Sol 6.1

  1. يا نائيا وفؤاد الصبِّ مأواه

    رفقا بمن أضرمت بالوجد أحشاهُ

    O distant one, whose abode is the yearning lover's heart,

    Be gentle with one whose entrails you have set aflame with yearning.

  2. وعامل الله في قلب غدا دنفا

    قد بات يرعى حبيبا ليس يرعاه

    And be mindful of God toward a heart grown lovesick,

    That has spent the night caring for a beloved who does not care for it.

  3. كسا النوى بدني ثوب السقام وقد

    نفى الحبيب منامي ورد ذكراه

    Separation clothed my body in sickness's robe, and

    The beloved banished my sleep and brought back remembrance of him.

  4. معذبي بالهوى عطفا على كبد

    اسير ايدي النوى والحب أغراه

    My tormentor in love, have pity on a liver,

    Captive in separation's hands, beguiled by love.

  5. دعاه يوم تنائينا الهوى فاتى

    طوعا على عجل يسعى ولبّاه

    Love called it on the day we parted, and it came

    Willingly, in haste, hurrying to answer its call.

  6. لا آنس الله أيام العراق فقد

    أودت بقلب فتى ذابت سويداه

    May God grant no cheer to the days in Iraq, for they

    Destroyed a young man's heart, whose dark core melted.

  7. حسبي الغرام الذي لا أرتضي أبداً

    الّا المنام قرى والبين ولاه

    Love's torment is enough for me; never will I accept

    Any guest-fare but sleep, which separation has driven away.

  8. استودع الله من بالطرف منزله

    حبّا وان سار كان القلب مسراه

    I entrust to God the one whose home is in the eye,

    Out of love; and if he journeys, the heart is his path.

  9. اني ولو بالنوى والهجر المفنى

    قربا وبعدا على الحالين أهواه

    As for me, even through separation and consuming estrangement,

    Near or far, in either state, I love him.

  10. سلوه ان يمنح المشتاق بعض كرى

    لعلّ طيف خيال منه نقاه

    Ask him to grant the yearning one a little sleep;

    Perhaps a phantom vision from him may cleanse him [reading uncertain].

  11. لا آخذ الله عينيه بما فعلت

    فالصبر ولى وهذا القلب يفداه

    May God not hold his eyes to account for what they have done;

    For patience has fled, and this heart would ransom him.

  12. كيف السلو ولي عهد يذكرني

    من الحبيب وداداً لست أنساه

    How can I forget, when I have a pledge that reminds me

    Of affection from the beloved that I cannot forget?

  13. سقا معاهد لبنان الحيا غدقا

    وجاده من سحاب الجود أوفاه

    May abundant rain water Lebanon's familiar haunts,

    And may the fullest clouds of bounty shower it.

  14. لقد سما طوده بالأمن مفتخرا

    والبرّ زينه والعدل انشاه

    Its mountain has indeed risen high, proud in its security;

    Righteousness adorned it, and justice built it.

  15. طابت مرابعه بالشيح واتشحت

    من الخزامى بثوب الرند صحراه

    Its springtime haunts grew fragrant with wormwood, and

    Its desert was mantled in lavender and a robe of laurel.

  16. وقام غصن النقا يهتز من طرب

    لما شدت في رياض العز ورقاه

    A bough on the sand dune rose, swaying with delight,

    When its gray dove sang in the gardens of glory.

  17. وفاح زهر الربى عرفا شذا عطرا

    يا حبذا نشره الذاكي ورياه

    The hill flowers exhaled fragrance, sweet scent, and perfume;

    How lovely its penetrating scent and fragrance!

  18. وغار سوسنه من عين نرجسه

    وقام ورد البها يزهو بسماه

    Its iris grew jealous of its narcissus's eye,

    And beauty's rose arose, proud of its sky.

  19. ولؤلؤ الطل في جيد الأقاح حكى

    ثغر الحبيب إذا افترّت ثناياه

    And the pearls of dew on the daisies' neck resembled

    The beloved's mouth when a smile reveals his front teeth.

  20. والياسمين من النسرين في وله

    يصافح البان لما اهتزّ عطفاه

    And jasmine, besotted with the wild rose,

    Shakes hands with the moringa as its two flanks sway.

  21. يا حبذا بيت دين المجد ان له

    عزّا تسامى على الأفلاك مبناه

    How lovely is glorious Beit al-Din! It possesses

    Such might: its edifice soars above the celestial spheres.

  22. طوبى لمن فاز في قرب ولثم ثرى

    وعفر الخد في لألاء حصباه

    Blessed is one who attained nearness and kissed its soil,

    And rubbed his cheek in its glittering pebbles.

  23. ضائت بافق علاه الشهب وارتفعت

    فوق الثريا ثريّاه وجوزاه

    The stars shone on the horizon of its height, and there rose

    Above the Pleiades its chandelier and its Orion.

  24. باهت محاسنه بالعز وافتخرت

    كل المحاسن في أوصاف مولاه

    Its beauties boasted in glory, and

    All beauty took pride in the qualities of its lord.

  25. أعني البشير الذي بالنصر جاء وقد

    روى شهاب الثنا عن نور علياه

    I mean Bashir, who came with victory, and indeed

    Praise's meteor has told of the light of his eminence.

  26. أميرنا الماجد المفضال من وكفت

    للسائلين بسحب الجود كفاه

    Our glorious, bountiful emir, whose

    Two palms rain clouds of bounty upon those who ask,

  27. حوى المحامد من جود ومن كرم

    وكل حسن تراه فهو معناه

    Gathered every virtue of generosity and nobility;

    And whatever beauty you see, he is its essence.

  28. ان قلت بحر فمن كفيه مندفق

    أو قلت ليثٌ فإن الليث يخشاه

    If you say 'an ocean,' it pours forth from his palms;

    Or say 'a lion,' the lion fears him.

  29. أو قلت فتكا فسل عنه السيوف وسل

    جمع الصفوف تقل لا ضيغم الأمر

    Or speak of deadly might: ask the swords about him, and ask

    The massed ranks; they will say, 'No lion of command' [sense unclear].

  30. وحقه وهبات من يديه بدت

    لنا وروضته الغنا ويمناه

    By his worth, and the gifts that came from his hands

    To us, by his lush garden and his right hand,

  31. ومجده ومعاليه وشيمته

    وطيب أخلاقه الحسنى ونعماه

    By his glory, his lofty virtues, and his character,

    And his fine, goodly morals and his favors,

  32. ما حلت عن حب من يبدي لنا دررا

    في سلك شعر لسمعي ما أحيلاه

    I have never turned from loving one who offers us pearls

    On a thread of verse—how sweet it is to my ear!

  33. البارع الفاضل الندب الشهير أبو ال

    نظم البديع فيا شوقي لرؤياه

    The gifted, virtuous, gallant, renowned father of the

    Marvelous verse—oh, how I long to see him!

  34. مهذّب من بني الاتراك قد شهدت

    لنظمه العرب لما استنطقوا فاه

    A refined son of the Turks; indeed

    The Arabs attested his verse when they drew speech from his mouth.

  35. كأنه بلبل الآداب حين شدا

    نظما بليغا غدا قلبي معنّاه

    As though he were literature's nightingale when he sang

    Eloquent verse that left my heart lovesick for him.

  36. لقد سما الأدب السامي بنور سنا

    آدابه وعلا حسنا بانشاه

    Exalted literature has risen through the radiant light

    Of his literary arts, and grown more beautiful through his compositions.

  37. رعى المهيمن ذاك الخل أنّ له

    بين الجوانح شوقا بتّ أصلاه

    May the Guardian protect that friend; for him I bear

    Between my ribs a longing whose fire I have endured all night.

  38. أخا الوداد أما من حيكم خبر

    يشفي الذي كحلت بالسهاد عيناه

    Brother in affection, is there no news from your quarter

    To heal the one whose eyes are kohled with sleeplessness?

  39. ويا خليلا على الأشواق مطلعا

    كيف انثنيت لسهو ما عهدناه

    And O friend, acquainted with these longings,

    How have you lapsed into a neglect we never knew in you?

  40. كفى المتيم ان البين أتلفه

    والصبر عز وداعي الشوق اضناه

    It is enough for the lovesick one that separation has destroyed him,

    While patience is elusive, and longing's summons has worn him out.

  41. بحق أيامنا اللائي سلفن لنا

    وكاس صفو هناء قد رشفناه

    By the worth of our days that have passed,

    And the cup of pure happiness we have sipped,

  42. رفقا بصبّ غدا بالحب ذا وصب

    يا نائيا وفؤاد الصب مأواه

    Be gentle with a yearning lover whom love has made ill,

    O distant one, whose abode is the yearning lover's heart.