Sol 6.1

  1. أَمّا الشَبابُ فَقَد سُبِقتَ بِغَضِّهِ

    وَحَطَطتَ رَحلَكَ مُسرِعاً عَن نِقضِهِ

    As for youth, its fresh bloom has already passed you by;

    and hastily you took your saddle from its worn-out mount.

  2. وَأَفاقَ مُشتاقٌ وَأَقصَرَ عاذِلٌ

    أَرضاهُ فيكَ الشَيبُ إِذ لَم تُرضِهِ

    A yearning lover has regained his senses, and a reproacher has desisted;

    your gray hair has pleased him, since you failed to please him.

  3. شَعَرٌ صَحِبتُ الدَهرَ حَتّى جازَ بي

    مُسوَدُّهُ الأَقصى إِلى مُبيَضِّهِ

    My hair—I kept time's company until I was carried

    by its deepest blackness into its whiteness.

  4. فَعَلى الصِبا الآنَ السَلامُ وَلَوعَةٌ

    تَثني عَلَيهِ الدَمعَ في مُرفَضِّهِ

    So now, farewell to youth—and a burning grief

    that turns streaming tears back toward it.

  5. وَليَفنَ تُفّاحُ الخُدودِ فَلَستُ مِن

    تَقبيلِهِ غَزِلاً وَلا مِن عَضُّهِ

    Let the apples of cheeks perish, for I am not

    enamored of kissing them, nor of biting them.

  6. وَمُكايِدٍ لي بِالمَغيبِ رَمَيتُهُ

    بِصَريمَةٍ كَالنَجمِ في مُنقَضِّهِ

    And one who plotted against me in my absence—I struck him

    with a resolve like a star in its plunging descent.

  7. فَرَدَدتُ ظُلمَةَ يَومِهِ في أَمسِهِ

    وَأَرَيتُهُ إِبرامَهُ في نَقضِهِ

    I drove the darkness of his day back into his yesterday,

    and showed him his firm designs unraveling.

  8. أَمضَيتُ ما أَمضَيتُ فيهِ وَلَو ثَنى

    بِإِشارَةٍ أَمضَيتُ ما لَم أُمضِهِ

    I carried out what I carried out against him; had he followed it up

    with a gesture, I would have carried out what I had not.

  9. وَعِتابِ خِلٍّ قَد سَمِعتُ فَلَم أَكُن

    جَلدَ الضَميرِ عَلى استِماعِ مُمِضِّهِ

    And a friend's reproach I have heard, yet I was not

    stouthearted enough to hear its piercing sting.

  10. هَذا أَبو الفَضلِ الَّذي صَرُحَ النَدى

    في راحَتَيهِ مَشوبُهُ عَن مَحضِهِ

    This is Abu al-Fadl, whose generosity stands revealed:

    in his palms, its alloy distinct from its pure essence.

  11. لَم نُختَدَع بِجَهامِهِ عَن غَيمِهِ

    يَوماً وَلَم نَرَ خُلَّباً مِن وَمضِهِ

    We were not cheated of his rainclouds with rainless ones,

    not once, nor did we see false promise in his lightning.

  12. طافَ الوُشاةُ بِهِ فَأَحدَثَ ظُلمَةً

    في جَوِّهِ وَوُعورَةً في أَرضِهِ

    Slanderers circled him; then he spread darkness

    in his sky, and roughness upon his land.

  13. غَضبانَ حُمِّلَ إِحنَةً لَو حُمِّلَت

    ثَبَجَ الصَباحِ لَثَقَّلَت مِن نَهضِهِ

    Angry, burdened with a grudge that, were it laid

    on morning's back, would weigh down its rising.

  14. مَهلاً فَذاكَ أَخوكَ ذو أَلهَيتَهُ

    عَن لَهوِهِ وَشَغَلتَهُ عَن غُمضِهِ

    Gently! That is your brother, whom you have distracted

    from his diversions, and kept from his sleep.

  15. خَزيانَ أَكبَرَ أَن تَظُنَّ خِيانَةً

    في بَسطِهِ لِصَديقِهِ أَو قَبضِهِ

    Ashamed, he deemed it grave that you should suspect treachery

    in what he gives his friend or what he withholds.

  16. ماذا تَوَهَّمُ أَن يَقولَ وَقَولُهُ

    في نَفسِهِ وَلِسانُهُ في عِرضِهِ

    What do you imagine he can say, when his words

    are against himself, and his tongue against his own honor?

  17. أَنبَوتُ عَنكَ بِزَعمِهِم وَمَتى نَبا

    في حالَةٍ بَعضُ اِمرِئٍ عَن بَعضِهِ

    Have I shunned you, as they claim? And when has

    one part of a man, in any circumstance, shunned another?

  18. أَنصَلتُ مِن عَودِ الحَياءِ وَبَدئِهِ

    وَخَرَجتُ مِن طولِ الوَفاءِ وَعَرضِهِ

    Have I cast off modesty, in its renewal and its beginning,

    and stepped outside loyalty's length and breadth?

  19. المَذحِجِيَّةُ بَينَنا مَوصولَةٌ

    بِنَوافِلِ الأَدَبِ الأَصيلِ وَفَرضِهِ

    The Madhhijite bond between us is sustained

    by the voluntary graces of deep-rooted courtesy and its binding duties.

  20. وَتَرَدُّدٌ لِلكَأسِ أَحدَثَ حُرمَةً

    أُخرى وَحَقّاً ثالِثاً لَم نَقضِهِ

    And the passing of the cup has forged an inviolable bond—

    another one—and a third obligation we have not discharged.