Sol 6.1

  1. ظَمائي إِلى مَن لَو أَرادَ سَقاني

    وَديني عَلى مَن لَو يَشاءُ قَضاني

    My thirst is for one who, if he wished, would give me drink.

    And what I am owed lies with one who, if he wished, would repay me.

  2. وَلَو كانَ عِندي مُعسِراً لَعَذَرتُهُ

    وَلَكِنَّهُ وَهوَ المَليءُ لَواني

    Had I found him insolvent, I would have excused him,

    But he, though solvent, has put me off.

  3. رَمى مَقتَلي وَاِستَرجَعَ السَهمَ دامِياً

    غَزالٌ بِنَجلاوَينِ تَنتَضِلانِ

    He struck my vital spot and drew the arrow back bloodied—

    A gazelle with two wide eyes that vie in archery.

  4. أَأَرجو شِفاءً مِنهُ وَهوَ الَّذي جَنى

    عَلى بَدَني داءَ الضَنى وَشَجاني

    Do I hope for healing from him, when he is the one who brought

    Upon my body the sickness of wasting, and grieved me?

  5. أَبيتُ فَلَم أَستَسقِ مَن كانَ غُلَّتي

    وَلَم أَستَرِش مَن كانَ قَبلُ بَراني

    I refused, and sought no water from the one who was my thirst,

    Nor asked for feathers from the one who had pared me down before.

  6. مَرَرتُ عَلى تِلكَ الدِيارِ وَوَحشُها

    دَوانٍ وَمَن يَحكينَ غَيرُ دَواني

    I passed those dwellings, and their wild creatures

    Were near, while the women they resembled were not.

  7. فَأَنكَرَتِ العَينانِ وَالقَلبُ عارِف

    قَليلاً وَلَجّا بَعدُ في الهَمَلانِ

    My eyes did not recognize them, though my heart did,

    But briefly; afterward both persisted in streaming tears.

  8. عَشِيَّةَ بَلَّتني الدُموعُ كَأَنَّما

    رِداوايَ بُردا ماتِحٍ خَضِلانِ

    That evening tears drenched me, as though

    My two cloaks were a water-drawer's two sodden mantles.

  9. ضَمِنَّ وِصالي ثُمَّ ما طَلنَ دونَهُ

    وَإِنَّ ضَمانَ البيضِ شَرُّ ضَمانِ

    They pledged me union, then stalled its fulfillment;

    And surely the pledge of fair women is the worst of pledges.

  10. أَمِنكِ طُروقُ الزَورِ أَيَّةُ ساعَةٍ

    وَعيدُ خَيالٍ عادَ أَيَّ أَوانِ

    Is the visitor's night-arrival from you, at whatever hour,

    And the recurrence of a phantom returning at any time?

  11. أَلَمَّ بِعوجٍ كَالحَنايا مُناخَةٍ

    عَلى جِزعِ وادٍ ذي رُبىً وَمَجاني

    It visited lean camels, curved like bows, kneeling

    At the bend of a valley with hillocks and fruit groves,

  12. وَمَيلٍ كَخيطانِ الأَراكِ تَرَنَّحوا

    فَمِن ذَقَنٍ مُستَقبَلٍ بِلِسانِ

    And drooping riders, like arak shoots, swaying,

    Some with a chin met by a saddle's tongue.

  13. وَمالوا عَلى البَوغاءِ مِن كُلِّ جانِبٍ

    عَواطِفَ أَيدي تَوأَمٍ وَثَوانِ

    And they leaned onto the fine dust on every side,

    Like bending hands, in pairs and in succession.

  14. يَقودُهُمُ مِنّي غُلامٌ غَشَمشَمٌ

    مُعينٌ عَلى البَأساءِ غَيرُ مُعانِ

    A fierce youth—my own self—leads them,

    Helping in hardship, himself unaided.

  15. إِذا اِنفَرَجَت مِنهُ السُجوفُ لِناظِرٍ

    تَأَلَّقَ نورٌ مِن أَغَرَّ هِجانِ

    When the curtains about him part for an onlooker,

    Light gleams from one bright-browed and pure-born.

  16. وَإِنّي لَآوي مِن أَعَزِّ قَبيلَةٍ

    إِلى نَضَدٍ أَو جامِلٍ عَكِنانِ

    And among the mightiest tribe I surely take refuge

    With a massed host or a vast camel herd.

  17. وَإِنَّ قُعودي أَرقُبُ اليَومَ أَو غَداً

    لَعَجزٌ فَما الإِبطاءُ بِالنَهَضانِ

    And my sitting, awaiting today or tomorrow,

    Is surely weakness: delay is no rising to action.

  18. سَأَترُكُ في سَمعِ الزَمانِ دَوِيَّها

    بِقَرعي ضِرابٍ صادِقٍ وَطِعانِ

    I shall leave its thunder in the ear of Time,

    Through my resounding, true sword-strokes and spear-thrusts.

  19. وَأَخصِفُ أَخفافاً بِوَقعِ حَوافِرٍ

    إِلى غايَةٍ تَقضي مُنىً وَأَماني

    And patch camel-pads with the beat of horse-hooves,

    Toward a goal that fulfills wishes and hopes.

  20. فَإِن أَسرِ فَالعَلياءُ هَمّي وَإِن أُقِم

    فَإِنّي عَلى بِكرِ المَكارِمِ باني

    If I travel by night, high glory is my concern; and if I stay,

    Then I build upon noble deeds yet untouched.

  21. وَإِن أَمضِ أَترُك كُلَّ حَيٍّ مِنَ العِدا

    يَقولُ أَلا لِلَّهِ نَفسُ فُلانِ

    And if I depart, I shall leave every living enemy

    Saying, 'Ah, by God, what a soul so-and-so has!'

  22. أُكَرِّرُ في الإِخوانِ عَيناً صَحيحَةً

    عَلى أَعيُنٍ مَرضى مِنَ الشَنَآنِ

    I repeatedly turn a healthy eye among my friends

    Upon eyes sick with hatred.

  23. فَلَولا أَبو إِسحَقَ قَلَّ تَشَبُّثي

    بِخِلٍّ وَضَربي عِندَهُ بِجِرانِ

    Were it not for Abu Ishaq, I would cling little

    To a friend, or lay my neck down to rest beside him.

  24. هُوَ اللافِتي عَن ذا الزَمانِ وَأَهلِهِ

    بِشيمَةِ لا وانٍ وَلا مُتَوانِ

    He turns me away from this age and its people,

    Through the character of one neither flagging nor negligent.

  25. إِخاءٌ تَساوى فيهِ أُنساً وَأُلفَةً

    رَضيعُ صَفاءٍ أَو رَضيعُ لِبانِ

    A brotherhood where the same warmth and closeness belong

    To one nursed on sincerity or one nursed on milk.

  26. تَمازَجَ قَلبانا مِزاجَ أُخُوَّةٍ

    وَكُلُّ طَلوبَي غايَةٍ أَخَوانِ

    Our two hearts mingled in the blending of brotherhood,

    And any two ardent seekers of one goal are brothers.

  27. وَغَيرُكَ يَنبو عَنهُ طَرفي مُجانِباً

    وَإِن كانَ مِنّي الأَقرَبَ المُتَداني

    At anyone but you my gaze recoils, turning away,

    Even if he is the nearest and closest to me.

  28. وَرُبَّ قَريبٍ بِالعَداوَةِ شاحِطٍ

    وَرُبَّ بَعيدٍ بِالمَوَدَّةِ داني

    And many a near one is distant through enmity,

    And many a distant one is near through affection.

  29. لَئِن رامَ قَبضاً مِن بَنانِكَ حادِثٌ

    لَقَد عاضَنا مِنكَ اِنبِساطُ جَنانِ

    If a calamity has sought to close your fingers,

    Your heart's openness has surely compensated us.

  30. وَإِن بُزَّ مِن ذاكَ الجَناحِ مُطارُهُ

    فَرُبَّ مَقالٍ مِنكَ ذي طَيَرانِ

    And if that wing has been robbed of its flight,

    Then many a saying of yours still flies.

  31. وَإِن أَقعَدَتكَ النائِباتُ فَطالَما

    سَرى موقَراً مِن مَجدِكَ المَلَوانِ

    And if calamities have made you sit, how often

    Have night and day journeyed laden with your glory!

  32. وَإِن هَدَمَت مِنكَ الخُطوبُ بِمَرِّها

    فَشَمَّ لِسانٌ لِلمَناقِبِ باني

    And if passing disasters have torn part of you down,

    There still remains a tongue that builds noble deeds.

  33. مَآثِرُ تَبقى ما رَأى الشَمسَ ناظِرٌ

    وَما سَمِعَت مِن سامِعٍ أُذُنانِ

    Deeds of distinction endure while an eye sees the sun,

    And while a listener's two ears hear.

  34. وَمَوسومَةٍ مَقطوعَةِ العُقلِ لَم تَزَل

    شَوارِدَ قَد بالَغنَ في الجَوَلانِ

    And branded verses, their hobbles cut, have never ceased

    To stray, roaming far and wide.

  35. وَما زَلَّ مِنكَ الرَأيُ وَالحَزمُ وَالحِجى

    فَنَأسى إِذا مازَلَّتِ القَدَمانِ

    Your judgment, resolve, and intellect have not faltered,

    That we should grieve if your two feet have faltered.

  36. وَلَو أَنَّ لي يَوماً عَلى الدَهرِ إِمرَةً

    وَكانَ لِيَ العَدوى عَلى الحَدَثانِ

    Had I one day command over Time,

    And recourse against its calamities,

  37. خَلَعتُ عَلى عِطفَيكَ بُردَ شَبيبَتي

    جَواداً بِعُمري وَاِقتِبالِ زَماني

    I would drape your two shoulders with the mantle of my youth,

    Lavish with my life and the prime of my years.

  38. وَحَمَّلتُ ثِقلَ الشَيبِ عَنكَ مَفارِقي

    وَإِن فَلَّ مِن غَربي وَغَضَّ عِناني

    And I would lay your burden of gray hair upon my own head,

    Even if it blunted my edge and checked my reins.

  39. وَنابَت طَويلاً عَنكَ في كُلِّ عارِضٍ

    بِخَطٍّ وَخَطوٍ أَخمَصي وَبَناني

    And long would they stand in for you in every difficulty—

    Through writing and walking, my sole and fingertips.

  40. عَلى أَنَّهُ ما اِنفَلَّ مَن كانَ دونَهُ

    حَميمٌ يُرامي عَن يَدٍ وَلِسانِ

    Yet no one is broken who has before him

    A close friend fighting for him with hand and tongue.

  41. وَما كُلُّ مَن لَم يُعطِ نَهضاً بِعاجِزٍ

    وَلا كُلُّ لَيثٍ خادِرٍ بِجَبانِ

    And not everyone who fails to rise is powerless,

    Nor every lion in its lair a coward.

  42. وَإِنَّكَ ما اِستَرعَيتَ مِنّي سِوى فَتىً

    ضَمومٍ عَلى رَعيِ الأَمانَةِ حانِ

    And in me you have chosen no guardian but a youth

    Who holds it close, tenderly guarding the trust,

  43. حَفيظٍ إِذا ما ضَيَّعَ المَرءَ قَومُهُ

    وَفِيٍّ إِذا ما خُوِّنَ العَضُدانِ

    Watchful when a man's own people neglect him,

    Faithful when his two supporting arms are deemed faithless.

  44. مِنَ اللَهِ أَستَهدي بَقاءَكَ أَن تُرى

    مُحَلّاً لِأَسبابِ العُلى بِمَكانِ

    From God I ask the gift of your continuance, that you may be seen

    Established in a station for the means of greatness.

  45. وَأَسأَلُهُ أَن لا تَزالَ مُخَلَّداً

    بِمَلقى سَماعٍ بَينَنا وَعِيانِ

    And I ask Him that you remain forever

    Among us, within hearing and sight.

  46. إِذا ما رَعاكَ اللَهُ يَوماً فَقَد قَضى

    مَآرِبَ قَلبي كُلَّها وَرَعاني

    If God guards you for a day, He has fulfilled

    All the desires of my heart, and guarded me.