Sol 6.1

  1. مَنابِتُ العُشبِ لا حامٍ وَلا راعِ

    مَضى الرَدى بِطَويلِ الرُمحِ وَالباعِ

    The grasslands have no protector and no shepherd.

    Death carried off the man of long spear and reach,

  2. القائِدِ الخَيلِ يُرعيها شَكائِمَها

    وَالمُطعِمِ البُزلِ لِلديمومَةِ القاعِ

    who leads the horses, feeding them their bits,

    and feeds mature camels to the level wilderness;

  3. مَن يَستَفِزُّ سُيوفاً مِن مَغامِدِها

    وَمَن يُجَلُّلُ نوقاً بَينَ أَنساعِ

    who rouses swords from their sheaths,

    and blankets she-camels between saddle-girths.

  4. يَسقي أَسِنَّتَهُ حَتّى تَقيءَ دَماً

    وَيَهدِمُ العيسَ مِن شَدٍّ وَإِبضاعِ

    He gives his spearheads drink until they vomit blood,

    and wears down pale camels through hard running and swift driving.

  5. ما باتَ إِلّا عَلى هَمٍّ وَلا اِغتَمَضَت

    عَيناهُ إِلّا عَلى عَزمٍ وَإِزماعِ

    He never spent a night without a concern, nor did

    his eyes close without resolve and determination.

  6. خَطيبُ مَجمَعَةٍ تَغلي شَقاشِقُهُ

    إِذا رَموهُ بِأَبصارٍ وَأَسماعِ

    An assembly's orator, his throat-pouches seethe

    when they cast their eyes and ears upon him.

  7. لَمّا أَتاني نَعِيٌّ مِن بِلادِكُمُ

    عَضَضتُ كَفِّيَ مِن غَيظٍ عَلى الناعي

    When news of death reached me from your lands,

    I bit my palm in rage at the death-announcer.

  8. أُبدي التَصامُمَ عَنُه حينَ أَسمَعُهُ

    عَمداً وَقَد أَبلَغَ الناعونَ أَسماعي

    I feign deafness to him when I hear him,

    deliberately, though the death-announcers have already reached my ears.

  9. عَمَّت عُقيلاً وَإِن خَصَّت بَني شَبثٍ

    بِزلاءُ تَملَأُ أُذنَ السامِعِ الواعي

    It engulfed Uqayl, though it singled out Banu Shabath—

    a crushing calamity, filling the attentive listener's ear.

  10. لَيسَ الشُجاعُ الَّذي مِن دونِ رُؤيَتِهِ

    بابٌ يُلاحِكُ مِصراعاً بِمِصراعِ

    The brave man is not one hidden from sight

    by a door fitting one leaf tightly to another,

  11. وَلا الَّذي إِن مَضى أَبقى لَوارِثِهِ

    سَوائِماً بَينَ أَضواجٍ وَأَجزاعِ

    nor one who, when he dies, leaves his heir

    herds grazing among valley-sides and valley-bends.

  12. لَكِنَّهُ مَن إِذا أَودى فَليسَ لَهُ

    إِلّا عَقائِلُ أَرماحٍ وَأَدراعِ

    Rather, he is one who, when he perishes, has nothing

    but treasured spears and coats of mail.

  13. يَعتَسُّهُ الذِؤبُ في الظَلماءِ مُرتَفَقاً

    عَلى رَحايلَ مُلقاةٍ وَأَقطاعِ

    The wolf prowls around him in the darkness as he leans on his elbow,

    on camel-saddles laid down and small rugs.

  14. يُذَوِّقُ العَينَ طَعمَ النَومِ مَضمَضَةً

    إِذا الجَبانُ مَلا عَيناً بِتَهجاعِ

    He gives his eye sleep's taste—a mere rinsing of the mouth—

    while the coward fills his eye with slumber.

  15. أُشَيعِثُ الرَأسِ لا يَجري الدَهانُ بِهِ

    وَإِن فُلي فَبِماضي الغَربِ قَطّاعِ

    Shaggy-headed, no hair oil flows over his head;

    and if deloused, then with a keen-edged, cleaving blade.

  16. لا يُخلِفُ المالَ إِلّا رَيثَ يُتلِفُهُ

    وَلا يُذَمُّ عَلى ما رَوَّحَ الراعي

    He replenishes wealth only for the time it takes to spend it,

    nor is he blamed for what the shepherd brings home at dusk.

  17. كَم فَجَّعَتني اللَيالي قَبلَهُ بِفَتىً

    مُشَمَّرٍ بِغُروبِ المَجدِ نَزّاعِ

    How many a youth the nights had bereaved me of before him—

    girded for action, hauling up glory's great buckets.

  18. يَمُرُّ صَوتي فَلا يُلوي بِجانِبِهِ

    وَكانَ يَكفيهِ إيمائي وَإِلماعي

    My voice passes him, yet he does not turn toward it;

    and once my gesture and signal sufficed him.

  19. مَن كانَ أُنسِيَ أَضحى وَحشَتي وَغَدا

    مَن كانَ بُرئِيَ أَسباباً لِأَوجاعِ

    He who was my solace became my loneliness, and

    he who was my cure became the causes of my pain.

  20. أَنزَلتُهُ حَيثُ لا يَظما إِلى نَهَلٍ

    وَلا يُبالي بِإِخصابٍ وَإِمراعِ

    I laid him where he thirsts for no drink,

    and cares nothing for fertility or lush pasture.

  21. وَاِرتَعتُ حَتّى إِذا لَم يَبقَ لي طَمَعٌ

    أَمَلتُ نَهجَ دُموعي غَيرَ مُرتاعِ

    I was terrified, until, when no hope remained to me,

    I let my tears take their course, no longer afraid.

  22. في كُلِّ يَومٍ أَكُرُّ الطَردَ مُلتَفِتاً

    وَراءَ نَجمٍ مِنَ الأَقرانِ مُنصاعِ

    Each day I renew the pursuit, looking back

    after a receding star among my peers.

  23. أُمانِعُ الدَمعَ عَيناً جِدُّ دامِعَةٍ

    وَأُلزِمُ اليَدَ قَلباً جِدُّ مُلتاعِ

    I withhold tears from an eye exceedingly tearful,

    and press my hand to a heart exceedingly anguished.

  24. هَل دَمعَةٌ حَذَفَتها العَينُ شافِيَةٌ

    داءً حَنَوتُ عَليهِ بَينَ أَضلاعي

    Can a tear cast forth by the eye cure

    an illness I cradled between my ribs?

  25. أَم هَل يَرُدُّ زَمانٌ في ثَنِيَّتِهِ

    لَنا أَوائِلَ سُلّافٍ وَطُلّاعِ

    Or can time, in its mountain pass, restore

    to us the foremost of those gone before and those newly risen?

  26. يَحدو عَلى العُنفِ أُخرانا لِيَلحَقَنا

    عَجلانَ أَبرَكَ أَولانا بِجَعجاعِ

    It harshly drives our last onward, to catch up with us,

    in haste, having made our first kneel on rough, cramped ground.

  27. جَرَّ الزَمانُ عَلى قَومي سَنابِكَهُ

    وَأَوقَعَ المَوتُ فيهِم أَيَّ إيقاعِ

    Time dragged its hooves over my people,

    and Death struck them—what an onslaught!

  28. وَاِستَطعَمَتني المَنايا مَن أَضَنُّ بِهِ

    فَكانَ بِالرَغمِ إِطعامي وَإِشباعي

    The fates asked me to feed them the one I guarded jealously,

    so, against my will, I fed and sated them.

  29. قَلِّد جَناجِنَها الأَنساعَ وَاِرمِ بِها

    مَناكِبَ اللَيلِ نَدباً غَيرَ مِجزاعِ

    Gird their breastbones with saddle-straps, and hurl them

    at the shoulders of night, gallant and undismayed.

  30. فَلا نَجاءٌ مِنَ الأَقدارِ طالِبَةً

    فَاِطلُب عُلالَةَ آمالٍ وَأَطماعِ

    For there is no escape from pursuing fates;

    so seek the brief solace of hopes and desires.

  31. بَينا يَسيرُ الفَتى حَتّى دَعَونَ بِهِ

    فَرَدَّ عارِضَهُ لَيّاً إِلى الداعي

    As the young man journeys, suddenly they summon him,

    and he turns his cheek, twisting toward the caller.

  32. يَسعى مُجِدّاً فَإِن أَلوى بِهِ قَدَرٌ

    ضَلَّ الدَليلُ وَزَلَّت أَخمَصُ الساعي

    He presses on earnestly; but if a fate turns him aside,

    the guide goes astray, and the runner's hollow sole slips.

  33. يا مُصعَباً بَخَسَت أَيدي المَنونِ بِهِ

    فَقيدَ قَودَ ذَلولِ الظَهرِ مِطواعِ

    O Mus'ab, with whom Death's hands dealt unjustly,

    O lost one, easy to lead, gentle-backed and willing!

  34. كَم فُرجَةٍ لِلأَعادي بِتَّ تَكلَؤُها

    لَولاكَ فاهَت بِذي وَدقَينِ مِنباعِ

    How many a breach for enemies you spent the night guarding;

    but for you, it would have gaped with a gushing, twofold rainstorm.

  35. أَلحَمتَها بِصدورِ الخَيلِ مُعلِمَةً

    إِلى الوَغى وَطِوالٍ ذاتِ زَعزاعِ

    You sealed them with the breasts of battle-marked horses,

    charging into war, and with long, fiercely quivering spears.

  36. أَرَشَّ فَوقَكَ نَجديٌّ يَمُدُّ لَهُ

    نيلُ السَماءِ بِآذِيٍّ وَدُفّاعِ

    May a Najdi cloud sprinkle rain above you, supplied

    by heaven's Nile with billows and surging floodwater.

  37. يَبدو مَعَ اللَيلِ رَجّافاً تُكَركِرُهُ

    ريحُ النُعامى بِواني الخَطوِ مِظلاعِ

    It appears with night, trembling, rolled onward

    by the south wind, slow-stepping and limping.

  38. وَكُلُّ هافِتَةِ الأَعناقِ يَنحَرُها

    لَمعُ البُروقِ عَلى ميثٍ وَأَجراعِ

    And every drooping-necked cloud is slaughtered

    by lightning's flashes over soft ground and sandy rises.

  39. بَرقٌ كَخَفقِ جَناحِ المَضرَحِيَّ إِذا

    جَلّى الطَرائِدَ مِن وَمضٍ وَتِلماعِ

    Lightning like the beating of the great eagle's wing when

    it flushes the quarry, all flashes and gleams.

  40. تَجتَرُّ وَدقاً وَتَرغو مِن جَوانِبِها

    رَعداً إِذا قيلَ قَد هَمَّت بِإِقلاعِ

    It chews the cud of rain and bellows from its flanks

    thunder, when they say it is about to clear away.

  41. أَستَودَعُ الأَرضَ خُلّاني لِتَحفَظَهُم

    لَقَد وَثِقتُ إِلى هَوجاءَ مِضياعِ

    I entrust my friends to the earth, that it may preserve them;

    I have indeed trusted a reckless squanderer.