Sol 6.1

  1. أَطبِق جَناحَيكَ مَعقوداً لَكَ الظَفَرُ

    فَقَد وَصَلتَ وَشَوطُ المَجدِ مُختَصَرُ

    Fold your wings; victory is assured you.

    For you have arrived, and glory's course is shortened.

  2. ما ضَرَّ وَكرَكَ أَن تَأتيهِ مُنطَفِئاً

    ما دامَ قَلبُكَ في جَنبَيهِ يَستَعِرُ

    What harm to your nest if you come to it extinguished,

    so long as your heart blazes within its sides?

  3. أَلَيسَ مِن ريشِكَ المَحبورِ مُطرَفُهُ

    هذي الفِراخُ عَلَيها الأَبرُدُ الحُبُرُ

    Is its bordered cloak not made from your patterned feathers?

    These fledglings wear richly patterned mantles.

  4. تَرَكتَها وَعَلى أَكتافِها زَغَبٌ

    وَجِئتَها وَعَلى أَبدانِها أُزُرُ

    You left them with down upon their shoulders,

    and returned to them with wraps upon their bodies.

  5. هذي البَواكيرُ ما أَورَدتَ سُحرَتَها

    إِلّا لِيُخصِبَ في آصالِها الصَدَرُ

    These first fruits—you led their dawn to water

    only that their return from watering at dusk might be fruitful.

  6. قَذائِفٌ لَن يُرى فَجرُ النسورِ عَلى

    أَحلامِها البيضِ إِلّا حينَ تَنفَجِرُ

    Projectiles—the eagles' dawn will not be seen over

    their white dreams until they burst.

  7. أَتَيتَهُ في النحاسِ الحَيِّ طَيِّبَةً

    عَلَيهِ مِن روحِكَ الأَعراقُ وَالسُرُرُ

    You came to it in living copper, made fragrant

    in its roots and inmost parts by your spirit.

  8. عَيناكَ في الحَجَرِ المَصبوبِ ساهِرَةٌ

    يَقظانَةٌ فيهِما أَحلامُكَ الغُرَرُ

    Your eyes in the cast stone keep vigil;

    within them your radiant dreams are awake.

  9. تُواجِهُ اللَيلَ هَولَ الريحِ صاخِبَةً

    ما ضَرَّكَ الذِئبُ جَوعاناً أَوِ النَمِرُ

    You face the night, the terror of the clamorous wind;

    what harm can a hungry wolf or a leopard do you?

  10. نيرانُ عَبقَرَ في عَينَيكَ إِن مَرَدَت

    هُزجُ الدُجى فَعَلى عَينَيكَ تَنصَهِرُ

    Abqar's fires are in your eyes; if

    the chants of darkness rebel, they melt upon your eyes.

  11. مَهما طَغى اللَيلُ لا تُشقيكَ زَوبَعَةٌ

    وَلا يُجَهَّمُ في أَجفانِكَ الحَوَرُ

    However fiercely night rages, no whirlwind brings you misery,

    nor is the dark-eyed beauty beneath your lids made grim.

  12. صُلبٌ عَلى الدَهرِ لا تَهوي صَواعِقُهُ

    إِلّا عَلى جانِبَي وَقُبَيكَ تَنتَحِرُ

    Unyielding against time—its thunderbolts never fall

    except beside your eye sockets, where they kill themselves.

  13. يَقظانُ وَالناسُ عُميٌ ف مَراقِدِهِم

    سِيّانِ ناموا عَلى ذُلٍّ أَمِ اِحتُضِروا

    You are awake, while people lie blind in their beds;

    whether they sleep in humiliation or lie dying, it is all the same.

  14. عارٌ عَلَينا نَنامُ اللَيلَ هانِئَةً

    عُيونُنا وَعبابُ اللَيلِ مُعتَكِرُ

    Shame on us to sleep through the night with tranquil

    eyes, while the night's surging flood is turbid.

  15. لَم يَبقَ مِن رومَةٍ إِلّا صَغائِرُها

    وَمِن قَياصِرِها إِلّا دُمىً كِسَرُ

    Nothing remains of Rome but its petty things,

    and of its Caesars, only broken dolls.

  16. وَتَشهَدُ الصُبحَ عُرسَ الصُبحِ مُنعَقِداً

    عَلى جَبينِكَ نورٌ مِنهُ يَنضَفِرُ

    And at dawn you behold dawn's wedding taking place;

    a light from it is braided upon your brow.

  17. وَلائِمٌ لَكَ تُزجى مِن مَوائِدِها

    العِطرُ وَالنورُ وَالأَلحانُ وَالصُوَرُ

    Feasts are brought to you; from their tables come

    perfume and light and melodies and images.

  18. وَالشَمسُ بِالجَفنَةِ الخَضراءِ عاشِقَةٌ

    مِن مِرشَفَيها دَمُ العُنقودِ يَختَمِرُ

    And the sun is enamored of the green vine;

    from her lips the grape-cluster's blood ferments.

  19. وَالدُلبُ كِنّارَةُ الأَنسامِ مُرتَعِشٌ

    فيهِ لِكُلِّ نَسيمٍ عابِرٍ وَتَرُ

    And the plane tree, the breezes' lyre, trembles;

    within it every passing breeze has a string.

  20. تَشُدُّ جَفنَيكَ رُؤيا لا قَرارَ لَها

    كَأَنَّما الغَيبُ في عَينَيكَ مُنحَصِرُ

    A vision that knows no rest draws your eyelids taut,

    as though the unseen were confined within your eyes.

  21. عَينُ العَظيمِ ضِياءُ الأَنبِياءِ بِها

    مَرَّ الجَحيمُ وَلَم يُطرَف لَها بَصَرُ

    The great man's eye holds the prophets' light;

    Hell passed by, yet its gaze did not blink.

  22. رَفَعتَ عَنكَ سِتارَ الناسِ مُنتَفِضاً

    أَيَحجُبُ الخُلدُ مَن يَبلى وَيَندَثِرُ

    You lifted the people's veil from yourself, shaking free;

    can one who decays and vanishes veil immortality?

  23. هذي الستارَةُ كانَت في تَشَدُّدِها

    عَلَيكَ آخِرَ قَيدٍ شَدَّهُ البَشَرُ

    This curtain, drawn so tightly

    around you, was the last fetter humankind had fastened.

  24. كَأَنَّها وَهيَ تُنضى خِلعَةٌ كَذَبَت

    مِنَ الفَناءِ لِحاءٌ عَنكَ يُقتَتَرُ

    As it is stripped off, it seems a false robe of honor

    from mortality, a bark being peeled from you.

  25. مُنذُ اِبنِ مَريمَ وَالأَكفانُ هاوِيَةٌ

    عَنِ النُبوغِ وَصَخُر القَبرِ مُنحَدِرُ

    Since the Son of Mary, shrouds have fallen

    away from genius, and the grave's rock has rolled down.

  26. كَم في بِلادِكَ مِن نَفسٍ تَوَدُّ عَلى

    وَقاحِ عَورَتِها أَن تُسدَلَ السُتُر

    How many a soul in your land longs

    for curtains to be lowered over its shameless nakedness!

  27. جاءَت عَروسُكَ في حُلمي تُخاطِبُني

    يَصونُها المَلَكانِ الحُبُّ وَالخَفَرُ

    Your bride came in my dream to speak to me,

    guarded by the two angels, Love and Modesty.

  28. شَبابُها قُبَلُ الأَجيالِ في دَمِهِ

    كَأَنَّهُ بِجَمالِ اللَهِ مُؤتَزِرُ

    Her youth bears the kisses of generations in its blood,

    as though it were girded with the beauty of God.

  29. في مُقلَتَيها نُجومٌ لِلهَوى جُدُدٌ

    وَفي يَدَيها نُجومٌ لِلعُلى أُخَرُ

    In her eyes are new stars of love,

    and in her hands are other stars of glory.

  30. مِن جَنَّةِ الحُبِّ غَرسُ الخَيرِ ما نَبَتَت

    لَو ذاقَتِ الأَرضُ مِن أَثمارِهِ سَقَرُ

    From love's paradise comes the planting of good; there would have sprouted no

    Saqar, had the earth tasted of its fruits.

  31. قالَت ثِمارِيَ لَم تُبذَل لِغَيرِ فَتىً

    جَرَت بِهِ الدعَةُ الخَضراءُ وَالكِبَرُ

    She said, “My fruits have been bestowed on none but a youth

    borne along by verdant ease and grandeur.

  32. كَم شاعِرٍ نَوَّرَت في روحِهِ قُبَلي

    فَكُلُّ قُبلَةِ حُبٍّ مِن فَمي قَمَرُ

    My kisses have blossomed in many a poet's soul,

    for every kiss of love from my mouth is a moon.

  33. وَلَم أَطَأ قَلبَهُ إِلّا عَلى زَهَرٍ

    وِسادَتي وَفِراشي قَلبُهُ العَطِرُ

    And I never trod his heart except upon flowers;

    my pillow and my bed are his fragrant heart.

  34. وَكَم فَتىً بَطِرَ الإِلهامُ في دَمِهِ

    فَقامَ يُغصِبُني في شِعرِهِ البَطَرُ

    And in many a youth's blood inspiration grew wanton,

    so insolence rose to violate me in his verse.

  35. أَطعَمتُهُ شَفَتي حيناً فَساوَمَ بي

    كَأَنَّني سِلعَةٌ تُشرى وَتُحتَكَرُ

    I fed him my lip for a time; then he bargained over me,

    as though I were merchandise to be bought and hoarded.

  36. لَمّا رَدَدتُ عَلَيهِ مِعطَفي خَجَلاً

    صارَ الحُطَيئَةَ في أَحقادِهِ عُمرُ

    When, ashamed, I drew my cloak closed against him,

    Umar became al-Hutay'ah in his rancor.”

  37. أَبا النُسورِ سَقَيتَ المَوتَ خَمرَتَهُ

    فَصُلبُكَ المُصطَفى لِلخُلدِ مُدَّخَرُ

    O father of eagles, you made Death drink its own wine;

    for your chosen loins are held in store for immortality.

  38. ما ضَرَّ نَسرَكَ لَم يُعقِب وَقَد نُسِلَت

    مِنهُ النُجومُ فَفَوزي وَحدَهُ أُسَرُ

    What harm to your eagle that he left no offspring, when there sprang

    from him the stars? For Fawzi alone is whole families.

  39. لرُبَّ حَيٍّ غَدا في قَومِهِ حَجَرا

    وَرُبَّ مَيتٍ غَدا حَيّاً بِهِ الحَجَرُ

    Indeed, many a living man has become a stone among his people,

    and many a dead man—through him the stone has come alive.