Sol 6.1

  1. ما لِلبَصائِرِ لا تَخلو مِنَ السَدَرِ

    وَالعَقلِ يُعصى فَيُمسي وَهوَ كَالهَدَرِ

    What ails insight, never free of bewilderment,

    and reason, disobeyed and thus reduced to something worthless?

  2. آلَيتُ أُثني عَلى قَومٍ بِنُسكِهِمُ

    وَقَد تَكَشَّفَ سَهلُ الأَرضِ عَن غَدَرِ

    I have sworn to praise a people for their devotion,

    though the earth's smooth ground has revealed its roughness.

  3. إِن قُلتُ صُفّوا بِإِلغازٍ فَمُعتَمَدي

    صُفّوا مِنَ الصَفِّ لا صُفّوا مِنَ الكَدَرِ

    If I say cryptically, “They were arrayed,” what I mean is

    arrayed in ranks, not purified of murk.

  4. مَن كانَ في الدَهرِ ذا جَدٍّ أَفادَ بِهِ

    ما شاءَ حَتّى اِشتَراءَ البَدرِ بِالبِدَرِ

    Whoever in this world has good fortune gains through it

    whatever he wishes—even buying the full moon with moneybags.

  5. وَقِس بِما كانَ أَمراً لَم يَكُن تَرَه

    فَالرِجلُ تَعرِفُ بَعضَ المَوتِ بِالخَدَرِ

    Infer what has not happened from what has, and you will see it;

    for the foot knows something of death through numbness.

  6. عَلى خَبيئِكَ أَستارٌ مُضاعَفَةٌ

    بِالعَقلِ وَالصَمتِ وَالأَبوابِ وَالجُدُرِ

    Over your secret lie many layers of veils,

    through reason and silence, doors and walls.

  7. لِكُلِّ وَقتٍ شُؤونٌ تَستَعِدُّ لَهُ

    وَالهَمُّ في الوِردِ غَيرُ الهَمِّ في الصَدَرِ

    Every time has its concerns, and you prepare for it;

    and worry on coming to water differs from worry on leaving it.

  8. ما قُلتُ أُسرِيَ في لَيلٍ عَلى عَمَلٍ

    أَدارَهُ اللَهُ وَالأَفلاكُ لَم تَدُرِ

    I did not say that he was taken by night on an undertaking

    that God set in motion while the celestial spheres did not revolve.

  9. أَضَرُّ مِن جُدَرِيٍّ شانَ حامِلَهُ

    بِحَملِهِ جَدِرِيٌّ جاءَ مِن جَدَرِ

    More harmful than smallpox, which disfigures its bearer

    through bearing it, is a jadirī, a wall-associated one sprung from a wall.

  10. وَالمَرءُ يُنكِرُ مالَم تَجرِ عادَتُهُ

    بِمِثلِهِ ثُمَّ يَبغي الحوتَ في الغُدُرِ

    And a man denies what he is not accustomed to,

    then seeks a whale in pools.

  11. طَأ بِالحَوافِرِ قَتَلى في مَصارِعِها

    فَالجِسمُ بَعدَ فِراقِ الروحِ كَالمَدَرِ

    Tread with hooves upon the slain where they fell;

    for the body, after the soul departs, is like clods of clay.

  12. وَالنَفسُ تَطلُبُ أَغراضاً وَلَو عَلِمَت

    بِالغَيبِ سيئَت بِمَخبوءٍ مِنَ القَدَرِ

    And the soul pursues its aims; yet if it knew

    the unseen, it would be distressed by what fate has hidden.