Sol 6.1

  1. أُمُّ الكِتابِ إِذا قَوَّمَت مُحكَمَها

    وَجَدتَها لِأَداءِ الفَرضِ تَكفيكا

    If you set aright the definitive verses of the Mother of the Book,

    you will find it sufficient to fulfill your duty.

  2. لَم يَشفِ قَلبَكَ فُرقانٌ وَلا عِظَّةٌ

    وَآيَةٌ لَو أَطَعتَ اللَهَ تَشفيكا

    Neither the Criterion nor admonition has healed your heart,

    yet one verse, if you obeyed God, would heal you.

  3. ما لي علِمتُكَ إِن أوضِعتُ في كِذبٍ

    كَأَنَّكَ الشِعرُ لَم تَكذِب قَوافيكا

    Why have I found you—if I am driven into falsehood—

    as though you were poetry whose rhymes have never lied?

  4. كَالبَحرِ بِالشامِ مُرٌّ لا يُصابُ بِهِ

    دُرٌّ وَمِن شَرِّ زادِ القَومِ طافيكا

    Like the sea in al-Sham, you are bitter, yielding no

    pearls; your floating dead fish are among the people's worst provisions.

  5. وَمِن سَجايا المَخازي أَن تُرى أَشِراً

    تَرمي عَشيرَكَ بِالداءِ الَّذي فيكا

    Among disgraceful traits is your being seen as insolent,

    charging your companion with the sickness that is in you.

  6. تَجافَ هُجراً فَلا أَلقاكَ مُعتَذِراً

    فَأَيُّ أَيُّ حَياةٍ في تَجافيكا

    Keep away in estrangement; let me not meet you apologizing,

    for what a life—what a life—there is in your keeping away!

  7. وَهَل أَلُمُّ وِداداً رُمَّ مِن شَعثٍ

    وَقَد لَمَحتُ تَلافي في تَلافيكا

    And should I piece together an affection patched from tatters,

    when I have glimpsed my ruin in reconciliation with you?

  8. وَلَم أُصاحِبكَ في تَيهاءَ مُقفَرَةٍ

    بِها يُصافِنُ ماءً مَن يُصافيكَ

    Nor have I accompanied you into a desolate wilderness,

    where whoever befriends you shares out water.

  9. إِيّاكَ عَني فَأَخشى أَن تُحَرِّقَني

    فَإِنَّما تَقذِفُ النيرانَ مَن فيكا

    Keep away from me, for I fear you will burn me:

    you only hurl flames from your mouth.

  10. مَا نالَ دارِيَّكَ الدارِيُّ مِن أَرَجٍ

    لَكِن مُنافِثُكَ الأَدنى مُنافيكا

    The perfumer has gained no fragrance from your perfume,

    but whoever exchanges breath with you at closest quarters shuns you.

  11. مَن لي بِأَنِّيَ أَرضٌ ما فَعَلتَ بِها

    مِنَ القَبيحِ استَقَرَّت نَفسي أَشافيكا

    Who would make me earth, whatever you might do upon it

    of foulness? Your awls have lodged in my soul.

  12. عافاني اللَهُ مِمّا بِتَّ جانِيَهُ

    فَلَم يَزَل مِن جِناياتي يُعافيكا

    God has spared me what you spent the night committing,

    and He has never ceased to spare you my offenses.

  13. وَلَو فَرَيتَ أَديمي فَريَ مُلتَمِسٍ

    نَفَعاً لَما آلَمَت نَفسي أَشافيكا

    Even if you slit my skin as one seeking

    some gain, your awls would not hurt my soul.

  14. إِذا اِبتَهَجتَ وَأَعطاكَ المَليكُ غِنىً

    غَدَوتَ كَالرَبعِ لَم تُحمَد عَوافيكا

    When you rejoice and the Sovereign grants you wealth,

    you become like a campsite, your visitors winning no praise.

  15. يَحُلُّكَ الحَيُّ بَعدَ الحَيِّ عَن شَحَطٍ

    وَما سُوافُكَ إِلّا مِن سَوافيكا

    Tribe after tribe settles in you, coming from afar,

    and your destruction comes only from your sand-blowing winds.

  16. تُلقي أَثافيّ قَولٍ غَيرِ مُتَّئِبٍ

    فَما يَبوخُ سَعيرٌ مِن أَثافيكا

    You cast out hearthstones of speech, unabashed,

    so no blaze from your hearthstones dies down.

  17. وَآجِنٌ حَوضُكَ المَلآنُ مِن أَسَنٍ

    وَقَد تَشَهَّرَ بِالإِشراقِ صافيكا

    And your brimming pool is stagnant with foulness,

    though your clear water is famed for its radiance.

  18. ظَلَّت خَوافيكَ وَالبَلوى مُكَشَّفَةٌ

    قَوادِماً وَبَدا لِلإِنسِ خافيكا

    Your hidden wing-feathers—with affliction laid bare—have become

    leading feathers, and what you hide has appeared to humankind.

  19. كَعِلَّةِ الجِسمِ أَدنَتهُ إِلى شَجَبٍ

    يُعَدُّ أَشنَعَ مِن غَدرٍ تُوافيكا

    Like an illness of the body that has brought it close to doom,

    deemed more hideous than treachery, it comes upon you.