Sol 6.1

  1. وَهَبَ الدّهرُ نفيساً فاسترَدّ

    رُبّما جاد لئيمٌ فحسَدْ

    Time gave something precious, then took it back.

    Sometimes a base man gives, then begrudges.

  2. إنّما أعْطى فُواقَيْ ناقَةٍ

    بيَدٍ شيئاً تَلَقّاهُ بِيَد

    It gave, for two pauses in a she-camel's milking,

    something with one hand, taking it back with the other.

  3. كاذبٌ جاءَ جَهاماً زِبْرِجاً

    بَعْدَمَا أوْمَضَ بَرْقٌ وَرَعَد

    A liar, it came as a glittering, rainless cloud,

    after lightning flashed and thunder boomed.

  4. إنّها شِنْشِنَةٌ من أخْزَمٍ

    قَلّما ذُمَّ بخيلٌ فَحُمِدْ

    It is a trait from Akhzam:

    seldom is a miser blamed and then praised.

  5. خابَ من يرجو زماناً دائماً

    تُعرَفُ البأساءُ منه والنكَدْ

    He who counts on lasting fortune is disappointed:

    hardship and misery are known to come from it.

  6. فإذا ما كَدَّرَ العَيْشَ نَما

    وإذا ما طَيَّبَ الزادَ نَفَدْ

    When it makes life bitter, life grows long;

    when it makes provisions pleasant, they run out.

  7. فلقد ذَكَّرَ من كان سَها

    ولقد نَبَّهَ مَنْ كان رَقَدْ

    It has indeed reminded those who had forgotten,

    and awakened those who had slept.

  8. قلْ لَمنْ شاءَ يَقُلْ ما شاءَهُ

    إنَّ خَصْمي في حياتي لألَدّ

    Tell whoever wishes: let him say what he will.

    My adversary throughout my life is bitterly relentless:

  9. مُنْتَضٍ نَصْلاً إذا شاءَ مَضَى

    رائشٌ سَهماً إذا شاءَ قَصَد

    drawing a blade that cuts through when it wills,

    fletching an arrow that strikes true when it wills.

  10. فإذا فَوَّقَهُ انْفَلَّ لَهُ

    بَينَ صُدَّينِ فُؤادٌ وكَبِد

    Whenever it nocks it, broken before it lie

    a heart and liver between two flanks.

  11. أبداً يَعْجُمُ منّي نَبْعَةً

    وقَنَاةً ليسَ فِيهَا من أوَدْ

    Forever it tests in me a stave of nab'-wood,

    and a spear-shaft without crookedness.

  12. كُلَّ يومٍ ليَ فيهِ مَصْرَعٌ

    مِنْ سماءٍ أو طِرافٍ أو عَمد

    Each day I suffer a loss

    from roof, or leather tent, or supporting pole.

  13. أوَمَا يَعْجَبُ مِنّا أنّنَا

    عَرَبٌ نُوتِرُ لا نُعْطي القَودَ

    Does it not marvel at us, that we

    are Arabs who bereave others, yet yield no blood-requital?

  14. ماتَ مَنْ لوْ عاشَ في سِرْبالهِ

    غلبَ النُّورُ عليهِ فاتَّقَدْ

    He has died who, had he lived on within his robes,

    would have been overwhelmed by light and blazed.

  15. سَيَّدٌ قُوبِلَ فيه معشَرٌ

    ليس في أبنائهم مَن لمْ يَسُدْ

    A lord in whom a whole clan's nobility met,

    none among whose sons failed to become a lord.

  16. نافَسَ الدّهُر عليه يَعْرُباً

    فرأى موضعَ حِقْدٍ فَحَقَدْ

    Time vied with Ya'rub for him,

    and, finding cause for resentment, resented him.

  17. هابَ أن يُجري عليه حُكمَه

    فنَوى الغَدْرَ له يومَ وُلِدْ

    It feared to impose its judgment upon him,

    so plotted treachery against him the day he was born.

  18. حيثُ لم يُنْظِر به رَيْعانَهُ

    إنّما اسْتَعجَلَهُ قبل الأمد

    It would not grant him respite until his prime;

    it merely hurried him away before his term.

  19. أقصَدتْهُ تِرْبَ خمسٍ أسهُمٌ

    لو رَمَتْه تِرْبَ عَشْرٍ لم تكَد

    Arrows struck him dead at the age of five;

    had they shot him at ten, they scarcely could have.

  20. إذ بدا في صَهَواتِ الخيل كال

    قمرِ الملآن والسيف الفَرَد

    When he appeared upon the horses' backs like the

    full moon and the peerless sword,

  21. ونَشَرْنَا عن رِداءَيْهِ لهُ

    صارِماً يُذكى ورُمْحاً يَطَّرِد

    we brought forth from beneath his two cloaks

    a blazing blade and a forward-driving spear.

  22. ورَجَوْناهُ مَلاذاً للوَرَى

    وَدَعَوْنَاهُ عَتاداً للأبَد

    We hoped he would be a refuge for mankind,

    and called him a provision for all time.

  23. إنّمَا كان شِهَاباً ثاقِباً

    صَعِقَ اللّيْلُ له ثمَّ خَمَد

    He was only a piercing meteor:

    the night was thunderstruck by it; then it went out.

  24. ورُدَيْنِيّاً هَزَزْنَا مَتْنَهُ

    فَتَثَنّى ساعَةً ثم انْقَصَد

    And a Rudayni spear whose shaft we shook:

    it flexed a moment, then snapped.

  25. أجَنوبٌ أم شَمالٌ هَصَرَتْ

    منك في الأيكة باناً فانخَضَد

    Was it a south wind or a north wind that bent

    in you a ben-tree of the thicket until it broke?

  26. قَلمّا يملأُ عيْناً من سَناً

    غيرَ ما يملأُ قلباً من كَمدْ

    Seldom does what fills an eye with radiance

    differ from what fills a heart with grief.

  27. لا رجاء في خُلودٍ كُلُّنَا

    وَارِدُ الماءِ الذي كان وَرَدْ

    There is no hope of immortality; we all

    will reach the water he has already reached.

  28. جاوَرَتْ رَوْضَ ثراه ديمةٌ

    تحمِلُ اللؤلؤَ رَطْباً لا البَرَدْ

    A gentle rain-cloud settled beside his grave's garden,

    bearing moist pearls, not hailstones.

  29. إنّ في الجوْسَقِ قَبراً تُربُهُ

    مِن دَمِ الباكينَ إضريجٌ جسَد

    Within the pavilion lies a grave whose dust

    is crimson, bloodstained with the mourners' blood.

  30. وَطِئَتْ نفسي عليه قَدَمي

    ومشى في فضْلةِ الرُّوح الجسدْ

    My foot trod upon my very soul there,

    and my body walked on what little life remained.

  31. يومَ عايَنْتُ كُماةَ الحرْبِ في

    مَعْرَكٍ لو كانَ حَرْباً لم يُرَدْ

    The day I saw the armored warriors in

    a struggle where, had it been war, they would not have been repelled,

  32. بُدِّلَ الإقْدامُ فيه هَلَعاً

    فاستوى الأبطالُ والهِيفُ الخُرُد

    their boldness was exchanged for panic,

    and heroes became like slender, bashful maidens.

  33. واستْحالَ الزَّأرُ إرناناً كما

    رَجَّعَ الباكي على الأيكِ الغرِد

    Roaring turned to lamentation, as

    the weeping songbird trills among the trees.

  34. قد رآهُ وهو مَيْتٌ فبَكى

    مَن رآهُ وهو حيٌّ فَسَجَد

    He saw him dead and wept—

    he who had seen him living and bowed down.

  35. لو تراخى اليومُ عنه ساعةً

    ملأ الأرضَ طِعاناً وصَفَد

    Had that day held back from him one hour,

    he would have filled the earth with spear-thrusts and largesse.

  36. لو حمتْه الطعنة السُّلْكى لمَا

    كان إبراهيمُ فيه يُضْطهَدَ

    Had the straight-piercing thrust protected him,

    Ibrahim would not have been brought low in this.

  37. ولحالَتْ دونَه رَجْراجة

    كعُبابِ البحرِ يَرْمي بالزَّبَد

    A surging host would have stood between him and harm,

    like the sea's swell casting up foam,

  38. ولُيُوثٌ يُتَّقَى مَكرُوهُها

    وعَناجِيجٌ طِوالٌ تَنْجرِد

    and lions whose violence men guard against,

    and tall, fleet steeds galloping forth.

  39. ولَصَرَّتْ حَلَقٌ ماذيَّةٌ

    وقناً ذُبلٌ وأسيْافٌ تَقِد

    Finely wrought mail-rings would have clanged,

    with seasoned spears and blazing swords.

  40. خيرُ زَنْدٍ كان في خيرِ يَدٍ

    منك قد نِيطتْ إلى خيرِ عَضُد

    The finest firestick was in the finest hand—

    yours, a hand joined to the finest upper arm.

  41. غيرَ أنَّ الذَّخرَ خَيرٌ لامرىءٍ

    لم يَجِدْ من أحزَم الأمرَينِ بُدّ

    Yet a treasure laid up is best for one

    who has no escape from the wiser of two courses.

  42. لو نَجا أشرفُ شيءٍ قَدَراً

    فازَتِ الشمسُ بتخليد الأبد

    If the noblest thing in rank could escape,

    the sun would have won everlasting life.

  43. ولوَ انّ المجدَ يُبقي ماجِداً

    لم يُنازِع جِدَّةَ العيشِ أحَد

    If glory could preserve a glorious man,

    no one would have to fight for life's fresh bloom.

  44. لا أرى عُرْوَةَ حَزْمٍ لم تكنْ

    مِن عُرَى الحزْم الذي كان عقد

    I see no loop of firm resolve that was not

    among the loops of resolution he had tied.

  45. كلُّ مُلْكٍ لملِيكٍ بعدَهُ

    فهْوَ لَغْوٌ عندما كان عُهِد

    Every reign of any king after him

    is idle talk beside what was known of his.

  46. إن تكُنْ عُدَّةُ صِلٍّ مُطرِقٍ

    تَدرَأُ الخطبَ فقد كان استَعَدّ

    If the defenses of a head-lowered viper

    could ward off disaster, he had made ready.

  47. تَخذَ الحزمَ عليهِ كفَّةً

    مِنْ مِجَنٍّ وقتيراً مِن زَرَد

    He made resolve a protective rim about him,

    as of a shield, and fine links of mail.

  48. في سريرِ المُلكِ إلاّ أنّهُ

    هَبَطَ النَّجْمُ إليه وَصَعَد

    Upon the royal throne—except that

    a star descended to him, then ascended.

  49. فترقّى نحوهُ حتى دَنَا

    وتهادَى خلفَهُ حتى بَعُد

    He climbed toward it until he drew near,

    and moved gently after it until he was far away.

  50. ومضى يقطُرُ بالبأسِ دَماً

    وبكفَّيْهِ من الأُسْدِ لِبَد

    He went, dripping blood with martial fury,

    with lions' manes in his two hands,

  51. ومن البِيضِ صُدورٌ بِتَكٌ

    ومن السُّمْرِ أنابيبٌ قِصَد

    and severed tips of bright swords,

    and shattered sections of brown spears.

  52. يا أبا أحمدَ والحكمةُ في

    قولِ مَنْ قال إلى اللّهِ المرَدّ

    O Abu Ahmad, wisdom lies in

    the saying of him who said: 'To God is the return.'

  53. لا ملومٌ أنت في بعض الأسى

    غيرَ أنَّ الحُرَّ أولى بالجَلَد

    You are not blamed for a measure of grief,

    yet the noble man is worthier of endurance.

  54. وإذا ما جهَشَتْ نفسُ الفَتى

    كان في عسكره الصَّبرُ مَدَد

    When a young man's soul bursts into tears,

    patience brings reinforcements to his army.

  55. لو يَرُدُّ الحزْنُ مَيْتاً هالِكاً

    رُدَّ قحطانُ وَأُدُّ بنُ أُدَد

    If sorrow could restore the perished dead,

    Qahtan would return, and Udd son of Udad;

  56. واكتستْ أعظُمُ كسرَى لحمَها

    وسعى لُقمانُ أو طار لُبَد

    Khusrau's bones would be clothed in their flesh,

    and Luqman would walk, or Lubad fly.

  57. في عليٍّ من عليٍّ أُسْوَةٌ

    صَدَعَ الضِّلعَ الذي أنكى الكَبِد

    In Ali there is consolation for Ali;

    what wounded the liver has shattered the rib.

  58. أيَّ مَفْقُودَيكَ تبكيه أبٌ

    هِبْرِزِيٌّ أنتَ منه أمْ وَلد

    Which of your two lost ones do you mourn—a father,

    a noble lord from whom you sprang, or a son?

  59. ضَمَّ هذا نحرَ ذا فاعتَنَقا

    في ثرى الملحود شبِلٌ وأسَد

    This one clasped that one's breast, and they embraced:

    in the tomb's earth, a cub and a lion.

  60. خَطَراتٌ فَالْهُ عنْ ذِكْرِكَها

    إنّها أقربُ منْ هزْلٍ وَدَد

    Passing thoughts—turn away from recalling them;

    they lie closer than jest and play.

  61. إنَّ إبراهيمَ مردودٌ إلى

    زَمَنٍ غَضٍّ وأيّامٍ جُدُد

    Ibrahim is indeed restored to

    a fresh time and days made new:

  62. دَوْلَةٌ سَعْدٌ وفَحْلٌ مُنجِبٌ

    وشَبابٌ مثلُ تفويفِ البُرَد

    a fortunate dynasty, a sire of noble offspring,

    and youth like the patterned stripes of cloaks,

  63. وفتىً ودَّتْ نِزارٌ كلُّهَا

    أنّه منها ولم تَعقُبْ أحَد

    and a young man whom all Nizar wished

    were theirs, even had they begotten no one else.

  64. والمُنى أنتَ إذا دُمْتَ لنا

    دامتِ النَّعماءُ والعيشُ الرَّغَد

    You are all we wish; if you remain for us,

    blessings and an easy life endure.

  65. وَهيَ الأيّامُ لا يأمَنُهَا

    حازمٌ يأخُذُ من يومٍ لِغَد

    Such are the days; no one trusts them

    who is prudent, taking from today for tomorrow.

  66. لو مُعافىً من خُطوبٍ عُوفِيَتْ

    لَقْوَةٌ بينَ هِضابٍ ونُجُد

    If anyone were spared disasters, spared would be

    a she-eagle among crags and highlands.

  67. ترْتَبي مرهوبةً تَحْسَبُها

    كوكَبَ الليل على الليلِ رصَد

    She perches aloft, dreaded; you would take her for

    the star of night, keeping watch over night.

  68. تلكَ أو مُغْفِرَةٌ في حالقٍ

    تأمَنْ الإنسَ إذا الوحشُ شَرَد

    That one—or a mother ibex on a towering peak,

    safe from humans when wild beasts scatter.

  69. فهي في قُدسِ أواراتٍ إذا

    جاورَ الميسَ ثَبيراً أو أُحُد

    She is in a sanctuary of heat-haze, when

    hackberry neighbors Thabir or Uhud,

  70. حَيْثُ لا النازلُ معهودٌ ولا ال

    ماءُ مورودٌ ولا القَلْتُ ثمَد

    where no visitor is known, nor is the

    water drawn, nor does the rock-basin hold a trickle.

  71. تلكَ أو وحشيّةٌ أُدْمانَةٌ

    أنبتَتْ أنقاءُ رَمْلٍ وعَقَد

    That one—or a pale-coated wild doe,

    reared by sand-crests and clustered dunes,

  72. تَنفُضُ الضّالَ بتَيْماءَ ولا

    تألَفُ الخَلصاءَ من ذاتِ الجَرَد

    shaking the wild lote-trees at Tayma, and not

    frequenting al-Khalsa in Dhat al-Jarad.

  73. تَتَقرّى جانِباً من عانِكٍ

    باردِ الفَيءِ إذا الفيءُ بَرَد

    She follows a flank of deep-red sand,

    cool in shade when shade grows cool.

  74. وهْيَ في ظِلّ أراكٍ مائِدٍ

    تَرتَدي المَرْدَ إذا ذابَ الوَمَد

    Beneath a swaying arak-tree's shade,

    she robes herself in ripe berries when the sultry heat dissolves.

  75. وهيَ تَعْطوهُ على خوْفٍ كمَا

    مَدَّ رَقّاءٌ إلى الأرْقَمِ يَدْ

    She reaches for it fearfully, just as

    a snake-charmer stretches a hand toward a speckled serpent.

  76. يقَعُ الطَّلُّ عليَها مِثلما

    قطَعَتْ عَذراءُ عِقداً فانسرَد

    Dew falls upon her just as

    a maiden breaks a necklace and its beads scatter.

  77. وبِعَيْنَيْهَا غريرٌ وَسِنٌ

    وُسِّدَتْ أظْلافُهُ مِسْكاً ثأد

    Before her eyes is an innocent, drowsy fawn,

    its hooves pillowed on damp musk.

  78. يَنْثَني الأيكُ على صَفحَته

    وهو كالشعْرَى إذا لاحَ وَقَد

    The thicket bends over its flank;

    it is like Sirius when it shines and blazes.

  79. فإذا ما أخطَأتْهُ فِيقَةً

    نَشَدتْهُ وهو غِرٌّ ما نَشَد

    Whenever she misses it for a milking's interval,

    she seeks it—guileless, it has not sought her.

  80. فأتَتْهُ خَرِقاً منْطوِياً

    بيديه فوقَ حِقْفٍ مُلْتَبَد

    She comes to it frightened, curled up

    upon its forelegs on a compacted dune,

  81. كفَتاةٍ كَسَرَتْ خَلْخالَها

    ضاعَ نصْفٌ منه والنصْفُ وُجِد

    like a girl who broke her anklet:

    half was lost, and half was found.

  82. تلك أم أيْمٌ خفيفٌ وطؤه

    يرْبَأُ القُفَّ كَلُوْءاً ما هَجَد

    That one—or a serpent light of tread,

    watching the stony ridge, alert, never sleeping.

  83. باتَ يُدْني حُمَةً من حُمَةٍ

    وهْوَ يَطوي مسَداً فوْق مَسَد

    It spends the night bringing fang close to fang,

    winding one rope-coil above another.

  84. شَرِبَ السَّمَّ بنابَيْهِ ففي

    صَلَوَيْهِ منه سُكْرٌ ومَيَد

    It drank venom through its two fangs, so in

    its flanks are drunkenness and reeling from it.

  85. فَتَرى للْبَغْيِ في أعْطافِهِ

    كاندفاعِ الموج في طامٍ يَمُدّ

    You see the violence within its coils,

    like waves rushing through a swelling sea.

  86. مثِلما اصْطفَّتْ قسيٌّ في الثرى

    مُوتَرات فهيَ تُرخى وتُشَدّ

    Like bows ranged upon the ground,

    strung, then slackened and drawn taut.

  87. ذاك أو جبّارُ غِيلٍ أشِبٍ

    طَرَدَ الآسادَ عنْهُ وانفَرَد

    That—or the tyrant of a tangled thicket,

    who drove the lions out and dwelt alone,

  88. نازلٌ كُرْسيَّ أرضٍ هابَهُ

    مَلِكُ الخابلِ فيها إذْ مَرُد

    dwelling on the throne of a land, feared

    by the king of demons there when he grew defiant.

  89. ذا ولكن تُبَّعُ الأكَبرُ مِنْ

    يَمَنٍ كان لخُلْدٍ لو خَلَد

    That—yet Tubba' the Great of

    Yemen was worthy of eternity, if any could live forever,

  90. والملوكُ الصِّيدُ من ذي إصْبَحٍ

    وَرُعَينٍ وبَني الشّاهِ مَعَدّ

    and the proud kings of Dhu Isbah

    and Ru'ayn, and the sons of Shah Ma'add.

  91. كلُّنا نَبْشَعُ من كأس الرَّدى

    غير أنّا لا نَرانا نَسْتَبِدّ

    We all gag at the cup of death,

    yet we do not think ourselves alone in it.

  92. نحنُ في الإدلاجِ نَبْغي منْهَلاً

    وبناتُ الخِمس من عشْرٍ صَدَد

    In our night journey we seek a watering-place,

    while camels of the fifth-day watering shun the tenth.

  93. إن تَسَلْنَا ففَريقٌ ظاعِنٌ

    وليالينا بنا عيسٌ تَخِدْ

    If you ask us, we are a departing company,

    and our nights are pale camels striding off with us.

  94. فاتَني ريبُ زَماني بالذّي

    أبتَغيه وهو ما لستُ أجِدْ

    Time's vicissitudes have taken from me what

    I seek—the very thing I cannot find.

  95. ولقد فاتَ بنَا أنفسَنا

    وإذا ما فات شيءٌ لم يُرَد

    Indeed, it has carried us beyond our own selves,

    and whatever passes away is not returned.

  96. ليتَ شِعْري أيَّ شيءٍ يرتجي

    مَن رجاهُ أو لماذا يَستَعِدّ

    Would that I knew what thing is hoped for

    by one who hopes in it, or what he prepares for.

  97. فلقَدْ أسرعَ ركْبٌ لم يَعُجْ

    ولقد أدبَرَ يومٌ لم يَعُدْ

    For a caravan has sped away without turning aside,

    and a day has departed, never to return.