Sol 6.1

  1. سَماع يا أَيُّ هَذا الفاضل النَطِسُ

    وَمن تسامت بِعَلياهُ طَرابلسُ

    Hearken, O you excellent, discerning man,

    And you through whose eminence Tripoli has risen high;

  2. وَمَن غَدا في بَنيها الزُهر منذُ سَما

    سَماء فَضلٍ وَهُم مِن حَولِهِ حَرَسُ

    And you who, since rising, became among her radiant sons

    A heaven of excellence, with them as guards around you;

  3. وَمِن هَو الغَيثُ في يَوم النَوال بَل ال

    بَحر الزُلال بِها في الجود يَنبَجسُ

    And you, rain on the day of bounty—rather, the

    Sea of sweet water, welling forth there in generosity;

  4. وَمَن إِذا خَفَقَت راياتُ فِكرَتِهِ في ال

    بَحث شاهَدتَ لَيث الغاب يَفتَرِسُ

    And you whose banners of thought, when they flutter in the

    Quest for knowledge, reveal a forest lion devouring prey;

  5. وَمَن بِهِ جاءَتِ الأَيّامُ طَودَ عُلاً

    رِعانُهُ مِن خُطوب الدَهر مُحتَرِسُ

    And you whom the days brought forth, a mountain of eminence,

    Whose peaks stand watch against the calamities of time;

  6. ذا عَزمَةٍ كَغِرارِ السَيفِ ماضيهِ

    وَهمَّة مَنزِلِ الجوزاءِ تَكتَنِسُ

    Endowed with resolve like a sword's keen edge,

    And ambition that makes its lair in the abode of al-Jawza’;

  7. أَغَرَّ طَلقِ المُحَيّا زانَهُ خُلُقٌ

    حَوى اعتِدالاً فلا لينٌ وَلا شَرسُ

    Radiant, cheerful of countenance, adorned by a character

    Of balanced temper, with neither weakness nor harshness;

  8. مهَذَّباً لَو دَعى قُسّ فَصاحَتهُ

    عَراه عِندَ تَناهي نُطقهُ خَرسُ

    Refined—were Quss to lay claim to your eloquence,

    Speechlessness would seize him at the height of his utterance;

  9. مِن مَعشَرٍ كَسُيوفِ الهِندِ ماضِيَةٍ

    نَمتهُم لِلمَعالي سادَةٌ نُطسُ

    From a people as keen as Indian swords,

    Whom discerning lords nurtured toward high distinction;

  10. مِن كُلِّ أَزهر حرِّ الوَجهِ غُرَّتُه

    كَأَنَّها في دَياجي ظُلمَةٍ قَبَسُ

    Each a radiant, noble-faced man, whose brow

    Is like a firebrand amid the gloom of darkness;

  11. يَهمِي سَحابُ النَدى مِن صَوب راحَتِهِ

    كَما هَمى وَاكفُ الأَنداءِ يَرتَجِسُ

    The cloud of bounty pours from the region of his palm,

    As streaming showers pour forth, rumbling;

  12. قَومٌ لَهُم في سَماءِ المَجدِ مَنزِلَةٌ

    زُهر الكَواكِبِ مِنها النور تقتَبسُ

    A people with a station in the heaven of glory,

    From which the radiant stars borrow light;

  13. وَمَن هُوَ الحَكَمُ التُرضى حُكُومَتُهُ

    وَمَن يَدين بِعالي فَضلِهِ الأُنُسُ

    And you, the judge whose judgment is approved,

    And you, to whose lofty excellence humankind submits.

  14. وَافتكَ كَالروضِ يُزَهي غِبَّ ساريَةٍ

    أَو غادةٍ يَزدَهي أَعطافَها المَيَسُ

    It has come to you like a garden blooming after a night shower,

    Or a tender maiden whose swaying adorns her flanks:

  15. في طَرفِها صَيَدٌ في جيدِها جَيَدٌ

    في قَدِّها مَيَدٌ في ثَغرِها لَعَسُ

    In her glance, proud aloofness; in her neck, graceful length;

    In her figure, a sway; on her lips, a dusky tint.

  16. مِن نازِحِ الدارِ قَد شَطَّت بِجيرَتِهِ

    نَوىً شطونٌ وَدَهرَقُ جائِر تَعِسُ

    From one far from home, whose neighbors have been borne afar

    By far-flung separation and a cruel, wretched age;

  17. لَم يَبقَ مِنهُ عَلى نَأي الدِيار سِوى

    رَسمٍ مَتى صَحَّ بِالتَذكارِ يَنتَكِسُ

    Of him, despite his distant homeland, nothing remains but

    A remnant that, whenever remembrance heals it, relapses;

  18. يَبكي المَنازلَ أَقوت مِن أَحِبَّته

    بِمَدمعٍ في نَواحي خَدِّهِ يَطِسُ

    He mourns the dwellings emptied of his loved ones,

    With tears that splash across his cheek.

  19. وَافَتكَ مِن جِلَّقَ الفَيحاءَ لا بَرِحَت

    عَلى مَعالِمِها الأَنواءُ تَنبَجِسُ

    It has come to you from spacious Jilliq—may there forever be

    Rainstorms pouring over her landmarks.

  20. تَسعى مُيمّمة علياكَ راجِيَةً

    جَدواكَ فَضلاً وَجَلبَ الوُدِّ تَلتَمِسُ

    It hastens, bound for your eminence, hoping

    For your bounty as a favor, and seeking to win your affection.

  21. في طَيِّها بَعد نَشر الوُدّ غامِضَةٌ

    إِلّا عَلى فهمك النَقاد يا ندسُ

    Within its folds, after affection's unfolding, lies a question obscure

    To all but your discerning mind, O keen-witted one:

  22. ما جاءَ في الذكر مما قالَ في مَلأ

    مِن نَفيِ رَبٍّ سِواه المُسرِفُ الدَنِسُ

    What the Revelation recounts of words spoken before an assembly:

    The foul transgressor's denial of any lord other than himself.

  23. وَفيهِ قَد قيل نَفي العلم كُن فطناً

    مُستَلزِمٌ نَفي مَعلومٍ كَذا دَرَسوا

    Concerning this, they have said: denying knowledge—be discerning—

    Entails denying its object; thus have they learned.

  24. وَكَونُهُ في بَني ذا النَوع تُبطِله

    أَدِلّةٌ مِن كَلامِ القَومِ تُقتَبَسُ

    Yet its holding among members of this kind is refuted

    By proofs drawn from the words of the scholars.

  25. إِذا فَتَجويزه في الفَرد مُمتَنِعٌ

    فَاِشرح لَنا كنهه يا أَيّها النَطِسُ

    Then admitting it in a single individual is impossible;

    So explain its true nature to us, O discerning scholar,

  26. أَثناءَ مَطوِيّة الكشحَينِ ناظِرَة

    عَن طَرف أَوطف لبَّ المَرء تَختَلِسُ

    In the folds of a slender-waisted beauty, whose gaze

    From a thick-lashed eye steals a man's wits.

  27. لا زِلت عالمَ هذا القُطر سَيِّدَه

    تَحيا بِصَوبِ حَياكَ الأَربعُ الدُرُسُ

    May you ever remain this land's scholar and its master;

    The effaced dwellings live again through your rain's downpour,

  28. ما ضاعَ في مُنتَداه الفَضلُ مُنتَشِراً

    ما بَينَ أَرجائِهِ وَالضِدُّ مُنتَكِسُ

    As long as excellence wafts, spreading in his assembly,

    Through every corner, while its opposite lies overthrown;

  29. وَغَرّدت بِأَعالي رَوضةٍ سَحَراً

    وَلاحَ وُرقُ صَباحٍ وَاِنجَلى غَلَسُ

    And birds trill from a garden's heights before dawn,

    And morning's silver gleams, and the darkness clears.