Sol 6.1

  1. يا من له شيم تمل

    كه العلا ومناقبُ

    O you whose virtues win you

    eminence, and who possess noble merits,

  2. وفضائل عَييَ الحسو

    د بها وأعيا الحاسب

    and excellences—the envious is speechless

    before them, and the reckoner is exhausted;

  3. ومجانباً لي وهو من

    أسنى الذين أجانب

    and you who keep apart from me, though among

    the noblest of those I am apart from:

  4. في كلِّ يوم حادث

    يدنو فينأى صاحب

    Each day a new mishap

    draws near, and a friend draws away.

  5. أعزز عليّ بأن اُرَى

    بعد اللقاء أكاتب

    How grievous for me to find myself

    corresponding after our meeting!

  6. كيف السّلو وبيننا

    خطب لبينك خاطب

    How can I find solace, when between us

    a calamity courts your departure?

  7. وضحاضح وأباطح

    وبسابس وسباسب

    And shallow waters and gravelly riverbeds,

    and barren plains and open wastes,

  8. ومعالم ومجاهل

    وأعاجم وأعارب

    and landmarks and unknown lands,

    and non-Arabs and Arabs,

  9. وضراغم أنسية

    وسلائب ونجائب

    and lions in human form,

    and bereft she-camels and thoroughbred mounts;

  10. وعلى الغوارب كالأهل

    ة في الحدوج غرائب

    and upon the camelbacks, like crescents,

    are rare beauties within the howdahs:

  11. صور من السحر الحلا

    ل لها القلوب قوالب

    figures of lawful enchantment,

    whose molds are hearts.

  12. فإذا نظرن فإنهنَّ

    على النفوس غوالب

    And when they look, they

    hold sway over souls.

  13. فَسِهَا مُهُنٌ لواحظٌ

    وقسيهُنَّ حواجب

    So their arrows are glances,

    and their bows are eyebrows.

  14. حفَّت بهن أعنة

    وأسنة وقواضب

    Reins surround them,

    and spearheads and keen swords,

  15. ومواكب هي والعجاج

    غمائم وكواكب

    and cavalcades—they and the dust

    are clouds and stars.

  16. أعطتهُمُ شَرَف الإِباءِ

    مناسب ومناصب

    They were given the dignity of proud refusal

    by lineages and ranks.

  17. فالقوم إما سالب

    أو طاعن أو ضارب

    So each of these men is either a plunderer,

    or a spear-thruster, or a striker.

  18. ورد المنية معرض

    فيهم وغيري شارب

    Death's watering-place lies open

    among them; another, not I, drinks.

  19. من كان من شُهَّادهم

    يوماً فإني غائب

    Whoever may be among those present with them

    on any day—I am absent.

  20. يا من أُطالبه بودِّ

    دائم ويطالب

    O you from whom I seek affection

    enduring, and who seeks it from me,

  21. ثق بي وإن نأتِ الدّيا

    ر فإنّ حقَّك واجب

    trust me, though our homes lie far apart;

    for your claim upon me is binding.

  22. فلقد صَدَقتَنِي الودا

    دَ وَوُدُّ غيرك كاذب

    For you have been true in your affection to me,

    while others' affection is false.

  23. وسَنَنتَ بِراً حاد عن

    ه أحبُّةٌ وأقارب

    And you set a pattern of kindness from which

    loved ones and relatives strayed.

  24. إني وإن رغم البعا

    دُ على ودادك دائب

    I, despite separation's spite,

    remain steadfast in my affection for you.

  25. ولقد تُذكِّرُني العهودُ

    بوارق وسحاب

    And I am indeed reminded of our old bonds

    by lightning flashes and clouds,

  26. وحمائم قامت لها

    فوق الغصون نوادب

    and doves, for whom mourners stand

    atop the boughs,

  27. وشمائل في طيها

    نشر الهوى وخبائب

    and north winds, enfolded within which

    are love's fragrance and gusts,

  28. والروح حفَّت جانبيه

    أزاهر ومذانب

    and the breeze, flanked on either side

    by blossoms and rivulets.

  29. ما كان وصفي للحسا

    ن كما يظن العاتب

    My description of the beauties was not meant

    as the reproacher imagines.

  30. لكن ذكرتك طيباً

    فذكرتهن أطائب

    But I remembered you as sweet,

    and so recalled them as choicest delights.

  31. فكأن طبعك رقة

    لنسيبهن مناسب

    Thus your nature seems, in tenderness,

    suited to love-poetry about them.

  32. أما الزمان ففي تقلّ

    به علي عجائب

    As for time, in its turns

    against me there are wonders.

  33. يعطي ويرتجع العطّي

    ة فهو معطٍ سالب

    It gives, then reclaims the gift;

    so it is giver and despoiler.

  34. فدع المواهب إنَّ صدقَ

    قياسهن مناهب

    So leave aside the gifts: a true

    assessment reveals them as plunder.

  35. ولقد نصحت وللنَّصي

    حةِ قابل ومجانب

    And I have indeed given counsel, and counsel

    has those who accept it and those who turn away.

  36. فاصبر على طب النفو

    س فللنفوس مذاهب

    So be patient in treating souls,

    for souls have their own ways.

  37. جَدَّ الزمان وكلَّنا

    إلاَّ قليلاً لاعب

    Time has grown earnest, while all of us,

    save a few, are at play.

  38. ولكم فقدتُ زخارفاً

    جاذبتها وأُجاذب

    And how many worldly adornments I have lost,

    which I struggled for, and still struggle for!

  39. ولكم تقضَّت للزما

    ن مطاعم ومشارب

    And how many have passed away with time—

    foods and drinks!

  40. لم تَصفُ منها لذةٌ

    إلاَّ وفيها شائب

    No pleasure among them ever ran clear

    without a taint within it.

  41. وعهدت نفسي راغباً

    حيناً فها أنا راهب

    And I knew myself full of desire

    for a time; now here I am, an ascetic.

  42. ومن العجائب أن تغيب

    ونهج قصدك لا حب

    And one of the wonders is your absence,

    though the road to you is plain.

  43. لكن جِدِّي راتب في

    ها وجَدّشي ذاهب

    But my diligence stays constant along

    it, while my good fortune departs.

  44. بالسَّعد يرفع رافع

    يوماً وينصب ناصب

    Through fortune, one raises up

    one day, while another sets down.

  45. ولذاك عمرو النحو مض

    روبٌ وزيدٌ ضارب

    Hence grammar's ʿAmr is the one

    struck, while Zayd is the striker.

  46. لا والذي بقضائه

    نطق الغراب الناعب

    No—by Him at whose decree

    the croaking raven spoke—

  47. ما باختياري بعدكم

    لولا القضاء الغالب

    my distance from you is not my choice;

    it would not be, but for overpowering fate.