Sol 6.1

  1. بِنا أَنتِ مِن مَفجوَّةٍ لَم تُعَتَّبِ

    وَمَعذورَةٍ في هَجرِها لَم تُؤَنَّبِ

    Our lives for yours, forsaken one, never reproached,

    excused for her desertion, never rebuked,

  2. وَنازِحَةٍ وَالدارُ مِنها قَريبَةٌ

    وَما قُربُ ثاوٍ في التُرابِ مُغَيَّبِ

    far away, though her dwelling is near—

    what nearness has one who lies hidden in the earth?

  3. قَضَت عُقَبُ الأَيّامِ فينا بِفُرقَةٍ

    مَتى ما تُغالَب بِالتَجَلُّدِ تَغلِبِ

    The turns of time decreed a parting for us,

    which prevails whenever fortitude strives against it.

  4. فَإِن أَبكِ لا أَشفِ الغَليلَ وَإِن أَدَع

    أَدَع حُرقَةً في الصَدرِ ذاتَ تَلَهُّبِ

    If I weep, I cannot quench my anguish; if I refrain,

    I leave a burning pain ablaze within my breast.

  5. أَلا لا تُذَكِّرني الحِمى إِنَّ عَهدَهُ

    جَوىً لِلمَشوقِ المُستَهامِ المُعَذَّبِ

    Do not remind me of the cherished grounds: their memory

    is anguish to the yearning, love-distraught, tormented one.

  6. أَتَت دونَ ذاكَ العَهدِ أَيّامُ جُرهُمٍ

    وَطارَت بِذاكَ العَيشِ عَنقاءُ مُغرِبِ

    The ages of Jurhum have come between me and those days,

    and the far-ranging phoenix has flown away with that life.

  7. وَيا لائِمي في عَبرَةٍ قَد سَفَحتُها

    لِبَينٍ وَأُخرى قَبلَها لِتَجَنُّبِ

    O you who blame me for a tear that I have shed

    for parting, and another before it for estrangement,

  8. تُحاوِلُ مِنّي شيمَةً غَيرَ شيمَتي

    وَتَطلِبُ عِندي مَذهَباً غَيرَ مَذهَبي

    you seek from me a disposition not my own,

    and ask of me a way that is not mine.

  9. وَما كَبِدي بِالمُستَطيعَةِ لِلأَسى

    فَأَسلو وَلا قَلبي كَثيرُ التَقَلُّبِ

    My liver has no strength against sorrow,

    that I might find solace; nor is my heart quick to change.

  10. وَلَمّا تَزايَلنا مِنَ الجِزعِ وَاِنتَأى

    مُشَرِّقُ رَكبٍ مُصعِداً عَن مَغَرِّبِ

    When we parted from the valley bend, and there drew away

    the eastbound caravan, climbing uplands, from the westbound,

  11. تَبَيَّنتُ أَن لا دارَ مِن بَعدِ عالِجِ

    تَسُرُّ وَأَن لا خُلَّةً بَعدَ زَينَبِ

    I knew that no abode beyond ʿAlij

    could gladden me, nor any beloved after Zaynab.

  12. لَعَلَّ وَجيفَ العيسِ في غَلَسِ الدُجى

    وَطَيَّ المَطايا سَبسَباً بَعدَ سَبسَبِ

    Perhaps the swift trot of the pale camels in the gloom of night,

    and the mounts' folding up desert after desert,

  13. يُبَلِّغُني الفَتحَ بنِ خاقانَ إِنَّهُ

    نِهايَةُ آمالي وَغايَةُ مَطلَبي

    will bring me to al-Fath ibn Khaqan: he is

    the limit of my hopes and the goal of my quest.

  14. فَتىً لا يَرى أُكرومَةً لِمُزَنَّدٍ

    إِذا ما بَدا أُكرومَةً لَم يُعَقِّبِ

    A youth who sees no true generosity in a niggard

    who begins a generous deed but does not follow it with more.

  15. وَمُستَشرِفٌ بَينَ السِماطَينِ مُشرِفٌ

    عَلى أَعيُنِ الرائينَ يَعلو فَيَرتَبي

    A lofty figure between the two ranks, he towers

    above the eyes of onlookers, rising ever higher.

  16. يَغُضّونَ فَضلَ اللَحظِ مِن حَيثُ ما بَدا

    لَهُم عَن مَهيبٍ في الصُدورِ مُحَبَّبِ

    They curb their lingering gaze wherever he appears

    before them, awed by one beloved in their hearts.

  17. إِذا عَرَضوا في جِدِّهِ نَفَرَت بِهِم

    بَسالَةُ مَشبوحِ الذِراعينَ أَغلَبِ

    When they obstruct his earnest purpose, they are put to flight

    by the ferocity of a broad-forelimbed, thick-necked lion.

  18. غَدا وَهوَ طَودٌ لِلخِلافَةِ ماثِلٌ

    وَحَدُّ حُسامٍ لِلخَليفَةِ مِقضَبِ

    He has become a mountain standing firm for the caliphate,

    and the edge of a keen, cutting sword for the caliph.

  19. نَفى البَغيَ وَاِستَدعى السَلامَةَ وَاِنتَهى

    إِلى شَرَفِ الفِعلِ الكَريمِ المُهَذَّبِ

    He banished oppression, summoned safety, and attained

    the nobility of generous, faultless action.

  20. إِذا اِنسابَ في تَذبيرِ أَمرٍ تَرافَدَت

    لَهُ فِكَرٌ يُنجِحنَ في كُلِّ مَطلَبِ

    When he enters into the planning of an affair, there rally

    to his aid thoughts that bring success in every quest.

  21. خَفِيُّ مَدَبِّ الكيدِ تَثني أَناتُهُ

    تَسَرُّعَ جَهلِ الطائِشِ المُتَوَثَّبِ

    His plotting moves unseen; his deliberation checks

    the ignorant haste of the rash, headlong aggressor.

  22. وَيُبدي الرَضا في حالَةِ السُخطِ لِلعِدى

    وَقورٌ مَتى يَقدَح بِزَندَيهِ يُثقِبِ

    He shows his enemies contentment even while enraged,

    dignified: whenever he strikes his firesticks, he kindles flame.

  23. فَماذا يَغُرُّ الحائِنينَ وَقَد رَأَوا

    ضَرائِبَ ذاكَ المَشرَفِيِّ المُجَرَّبِ

    What, then, deludes the doomed, when they have seen

    the blows of that well-tried Mashrafi sword?

  24. غَرائِبُ أَخلاقٍ هِيَ الرَوضُ جادَهُ

    مُلِثُّ العَزالى ذو رَبابٍ وَهَيدَبِ

    Wondrous virtues: they are a meadow drenched

    by a cloud with ceaseless spouts, cloud-banks, and trailing rain.

  25. فَكَم عَجَّبَت مِن ناظِرٍ مُتَأَمِّلٍ

    وَكَم حَيَّرَت مِن سامِعٍ مُتَعَجِّبِ

    How many a thoughtful onlooker they have amazed,

    and how many an astonished listener they have bewildered!

  26. وَقَد زادَها إِفراطَ حُسنٍ جِوارُها

    لِأَخلاقِ أَصفارٍ مِنَ المَجدِ خُيَّبِ

    Their beauty is heightened beyond measure by their nearness

    to the manners of failures devoid of glory.

  27. وَحُسنُ دَرارِيِّ الكَواكِبِ أَن تُرى

    طَوالِعَ في داجٍ مِنَ اللَيلِ غَيهَبِ

    The beauty of the brilliant stars lies in their being seen

    rising through the night's pitch-black gloom.

  28. أَرى شَملَكُم يا أَهلَ حِمصٍ مُجَمَّعاً

    بِعَقبِ اِفتِراقٍ مِنكُمُ وَتَشَعُّبِ

    I see your ranks reunited, people of Homs,

    after your division and scattering.

  29. وَكُنتُم شَعاعاً مِن طَريدٍ مُشَرَّدٍ

    وَثاوٍ رَدٍ أَو خائِفٍ مُتَرَقِّبِ

    You had been scattered: a hunted, homeless fugitive,

    one lying dead, or another fearful and watchful,

  30. وَمَن نَفَرٍ فَوقَ الجُذوعِ كَأَنَّهُم

    إِذا الشَمسُ لاحَتهُم حَرابِيُّ تَنضُبِ

    and some upon tree-trunks, as though they were,

    when the sun scorched them, chameleons on tandub trees.

  31. تَلافاكُمُ الفَتحُ بنَ خاقانَ بَعدَما

    تَدَهدَهتُمُ مِن حالِقٍ مُتَصَوِّبِ

    Al-Fath ibn Khaqan rescued you after

    you had tumbled headlong from a towering precipice,

  32. بِعارِفَةٍ أَهدَت أَماناً بِمَذحَجٍ

    وَغَوثاً لِمَلهوفٍ وَعَفواً لِمُذنِبِ

    with a kindness that brought safety among Madhhij,

    relief to the distressed, and pardon to the guilty.

  33. عَنَت طَيِّئاً جَمعاً وَثَنَّت بِمَذحِجٍ

    خُصوصاً وَعَمَّت في الكَلاعِ وَيَحصُبِ

    It embraced Tayy entire, then reached Madhhij

    in particular, and encompassed al-Kalaʿ and Yahsub.

  34. رَدَدتَ الرَدى عَن أَهلِ حِمصِ وَقَد بَدا

    لَهُم جانِبُ اليَومِ العَبوسِ العَصَبصَبِ

    You turned death away from the people of Homs, when there appeared

    before them the face of a scowling, calamitous day.

  35. وَلَو لَم تُدافِع دونَها لَتَفَرَّقَت

    أَيادي سَباً عَنها سَباءُ بنُ يَشجُبِ

    Had you not defended it, there would have scattered

    from it, like Sabaʾ's scattered bands, Sabaʾ son of Yashjub.

  36. رَفَدتَهُمُ عِندَ السَريرِ وَقَد هَوى

    بِهِم ما هَوى مِن سُخطِ أَسوانَ مُغضَبِ

    You supported them before the throne, when they had been cast down

    so far by the wrath of one grief-stricken and enraged.

  37. وَكانَت يَداً بَيضاءَ مِثلَ اليَدِ الَّتي

    نَعَشتَ بِها عَمرَو بنَ غَنمِ بنَ تَغلِبِ

    It was a white hand of kindness, like the hand

    with which you lifted up ʿAmr ibn Ghanm ibn Taghlib.

  38. فَلَم تَرَ عَيني نِعمَتَينِ اِستَحَقَّتا

    ثَناءَهُما في اِبنى مَعَدٍّ وَيَعرُبِ

    Never has my eye seen two favors so deserving

    of their praise among the sons of Maʿadd and Yaʿrub.

  39. إِنَ العَرَبُ اِنقادَت إِلَيكَ قُلوبُها

    فَقَد جِئتَ إِحساناً إِلى كُلِّ مُعرِبِ

    If the Arabs' hearts have yielded to you,

    you have indeed shown kindness to every Arabic speaker.

  40. وَلَم تَتَعَمَّد حاضِراً دونَ غائِبٍ

    وَلَم تَتَجانَف عَن بَعيدٍ لِأَقرَبِ

    You did not single out those present over those absent,

    nor turn away from the distant for the nearer.

  41. شَكَرتُكَ عَن قَومي وَقَومِكَ إِنَّني

    لِسانُهُما في كُلِّ شَرقٍ وَمَغرِبِ

    I thank you on behalf of my people and yours; I am

    the tongue of both throughout the East and West.

  42. وَما أَنا إِلّا عَبدُ نِعمَتِكَ الَّتي

    نُسِبتُ إِلَيها دونَ رَهطي وَمَنسِبي

    I am only the slave of your favor, to which

    I am ascribed instead of to my clan and lineage,

  43. وَمَولى أَيادٍ مِنكَ بيضٍ مَتى أَقُل

    بِآلائِها في مَشهَدٍ لا أُكَذَّبِ

    and a client of your white-handed favors; whenever I speak

    of their blessings in an assembly, I am not called a liar.

  44. وَآلَيتُ لا أَنسى بُلوغي بِكَ العُلا

    عَلى كُرهِ شَتّاً مِن شُهودٍ وَغُيَّبِ

    I have sworn never to forget my reaching, through you, the heights,

    to the chagrin of many, present and absent,

  45. وَدَفعي بِكَ الأَعداءَ عَنّي وَإِنَّما

    دَفَعتُ بِرُكنٍ مِن شَرَورى وَمَنكِبِ

    or my repelling, through you, my enemies from me; indeed,

    I repelled them with a buttress and shoulder of Sharawra.