Sol 6.1

  1. على دار سلمى بالعقيقِ سلامي

    سقاها ملث مثل دمعي هامي

    Upon Salma's abode at al-Aqiq be my greeting.

    May a lasting rain water it, pouring like my tears.

  2. ولا برحتها روضةٌ في نسيمِها

    إذا هب معتلاُّ شفاء سقامي

    And may a garden never desert it; in its breeze,

    when it blows languidly, lies the cure for my sickness.

  3. مواقف لذاتي وسوق خلاعتي

    وربع صبا باتي ودار غرامي

    Haunts of my pleasures, the marketplace of my revelry,

    and the abode of my longings, the dwelling of my love.

  4. مرابع لا زال الربيع يجودها

    بكل دموع للغيوث سجام

    Haunts—may spring never cease to drench them

    with all the rainclouds' streaming tears.

  5. ديار رضعت اللهو في جنباتها

    زمانا ولم أفجع له بفطام

    Dwellings where I suckled pleasure within their bounds,

    for a time, never bereft of it through weaning.

  6. غداة أرى سهمي بها كل غادة

    تناضل من ألحاظِها بسهام

    When I saw every tender maiden there as my allotted share,

    vying with arrows shot from her glances.

  7. تريك قضيبا في كثيب إذا انثنت

    وصبحا منيراً تحتَ جنح ظلامِ

    She shows you a bough in a sand dune when she sways,

    and a radiant dawn beneath the wing of darkness.

  8. وتبسم مع بيس كأن وميضَها

    تألق برق في متونِ غَمامِ

    And she smiles with [white teeth], whose gleam is like

    a lightning-flash across the backs of clouds.

  9. إذا هي لاثت خوف واش خمارَها

    ترشفت خَمرا من وراء فدام

    Whenever she wrapped her veil for fear of a talebearer,

    I sipped wine from behind a straining cloth.

  10. وليل تمامٍ قد قصرت باهيف

    بديع تثنيه كبدر تمامِ

    And a full-length night I shortened with a slender youth,

    wondrous in his swaying, like a full moon.

  11. إذا لام فيه عاذل عاد عاذرا

    لحسنِ عذارٍ مثل خطَّة لامِ

    When a reproacher blamed me for him, he became forgiving,

    for his lovely cheek-down, like the stroke of a lām.

  12. سقاني وجام الشمس لم يبد قهوة

    تلوح كشمس في قراة جامِ

    He served me wine before the sun's goblet appeared,

    gleaming like a sun at the bottom of a goblet.

  13. فباكرت بكرا قلَّدَت من حَبابها

    سموط لآلٍ فذَةٍ وتؤامِ

    So at dawn I sought a virgin wine, garlanded with its bubbles—

    necklaces of pearls, single and paired.

  14. عقار إذا ما الماء عاقر كأسها

    رأيت ضرا ما ملهبا لضرامِ

    A wine: whenever water consorts with its cup,

    you see a blaze kindling another blaze.

  15. وبت ولي سكران سكر مدامة

    من الريق راقتني وسكر مدامِ

    And I spent the night with two intoxications: one from a wine

    of saliva that delighted me, the other from wine itself.

  16. لدى روضة ريضت بمزن كأنه

    ندى ابن الدوامي فهو غير جهامِ

    Beside a garden made lush by rainclouds, as though they were

    Ibn al-Dawami's bounty—and thus no rainless clouds.

  17. فتى ثل عني جيش كل ملمّةٍ

    وبلَّ بجدوى راحتَيهِ أوامي

    A noble youth who shattered for me the army of every calamity,

    and quenched my thirst with the bounty of his palms.

  18. وسيم كصدر السيف أروع ينتمي

    إلى أسرة غرِّ الوجوه وسامِ

    Handsome as a sword's blade, commanding, he belongs

    to a family of radiant-faced, handsome men.

  19. وأشجع من تحمي عليه مفاضة

    غداة يرامي معلما وحامي

    And the bravest of those protected by ample mail,

    when he trades arrows, marked for battle and defending others.

  20. قليل اعتذار للمرجين رفده

    فمورده عذب كبير زحامِ

    Rarely offering excuses to those hoping for his bounty,

    for his watering place is sweet and greatly thronged.

  21. له العزم مضّاء الغرار كأنَّهُ

    إذا جدَّ في اللأواء حد حسامِ

    His resolve is keen-edged, as though it were,

    when he strives in adversity, the edge of a sword.

  22. كأن الندى عفراء وهو لحبِّهِ

    إذا ليم فيه عروة بن حَزامِ

    As though generosity were Afra, and he, for loving it,

    when reproached for it, were Urwa ibn Hizam.

  23. مسام الأعادي والثراءِ وجارهُ

    لغمدان جَار فهو غير مضامِ

    He vies with foes and wealth; his neighbor

    is Ghumdan's neighbor, and so is never wronged.

  24. أخفّ إلى يوم الوغى من حسامه

    وارزن حلما من هضاب شمام

    Swifter toward the day of battle than his sword,

    and steadier in forbearance than Shamam's heights.

  25. تراه بأثواب المحامد كاسيا

    وعريان من عاريشين وذام

    You see him clothed in garments of praise,

    and bare of staining disgrace and blame.

  26. كريم المساعي ما له الدهر في الندى

    مضاه ولا في الماثرات مسامي

    Noble in his endeavors: in generosity he has, throughout time,

    no equal, nor any rival in glorious deeds.

  27. حلفت بها مثل القسي نواجلا

    ترامي بشعث كالسهام سهامِ

    I swore by them, bow-like and [lean],

    hurling disheveled, gaunt men like arrows.

  28. أتوا مكة الغراء فاعتمروا بها

    وطافوا بركن طاهر ومقامِ

    They came to radiant Mecca and performed umrah there,

    and circled the pure Corner and the Station.

  29. لقد نلت من جدوى أبي الفرج الفتى

    أخي الجود أقصى بغيتي ومرامي

    I have indeed gained from the bounty of Abu al-Faraj, the noble youth,

    generosity's brother, my utmost wish and aim.

  30. له الهمة العلياء والشيمة التي

    تعلم منها المجد كل همامِ

    He has lofty aspiration and a character from which

    every noble man has learned glory.

  31. أَمؤتمن الدين الذي شاد فخره

    وساد بنفصٍ فوق نفسِ عصامِ

    O Mu'taman al-Din, who built up his glory

    and won eminence with a spirit above Isam's,

  32. لأنسيتنا ذكر الكرامِ بنائلٍ

    أرانا بحار الجود وهي طوامي

    you have indeed made us forget mention of the generous, with bounty

    that showed us the seas of generosity overflowing.

  33. وأغنيتنا عن كل جهم عفاته

    إلى شرب ماء المكرمات ظوامي

    And you freed us from needing any grim-faced man whose petitioners

    thirst to drink the water of noble deeds.

  34. فدمت عبيدالله في ظل نعمة

    وصفو نعيم مؤذن بدوامِ

    So may you remain, Ubaydallah, in the shade of blessing,

    and pure bliss that heralds permanence.

  35. ولا زالت الأعياد نحوك عُوّدا

    بنيل المنى ما اخضَرّ عودُ بشامِ

    And may the festivals never cease returning to you,

    with wishes fulfilled, as long as a balsam bough grows green.