Sol 6.1

  1. هاجتكَ وَرقاءُ النَغَم

    خَطباءُ تَهتف في عَلَم

    A gray dove of song has stirred you,

    Dusky-marked, she calls upon a hill.

  2. عَجماءُ يُعرِبُ لَحنُها

    سِرَّ الغَرامِ المكتَتم

    Speechless, yet her melody reveals

    The hidden secret of passion.

  3. تَروي أَحاديثَ الهَوى

    عَن فَيضِ دَمعٍ عَن سَقَم

    She recounts the tales of love

    From a flood of tears, from sickness.

  4. عَجَباً لَه تَشكُو النَوى

    وَالكَفُّ خُصِّب بِالعَنَم

    How strange it is! She laments separation,

    While her palm is dyed with red ʿanam.

  5. ذَكَرَت عُهوداً بِالحِمى

    سُقِيَ الحِمى عَهدَ الدِيَم

    She recalled old days within the haven;

    May the haven be watered in the season of steady rains.

  6. عَهداً لسانِحَةِ المَها

    يَخطُرنَ في حُلَلِ النِعَم

    Days of the passing white oryxes,

    Swaying in robes of bliss,

  7. بِدِمَشقَ بَينَ رُبوعِها

    فَرَبيعها الأَحوى الأَجَم

    In Damascus, among its dwellings,

    And its dark-green, luxuriant springtime,

  8. وَبَرادِها فَبريدُها

    فَفناءِ جامِعِها الخِضَم

    And its Barād, and its Barīd,

    And the forecourt of its vast congregational mosque.

  9. فَرواقُهُ دار العُلو

    مِ فَصحنُهُ دار الحِكَم

    And its portico is the home of learning,

    And its courtyard the home of wisdom.

  10. فَرِياضُها فَغِياضها

    فَحياضُها تُبري السَقَم

    And its gardens, and its groves,

    And its pools that cure sickness,

  11. فَهواؤُها فَمياهُها

    فَزلالُها العَذبُ الأَجَم

    And its air, and its waters,

    And its abundant, sweet, limpid water,

  12. فَمَقيلِ هاتيكَ الرُبا

    فَظِلالُ هاتيكَ السَلَم

    And the noonday resting-place on those hills,

    And the shade of those acacias,

  13. فَمَسيل باناسٍ إِلى

    بَطحاءِ وادٍ مُحتَرَم

    And the watercourse of Bānās, down to

    A revered valley's broad, pebbly bed.

  14. حَصباؤُهُ دُرٌّ وَتُر

    بَةُ أَرضِهِ مِسكٌ يُشَم

    Its pebbles are pearls, and the soil

    Of its land is musk to smell.

  15. تِلكَ المَنازِلُ بِالحِمى

    لا كَالمنازل مِن إِضَم

    Those are the dwellings in the haven,

    Not like the dwellings of Iḍam,

  16. فَصَفا العَقيقُ فَلَعلَع

    فَالرَقمتين فَذي سَلَم

    And al-ʿAqīq's smooth rocks, and Laʿlaʿ,

    And al-Raqmatayn, and Dhū Salam,

  17. فَظِلالُ رامَةَ فَالنقا

    فَالمُنحَني فرُبى أَكَم

    And Rāma's shade, and al-Naqā,

    And al-Munḥanī, and the hills of Akam.

  18. بَلدٌ حَبيبٌ أَهلُهُ

    فَاِعجب وَلم يَرعوا ذِمَم

    A land whose people are dear—

    So marvel, though they honored no obligations.

  19. أَصبو إِلَيها كُلَّما

    عَرَفَ الصَبا مِنها نَسَم

    I long for it whenever

    The east wind's fragrance wafts from it.

  20. هِيَ جَنّةُ الدُنيا وَشَم

    مُ تُرابِها يَشفي الأَلَم

    It is the world's paradise, and smelling

    Its soil heals pain.

  21. يَكفيكَ حُسناً أَنَّها

    في بَعض آثارِ إِدَم

    It is beauty enough that it

    Figures in some accounts of Idam.

  22. فارقتُها لا عَن رضى

    وَهَجَرتُها لا عَن سَأَم

    I parted from it, not willingly,

    And left it, not out of weariness.

  23. هَذا وَليلٍ مِثل يَو

    مِ الحَشرِ فيهِ لم أَنَم

    All this—and a night like the Day

    Of Resurrection, in which I did not sleep.

  24. أُمسي بِهِ حَيرانَ مِن

    فكرِ المَعيشَةِ في أَلَم

    I spend its evening bewildered by

    Thoughts of livelihood, in pain,

  25. بِرُبُوعِ إِسلامبولَ في

    دارِ الغَرامَةِ حِلفَ غَم

    In the quarters of Islāmbūl, in

    The abode of loss, as grief's sworn companion.

  26. لا أَطعَمُ الخُبزَ السَمي

    ذَ بِها وَقَد مُلِئَت نِعَم

    I taste no bread of fine flour

    There, though it abounds in blessings.

  27. كَلّا وَلا اللَحمَ القَدي

    دَ وَقَد أَراه عَلى وَضَم

    Nor, indeed, the dried meat,

    Though I see it on a meat board.

  28. بَل أَشتهي كسدانَةٍ

    لِتسد مِن رَمَقي فَلَم

    Rather, I crave a chestnut

    To keep a little life in me—but no—

  29. مِن بَعدِ أَن لَم يَبقَ لِي

    شَيءٌ يُقالُ لَهُ بِكَم

    After I no longer had

    Anything of which to ask, 'How much?'

  30. إِلّا بَقايا مُهجَةٍ

    هِيَ ملكُ مَولىً ذُو كَرَم

    Except the remnants of a soul,

    They are the property of a generous lord.

  31. مَولىً حِماهُ كَعبةٌ

    وَظِلالُ ساحَتِهِ حَرَم

    A lord whose protected domain is a Kaaba,

    And whose courtyard's shade is a sanctuary.

  32. وَجَنابُه لِشِفاءِ أَف

    واه الأَماثل مُلتَثَم

    And his threshold, for the healing of mouths

    Of the eminent, is a place to kiss.

  33. تَسعى إِلى أَبوابِهِ

    مِن كُلِّ فَجٍّ مُقتَحَم

    They hasten to his doors

    From every pass they brave,

  34. فَتَنالُ مِن إِحسانِهِ

    ما يَمَّمَتهُ مِن أُمَم

    And receive of his bounty—

    Whatever peoples have sought him.

  35. إِلا عَبيدَ جَنابِكُم

    دَرويشُ بابِكُم المُؤَم

    Except this humble servant of Your Eminence,

    The dervish at your sought-out door.

  36. هَلّا نَظَرتُم نَحوَهُ

    نَظَر المَوالي لِلخَدَم

    Would you not look toward him

    As masters look upon servants,

  37. وَرَحِمتُموهُ بِخِدمَةٍ

    كَرَماً وَلَو دارُ الغَنَم

    And show him mercy with employment,

    Out of kindness, even at a sheepfold?

  38. فَوحقِّ نِعمَتِكُم قَسَم

    ما ذاقَ لَحماً مُنذُ كَم

    By the sanctity of your bounty—I swear—

    He has tasted no meat for who knows how long!

  39. يا مَن سَحائِبُ فَضلِهِ

    فَضلُ السَحابِ إِذا اِنسَجَم

    O you whose clouds of bounty

    Surpass the clouds when they pour,

  40. لا زِلتَ مَحروسَ الجَنا

    بِ بِعِزّةٍ جَمّ الكَرَم

    May you ever remain, your domain guarded

    With might, lavish in generosity,

  41. في دَولَةٍ مَحسودَةٍ

    لِبَني الرَجا تُولي الكَرَم

    In an envied reign,

    Granting bounty to the sons of hope,

  42. ما غَرَّدَت مُفتنَّةٌ

    في أَيكِها ورقَ النَغَم

    As long as a many-voiced songstress warbles

    In her thicket, dove-gray melodies.