Sol 6.1

  1. نشَدْتُك اللّهَ هل تَدرينَ يا دارُ

    ماذا دَعا الحَيَّ من مَغْناكِ أنْ ساروا

    I adjure you by God: do you know, O dwelling,

    what prompted the tribe to depart from your abode?

  2. ساروا يَسيحون في آثار ما تَركُوا

    في الدّارِ من جَفْنِ عَيْني وهْو مِدرار

    They departed, roaming through the traces of what they left

    in the dwelling from my eyelid, pouring in torrents.

  3. وقفتُ لم أتقَلّدْ للحَيا مِنَناً

    فيها ومنّيَ في الأجفانِ إسْآر

    I stood, owing no debt of gratitude to rain

    there, with remnants of myself still in my eyelids.

  4. كأنّني واضعاً خَدّي به قَلَمٌ

    أَبكِي أَسىً ورُسومُ الدّارِ أَسطار

    As though, laying my cheek upon it, I were a pen,

    weeping in grief, the dwelling's traces lines of writing.

  5. دارُ التي قلتُ لمّا أن تأوَّبني

    منها خيالٌ سَرى والركبُ قد حاروا

    The dwelling of her of whom I spoke, when there revisited me

    her night-roaming phantom, while the riders were bewildered:

  6. أَبارِقٌ ما أَرى أم رأيةٌ نُشِرَتْ

    أم كوكبٌ في سوادِ الّليلِ أم نار

    Is what I see a lightning flash, or a banner unfurled,

    or a star in the blackness of night, or a fire?

  7. لا بل أُميمةُ أمستْ سافِراً فبَدَا

    من أوّلِ الّليلِ للإصباح إِسفار

    No, rather Umaymah has unveiled this evening, revealing

    from the night's first hour the brightness of dawn.

  8. أكلّما كاد يَبْلَى الوَجْدُ جَدَّدهُ

    طَيْفٌ على عُدَواء الدّارِ زَوّار

    Must longing, whenever it nearly wears away, be renewed

    by a phantom, visiting often despite her distant dwelling?

  9. لغادةٍ كمَهاةِ الرَّمْلِ ناظرةٍ

    شِفارُ أسيافِها للفَتْكِ أَشفار

    Of a graceful girl, gazing like an oryx of the sands,

    whose deadly swords have eyelashes for their edges.

  10. خَوْدٌ إذا سفَرتْ للعين أو نطَقتْ

    فالطَرْفُ لي قاطفُ والسّمعُ مُشتار

    A youthful beauty: when she unveils to the eye or speaks,

    my gaze picks fruit, and my hearing gathers honey.

  11. تُريكَ حَلْياً على نَحْرٍ إذا التمَعا

    لاحا كأنّهما جَمْرٌ وجُمّار

    She shows you jewels upon a throat; when both gleam,

    they seem like embers and the white heart of a palm.

  12. لمّا أتَتْ رُسُلُ الأحلام زُرتُهمُ

    ليلاً وهل عن هوَى الحسناء إقصار

    When the messengers of dreams came, I visited them

    by night—can one desist from loving the beautiful one?

  13. والحَيُّ صرعَى كرىً في جُنْح داجيةٍ

    كأنّهم منه في الأحشاء أَسرار

    The tribe lay felled by sleep in the wing of a dark night,

    as though they were secrets within its deepest breast.

  14. سحَبْتُ ذَيلَ الدُّجَى حتّى طَرقتُهمُ

    بسُحرةٍ وقميصُ اللّيلِ أَطمار

    I dragged the hem of darkness until I reached them

    at daybreak, when night's shirt hung in tatters.

  15. أَزورُهم وسِنانُ الرُّمح من بُعُدٍ

    إليّ بالمُقْلةِ الزَّرقاء نَظّار

    I visit them while the spearhead, from afar,

    watches me with its blue eye.

  16. فاليومَ لا وَصْلَ إلاّ أن يُعِلّلَني

    في العينِ طيفٌ لها والقلب تَذْكار

    Today there is no union, save that I am consoled

    by her phantom in my eye, and remembrance in my heart.

  17. لا أَشربُ الدّمعَ إلاّ أن تُغَنِّيَني

    وُرْقٌ سواحِرُ مهما رَقَ أَسحار

    I drink no tears unless there sing to me

    gray doves, enchantresses whenever dawns grow tender.

  18. من كُلِّ أخطَبَ مِسْكِيّ العِلاطِ له

    في مِنْبَر الأيكِ تَسجاعٌ وتَهدار

    From every dusky dove with a musk-dark neck-ring, whose

    pulpit in the thicket resounds with cooing and rumbling.

  19. خطيبُ خَطْبٍ وقد أفنى السّوادَ بلىً

    فمِنْ بَقِيّتِه في الجِيدِ أزرار

    A preacher of calamity, whose blackness decay has consumed,

    leaving only buttons upon its neck.

  20. شادٍ على مذهبِ العُشّاق أَعجَبَه

    تَفَقُّهٌ فله باللّيل تَكرار

    A singer in the lovers' school, delighted by

    deep study, rehearsing its lessons through the night.

  21. حُرٌّ رأَى فَرْطَ أشواقي فاَسعدَني

    والحُرُّ يُسعِدُه في الدَّهر أحرار

    A noble soul, seeing my great longing, consoled me;

    the noble are consoled in this world by noble souls.

  22. صَبٌّ تَجاذَبُه الأهواءُ واقتسمَتْ

    سُرىَ مطاياهُ أنجادُ وأغوار

    A lover tugged by passions; shared out

    are his mounts' night journeys between uplands and lowlands.

  23. والدَّهرُ مذ كان من تَكْديرِ مَشْربهِ

    لم تَجتمِعْ فيه أوطان وأوطار

    Time, ever since it was, has so muddied its waters

    that homeland and heart's desires have never met within it.

  24. للرّوضِ والرّيحِ إذْكارٌ بفاتنتِي

    فالرّوضُ حاليةٌ والريحُ مِعطار

    The garden and the breeze recall my enchantress:

    the garden is jewel-adorned, the breeze richly perfumed.

  25. أَمتارُ من جَفْنِها سُقْماً يُحالِفُني

    فهل سَمعتُمْ بسُقْمٍ قَطُّ يُمتار

    I provision myself from her eyelid with a sickness that clings to me;

    have you ever heard of sickness taken as provisions?

  26. لا تَكْذِبَنَّ فسلطانُ الهَوى أبداً

    في دينِه لدمِ العُشاقِ إهدار

    Do not deny it: the sovereign of love forever

    declares in his law that lovers' blood is forfeit.

  27. حتّى متى يا ابنةَ الأقوامِ ظالمةً

    لكِ الذُّنوبُ ولي عنهنّ أَعذار

    How long, daughter of the clans, will you wrong me?

    Yours are the sins, and mine the excuses for them.

  28. أقسَمْتُ ما كُلُّ هذا الضّيم مُحتَملٌ

    ولا فُؤادي على ما سُمْتُ صَبّار

    I swear, not all this oppression can be borne,

    nor is my heart patient under what I have suffered,

  29. إلاّ لأنّكِ منّى اليوم نازلةٌ

    في القلب حيثُ سديدُ الدّولةِ الجار

    except because today you have lodged within me,

    in the heart, where Sadid al-Dawlah is your neighbor.

  30. أَعَزُّ مَن ذَبَّ عن جارٍ وأَكَرمُ مَن

    هُزَّتْ إليه على الأنضاء أكوار

    The mightiest defender of a neighbor, the most generous of those

    toward whom saddles sway upon exhausted mounts.

  31. للهِ يومٌ تَجلَتْ فيه عُزَّتُه

    ساعاتُه غُرّةٌ للنّاسِ أعمار

    God bless the day on which his glory was revealed:

    its hours a shining distinction, whole lifetimes for mankind.

  32. كأنّه كَعبةٌ قد سافَرتْ كَرماً

    حتّى قضَى الحَجَّ في الأوطانِ زُوّار

    As though he were a Kaaba that traveled in generosity,

    so pilgrims could complete their pilgrimage at home.

  33. لكنْ بدا كعبةً ما دونَ طَلْعتِه

    للعينِ إلاّ غبارَ الخيلِ أَستار

    Yet he appeared a Kaaba, with no veils before his face

    for the eye except the dust of horses.

  34. كأنّما الشّمسُ فيما ثار مِن رَهَجٍ

    سِرٌّ له في صَميمِ القلبِ إضمار

    As though the sun, amid the dust that rose,

    were a secret concealed in the heart's deepest core.

  35. كأنّها من خلالِ النَقْعِ قائلةٌ

    إن غابَ نُورٌ كفَتْكم منه أَنوار

    As though, through the dust, it were saying,

    'If one light is hidden, lights from him suffice you.'

  36. من باهرِ البِشْرِ وَضّاحِ أَسِرَّتُه

    بالوجهِ منه للَيْلِ النّقْعِ أَقمار

    From one of dazzling cheer and radiance, whose facial lines

    are moons upon his face for the dust-cloud's night.

  37. وتحته مُقْبِلاً رِيحٌ مُجسّمَةٌ

    يُصيبُ منها جَبينَ النّجمِ إعصار

    Beneath him, advancing, is a wind made flesh,

    from which a whirlwind strikes the star's brow.

  38. كأنّها في حواشي رَوضةٍ أُنُفٍ

    فالحلْيُ منها على الأَقطار نُوّار

    As though it were amid the borders of an untouched meadow,

    its ornaments along its flanks are blossoms.

  39. إذا مَساعِي سديدِ الدَّولتينِ بدَتْ

    فما لِسَعْيِ ملوكِ الدَّهْرِ أخطار

    When the feats of Sadid al-Dawlatayn appear,

    the efforts of the kings of the age have no worth.

  40. سما يرومُ العلا حتّى المجَرّة مِن

    تَسحابِه الذَّيلَ في مَسْراه آثار

    He rose seeking the heights, until the Milky Way was but

    traces of his trailing hem along his path.

  41. والشّمسُ والبدرُ مِن فَضْلاتِ ما نثروا

    في طُرْقِه درهمٌ مُلقىً ودينار

    The sun and full moon, among the remnants of what they scattered

    along his roads, are a discarded dirham and dinar.

  42. للنّاظِرِين إلى عَليائه وإلى

    عُلْيا بني الدّهرِ إكبارٌ وإصغار

    For those beholding his eminence and

    the loftiness of the age's sons: admiration and disdain.

  43. في كفِّه قلمٌ للخطْبِ يُعملُه

    كأنّه لجِراحِ الدَّهرِ مِسْبار

    In his palm is a pen he employs for grave affairs,

    as though it were a probe for the wounds of time.

  44. تخالُه رايةَ للفضلِ في يدِه

    وخلْفَها جحفلٌ للرَّأيِ جرّار

    You would think it a banner of excellence in his hand,

    behind which stands a vast army of judgment.

  45. يَزِلُّ منه إلى القرطاسِ دُرُّ نُهىً

    لهنّ عند ذوِي التّيجانِ أقدار

    From it onto paper slip pearls of wisdom,

    prized by those who wear crowns.

  46. ما تُضمِرُ النّفْسُ شكّاً أنّها دُرَرٌ

    بِيضٌ لهنَّ كما للدُّرِّ أَبشار

    The soul harbors no doubt that they are pearls,

    white, with skins like those of pearls.

  47. لكنْ لمُلْكِ بني العّباسِ دَعْوَتُها

    من أجلِ ذلكَ للتّسويدِ تُختار

    But their call proclaims the rule of the Abbasids;

    for that reason they are chosen to be inked in black.

  48. تَهْدِي الوَرى بمِدادٍ والعيونَ كذا

    منها الأناسيُّ سُودٌ وهْي أبصار

    They guide mankind with ink; the eyes are likewise:

    their pupils are black, yet they give sight.

  49. لمّا أهابَ أميرُ المؤمنين إلى

    تذْليلِ صعْبٍ أُتيحتْ فيه أسفار

    When the Commander of the Faithful summoned you to

    subdue a difficulty for which journeys were ordained,

  50. فارقْتَه لا لنقْصٍ منك يُكْمِلُه

    سيْرٌ كما ابتدَرتْ بالبُعْدِ أقمار

    you parted from him, not for some deficiency in you to be cured

    by travel, as moons hasten into the distance.

  51. وإنّما لك عند الاجتماعِ به

    قبلَ انصرافِكَ عنه ثَمَّ إبدار

    Rather, for you, when you meet with him,

    before departing from him, there is the full moon's radiance.

  52. بل أنت سَهْمٌ سديد من كِنانتهِ

    له مع اليُمْنِ إيرادٌ وإصدار

    Rather, you are a true arrow from his quiver,

    brought in and sent out for him with good fortune.

  53. سَهْمٌ يُنالُ به ثأْرُ الهُدَى أبداً

    إذا ترامتْ به في اللهِ أوتار

    An arrow that always avenges true guidance

    when bowstrings launch it in God's cause.

  54. يُصيبُ قاصيةَ الأغراضِ مُرسِلُه

    حزْماً وَيسبِقُ بالإصماء إنذار

    Its sender hits the farthest targets

    with resolve, and outstrips warning with a killing stroke.

  55. يُرضي الأئمّةَ في قُرْبٍ وفي بُعُدٍ

    أقام في الحيِّ أم شطّتْ بهِ الدّار

    He pleases the imams, in nearness and in distance,

    whether staying among the tribe or dwelling far away.

  56. ذو طاعَتيْنِ بخط لم يزَلْ وخُطاً

    ميْمونةٍ نقْلُها للمُلْكِ إقرار

    Twofold in obedience: through unfaltering writing, and through steps

    of good omen, whose movement gives the kingdom stability.

  57. يَسيرُ كيْما يُقِيموا في العُلا وكذا

    شُهْبُ الدُّجَى ثابِتٌ منها وسَيّار

    He journeys so that they may remain upon the heights; likewise

    the stars of darkness include the fixed and the wandering.

  58. فالمُلْكُ في بَيْتِه يُلْفَي تَمَهُّدُه

    بأن يُرَى منك في الآفاقِ تَسيار

    The kingdom finds its stability within its own house

    through your being seen journeying across the horizons,

  59. كالأرضِ يُمْسِكُها ألاّ يَزال يُرَى

    من حَولِها فَلَكٌ يُحْتَثُّ دَوّار

    like the earth, held firm by the ceaseless sight

    of a revolving sphere, driven swiftly around it.

  60. يا ابنَ الأكارمِ والآباءُ ما كسَبوا

    منَ العُلا فهْو للأبناء أذخار

    O son of the noblest! What fathers have acquired

    of greatness is treasure stored for their sons.

  61. شَرُفْتَ نفْساً ونَجْراً والأصولُ كَذا

    إذا صفَتْ لم تَضِرْ بالفَرْعِ أكدار

    Noble are you in soul and lineage; so too roots,

    when pure, let no impurities harm the branch.

  62. آلاؤك الطّوقُ والنّاسُ الحَمامُ فهم

    في حَلْيها وقَعوا في الأرضِ أم طاروا

    Your favors are the collar, and people the doves; they

    wear its ornaments whether alighting on earth or flying.

  63. ما إن تُفَكُّ طُلاهم من قلائدِها

    ما أنجدوا في بلادِ اللهِ أو غاروا

    Their necks are never freed from its necklaces,

    whether they climb God's uplands or descend to the lowlands.

  64. كمن تألَّى على مَسْح السّحاب إذا

    صافَحْتَهُ أنت عامَ الجَدْبِ أبرار

    Like one who vows to touch the clouds: when

    you shake his hand in a drought year, his oath is fulfilled.

  65. جَزتْكَ عنّا جوازي الخيرِ من رَجُلٍ

    آثارُه كلُّها في الحُسْن أسمار

    May goodness's recompenses reward you for us—a man

    whose every deed is a tale of beauty told at night.

  66. ليثُ الكتيبةِ أم ليثُ الكتابة أم

    حاوِي المعاني وما للحَقِّ إنكار

    Lion of the battalion, or lion of writing, or

    master of meanings—and truth cannot be denied.

  67. ليثٌ عَرِيناهُ باْسٌ أو ندىً ولَه

    بالبِيضِ والرُّقشِ أنيابٌ وأظفار

    A lion whose two lairs are valor or generosity, who has

    in bright swords and mottled pens his fangs and claws.

  68. لكَ المَقاوِمُ دونَ الدّينِ قُمْتَ بها

    ثَبْتَ المواقفِ والأعداءُ قد ثاروا

    Yours are the stands you took in defense of the faith,

    steadfast in your positions while the enemies rose up.

  69. والبِيضُ قد فُتّقتْ عنها كَمائمُها

    والسُّمْرُ منهنّ في الأطرافِ أزهار

    The bright blades had their calyxes split open,

    and the brown lances bore their blossoms at the tips.

  70. والخيلُ تُوردُها الفُرسانُ بحْرَدَمٍ

    تَخوضُه ولبَرقِ السّيفِ أمطار

    The horsemen led their horses into a sea of blood

    to wade through it, while the sword's lightning brought rains.

  71. لمّا انثنَوا وسيوفُ الهندِ مخمَدةٌ

    نيرانُها ورماحُ الخَطِّ أكسار

    When they wheeled back, the Indian swords quenched—

    their fires out—and the lances of al-Khatt in fragments,

  72. حَنَّتْ ضلوعُ الحنايا العوجُ نحوَ عِداً

    أحداقُهم لِمُطارِ النَّبْلِ أوكار

    the crooked ribs of bows yearned toward foes

    whose eyeballs were nests for the arrows' flight.

  73. حتّى إذا ما جرتْ في كلِّ مُلتفَتٍ

    من فْرطِ إنهارِهم للطَّعْنِ أنهار

    Until, when there ran in every direction,

    from their abundant bleeding under spear-thrusts, rivers,

  74. رَدّوا الوشيجَ وفي أغصانِه وَرَقٌ

    من الدّماء وبالهاماتِ أثمار

    they brought back the lancewood, its branches leafed

    with blood, and bearing heads as fruit.

  75. ما إن شهِدْتَ الحروبَ العُونَ لاقِحةً

    إلاّ نتجْنَ فُتوحٌ ثَمَّ أبكار

    Never did you witness the seasoned wars pregnant

    but they bore conquests, still virgin.

  76. عاداتُ نصْرٍ على الأعداء عَوّدها

    هادٍ إلى اللهِ يُهْدِي الخلقَ إن حاروا

    Habits of victory over enemies, instilled by

    a guide to God, who guides creation when they lose their way.

  77. خليفةُ اللهِ مَن أضحَى مُخالِفَه

    أتاه مِن طَرفيْهِ النّارُ والعار

    God's caliph: whoever becomes his opponent

    is assailed on either side by fire and disgrace.

  78. فلا عَدا السّوءُ مَنْ عاداهُ من مَلكٍ

    كَفّارُ أنعُمه باللهِ كَفّار

    May evil never pass by any king who opposes him,

    ungrateful for his favors, an unbeliever in God.

  79. ودامَ مُرعيهِ أهْلَ الدّهرِ راعيَهُ

    ما استَوعبَتْ سِيَرَ الأحرارِ أشعار

    May he who entrusted mankind to his care remain his guardian,

    as long as verses encompass the lives of noble men.

  80. وعادَ وافِدُ هذا العيدِ نَحوَكُما

    بالسّعْدِ مَاكرَّ بالأعيادِ أعصار

    May this feast's envoy return to you both

    with good fortune, as ages bring the feasts around,

  81. مُضحّياً بالعدا تُدمَى تَرائبُها

    ما سُنَّ بالبُدنِ إذ يُهدَيْنَ إشعار

    sacrificing enemies, their breasts bloodied,

    as long as camels are blood-marked when led as offerings.