيرَ أنكُمُ مَعاً

    إذَا حَصَّلَ الأَنْسَابَ كَفٌّ وسَاعِدُ

    For no reason, save that together you are,

    When ancestry is reckoned, a hand and a forearm.

  63. خَلا أَنْهُمْ أَولَى بِكُمْ من نُفُوسِكُمْ

    بِنَصٍّ من التنزيلِ واللّهُ شَاهِدُ

    Except that they have greater claim on you than your own selves,

    By an explicit text of revelation—and God is witness.

  64. أَنَالَهُمُ ما لم يُنِلكُمْ إلهُهم

    فكُلُّكُمُ بَادي العَدَاوةِ حَاسِدُ

    Their God bestowed on them what He did not bestow on you;

    So each of you shows his enmity, envious.

  65. أَمَا وأبي لَوْلا تَأَخُّرُ مُدَّتي

    وأنّ الذي لم يقضِهِ اللهُ كائِدُ

    Indeed, by my father, but for my lifetime coming so late,

    And that what God has not decreed defeats our striving,

  66. لأَلفيتُمونِي في رِجَالٍ كأنَّهُمْ

    لُيُوثٌ بِمُسْتَنِّ النِّزَالِ حَوَارِدُ

    You would have found me among men who were like

    Fierce lions in the field of combat.

  67. بأيمانِنَا بِيضٌ كأنَّ مُتُونَها

    إِذا اطَّردَتْ أَموَاهُهُنَّ مَبَارِدُ

    Bright swords in our right hands, their blades like

    Files when their water-like gleam runs along them,

  68. وخَطِّيّةٌ مُلْسُ المُتُونِ كأنَّما

    أسنّتُها مما شَحَذْنَ مَفَاصِدُ

    And smooth-shafted spears from al-Khatt, as though

    Their points, so sharply honed, were bloodletting lancets.

  69. نُطَاعنُكُمْ عنهُمْ بِهذي فإنْ نَبَتْ

    عَوامِلُها مِلْنا بتلكَ نُجَالِدُ

    We would thrust at you in their defense with these; if they glanced off—

    Their spearheads—we would turn to those and fight with blades.

  70. لَعمرُ أبي الخَطيِّ إنْ عَزَّ نصرُكُمْ

    عليهِ فلم تعزُزْ عليهِ القَصَائِدُ

    By the life of al-Khatti's father: if aiding you proved hard

    For him, poems did not prove hard for him.

  71. من اللائِي يُدْنِينَ الخَليَّ من الأَسَى

    ويترُكْنَ مَثْلوجَ الحَشَا وَهْو وَاجِدُ

    Of the kind that draw the untroubled near to sorrow,

    And leave the soothed heart full of grief.

  72. فدونَكُمُ آلَ النبيِّ فَرَائِداً

    تَذِلُّ لها في سلكِهنَّ الفَرَائِدُ

    Take, then, O family of the Prophet, these peerless gems,

    Before which the finest pearls in their strings bow low.

  73. لَهُنَّ على غَيرِي إبَاءةُ مُكْرهٍ

    ويقتادُها عن طَاعَةٍ لِيَ قَائِدُ

    They resist others like one compelled,

    Yet a guide leads them in willing obedience to me.

  74. يُزيرُكُمُوها من فُرُوع ربيعةٍ

    فتًى عَرَّقتْ فيهِ الرجالُ الأَمَاجِدُ

    He brings them to visit you, from Rabi'a's branches—

    A youth in whom illustrious men have struck their roots.

  75. يَمُدُّ بِضِبْعَيهِ إلى أَمَدِ العُلا

    إذا ما انتمَى جَدٌّ كريمٌ ووَالِدُ

    He is lifted by both arms toward the utmost heights,

    When he traces his lineage, by a noble grandsire and father.

  76. إِذا شِئْتُ جَارَاني بِمِضْمارِ مدحِكمْ

    جَوَادَان لا يَشْنَاهُمَا الدهرَ طاردُ

    If I wish, I am matched in the racecourse of your praise by

    Two steeds no pursuer ever scorns.

  77. إِذا ركَضَا كَانَ المُصَلَّيُّ منهما الْ

    فَتَى حَسَنٌ والسابقُ الفحلُ مَاجِدُ

    When they race, the runner-up of the pair is the

    Youth Hasan, and the leading stallion is Majid.

  78. هما أَرضَعَاني دُرَّةَ اللطفِ يافعاً

    فَهَا أنَذا والحمدُ للّهِ راشِدُ

    They both nursed me on the flowing milk of kindness as a youth;

    So here I am—praise be to God—rightly guided.