Sol 6.1

  1. طَلَعتْ شموسُ الخِدْرِ كَيْمَا تَغْرُبا

    وبدَتْ محاسنُها لِكَيْ تتغَّيبا

    The suns of the secluded chamber rose, only to set,

    and their beauties appeared, only to disappear.

  2. فكَفاه أن يَصِفَ الصبَّابةَ ناطقاً

    دَمعٌ إذا وصفَ الصبَّابةَ أطنَبا

    To voice his longing, he had eloquence enough in

    tears that, when describing longing, spoke at length.

  3. يا حَبَّذا شمسٌ جلَتْ عنها النَّوى

    فجلَتْ على الصَّبَّ الشَّنيبِ الأشنَبا

    How lovely a sun from whom separation withdrew,

    and who bared to her lover a cool, sweet-toothed smile.

  4. وتعمَّدَتْه بِلَحظَةٍ لو أنَّها

    سَهمٌ لَجازَ عن الشَّغافِ مُخضَّبا

    She aimed at him with a glance that, had it been

    an arrow, would have passed beyond his heart's sheath, bloodstained.

  5. قامَتْ تُمَيِّلُ للعِناقِ مُقوَّماً

    كالخُوطِ أَبدعَ في الثِّمارِ وأَغرَبا

    She rose, inclining her shapely figure for an embrace,

    like a slender branch, wondrous and rare in its fruit.

  6. حملَتْ ذُراهُ الأُقحُوَانَ مُفَضَّضاً

    يَسقي المُدامةَ والشَّقيقَ مُذَهَّبا

    Its crown bore silvered daisies,

    pouring wine, and gilded anemones.

  7. وأَبَتْ وقد أخذَ النِّقابُ جَمالَها

    حركاتُ غُصنِ البانِ أن تَتَنَقَّبا

    Though the veil had hidden her beauty, they refused—

    the movements of the ban-tree bough—to be veiled.

  8. ما كنتِ إلا البدرَ فارقَ حُجْبَه

    حتى إذا شِمْناه عادَ مُحجَّبا

    You were nothing but the full moon leaving its veils;

    once we glimpsed it, it returned behind a veil.

  9. فغدَوْتُ لا أدري أكان له الحِمى

    لَمَّا تغيَّبَ مَشرِقاً أو مَغرِبا

    And I no longer knew whether its sanctuary,

    when it disappeared, was a place of rising or setting.

  10. فإذا الحَيا أعطى الرِّياحَ قِيادَه

    فانقادَ تَجْنُبُهُ الجَنوبُ أو الصَّبا

    So when the rain gives its reins to the winds,

    and follows, driven by the south wind or the east,

  11. فسقَى محّلاً بالعَقيقِ وخُلَّةً

    ورُبىً بأطرافِ الغَميمِ ورَبرَبا

    may it water a dwelling at al-Aqiq and a beloved,

    and hills on the outskirts of al-Ghamim and a herd of gazelles.

  12. ما لي رأيتُ الدَّهرَ وكَّلَ صَرْفَه

    بالقُلَّبيِّ الشَّهْمِ كيفَ تَقلَّبا

    Why have I seen Time set its misfortunes

    upon the resourceful, resolute man, whichever way he turns?

  13. سَأُرِيهِ جِدّاً في مَخيلَةِ لاعبٍ

    والنَّدبُ ليسَ يَجِدُّ حتى يَلعَبا

    I shall show it earnestness in a player's guise;

    the man of mettle does not grow earnest until he has played.

  14. ومُعرِّضٍ لي بالطِّرادِ خَسَأتُه

    ومتى رأيتَ اللَّيثَ طاردَ ثعلَبا

    And one who challenged me to a chase I drove away;

    when have you seen a lion chase a fox?

  15. فَلْيَثْوِ في رَمْسِ الخُمولِ فإنني

    نارٌ تضرَّمُ في ذُؤابةِ كبكبا

    Let him dwell in obscurity's grave, for I am

    a fire blazing on the summit of Kabkab.

  16. هيهاتَ جانبْتُ السَّفاهَ وأهلَه

    حَدَثاً فكيف أرى السَّفاهةَ أشَيبا

    Far from it! I shunned folly and its people

    as a youth; how could I countenance folly gray-haired?

  17. وأَحلَّني عِزُّ الأميرِ مَحلَّةً

    لو رامَني فيها الزَّمانُ تهيَّبا

    And the emir's might has placed me in an abode

    where Time, should it assail me, would recoil in fear.

  18. عُدْنا بمُبْيَضِّ الصَّنَائعِ راضياً

    منه ومُحمرّش العَواملِ مُغضَبا

    We returned to him—his favors white when pleased,

    and his spear-shafts red when angered.

  19. غَمْرِ المَواهبِ لا يُساجلُ مُرغِباً

    في المكرماتِ ولا يُطاولُ مُرهِبا

    Overflowing with gifts, unrivaled when he inspires desire

    for noble favors, and unequaled when he inspires fear.

  20. ومُمنَّعٍ يُردي العدوَّ إذا ارتدَى

    بالسَّيفِ أو يحبُو الوليَّ إذا احتَبا

    And impregnable, he slays his enemy when girded

    with the sword, or gives his ally gifts when seated with knees clasped.

  21. وأَغَرَّ لو نَطَقَتْ رِحابُ مَحَلِّه

    قالَتْ لطُلاَّبِ المَكارمِ مَرحَبا

    And illustrious: if the courtyards of his dwelling spoke,

    they would say to seekers of generosity, 'Welcome!'

  22. ناضلْتُ منه بذي السَّدادِ فما هَفَا

    وضربْتُ منه بذي الفَقارِ فما نَبا

    I shot with him, a sure-aimed bow that never missed;

    and struck with him, Dhu al-Fiqar, which never glanced aside.

  23. وصَحبِتُ أيامَ المَشيبِ بِجُودِه

    مُبيْضَّةً فذمَمتُ أيامَ الصَّبا

    Through his generosity I passed my gray-haired days

    bright and white, and reproached the days of youth.

  24. بَشَرٌ كمِصباحِ الحَيا وخَلائِقٌ

    تَخبو لبَهْجَتِها مصابيحُ الرُّبا

    A cheerful face like the lamp of rain, and virtues

    whose splendor makes the lamps upon the hills grow dim.

  25. ومُناسِبٌ حازَ الفضيلةَ أعجَماً

    فينا كما حازَ الفضيلةَ مُعِربا

    And noble of lineage, he won distinction as a non-Arab

    among us, just as he won distinction as an Arab.

  26. إن شاءَ عُدَّ من الشُّعوبِ أجلَّها

    أو شاءَ عَدَّ من القبائلِ تَغلِبا

    If he wishes, he is reckoned of the noblest peoples;

    or, if he wishes, he counts Taghlib among his tribes.

  27. يرتاحُ ما غَنَّى الحديدُ إلى الوغَى

    فيخوضُ مَوجاً منه أكدرَ مُجلِبا

    Whenever iron sings, he yearns for battle,

    and wades into its murky, clamorous surge.

  28. ويَكُرُّ مَطرورَ السِّنانِ كأنه

    قمرٌ يطارِدُ في العَجاجةِ كَوكَبا

    He charges with his spearhead honed, as though he were

    a moon pursuing a star through the dust cloud.

  29. أَأَشيمُ بارقةَ الغَمام وقد غدَتْ

    يُمنَى أبي الحَسَنِ الغمامَ الصيِّبا

    Shall I watch the clouds' lightning, when already

    Abu al-Hasan's right hand has become the rain-pouring cloud?

  30. قاظَ الزَّمانُ فكنتَ ظِلاً سَجْسَجاً

    ونأى الربيعُ فكنتَ رُوْضاً مُعْشِبا

    Time grew summer-hot; you were a temperate shade,

    and spring withdrew; you were a garden lush with grass.

  31. تَرَكَ القصائدَ قَصَّرَت عن عَدِّ ما

    يُسدِي ومن يُحصي الحَصَى والأثْلَبا

    He has left poems unable to count what

    he bestows; who can number pebbles and dust?

  32. والطالبيّون انْتَحَتْكَ وفودُهُم

    فرأَوا نَداكَ الغَمْرَ قرَّبَ مطلَبا

    And the Talibids—their delegations sought you out,

    and saw your boundless bounty bring their goal within reach.

  33. لا حظْتَهم والفكرُ يَصرِفُ عنهم

    لحْظَ النَّواظرِ بِغضةً وتجنُّبا

    You regarded them, while thought was turning away from them

    the glances of eyes, in hatred and avoidance.

  34. فنظمْتَهم جمعاً وقد نَشَرَتْهُمُ

    أيدي الزَّمانِ فَفُرِّقُوا أيدي سَبا

    You gathered them into one company, though they had been scattered

    by Time's hands, dispersed like Saba's people.

  35. أَحْبَبْتَ ذا القُربى وليس يُحِبُّه

    إلا امْرُؤٌ رفَضَ الغريبَ الأجنَبا

    You loved your kinsman, and none loves him

    save a man who rejects the unrelated stranger.

  36. أمَّا الصِّيامُ فقد أجبْتَ دُعاءَهُ

    ورأيْتَه فِعلاً أغرَّ مُهذَّبا

    As for fasting, you answered its call,

    and deemed it a radiant, pure deed.

  37. شهرٌ وصلْتَ صيامَه بقِيامِه

    فَنضَوْتَهُ نِضْوَ الجَوانحِ مُتعَبا

    A month whose fasting you joined to its night prayers;

    then you shed it, lean about the ribs and exhausted.

  38. فأجِبْ دُعاءَ الفِطرِ مُصْطَبِحاً فقدْ

    ناداك حَيَّ على الصَّباحِ فثوَّبا

    So answer fast-breaking's call with a morning draught, for

    it has called you, 'Come to the morning drink!' and called again.

  39. وتَمَلَّها بِكْراً فلستُ مُزوِّجاً

    شَرَفَ الشريفِ من المدائحِ ثَيِّبا

    And savor her as a virgin; I would not wed

    the sharif's honor to a previously married praise-poem.

  40. حمْداً أمَرَّ الفِكر ُسِلْكَ نِظامِه

    فأصاب دُرّاً من عُلاكَ مثقَّبا

    A praise-poem: thought twisted the thread of its design,

    and found in your lofty worth pearls already pierced.

  41. إن حَلَّ أوطنَ في صُدورِ رُواتِه

    أو سارَ شَرَّقَ في البلادِ وغرَّبا

    If it settles, it makes its home in its reciters' breasts;

    or if it travels, it goes east and west across the lands.