Sol 6.1

  1. كُنتُ إِلى وَصلِ سُعدى جِدَّ مُحتاجِ

    لَو أَنَّهُ كَثَبٌ لِلآمِلِ الراجي

    I was sorely in need of union with Su'da,

    if only it were within reach of the hopeful seeker.

  2. تُدامِجُ الوَعدَ لا نُجحٌ وَلا خُلُفٌ

    مَجدولَةٌ بَينَ إِرهافٍ وَإِدماجِ

    She hedges her promise—neither fulfillment nor breach—

    well-knit in form, between slenderness and compact fullness.

  3. شَمسٌ أَضاءَت أَمامَ الشَمسِ إِذ بَرَزَت

    تَسيرُ في ظُعُنٍ مِنهُم وَأَحداجِ

    A sun that shone before the sun when she appeared,

    she travels among their women and camel-litters.

  4. مِن لابِساتِ حَصى الياقوتِ أَوشِحَةً

    وَلَم يُذَلنَ بِلُبسِ الذَبلِ وَالعاجِ

    One of those who wear ruby beads as sashes,

    and have not been cheapened by wearing tortoiseshell and ivory.

  5. أَسقى دِيارَكِ وَالسُقيا تَقِلُّ لَها

    إِغزارُ كُلِّ مُلِثِّ الوَدقِ ثَجّاجِ

    May your abodes be watered—though watering is too little for them—

    by the abundance of every lingering, torrent-pouring raincloud.

  6. يُلقي عَلى الأَرضِ مِن حُليٍ وَمِن حُلَلٍ

    ما يُمتِعُ العَينِ مِن حُسنٍ وَإِبهاجِ

    It lays upon the earth ornaments and robes

    that delight the eye with beauty and joy.

  7. فَصاغَ ما صاغَ مِن تِبرٍ وَمِن وَرَقٍ

    وَحاكَ ما حاكَ مِن وَشيٍ وَديباجِ

    So it fashioned what it fashioned from gold and silver,

    and wove what it wove from figured cloth and brocade.

  8. إِلى عَلِيِّ بَني الفَيّاضِ بَلَّغَني

    سُرايَ مِن حَيثُ لا يُسرى وَإِدلاجي

    To Ali of Banu al-Fayyad I was brought

    by my night journey from where none travel by night, and my early-night departure.

  9. إِلى فَتىً يُتبِعُ النُعمى نَظائِرَها

    كَالبَحرِ يُتبِعُ أَمواجاً بِأَمواجِ

    To a young man who follows each favor with others like it,

    like the sea, which follows waves with waves.

  10. نَعودُ مِن رَأيِهِ في كُلِّ مُشكِلَةٍ

    إِلى سِراجٍ يُرينا الغيبَ وَهّاجِ

    Through his judgment, in every difficulty we return

    to a blazing lamp that shows us the unseen.

  11. لَم أَرَ يَوماً كَيَومٍ قيضَ فيهِ لِإِس

    حاقَ بنَ أَيّوبَ إِسحاقُ بنُ كُنداجِ

    I never saw a day like the day when there was pitted against Is-

    haq ibn Ayyub, Ishaq ibn Kundaj.

  12. أَجلى لِهامٍ عَلَيها بيضُها وَطُلىً

    مِنهُ وَأَفرى لِأَورادٍ وَأَوداجِ

    No day swept away helmeted heads and necks more

    than it, or severed more veins and jugulars.

  13. لَمّا تَضايَقَ بِالزَحفَينِ قُطرُهُما

    فَضارِبٌ بِغِرارِ السَيفِ أَو واجِ

    When their field grew cramped with the two advancing armies,

    men either struck with the sword's edge or suffered wounds.

  14. قالَت لَهُ النَفسُ لا تَألوهُ ما نَصَحَت

    وَالخَيلُ تَخلِطُ مِن نَقعٍ بِإِرهاجِ

    His soul told him, unstinting in its counsel,

    while the horses mingled dust with clouds of dust:

  15. إِنَّ المُقيمَ قَتيلٌ لا رُجوعَ لَهُ

    إِلى الحَياةِ وَإِنَّ الهارِبَ الناجي

    Whoever stays is slain, with no return

    to life; whoever flees is the survivor.

  16. فَمَرَّ يَهوي هَوِيَّ الريحِ يُسعِدُهُ

    خَرقٌ بَسيطٌ وَلَيلٌ مُظلِمٌ داجِ

    So he sped off, rushing as the wind rushes, aided

    by a broad open desert and a dark, pitch-black night.

  17. إِلّا تَنَلهُ العَوالي وَهوَ مُنجَذِبٌ

    فَقَد كَوَت صَلَوَيهِ كَيَّ إِنضاجِ

    If the long spears did not reach him as he withdrew,

    they had surely seared his haunches as though roasting them through.

  18. إِنَّ الخِلافَةَ لا تُلقى كَتائِبُها

    كَما لَقيتَ بِعَوّادٍ وَصَنّاجِ

    The caliphate's battalions are not to be met

    as you met them, with a lute-player and a cymbal-player.

  19. تَرَكتَ عودَ كُنَيزٍ في العَجاجِ فَلَم

    تَربَع عَلى رَمَلٍ فيهِ وَأَهزاجِ

    You left Kunayz's lute in the dust, and did not

    linger over its ramal rhythm and hazaj melodies.

  20. تَصيحُ أَوتارُهُ وَالخَيلُ تَخبِطُهُ

    يَطَأنَ حِضنَيهِ فَوجاً بَعدَ أَفواجِ

    Its strings cry out while the horses batter it,

    trampling its two sides, troop after troop.

  21. فَإِن رَجَعتَ إِلى حَربٍ فَأَبقِ عَلى

    خِلياقِ يَنشو وَبَمٍّ فيهِ لَجلاجِ

    If you return to war, then spare

    Yanshu's worn-out instrument and its resonant bass string.

  22. إِذا تَخَطَّفَهُ المِضرابُ حَرَّكَ في

    سِرِّ القُلوبِ سُروراً جِدَّ مُهتاجِ

    When the plectrum plucks it, it stirs within

    the hearts' depths a wildly surging joy.

  23. كانَت نَصيبونَ خيساً ما يُرامُ فَقَد

    ذَلَّت لِلَيثٍ عَلى الأَعداءِ وَلّاجِ

    Nasibun was a lion's lair none could assail; now

    it has yielded to a lion who plunges upon his foes.

  24. أَبقى وَلَولا التَلافي مِن بَقِيَّتِهِ

    قاظَت لَهُم نِسوَةٌ مِن غَيرِ أَزواجِ

    He spared them; but for the rescue his clemency granted,

    their women would have spent the summer without husbands.

  25. وَوَقعَةُ اللَحفِ وَالهَيجاءُ ساعِرَةٌ

    لَهيبَ حَربٍ عَلى الأَبطالِ أَجّاجِ

    And at the battle of al-Lahf, while the fighting kindled

    war's fiercely blazing fire against the champions,

  26. أَزالَ خَمسينَ أَلفاً فَاِنثَنَوا عُصَباً

    وَالطَعنُ يُزعِجُ مِنهُم أَيَّ إِزعاجِ

    fifty thousand were dislodged and turned back in bands,

    as spear-thrusts harried them beyond all measure,

  27. إِقدامُ أَبيَضَ تَستَعلي مَناسِبُهُ

    بِهِ إِلى مَلِكِ البَيضاءِ ذي التاجِ

    by the bold advance of a fair man whose line of descent rises

    with him to the crowned king of al-Bayda'.

  28. تُجلى الشُكوكُ إِذا اِسوَدَّت غَيابَتُها

    عَن كَوكَبٍ لِسَوادِ الشَكِّ فَرّاجِ

    Doubts, when their hidden depths grow black, are cleared away

    to reveal a star that dispels the blackness of doubt.

  29. إِن أَنا شَبَّهتُهُ بِالغَيثِ في مِدَحي

    غَضَضتُ مِنهُ فَكُنتُ المادِحَ الهاجي

    If I liken him to rain in my praise,

    I diminish him, becoming a praiser who disparages.