Sol 6.1

  1. طَلَبتُ الصِبا إِذ عَلا المَكبَرُ

    وَشابَ القَذالُ وَما تُقصِرُ

    I sought youthful pleasures when old age took hold,

    and the back of the head turned gray, yet you do not desist.

  2. وَبانَ الشَبابُ وَلَذّاتُهُ

    وَمِثلُكَ في الجَهلِ لا يُعذَرُ

    Youth and its pleasures have departed,

    and one like you is not excused for folly.

  3. وَقالَ العَواذِلُ هَل يَنتَهي

    فَيَقدَعُهُ الشَيبُ أَو يَقصِرُ

    The reproachers said, 'Will he desist,

    will gray hair check him, or will he hold back?'

  4. وَفي أَربَعينَ تَوَفَّيتُها

    وَعَشرٍ مَضَت لي مُستَبصَرُ

    And in forty years that I have completed,

    and ten that have passed, there is insight for me,

  5. وَمَوعِظَةٌ لِاِمرِءٍ حازِمٍ

    إِذا كانَ يَسمَعُ أَو يُبصِرُ

    and admonition for a resolute man,

    if he listens or sees.

  6. فَلا تَأسَفَنَّ عَلى ما مَضى

    وَلا يَحزُنَنَّكَ ما يُدبِرُ

    So never grieve over what has passed,

    nor let what slips away sadden you.

  7. فَإِنَّ الحَوادِثَ تُبلي الفَتى

    وَإِنَّ الزَمانَ بِهِ يَعثُرُ

    For calamities wear a man down,

    and time trips him up.

  8. فَيَوماً يُساءُ بِما نابَهُ

    وَيَوماً يُسَرُّ فَيَستَبشِرُ

    One day he is saddened by what befalls him,

    and another he is gladdened and rejoices.

  9. وَمِن كُلِّ ذَلِكَ يَلقى الفَتى

    وَيُمنى لَهُ مِنهُ ما يُقدَرُ

    A man encounters all of this,

    and what is decreed of it is allotted to him.

  10. كَأَنِّيَ لَم أَرتَحِل جَسرَةً

    وَلَم أَجفِها بَعدَ ما تَضمِرُ

    As though I had never mounted a sturdy she-camel,

    nor worn her down after she grew lean,

  11. فَأُجشِمُها كُلَّ دَيمومَةٍ

    وَيَعرِفُها البَلَدُ المُقفِرُ

    making her toil across every trackless waste,

    and the desolate land knows her;

  12. وَلَم أَشهَدِ البَأسَ يَومَ الوَغى

    عَلَيَّ المُفاضَةُ وَالمِغفَرُ

    nor witnessed fighting on the day of battle,

    with ample mail and a mail-coif upon me;

  13. وَلَم أَخرِقِ الصَفَّ حَتّى تَمي

    لَ دارِعَةُ القَومِ وَالحُسَّرُ

    nor pierced the ranks until they swayed—

    the people's armored men and the unarmored;

  14. وَتَحتي جَرداءَ خَيفانَةٌ

    مِنَ الخَيلِ أَو سابِحٌ مُجفَرُ

    and beneath me a sleek, locust-swift mare,

    of the horses—or a broad-barreled steed that swims along.

  15. أُطاعِنُ بِالرُمحِ حَتّى اللَبا

    نُ يَجري بِهِ العَلَقُ الأَحمَرُ

    I thrust with the spear until the breast

    runs with red, clotted blood.

  16. وَما كُنتَ في الحَربِ إِذ شَمَّرَت

    كَمَن لا يُذيبُ وَلا يُخثِرُ

    And you were not in war, when it girded itself,

    like one who neither melts nor thickens.

  17. وَلَكِنَّني كُنتَ ذا مِرَّةٍ

    عَطوفاً إِذا هَتَفَ المُحجَرُ

    But I was a man of strength,

    turning back to help when the beleaguered man cried out.

  18. أُجيبُ الصَريخَ إِذا ما دَعا

    وَعِندَ الهِياجِ أَنا المِسعَرُ

    I answer the caller for help whenever he calls,

    and in the fray I am the kindler.

  19. فَإِن أُمسِ قَد لاحَ فِيَّ المَشي

    بُ أُمَّ البَنينِ فَقَد أَذكُرُ

    Though I have come to show gray hair,

    Umm al-Banin, I can still remember

  20. رَخاءً مِنَ العَيشِ كُنّا بِهِ

    إِذ الدَهرُ خالٍ لَنا مُصحِرُ

    a life of ease that we once enjoyed,

    when time was free and open to us,

  21. وَإِذ أَنا في عُنفُوانِ الشَبا

    بِ يُعجِبُني اللَهوُ وَالسَمَّرُ

    and when I was in the prime of youth,

    delighting in diversion and nighttime conversation.

  22. أَصيدُ الحَسانَ وَيَصطَدنَني

    وَتُعجِبُني الكاعِبُ المُعصِرُ

    I hunted beautiful women, and they hunted me;

    the budding-breasted, nubile maiden delighted me.

  23. وَبَيضاءَ مِثلُ مَهاةِ الكَثي

    بِ لا عَيبَ فيها لِمَن يَنظُرُ

    And a fair-skinned woman, like an oryx of the dune,

    with no flaw in her for anyone who looks;

  24. كَأَنَّ مُقَلَّدَها إِذ بَدا

    بِهِ الدُرُّ وَالشَذرُ وَالجَوهَرُ

    as though her necklace-bearing neck, when it appeared

    with pearls, gold beads, and gemstones upon it,

  25. مُقَلَّدُ أَدماءَ نَجدِيَّةٍ

    يَعِنُّ لَها شادِنٌ أَحوَرُ

    were the neck of a white antelope of Najd,

    before whom a dark-eyed fawn appears;

  26. كَأَنَّ جَنى النَحلِ وَالزَنجَبي

    لِ وَالفارِسِيَّةِ إِذ نَعصَرُ

    as though honey and ginger,

    and the Persian vintage, when we press it,

  27. يُصَّبُّ عَلى بَردِ أَنيابِها

    مُخالِطَهُ المِسكُ وَالعَنبَرُ

    were poured over the coolness of her teeth,

    mingled with musk and ambergris.

  28. إِذا اِنصَرفَت وَتَلَوَّت بِها

    رَقاقُ المَجاسِدِ وَالمِئزَرُ

    When she turns away and around her twist

    fine body-garments and her waist-wrap,

  29. وَغَصَّ السِوارُ وَجالَ الوِشاحُ

    عَلى عُكَنٍ خَصرُها مُضمَرُ

    her bracelet grips tight and her jeweled sash moves loosely

    over folds of flesh, though her waist is slender.

  30. وَضاقَ عَنِ الساقِ خَلخالُها

    فَكادَ مُخَدَّمُها يَندُرُ

    And her anklet is too tight for her shank,

    so her ankleted leg nearly breaks off.

  31. فَتورُ القِيامِ رَخيمُ الكَلامِ

    يُفَزِّعُها الصَوتُ إِذ تُزجَرُ

    Languid in rising, soft of speech,

    a voice startles her when she is rebuked.

  32. وَتُنمى إِلى حَسَبِ شامِخٍ

    فَلَيسَت تُكَذَّبُ إِذ تَفخَرُ

    Her descent is traced to a lofty lineage,

    so she is not called a liar when she boasts.

  33. فَتِلكَ الَّتي شَفَّني حُبُّها

    وَحَمَّلَني فَوقَ ما أَقدِرُ

    She is the one whose love has wasted me,

    and burdened me beyond what I can bear.

  34. فَلا تَعذِلاني في حُبِّها

    فَإِنّي بِمَعذِرَةٍ أَجدَرُ

    So do not reproach me, you two, for loving her,

    for I am more deserving of excuse.

  35. وَقولا لِذي طَرَبٍ عاشِقٍ

    أَشَطَّ المَزارُ بِمَن تَذكُرُ

    And you two, say to a yearning lover:

    'Far away is the one you remember and would visit—

  36. بِكوفِيَّةٍ أَصلُها بِالفُرا

    تِ تَبدو هُنالِكَ أَو تَحضُرُ

    a Kufan woman with roots by the Euphrates,

    who lives there in the desert or in town—

  37. وَأَنتَ تَسيرُ إِلى المُكَّرانِ

    فَقَد شَحَطَ الوِردُ وَالمَصدَرُ

    while you journey toward Makran:

    far off are the outward journey and the return.'

  38. وَلَم تَكُ مِن حاجَتي مُكَّران

    وَلا الغَزوُ فيها وَلا المَتجَرُ

    And Makran was never among my desires,

    nor campaigning there, nor trading.

  39. وَخُبِّرتُ عَنها وَلَم آتِها

    فَما زِلتُ مِن ذِكرِها أُذعَرُ

    I was told about it, though I had never been there,

    and its mention has never ceased to frighten me:

  40. بِأَنَّ الكَثيرَ بِها جائِعٌ

    وَأَنَّ القَليلَ بِها مُقتِرُ

    that the many there go hungry,

    and the few there live in poverty;

  41. وَأَنَّ لِحى الناسِ مِن حَرِّها

    تَطولُ فَتُجلَمُ أَو تَضفَرُ

    and that people's beards, from its heat,

    grow long, then are clipped or braided.

  42. وَيَزعُمُ مَن جاءَها قَبلَنا

    بِأَنّا سَنَسهَمُ أَو نُنحَرُ

    Those who came there before us claim

    that we shall grow gaunt or be slaughtered.

  43. أَعوذُ بِرَبّي مِن المُخزِيا

    تِ فيما أُسِرُّ وَما أَجهَرُ

    I seek refuge in my Lord from disgraces,

    in what I conceal and what I proclaim.

  44. وَحُدِّثتُ أَن مالَنا رَجعَةٌ

    سِنينَ وَمِن بَعدِها أَشهُرُ

    And I was told that we would have no return

    for years, and months after them;

  45. إِلى ذاكَ ما شابَ أَبناؤُنا

    وَبادَ الأَخِلّاءُ وَالمَعشَرُ

    by then our sons will have turned gray,

    and close friends and companions will have perished.

  46. وَما كانَ بي مِن نَشاطٍ لَها

    وَإِنّي لَذو عُدَّةٍ موسِرُ

    And I had no eagerness for it,

    though I am well equipped and wealthy.

  47. وَلَكِن بُعِثتُ لَها كارِهاً

    وَقيلَ اِنطلِق كَالَّذي يومَرُ

    But I was sent to it unwillingly,

    and told, 'Go forth!' like one under orders.

  48. فَكانَ النَجاءُ وَلَم أَلتَفِت

    إِلَيهِم وَشَرُّهُمُ مُنكَرُ

    So I hastened away and did not turn

    toward them; their evil is abhorrent.

  49. هُوَ السَيفُ جُرِّدَ مِن غِمدِهِ

    فَلَيسَ عَن السَيفِ مُستَأخَرُ

    It is the sword, drawn from its sheath,

    so there is no holding back before the sword.

  50. وَكَم مِن أَخٍ لي مُستَأنِسٍ

    يَظَلُّ بِهِ الدَمعُ يَستَحسِرُ

    And many a brother of mine, close in friendship,

    whose tears keep flowing until exhausted,

  51. يودِّعُني وَاِنتَحَت عَبرَةٌ

    لَهُ كَالجَداوِلِ أَو أَغزَرُ

    bids me farewell, while a flood of tears surges

    from him like streams, or more abundantly.

  52. فَلَستُ بِلاقيهِ مِن بَعدِها

    يَدَ الدَهرِ ما هَبَّتِ الصَرصَرُ

    I shall not meet him after this

    for all time, as long as the icy, howling gale blows.

  53. وَقَد قيلَ إِنَّكُم عابِرو

    نَ بَحراً لَها لَم يَكُن يُعبَرُ

    And it has been said that you are to cross

    a sea, to reach it, that had never been crossed,

  54. إِلى السِندِ وَالهِندِ في أَرضِهِم

    هُمُ الجِنُّ لَكِنَّهُم أَنكَرُ

    to Sind and India, in their own land;

    they are jinn, but stranger still.

  55. وَما رامَ غَزواً لَها قَبلَنا

    أَكابِرُ عادٍ وَلا حِميَرُ

    Before us, no invasion of it was sought

    by the great men of 'Ad, nor by Himyar;

  56. وَلا رامَ سابورُ غَزواً لَها

    وَلّا الشَيخُ كِسرى وَلا قَيصَرُ

    nor did Shapur seek to invade it,

    nor the aged Khosrow, nor Caesar.

  57. وَمِن دونِها مَعبَرٌ واسِعٌ

    وَأَجرٌ عَظيمٌ لِمَن يُؤجَرُ

    And before it lies a broad crossing,

    and a great reward for whoever is granted it.