Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا ما لِقَلبٍ لا تُقَضّى حَوائِجُه

    وَوَجدٍ أَطارَ النَومَ بِاللَيلِ لاعِجُه

    Ah, what ails a heart whose needs are never met,

    and a longing whose burning anguish drove sleep away at night,

  2. وَداءٍ ثَوى بَينَ الجَوانِحِ وَالحَشا

    فَهَيهاتَ مِن إِبرائِهِ ما يُوالِجُه

    and a sickness lodged among the ribs and entrails?

    So far from healing it is what penetrates it!

  3. أَلا إِنَّ دونَ الصَبرِ ذِكرَ مُفارِقٍ

    سَقى اللَهُ أَيّاماً تَجَلَّت هَوادِجُه

    Ah, the memory of one who left stands in the way of patience;

    may God water the days when his camel-litters came into view.

  4. غَزالٌ صَفا ماءُ الشَبابِ بِخَدِّهِ

    فَضاقَت عَلَيهِ سورُهُ وَدَمالِجُه

    A gazelle, the water of youth clear upon his cheek,

    so his bracelets and armlets grew tight upon him.

  5. وَمُنتَصِرٍ بِالغُصنِ وَالحُسنِ وَالنَقا

    وَصُدغٍ أُديرَت فَوقَ وَردٍ صَوالِجُه

    And one victorious through the bough, beauty, and the sand dune,

    and a temple-lock whose polo mallets curved above roses.

  6. تَحَكَّمَ فيهِ البَينُ وَالدَهرُ يَنقَضي

    فَلِلَّهِ رَأيٌ ما أَضَلَّت مَناهِجُه

    Parting held sway over him, while time passed on.

    So God's is a judgment whose paths do not lead astray.

  7. وَآخِرُ حَظّي مِنهُ تَوديعُ ساعَةٍ

    وَقَد مَزَجَ الإِصباحَ بِاللَيلِ مازِجُه

    And my last share of him was an hour's farewell,

    when its mingler had blended daybreak with night.

  8. وَغَرَّدَ حادي الرَكبِ وَاِنشَقَّتِ العَصا

    وَصاحَت بِأَخبارِ الفِراقِ شَواحِجُه

    And the caravan's camel-driver sang, and the staff split apart,

    and its croakers cried the tidings of separation.

  9. فَكَم دَمعَةٍ تَعصي الجُفونَ غَزيرَةٍ

    وَكَم نَفَسٍ كَالجَمرِ تَدمى مَخارِجُه

    Then how many a copious tear defies the eyelids,

    and how many a breath like embers, whose passages bleed!

  10. وَآخِرُ آثارِ المَحَبَّةِ ما تَرى

    طَلولٌ وَرَبعٌ قَد تَغَيَّرَ ناهِجُه

    And the last traces of love are what you see:

    ruins and a campsite whose well-worn path has changed.

  11. أَضَرَّ بِهِ صَوبٌ مِنَ المُزنِ وابِلٌ

    وَكَشفُ رِياحٍ ذارِياتٍ دَوارِجُه

    It was damaged by a torrential downpour from the rainclouds,

    and by the scouring of winds that scatter its tracks.

  12. أَلا إِنَّ بَعدَ النَأيِ قُرباً وَأَوبَةً

    وَتَحتَ غِطاءِ الحُزنُ وَالهَمُّ فارِجُه

    Ah, after separation come nearness and return,

    and beneath the veil of grief and care lies their relief.

  13. وَيَومِ هَجيرٍ لا يُجيرُ كِناسُهُ

    مِنَ الحَرِّ وَحشِيَّ المَها وَهوَ والِجُه

    And on many a day of noonday heat, whose thicket could not shelter

    a wild oryx from the heat, even as it entered there,

  14. يَظَلُّ سَرابُ البيدِ فيهِ كَأَنَّهُ

    حَواشي رِداءٍ نَفَّضَتهُ نَواسِجُه

    the desert mirage lingering there as though it were

    the edges of a cloak its weavers had shaken out,

  15. نَضَيتُ لَهُ وَجهي وَعَزماً مُؤُيَّداً

    أَراوِحُهُ حيناً وَحيناً أُوالِجُه

    I bared to it my face and a fortified resolve,

    at times giving it respite, at times plunging into it,

  16. كَأَنّي عَلى حَقبا تَقَدُّمُ قارِحاً

    كَمِثلِ شِهابٍ طارَ في الجَوِّ مارِجُه

    as though I rode a white-flanked she-ass running ahead of a full-grown male,

    like a shooting star whose flame flew through the sky.

  17. يُسَوِّقُ أَسناها لَواقِحَ قُربِهِ

    فَأَلقَينَ حَملاً أَعجَلَتهُ نَواتِجُه

    He drives their finest pregnant females, pressing close,

    so they cast out a burden hurried forth by its midwives.

  18. رَمَينَ عَلى أَفخاذِهِنَّ أَجِنَّةً

    كَما أَزلَقَت وَلدانَ نَسرٍ جَآدِجُه

    They cast fetuses upon their thighs,

    as a vulture's nests let its young slip down.

  19. وَيَرفَعنَ نَقعاً كَالمُلاءِ مُهَلهَلاً

    تَموجُ عَلى ظَهرِ البِلادِ مَوائِجُه

    And they raise dust like loosely woven sheets,

    its billows surging over the back of the land.

  20. وَيارُبَّ مَطروقٍ قَمَرتُ غَيورَهُ

    وَطاوَعتُ فيهِ حُبَّ نَفسٍ أُعالِجُه

    And many a beloved I visited by night, outwitting his jealous guardian,

    and yielded to the soul's love for him, which I wrestled with,

  21. فَريدَينِ لا نُلقى بِعِلمٍ كَأَنَّنا

    نَجِيّانِ مِن مَكرٍ خَفِيٍّ سَوائِجُه

    alone together, unseen by anyone, as though we were

    two confidants in a plot whose designs lay hidden,

  22. إِلى أَن تَوَلّى النَجمُ وَاِنخَرَقَ الدُجى

    كَأَنَّ ضِياءَ الفَجرِ بِالأُفقِ باعِجُه

    until the star withdrew and the darkness was rent,

    as though dawn's light on the horizon were ripping it open.

  23. وَأُبتُ وَبي مِن وِدِّها مُضمَراتُهُ

    وَداخِلُهُ سِرٌّ وَلِلناسِ خارِجُه

    And I returned with the secrets of her love within me,

    its inner part a secret, its outward part for others.

  24. وَيا رُبَّ يَومٍ قَد سَبَقتُ صَباحَه

    بِمَوكِبِ فِتيانٍ تَسيلُ هَمالِجُه

    And many a day's dawn I had outstripped,

    with a cavalcade of youths, its ambling mounts flowing along.

  25. وَإِبريقُ شَربٍ قَد أَجَبتُ دُعاتَهُ

    كَأَنَّ مُديرَ الراحِ في الكَأسِ دارِجُه

    And many a drinkers' ewer whose callers I answered,

    as though the wine-server were walking inside the cup.

  26. وَيَنقَضُّ بِالأَرواحِ روحُ مُدامَةٍ

    يَكونُ بِأَفواهِ النَدامى مَعارِجُه

    And the spirit of wine sweeps souls away;

    its paths of ascent lie in the mouths of drinking companions.

  27. وَقَد عِشتُ حَتّى ما لَدى وَجهِ مُنيَةٍ

    يَعودُ إِلَيها مِن فُؤادِيَ عالِجُه

    And I have lived until no longer, at the prospect of a wish,

    does my heart's striving return to it.