Sol 6.1

  1. عَنَّت فَأَعرَضَ عَن تَعريضِها أَرَبي

    يا هَذِهِ عُذُري في هَذِهِ النُكَبِ

    She appeared, but my desire turned away from her overtures.

    Woman, my excuse lies in these calamities.

  2. إِلَيكَ وَيلُكَ عَمَّن كانَ مُمتَلِئاً

    وَيلاً عَلَيكَ وَوَيحاً غَيرَ مُنقَضِبِ

    Away with you—woe to you—from one who is filled

    with woe—upon you!—and anguish without end.

  3. في صَدرِهِ مِن هُمومٍ يَعتَلِجنَ بِهِ

    وَساوِسٌ فُرَّكٌ لِلخُرَّدِ العُرُبِ

    In his breast, from cares that wrestle within him,

    are whispering thoughts hostile to shy, loving maidens.

  4. رَدَّ اِرتِدادُ اللَيالي غَربَ أَدمُعِهِ

    فَذابَ هَمّاً وَجَمدُ العَينِ لَم يَذُبِ

    The nights’ reversals checked the torrent of his tears;

    so he melted with grief, but the ice in his eye did not melt.

  5. لا أَنَّ خَلفَكِ لِلَّذّاتِ مُطَّلَعاً

    لَكِنَّ دونَكِ مَوتَ اللَهوِ وَالطَرَبِ

    Not that beyond you lies a prospect of pleasures,

    but between us lie the death of mirth and rapture

  6. وَحادِثاتِ أَعاجيبٍ خَساً وَزَكاً

    ما الدَهرُ في فِعلِها إِلّا أَبو العَجَبِ

    and wondrous calamities, odd and even.

    Time, in working them, is nothing but the father of wonders.

  7. يَغلِبنَ قَودَ الكُماةِ المُعلِمينَ بِها

    وَيَستَقِدنَ لِفُرسانٍ عَلى القَصَبِ

    They defy the leadership of champions renowned in such trials,

    yet submit to horsemen mounted on reeds.

  8. فَما عَدِمتُ بِها لا جاحِداً عَدَماً

    صَبراً يَقومُ مَقامَ الكَشفِ لِلكُرَبِ

    Yet amid them I have not lacked—not that I deny privation—

    a patience that takes the place of relief from distress.

  9. ما يَحسِمُ العَقلُ وَالدُنيا تُساسُ بِهِ

    ما يَحسِمُ الصَبرُ في الأَحداثِ وَالنُوَبِ

    Reason, though the world is governed by it, cannot resolve

    what patience resolves amid calamities and reversals.

  10. الصَبرُ كاسٍ وَبَطنُ الكَفِّ عارِيَةٌ

    وَالعَقلُ عارٍ إِذا لَم يُكسَ بِالنَشَبِ

    Patience is clothed, though the palm is bare;

    while reason is naked unless clothed in wealth.

  11. ما أَضيَعَ العَقلَ إِن لَم يَرعَ ضَيعَتَهُ

    وَفرٌ وَأَيُّ رَحىً دارَت بِلا قُطُبِ

    How neglected is reason, unless its estate is tended

    by wealth! And what millstone ever turned without a pivot?

  12. نَشِبتُ في لُجَجِ الدُنيا فَأَثكَلَني

    مالي وَأُبتُ بِعِرضٍ غَيرِ مُؤتَشَبِ

    Entangled in the world’s deep seas, I was bereaved

    of my wealth, but returned with honor unsullied.

  13. كَم ذُقتُ في الدَهرِ مِن عُسرٍ وَمِن يُسُرٍ

    وَفي بَني الدَهرِ مِن رَأسٍ وَمِن ذَنَبِ

    How much hardship and ease I have tasted through Time,

    and, among Time’s sons, both head and tail.

  14. أُغضي إِذا صَرفُهُ لَم تُغضِ أَعيُنُهُ

    عَنّي وَأَرضى إِذا ما لَجَّ في الغَضَبِ

    I avert my eyes when its adversity will not avert its own

    from me, and am content when it persists in anger.

  15. وَإِن بُليتُ بِجِدٍّ مِن حُزونَتِهِ

    سَهَّلتُهُ فَكَأَنّي مِنهُ في لَعِبِ

    And if its ruggedness puts me to a serious test,

    I make it easy, as though I were only playing with it.

  16. مُقَصِّرٌ خَطَراتِ الهَمِّ في بَدَني

    عِلماً بِأَنِّيَ ما قَصَّرتُ في الطَلَبِ

    I curb the stirrings of care within my body,

    knowing I have not fallen short in the quest.

  17. بِأَيِّ وَخدِ قِلاصٍ وَاِجتِيابِ فَلاً

    إِدراكُ رِزقٍ إِذا ما كانَ في الهَرَبِ

    By what swift stride of young she-camels and crossing of deserts

    can livelihood be caught, if it is in flight?

  18. ماذا عَلَيَّ إِذا ما لَم يَزُل وَتَري

    في الرَميِ أَن زُلنَ أَغراضي فَلَم أُصِبِ

    What blame is mine, if my bowstring did not waver

    in shooting, when my targets shifted and I missed?

  19. في كُلِّ يَومٍ أَظافيري مُفَلَّلَةٌ

    تَستَنبِطُ الصُفرَ لي مِن مَعدِنِ الذَهَبِ

    Each day my fingernails are chipped,

    extracting brass for me from a gold mine.

  20. ما كُنتُ كَالسائِلِ الأَيّامَ مُختَبِطاً

    عَن لَيلَةِ القَدرِ في شَعبانَ أَو رَجَبِ

    I was not like one who, blundering, asks the days

    about the Night of Decree in Shaʿban or Rajab.

  21. بَل قابِضٌ بِنَواصي الأَمرِ مُشتَمِلٌ

    عَلى قَواصيهِ في بَدءٍ وَفي عَقِبِ

    Rather, I grasp affairs by their forelocks, encompassing

    their farthest reaches, at beginning and at end.

  22. ما زِلتُ أَرمي بِآمالي مَرامِيَها

    لَم يُخلِقِ العِرضَ مِنّي سوءُ مُطَّلَبي

    I have kept shooting my hopes at their targets;

    my quest’s ill fortune has not worn my honor thin.

  23. إِذا قَصَدتُ لِشَأوٍ خِلتُ أَنِّيَ قَد

    أَدرَكتُهُ أَدرَكَتني حِرفَةُ الأَدَبِ

    Whenever I aim for a goal, thinking I have already

    reached it, the ill luck of letters overtakes me

  24. بِغُربَةٍ كَاِغتِرابِ الجودِ إِن بَرَقَت

    بِأَوبَةٍ وَدَقَت بِالخُلفِ وَالكَذِبِ

    with exile like generosity’s exile—if it flashes

    a promise of return, it rains broken promises and lies—

  25. وَخَيبَةٍ نَبَعَت مِن غَيبَةٍ شَسَعَت

    بِأَنحُسٍ طَلَعَت في كُلِّ مُضطَرَبِ

    and disappointment springing from a long absence,

    under baleful stars rising in every field of endeavor.

  26. ما آبَ مَن آبَ لَم يَظفَر بِبُغيَتِهِ

    وَلَم يَغِب طالِبٌ لِلنُجحِ لَم يَخِبِ

    He who returns without gaining his desire has not truly returned;

    nor has a seeker of success truly been absent if he has not failed.