Sol 6.1

  1. أَيُّ دُموعٍ عَليكَ لَم تَصُبِ

    وَأَيُّ قَلبٍ عَليكَ لَم يَجِبِ

    What tears have not poured down for you?

    And what heart has not throbbed for you?

  2. خَبَّت إِلَيكَ الخُطوبُ مُعجِلَةً

    ضُروبَ شَدِّ الجِيادِ وَالخَبَبِ

    Calamities came trotting toward you in haste,

    With every pace of steeds' galloping and trotting.

  3. وَاِعجَبي لِلزَمانِ كَيفَ نَبا

    وَاَعَجَبٌ أَن أَقولَ وَاِعجَبي

    How I marvel at Time—how hostile it has turned!

    And stranger still that I should say, 'How I marvel!'

  4. ما لي وَما لِلخُطوبِ تَسلُبُني

    في كُلِّ يَومٍ غَرائِبَ السَلَبِ

    What have I to do with calamities that rob me

    Each day of such rare spoils:

  5. إِمّا فَتىً ناضِرَ الصَبا كَأَخي

    عِندي أَو زائِدَ المَدى كَأَبي

    Either a youth in life's fresh bloom, like a brother

    To me, or one far advanced in years, like a father.

  6. وَإِنَّني لِلشَقاءِ أَحسَبُني

    أَلعَبُ بِالدَهرِ وَهُوَ يَلعَبُ بي

    And I, to my misery, imagine myself

    Playing with Time, while it plays with me.

  7. ما نِمتُ عَنهُ إِلّا وَأَيقَظَني

    مِنَ الرَزايا بِفَيلَقٍ لَجِبِ

    Whenever I slept heedless of it, it awakened me

    With a clamorous army of calamities.

  8. وَلَم أَزَعهُ إِلّا وَأَعقَبَني

    سَطواً كَوَقعِ الظُبى عَلى اليَلَبِ

    Nor did I ever restrain it but it repaid me

    With an assault like blades striking armor.

  9. في كُلِّ دارٍ تَعدو المَنونُ وَمِن

    كُلِّ الثَنايا مَطالِعُ النُوَبِ

    In every house Death races, and from

    Every mountain pass calamities rise.

  10. يَفوزُ بِالراحَةِ الفَقيدُ وَلِل

    فاقِدِ طولُ العَناءِ وَالتَعَبِ

    The departed wins repose; for the

    Bereaved there is long suffering and toil.

  11. يَطيبُ نَفساً عَنّا وَواحِدُنا

    إِن طَيّبَ القَلبَ عَنهُ لَم يَطِبِ

    He is content to part from us, while each of us,

    Even if he soothes his heart at losing him, finds no peace.

  12. أَحمَدُ كَم لي عَليكَ مِن كَمَدٍ

    باقٍ وَمِن جودِ أَدمُعٍ سَرِبِ

    Ahmad, how much grief for you is mine—

    Enduring—and what torrents of streaming tears,

  13. وَلَوعَةٍ تَحطِمُ الضُلوعَ إِذا

    ذَكَرتُ قُربَ اللِقاءِ عَنِ كَثَبِ

    And burning anguish that shatters the ribs whenever

    I recall the nearness of our face-to-face meeting.

  14. إِن قَطَعَ المَوتُ بَينَنا فَلَقَد

    عِشنا وَما حَبلُنا بِمُنقَضِبِ

    If death has severed us, yet surely

    We lived with our bond unbroken.

  15. كَم مَجلِسٍ صَبَّحَتهُ أَلسُنُنا

    تُفَضُّ فيهِ لَطائِمُ الأَدَبِ

    How many gatherings our tongues greeted at dawn,

    Where literature's perfume caskets were unsealed:

  16. مِن أَثرٍ يونِقُ الفَتى حَسَنٍ

    أَو خَبَرٍ يَبسُطُ المُنى عَجَبِ

    A fine saying that delights a young man,

    Or a wondrous tale that gives hopes free rein,

  17. أَو غَرَضٍ أَصبَحَت خَواطِرُنا

    تُساقِطُ الدُرَّ مِنهُ في الكُتُبِ

    Or a theme from which our thoughts began

    To shower pearls into books.

  18. كَالبارِدِ العَذبِ رَوَّقَتهُ صَبا ال

    فَجرِ أَوِ الظَلمِ زينَ بِالشَنَبِ

    Like cool, sweet water, clarified by the breeze of

    Dawn, or tooth-sheen graced with cool sweetness.

  19. غاضَ غَديرُ الكَلامِ ما بَقي ال

    دَهرُ وَقَرَّت شَقاشِقُ الخُطَبِ

    Speech's pool has dried for as long as

    Time endures; the swelling throats of oratory are still.

  20. يا عَلَمَ المَجدِ لِم هَوَيتَ وَقَد

    كُنتَ أَمينَ العِمادِ وَالطُنُبِ

    O banner of glory, why have you fallen, when

    Your pole and tent ropes stood secure?

  21. يا مِقوَلَ الدَهرِ لِم صَمَتَّ وَقَد

    كُنتَ زَماناً أَمضى مِنَ القُضُبِ

    O tongue of Time, why have you fallen silent, when

    You were once sharper than swords?

  22. يا ناظِرَ الفَضلِ لِم غَضَضتَ وَما

    كُنتَ قَديماً تُغضي عَلى الرَيبِ

    O eye of excellence, why have you lowered your gaze, when

    You never used to close your eyes to doubts?

  23. كُنتَ قَريني وَلَستَ مِن لِدَتي

    كُنتَ نَسيبي وَلَستَ مِن نَسَبي

    You were my companion, though not of my generation;

    You were my kinsman, though not of my lineage.

  24. مِمّا يَقَوّي العَزاءَ عَنكَ وَإِن

    شَرَّدَ قَلبي العَزاءُ بِالكُرَبِ

    What strengthens my consolation for you, although

    Consolation has driven my heart astray with anguish,

  25. أَنَّكَ أَحرَزتَها وَإِن رُغِمَ ال

    دَهرُ ثَمانينَ طَلقَةَ الحِقَبِ

    Is that you won them, though this humbled

    Time—eighty years, untroubled in their course.

  26. فَإِن دُموعي جَرينَ نَهنَهَها

    عِلمي بِأَن قَد ظَفِرتَ بِالأَرَبِ

    So if my tears flow, they are restrained by

    My knowledge that you have attained your wish.

  27. فَليتَ عِشرينَ بِتُّ أَحسُبُها

    بِاعَدنَ بَينَ الوُرودِ وَالقَرَبِ

    Would that the twenty years I spent nights counting

    Had widened the gap between reaching water and the final night's approach.

  28. إِنّي أَظمى إِلى المَشيبِ وَمَن

    يَنجُ قَليلاً مِنَ الرَدى يَشِبِ

    I thirst for gray hair, yet whoever

    Escapes death a little while turns gray.

  29. وَإِن يَزُر طالِعُ البَياضِ أَقُل

    يا لَيتَ لَيلَ الشَبابِ لَم يَغِبِ

    And if the first white hairs visit, I say:

    'Oh, would that youth's night had never vanished!'

  30. مَرَّ عَلى ذَلِكَ التُرابِ مِن ال

    مُزنِ خَفوقُ الأَعلامِ وَالعَذَبِ

    May there pass over that soil, from the

    Rainclouds, one with fluttering banners and streamers,

  31. كَالعيرِ ذاتِ الأَوساقِ صاحَ بِها

    مُعتَسِفٌ بِالأَيانِقِ النُجُبِ

    Like a load-bearing caravan, urged on by the cries

    Of one driving highbred she-camels through trackless land.

  32. إِذا خَبا بَرقُهُ اِستَعانَ عَلى

    إيقادِهِ بِالمُجَلجِلِ اللُجِبِ

    When its lightning fades, it seeks help in

    Rekindling it with clamorous, rolling thunder,

  33. لِتَرتَوي ثَمّ أَعظُمٌ نَزَلَت

    داجي الدَماميمِ موحِشَ الحَدَبِ

    So that bones lying there may drink their fill,

    Amid dark graves and desolate mounds,

  34. بِحَيثُ تُزوى عَنِ النَسيمِ وَتس

    تَدرِجُ عَنّا مَطالِعَ الشُهُبِ

    Where they are hidden from the breeze, and draw

    The rising stars away from us.

  35. فَثَمَّ بِشرٌ أَصفى مِنَ الغَدِقِ ال

    عَذبِ وَجودٌ أَندى مِنَ السُحُبِ

    For there lies cheer purer than abundant

    Fresh water, and bounty more dew-laden than the clouds,

  36. وَأَجبُلٌ كانَ يُستَذَمُّ بِهِ

    مِنَ اللَيالي فَساخَ في التُرُبِ

    And mountains whose shelter once was sought

    From the nights, now sunk into the dust.

  37. لا تَحسَبَنَّ الخُلودَ بَعدَكَ لي

    إِنَّ المَنايا أَعدى مِنَ الجَرَبِ

    Do not suppose that immortality after you is mine;

    For death is more contagious than scabies.

  38. إِنَ اَنجُ مِنها وَقَد شَرِبتَ بِها

    فَإِنَّ خَيلَ المَنونِ في طَلَبي

    If I escape it, though you have drunk of it,

    Still the horses of Death are in pursuit of me.