Sol 6.1

  1. لَم أَرَ كالفِتيانِ في غَبَنِ ال

    أيَّامِ يَنسَونَ ما عَواقبُهَا

    I have seen none like young men, cheated by the

    Days, forgetting what their consequences are.

  2. ما يَغفَلُوا لَم يكُن لهم يَتَمٌ

    في كلِّ صَرفٍ تِسعَى مآربُهِا

    As long as they are heedless, they know no bereavement;

    In every turn of fortune, the days' designs advance.

  3. يَروَنَ إخوانَهُم ومَصرَعَهمُ

    وكيفَ تَغتالُهُم مَخالِبُها

    They see their brothers and their deaths,

    And how the days' claws slay them unawares.

  4. ماذا تُرَجِّي النُّفوسُ مِن طَلَبِ ال

    خَيرِ وحُبُّ الَحياةِ كاذِبُها

    What do souls hope for from seeking

    Good, when love of life deceives them?

  5. تَظُنُّ أن لَن يُصِيبَها عَنَتُ ال

    دَّهرِ ورَيبُ الَمنُونِ كارِبُها

    They think they will never be struck by the hardship of

    Time, though death's vicissitudes oppress them.

  6. ما بعدَ صَنعاءَ كانَ يَعمُرُها

    ساداُ مُلكٍ جَزلٌ مَواهِبُها

    What remains after Sana'a, once inhabited by

    Rulers of a realm, lavish in its gifts?

  7. يَرفَعُها مَن بَنى لَدَى قَزَعِ

    الُمزنِ وتَندَى مِسكاً مَحارِبُها

    Its builders raised it beside the scattered

    Rain-clouds, and its chambers dripped musk.

  8. مَحفوفَةٌ بِالجبَالِ دونض عُرضى ال

    كَيدِ فيها تَرقَى غَواربُها

    Ringed by mountains, shielded from the reach of

    Hostile plotting; the mountains' peaks rose within it.

  9. يَأنَسُ فيها صَوتُ النُّهَامِ إذا

    جاوَبَها بالعَشِيِّ قاصِبُها

    The singer's voice grew joyful there when

    Its flute-player answered it at dusk.

  10. ساقَت إليها الأسبابُ جُند بني ال

    أحرارِ فُرسانُها مَواكِبُها

    The workings of fate brought it the army of Banu al-

    Ahrar, its horsemen forming columns.

  11. وفَوَّزت بالبغالِ تُوسَقُ بال

    حَتفِ وتَسعَى بها تَوالِبُها

    And led mules across the desert, laden with

    Death, their foals hastening with them.

  12. حتىَّ رآها الأقوالُ مِن طَرَف ال

    منِقَلِ مُخضرَّةٌ كَتائِبهُا

    Until the princes saw it from the edge of the

    Mountain pass, its battalions green.

  13. يومَ يَقولُونَ يالَ بَربَرَ وأل

    يَكسُوَم لا يَفلِتنَ هارِبُها

    On the day they cried, 'O Berber and al-

    Yaksum! Let none of its fugitives escape!'

  14. وكانَ يوماً باقي الحديثِ وزا

    لَت إمَّةٌ ثابِتُ مَراتُبها

    And it was a day whose tale endured, and

    A prosperous state, firm in its ranks, vanished.

  15. وبُدِّلَ الفَيحُ بالزُّرافَةِ وأل

    أيَّامُ خُونٌ جَمٌّ عَجائُبها

    Open space was exchanged for a throng, and the

    Days are treacherous, their wonders many.

  16. بعدَ بني تُبَّعٍ نَخَاورةَ

    قَدِ أطَمأَنًّت بهِم مَرازِبُها

    After the sons of Tubba', those noble chieftains,

    Under whom its satraps had rested secure.

  17. والَحضرُ صابَت عليهِ آسَيةٌ

    من ثُغرَةٍ أَيِّدٍ مَناكبُها

    And on Hatra a calamity descended,

    Through a breach whose flanks were mighty.

  18. رَبيبَةٌ لَم تُوَقِّ والدَها

    لِحُبِّها إذ يُضاعُ راقبُها

    A girl reared in his care did not protect her father,

    Because of her love, when her guardian was neglected.

  19. أَجَشمَها حُبُّها لِمَا فَعَلَت

    إذ نامَ عنها لِلغَيِّ حاجِبُها

    Her love compelled her to do what she did,

    When her chamberlain slept, leaving her to wrongdoing.

  20. إذ غَبَّقَتهُ حَمراَء صافَيةَ

    وألخَمرَ وَهلٌ يهيمُ شارِبُها

    When she gave him clear red wine at evening—

    And wine is bewilderment; its drinker wanders mad.

  21. وأَسلَمَت رَبَّها بِلَيلَتِها

    تَظُنُّ أنَّ الرَّئيسَ خاطِبُها

    And she surrendered her lord that night,

    Thinking that the chieftain would seek her hand.

  22. فكانَ حَظُّ العَروسِ إذ بَرقَ أل

    صُّبحُ دِماءً تَجري سَبائبُها

    So the bride's lot, at the breaking of the

    Dawn, was blood flowing in ribbons.

  23. وحُوِّرَ الَحضرُ وأستُبيحَ وقَد

    أُحرِقَ في خِدرِها مَشاجبُها

    And Hatra was razed and plundered; already

    Her clothes-racks had been burned in her private chamber.

  24. لَم يَبقَ فيه إلاَّ مَراوِحُ طا

    ياتٍ وَبُورٌ تَضغُو ثَعالِبُها

    Nothing remained there but wind-swept rock

    Ledges and wastelands whose foxes yelped.

  25. ولم أَكُن أَجهَلُ ألَحوادثَ وأل

    أيَّامَ ما أن يَعِفَّ راغِبُها

    And I was not ignorant of calamities or the

    Days; their seeker does not abstain.

  26. يكونُ حَظِّي مِنَ ألَجمَالِ فلا

    أَغشَى سبيلاً وَعراً مكاسِبُها

    My share shall be of beauty; so I do not

    Tread a path whose gains are hard-won.

  27. وآلفُ ألخُطَّةَ ألُضمَّنَةَ أل

    خَيرِ إذ بَعُضُهم مُجانِبُها

    And I keep to the course that guarantees

    Good, though some of them shun it.

  28. وأَطلُبُ ألُخطَّةَ النَّبيلَةَ بال

    قُوَّةِ إذ يُستَهَدُّ طالبُها

    And I seek the noble course with

    Strength, though its seeker is crushed.

  29. يا رُبَّ قَومٍ أَبلَيتُهُم نِعَماً

    فَهَل أَنَا أليَومَ عَمُرو قالِبُها

    Ah, how many people have I bestowed favors upon!

    Am I today, then, Amr, the one who overturns them?

  30. ما نَصَحُوا إذ يَرُومُ رائمُها

    رَيبَتَهُ والفُؤادُ هايِبهُا

    They were not sincere, as one intent on it pursues

    His treacherous purpose, while the heart dreads it.

  31. تَمنَعُني أُربَةُ الوِثَاقِ مِنَ ال

    جُهدِ وبُقيَا نَفسٍ أُعاتُبِها

    The knot of the bonds keeps me from

    Striving, as does pity for a soul I reproach.