Sol 6.1

  1. أَثِرْها فقد طالَ الغَداةَ وُقُوعُها

    ولا تَخْدُ إلاّ أَنْ تَطولَ نُسوعُها

    Rouse them, for their lying down has lasted long this morning.

    They do not stride unless their girth-straps lengthen.

  2. طِراباً يفوتُ البرقَ خَطْواً بَطيئُها

    إذا غرَّد الحادي فكيف سَريعها

    Spirited, their slowest outstrips lightning in its stride

    when the camel-driver sings—what, then, of their fastest?

  3. جَواذِبَ فَضْلاتِ الأزِمّة في السُّرَى

    تَكشَّفُ عن أَقطاعِهنّ قُطوعها

    Tugging the loose ends of reins during the night journey,

    their fleet ones lay bare their saddlecloths.

  4. قَوادِحَ ما يُهدِى الضّياءَ لرَكْبِها

    بأَخفافِها واللّيلُ داجٍ شُموعها

    Striking sparks that give their riders light,

    candles from their hoof-pads in the dark night.

  5. تَقطَّعُ أثناءَ الحبالِ تَعجْرفاً

    إذا ما بدا في الصُّبْحِ لاحَ قطيعها

    They snap the strands of ropes in headstrong pride

    when their whip flashes into view at dawn.

  6. عليها من الحَيِّ اليمانينَ غِلْمةٌ

    يُنيلُ المَعالي وَخْدُها ووُلوعها

    Upon them ride young men from the Yemeni tribe;

    their swift stride and eagerness grant them lofty ranks.

  7. إذا ذكَرتْ عهْدَ المعالي تقطَّعَتْ

    حَمائلُها مِمّا تَلَوَّى ضُلوعها

    When they recall their pledge to glory, there snap

    their baldrics, as their ribs writhe.

  8. عِصابةُ مَجدٍ حاولَتْه وكُلُّهمْ

    طَلوبُ ثَنيّاتِ العلاءِ طَلوعها

    A band pursuing glory, and all of them

    eager seekers of lofty passes, eager climbers of them.

  9. تُبِيتُ ومن أيدي المطايا وِسادُها

    بقَفْرٍ ومن بيضِ المَواضي ضَجيعها

    They spend the night with their mounts' forelegs for pillows,

    in a wilderness, with bright, keen swords as bedfellows.

  10. رمَتْ بصدورِ العيسِ تَبْغي مَطالِباً

    عسى بَعْدَ يأسٍ أن تَدانَى شُسوعها

    They sent the white camels breast-first, seeking goals,

    hoping their remoteness might draw near after despair.

  11. وعِيدٌ من اليومِ المُناخِ وهذه

    ديارُ العلا يُبكي العيونَ خُشوعها

    A threat from the encamped day; and these

    are glory's dwellings, whose abasement makes eyes weep.

  12. أَأطلُبُ إبدالَ الكرامِ وقد مضَوْا

    على حينَ أضحَتْ مُقْفِراتٍ رُبوعها

    Shall I seek replacements for the noble, now that they have gone,

    when their quarters have become deserted?

  13. وآمرُ دَهْري أن يُعيدَ زَمانَهمْ

    وتلك لعَمْري أَمرةٌ ما يُطِيعها

    And command my age to restore their era?

    By my life, that is a command it will not obey.

  14. سقَى اللهُ عهدَ الأكرمِينَ وحُسْنَه

    بَواكرَ مُزْنٍ يَستهِلُّ هُموعها

    May God water the era of the noblest and its beauty

    with early rainclouds pouring forth their torrents.

  15. ولا زالَ إلاّ من دموعٍ سَحابُها

    يَجودهمُ أو من سَحابٍ دموعها

    And may its clouds, made only of tears,

    keep raining upon them—or its tears, made of clouds.

  16. عُهودُ مُلوكٍ مُحْسِنينَ تَصرَّمَتْ

    فباتَتْ لهمْ عَيْني قليلاً هُجوعها

    The eras of benevolent kings have passed away;

    so for their sake my eye sleeps but little.

  17. وما هيَ إلاّ الرُّوحُ أَودَى ذَهابُها

    بجِسمي ولا يُحيِيهِ إلاّ رجوعها

    They are my very soul; their departure brought ruin

    to my body, and only their return revives it.

  18. رَعيتُ هوَى الحسناء حُبّاً فلم أَضِعْ

    وفي النّاسِ راعِي خُلّةٍ ومُضِيعها

    I lovingly tended the fair one's love and did not neglect it;

    among people are those who keep friendship and those who waste it.

  19. فلا سَلِمَتْ نَفسٌ شديدٌ نِزاعُها

    إذا هي لم تُصبِحْ شديداً نُزوعها

    May a soul of fierce longing never be safe

    if it does not become equally fierce in turning away.

  20. وفي النّاسِ راضي النّفسِ طَوْعاً صَبورُها

    إذا ما عدا خَطْبٌ وفيهمْ جَزوعها

    Among people are souls willingly content and patient

    when trouble assails; among them too are fretful souls.

  21. حمَى جُودُ زَينِ المُلْكِ سَرْحَ خواطري

    فلا رائعٌ بالنّائباتِ يَروعها

    Zayn al-Mulk's generosity guarded the grazing herd of my thoughts;

    so no terror of calamities can frighten them.

  22. كفَى الدّولةَ الغَرّاءَ فخْراً تُعيدُه

    بأنّكَ يا ابنَ الأكرمينَ مُطيعها

    For the radiant state, it is glory enough to repeat

    that you, son of the noblest, obey it.

  23. فإنْ تك في حَرْبٍ فأنت حُسامُها

    وإن تَكُ في جَدْبٍ فأنتَ رَبيعها

    If it is at war, you are its sharp sword;

    and if it suffers drought, you are its spring.

  24. وقد عَلِمَتْ أن كنتَ أوّلَ قائمٍ

    إلى نَصْرِها حتّى اطْمأنّ مَروعها

    It knows that you were the first to rise

    to its aid, until its frightened ones felt secure.

  25. وأوّلُ نَصْرٍ جَرَّ نَصْراً جُنودُه

    لسلطانِها والحَربُ تُمرَى ضُروعها

    And the first Nasr whose troops brought victory

    to its sultan, while war's udders were being milked.

  26. وأوّلُ فَتْحٍ من أبي الفَتْحِ جاءه

    وسُمْرُ القَناسَدّ الفَضاءَ شُروعها

    And the first conquest came to him from Abu al-Fath,

    while outstretched brown spears blocked the open plain.

  27. فكم قد كَفى من وَقعةٍ بعدَ وَقْعةٍ

    وغادَر من قَتْلَى يُخاض نَجيعها

    How many battles, one after another, he has overcome,

    and left slain men whose gore is waded through,

  28. ببِيضٍ صَقيلاتِ المُتونِ كأنّها

    سَرائرُ أفواهِ الغُمودِ يُذيعها

    with bright swords, polished along their flats, as though they were

    secrets from the mouths of scabbards that he reveals;

  29. وخَيْلٍ تَهادَى بالكُماةِ سِراعُها

    كما مَرَّ ليلاً من بُروقٍ لُموعها

    and horses whose swift ones sway beneath armored warriors,

    as flashes of lightning pass by night.

  30. تَجيء سَواءً والسّهامُ إذا رُمُوا

    عليها فلا تَعدو المُروحَ وُقُوعها

    They run abreast of arrows when shots are aimed

    at them; the arrows fall no farther than their flanks.

  31. غداةَ كأنّ الهامَ حَبٌّ نَدوسُه

    وقد حُصِدَتْ بالمَشرفيِّ زُروعها

    On a morning when heads were like grain we trampled,

    their crops already reaped with the Mashrafi sword.

  32. كأنّ محاريبَ القنا ثُغَرُ العِدا

    فما أَصبحتْ إلاّ وفيها رُكوعها

    As though the enemies' mouths were prayer niches for spears,

    so morning never comes without the spears bowing within them.

  33. سَوابقُ أيامٍ إذا هي عُدِّدَتْ

    تَعجّبَ من أخبارِهنَّ سَميعها

    Days of surpassing deeds, which, whenever counted,

    make those who hear their stories marvel.

  34. فإنْ تُصْفِ خُوزِسْتانَ أقلامَك الّتي

    بها اليومَ تَحمي أن يُرامَ مَنيعها

    For if your pens secure Khuzistan—those pens

    with which today you guard its stronghold against assault—

  35. فلا فَخْرَ في هذا ومن قبلُ قد صفَتْ

    بسَعْيكَ للمُلْكِ البلادُ جَميعها

    there is no boast in this: already before,

    all the lands were secured for the kingdom through your efforts.

  36. بنَصْرِ بنِ منصورٍ تَلاقَتْ أُمورُها

    ولولا نَداهُ لاستطارَتْ صُدوعها

    Through Nasr ibn Mansur their affairs came together;

    but for his bounty, their fissures would have spread.

  37. بَعيدُ المدَى بأْساً وجُوداً وإنّما

    يَسودُ الورَى ضَرّارُها وَنفوعها

    Far-reaching in valor and bounty; only

    those who greatly harm and help mankind rule them.

  38. فكم أَمطَر العافينَ غُزْرَ نَوالهِ

    بكفٍّ له صَوبُ الغوادي رَضيعها

    How often he rained abundant gifts upon supplicants,

    from a hand whose foster-brother is the downpour of morning clouds.

  39. وكم طَرَحَ الأعداءَ من سَطَواتهِ

    مَطارِحَ لا يرجو انتعاشاً صَريعها

    How often he cast down enemies through his assaults

    into places where the fallen have no hope of recovery.

  40. أيا ماجِداً يغدو وفي طَيِّ بُردهِ

    فريدُ بني الدّنيا عُلاً وقَريعها

    O noble one whose mantle enfolds, as he goes forth,

    the world's peerless son in greatness, its foremost man!

  41. يُبَشّرُ آمالَ الرّجالِ ببِشْرِهِ

    كما بَثَّ أنوارَ الصباح سُطوعها

    He gives men's hopes glad tidings with his cheerfulness,

    as dawn's radiance spreads its lights.

  42. ويجعلُ أثمانَ المحامدِ مالَهُ

    إذا ضَنَّ بالأموالِ يوماً جَموعها

    He makes his wealth the price of praise

    when wealth's hoarders grow miserly one day.

  43. أمَنْ يَشترى الأحرارَ أَكرمُ عادةً

    إذا عرَض الأحرارُ أم مَن يَبيعها

    Is he who buys free men nobler in his practice,

    when free men are offered, or he who sells them?

  44. أَعِرْ سَمْعَكَ المَحْروسَ شَكْوى حوادثٍ

    لنَفْسٍ قليلٍ للزّمانِ خُضوعها

    Lend your guarded ear to a complaint of misfortunes

    from a soul whose submission to time is slight.

  45. فَراغِيَ في أياّم شُغْلِكَ هُجْنةٌ

    سَيَقْرَعُ أسماعَ الكرامِ شَنيعها

    My idleness in the days of your labors is a disgrace

    whose ugliness will strike the ears of the noble.

  46. نَبتْ بي بلادٌ حين ذَلَّ رَفيعُها

    لرَيْبٍ لياليها وعَزَّ وضَيعها

    Lands rejected me when their exalted were humbled

    by the vicissitudes of their nights, and their lowly grew mighty.

  47. وأَخّرَنا ما قدَّم القومَ دُونَنا

    تَقلُّبُ أيّامٍ عَجيبٍ صَنيعها

    What advanced others over us held us back:

    the turning of days, whose workings are strange.

  48. ذَريعةُ أبناءِ الزَّمانِ وَقاحةٌ

    مُجَرَّدةٌ يُدني الأماني شَفيعها

    The sons of the age use impudence as their means,

    unvarnished, whose advocate brings wishes near.

  49. وتلك لعَمْري في الزّمانِ إلى الغنى

    سَبيلٌ ولكنْ أين مَن يَسْتَطيعها

    And that, by my life, is this age's path to wealth;

    but where is anyone able to travel that road?

  50. سأَقطَعُ آفاقَ البلادِ برِحْلةٍ

    يُؤَمِّمُ أقصاهنّ أَرضاً مُريعها

    I shall cross the horizons of the lands on a journey,

    their fertile ground drawing me to the remotest land,

  51. لأَِحْوِيَ غُنْماً أو لأُبْليَ عِذْرةً

    بسَعْيٍ عسى ألا يَضيقَ وَسيعها

    to win profit, or make good my excuse,

    through striving—may its broad scope never narrow.

  52. وما اللّيلةُ اللّيلاءُ إلاّ حقيقةٌ

    بأن يتَجلّى عن صباحٍ هَزيعها

    The pitch-dark night is surely destined

    for its watch to clear away and reveal a dawn.

  53. وشُكرك زادي حيث سِرْتُ ومِدْحةٌ

    كما يُرتَضى إعجابُها ونُصوعها

    Thanking you is my provision wherever I travel, and a poem of praise,

    pleasing in its power to delight and its brilliance.

  54. سأنظِمُ في عُلياكَ كُلَّ قصيدةٍ

    وقافيةٍ يَسْبى العُقولَ بَديعها

    I shall compose every ode in praise of your eminence,

    and every rhyme whose wondrous beauty captures minds.

  55. مُخصَّرةِ الأبياتِ تُمسِي كأنّها

    نُجومُ الدُّجَى إفْرادُها وشُفوعها

    Slender-waisted in their verses, at evening they seem like

    stars in the darkness, singly and in pairs.

  56. إذا شَهِد الأعراضَ مَعرَكُ ألسُنٍ

    وهُزَّتْ رِماحُ الذّمِّ فهْيَ دُروعها

    When reputations face a battle of tongues,

    and blame's spears are brandished, these poems are their shields.

  57. فلا زلْتَ في ظلِّ السّعادةِ تَرتَعي

    رياضَ نعيمٍ لا يَجُفُّ مَريعها

    May you never cease, in the shade of happiness, to graze

    in gardens of bliss whose lush pasture never dries.

  58. ولا بَرِحَتْ أبناؤكَ الغُرُّ عُصبةً

    أمامَ المعالي لا يَفَضُّ جُموعها

    And may your radiant sons always remain a band

    at the forefront of glory, their ranks never dispersed.

  59. كعِقْدِ الثُّريّا لا يُفرَّقُ شَمْلُها

    بحالٍ ولا يُخشَى انخِفاضاً رفيعها

    Like the necklace of the Pleiades, their unity is never sundered

    in any circumstance, nor is a fall feared for their eminence.

  60. لهمْ أنفُسٌ عُلْويّةٌ فمِنَ النُّهَى

    حُلاها وفي رَوْضِ العلومِ رُتوعها

    They have lofty souls; from understanding come

    their ornaments, and they graze in the garden of learning.

  61. كَرُمْتَ وحُزْتَ الفضلَ نفْساً ومَعشراً

    ولولا أُصولٌ لم تُورَّقْ فُروعها

    You are noble and have won excellence, in yourself and your kin;

    but for roots, their branches would never put forth leaves.

  62. فلا زِلْتَ للعلياءِ شَمساً مُنيرةً

    يَزينُ سَماءَ المكرماتِ طُلوعها

    May you remain for the heights of glory a radiant sun

    whose rising adorns the sky of noble deeds.