Sol 6.1

  1. تَقي جَمَحاتي لَستُ طَوعَ مُؤَنِّبي

    وَلَيسَ جَنيبي إِن عَذَلتِ بِمُصحِبي

    Beware my headstrong outbursts; I do not obey my reproacher.

    Nor, if you chide me, will my steed obey me.

  2. فَلَم توفِدي سُخطاً إِلى مُتَنَصِّلٍ

    وَلَم تُنزِلي عَتباً بِساحَةِ مُعتِبِ

    You have sent your anger to no man who would plead excuse,

    nor lodged reproach in the courtyard of one who would appease you.

  3. رَضيتُ الهَوى وَالشَوقَ خِدناً وَصاحِباً

    فَإِن أَنتِ لَم تَرضَي بِذَلِكَ فَاِغضَبي

    I have accepted love and longing as intimate and companion;

    so if you are not content with that, be angry.

  4. تُصَرِّفُ حالاتُ الفِراقِ مُصَرَّفي

    عَلى صَعبِ حالاتِ الأَسى وَمُقَلَّبي

    Separation's changing states direct my course

    and my turnings through sorrow's harsh conditions.

  5. وَلي بَدَنٌ يَأوي إِذا الحُبُّ ضافَهُ

    إِلى كَبِدٍ حَرّى وَقَلبٍ مُعَذَّبِ

    I have a body that, when love visits it, takes refuge

    in a burning liver and a tormented heart.

  6. وَخوطِيَّةٍ شَمسِيَّةٍ رَشَئِيَّةٍ

    مُهَفهَفَةِ الأَعلى رَداحِ المُحَقَّبِ

    And many a twig-slender, sun-bright, fawn-like woman,

    slender above, full about the hips,

  7. تُصَدِّعُ شَملَ القَلبِ مِن كُلِّ وِجهَةٍ

    وَتَشعَبُهُ بِالبَثِّ مِن كُلِّ مَشعَبِ

    shatters the heart's unity from every side

    and tears it with anguish at every cleft,

  8. بِمُختَبِلٍ ساجٍ مِنَ الطَرفِ أَحوَرٍ

    وَمُقتَبِلٍ صافٍ مِنَ الثَغرِ أَشنَبِ

    with a maddening, languid, dark-pupilled gaze,

    and a fresh, clear mouth with cool, pearly teeth:

  9. مِنَ المُعطَياتِ الحُسنَ وَالمُؤتَياتِهِ

    مُجَلبَبَةً أَو فاضِلاً لَم تُجَلبَبِ

    one of those granted beauty and endowed with it,

    whether cloaked or lightly clad without a cloak.

  10. لَوَ اَنَّ اِمرَأَ القَيسِ بنَ حُجرٍ بَدَت لَهُ

    لَما قالَ مُرّا بي عَلى أُمِّ جُندُبِ

    Had she appeared to Imruʾ al-Qays ibn Hujr,

    he would not have said, 'You two, take me by Umm Jundub.'

  11. فَتِلكَ شُقوري لا اِرتِيادُكِ بِالأَذى

    مَحَلِّيَ إِلّا تَبكُري تَتَأَوَّبي

    Those are my concerns, not your hurtful visits

    to my dwelling: if you do not come at dawn, you return at dusk.

  12. أَحاوَلتِ إِرشادي فَعَقلِيَ مُرشِدي

    أَمِ اِستَمتِ تَأديبي فَدَهري مُؤَدِّبي

    Have you tried to guide me? My reason is my guide.

    Or sought to school me? My lifetime is my tutor.

  13. هُما أَظلَما حالَيَّ ثُمَّتَ أَجلَيا

    ظَلامَيهِما عَن وَجهِ أَمرَدَ أَشيَبِ

    They darkened my two states, then dispelled

    their twin darknesses from the face of a beardless, grey-haired man,

  14. شَجىً في حُلوقِ الحادِثاتِ مُشَرِّقٍ

    بِهِ عَزمُهُ في التُرُّهاتِ مُغَرِّبِ

    a choking bone in calamities' throats, borne eastward

    and westward through the byways by his resolve,

  15. كَأَنَّ لَهُ دَيناً عَلى كُلِّ مَشرِقٍ

    مِنَ الأَرضِ أَو ثَأراً لَدى كُلِّ مَغرِبِ

    as though a debt were owed him in every eastern reach

    of earth, or blood vengeance in every western reach.

  16. رَأَيتُ لِعَيّاشٍ خَلائِقَ لَم تَكُن

    لِتَكمُلَ إِلّا في اللُبابِ المُهَذَّبِ

    I saw in ʿAyyāsh virtues that could not

    reach perfection save in the choicest, most refined of men.

  17. لَهُ كَرَمٌ لَو كانَ في الماءِ لَم يَغِض

    وَفي البَرقِ ما شامَ اِمرُؤٌ بَرقَ خُلَّبِ

    He has a generosity that, were it in water, would keep it from dwindling;

    and, were it in lightning, no man would watch a rainless flash.

  18. أَخو أَزَماتٍ بَذلُهُ بَذلُ مُحسِنٍ

    إِلَينا وَلَكِن عُذرُهُ عُذرُ مُذنِبِ

    A brother in hardships: his giving is a benefactor's giving

    to us, yet his apology is a guilty man's apology.

  19. إِذا أَمَّهُ العافونَ أَلفَوا حِياضَهُ

    مِلاءً وَأَلفَوا رَوضَهُ غَيرَ مُجدِبِ

    When gift-seekers come to him, they find his pools

    full, and find his meadow never barren.

  20. إِذا قالَ أَهلاً مَرحَباً نَبَعَت لَهُم

    مِياهُ النَدى مِن تَحتِ أَهلٍ وَمَرحَبِ

    When he says, 'Welcome, well met,' there spring up for them

    the waters of bounty from beneath 'welcome' and 'well met.'

  21. يَهولُكَ أَن تَلقاهُ صَدراً لِمَحفِلٍ

    وَنَحراً لِأَعداءٍ وَقَلباً لِمَوكِبِ

    It awes you to meet him, the breast of an assembly,

    the forefront against enemies, the heart of a host.

  22. مَصادٌ تَلاقَت لُوَّذاً بِرُيودِهِ

    قبائِلُ حَيَّي حَضرَمَوتَ وَيَعرُبِ

    A mountain at whose ridges have gathered for refuge

    the tribes of the two peoples, Hadramawt and Yaʿrub,

  23. بِأَروَعِ مَضّاءٍ عَلى كُلِّ أَروَعٍ

    وَأَغلَبِ مِقدامٍ عَلى كُلِّ أَغلَبِ

    in a man of awe, relentless against every man of awe,

    and a thick-necked lion, bold against every lion,

  24. كَلَوذِهِمُ فيما مَضى مِن جُدودِهِ

    بِذي العُرفِ وَالإِحمادِ قَيلٍ وَمَرحَبِ

    as once they sought shelter among his forebears

    in Qayl and Marhab, men of kindness and praiseworthy deeds.

  25. ذَوونَ قُيولٌ لَم تَزَل كُلُّ حَلبَةٍ

    تَمَزَّقُ مِنهُم عَن أَغَرَّ مُحَنَّبِ

    Lords titled 'Dhu,' kings: every field of racers has always

    parted to reveal from their ranks a white-blazed steed with arched legs.

  26. هُمامٌ كَنَصلِ السَيفِ كَيفَ هَزَزتَهُ

    وَجَدتَ المَنايا مِنهُ في كُلِّ مَضرِبِ

    A valiant lord, like a sword-blade: however you brandish it,

    you find death issuing from it with every stroke.

  27. تَرَكتَ حُطاماً مَنكِبَ الدَهرِ إِذ نَوى

    زِحامِيَ لَمّا أَن جَعَلتُكَ مَنكِبي

    You left Time's shoulder in fragments when it meant

    to jostle me, once I had made you my shoulder.

  28. وَما ضيقُ أَقطارِ البِلادِ أَضافَني

    إِلَيكَ وَلَكِن مَذهَبي فيكَ مَذهَبي

    It was not the lands' narrow bounds that drove me

    to you; rather, my choice of you is my own choice.

  29. وَأَنتَ بِمِصرٍ غايَتي وَقَرابَتي

    بِها وَبَنو الآباءِ فيها بَنو أَبي

    In Egypt you are my destination and my kin;

    there, the sons of other fathers are my own father's sons.

  30. وَلا غَروَ أَن وَطَّأتَ أَكنافَ مَرتَعي

    لِمُهمِلِ أَخفاضي وَرَفَّهتَ مَشرَبي

    No wonder you smoothed the sides of my pasture

    for my ease to roam at will, and made my watering plentiful.

  31. فَقَوَّمتَ لي ما اِعوَجَّ مِن قَصدِ هِمَّتي

    وَبَيَّضتَ لي ما اِسوَدَّ مِن وَجهِ مَطلَبي

    You straightened for me what had bent in my ambition's course,

    and whitened for me what had blackened on the face of my quest.

  32. وَهاتا ثِيابُ المَدحِ فَاِجرُر ذُيولَها

    عَلَيكَ وَهَذا مَركَبُ الحَمدِ فَاِركَبِ

    And these are the robes of praise: draw their hems

    over yourself; and this is acclaim's mount—so ride!