Sol 6.1

  1. لا تَأْخُذَنْ عَنها السُّروجَ واللُّجُمْ

    وَدُمْ على حُبِّ طِرادِ الخَيْلِ دُمْ

    Never take the saddles and bridles off them.

    Keep loving the chase on horseback—keep at it.

  2. وانهَضْ بِها والصُّبْحُ في حِجَابهِ

    كالسَّيفِ ما جُرِدَ مِن قِرابَهِ

    Ride out with them while dawn is still veiled,

    like a sword not yet drawn from its sheath.

  3. سَوابقٌ قُبُّ البُطونِ ضُمَّرا

    خَلَعْنَ لَيلاً وَلَبِسْنَ عِثْيَرا

    Fleet racers, hollow-bellied and lean,

    they cast off night and put on dust.

  4. من أَدْهَمٍ مُحَجَّلٍ أَغَرِّ

    كاللَّيلِ خَاضَ في غَدِيرِ الفَجْرِ

    Among them, a black steed, white-stockinged and blazed,

    like night wading in the pool of dawn;

  5. وَأَشْهَبٍ كَأَنَّهُ شِهابُ

    لَهُ مَضاءُ وَلَهُ التِهابُ

    and a gray one, as though a meteor,

    with its swiftness and its blaze;

  6. وَأَحْمَرٍ يخرُجُ كالشَّرارِ

    لا يَصطلي البَرْقُ لهُ بِنار

    and a chestnut darting forth like sparks—

    lightning cannot warm itself at its fire;

  7. وَأَصفَرٍ كذائِب من ذَهَبِ

    قَدْ حُلِّيتْ غُرَّتُهُ بِكَوكَبِ

    and a golden one, like molten gold,

    its forehead blaze adorned with a star.

  8. مَالي وَوَصفُ الخَلْقِ والشَّبابِ

    وَوصْفُها في الحُسْنِ فَوْقَ الدَّابِ

    What have I to do with describing form and youth,

    when their beauty exceeds customary description?

  9. تُنسيكَ حُسْنَ الخَلْق بِالخَلائقِ

    لاحِتَةً بِأَعْوَجٍ وَلاحِقِ

    Their qualities make you forget beauty of form,

    putting A‘waj and Lahiq to shame.

  10. كَواكَبٌ بالنَقعِ لاحَتْ في غَسَقْ

    كَما بَدَت مِن الدِّماءِ في شَنَقْ

    Stars shining amid dust in darkness,

    as they appeared through blood-red twilight [uncertain reading].

  11. أَعَارَها والصّبحُ ما تَنفَّسا

    أبلجُ يُذكي من جَبينٍ قَبَسَا

    Before dawn breathed, their radiance was lent them

    by a bright-browed man who kindles a flame from his brow:

  12. أَبيضُ كالسَّيفِ الصَّقِيلِ أَزْهَرُ

    يُثني عليهِ أَبيضٌ وَأَسْمَرُ

    fair and radiant as a polished sword,

    praised by bright sword and brown spear.

  13. غَزا وَقادَ الجَيشَ في عَصْرِ الصِّبا

    وَهَذَّبَ الكَهْلَ وَراض الأَشْيبَا

    He campaigned and led the army in his youth,

    schooled the mature and tamed the gray-haired.

  14. وَجَاءَها كَنَسْرِ في المَفارِقِ

    كُلُّ قَنِيصٍ حَطَّهُ مِن حَالِقِ

    He came upon it like an eagle above their heads,

    bringing every quarry down from a height.

  15. وَغَارَةٍ بِغَارَةٍ أَلحقَها

    وَهْناً وأَعطَى المُرْهَفاتِ حَقَّها

    He followed one raid with another,

    deep at night, giving the keen blades their due.

  16. وَكَمْ لَهُ مِن غَارَةٍ شَعْواءِ

    والشَّمْسُ ذاتُ مُقلَةٍ عَشْوَاءِ

    How many a sweeping raid was his,

    while the sun's eye was dim!

  17. أَخلَى بِها الجَوَّ من الطُّيورِ

    وَالقَفْرَ مِن عَفْراءَ أَو يَعْفُورِ

    With it he emptied the sky of birds,

    and the wilderness of pale gazelles and fawns.

  18. كَمْ بَزَّ رَوْضاً وَغَدِيراً طائرا

    بِجارِحٍ جَدَّ لَها كَسَائِرا

    How often he stripped meadow and pool of birds,

    with a raptor pressing after them like a traveler.

  19. حَوَّمَ حتى صَارَ جَارَ النَّجمِ

    وانقَضَّ يَهوِي كشِهابِ الرَّجْمِ

    It circled until it neighbored the stars,

    then plunged like a meteor hurled as a missile.

  20. فَانقَضَّ لِلأَرْضِ بِغَيْظٍ وَحَنَقْ

    والخَيْلُ تَحذوهُ بِرَكْضٍ وَعَنَقْ

    It swooped to earth in wrath and fury,

    the horses following at gallop and canter.

  21. فَكَمْ رَأَيْنا مِن بَناتِ مَاءِ

    مُضَرَّجَاتٍ ثَمَّ بِالدِّماءِ

    How many waterbirds we saw

    there drenched in blood,

  22. وَمن بَلا شِينَ ومن كَراكي

    مِن صائحٍ في كَفّهِ وَبَاكي

    and herons, and cranes—

    some shrieking in its grasp, some weeping.

  23. والرَّوضُ جَذلانٌ بهِ مُبتسِمُ

    وَلِلشَّقِيقِ فيهِ قَدْ جُنَّ الدَّمُ

    The meadow rejoices in him, smiling,

    and in it the anemones' blood has run mad.

  24. وَطَالمَا صَفَّقتِ الغُدْرانُ

    مِنَ طَرَبٍ وَمَاسَتِ الأَغصَانُ

    How often the pools clapped

    with delight, and the branches swayed!

  25. حَتى إذا قَضَى هناكَ الأَرَبَا

    واشتاقَ سَفْحَيْ حاجرٍ والرَّبربَا

    Until, when he had fulfilled his desire there,

    and longed for Hajir's two slopes and the gazelle herds,

  26. وادَّ كَرَ الأَجْراعَ والكُثبانَا

    فَراحَ يَثني نَحوها العنانَا

    and recalled the sandy flats and dunes,

    he set off, turning his reins toward them.

  27. فَأَرسلَ التَّيهمَ والطَّاوِى الحشَا

    والجَوُّ ما قلَّصَ عَنه الغبشَا

    He loosed the falcon and the hollow-bellied hound,

    before the air had shed its dim haze,

  28. حتَّى أَحَسَّ الظَّبيُ في بَيْدائهِ

    سَوْطَ عَذابٍ صُبَّ مِن سَمائهِ

    until the gazelle in its wilderness felt

    a lash of torment poured down from its sky,

  29. وَطَالِباً بالمَوْتِ مِن وَرَائهِ

    وَفارِساَ يَجرِي على غُلوائهِ

    a pursuer bringing death from behind,

    and a horseman racing at full speed.

  30. فَالظَّبيُ والشَّاهِينُ والكلبُ مَعا

    والطِّرْفُ قد فاتوا الرِّياحَ الأَرْبَعا

    Gazelle, peregrine, and dog together,

    with the steed, outstripped all four winds.

  31. مِن كُلِّ خَفَّاقِ الجَناحِ أجْدَلِ

    كالصَّخرَةِ الصَّمَّاءِ حُطَّتْ مِن عَلِ

    Each powerful falcon, beating its wings,

    was like a solid rock cast down from on high:

  32. حَدِيدِ قَلْبٍ وَحَدِيدِ البَصَرِ

    وَمِخْلَبٍ مَاضي الشَّبَا وَمِنْسَرِ

    keen of heart and keen of sight,

    with sharp-edged talons and beak,

  33. مُهذَّبٍ مُؤَدَّبٍ مُدَرَّبٍ

    مُزاحِمٍ نَجْمَ السَّمَا بِمَنْكِبِ

    well-mannered, disciplined, trained,

    jostling heaven's stars with its shoulder;

  34. وكُلِّ مَجدولِ القَرَى مُضَمَّرِ

    كأَنَّهُ أَنبُوبةٌ مِن أَسْمَرِ

    and each lean one, sinewy-backed,

    seemed a length of brown spear-shaft.

  35. مَهما رأََتْ عَيناهُ كان في يَدِه

    وَلَمْ يُرَعْ سِرْبُ القَطَامن مَرْقَدِه

    Whatever his eyes saw was in his hand,

    and no sandgrouse flock was startled from its roost.

  36. وَنحنُ في الأَسفارِ من عِيالهِ

    نَبِيتُ مَغْمورِينَ مِن أُفضالهِ

    On journeys we are among his dependents,

    spending our nights immersed in his bounty.

  37. والأَرضُ خَجْلَى خَدُّها مُضَرَّجُ

    مِن دِمِ قَتْلَى ليسَ فِيها حَرَجُ

    The earth is bashful, its cheek stained red

    with the blood of slain game, guiltless to shed.

  38. وَنحنُ في الحَرْبِ من النَّظّارَه

    نُزْهَتُنا في مَوْكِبِ الوِزاره

    In battle we are only spectators;

    our recreation is in the ministerial procession.

  39. وَصَيدُنا نحنُ مِن المَقالي

    نُجزَى عن الفَعالِ بالمقَالِ

    Our own game comes from frying pans:

    we earn our reward with words instead of deeds,

  40. في ظِلِّ مَن دامَ علينا ظُلُّه

    َوَلا عَدانا وَبْلُهُ وَطَلُّه

    in the shade of one—may his shade endure over us,

    and may neither his downpour nor his dew pass us by.

  41. فَعِرْضُ مَن أَصبحَ من حُسَّادهِ

    كَثوبِ طاهِيةٍ دُجَى سَوادهِ

    The honor of whoever becomes his envier

    is like a cook's garment, midnight-black.

  42. وَمَا رَأَيْنا سَفْرَةً كَمِثلِها

    نُثني بِفضلِ اللَّهِ ثُمَّ فَضلِها

    Never have we seen a journey like it;

    we praise God's bounty, then the bounty of that journey.

  43. ولا رَأَينا كالوَزِيرِ صَاحِبا

    سُهِّلَ أَخلاقاً وَلانَ جَانِبا

    Nor have we seen a companion like the vizier,

    easy in character and gentle in manner.

  44. دَامَ وَدَامَ الصَّاحِبُ المُؤَيَّدُ

    أَخوهُ زَينُ الوُزراءِ أَحمدُ

    May he endure, and may the lord al-Mu’ayyad endure,

    his brother Ahmad, ornament of the viziers.