Sol 6.1

  1. يا باذلاً رزق الورى ومانعا

    وخافضاً أقدارهم ورافعا

    O giver and withholder of humankind's sustenance,

    And lowerer and raiser of their ranks,

  2. وقادراً أضحت صروف دهره

    لأمره مذعنة خواضعا

    And mighty one, the turns of whose age have become

    Yielding to his command, bowing in submission;

  3. وطالعاً كالبدر في دست العلى

    ووارثاً والده طلائعا

    And one who rises like the full moon upon the throne of eminence,

    And heir to his father, Tala’iʿ;

  4. وناصر المجد الذي لو لم يقم

    في حفظه أصبح مجداً ضائعا

    And defender of glory, which, had he not risen

    To guard it, would have become glory lost.

  5. غدوت للمال الجزيل فارقاً

    ورحت للذكر الجميل جامعا

    In the morning you part with abundant wealth,

    And in the evening gather fair renown.

  6. إذا المعالي عرضت نفوسها

    كنت لها مشترياً لا بائعا

    When high honors offer themselves,

    You are their buyer, not their seller.

  7. في منصب الملك أشم شامخ

    قد استخف حمله متالعا

    In kingship's station stands a proud, towering peak,

    Who deems bearing Mutaliʿ a light burden.

  8. ذو هيبة أصبح كل أصيد

    بين يديها ساجداً وراكعا

    Possessed of awe: every haughty man has become

    Prostrate and bowing before it.

  9. لو أن بهرام السماء خانه

    أو طائر النسرين خر واقعا

    Had Bahram of the heavens betrayed him,

    Or the flying one of the two Eagles, it would have come crashing down.

  10. فما عسى بهرام وهو عبده

    إذ كفر الصنع يكون صانعا

    What, then, could Bahram—his own servant—

    Do, after showing ingratitude for his kindness?

  11. سلبته ثوب الحياة إذ غدا

    لخلعة الطاعة عنه خالعا

    You stripped him of life's robe when he became

    One who cast the robe of obedience off himself.

  12. قطعت يوم السبت رأس صنوه

    وذاق يوم السبت سما ناقعا

    On Saturday you cut off his brother's head,

    And on Saturday he tasted deadly poison.

  13. صفحت يوم الحي عنه قادراً

    فعاد في فعل القبيح راجعا

    On the day of al-Hayy you pardoned him, though able to punish,

    Yet he turned back once more to doing evil.

  14. وفارق الطاعة وهي جنة

    تحرز من كان مطيعاً سامعا

    And forsook obedience, though it is a shield

    Protecting whoever obeys and heeds.

  15. عفوت في الأولى فلما خانها

    أدنت له الأخرى حماما شاسعا

    You pardoned him the first time; when he betrayed that mercy,

    The second brought a far-off death close to him.

  16. أراد أن يطلع في ذروة العلى

    لكن بدا من فوق جذع طالعا

    He wished to rise to the summit of eminence,

    But appeared rising above a tree trunk.

  17. غادرته فوق الصليب قائماً

    يمد وسط الجو باعاً واسعا

    You left him standing upright upon the cross,

    Stretching his arms wide in midair.

  18. مد إلى الأفق يدي مستمطر

    فأمطرته النبل وبلاً هامعا

    He stretched toward the horizon the hands of one praying for rain,

    So you rained arrows on him in a pouring deluge.

  19. تركتها مارقة من مارق

    خان ونزهت الحسام القاطعا

    You left them piercing through a renegade

    Who betrayed you; you kept the keen sword unsullied.

  20. وهو ينادي بلسان حاله

    هذا جزا من كفر الصنائعا

    While he cries out in the language of his plight:

    "This is the requital of one ungrateful for favors."

  21. بهرام مفتاح لكل ناكث

    أصبح في بحر النفاق شارعا

    Bahram is a key for every oath-breaker

    Who now ventures into the sea of hypocrisy.

  22. فليصح من خمر الهوى مخامر

    إن كان حلم عن سفاه رادعا

    So let the intoxicated man sober up from passion's wine,

    If good sense can hold him back from folly.

  23. ولا يخادع نفسه فإنه

    رب خداع أهلك المخادعا

    And let him not deceive himself, for

    Many a deception has destroyed the deceiver.