Sol 6.1

  1. حاجَةُ ذا الحَيرانِ أَن تُرشِدَه

    أَو تَترُكَ اللَومَ الَّذي لَدَّدَه

    This bewildered man's need is that you guide him,

    or cease the reproach that has harried him.

  2. يَمضي أَخو الحُبِّ عَلى نَهجِهِ

    فَنَّدَهُ في الحُبِّ مَن فَنَّدَه

    The lover goes on along his own path;

    let whoever would censure him for love censure him.

  3. وَيُعرَفُ المَرذولُ مِن غَيرِهِ

    بِمَن لَحى المَبتولَ أَو أَسعَدَه

    The base man is distinguished from others

    by whether he rebukes the love-stricken or consoles him.

  4. لا أَدَعُ الأُلّافَ أَشتاقُهُم

    وَاللَهوَ أَن أَتبَعَ فيهِم دَدَه

    I do not forsake the dear companions I long for,

    nor the merriment whose play I pursue among them,

  5. وَلا التَصابي أَرتَدي بُردَهُ

    وَمَشهَدَ اللَذّاتِ أَن أَشهَدَه

    nor youthful dalliance, whose mantle I wear,

    nor the gathering of pleasures that I would attend.

  6. وَالدَهرُ لَونانِ فَهَل مُخلِقٌ

    أَبيَضَهُ بَاللُبسِ أَم أَسوَدَه

    Time has two colors: will one wear out

    its white through wearing, or its black?

  7. يا هَل تُرى مُدنِيَةٌ لِلهَوى

    بِمَنبِجٍ أَيامُهُ المُبعَدَة

    Ah, will love be brought near

    by its far-removed days in Manbij?

  8. نَشَدتُ هَذا الدَهرَ لَمّا ثَنى

    يُصلِحُ مِن شَأني الَّذي أَفسَدَه

    I implored this Time, when it turned back,

    to mend what it had spoiled in my affairs.

  9. مَذَمَّةٌ مِنهُ تَغَمَّدتُها

    بِالصَبرِ حَتّى خُيِّلَت مَحمَدَه

    A blameworthy deed of its I veiled

    with patience, until it seemed praiseworthy.

  10. فَرَّقَ بَينَ الناسِ في نَجرِهِم

    ما يُعظِمُ العَبدُ لَهُ سَيِّدَه

    People are set apart in their native character

    by that for which a slave reveres his master.

  11. وَأَنجُمُ الأُفقِ نِظامٌ ذَلا

    ما خالَفَت أَنحُسُهُ أَسعَدَه

    The horizon's stars form a string [word unclear];

    its unlucky stars do not differ from its lucky ones.

  12. لا أَحفِلُ الأَشباحَ حَتّى أَرى

    بَيانَ ما تَأتي بِهِ الأَفئِدَه

    I heed no outward forms until I see

    clear evidence of what the hearts bring forth.

  13. وَالبُخلُ غُلٌّ آسِرٌ بَعضُهُم

    يَقصُرُ عَن نَيلِ المَساعي يَدَه

    Avarice is a fetter that imprisons some men,

    holding their hands back from attaining noble deeds.

  14. وَمُغرَمٌ بِالمَنعِ أُغرِمتُ بِال

    إِعراضِ عَن أَبوابِهِ الموصَدَه

    And one is enamored of withholding; I am enamored of

    turning away from his bolted doors.

  15. أَصونُ نَفساً لا أَرى بَذلَها

    حَظّاً وَأَخلاقاً سَمَت مُصعِدَه

    I guard a soul whose surrender I do not deem

    a gain, and virtues that have soared on high.

  16. ما اِستَنَّ عَبدُ اللَهِ أُكرومَةً

    إِلّا وَقَد نازَعَها مَخلَدَه

    No noble deed did Abd Allah set as a precedent

    but Makhladah had already vied for it.

  17. أُنظُر إِلى كُلِّ الَّذي جاءَهُ

    فَإِنَّهُ بَعضُ الَّذي عَوَّدَه

    Look at everything he has done:

    it is but part of what he has made his custom.

  18. سَوابِقٌ مِن شَرَفٍ أَوَّلٍ

    أَكَّدَهُ الأَعشى بِما أَكَّدَه

    Precedents of ancient nobility,

    which al-Aʿsha confirmed by what he affirmed.

  19. وَالمَجدُ قَد يَأبِقُ مِن أَهلِهِ

    لَولا عُرى الشِعرِ الَّذي قَيَّدَه

    Glory might run away from its own people,

    but for the bonds of poetry that fetter it.

  20. إِذا تَأَمَّلتَ فَتى مَذحِجٍ

    مَلَأتَ عَيناً رَمَقَت سُؤدَدَه

    When you contemplate the young man of Madhhij,

    your eye is filled by the lordliness it beholds.

  21. واحِدُ دَهرٍ إِن بَدا نائِلاً

    ثَنّاهُ في الأَقوامِ أَو رَدَّدَه

    Unique in his age: when he appears as a giver,

    he doubles his gift among the people, or repeats it.

  22. مَتى اِختَبَرناهُ حَمِدنا وَقَد

    يُخرِجُ ما في السَيفِ مَن جَرَّدَه

    Whenever we tested him, we praised him; indeed,

    whoever draws a sword brings forth what is in it.

  23. تَرى بِهِ الحُسّادُ مِن سَروِهِ

    ناراً عَلى أَكبادِهِم موقَدَه

    Through his nobility, the envious see in him

    a fire kindled upon their livers.

  24. إِنَّ القَناني وَإِنَّ النَدى

    تِربا اِصطِحابٍ وَأُخَيّا لِدَه

    Al-Qanani and generosity, indeed,

    are peers in companionship and little brothers from birth.

  25. تَعاقَدا حِلفاً عَلى وَفرِ ذي

    وَفرٍ إِذا جَمَّعَهُ بَدَّدَه

    They swore an alliance against the wealth of a man

    of wealth: whenever he gathers it, he scatters it.

  26. فَالفِعلُ فَوتَ القَولِ إِن فاضَ في

    عارِفَةٍ وَالجودُ فَوتَ الجِدَه

    His deeds outstrip speech when he abounds in

    kindness, and his bounty outstrips his wealth.

  27. أَنجَحَ ما قَدَّمَ مِن مَوعِدِ

    مُشَيَّعٌ يُصدِرُ ما أَورَدَه

    He fulfills whatever promise he has offered,

    a resolute man who leads back what he has brought to water.

  28. إِذا اِبتَلى يَومَ جَداهُ اِمرُؤٌ

    أَغناهُ عَن أَن يَتَرَجّى غَدَه

    If a man tries one day of his bounty,

    it enriches him beyond the need to hope for its morrow.

  29. طَولٌ إِذا لَم يَستَطِع شُكرُهُ

    هَمَّ لَئيمُ القَومِ أَن يَجحَدَه

    A bounty that, when he cannot give it due thanks,

    the meanest of men is tempted to deny.

  30. يُشرِقُ بِشراً وَهوَ في مَغرَمٍ

    لَو مُنِيَ البَدرُ بِهِ رَبَّدَه

    He beams with cheer under a burden

    that would turn the full moon ashen, were it afflicted with it.

  31. ضَوءٌ لَو اَنَّ الفَلَكَ اِزدادَ في

    أَنجُمِهِ مِنهُ لَما أَنفَدَه

    A light—were the firmament to increase

    its stars from it, it would not exhaust it.

  32. بَقيتَ مَرغوباً إِلَيهِ وَإِن

    جِئتَ بِبِنتِ الجَبَلِ المُؤيِدَه

    May you remain one to whom men turn, even if

    you bring a mighty calamity—the mountain's daughter.

  33. ما كُنتُ أَخشاكَ عَلى مِثلِها

    أَن تُسقِطَ الرِزقَ وَتَنسى العِدَه

    I never feared you capable of such a thing:

    cutting off the stipend and forgetting the promise.

  34. إِن كانَ عَن وَهمٍ رَضينا الَّذي

    تَسخَطُهُ أَو كانَ عَن مَوجِدِه

    If it was through oversight, we accept what

    you dislike—or if it was through resentment, we accept it.