Sol 6.1

  1. لَو صَحَّحَ الدَمعُ لي أَو ناصَحَ الكَمَدُ

    لَقَلَّما صَحِباني الروحُ وَالجَسَدُ

    If tears were true to me, or anguish gave honest counsel,

    My soul and body would scarcely have stayed with me.

  2. خانَ الصَفاءَ أَخٌ كانَ الزَمانُ لَهُ

    أَخاً فَلَم يَتَخَوَّن جِسمَهُ الكَمَدُ

    A brother betrayed our sincere affection; Time had been to him

    A brother, so anguish had not wasted his body.

  3. تَساقُطُ الدَمعِ أَدنى ما بُليتُ بِهِ

    في الحُبِّ إِذ لَم تَساقَطُ مُهجَةٌ وَيَدُ

    The falling of tears is the least of what has afflicted me

    In love, since neither heart’s blood nor hand has fallen away.

  4. لا وَالَّذي رَتَكَت تَطوي الفِجاجَ لَهُ

    سَفائِنُ البَرِّ في خَدِّ الثَرى تَخِدُ

    No, by Him for whom they trotted, traversing the passes—

    The ships of land, furrowing the earth’s cheek—

  5. لَأَنفَدَنَّ أَسىً إِذ لَم أَمُت أَسَفاً

    أَو يَنفَدُ العُمرُ بي أَو يَنفَدُ الأَبَدُ

    I shall surely exhaust sorrow, since I have not died of grief,

    Or my lifetime shall run out, or eternity itself be spent.

  6. عَنّي إِلَيكِ فَإِنّي عَنكِ في شُغُلٍ

    لي مِنهُ يَومٌ يُبَكّي مُهجَتي وَغَدُ

    Away with you! I am too preoccupied to heed you;

    It gives me a day and a tomorrow that make my heart weep.

  7. وَإِنَّ بُجرِيَّةً نابَت جَأَرتُ لَها

    إِلى ذُرى جَلَدي فَاِستَوهَلَ الجَلَدُ

    Indeed, a monstrous calamity befell me; because of it I cried

    To the heights of my fortitude, but fortitude itself took fright.

  8. هِيَ النَوائِبُ فَاِشجى أَو فَعي عِظَةٌ

    فَإِنَّها فُرَصٌ أَثمارُها رَشَدُ

    These are calamities: grieve, or heed a lesson,

    For they are opportunities whose fruits are sound judgment.

  9. هُبّي تَرَي قَلَقاً مِن تَحتِهِ أَرَقٌ

    يَحدوهُما كَمَدٌ يَحنو لَهُ الجَسَدُ

    Rise, and you will see unrest with sleeplessness beneath it,

    Both driven by anguish before which the body bends.

  10. صَمّاءُ سَمُّ العِدى في جَنبِها ضَرَبٌ

    وَشُربُ كاسِ الرَدى في فَمِّها شُهُدُ

    A deaf, implacable calamity: beside it, enemies’ venom is white honey,

    And drinking death’s cup is honeycomb in its mouth.

  11. هُناكَ أُمُّ النُهى لَم تودِ مِن حَزَنٍ

    وَلَم تَجُد لِبَني الدُنيا بِما تَجِدُ

    There, the mother of reason did not perish from sorrow,

    Nor did she share with the children of this world what she feels.

  12. لَو يَعلَمُ الناسُ عِلمي بِالزَمانِ وَما

    عاثَت يَداهُ لَما رَبّوا وَلا وَلَدوا

    If people knew what I know of Time, and what

    Havoc its hands have wrought, they would neither rear children nor beget them.

  13. لا يُبعِدِ اللَهُ مَلحوداً أَقامَ بِهِ

    شَخصُ الحِجى وَسَقاهُ الواحِدُ الصَمَدُ

    May God not cast away the buried one in whom dwelt

    The embodiment of reason; may the One, the Self-Sufficient, water him.

  14. يا صاحِبَ القَبرِ دَعوى غَيرِ مُثَّئِبٍ

    إِن قالَ أَودى النَدى وَالبَدرُ وَالأَسَدُ

    O dweller of the tomb, it is a claim made without shame

    If one says, ‘Generosity, the full moon, and the lion have perished.’

  15. باتَ الثَرى بِأَخي جَذلانَ مُبتَهِجاً

    وَبِتُّ يَحكُمُ في أَجفانِيَ السُهُدُ

    The earth spent the night gleeful, rejoicing in my brother,

    While I spent the night with sleeplessness ruling my eyelids.

  16. لَهفي عَلَيكَ وَما لَهفي بِمُجدِيَةٍ

    ما لَم يَزُركَ بِنَفسي حَرُّ ما أَجِدُ

    Alas for you! Yet my grief is of no avail,

    Unless the burning of what I feel brings my soul to visit you.

  17. أَنسى أَبا الفَضلِ يَعفو التُربُ أَحسَنَهُ

    دوني وَدَلوُ الرَدى في مائِهِ يَرِدُ

    Shall I forget Abu al-Fadl, while dust effaces his beauty

    Yet spares me, while death’s bucket dips into his water?

  18. وَيلٌ لِأُمِّكَ أَقصِر إِنَّهُ حَدَثٌ

    لَم يَعتَقِد مِثلَهُ قَلبٌ وَلا جَلَدُ

    Woe to your mother! Desist: this is a calamity

    Whose like no heart or fortitude has ever conceived.

  19. عاقَ الزَمانُ رَضيعَ الجودِ لَم يَقِهِ

    أَهلٌ وَلَم يَفدِهِ مالٌ وَلا وَلَدُ

    Time thwarted generosity’s nursling; he was not shielded

    By family, nor ransomed by wealth or child.

  20. حينَ اِرتَوى الماءَ وَاِفتَرَّت شَبيبَتُهُ

    عَن مُضحِكٍ لِلمَعالي ثَغرُهُ بَرَدُ

    When he had drunk his fill of water, and his youth smiled,

    Revealing one who made noble deeds smile, whose teeth were hailstones.

  21. وَقيلَ أَحمَدُها بَل قيلَ أَمجَدُها

    بَل قيلَ أَنجَدُها إِن فُرَّتِ النُجُدُ

    And he was called their most praiseworthy—nay, their most glorious;

    Nay, their bravest, if the valiant were put to the test.

  22. رودُ الشَبابِ كَنَصلِ السَيفِ لا جَعَدٌ

    في راحَتَيهِ وَلا في عودِهِ أَوَدُ

    Supple in youth, like a sword-blade: no tightfistedness

    In his palms, nor any crookedness in his frame.

  23. سَقى الحَبيسَ وَمَحبوساً بِبَرزَخِهِ

    مِنَ السَمِيِّ كَفيتُ الوَدقِ يَطَّرِدُ

    May al-Habis and the captive behind its barrier be watered

    By swift-flowing rain from the clouds, pouring without pause,

  24. بِحَيثُ حَلَّ أَبو صَقرٍ فَوَدَّعَهُ

    صَفوُ الحَياةِ وَمِن لَذّاتِها الرَغَدُ

    Where Abu Saqr settled, and was bidden farewell

    By life’s sweetness and the ease among its pleasures;

  25. بِحَيثُ حَلَّ فَقيدُ المَجدِ مُغتَرِباً

    وَمورِثاً حَسَراتٍ لَيسَ تُفتَقَدُ

    Where glory’s lost one settled, a stranger,

    And bequeathing sorrows that will never be absent.