Sol 6.1

  1. أراجعةٌ تلك الليالي كعهدها

    إلى الوصلِ أم لا يُرتجى لي رجوعُها

    Will those nights return as once they were,

    to reunion—or is there no hope of their return to me?

  2. وصحبة أقوامٍ لِبستُ لِفَقدِهم

    ثيابَ حدادٍ مُستَجَدَ خليعُها

    And the company of those for whose loss I donned

    mourning robes, each cast-off one renewed?

  3. إذا لاحَ لي من نحو بغدادَ بارقٌ

    تجافَت جُفُوني واسُتطيرَ هُجُوعُها

    Whenever lightning flashes toward me from Baghdad,

    my eyelids part, and their sleep is put to flight.

  4. وإن أَخلَفَتها الغادياتُ رُعُودَعا

    تُكَلّف تصديقَ الغمامِ دمُوعُها

    And if the morning rainclouds' thunder disappoints them,

    their tears are charged with making the clouds' promise true.

  5. سقى جانبي بغدادَ كُلُّ غَمَامةٍ

    يُحَاكي دموعَ المستهام هُمُوعُها

    May both sides of Baghdad be watered by every cloud

    whose downpour mirrors the tears of the lovelorn:

  6. مَعَاهِد من غزلانِ إنسٍ تحاَلَفت

    لواحِظُها ألا يُدَاوَى صريعُها

    haunts of human gazelles, where a pact is sworn

    by their glances: none they fell shall be healed.

  7. بها تسَكُنُ النَّفسُ النفورُ ويَغتَدي

    بآنسَ مِن قلبِ المقِيمِ نَزِيُعها

    There the wary soul grows calm, and morning finds

    its stranger with a heart more at ease than a resident's.

  8. يَحنُّ إليها كلُّ قلبٍ كأنما

    يُشَاد بحبَّاتِ القلوبِ ربُوعُها

    Every heart longs for it, as though

    its dwellings were built from the very cores of hearts.

  9. فكلُّ ليالي عَيشها زَمَنُ الصَّبا

    وكلُّ فصول الدَّهر فيها ربُيعها

    So every night of life there is the season of youth,

    and every season of time there is its spring.

  10. وما زلتُ طَوعَ الحادثاتِ تقُودُني

    على حُكمها مُستكرَهاً فأطيعُها

    I never ceased to submit to calamities that led me

    according to their decree, unwillingly; yet I obeyed them.

  11. فلما حللتُ القَصرَ قَصرَ مسرَّتي

    تَفَرَّقنَ عني آيساتٍ جُمُوعَها

    But when I settled in the palace—the palace of my joy—

    their hosts scattered away from me, despairing.

  12. بدارٍ بها يَسلَى المشوقُ اشتياقَه

    ويأمَنُ رَيبَ الحادثات مَروعُها

    In a dwelling where one who yearns forgets his longing,

    and one whom calamities terrify is safe from their perils.

  13. بها مسرحٌ للعين فيما يَرُوقُها

    ومُستَروَحٌ للنَّفس مِمَّا يروعُها

    There the eye has room to roam amid what delights it,

    and the soul a refuge from what terrifies it.

  14. يرى كلُّ قلبٍ بينها ما يَسُرُّه

    إذا زَهَرَت أشجارُها وزروعُها

    Every heart sees within it what gladdens it,

    when its trees and crops bloom.

  15. كأنَّ خريرَ الماء في جَنَبَاتها

    رُعُودٌ تلقَّت مُزنَةً تستريعُها

    It is as though the murmur of water along its sides

    were thunderclaps meeting a raincloud and startling it.

  16. إذا ضرَبتها الريحُ وانبسطت لها

    مُلاءةُ بَدرٍ فَصَّلتها وَشِيعُها

    When the wind strikes it, and over it spreads

    the full moon's mantle, divided by its woven strands,

  17. رأيتُ سيوفاً بين أثناء أدرُعٍ

    مُذهَّبةً يَغشَى العيونَ لميعُها

    I see, amid the folds of coats of mail, swords—

    gilded, their brilliance dazzling the eyes.

  18. فمن صنعةِ البدرِ المنيرِ نُصُولُها

    ومن نسجِ أنفاسِ الرِّياحِ دُرُوعُها

    Thus their blades are the work of the radiant full moon,

    and their armor is woven from the winds' breaths.

  19. صفا عَيشُنا فيها وكادَت لِطِيِبها

    تُمازِجُها الأرواحُ لو تستطيعها

    Our life there grew serene, and its sweetness nearly

    made souls mingle with it—if only they could.