Sol 6.1

  1. نَنامُ من الأيّامِ في غَرَضِ النَّبْلِ

    ونُغْذى بمُرّ الصّاب منها فنستحلي

    We sleep, targets for the arrows of the days,

    And are fed their bitter sap, yet deem it sweet.

  2. وقد فَرَغَتْ للقَوْمِ في غَفَلاتهمْ

    حتوفٌ بهم تُمسي وتُصبحُ في شُغْلِ

    And already, amid the people's heedlessness, intent upon them are

    Deaths, busy with them both evening and morning.

  3. أَرى العالَمَ العلوِيَّ يَفْنى جَميعُهُ

    إذا خَلَتِ الدُّنْيا مِنَ العالَمِ السفلي

    I see the upper world perishing in its entirety

    When this world is emptied of the lower world;

  4. ويبقى على ما كان من قبل خَلْقِهِ

    إلهٌ هَدى أهلَ الضّلالةَ بالرُّسلِ

    And there remains, as He was before its creation,

    God, who guided those astray through messengers.

  5. وَيَبْعَثُ مَنْ تحتَ التراب وفوقه

    نشوراً إليه الفضل يا لك من فَضلِ

    And He raises those beneath the dust and above it

    In resurrection; His is the bounty—what bounty!

  6. أَرى الموتَ في عيني تخيّلَ شَخْصُهُ

    ولي عُمُرٌ في مثله يَتّقي مثلي

    I see Death's figure take shape before my eyes,

    And I am of an age at which one like me grows wary.

  7. وكادتْ يدٌ منه تشدّ على يدي

    ورجلٌ له بالقُرْبِ تمشْي على رجلي

    And a hand of his has almost closed upon my hand,

    And a foot of his, close by, treads upon mine.

  8. وَفي مَدِّ أَنفاسي لَدَيَّ وجَزرِها

    بقاءٌ لنفسٍ غَيرِ متُصّل الحبلِ

    And in the flow and ebb of my breaths within me

    Lies survival for a soul whose cord is not unbroken.

  9. ثمانونَ عاماً عِشتُها وَوَجَدتُها

    تهدّمُ ما تبني وتخفضُ مَنْ تُعلي

    Eighty years I have lived, and found them

    Tearing down what they build and lowering those they raise.

  10. وإنّي لَحَيُّ القوْلِ في الأمل الَّذي

    إذا رُمْتُهُ ألفيتُهُ مَيّتَ الفعْلِ

    And I am alive in word concerning the hope which,

    When I pursue it, I find dead in deed.

  11. إِذا اللَّه لم يَمنَحكَ خَيراً مُنِعْتَهُ

    على ما تعانيه من الحِذْقِ والنُّبلِ

    If God does not grant you good, you are denied it,

    Despite the skill and nobility you bring to bear.

  12. فَيا سائلي عَن أَهلِ ذا العصرِ دعْهُمُ

    فبالفَرْعِ منهم يُسْتَدَلّ على الأصْلِ

    So, you who ask me about the people of this age, leave them;

    For by their branch one infers the root.

  13. إذا خَلَلٌ في الحالِ منك وَجَدْتَهُ

    فإيّاكَ والتعويلَ منهم على خِلِّ

    If you find a flaw in your own condition,

    Beware of relying on any close friend among them.

  14. تأمّلْتُ في عقلي وضعفي فقل إذا

    سئلتَ رأيتُ الشيخ في عُمرُ الطفلِ

    I pondered my mind and frailty; so say, when

    Asked: 'I saw the old man at a child's age.'

  15. وَهَمٌّ له حِمْلٌ على الهَمِّ ثِقْلُهُ

    فيا ليتَهُ مِنْهُ على كاهِلِ الكَهْلِ

    And a sorrow bears a burden whose weight rests upon a frail old man—

    Would that it were shifted from him onto the shoulders of a man in his prime!

  16. رَجَعتُ إِلى ذِكرِ الحِمام فإنَّهُ

    له زَمَنٌ ملآن بالغَدْرِ والخَتْلِ

    I returned to the mention of death, for it

    Has a time filled with treachery and deceit.

  17. وكَم لَقوَةٍ من قُلَّةِ النيقِ حَطّها

    إلى حيثُ تُفْنيها الذبابَةُ بالأَكلِ

    And many an eagle it has brought down from a mountain peak

    To where a fly consumes her by eating;

  18. وقَسوَرةٍ أَفضى إِلى نَزعِ روحِهِ

    وشقّ إليها بين أنيابه العُصْلِ

    And many a lion it has brought to the wrenching out of his soul,

    And cut a path to it between his curved fangs.

  19. فَما لِلرّدى مِن مَنهَلٍ لا نُسِيغُهُ

    وواردهُ يَغْنى عن العَلّ بالنّهلِ

    So death has no watering-place whose drink we do not swallow,

    And its visitor needs no second draught after the first.

  20. فيا غرسةً للأجرِ كنتُ نقلتُها

    إلى كَنَفَيْ صَوْني وألحَفتُها ظلِّي

    So, O sapling planted for reward, whom I had transplanted

    Into the shelter of my care, and wrapped in my shade,

  21. وأنكحتُها من بعد صدقٍ حَمِدْتُهُ

    كريماً فلم تَذْمُمْ مُعاشَرَةَ البعلِ

    And whom I gave in marriage, after praising sincerity,

    To a noble man; you found no fault with your husband's companionship.

  22. أتاني نعيٌّ عنكِ أذكى جوى الأسى

    عليّ اشتعالَ النارِ في الحطبِ الجزلِ

    News of your death came to me, kindling the burning anguish of grief

    Within me like fire blazing through thick firewood.

  23. وجاءكِ عنّي نعيُ حيّ فلم يُجِزْ

    لك الكُحْلَ فيه ما لبستِ من الكحلِ

    And news of my death reached you while I lived; nor did

    The dark sorrow you wore permit you kohl in mourning.

  24. عَلى أَنّ أسْماعَ البلادِ تَسامَعَتْ

    به وهو يجرْي بين ألْسِنَة السبُّلِ

    Though the ears of the lands had heard

    Of it, as it circulated among the tongues of the roads.

  25. فَنُحْتِ على حيٍّ أماتَ شبابَهُ

    زمانُ مشيبٍ لا يُجدّدُ ما يُبْلي

    So you mourned a living man whose youth had been slain

    By years of graying that never renew what they wear away.

  26. فمتّ بما شاءَ الإلهُ ولم أمُتْ

    لِيَكْتُبَ عمري من حياتي الذي يملي

    You died as God willed, while I did not die,

    So that the one who dictates might write out my years of life.

  27. وفارقت روحاً كان منكِ انْتزاعُهُ

    أدقّ دبيباً في الجسومِ مِنَ النملِ

    And you parted with a soul whose withdrawal from you

    Was subtler in its creeping through bodies than an ant's.

  28. أَراني غَريباً قَد بَكيتُ غريبةً

    كِلانا مشوقٌ للمَواطنِ والأهلِ

    I see myself a stranger, having wept for a stranger,

    Both of us yearning for our homelands and kin.

  29. بكتني وظنّتْ أنّني متّ قبلها

    فَعِشتُ وماتت وهيَ مَحزونَة قبلي

    She wept for me, thinking I had died before her;

    Yet I lived, and she died sorrowing before me.

  30. أقامتْ على موتي الذي قيل مأتماً

    وأبكتْ عيونَ الناسِ بالطّلّ والوَبْلِ

    She held a mourning gathering for my reported death

    And made people's eyes shed dew and downpour.

  31. وكُلٌّ على مِقدارِ حَسْرَتِهِ بَكى

    عليّ ولاقَى ما اقتضاه مِنَ الشكلِ

    And each, in proportion to his grief, wept

    For me, and met the sorrow that it entailed.

  32. أَساكِنَةَ القبرِ الَّذي ضُمَّ قُطْرُهُ

    على البرِّ منها والديانة والفضلِ

    O dweller of the grave whose confines have closed

    Around her goodness, piety, and virtue,

  33. أصابكِ حزنٌ من مُصَابيَ قاتلٌ

    فهل أجلٌ لاقاكِ قد كان من أجلي

    A deadly grief over my misfortune struck you;

    So was the death that met you indeed on my account?

  34. وخلّفْتِ في حِجْرِ الكآبةِ للبكا

    بناتٍ لأمّ في مفارقةِ الشّمْلِ

    And you left, in the lap of sorrow, weeping

    Daughters for their mother amid the family's scattering.

  35. يُرَيْنَ كأفْرَاخِ الحمامةِ صَادَها

    أبُو ملحمٍ في وكرِهِ كَأَبي الشّبْلِ

    They appear like the chicks of a dove caught

    By Abu Mulhim in his nest, like the father of a lion cub.

  36. بَكَتكِ قَوافي الشعرِ من غزر أدْمُعٍ

    بُكاءَ الحَمامِ الوُرْقِ في قُضُبِ الأثْلِ

    The rhymes of poetry wept for you with abundant tears

    As gray doves weep among tamarisk boughs.

  37. وكلّ مهاةٍ حَوْلَ قبركِ بالفلا

    لما بين عينيها وعينيكِ من شكلِ

    And every oryx around your grave in the wilderness,

    For the likeness between her eyes and yours.

  38. فَرَوَّى ضَريحاً من كفاحٍ عن الثرى

    له وابلٌ بالخصب ما خُطّ بالمَحلِ

    So may a grave be watered, through struggle for its soil,

    By a fertile downpour, as long as it lies marked out in barren ground.

  39. أَيا ربِّ إنَّ الخَلْقَ لا أرتجيهمُ

    فكلّ ضعيف لا يُمِرّ ولا يُحلي

    O my Lord, I place no hope in creatures,

    For each is weak, bringing neither bitterness nor sweetness.

  40. بحلمكَ تعفُو عن تَعَاظُمِ زَلّتي

    وفضلك عن نقصي وحلمك عن جهلي

    With Your forbearance You pardon the enormity of my fault,

    And through Your bounty, my failings; through Your forbearance, my ignorance.