Sol 6.1

  1. أَجزاءُ دَهرٍ يَنقَضينَ وَلَم يَكُن

    بَيني وَبَينَ جَميعِهِنَّ جِوارُ

    Portions of time pass away, and there has been no

    fellowship between me and any of them.

  2. يَمضي كَإِيماضِ البُروقِ وَما لَها

    مُكثٌ فَيُسمَعَ أَو يُقالَ حِوارُ

    It passes like the flashing of lightning, which has no

    pause in which a dialogue might be heard or spoken.

  3. أَنوارُ مَهلاً كَم ثَوى مِن رَبرَبٍ

    نورٍ وَلاحَت في الدُجى أَنوارُ

    O Nawar, gently! How many a herd has lain dead—

    shy wild cows—while lights have gleamed in the darkness!

  4. مَنَعَ الزِيارَةَ مِن لَميسَ وَزَينَبٍ

    حَتفٌ لِكُلِّ خَريدَةٍ زَوّارُ

    Visits from Lamis and Zaynab have been barred by

    death, a frequent visitor to every secluded maiden.

  5. وَتَسيرُ عَن أَترابِها لِتُرابِها

    جُملٌ وَيورَثُ دُملُجٌ وَسِوارُ

    And away from her age-mates toward her dust goes

    Juml; an armlet and a bracelet are passed down.

  6. يَرمي فَلا يُشوي الزَمانُ إِذا رَمى

    سَهماً وَأَخطَأَ ذَلِكَ الأَسوارُ

    Time shoots and never merely wounds when it looses

    an arrow; yet that master archer has erred.

  7. وَنَسورُ لِلرُتبِ العُلا فَيَرُدُّنا

    لِلقَدرِ صَرفُ نَوائِبٍ سَوّارُ

    And we leap toward lofty ranks, but are driven back

    to our measure by the fierce onslaught of calamities.

  8. وَكَأَنَّما الصُبحُ الفَتيقُ مُهَنَّدٌ

    لِلقَهرِ ماءُ فِرِندِهِ مَوّارُ

    And the spreading dawn seems an Indian-forged sword

    for conquest, its patterned blade's watery sheen rippling.

  9. قَد ذَرَّ قَرنٌ ثُمَّ غابَ فَهَل لَهُ

    مَعنىً أَجَل هُوَ لِلنُفوسِ بَوارُ

    A horn of the sun has appeared, then vanished—does it have

    a meaning? Yes: it is ruin for souls.

  10. إِن غارَ بَيتَ أُمَّنا في لَيلِهِ

    فَإِذا يَغورُ فَثائِرٌ مِغوارُ

    If it sets, it attacks by night, seeking us in its night;

    so, when it sets, it is an avenger, a bold raider.

  11. صُوَرٌ تُبَدَّلُ غَيرَها فَمُعَوَّضٌ

    بِالخَيطِ خَيطٌ وَالصُوارِ صُوارُ

    Forms are replaced by others: exchanged are

    one ostrich flock for another, one wild-cow herd for another.

  12. إِنّي أُواري خَلَّتي فَأُريهِمُ

    رِيّاً وَفي سِرِّ الفُؤادِ أَوارُ

    Indeed, I conceal my need, and show them

    a thirst quenched, while a blaze burns deep within the heart.

  13. يُخفي العُيوبَ وَفي الغُيوبِ حَديثُها

    وَغَداً يُبَيِّنُ أَمرَها المِشوارُ

    He hides defects, though their tale lies in the unseen;

    tomorrow the testing probe will reveal their condition.

  14. وَوَنى الرِجالُ العامِلونَ وَما وَنى

    فَلَكٌ بِخِدمَةِ رَبِّهِ دَوّارُ

    The laboring men have wearied, but never has wearied

    a sphere ever turning in service to its Lord.

  15. وَيَكُرُّ مِن جَيشِ القَضاءِ مُسَلَّطٌ

    ثَورٌ وَشابَةُ تَحتَهُ خَوّارُ

    And from the army of fate there charges, unleashed,

    Taurus, while Shabah beneath him lies feeble.

  16. أَطوارُ دارِكَ بِعتَهُ مِن ظالِمٍ

    وَالناسُ مِثلُ زَمانِهِم أَطوارُ

    Have you sold your house's grounds to a tyrant?

    And people, like their time, come in many forms.

  17. مازالَ رَبُّكَ ثابِتاً في مُلكِهِ

    يَنمي إِلَيهِ لِلعِبادِ جُؤارُ

    Your Lord has ever remained firm in His dominion;

    to Him rises the servants' pleading cry.

  18. وَأَتَت عَلى الأَكوارِ جَمعِ الكَور وَال

    كَورِ المُسَرَّحِ هَذِهِ الأَكوارُ

    And swept away are the saddles—akwar, plural of kawr—and the

    kawr, the herd sent out to pasture, by these cycles.

  19. أَيّامَ سُنبُلَةُ السَماءِ زَريعَةٌ

    وَسُهَيلُها فَحلُ النُجومِ حُوارُ

    In the days when heaven's ear of grain was a seedling,

    and its Suhayl, the sire of the stars, was a camel calf.