Sol 5.6

  1. أيظن بي أني رنا أو مالا

    أن اتقى الصمصام والعسالا

    Does he think that I gazed upon him or inclined toward him,

    Or that I feared the keen sword and the lances?

  2. هذا الذي بذؤابتيه وفرقه

    يهدي لناظره هدى وضلالا

    This one, whose two sidelocks and parted hair

    Lead whoever beholds him to guidance and error.

  3. أفديه من حسن كأن لم يخلق

    الرحمن حسناً قبله وجمالا

    I would ransom him—a beauty such that it seems

    The All-Merciful created no beauty or loveliness before him.

  4. يصبي بلفتته ويصمي لحظه

    ظبي الفلا والضيغم الريبالا

    His turn of the head enthralls, and his glance strikes dead

    The desert gazelle and the formidable lion.

  5. كالماء جسماً حيثما لاحظته

    ألفيت من شبحي به تمثالا

    His body is like water: wherever I looked at him,

    I found within him an image of my own shadow.

  6. أخشى التماس يديه من ترفٍ به

    وأظنه لولا الغلائل سالا

    I fear the touch of his hands because of his delicacy,

    And I think that, but for his garments, he would flow away.

  7. متبلج نم الظلام بسره

    لما ألم مروعا مجفالا

    Radiant, he made the darkness betray his secret

    When he arrived, terrified and fleeing.

  8. خلنا به الظلماء خاضب لحية

    حان النصول لصبغها أو حالا

    With him, we imagined the darkness a dyer of beards

    Whose time had come to dye them with blades—or change their hue.

  9. فنأى وسفه قصر ليلي طوله

    إن الظلام لظالم ما طالا

    Then he withdrew; through folly, his brief stay made my night long.

    Indeed, darkness is an oppressor whenever it lasts.

  10. متعذراً عن لبثه بمقاله

    ذو الدل يأبى طبعه الأذلالا

    He excused himself from remaining with these words:

    “One endowed with coyness naturally refuses humiliation;

  11. وأخو الهوى يخشى الرقيب ومينه

    والوصل يعقب حيث طال ملالا

    The lover fears the watcher and his false report,

    And prolonged union is followed by weariness.”

  12. فحمدته وذممت مهه ثلاثة

    المنع والأعجاب والاعجالا

    So I praised him, yet blamed three things in him:

    His refusal, his self-admiration, and his haste.

  13. وغدوت اعجب من نحافة خصره

    عند الوداع وحمله الأثقالا

    At parting I began to marvel at the slenderness of his waist

    While it carried such heavy burdens.

  14. ولحسنه كيف استمال عواذلي

    فرأيت حسادي به العذالا

    And how his beauty won over those who reproached me!

    I saw my envious critics become his censurers too.

  15. ولنجح آمالي بمن حاولته

    وأرى الورى لا تنجح الآمالا

    I marveled, too, that my hopes succeeded through the one I sought,

    Though I see that people’s hopes ordinarily do not succeed:

  16. من آل سيفياء الأمير محمد الحالي

    العطاء إذا شكوت الحالا

    Prince Muhammad, of the house of Sayfiya, presently

    Abounding in gifts whenever I complain of my condition;

  17. والمانح العافين قبل سؤالهم

    والجود ما لم تبد فيه سؤالا

    The giver to petitioners before they even ask—

    For generosity is generosity only when no request is voiced;

  18. والقاتل الأعداء بالهمم التي

    ان صال كن صوارما ونصالا

    The slayer of enemies through resolves which,

    Whenever he attacks, become swords and arrowheads;

  19. ليث برود به المهالك بأسه

    والليث لولا بأسه ما صالا

    A lion whose valor enters deadly perils with composure—

    For without its valor, even a lion would never attack.

  20. ما ساى إلا والزمان اسيره

    لا يحسن الأدبار والأقبالا

    He never acts ill but that Time is his captive,

    Unable to distinguish retreat from advance.

  21. وازمة الأقدار طوع بديه ان

    يغدو يميناً أو يروح شمالا

    The reins of destiny obey his hands, whether

    He goes rightward in the morning or leftward at evening.

  22. فلو أنه ممن يجادل بالعلا الأفلاك

    لم تسطع لديه جدالا

    Were he one who challenged the celestial spheres in loftiness,

    They could not prevail against him in debate.

  23. ولو انه ممن يضاهي بالبها الأقمار

    خرت عنده اجلالا

    And were he one who rivaled the moons in splendor,

    They would fall before him in reverence.

  24. فإذا سطا لم تلق إلا باسلا

    ملأ القلوب مهابة وجلالا

    When he strikes, you encounter only a valiant man

    Who has filled all hearts with awe and majesty.

  25. ولدى العطا لم تلف الاوابلا

    عم البقاع مواهباً ونوالا

    When he gives, you find nothing but rain clouds

    Whose gifts and bounty cover every land.

  26. ملك العلا فغدا يضن ببذلها

    كرماً ويبذل في علاه المالا

    He possesses eminence, yet nobly grows sparing in dispensing it,

    While freely spending wealth to sustain his eminence.

  27. فالناس منه اثنان هذا حامل

    ثقلا وهذا مثقل احمالا

    People are of two kinds because of him: this one has a burden

    Carried for him, while that one is laden with gifts.

  28. من أسرة أسروا الوقار وسيروا

    النقع المثار وأحسنوا الأعمالا

    He comes from a family who made dignity their captive, stirred

    The rising battle-dust, and performed noble deeds.

  29. إن صادموا جبلاً ذروه سبسبا

    أو صارموا بحراً دعوه آلا

    If they collide with a mountain, they leave it a level plain;

    Or if they cross swords with a sea, they leave it a mirage.

  30. خاب الذي عاداهم وكأنه

    للشمس يبغي في الهجير زوالا

    Whoever opposes them fails, as though attempting

    To make the sun vanish at the heat of noon.

  31. وكبا الذي جاراهم وأظنه

    ممن يروم من النجوم منالا

    Whoever vies with them stumbles; I deem him

    One who seeks to grasp something from the stars.

  32. يبغي قتالهم وليس بممكن

    أن يستطيع مع الحمام قتالا

    He seeks to fight them, though it is impossible

    To wage battle against death itself.

  33. دم يا وحيد الدهر وابن وحيده

    تهب الرجال ولا تهاب رجالا

    Endure, unrivaled one of the age and son of its unrivaled one:

    You grant men gifts and fear no men.

  34. وانظر إلي بعين حام حامل

    فلقد وهي ركني السوي ومالا

    Look upon me with the eye of a protecting supporter,

    For my sound pillar has weakened and leaned.

  35. والدهر أغدر من بنيه بصحبتي

    ظلما وأظلمهم إلي فعالا

    Time, more treacherous than its children, has treated my companionship

    Unjustly and has dealt with me more darkly than any of them.

  36. نكراً نرى الإقلال منه ومن رأي ال

    إكثار قبل استنكر الاقلالا

    We find its meagerness strange; whoever had seen its

    Former abundance would find that meagerness stranger still.

  37. أنا لا أؤمل أن أفارق بابكم

    حتى يفارق رأسي الأوصالا

    I do not expect to leave your gate

    Until my head parts from my joints.

  38. متوسما حسن الإقامة عندكم

    ولقد طلبت لأحسن الترحالا

    Anticipating the pleasure of remaining with you,

    Though I had sought the finest way to depart.

  39. لكنها رؤياك أنستني الحمى

    والأهل فاستهونت بي الأهوالا

    But seeing you made me forget the homeland

    And family, so terrors became light to me.

  40. بشهادة الرحمن إني لم أحل

    عما أقول ولا أقول محالا

    By the All-Merciful as witness, I have not departed

    From what I say, nor do I utter impossibilities.

  41. فاعطف بأنعمك التي أنا طفلها

    وابعث لطفلك لطفك استطفالا

    So favor me with your blessings, whose child I am,

    And send your kindness to your child, who pleads as a child.

  42. واقهر عداي فقد كثرن وسربي

    الأخدان والأخوان والأخوالا

    Subdue my enemies, for they have multiplied, while my company—

    Intimates, brothers, and maternal uncles—has scattered.

  43. فلأنت أولى من إذا استجديته

    سحت يداه العارض الهطالا

    You are most worthy: when someone seeks your bounty,

    Your hands pour like a rain-laden cloud.

  44. لا زلت في كل الأمور محسداً

    إن الكريم محسد ما زالا

    May you remain envied in every undertaking,

    For the noble person has always been envied.

  45. لولا العقوبد قلت أنت تقسم

    الأرزاق والأعمار والآجالا

    Were it not for punishment, I would say that you apportion

    Livelihoods, lifespans, and appointed terms.