Sol 6.1

  1. حَلفتُ بالسّابغاتِ البِيضِ واليَلَبِ

    وبالأسِنّةِ والهِنْدِيّةِ القُضُبِ

    I swore by the gleaming white, full-length mail and the leather armor,

    And by spearheads and keen Indian blades:

  2. لأنْتَ ذا الجيشُ ثمّ الجيشُ نافلَةٌ

    وما سِواكَ فلَغْوٌ غيرُ مْحتسَبِ

    You indeed are this army; the army itself is but an addition,

    And whatever is besides you is mere futility, of no account.

  3. ولو أشرْتَ إلى مصْرٍ بسَوطك لمْ

    تُحوِجك مِصرٌ إلى ركض ولا خبَبِ

    Were you to point your whip toward Egypt,

    Egypt would require neither galloping nor trotting from you.

  4. ولوْ ثنَيْتَ إلى أرضِ الشآمِ يَداً

    ألقَتْ إليك بأيدي الذل من كثَبِ

    And were you to turn a hand toward the land of Syria,

    It would stretch out to you the hands of submission from close at hand.

  5. لعلّ غيرَكَ يرجو أن يكونَ له

    عُلُوُّ ذكركَ في ذا الجحفَل اللّجِبِ

    Perhaps another hopes to have

    The eminence of your renown in this clamorous host,

  6. أو أن يُصرِّفَ هذا الأمرَ خاتَمُهُ

    كما يُصرِّفُ في جِدٍّ وفي لَعِبِ

    Or that his signet ring might direct this enterprise,

    As it directs in earnest and in play.

  7. هيهاتَ تأبَى عليهم ذاكَ واحدةٌ

    أنْ لا تدورَ رحىً إلا على قُطُب

    Far from it! One thing denies them that:

    A millstone turns only upon a pivot.

  8. أنتَ السّبيلُ إلى مصرٍ وطاعَتِها

    ونُصْرَةِ الدّين والإسلامِ في حلَب

    You are the way to Egypt and its obedience,

    And to supporting the faith and Islam in Aleppo.

  9. وأينَ عنكَ بأرضٍ سُسْتَها زمناً

    وازدانَ باسمِكَ فيها منبرُ الخُطَب

    And where could anyone turn from you, in a land you once governed,

    Whose pulpit of sermons was adorned with your name?

  10. ألستَ صاحبَ أعمالِ الصّعيدِ بها

    قِدْماً وقائِدَ أهلِ الخَيْمِ والطُّنُبِ

    Were you not governor of Upper Egypt's districts there

    Of old, and commander of the people of tents and guy ropes?

  11. تَشوّقَ المشرِقُ الأقصى إليك وكمْ

    تركتَ في الغَرْبِ من مأثورةٍ عَجَب

    The farthest East has longed for you; how many

    Wondrous, storied deeds you left in the West!

  12. وكمْ تخلّفُ في أوراسَ من سِيَرٍ

    سارتْ بذكرك في الأسماع والكتب

    And how many accounts of deeds you leave in the Aurès,

    That carried your renown through listening ears and books!

  13. وكان خيساً لآسادِ العرين وقد

    غادرتَه كوِجار الثعلبِ الخَرِب

    It was a thicket for the lions of the lair, yet

    You left it like a fox's ruined burrow.

  14. قد كنتَ تملأهُ خَيْلاً مُضَمَّرةً

    يحْمِلنَ كلّ عتيدِ البأسِ والغضَب

    You used to fill it with horses trained lean,

    Bearing every man primed for battle and wrath.

  15. وأنتَ ذاك الذي يَدوي الصعيدَ كأنْ

    لم تَنْأ عن أهْلهِ يوماً ولم تغِبِ

    And you are the one who makes Upper Egypt resound, as though

    You had not gone far from its people a single day, nor been absent.

  16. كن كيفَ شئتَ بأرضِ المشرقينِ تكن

    بها الشّهابَ الذي يعلو على الشُّهُب

    Be as you wish in the land of the two Easts; you will be

    There the meteor that rises above the meteors.

  17. فأنتَ مَن أقطعَ الأقطاعَ واصطنعَ ال

    معروفَ فيها ولم تظلِمْ ولم تَحُب

    For you are the one who granted fiefs and bestowed

    Kindness there, neither oppressing nor sinning.

  18. فسِرْ على طُرقِكَ الأولى تجِدْ أثراً

    من ذيل جيشك أبقى الصخر كالكُثُبِ

    So follow your former paths; you will find a trace

    Of your army's train, which left the rocks like sand dunes,

  19. ونفحةً منك في إخْميمَ عاطرةً

    مِسْكيّةً عَبِقَتْ بالماء والعُشُبِ

    And a fragrant breath from you in Akhmim,

    Musky, its scent clinging to the water and the grass.

  20. فلا تَلاقَيتَ إلاّ مَن ملكْتَ ومَن

    أجَرْتَ من حادث الأيّامِ والنُّوَب

    So may you meet only those you have ruled and those

    You have sheltered from the calamities of days and reversals.

  21. ولا تَمُرُّ على سَهْلٍ ولا جَبَلٍ

    لم تَرْوِهِ من نَدىً أو من دمٍ سَرِبِ

    Nor will you pass a plain or mountain

    That you have not watered with bounty or flowing blood.

  22. أرضاً غَنيتَ بها عِزّاً لمُغتصِبٍ

    سيراً لمكتسبٍ مالاً لمنتهب

    A land where you dwelt—glory for whoever seizes it,

    Deeds for whoever wins them, wealth for a plunderer.

  23. فما صَفا الجوُّ فيها منذُ غِبتَ ولا

    له انفِراجٌ إلى حيّ من العَرَبِ

    Its sky has not cleared since you departed, nor

    Has any Arab clan found a clearing in it.

  24. وقَلّ بعدَك فيهم من يُذَبِّبُ عن

    جارٍ ويدفعُ عن مجدٍ وعن حَسَبِ

    Few after you remain among them to defend

    A neighbor, and protect glory and ancestral honor.

  25. فإنْ أتَيْتَهُمُ عن فَترَةٍ فهُمُ

    كما عَهِدتَهُمُ في سالِفِ الحِقَب

    So if you come to them after an interval, they are

    As you knew them in the ages past,

  26. إذ تجْنِبُ الحُصُنَ الجُرْدَ العِتاقَ بها

    وإذ تُصَبّحُ أهلَ السّرجِ والجلَب

    When you led sleek, highbred stallions beside you there,

    And fell at dawn upon the men of saddles and clamor,

  27. وتَخْضِبُ الحَلَقَ الماذِيّ من عَلَقٍ

    كأنّما صاغَها داودُ من ذَهَب

    And dyed the rings of gleaming mail with clotted blood,

    As though David had fashioned them from gold.

  28. إذِ القبائلُ إمّا خائفٌ لكَ أو

    راجٍ فمن ضاحِكٍ منهم ومُنتحِب

    When the tribes were either fearful of you or

    Hopeful—some among them laughing, others sobbing.

  29. فحِلّةٌ قد أجابت وهي طائعةٌ

    وقبلَها حِلّةٌ عاصَت ولم تُجِب

    So one encampment had answered, willingly obedient,

    While before it another rebelled and did not answer.

  30. فتِلكَ ما بينَ مُستَنٍّ ومُنتعِشٍ

    وهذه بين مَقتولٍ ومُنتَهِب

    The former has those roaming at ease and those restored to strength;

    And the latter lies amid the slain and the plunderers.

  31. فكم مُلاعِبِ أرماحٍ تركتَ بها

    تدعو حلائلُه بالويل والحَرَب

    How many a player with spears you left there,

    Whose wives cry out in woe and ruin!

  32. وكم فتى كَرَمٍ أعطاكَ مِقْوَدَهُ

    فاقتادَ كلُّ كريم النفسِ والنسبِ

    And how many a generous youth gave you his rein,

    And every man noble in soul and lineage took the lead.

  33. إن لا تقُد عُظْمَ ذا الجيش اللهام فقد

    شاركتَ قائدَهُ في الدَّرّ والحَلَبِ

    If you do not command the bulk of this vast army, you have

    Shared with its commander in milk's flow and milking.

  34. فالنّاسُ غيرَك أتباعٌ له خَوَلٌ

    وأنت ثانيه في العَليا من الرّتب

    All people but you are his followers and retainers;

    And you are his second in the highest ranks.

  35. أيّدتَهُ عَضُداً فيما يُحاولُهُ

    وكُنتُما واحداً في الرأي والأدب

    You strengthened him as a supporting arm in what he undertakes,

    And you two were one in judgment and learning.

  36. فليسَ يَسلُكُ إلاّ ما سَلَكتَ ولا

    يَسيرُ إلاّ على أعلامكَ اللُّحُبِ

    He takes no course but the one you have taken, nor

    Travels except by your clear waymarks.

  37. فقد سَرَى بسِراجٍ منك في ظُلَمٍ

    وقد أُعينَ بسَيْلٍ منك في صَبَب

    He has traveled by night through darkness with a lamp from you,

    And been aided by a torrent from you rushing down a slope.

  38. جَرَيتُما في العلى جَريَ السواء معاً

    فجئتُما أوّلاً والخَلقُ في الطّلَبِ

    You two raced toward the heights, running as equals together,

    And both came first, with all creation in pursuit.

  39. وأنتما كغِرَارَيْ صارمٍ ذكَرٍ

    قد جُرّدا أو كغَربَي لهذَمٍ ذَرِبِ

    You two are like the twin edges of a hard-tempered, keen sword,

    Both laid bare, or like the two edges of a keen, broad spearhead.

  40. وما أدامَتْ له الأيّامُ حَزمَك أو

    عاداتِ نصرك في بَدْءٍ وفي عَقبِ

    And so long as the days preserve for him your resolve, or

    Your accustomed support at the beginning and the end,

  41. فليسَ يَعْيا عليه هَوْلُ مُطّلَعٍ

    وليس يَبعُدُ عنه شأو مُطّلَب

    No terror of an ascent will prove too hard for him,

    Nor will any goal he seeks be too distant for him.