Sol 6.1

  1. أَرى أَعْيُناً ترنُو إِليّ كأَنَّما

    تُساوِرُ منها جانِبيَّ أَراقِمُ

    I see eyes gazing at me, as though

    Speckled serpents from them were assailing my flanks.

  2. أَدورُ فلا أَعْتامُ غيْر مُحارِبٍ

    وأَسْعى فلا أَلْقَى امْرأً لِي يُسالِمُ

    I go about, but can choose none except an adversary;

    And I search, but find no man who makes peace with me.

  3. ويجْلِبُ لِي فَهْمِي ضُرُوباً مِن الأَذَى

    وأَشقَى امْرِئٍ في قَرْيةِ الجهْلِ عالِمُ

    And my understanding brings me various kinds of harm;

    And the most wretched man in the village of ignorance is a scholar.

  4. وأَوْجعُ مَظْلُومٍ لقَلْبٍ وذِي حِجىً

    فَتى عَربيٌّ تزدريهِ أَعاجِمُ

    And the wronged man who most grieves the heart and the discerning

    Is an Arab youth whom non-Arabs scorn.

  5. غَنِيتُمُ على ما تزعمُونَ عن الورى

    لقد سَفِهَتْ تِلْكَ الحُلُومُ الزَّوَاعِمُ

    You have no need of humankind, or so you claim;

    Indeed, those minds that make such claims have proved foolish.

  6. وَهل يُقْدمُ البازِي على الطَّيْرِ في الضُّحى

    إِذا زالَ عن ريشِ الجناحِ القَوادِمُ

    And does the hawk attack birds in the morning

    When its wing has lost its primary feathers?

  7. سَلامٌ علَيْكُم لا تَحِيّةَ شاكِر

    ولَكِنْ شَجى تَنْسدُّ منه الحلاقِمُ

    Peace be upon you—not a grateful man's greeting,

    But a choking grief that stops up throats.

  8. وَما قُرِعتْ سِنِّي علَيْكُم نَدامةً

    وأوشِكْ غَداً أَنْ يَقْرعَ السِّنَّ نادِمُ

    Nor have I gnashed my teeth in regret over you;

    And soon, tomorrow, a remorseful man will gnash his teeth.

  9. علَيْكُم بدارِي فاهْدِمُوها دعائِماً

    ففى الأَرْضِ بنَّاءُونَ لِي ودَعائِمُ

    Set upon my house, then demolish it, pillars and all;

    For on earth there are builders for me, and pillars.

  10. لئِن أَخْرجتْني عنكُم شرُّ عُصْبة

    ففي الأَرْضِ إِخْوانٌ عليَّ أَكارِمُ

    Even if the worst band has driven me away from you,

    Then on earth are brothers dear to me.

  11. وإِنْ هَشَمَتْ حقِّي أُميّةُ عِنْدها

    فَهاتا عَلى ظَهْرِ المحجَّةِ هاشِمُ

    And if Umayya has crushed my claim upon her,

    Then here is Hashim upon the highway.

  12. ولا غَرو مِن تَرْكِ القَلانِسِ جانِباً

    إِذا عَرفَتْ حَقِّي هُناكَ العمائِمُ

    Nor is it strange to set the caps aside,

    When the turbans there acknowledge my due.

  13. ولمّا فَشا بِالدَّمْعِ مِنْ سِرِّ وجْدِنا

    إِلى كاشحِينا ما القُلُوبُ كواتِمُ

    And when tears disclosed something of our secret passion

    To our ill-wishers—what our hearts concealed—

  14. أَمرْنا بإِمْساكِ الدُّمُوعِ جُفُونَنا

    لِيْشجي بما تطوِي عَذُولٌ ولائِمُ

    We commanded our eyelids to hold back the tears,

    So that what those lids conceal might grieve reprover and blamer.

  15. فظَلَّتْ دُمُوعُ العيْنِ حيْرى كأَنَّها

    خِلالَ مآقِينا لآلٍ توائِمِ

    So the eye's tears remained bewildered, as though they were

    Twin pearls within the corners of our eyes.

  16. أَبَى دَمْعُنا يَجْرِي مَخافةَ شامِتِ

    فنَظَّمهُ بَيْنَ المحاجِرِ ناظِمُ

    Our tears refused to flow for fear of a gloater,

    So a pearl-stringer strung them between the eye-sockets.

  17. وراقَ الهَوى منَّا عُيُونٌ كَرِيمةٌ

    تَبسَّمْنَ حتى ما تَرُوقُ المباسِمُ

    And love was charmed by noble eyes of ours;

    They smiled until smiling mouths no longer charmed.