Sol 6.1

  1. قِف عَلى كِنزٍ بِباريسَ دَفين

    مِن فَريدٍ في المَعاني وَثَمين

    Stand over a treasure buried in Paris,

    rare in significance and precious in worth.

  2. وَاِفتَقِد جَوهَرَةً مِن شَرَفٍ

    صَدَفُ الدَهرِ بِتُربَتِها ضَنين

    And seek out a jewel of honor:

    the shell of Time jealously guards her dust.

  3. قَد تَوارَت في الثَرى حَتّى إِذا

    قَدُمَ العَهدُ تَوارَت في السِنين

    She vanished into the earth, until,

    as time grew long, she vanished into the years.

  4. غَرَّبَت حَتّى إِذا ما اِستَيأَسَت

    دَنَتِ الدارُ وَلَكِن لاتَ حين

    She went westward until, when at last she despaired,

    home drew near—but the time was gone.

  5. لَم تُذِب نارُ الوَغى ياقوتَها

    وَأَذابَتهُ تَباريحُ الحَنين

    The fire of battle did not melt her ruby;

    the torments of longing melted it.

  6. لا تَلوموها أَلَيسَت حُرَّةً

    وَهَوى الأَوطانِ لِلأَحرارِ دين

    Do not blame her: is she not free?

    Love of homelands is a faith for the free.

  7. غَيَّبَت باريسُ ذُخراً وَمَضى

    تُربُها القَيِّمُ بِالحِرزِ الحَصين

    Paris concealed a treasure; her soil continued

    as custodian of the impregnable vault.

  8. نَزَلَ الأَرضَ وَلَكِن بَعدَ ما

    نَزَلَ التاريخَ قَبرَ النابِغين

    He descended into the earth, but only after

    entering history, the tomb of geniuses.

  9. أَعظُمُ اللَيثِ تَلقاها الشَرى

    وَرُفاتُ النَسرِ حازَتهُ الوُكون

    The thicket received the lion's bones,

    and the eyries gathered the eagle's remains.

  10. وَحَوى الغِمدُ بَقايا صارِمٍ

    لَم تُقَلِّب مِثلَهُ أَيدي القُيون

    The scabbard held the remnants of a keen sword,

    whose like no smith's hands had ever handled.

  11. شَيَّدَ الناسُ عَلَيهِ وَبَنوا

    حائِطَ الشَكِّ عَلى أُسِّ اليَقين

    People built over him, and raised

    a wall of doubt on the foundation of certainty.

  12. لَستَ تُحصي حَولَهُ أَلوِيَةً

    أُسِرَت أَمسِ وَراياتٍ سُبين

    You cannot count the standards around him,

    captured yesterday, and the banners taken captive.

  13. نامَ عَنها وَهيَ في سُدَّتِهِ

    دَيدَبانٌ ساهِرُ الجَفنِ أَمين

    He slept, heedless of them, while at his threshold they stood:

    a faithful watchman, wakeful-eyed.

  14. وَكَأَيٍّ مِن عَدُوٍّ كاشِحٍ

    لَكَ بِالأَمسِ هُوَ اليَومَ خَدين

    How many a spiteful enemy

    of yours yesterday is your intimate today!

  15. وَوَلّى كانَ يَسقيكَ الهَوى

    عَسَلاً قَد باتَ يَسقيكَ الوَزين

    And a friend who once poured you love

    as honey now pours you poison.

  16. فَإِذا اِستَكرَمتَ وُدّاً فَاِتَّهِم

    جَوهَرُ الوُدِّ وَإِن صَحَّ ظَنين

    If you deem a friendship noble, be suspicious:

    friendship's essence, even genuine, is suspect.

  17. مَرمَرٌ أُضجِعَ في مَسنونِهِ

    حَجَرُ الأَرضِ وَضِرغامُ العَرين

    Marble, in whose dressed stone lay

    the earth's rock and the lion of the lair.

  18. جَلَّلَتهُ هَيبَةُ الثاوي بِهِ

    رَوعَةَ الحِكمَةِ في الشِعرِ الرَصين

    The awe of him resting within clothed it

    in the majesty of wisdom in stately verse.

  19. هَل دَرى المَرمَرُ ماذا تَحتَهُ

    مِن قُوى نَفسٍ وَمِن خَلقٍ مَتين

    Did the marble know what lay beneath it,

    what powers of soul, what sturdy constitution?

  20. أَيُّها الغالونَ في أَجداثِهِم

    اِبحَثوا في الأَرضِ هَل عيسى دَفين

    O you who go to excess over their graves,

    search the earth: is Jesus buried there?

  21. يُمَحّي المَيتُ وَيَبلى رَمسُهُ

    وَيَغولُ الرَبعَ ما غالَ القَطين

    The dead are effaced, their graves decay,

    and what consumed the dwellers consumes the dwelling.

  22. حَصِّنوا ما شِئتُمُ مَوتاكُمُ

    هَل وَراءَ المَوتِ مِن حِصنٍ حَصين

    Fortify your dead however you wish:

    is there beyond death an impregnable fortress?

  23. لَيسَ في قَبرٍ وَإِن نالَ السُها

    ما يَزيدُ المَيتَ وَزناً وَيَزين

    No tomb, though it reach al-Suha,

    can add to the dead man's worth or adorn him.

  24. فَاِنزِلِ التاريخَ قَبراً أَو فَنَم

    في الثَرى غُفلاً كَبَعضِ الهامِدين

    So take history for your tomb, or sleep

    unknown in the earth, like other lifeless ones.

  25. وَاِخدَعِ الأَحياءَ ما شِئتَ فَلَن

    تَجِدَ التاريخَ في المُنخَدِعين

    Deceive the living all you wish; you will not

    find history among the deceived.

  26. يا عِصامِيّاً حَوى المَجدَ سِوى

    فَضلَةٍ قَد قُسِّمَت في المُعرِقين

    O self-made man who won all glory, save

    a remnant already shared among the well-born:

  27. أُمُّكَ النَفسُ قَديماً أَكرَمَت

    وَأَبوكَ الفَضلُ خَيرُ المُنجِبين

    your mother, the soul, ennobled you long ago;

    your father, merit, is the finest of sires.

  28. نَسَبُ البَدرِ أَوِ الشَمسِ إِذا

    جيءَ باِلآباءِ مَغمورٌ رَهين

    The full moon's lineage, or the sun's, when

    forefathers are invoked, is obscure and captive.

  29. وَأُصولُ الخَمرِ ما أَزكى عَلى

    خُبثِ ما قَد فَعَلَت بِالشارِبين

    Wine's origins have not absolved it of

    the evil it has wrought upon its drinkers.

  30. لا يَقولَنَّ اِمرو أَصلي فَما

    أَصلُهُ مِسكٌ وَأَصلُ الناسِ طين

    Let no man say, 'My lineage!' For

    his origin is not musk while other men's is clay.

  31. قَد تَتَوَّجتَ فَقالَت أُمَمٌ

    وَلَدُ الثَورَةِ عَقَّ الثائِرين

    You crowned yourself, and nations said:

    'The Revolution's son has betrayed the revolutionaries.'

  32. وَتَزَوَّجتَ فَقالوا مالَهُ

    وَلِحورٍ مِن بَناتِ المَلكِ عين

    You married, and they said, 'What has he to do

    with wide-eyed beauties among the king's daughters?'

  33. قَسَماً لَو قَدَروا ما اِحتَشَموا

    لا يَعِفُّ الناسُ إِلّا عاجِزين

    I swear, had they the power, they would not refrain;

    people are chaste only when powerless.

  34. أَرَأَيتَ الخَيرَ وافى أُمَّةً

    لَم يَنالوا حَظَّهُم في النابِغين

    Have you seen prosperity visit a nation

    that had not received its share of geniuses?

  35. يَصلُحُ المُلكُ عَلى طائِفَةٍ

    هُم جَمالُ الأَرضِ حيناً بَعدَ حين

    Good governance rests upon a band

    who are the earth's beauty, age after age.

  36. مَلَؤوا الدُنيا عَلى قِلَّتِهِم

    وَقَديماً مُلِئَت بِالمُرسَلين

    Few though they were, they filled the world,

    as it was filled of old by messengers.

  37. يَحسُنُ الدَهرُ بِهِم ما طَلَعوا

    وَبِهِم يَزدادُ حُسناً آفِلين

    The age grows beautiful through their rising;

    through their setting, it grows fairer still.

  38. قَد أَقاموا قُدوَةً صالِحَةً

    وَمَضَوا أَمثِلَةً لِلمُحتَذين

    They established a worthy example,

    and departed as models for those who follow.

  39. إِنَّما الأُسوَةُ وَالدُنيا أُسىً

    سَبَبُ العُمرانِ نَظمُ العالَمين

    Example—and the world is made of examples—

    is civilization's cause, the ordering of the worlds.

  40. يا صَريعَ المَوتِ نَدمانَ البِلى

    كُلُّ حَيٍّ بِالَّذي ذُقتَ رَهين

    O victim of death, boon companion of decay,

    every living being is pledged to what you tasted.

  41. كِدتَ مِن قَتلِ المَنايا خِبرَةً

    تَعلَمُ الآجالَ أَيّانَ تَحين

    So practiced in death's slaughter, you almost

    knew the appointed ends and when they would fall due.

  42. يا مُبيدَ الأَسدِ في آجامِها

    هَل أَبادَت خَيلُكَ الدودَ المَهين

    O destroyer of lions in their thickets,

    did your cavalry destroy the lowly worms?

  43. يا عَزيزَ السِجنِ بِالبابا إِلى

    كَم تَرَدّى في الثَرى ذُلَّ السَجين

    O you whose prison gloried in the Pope, how

    long have you worn a captive's shame in the earth?

  44. رُبَّ يَومٍ لَكَ جَلّى وَاِنثَنى

    سائِلَ الغُرَّةِ مَمسوحَ الجَبين

    Many a day of yours won the race and returned,

    its white blaze flowing, its forehead smooth.

  45. أَحرَزَ الغايَةَ نَصراً غالِياً

    لِفَرَنسا وَحَوى الفَتحَ الثَمين

    It reached the goal, a cherished victory

    for France, and won the precious conquest.

  46. قَيصَرا الأَنسابِ فيهِ نازَلا

    قَيصَرَ النَفسِ عِصامَ المالِكين

    On it, two Caesars by lineage confronted

    the Caesar of spirit, the rulers' ʿIsam,

  47. مُجلِسَ التاجِ عَلى مَفرِقِهِ

    بِيَدَيهِ لا بِأَيدي المُجلِسين

    who set the crown upon his head

    with his own hands, not the hands of crown-bestowers.

  48. حَولَ اِستَرلَتزَ كانَ المُتلَقّى

    وَاِصطِدامُ النَسرِ بِالمُستَنسِرين

    Around Austerlitz was the meeting,

    the eagle's clash with would-be eagles.

  49. وُضِعَ الشَطرَنجُ فَاِستَقبَلتَهُ

    بِبَنانٍ عابِثٍ بِاللاعِبين

    The chessboard was set out, and you faced it

    with fingers toying with the players.

  50. فَإِذا المَلكانِ هَذا خاضِعٌ

    لَكَ في الجَمعِ وَهَذا مُستَكين

    And behold the two kings: this one submissive

    to you amid the army, that one abject.

  51. صِدتَ شاهَ الروسِ وَالنِمسا مَعاً

    مَن رَأى شاهَينِ صَيداً في كَمين

    You captured the kings of Russia and Austria together;

    who ever saw two kings taken in one ambush?

  52. يا مُلَقّى النَصرِ في أَحلامِهِ

    أَينَ مِن وادي الكَرى سَنتِ هِلين

    O you granted victory in your dreams,

    how far is Saint Helena from the valley of slumber!

  53. يا مُنيلَ التاجِ في المَهدِ اِبنُه

    ما الَّذي غَرَّكَ بِالغَيبِ الجَنين

    O you who gave your son the crown in his cradle,

    what beguiled you about the future still unborn?

  54. اِتَّئِد في أُمَّةٍ أَرهَقتَها

    إِنَّها كَالناسِ مِن ماءٍ وَطين

    Be gentle with a nation you exhausted:

    like other people, she is made of water and clay.

  55. أَتعَبَ الريحَ مَدى ما سَلَكَت

    مِن سُهولٍ وَأَجازَت مِن حُزون

    Even the wind tired at the vastness of her march

    through plains and across rugged ground,

  56. مِن أَديمٍ يَهرَأُ الدُبَّ إِلى

    فَلَواتٍ تُنضِجُ الضَبَّ الكَنين

    from terrain that ravages the bear to

    wastelands that roast the lizard in hiding.

  57. لَكَ في كُلِّ مُغارٍ غارَةٌ

    وَعَلَيها الدَمعُ فيهِ وَالأَنين

    You had a raid in every raided land;

    upon her fell the tears and groaning there.

  58. وَمِنَ المَكرِ تَغَنّيكَ بِها

    هَل يُزَكّي الذَبحَ غَيرُ الذابِحين

    Your singing of her is a kind of deceit:

    who commends slaughter but the slaughterers?

  59. سُخِّرَ الناسُ وَإِن لَم يَشعُروا

    لِقَوِيٍّ أَو غَنِيٍّ أَو مُبين

    People are subjected, though unaware,

    to a strong man, a rich man, or an eloquent man.

  60. وَالجَماعاتُ ثَنايا المُرتَقى

    في المَعالي وَجُسورُ العابِرين

    The masses are the passes of the ascent

    to greatness, and the bridges for those crossing.

  61. يا خَطيبَ الدَهرِ هَل مالَ البِلى

    بِلِسانٍ كانَ ميزانَ الشُؤون

    O orator of the age, has decay bent

    a tongue that was the balance of affairs?

  62. تُرجَحُ السِلمُ إِذا حَرَّكتَهُ

    كِفَّةً أَو تُرجَحُ الحَربُ الزَبون

    When you stirred it, peace would weigh heavier

    in one pan, or savage war would prevail.

  63. خُطَبٌ لا صَوتَ إِلّا دونَها

    في صَداها الخَيلُ تَجري وَالسِنين

    Speeches no other voice could surpass:

    in their echo, horses race, and years.

  64. مِن قَصيرِ اللَفظِ في مَكرِ النُهى

    وَطَويلِ الرُمحِ في كِبارِ الوَتين

    Brief of utterance, with the mind's cunning,

    and long of spear, piercing the mightiest hearts.

  65. غَيرَ وَضاعٍ وَلا واشٍ وَلا

    مُنكِرِ القَولِ وَلا لَغوِ اليَمين

    No fabricator, no slanderer, no

    disavower of his word, no idle swearer.

  66. سِرنَ أَمثالاً فَلَو لَم يُحيِهِ

    سَيفُهُ أَحيَينَهُ في الغابِرين

    They became proverbs: had he not been kept alive

    by his sword, they would have immortalized him among the departed.

  67. قُم إِلى الأَهرامِ وَاِخشَع وَاِطَّرِح

    خَيلَةَ الصيدِ وَزَهوَ الفاتِحين

    Rise, go to the Pyramids, bow humbly, and cast off

    the haughtiness of lords and the pride of conquerors.

  68. وَتَمَهَّل إِنَّما تَمشي إِلى

    حَرَمِ الدَهرِ وَمِحرابِ القُرون

    Go slowly: you are walking toward

    Time's sanctuary and the shrine of the centuries.

  69. هُوَ كَالصَخرَةِ عِندَ القِبطِ أَو

    كَالحَطيمِ الطُهرِ عِندَ المُسلِمين

    It is like the Rock to the Copts, or

    like the pure Hatim to Muslims.

  70. وَتَسَنَّم مِنبَراً مِن حَجَرٍ

    لَم يَكُن قَبلَكَ حَظَّ الخاطِبين

    Mount a pulpit of stone,

    such as no orator before you had enjoyed.

  71. وَاِدعُ أَجيالاً تَوَلَّت يَسمَعوا

    لَكَ وَاِبعَث في الأُوالي حاشِرين

    Summon departed generations to listen

    to you, and send gatherers among the ancients.

  72. وَأَعِدها كَلِماتٍ أَربَعاً

    قَد أَحاطَت بِالقُرونِ الأَربَعين

    Repeat those four words,

    which encompassed forty centuries.

  73. أَلهَبَت خَيلاً وَحَضَّت فَيلَقاً

    وَأَحالَت عَسَلاً صابَ المَنون

    They fired the horses and spurred an army,

    turning death's bitter sap to honey.

  74. قَد عَرَضتَ الدَهرَ وَالجَيشَ مَعاً

    غايَةٌ قَصَّرَ عَنها الفاتِحون

    You reviewed Time and the army together:

    an achievement beyond the reach of conquerors.

  75. ما عَلِمنا قائِداً في مَوطِنٍ

    صَفَحَ الدَهرَ وَصَفَّ الدارِعين

    We have known no commander on a battlefield

    who turned Time's pages and arrayed armored men.

  76. فَتَرى الأَحياءَ في مُعتَرَكٍ

    وَتَرى المَوتى عَلَيهِم مُشرِفين

    You see the living in battle,

    and the dead looking down upon them.

  77. عِظَةٌ قومي بِها أَولى وَإِن

    بَعُدَ العَهدُ فَهَل يَعتَبِرون

    A lesson my people most deserve, though

    long ages have passed: will they take heed?

  78. هَذِهِ الأَهرامُ تاريخُهُمُ

    كَيفَ مِن تاريخِهِم لا يَستَحون

    These Pyramids are their history;

    how are they not ashamed before their history?

  79. يا كَثيرَ الصَيدِ لِلصَيدِ العُلا

    قُم تَأَمَّل كَيفَ صادَتكَ المَنون

    O prolific hunter of lofty prey,

    rise, consider how death hunted you.

  80. قُم تَرَ الدُنيا كَما غادَرتَها

    مَنزِلَ الغَدرِ وَماءَ الخادِعين

    Rise, see the world as you left it:

    treachery's abode, the deceivers' watering place.

  81. وَتَرَ الحَقَّ عَزيزاً في القَنا

    هَيِّناً في العُزَّلِ المُستَضعَفين

    See right mighty among the spears,

    lowly among the unarmed and oppressed.

  82. وَتَرَ الأَمرَ يَداً فَوقَ يَدٍ

    وَتَرَ الناسَ ذِئاباً وَضيئين

    See power as one hand above another;

    see people as fair-faced wolves.

  83. وَتَرَ العِزَّ لِسَيفٍ نَزِقٍ

    في بِناءِ المُلكِ أَو رَأيٍ رَزين

    See glory belong to an impetuous sword

    in building dominion, or to sober counsel.

  84. سُنَنٌ كانَت وَنَظمٌ لَم يَزَل

    وَفَسادٌ فَوقَ باعِ المُصلِحين

    Ways that have been, an order that endures,

    and corruption beyond reformers' reach.