Sol 6.1

  1. ماسَت كَخَوطِ البانَةِ المَيّاسِ

    وَرَنَت إِلَيَّ بِلَحظِ ريمِ كِناسِ

    She swayed like the swaying branch of a bān tree,

    and gazed at me with the glance of a white gazelle in its covert.

  2. لَكِنَّها نَفَرَت نُفوراً راعَني

    إِذ راعَها وَخطُ المَشيبِ بِراسي

    But she recoiled with a recoil that alarmed me,

    when the streaks of gray upon my head alarmed her.

  3. هَيفاء في قَلبي لِجَرسِ حُلِيِّها

    أَضعافُ ما تُبدي مِنَ الوَسواسِ

    Slender-waisted: in my heart her jewelry’s chime

    is many times the whisper it gives forth.

  4. وَردِيَّةُ الوَجَناتِ هاروتِيَّةٌ

    لَحَظاتُها مِسكِيَّةُ الأَنفاسِ

    Rosy-cheeked, Harut-like

    in her glances, musk-scented in her breath.

  5. تَفتَرُّ عَن دُرٍّ نَظيمٍ ناصِعٍ

    حُلوِ المَراشِفِ لَم يُمَسَّ بِماسِ

    She smiles to reveal bright pearls, neatly strung,

    her lips sweet, untouched by anyone.

  6. وَيَهُزُّ مِنها خَطوُها في مَشيِها

    حِقفاً بَديعَ اللينِ لَيسَ بِحاسِ

    And her steps, as she walks, set swaying

    a curving dune, wondrously soft, not hard.

  7. تَمشي وَتَسحَبُ خَلفَها مِن فَرعِها

    وَحفاً كَأَسوَدَ لَيسَ بِالنَهّاسِ

    She walks, dragging behind her, from her hair,

    thick tresses like a black snake that does not bite.

  8. قالَت أَرى رَبعَ الشَبيبَةِ مُقفِراً

    مِن بَعدِ أَن قَد كانَ ذا إيناسِ

    She said: I see youth’s dwelling deserted,

    after it had once been a place of companionship.

  9. أَعدَتكَ عادِيَةُ المَشيبِ عَنِ الصِبى

    حَتّى نَفَضتَ هَواكَ بِالأَحلاسِ

    Gray hair’s onslaught has turned you away from youth,

    until you shook out your passion with the saddlecloths.

  10. فَأَجبتُها لَم يَخطُ في مَيدانِهِ

    قَدَمي وَلا رَكَضَت بِهِ أَفراسي

    So I answered her: into its arena never stepped

    my foot, nor did my horses gallop there.

  11. لَكِنَّني مُغرىً بِحَسوِ سُلافَةِ ال

    آدابِ لا بِمُدامَةٍ في الكاسِ

    But I am enamored of sipping the pure vintage of

    letters, not wine in a cup.

  12. لا خَيرَ فيمَن يَحتَسي في دَهرِهِ

    شَيئاً لِفَضلِ أَخي الرَزانَةِ حاسي

    There is no good in one who, in his lifetime, drinks

    anything that strips a sober man of his merit.

  13. أَصِباً وَقَد نَبَتَ الثَغامُ بِمَفرِقي

    كَلّا وَقَد نُكِبَت قُوى أَمراسي

    Shall I play the youth, when white thughām has sprouted at my hair’s parting?

    No indeed, when the strength of my cords has been stricken.

  14. دَعَّتنِيَ الخَمسونَ في ظَهري إِلى ال

    سِتينَ فَاِنهَتَمَت بِهِ أَضراسي

    Fifty shoved me in the back toward

    sixty, and thereby my molars crumbled.

  15. وَضَعُفتُ ضَعفَ اِبنِ اللَبونِ وَكُنتُ في

    شَرخِ الصِبى كَالبازِلِ القَنعاسِ

    And I grew as weak as a two-year-old camel, though I was, in

    youth’s prime, like a huge, full-grown camel.

  16. لَم يَبقَ مِنّي غَيرُ غُبَّرِ مُدَّةٍ

    مَدَّت يَد الإيناسِ لِلإِبساسِ

    Nothing remains of me but the remnants of a span

    that has stretched out comfort’s hand in gentle coaxing.

  17. مَن حَلَّ مُعتَركَ المَنايا يَلقَ أَن

    يابَ النَوائِبِ فَوقَ كَلكَلِ باسِ

    Whoever enters death’s battlefield meets the fangs

    of calamities above a mighty breast.

  18. وَالدَهرُ يَرسُبُ في أَواخِرِهِ القذى

    لِمُعَمِّريهِ فَهوَ مِثلُ الكاسِ

    And time’s sediment settles in its latter days

    for those who live long in it: it is like a cup.

  19. إِنَّ الخَلاعَةَ قَد خَلَعتُ لِباسَها

    وَعَلِمتُ أَنَّ الجِدَّ خَيرُ لِباسِ

    Indeed, I have taken off the garment of wantonness,

    and learned that earnestness is the finest garment.

  20. وَالجِدُّ مَدحُ الطاهِرِ القاضي زَكي

    يِ الدينِ وَالدُنيا أَبي العَبّاسِ

    And earnestness is praise of the pure judge, Zaki

    al-Din wa-l-Dunya, Abu al-Abbas.

  21. يا اِبنَ الأُلى شَهِدَ الزَمانُ بِأَنَّهُم

    بَعدَ الخَلائِفِ فيهِ خَيرُ الناسِ

    O son of those of whom time has testified

    that, after the caliphs, they are its finest people.

  22. ما لِلأُمورِ إِذا شَكا مِن كَلمِها

    شوسُ المُلوكِ سِواكُمُ مِن آسِ

    Affairs, when their wounds draw complaints

    from fierce kings, have no healer but you.

  23. ذَلَّلتُمُ بِعُلومِكُم وَحُلومِكُم

    إِذ رُضتُموها كلَّ ذات شِماسِ

    Through your learning and forbearance, you subdued,

    as you tamed them, every unruly thing.

  24. وَأَطاعَ أَمرَكُمُ الزَمانَ وَقَد رَمى

    حُسّادَكُم بِالرَغمِ وَالإِتعاسِ

    And time obeyed your command, and has struck

    your enviers with humiliation and ruin.

  25. وَبَلَغتُمُ بِالرَأيِ ما لَم يَستَطع

    إِدراكَهُ بِاللامِ أُسدُ حِماسِ

    And by sound judgment you attained what could not be

    attained with armor by the lions of fierce battle.

  26. حَسَدَت دِمَشقَ عَلى مَقامِكُمُ بِها

    بَغدادُ وَهيَ حِمى بَني العَبّاسِ

    Damascus was envied for your residence there

    by Baghdad, itself the protected domain of the Abbasids.

  27. أَنتَ الَّذي بِفِعالِهِ وَمَقالِهِ

    في حُكمِهِ أَنسى ذَكاءَ إِياسِ

    You are the one who, by his deeds and words,

    in his judgments, has eclipsed the brilliance of Iyas.

  28. إِن يَنثُرِ الدُرَّ النَفيسَ بَنانُهُ

    يَنظِمهُ بِالأَقلامِ في القِرطاسِ

    If his fingertips scatter precious pearls,

    he strings them with pens upon the paper.

  29. بِبَيانِهِ وَبَنانِهِ سِحرانِ مِن

    لَفظٍ وَخَطٍّ باهِرِ الجلّاسِ

    In his eloquence and fingertips are two spells of

    speech and script that dazzle the gathering.

  30. ما إِن رَأَينا صائِغاً مِن قَبلِهِ

    في الطِّرسِ صاغَ الدُرَّ مِن أَنقاسِ

    Never before him have we seen a jeweler

    who fashioned pearls from ink upon a page.

  31. يا مَن يُنافِسُهُ لَقَد أَمَّلتَ أَن

    تَلقى شُعاعَ الشَمسِ بِالنِّبراسِ

    O you who rival him, you have indeed hoped

    to face the sun’s radiance with a lamp.

  32. طبٌّ بِأَحكامِ الشَريعَةِ فارِسٌ

    في حَومَتَي نَصٍّ وَحُسنِ قِياسِ

    Expert in the rulings of sacred law, a knight

    in the twin arenas of textual authority and sound analogy.

  33. مِن دَوحَةٍ قُرَشِيَّةٍ أُمَوِيَّةٍ

    في سُرَّةِ البَطحاءِ ذاتَ عِراسِ

    From a spreading Qurayshi, Umayyad tree,

    firmly rooted in the heart of al-Batha.

  34. فَكَأَنَّ عافِيهِ زُهَيرٌ مادِحاً

    هَرِماً فَحادَ بِهِ عَنِ الإِفلاسِ

    So it is as though his petitioner were Zuhayr praising

    Harim, who thus led him away from destitution.

  35. وَحسوده يَحكي كُلَيباً إِذ ثَوى

    لِيَدَيهِ وَالفَمِ مِن يَدَي حَسحَاسِ

    And his envier resembles a little dog when it falls

    upon its forepaws and mouth, struck down by a lion’s paws.

  36. إِن كُنتُ نِسياً عِندَ مُحي الدينِ مَن

    سِيّاً فَلَيسَ لِيَ اِبنُهُ بِالناسي

    If I am to Muhyi al-Din a cast-off thing,

    forgotten, his son does not forget me.

  37. لَهُما دُعائي وَالثَناءُ عَلَيهِما

    يَتَرَدَّدانِ تَرَدُّدَ الأَنفاسِ

    My prayer for them both, and my praise of them,

    recur as breaths recur.

  38. وَأَنا الجَديرُ لِحُسنِ مَدحي فيهِما

    قِدماً بِما قَد كانَ حُقَّ لِشاسِ

    And I am worthy, for my fine praise of them both

    of old, of what was once due to Shas.

  39. لا فارقا النعماءَ فَهيَ لَدَيهِما

    مَبنِيَّةٌ عادِيّهُ الآساسِ

    May they never part from prosperity, for with them

    it is built upon age-old foundations—

  40. مادامَ ماءٌ في يَزيدَ وَفي ثَرى

    ثَورا وَفي بَردى وَفي باناسِ

    as long as water remains in Yazid and in the moist earth of

    Thawra, and in Barada, and in Banas.

  41. هُنّيتَ عاماً أَقبَلَت أَوقاتُهُ

    وَوُجوهُها بِالنَورِ مِنكَ كَواسي

    May you be blessed with a year whose hours have arrived,

    and their faces are clothed in light from you,

  42. مِثلُ المَصاحِفِ زُيِّنَت أَوراقُها

    بِطَلاوَةِ الأَعشارِ وَالأَخماسِ

    like Qur’an copies whose pages are adorned

    with the splendor of ten-verse and five-verse markers.