Sol 6.1

  1. أَبوكَ أبٌ لو كانَ للنّاسِ كلّهم

    أباً وَرَضوا وَطءَ النّجومِ لَفنّدوا

    Your father was such a father that, had he been to all mankind

    a father, and had they been content to tread the stars, they would have been judged foolish.

  2. وما ماتَ حتَّى سَدّ ثلمَةَ مُلْكِهِ

    بِكَ اللَّه ترمي ما رماهُ فَتَصردُ

    He did not die before the breach in his kingdom was filled

    by God through you; you shoot at what he shot at, and strike home.

  3. صَدَمتَ ابنَ ذي اللُّغْدَيْنِ فَاِنحلَّ عِقدُهُ

    وَكالسِّلكِ قَد أَمسى يَحلُّ وَيعقِدُ

    You struck the double-chinned man's son, and his knot came undone.

    Like a thread, he now unravels and knots.

  4. يُقَلِّبُ خَلفَ السجفِ عَيناً سَخينَةً

    وَيَبكي بِأُخرى ذاتِ شَترٍ وَيسهدُ

    Behind the curtain he rolls an eye hot with tears,

    and weeps with the other, its lid turned out, and lies awake.

  5. وَلا غَروَ قَد أَبقى أَبوهُ وَجدُّهُ

    لَهُ كلَّ يَومٍ ثَوبَ عجْزٍ يُجَدَّدُ

    No wonder: his father and grandfather have left

    him a robe of helplessness, renewed every day.

  6. فَيا راكِباً إِمّا عَرَضتَ فَبَلّغَنْ

    يَبوتاً عَلى جيرون بِالذُّلِّ تعمّدُ

    O rider, if you happen to pass, be sure to deliver my words

    to Yabut at Jayrun; seek him out in his humiliation.

  7. وَقُل لِمُبيرِ الدّينِ وهوَ مُجيرُهُ

    بِزَعمٍ لَهُ وَجهُ الحَقيقَةِ أَزبدُ

    And say to religion's destroyer, who is its protector—

    so he claims, though truth's face foams:

  8. حَمَلتَ الصّليبَ باغِياً وَنَبذتَهُ

    وَثَغرُكَ مَطووس النَباتِ وأَدردُ

    You bore the cross in rebellion and cast it off,

    your mouth stripped of hair and toothless.

  9. وَحارَبتَ حِزبَ اللَّه واللَّهُ ناصِرٌ

    لِناصِرِهِ وَدينُ أَحمَدَ أَحمدُ

    You fought God's party, though God grants victory

    to His champion; and Ahmad's faith is most praiseworthy.

  10. تَنَصَّرْتَ حيناً وَالبلاءُ مُوكل

    ولابُدَّ مِن يَومٍ بِه تَتَهَوَّدُ

    You became Christian for a time, with affliction set over you;

    and a day must come when you become Jewish.

  11. وَأَقسَمَ ما ذاقَ اليَهودُ بِإِيليَا

    وَمَوضِعها مِن بُخْتُنَصَّرَ أسودُ

    And I swear: the Jews at Aelia never tasted—

    though its plight at Nebuchadnezzar's hands was black—

  12. كَبَعضِ الَّذي جَرَّعتَهُ فَسَرطتهُ

    وَأيَّدَ فيهِ مِن عماكَ المؤيَّدُ

    even a fraction of what you were made to drink and gulped down,

    and al-Mu'ayyad strengthened your blindness therein.

  13. وِلايَتُهُ عَزلٌ إِليكَ مُوَجَّهٌ

    وَتَصفيحُهُ قَتْلٌ عَلَيكَ مُؤبّدُ

    His appointment is dismissal directed at you,

    and his handclasp means perpetual death for you.

  14. رَماكَ بِباقلّا دِمشقَ فَلَم تَكُن

    سِوى بَقلَةٍ حَمقاءَ بالحُمْقِ تُحْصَدُ

    He struck you with Damascus's broad beans, and you were

    nothing but a foolish herb, reaped for folly.

  15. وَجالَدت جَلّاداً وَأَنتَ مُؤنَّثٌ

    تَذَكّرْت وَالجلّادُ أَدهى وَأَجلدُ

    You fought a seasoned fighter, though effeminate;

    you played the man, but the fighter was craftier and tougher.

  16. تَطاوَلتَ لِأَنفُس تسمّى ولا أبٌ

    وَراءَكَ زَحفاً إِنّما أَنتَ مُقْعَدُ

    You reached toward souls of renown, with no father

    behind you; crawling, you are only a cripple.

  17. أَمَسْعاةَ نورِ الدّينِ تَبغي وَدونَها ال

    أَسِنَّةُ بُتْرٌ وَالعَوامِلُ تعضدُ

    Do you seek Nur al-Din's achievement? In its way, the

    spearheads are broken short and the shafts hewn down.

  18. بِمَحمودٍ المَحمود سَيفاً وَساعِداً

    حملتَ لَقد ناجَتكَ صُمّاً مؤيّدُ

    Against Mahmud, praiseworthy in sword and arm,

    you charged; Mu'ayyad indeed whispered dire calamities to you.

  19. وَهَل يَستوي سارٍ تَأسّد طاوِياً

    وَنَشوانَ يُعْلَى مِعصَماً وَيُؤيّدُ

    Can a night traveler, lionlike and hungry,

    equal a drunkard whose wrist is lifted and supported?

  20. تَنَصَّرتَ أُمّاً بَل تَمجَّسْتَ والِداً

    وَعَمّاً فعِرْقُ الكُفْرِ فيك مردّدُ

    You became Christian through your mother—rather, Magian through your father

    and uncle: unbelief's bloodline recurs in you.

  21. تَخِذتَ بني الصّوفيِّ أسراً وأُسرةً

    لِكَي يُصلِحوا ما في يَديكَ فَأَفسَدوا

    You took the sons of al-Sufi as strength and family,

    to set right what lay in your hands, but they corrupted it.

  22. لَعَمْري لَنِعْمَ العَبدُ أَنتَ تُجيعُه ال

    مَوالي وتُوليه هواناً فَيحمدُ

    By my life, what a fine slave you are, starved by the

    masters, who humiliate you, yet you give thanks.

  23. إِلَيكُم بَني العلّاتِ عَن مُتشاوسٍ

    لَه الشّامُ مَرفا وَالعِراقُ مَرفدُ

    Stand back, sons of co-wives, from a fierce-eyed man

    whose haven is Syria and whose source of aid is Iraq.

  24. وَما مِصرُ إِلّا بَعضُ أَمصارِهِ الَّتي

    إِلى أَمرِهِ تَسعى قماءً وتَحفدُ

    Egypt is but one of his cities, which

    hasten, abased, to his command and hurry to serve.

  25. أَنيبوا إِليهِ فَهوَ أَرحمُ قادرٍ

    لَهُ الصَّفحُ دينٌ وَاِقبَلوا النُّصْحَ تَرْشدُوا

    Turn back to him: he is the most merciful of the powerful;

    forgiveness is his creed; accept counsel and be rightly guided.

  26. وَلا تَرشفوا نَفثَ المُؤيّد إنّهُ

    عَنِ الخَيرِ يزوي أَو إِلى المَيْنِ يسندُ

    Do not sip al-Mu'ayyad's spittle; he

    turns away from good, or leans toward falsehood.

  27. وَفِرُّوا إلى مَولاكُم وَالَّذي لَهُ

    عَلَيكم أيادٍ وَسْمُهَا لَيسَ يُجحدُ

    Flee to your lord, to him who has

    favors upon you whose marks cannot be denied.

  28. وَلا تَكفُروهُ إِنَّما أَنتُم لَهُ

    وَمِنهُ وَيَوم عِندَ حَوْرانَ يُشهدُ

    Do not be ungrateful to him: you belong to him

    and come from him; a day near Hawran bears witness.

  29. غَداةَ عَلى الجَوْلان جَول وَلِلظّبا

    رُعودٌ فَربص المَوتِ مِنهُنَّ يرعدُ

    That morning, battle wheeled over the Jawlan, and the blades had

    thunderclaps, so death's ambusher trembled at them.

  30. وَلَمّا اِكْفَهرَّ اليوم وَاِرْبَدَّ وَجهُهُ

    وَعَوّذَ مَرهونٌ وَفَرّ مزيدُ

    When the day grew grim and its face darkened,

    Marhun uttered protective prayers, and Mazid fled,

  31. وَأَيقَنَ مِن بَينِ السُّدَيْرِ وَجاسِمٍ

    بِأَنَّ الجِرارَ السُّود بِالجرّد تجردُ

    and he knew for certain, between al-Sudayr and Jasim,

    that the black jars were stripped by unsheathed swords.

  32. رَدَتهم على بُصْرَى وصرخد خيلُه

    وقد أبصرت بُصْرَى رادَها وصرخدُ

    His cavalry drove them back upon Busra and Sarkhad,

    and Busra had seen its seeker, as had Sarkhad.

  33. وَطاروا تَهزُّ المُرهِفاتِ طِلابُهم

    كَما اِنصاعَ مِن أُسدِ نَعامٍ مُشرّدُ

    They flew, their pursuers brandishing razor-edged swords,

    as scattered ostriches veered away from lions.

  34. وَلَيلَةَ أَلقى الشركُ بِالمَرجِ بركهُ

    وَمارِجِ نِيرانِ الوَغى تَتَوقَّدُ

    And the night when polytheism laid its breast upon al-Marj,

    while the swirling fires of battle blazed,

  35. رَمى وَأَخوهُ مَغرِبَ الشَمسِ دونَكم

    بِمَشرِقِها غَضبانَ يَعْدو وَيسئدُ

    he struck—his brother before you toward the setting sun—

    from its rising, wrathful, racing and striding.

  36. فَمُذ وَرَدَت ماءَ الأُرَنْطِ مُغِذَّةً

    أثارت بثَوْرَا غَلَّةً ليس تبردُ

    Once they reached the Orontes' water in haste,

    they stirred at Thawra a burning thirst that never cools.

  37. أيا سَيف شامَتْهُ يدُ الملكِ صارِماً

    فَيمهَدُ إذ يَسْري ويَسْري فَيَهمدُ

    O sword the king's hand drew, keen-edged,

    it clears the way as it travels by night, and travels by night, then rests.

  38. دِمَشقَ دِمَشقَ إِنّما القُدسُ سَرحَةٌ

    وَمَركَزُها صَرْحٌ عَلَيها مُمَرَّدُ

    Damascus, Damascus! Jerusalem is but a great tree,

    and its center is a smooth-built palace towering above it.

  39. حَموها لِكَي يَحموا وَقَد بَلَغَ المَدى

    بِهِم أَجَلٌ حَتمٌ وعُمْرٌ محدَّدُ

    They defended it to defend themselves, though to the end

    they have been brought by an inevitable term and a fixed lifespan.

  40. مَتى أَنا راءٍ طائرَ الفَتحِ صادِحاً

    يُرَفرِفُ في أَرجائِها وَيُغرَّدُ

    When shall I see the bird of victory singing,

    fluttering through its quarters and warbling?