Sol 6.1

  1. عَلى ذَروَةٍ بَينَ أَطلالِ صُور

    يُحيطُ بِها شَجَرٌ وَصُخور

    On a summit among the ruins of Tyre,

    Ringed by trees and rocks,

  2. يَقومُ بِناءٌ كَعُشِّ النُسور

    بِناءٌ يَرى العابِرونَ عَلَيه

    Stands a building like a nest of eagles.

    A building on which passersby see

  3. نَباتاً تَرامى عَلى جانِبَيه

    فَغَطّى بِعَوَسجِهِ سُدفَتَيه

    Vegetation that has spread along its two sides

    And covered its two doorways with its thornbushes.

  4. كَرَمسٍ قَديمٍ لَمينٍ وَزور

    تَكَلَّلَ بِالشَوكِ لا بِالزُهور

    Like an ancient tomb of lies and falsehood,

    Crowned with thorns, not flowers.

  5. طَلاهُ الظَلامُ بِلَون دُجاه

    لِكَثرَة ما لامَستهُ خُطاه

    Darkness painted it in the hue of its gloom,

    For its footsteps had brushed against it so often.

  6. وَمَرَّ عَلَيه الضِيا فَطَلاه

    كَأَنّي بِهِ بُرجُ جِنٍّ وَحور

    And light passed over it and painted it too.

    I fancy it a tower of jinn and houris,

  7. تَرَدَّدَ بَين ظِلامٍ وَنور

    إِذا النورُ لَوَّنَهُ في السَحَر

    Wavering between darkness and light.

    When light colors it before dawn,

  8. وَمَدَّ عَلَيهِ ظِلالَ الحَوَر

    تَراءى كَطَيفٍ خِلالَ الشَجَر

    And casts the shadows of poplars over it,

    It appears like a phantom among the trees,

  9. أَتى من دَياميسِه لِيَزور

    بَقايا ذَراريِّ تِلكَ البُدور

    Come from its catacombs to visit

    The remnants of those full moons' offspring.

  10. وَحينَ يَسيلُ اصفِرارُ المَغيب

    عَلى جانِبَيه بِشَكلٍ كَئيب

    And when the yellow glow of sunset streams

    Over its two sides in mournful fashion,

  11. يَبينُ كَهَيكَل عَظمٍ مُريب

    أَبى أَن تُوَسِّدَهُ في القُبورِ

    It looms like an eerie skeleton

    That refused to be laid to rest in the graves

  12. غَداةَ تَمرَّدَ أَيدي الدُهور

    بِناءٌ تُزَنِّرُ أَسوارَهُ

    By the hands of the ages, on the day it rebelled.

    A building whose walls are girdled

  13. خَرائبُ تَعرِفُ أَسرارَهُ

    فَقَد عاشَت الدَهرَ سُمّارَهُ

    By ruins that know its secrets;

    For through the ages they have been its evening companions.

  14. فَأَصغِ لِنَسأَلَ عَنهُ الصُخور

    أَلِلحُبِّ شُيِّدَ أَم لِلشُرور

    So listen: let us ask the rocks about it—

    Was it built for love, or for evil?

  15. أَيا سائِلَ الصَخرِ عَن جارِهِ

    دَعِ الصَخرَ يَنطِق بِأَخبارِهِ

    O you who ask the rock about its neighbor,

    Let the rock tell its tales;

  16. فَلَيسَ ضَنيناً بِاِسرارِهِ

    بَناهُ الجَلالُ وَشَيَّدَ مَجدَه

    For it is not sparing with its secrets.

    Majesty built it and raised its glory;

  17. وَقد كانَ عَهدُ الجَبابِر عَهدَه

    وَكان الزَمانُ المسوَّدُ عَبدَه

    And the age of mighty rulers was its age,

    And lordly Time was its slave.

  18. تُنارُ اللَيالي بِأَنوارِهِ

    وَتُزهى بِأَعيادِ سُمّارِه

    The nights were lit by its lights,

    And adorned with the feasts of its evening companions.

  19. بَنَتهُ يَدُ الفاتِحينَ الأُلى

    أَهابوا بِفينيقيا لِلعُلى

    It was built by the hand of the conquerors who

    Summoned Phoenicia to the heights;

  20. فَأَمسى بِهِم شَعبُها الأَوَّلا

    يَقودُ الزَمانَ بِأَبصارِهِ

    So through them her people became foremost,

    Leading Time with its gaze,

  21. وَيُسجِدُهُ تَحتَ أَسوارِهِ

    وَكانَت أَميرَتُهُ يَومَ كان

    And making it prostrate itself beneath its walls.

    And its princess was—when it was

  22. أَميرَ القُصورِ بِذاكَ الزَمان

    كَحورِيَّةٍ مِن عَذارى الجِنان

    The prince of palaces in that age—

    Like a houri among the virgins of paradise,

  23. مُعَطَّرَةٍ مِثلَ أِشجارِهِ

    بِدُهنِ اللبان وَأَسحارِهِ

    Perfumed like its trees,

    With frankincense oil and its enchantments.

  24. وَهَبَّت عَلى القَصر ريحٌ سَموم

    ذَرَت مِنهُ أَنوارَ تِلكَ النُجوم

    And a scorching wind blew over the palace,

    Scattering from it the lights of those stars,

  25. كَما ذَرَتِ النارُ شَعبَ سَدوم

    وَلم يَبقَ من مَجد آثارِهِ

    As fire scattered the people of Sodom;

    And nothing remained of its monuments' glory

  26. سِوى غُرفاتٍ لتِذكارِهِ

    تَرى البومَ يَخلفُ أَربابَها

    Except chambers to remember it by.

    You see owls taking the place of their lords,

  27. وَيَقتَحِمُ النَتنُ أَبوابَها

    وَيَفتَرِشُ السوسُ أَخشابَها

    And stench storms through their doors,

    And woodworm makes a bed of their timbers.

  28. كَشَعيبٍ تَخَلّى لأَشرارِهِ

    فَقامَ الدَمارُ لإِنذارِهِ

    Like Shu'ayb, who left his wicked folk to themselves,

    So destruction arose to sound his warning.

  29. لَقَد سَلَّطت فُوَّهاتُ الجَحيم

    عَلى صورَ ناراً وَسَخطاً عَظيم

    Indeed, the mouths of hell unleashed

    Upon Tyre fire and mighty wrath,

  30. كَنارِ يَهوذا وَأُورشَليم

    وَأَبقى الزَمانُ بِأَسفارِهِ

    Like the fire of Judah and Jerusalem.

    And Time preserved within its chronicles

  31. من المَجدِ ذِكرى لِزُوّارِهِ

    تَأَمَّل تَأَمَّل بِروحكَ زُهدَه

    A memory of glory for its visitors.

    Ponder, ponder with your soul its renunciation,

  32. وَكَيفَ تُبيدُ صُروفُ اللَيالي

    أَميرَ القُصورِ وَنَترك بَعدَه

    And how the vicissitudes of night destroy

    The prince of palaces, and we leave behind it

  33. بَقايا من الغُرَفاتِ خَوالي

    خَواليَ لَولا الحَبيبَةُ وَرده

    Remnants of chambers, empty—

    Empty, were it not for beloved Warda.