Sol 6.1

  1. لقد آنَ أنْ يَثْني الجَموحَ لِجامُ

    وأنْ يَمْلِكَ الصّعْبَ الأبيَّ زِمامُ

    The time has surely come for a bridle to curb the headstrong steed,

    and for a rein to master the unruly, defiant one.

  2. أيُوعِدُنا بالرّوم ناسٌ وإنّما

    همُ النّبْتُ والبِيضُ الرّقاقُ سَوامُ

    Do some people threaten us with the Byzantines, when

    they are but herbage, and slender white swords are grazing herds?

  3. كأنْ لم يكُن بينَ المَخاضِ وحارِمٍ

    كتائِبُ يُشجِينَ الفَلا وخِيامُ

    As though between al-Makhad and Harim there had never been

    battalions that grieved the wastes, and tents,

  4. ولم يَجْلِبُوهَا من وَرَاءِ مَلَطْيَةٍ

    تَصَدَّعُ أجْبَالٌ بها وإكامُ

    and as though they had not brought them from beyond Malatya,

    at whose passage mountains and hillocks split apart.

  5. كتائِبُ من شَرْقٍ وغرْبٍ تألّبَتْ

    فُرادَى أتاها الموتُ وهْيَ تُؤامُ

    Battalions rallied from east and west;

    death came upon them singly, though they were twins:

  6. غَرائبُ دُرّ جُمّعَتْ ثُمّ ضُيّعَتْ

    وقد ضَمّ سِلْكٌ شَمْلَها ونِظامُ

    rare pearls, gathered together and then lost,

    though a thread and cord had bound them all together,

  7. بيوْمٍ كأنّ الشمسَ فيه خَريدَةٌ

    عليها من النّقْعِ الأحَمّ لِثامُ

    on a day when the sun seemed a shy maiden,

    with a veil of black battle-dust upon her.

  8. كأنّهُمُ سَكْرَى أُريقَ عليهِمُ

    بَقايا كُؤوسٍ مِلؤهُنّ مُدَامُ

    They seemed like drunkards upon whom had been poured

    the dregs of cups filled with wine.

  9. فأضْحَوا حديثاً كالمَنامِ وما انقَضَى

    فسِيّانِ منه يَقْظَةٌ ومَنامُ

    So they became a tale like a dream; and as for what is past,

    waking and dreaming are alike in it.

  10. مَحَلٌّ بأرضِ الشامِ يطْرُدُ أهْلَه

    ولكنّهمْ عمّا يقولُ نِيامُ

    A place in the land of Syria drives out its people,

    yet they slumber, unheeding what it says.

  11. وقد تَنْطِقُ الأشياءُ وهْيَ صَوَامِتٌ

    وما كُلّ نُطْقِ المُخْبِرينَ كلامُ

    Things may speak while they are silent,

    and not all who bring tidings do so in words.

  12. كفَى بخِضَابِ المَشْرَفيّةِ مُخْبِراً

    بأنّ رُؤوساً قد شَقِينَ وهامُ

    The bloodstain on Mashrafi blades is witness enough

    that heads and skulls have come to grief.

  13. فإنْ قَعَدَتْ عنه الحوادثُ حِقْبةً

    فها هيَ فيما لا تشاء قِيامُ

    If calamities held back from it for a time,

    here they stand, doing what you would not wish.

  14. مَضَى زَمنٌ والعِزّ بانٍ رِواقَه

    عليه وسيْفُ الدّهْرِ عنه كَهامُ

    A time passed when glory built its pavilion

    over it, and Time's sword was blunt against it.

  15. وما الدّهرُ إلاّ دولةٌ ثُمّ صَوْلةٌ

    وما العَيْشُ إلا صِحّةٌ وسَقامُ

    Time is but a turn of power, then an onslaught;

    and life is but health and sickness.

  16. زَمَانَ قَرَوْا بالمَشْرَفيّ ضُيوفَهُمْ

    مَآلِكَ قَوْمٍ والكُماةُ صِيامُ

    In those days they feasted their guests on Mashrafi steel—

    a people's envoys—while champions fasted.

  17. ولو دامَتِ الدُّولاتُ كانوا كغَيرِهمُ

    رَعايا ولكِنْ ما لَهُنّ دَوَامُ

    Had turns of power endured, they would have been, like others,

    subjects; but such turns do not last.

  18. وردّوا إليكَ الرُّسْلَ والصّلحُ مُمْكنٌ

    وقالوا على غيرِ القِتالِ سلامُ

    They sent the envoys back to you, though peace was possible,

    and said, "Farewell to all but battle!

  19. فلا قوْلَ إلا الضّرْبُ والطّعْنُ عندنا

    وَلا رُسْلَ إلا ذابِلٌ وحُسامُ

    We have no speech but blows and thrusts,

    and no envoys but a supple spear and a keen sword.

  20. فإنْ عُدتَ فالمجرُوحُ تُؤسَى جراحُه

    وإنْ لم تَعُدْ مُتْنا ونحنُ كِرامُ

    If you turn back, the wounded man's wounds will be healed;

    if you do not, we shall die in honor.

  21. فلَسْنا وإن كان البَقاءُ مُحبَبَّاً

    بأوّلِ مَن أخْنى عليه حِمامُ

    For we are not, though survival is dear,

    the first whom death has brought to ruin.

  22. وحُبُّ الفتى طولَ الحياةِ يُذِلّه

    وإنْ كان فيه نَخْوَةٌ وعُرامُ

    A young man's love of long life debases him,

    though he possesses pride and fierceness.

  23. وكُلٌّ يُريدُ العَيْشَ والعيشُ حَتفُه

    ويَسْتَعْذِبُ اللذّاتِ وَهْيَ سِمامُ

    Everyone desires life, though life is his doom,

    and finds pleasures sweet, though they are poisons."

  24. فلمّا تجلّى الأمرُ قالوا تمَنّياً

    ألا لَيْتَ أنّا في التّرابِ رِمامُ

    But when the matter became clear, they said wishfully,

    "Oh, would that we were mouldering bones in the dust!"

  25. وراموا التي كانت لهُمْ وإليهِمُ

    وقد صَعُبَتْ حالٌ وعَزّ مَرامُ

    They sought what had once been theirs and theirs to command,

    though their plight had grown hard and their goal elusive.

  26. وظنّوكَ ممَنْ يُطفئُ البرْدُ نارَهُ

    إذا طَلَعَتْ عند الغُرُوبِ جَهامُ

    They thought you one whose fire the cold would quench,

    when a rainless cloud appeared at sunset,

  27. وأنّك تَثْنِيها قُبالَةَ جِلّقٍ

    مَتى لاحَ بَرْقٌ واستَقَلّ غَمامُ

    and that you would wheel them back before Jilliq,

    whenever lightning flashed and clouds rose aloft.

  28. وقالوا شُهُورٌ يَنْقَضِينَ بغَزْوَةٍ

    وما عَلِموا أن القُفولَ حَرامُ

    They said, "A campaign will take some months,"

    not knowing that returning home was forbidden.

  29. لقد حكَموا حُكمَ الجَهول لنفْسِه

    روَيْدَهُمُ حتى يَطولَ مَقامُ

    They judged as an ignorant fool judges for himself;

    give them time, until the stay grows long,

  30. وحتى يَزولَ الحَوْلُ عنهمْ ومِثْلُه

    ويَذْهَبَ عامٌ بعْد ذاكَ وعامُ

    and until a full year passes them by, and another like it,

    and a year goes by after that, and yet another.

  31. فلولاكَ بعْدَ اللّهِ ما عُرِفَ الندى

    ولا ثارَ بينَ الخافِقَينِ قَتامُ

    But for you, after God, generosity would not be known,

    nor would battle-dust rise between the two horizons,

  32. ولا سُلّ في نَصْرِ المكارِمِ صارِمٌ

    ولا شُدّ في غَزْوِ العدُوّ حِزامُ

    nor would a keen sword be drawn in defense of noble virtues,

    nor a belt tightened to campaign against the foe.