Sol 6.1

  1. ما لِلبَصائِرِ لا تَخلو مِنَ السَدَرِ

    وَالعَقلِ يُعصى فَيُمسي وَهوَ كَالهَدَرِ

    Why is insight never free of bewilderment,

    and reason disobeyed until it counts for nothing?

  2. آلَيتُ أُثني عَلى قَومٍ بِنُسكِهِمُ

    وَقَد تَكَشَّفَ سَهلُ الأَرضِ عَن غَدَرِ

    I have sworn not to praise a people for their piety,

    for even level ground has revealed rough patches.

  3. إِن قُلتُ صُفّوا بِإِلغازٍ فَمُعتَمَدي

    صُفّوا مِنَ الصَفِّ لا صُفّوا مِنَ الكَدَرِ

    If I say, enigmatically, “ṣuffū,” what I mean is

    “arrayed,” from “rank,” not “purified” of murk.

  4. مَن كانَ في الدَهرِ ذا جَدٍّ أَفادَ بِهِ

    ما شاءَ حَتّى اِشتَراءَ البَدرِ بِالبِدَرِ

    Whoever has good fortune in life 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 occurred from what has, and you will see it:

    the foot knows something of death through numbness.

  6. عَلى خَبيئِكَ أَستارٌ مُضاعَفَةٌ

    بِالعَقلِ وَالصَمتِ وَالأَبوابِ وَالجُدُرِ

    Over your secret lie veils, layer upon layer,

    of reason, silence, doors, and walls.

  7. لِكُلِّ وَقتٍ شُؤونٌ تَستَعِدُّ لَهُ

    وَالهَمُّ في الوِردِ غَيرُ الهَمِّ في الصَدَرِ

    Each time has concerns for which you make ready,

    and worry on approaching water differs from worry on departing.

  8. ما قُلتُ أُسرِيَ في لَيلٍ عَلى عَمَلٍ

    أَدارَهُ اللَهُ وَالأَفلاكُ لَم تَدُرِ

    I did not say he was taken by night on a mission

    God set in motion while the celestial spheres did not turn.

  9. أَضَرُّ مِن جُدَرِيٍّ شانَ حامِلَهُ

    بِحَملِهِ جَدِرِيٌّ جاءَ مِن جَدَرِ

    More harmful than smallpox, which disfigures its bearer,

    is bearing a Jadarite who has come from Jadar.

  10. وَالمَرءُ يُنكِرُ مالَم تَجرِ عادَتُهُ

    بِمِثلِهِ ثُمَّ يَبغي الحوتَ في الغُدُرِ

    And man denies what he has not grown 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, once the spirit departs, is like a clod of earth.

  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 conceals.