Sol 6.1

  1. دُمْ للعُلا في ظلالِ العزِّ مُغتَبِطا

    وللعِدا بنِصالِ العَزْمِ مُعتَبِطا

    Live on for glory, rejoicing in the shade of honor,

    and slaying your foes with the blades of resolve.

  2. يا مَن إذا رَضيَ انْهلّتْ غَمامَتُه

    جُوداً وبُؤساً على قَومٍ إذا سَخِطا

    O you whose cloud, when you are pleased, pours down

    bounty, and misery upon a people when you are angered.

  3. فوق السَحابِ سَماحاً والسِّماكِ عُلاً

    والسّيفِ رأياً وأحداثِ الزّمانِ سُطا

    Above the clouds in generosity, and al-Simak in loftiness,

    and the sword in judgment, and Time’s calamities in might.

  4. قد قلتُ والدّهرُ كالمُبدي لنا خَجَلاً

    به على حَمدِنا عُقْبَى الّذي فَرَطا

    I said, as Time seemed to show us shame,

    despite our praise, in the wake of what had happened:

  5. من عَثرةٍ لم تكُنْ بالرّأيِ منْك ولا

    بالجَدّ حُوشِيَ حتّى تُعظِمَ الخُطَطا

    It was no stumble caused by your judgment, nor

    by your fortune—far be it!—that you should deem the matter grave;

  6. بل وَطأةٌ خَبطتْ في الأرضِ من عجَلٍ

    بمَن ندَى يدِه في أهلِها خَبَطا

    rather, a footfall struck the earth in haste,

    with one whose hand’s dew had freely showered its people,

  7. ذي هِزّةٍ نَبعتْ منه مَواهبُه

    ومالَ عِطْفاهُ الرّاجي بها فَعَطا

    one stirred to generosity, whose gifts welled forth from him,

    and his shoulders bent toward the hopeful, who reached for those gifts,

  8. كمَيْلةِ الغُصْنِ مَسَّ الأرضَ مُثمِرُه

    وانْآدَ ممّا عليه حَمْلُه انْخرَطا

    like the bending of a bough, its fruit-laden part touching earth,

    bowing beneath its burden, its fruit slipping down.

  9. هو النّدى والزّمانُ الرّوضُ باكَرَهُ

    حتّى غدا حُسْنُه بالطِيّبِ مُخْتلِطا

    He is the dew, and Time the garden he visited at dawn,

    until its beauty became mingled with fragrance.

  10. إن راقَكَ الرَّوضُ مَصقولاً جوانبُه

    فلا يَرعْكَ إذا قيلَ النّدىَ سَقَطا

    If the garden delights you, its borders polished bright,

    do not be alarmed when it is said, ‘The dew has fallen.’

  11. ولا تَمُجّنَّ سَمْعاً لَفْظَهُ عَجِلاً

    ما دام يُستَحسَنُ المَعْنَى إذا ضُبِطا

    Nor let your ear hastily spit out that wording,

    so long as the meaning, rightly grasped, is pleasing.

  12. للهِ منْك أبا عبدِ الإلهِ فتىً

    إذ الزّمانُ لسَيفِ الحادثِ اخْتَرطا

    God be praised for such a man as you, Abu Abd al-Ilah,

    when Time has unsheathed the sword of calamity.

  13. له سِهامٌ إذا ريشَتْ بأنمُلِه

    أَصمَتْ عِداهُ فلا لاقَتْهُمُ مُرُطا

    He has arrows which, when fletched by his fingertips,

    kill his foes outright—may those arrows never reach them unfletched.

  14. غديرُ جُودٍ متى ما يَأت وارِدُه

    تَسمَعْ لطَيْرِ القوافي حَولَهُ لَغَطا

    A pool of bounty: whenever one comes to drink from it,

    you hear the birds of rhyme clamoring around it.

  15. كمِ امتطَى النّجمَ لم تكْدُدْ له قَدَمٌ

    إلى العُلا مُدْنِياً منها الّذي شَحَطا

    How often he has mounted a star, his foot unwearied,

    toward glory, bringing its farthest reaches near.

  16. أغَرُّ مذ صَعِدَ الأصلُ الكريمُ بهِ

    إلى أعالي ثنايا المَجْدِ ما هَبَطا

    Radiant: since his noble ancestry bore him upward

    to the highest passes of glory, he has never descended.

  17. فاْعْذِرْ على خَطْوِه إن كان أخطأها

    فاللهُ خَطَّ لأفياءِ العُلا خِططا

    So excuse his step, if he has missed his footing,

    for God has mapped out paths to the shades of glory.

  18. اِعتادَ أن يَطأَ الأفلاكَ أخمَصُه

    فما دَرى عند وَطْء الأرضِ كيف يَطا

    The arch of his foot is used to treading the celestial spheres,

    so, when treading earth, he did not know how to step.

  19. لمّا أبَى كَعْبُه العالي سِوى طُرقٍ

    فَوقَ النُّجومِ أبىَ إلاّ اضْطِرابَ خُطا

    Since his lofty heel would accept no paths but those

    above the stars, it could only falter in its steps.

  20. حاشا زمانَك يا غَوثَ الأفاضلِ أن

    تَزِلَّ نَعلُكَ لا قَصْداً ولا غَلَطا

    Far be it from your age, O succor of the worthy, that

    your sandal should slip, deliberately or by mistake.

  21. أنّي ومنك اكتسى نوراً أضاء به

    من بعدِ ما كان في الظّلماء مُخْتبِطا

    How could it, when from you it took on light by which it shone,

    after it had been stumbling blindly in the darkness?

  22. يا مَن غدا الحَمدُ مُلْقىً في الثّرى دُرراً

    ولم يُصادَفْ إلى أنْ جاء مُلْتَقِطا

    O you—praise lay cast as pearls in the dust,

    and went unfound until you came to gather it.

  23. ومَن أعادَ لعُودِ الفَضْلِ ماءَ ندىً

    فشَبَّ ما شابَ من فِكْري وما شَمَطا

    And you who restored dew’s moisture to the bough of excellence,

    so what had grown gray and hoary in my thought grew young again.

  24. عَقدتُ بالطّرَفِ الأقصَى لأُدرِكَه

    طَرْفي ولم أرْضَ من أُمنيّةٍ وَسَطا

    On the farthest limit, hoping to attain it, I fixed

    my gaze, and would accept no middling wish.

  25. وأنتَ جَسّرْتَني حتّى جَسَرْتُ بِما

    أكرمْتَني فطلَبْتُ المَطلَبَ الشَّططا

    And you emboldened me, until I grew bold through the way

    you honored me, and sought an extravagant goal.

  26. والماءُ يُجمَعُ من أطرافِه وإذا

    بسَطْتَ منه ولاقَى الفُسحةَ انبسَطا

    Water is gathered in from its edges; and when

    you spread some out and it finds open space, it spreads.

  27. فالْقَ العِدا مُرغِماً ما دام جُودُك في

    ذُرا عُلاكَ لطَرْفِ المَدْح مرتَبِطا

    So meet your foes, humbling them, while your bounty, on

    the peaks of your glory, stays tethered to the steed of praise,

  28. في دولةٍ غَضّةٍ طُولُ البقاء لها

    ماإن يَزالُ على الأيّام مُشتَرَطا

    in a flourishing reign, whose long continuance

    is ever stipulated as a condition binding on the days,

  29. ما غَضَّ أَعيُنَها زُهْرُ النّجومِ متَى

    رأَيْنَ شَيْبَ صباحٍ للدُّجَى وَخَطا

    as long as the bright stars lower their eyes whenever

    they see dawn’s gray hair streaking the darkness.