Sol 6.1

  1. تَناهى عِندَهُ الأَمَلُ

    وَقَصر دونَهُ العَذلُ

    With him hope reaches its utmost limit,

    and reproach falls short of him.

  2. رَشاً يَفتَر عَن بَرد

    تَكادُ تُذيبَهُ القُبَل

    A gazelle-fawn whose smile reveals hailstones

    that kisses could almost melt.

  3. يُخامر عَطفُهُ ثَمل

    يَميل بِهِ فَيَعتَدل

    Drunkenness steals through his frame,

    swaying him before he straightens.

  4. يَمثل ما يَروّقهُ

    بِصَفحة خَدِهِ الخَجَل

    What adorns him is painted

    by bashfulness upon his cheek.

  5. فَلَيتَ بِهِ كَما اِتَصَلت

    حَشاي الطَرفُ يَتَصل

    Would that, as my heart is bound to him,

    my gaze too might remain joined to him!

  6. إِذا ما الخَدر أَبرَزَهُ

    تَناهب حُسنَهُ المُقَل

    Whenever the secluded chamber brings him forth,

    eyes vie to plunder his beauty.

  7. لَقَد أَغراهُ في تَلفي

    شَباب ناضر خَضل

    Indeed, what tempts him to destroy me

    is youth, radiant and dewy,

  8. وَقدٌّ حَشوهُ هَيف

    وَطَرف مَلؤُهُ كُحل

    a figure filled with slender grace,

    and an eye brimming with kohl.

  9. فَما الخَطي غَير قَنا

    قَوامٍ زانَهُ الميل

    Khatti spears are nothing but the shafts

    of a stature made lovely by its sway;

  10. وَلا الهِندي غَير ظَبي

    حَواها الناظر الغَزَل

    nor are Indian swords anything but edges

    held within that amorous eye.

  11. سَقى خُلَساً بِذي أَضَم

    مَضين الصَيب الهَطل

    May stolen moments at Dhu Aḍam,

    now gone, be watered by pouring rain;

  12. وَعَيشاً حينَ أَذكُرُهُ

    أَميل كَأَنَّني ثَمل

    and that life which, when I recall it,

    makes me sway as though drunk;

  13. وَربعاً كُنتُ أَعهَدَهُ

    وَأَنسي فيهِ مُقتَبل

    and a dwelling I once knew,

    when my joy there was still young.

  14. بَكَيت دَماً عَلى زَمَن

    لَدى تَوديعِهِ الأَجَل

    I wept blood for a time

    whose farewell was death itself:

  15. لَيال كُلَها سحر

    وَدَهر كُلُهُ أُصُل

    nights that were all predawn hours,

    and a lifetime all late afternoons.

  16. فَلَيسَ لِطيبِها خلف

    وَلا لِنَعيمِهِ بَدل

    Their sweetness has no successor,

    nor its bliss a substitute,

  17. سِوى نَدب بِمدحتِهِ

    عَن اللذات اِشتَغل

    save a nobleman, whose praise

    occupies me instead of pleasures.

  18. أَغَرٌّ يُستَضاءُ بِهِ

    وَذَيل اللَيل مُنسَدل

    Radiant, he is a source of light

    when night's train hangs low,

  19. كَأَن عَلى أُسرَتِهِ

    صَباحاً لَيسَ يَنتَقل

    as though upon his brow

    there were a morning that never departs.

  20. أَبو اللَطف الَّذي فيهِ

    يَطيب المَدح وَالغَزَل

    Abu al-Lutf, in whom

    praise and love-poetry grow sweet.

  21. فَتى بِالفَضل مدَّرع

    بلدن المَجد مُعتَقل

    A young man armored in excellence,

    bearing glory's supple lance.

  22. إِذا ما حَلبة جَمَعَت

    وَطالَ البَحث وَالجَدَل

    Whenever an arena gathers contestants,

    and discussion and debate grow long,

  23. تَراهُ بَينَهُم أَبَداً

    يَجولُ كَأَنَّهُ بَطَل

    you always see him in their midst,

    ranging like a champion.

  24. لَهُ فكر إِذا اِتَقَدَت

    أَخافُ عَلَيهِ يَشتَعل

    His thoughts, whenever they blaze,

    make me fear that he will catch fire.

  25. وَكَف مِن أَناملها

    نَمير الجود يَنهَمل

    And a hand from whose fingertips

    the pure waters of generosity pour.

  26. تَظَل عَلى مَدائِحِهِ

    قَوافي الشعر تَقتَتل

    Over his praise, unceasingly,

    the rhymes of poetry do battle.

  27. فَما رَوض بِوشحهُ

    بِنَثر عُقودِهِ الطفل

    No garden, adorned

    by dew scattering its necklaces,

  28. تَهادَت في مَسارِحِهِ

    رَخاء سَيرِها مَهل

    through whose meadows glides

    a gentle breeze, leisurely in its course,

  29. وَقَد فَتَقَت أَزاهره

    فَضاعَ المِندل الثَمل

    whose blossoms have burst open

    and whose drunken sandalwood wafts its scent,

  30. بِأَطيَب مِن خَلائِقِهِ ال

    تي سارَت بِها المثل

    is more fragrant than his virtues—

    those that proverbs have borne abroad.

  31. فَيا مَولى مَآثره

    تَرآى دونَها زحل

    O master, whose glorious deeds

    make Saturn seem beneath them!

  32. رَكبت جَواد مَكرمةٍ

    بِلَحظ السَعد يَنتَعل

    You have mounted the steed of noble generosity,

    shod with good fortune's glance.

  33. وَفَقت الآخرين وَلَم

    تَفتك السادة الأَول

    You have surpassed the later men, and

    the earliest masters have not outstripped you.

  34. لِعمرك أَنَّني كَلف

    بِمَدحك مُولع شغل

    By your life, I am enamored,

    devoted to praising you, wholly absorbed.

  35. وَإِني بِالدُعاءِ لَكُم

    بِظَهر الغَيب اِبتَهَل

    And in praying for you,

    I supplicate fervently in your absence.

  36. فَهاكَ سُؤال مُعتَرَف

    بِفَضلِكَ مَسَّهُ خَجَل

    So take this request from one who acknowledges

    your bounty, whom shyness has touched.

  37. وَيمُّ الفَضل هَل يَحكي

    هِ في تَيارِهِ الوَشل

    And the sea of bounty—can it be matched

    in its current by a mere trickle?

  38. فَما شَيءٌ لَهُ أَرَجٌ

    حَواهُ السَهل وَالجَبَل

    What, then, is a thing with fragrance,

    found on plain and mountain?

  39. خُماسيٌّ بِأَوله

    وَثانيهِ ازتوت غَلل

    Five-lettered: with its first

    and second, thirsts are quenched;

  40. وَإِن صَحفت سائر ذا

    كَ خابَ السَعي وَالأَمَل

    and if you alter the dots of the rest of that

    word, effort and hope come to nothing.

  41. أَجِبني غَير مُؤتمر

    وَأَمرك فيهِ يَمتَثل

    Answer me, not as one commanded;

    your command in this shall be obeyed.

  42. وَدُم في الدَهر ذا دعة

    بِمثلك يَضرب المَثَل

    And remain through time at ease;

    one like you is the example people cite.

  43. لَقَد حسنت بِكَ الدُنيا

    كَما حسنت بِكَ الدُوَل

    Through you the world has indeed grown fair,

    as the dynasties have grown fair through you.