Sol 6.1

  1. وطَيِّبِ النَّشرِ عَبِقْ

    بِرَيِّقِ الغَيْثِ شَرِقْ

    And a sweet-scented, fragrant place,

    Drenched with the freshest rain.

  2. تَناجَتِ المُزْنُ له

    بالرَّعْدِ في غَيْرِ صَعَقْ

    The rainclouds murmured together for it

    With thunder, yet without a thunderbolt.

  3. وعُنِيَ البرقُ به

    فكلّما عُقَّ ودَقْ

    And lightning tended it;

    So whenever a cloud was cleft, rain fell.

  4. وانتَثَرَتْ غُدْرانُه

    في رَوْضةٍ نَثْرَ الوَرَقْ

    And its pools lay scattered

    In a meadow, as leaves are strewn.

  5. يَشُقُّهُ ذو قَلَقٍ

    مثلُ حَشا الصَّبِّ القَلِقْ

    A restless current cuts through it,

    Like the heart of a restless lover.

  6. يَنْسَلُّ بينَ وَشْيِهِ

    مثلَ الحُسامِ المُؤتَلِقْ

    It glides amid its embroidery

    Like a gleaming sword.

  7. إذا جَلا الغَيمُ له

    عن حاجبِ الشَّمسِ بَرَقْ

    When the cloud draws back for it

    From the sun's brow, it gleams.

  8. باشَرَ صحبي بَرْدَه

    قبلَ تَباشيرِ الفَلَقْ

    My companions felt its coolness

    Before the first signs of dawn.

  9. نطرُقُ من حِيتانِهِ

    صَيدَ حِجابٍ ما طُرِقْ

    By night we seek among its fish

    Veiled quarry never sought before.

  10. فَصَافَحَتْ صفحتُه

    كلَّ جَديدٍ كالخَلَقْ

    Then its surface clasped hands with

    Each new net, like worn-out cloth.

  11. يَبعَثُ منه جسَداً

    أعضاؤُه طُرَّاً حَدَق

    From it a body is sent forth,

    Whose limbs are all eyes.

  12. يُريكَ دِرْعاً جُعِلَتْ

    لجَوْشَنِ الماءِ طُرُقْ

    It shows you a coat of mail laid

    In layers over the water's cuirass.

  13. إذا نَجا من غَرَقٍ

    رُدَّ فعادَ في غرَقْ

    Whenever it escapes drowning,

    It is thrown back, and drowns again.

  14. آخِذٌ ما عنَّ له

    وضامنٌ ما قد أبَقْ

    Seizing whatever comes its way

    And securing whatever has escaped.

  15. فما تَنِي بينَهُمُ

    جَواهِرُ الرِّزْقِ نسَقْ

    And ceaselessly among them

    The jewels of sustenance are arrayed:

  16. مجنَّحاتٌ لَبِسَتْ

    غَرائِبَ الوَشْيِ اليَقَقْ

    Winged creatures that have donned

    Wondrous, brilliant-white embroidery.

  17. كأنَّما أعيُنُها

    فُصوصُ ياقوتٍ زُرُقْ

    As though their eyes

    Were blue sapphire gems.

  18. وربَّما مِلْنا على الطَ

    يرِ وقد وافَتْ حِزَقْ

    And sometimes we turned toward the

    birds, which had arrived in flocks.

  19. كلُّ غَريبٍ نُقِشَتْ

    حُلَّتُه نَقْشَ السَّرَقْ

    Each rare bird has an embroidered

    robe, patterned like silk cloth;

  20. كأنما كاتبها

    نمنم فيها ومشق

    As though its scribe

    Had traced fine patterns and sweeping strokes upon it.

  21. نَنصُبُ في الأَرضِ لها

    عِقالَ حَتفٍ كالوَهَقْ

    For them we set in the ground

    A tether of death, like a lasso,

  22. خَفِيَّةً أوتادُه

    ظاهِرَةً منه الحَلقْ

    With its stakes concealed,

    Its loops standing out.

  23. يَكادُ يَخفى شَخصُه

    ضُؤولَةً إذا رَمَق

    Its form is almost invisible,

    So slight it is when one looks.

  24. حُفَّ برزْقٍ ربَّما

    أردى الذي منه رُزِقْ

    It is ringed with sustenance that sometimes

    Kills the one sustained by it.

  25. فالطَّيرُ من حُرٍّ دُجىً

    مَلكَةٌ ومُستَرقْ

    So among the birds are some free in darkness,

    Some owned, and some enslaved;

  26. وحائرٍ يَفْري السك

    كينَ إذا قيلَ عَلِقْ

    And a frantic one that rends the

    knife when they say, 'It's caught!';

  27. وذي سكونٍ قد قضى

    وخافقٍ فيه رمَقْ

    And a motionless one, already dead,

    And a fluttering one, with life still lingering.

  28. كذلك الأرزاقُ من

    صَفْوٍ حميدٍ ورَنَقْ

    So, too, life's provisions consist of

    Wholesome clarity and murk.