Sol 6.1

  1. هُمُ صَرَموا حبلَ الهَوى فَتصَرَّما

    وهُمْ أَمَرُوا الأَحشاءَ أن تتضرَّما

    They severed the cord of love, and it was severed.

    And they commanded the entrails to blaze.

  2. تَنادَوا لتفريقِ الفريقِ فأَصبَحَتْ

    مَدامِعُنا تَنْدَى لفُرْقَتِهِم دَما

    They called to one another to scatter the company, and so

    Our tear ducts grew wet with blood at their departure.

  3. سلامٌ على مَنْ سارَ قَلبُ مُحبِّه

    إليه فلم يَرْجعْ صَحيحاً مُسلَّما

    Peace upon the one whose lover's heart journeyed

    To him, but did not return sound and unharmed.

  4. حَبيبٌ حَمانا الكاشحونَ عِناقَه

    عَشِيَّةَ راحَ الحَيُّ من أَبرُقِ الحِمى

    A beloved whose embrace the spiteful denied us

    On the evening the tribe departed from Abruq al-Hima.

  5. يَحُلُّ عُقودَ الدُّرِّ دمعاً ومَنْطِقاً

    ويَنظِمُها حَلْياً عليه ومَبْسِما

    He unstrings necklaces of pearls as tears and speech,

    And strings them upon himself as jewels and a smile.

  6. أماطَ عَنِ العَذْبِ اللِّثامِ لِثامَه

    فعادَ بديباجِ الحَياء مُلَثَّما

    He lifted his veil from his sweet, veiled face,

    Then was veiled anew in the brocade of modesty.

  7. وكلَّمني جَفْناهُ بالدَّمعِ خِفْيَةً

    فَهَمَّ غَليلُ الشَّوقِ أن يتكلَّما

    His two eyelids spoke to me secretly through tears,

    So the burning thirst of longing nearly found a voice.

  8. فِراقٌ شَرِبْنا الموتَ صِرْفاً بِكاسِهِ

    فيا طِيبَهُ لو كانَ صاباً وعَلْقَما

    A parting from whose cup we drank death unmixed—

    How sweet it would have been, had it been bitter sap and colocynth!

  9. وناعِمَةٍ تُثْني على حُسْنِ قَدِّها

    إذا ما تَثَنَّى نَعْمَةً أو تَقَوَّما

    And a delicate woman who praises her figure's beauty

    Whenever it sways with supple grace or stands straight.

  10. دَعَتْني لِشُرْبِ الجاشريَّة بعدَما

    تَوَسَّدْتُ وَرْدَ الزّنْدِ رَوْداً مُهَوِّما

    She invited me to drink the dawn wine, after

    I had gently pillowed my head on a rose-red forearm, half-asleep.

  11. فقلتُ أَدِيري حِلَّها أو حَرامَها

    فليسَ الحَرامُ من يديكِ مُحرَّما

    So I said, 'Pass it round, lawful or forbidden;

    For the forbidden from your hands is not forbidden.'

  12. شَرِبْنا على الإحْسانِ والحُسنِ ليلةً

    رَأَيْنا بها الإِحسانَ والحُسْنَ تَوأَما

    We drank one night amid kindness and beauty,

    In which we saw kindness and beauty as twins.

  13. ورَطْبَ لآلي الحَلْيِ لمَّا تَبَسَّمَتْ

    إليه مَصابيحُ البُروقِ تَبسَّما

    And a garden with dewy pearls for jewels: when there smiled

    Toward it the lamps of lightning, it smiled back.

  14. تَضَوَّعَ تَحتَ القَطْرِ حتى كأَنَّما

    غَدا القَطْرُ يَسقيهِ الرَّحيقَ المُقَدَّما

    It wafted fragrance beneath the rain, as though

    The rain had come to water it with the choicest pure wine.

  15. وَدَيَّمَ صَوبُ المُزْنِ فيه كأنَّه

    نَوالُ أبي إسْحَاقَ صَابَ فدَيَّما

    And the clouds' downpour drizzled steadily upon it, as though it were

    Abu Ishaq's bounty, pouring down and continuing to drizzle.

  16. أَغَرُّ يَراهُ النَّاسُ غُرَّةَ دَهْرِهِمْ

    إذا كان دَهْماءُ البَريَّةِ أَدْهَما

    A radiant man, whom people deem their age's shining brow,

    When mankind's dark multitude is jet-black.

  17. جَوادٌ لو استسقَيْتَ ماءَ شَبابِه

    لَحَنَّ به نَوْءٌ عليك عليك وأَرْزَما

    A generous man: if you asked for the water of his youth,

    A rainstorm would moan with it over you—over you—and rumble.

  18. إذا ما سَقَتْ يُمْنَاهُ رَيّاً وقُبِّلَتْ

    توَهَّمْتَ يُمناه الحطيمَ وزَمزَما

    Whenever his right hand gives a thirst-quenching draught and is kissed,

    You would imagine his right hand al-Hatim and Zamzam.

  19. يَصولُ به فردٌ إذا ما تنكَّرَت

    صروفُ اللَّيالي كان جيشاً عَرَمْرَما

    A lone man charges through him; whenever there turn hostile

    The vicissitudes of the nights, he becomes a vast army.

  20. إذا غَمَزَتْ آراؤُه البَغْيَ غَمْزَةً

    تقوَّمَ فيها مَيْلُهُ وتحطَّما

    Whenever his counsels give tyranny a single squeeze,

    Its crookedness is straightened therein, and it shatters.

  21. أَيَدْري الغَبيَّانِ اللَّذانِ تَناهَبا

    مَحاسِنَ شِعْري أيَّ نَهْبٍ تَقَسَّما

    Do the two fools, who plundered

    The beauties of my poetry, know what plunder they divided?

  22. وأَيَّ عُقودٍ خُضْتُ سبعةَ أبحُرٍ

    لجَوْهَرِها المَنْثورِ حتى تَنَظَّما

    And what necklaces I waded through seven seas to make,

    Seeking their scattered gems until they were strung together?

  23. أَبيتُ له سِلْمَ السُّهادِ إذا عَرا

    وحربَ الكَرى حتى يَصِحَّ ويَسلَما

    I spend the night for it, an ally of sleeplessness when it comes,

    And a foe of slumber until it is sound and whole.

  24. فيَصدُرُ عن رَاووقِ فِكْرٍ كأنَّه

    يُرَوِّقُ جِريالاً من الخَمْرِ عَنْدَما

    Then it issues from the strainer of thought, as though it

    Were filtering crimson wine, red as dye.

  25. فلمَّا غَدا عَضباً صقيلاً وذابِلاً

    خَطيراً وملمومَ السَّراةِ مُسوَّما

    Then, when it became a keen, polished sword and a slender spear

    Of high worth, and a marked steed with a firmly knit back,

  26. وثَقَّبَ للأَعناقِ دُرّاً مُفَصَّلاً

    ونَشَّرَ للأعطافِ وَشْياً مُسَهَّما

    And bored pearls, spaced apart, for necks,

    And spread arrow-patterned brocade for shoulders,

  27. تَهَضَّمَهُ ذِئْبانِ لم يَرَيا له

    أخا ثِقَةٍ يَحميهِ أن يُتَهَضَّما

    Two wolves despoiled it, seeing that it had no

    Trusted brother to protect it from being despoiled.

  28. مُغيرانِ لو طافَا على حينِ غفلَةٍ

    من الناسِ بالبيتِ الحرامِ لأحرَما

    Two raiders who, if they circled, while

    People were unaware, the Sacred House, would rob it.

  29. لقد قَصُرَتْ أيديهِما عن مَنالِه

    زَماناً ولكن صيَّرا البُهْتَ سُلَّما

    Their hands fell short of reaching it

    For a time; but they made brazen falsehood a ladder.

  30. فلو ضَمَّهُ بينَ السَّماكَيْنَ مَعْقِلٌ

    ودافعَ عنه الحَينُ لم يَنْجُ مِنهُما

    Even if a fortress enclosed it between the two Simak stars,

    And death defended it, it would not escape them.

  31. ولو مَنَعَتْه أن يُضامَ جَهَنَّمٌ

    لَخاضا إليه مُقْدِمَيْنِ جهَنَّما

    And if Hell protected it from being wronged,

    They would boldly plunge through Hell to reach it.

  32. لقد ظَلَما من كلِّ غَيداءَ حُرَّةٍ

    كَلاماً لو اسطاعَ الكلامَ تَظَلَّما

    They have wronged every graceful, freeborn maiden—

    Words that, if they could speak, would complain of injustice.

  33. عَذارَى فمِن مشغوفَةٍ بحَليلِها

    مُتَيَّمَةٍ تَشتاقُ منه وَمِعْصَمَا

    Virgins: among them one deeply enamored of her husband,

    Love-stricken, yearning for his wrist as well.

  34. ومصومَةٍ إن عايَنتْ عَيْنَ رِيبَةٍ

    تُلاحِظُها غَطَّتْ بَناناً ومَعصِما

    And an abstinent one who, if she sees a suspicious eye

    Watching her, covers her fingers and wrist.

  35. إذا احتازها البَعلُ الجديدُ مُعَرِّساً

    أقاما على البَعلِ المُفارقِ مأتَما

    When the new husband claims her, celebrating his wedding,

    The two hold a mourning gathering for the husband left behind.

  36. سُبينَ فباشَرْنَ المَحارِمَ عَنوةً

    وعَزَّ عليها أن تُباشِرَ مَحرَما

    They were captured and forced to consort with forbidden kin;

    And it grieved them to consort with a forbidden kinsman.

  37. وما لَمَسَ المغرورُ شَوكَةَ عَقْرَبٍ

    ولكنه من غِرَّةٍ مَسَّ أرقَما

    The deluded man did not touch a scorpion's sting;

    Rather, through heedlessness, he touched a mottled snake.

  38. وأَخْلِقْ بِكَفٍّ لا تَكُفُّ بَنانُها

    عن الرَّقْشِ أن تَرفَضَّ لحماً وأعظُما

    How fitting that a hand whose fingers will not refrain

    From mottled snakes should fall apart, flesh and bones!

  39. يَمينُ الفَتى عُضوٌ عليه مُكَرَّمٌ

    فلا تَمتَهِنْ عُضواً عليك مُكَرَّما

    A young man's right hand is a limb he holds in honor;

    So do not debase a limb you hold in honor.

  40. لعلَّ وَزيرَ المَلْكِ يَحكُمُ بَيْنَنا

    فيُصبحَ فينا مَجهلَ الأمرِ مَعلَما

    Perhaps the king's minister will judge between us,

    And what is obscure among us becomes a clear landmark.

  41. وإني لأرجو منه صُبَح قَضِيَّةٍ

    يُمَزِّقُ جِلباباً من الشَّكِّ مُظْلِما

    And I truly hope from him for the dawn of a judgment

    That tears apart a dark cloak of doubt.

  42. إذا ما بَلَوْتُ الصَّائِبينَ وجدتُهُم

    فَريقَيْنِ صبّاً بالسَّماحِ ومُرغِما

    Whenever I have tested those sound in judgment, I have found them

    Two sorts: one in love with generosity, the other a humbler.

  43. سَحائبُ مَعْروفٍ إذا المَحْلُ أقبلَت

    سُنُوهُ وأقمارٌ إذا الخَطْبُ أَظلَما

    Clouds of kindness when there come the drought's

    Years, and moons when calamity darkens.

  44. وكتَّابُ مَلْكٍ لا تَطيشُ سِهامُهُم

    إذا فوَّقُوا للحادثِ النُّكْرِ أسهُما

    And a king's scribes, whose arrows do not miss

    When they nock shafts against a dreadful calamity.

  45. دَعَوْتُ أبا إسْحاقَ للعَدْلِ مُنْصِفاً

    ورُبَّ فتىً يَدعوه للبَذلِ مُنعِما

    I appealed to Abu Ishaq for justice, as a fair arbiter,

    And many a young man calls on him for bounty, as a benefactor.

  46. وشيمَتُه أن يَسْتَهِينَ بِظالمٍ

    إذا لاذَ مَظلومٌ به مُتَظَلِّما

    And his nature is to hold an oppressor in contempt

    When an oppressed man seeks refuge with him, pleading his grievance.