Sol 6.1

  1. شهد الَّلمى في المرشَفَيْن لها

    عندي بأَنَّ المسكَ قبَّلها

    The dark hue of her two lips testified on her behalf

    Before me that musk had kissed her.

  2. فرأَيتُ لَثْمِي حين جرَّحه

    وهْو الَّذِي بالحُسنِ عَدَّلها

    Then I saw my kiss as it discredited that witness,

    Though it was the one that attested to her beauty.

  3. لميَاءُ فاضَ بطَرْفها كَحَلٌ

    ورأى مراشفها فقبلها

    Dark-lipped was she: kohl overflowed at her eye,

    And saw her lips and kissed them.

  4. جعلت مقبلها مختمها

    وكذا موشَّحها مُخلْخَلها

    She made her mouth as small as her ringed finger,

    And likewise her girdled waist as slender as her ankleted ankle.

  5. تَمْشِي الهُويْنَى وهْي مَتعبةٌ

    حَسْرى لأَنَّ الحسنَ أَثْقلَها

    She walks gently, weary,

    Exhausted, because beauty has weighed her down.

  6. شكَت الْحَمائِلُ جوْرَ وجْنتها

    ولأَنَّ ذاكَ الحُسْنَ أَجْملها

    Her necklaces complained of her cheek's tyranny,

    And because that beauty had made her lovelier.

  7. خجلانَةُ الوجنات إِذ عَتِبَتْ

    فالوردُ عاتَبها فأَخْجلها

    Her cheeks blushed when she took offense;

    So the rose reproached her and made her blush.

  8. تبدو فتقتلُ من يُسارقُها

    نظراً وتُتْعِب مَنْ تَأَمَّلَها

    She appears and slays whoever steals

    A glance at her, and wearies whoever gazes upon her.

  9. يا من تَهَتَّك في مُعمَّمةٍ

    أَوسعتَ نفسَك في الهَوَى بَلَها

    O you who have cast off restraint for a turbaned beauty,

    You have given yourself ample folly in love.

  10. إِن التّطبُّعَ في الغرامِ له

    والطَّبعَ أَجمعَ في الغَرَامِ لَها

    Indeed, affectation in love is his,

    And all the naturalness of love is hers.

  11. ولقد نَعِمْتَ بحقِّها طرباً

    ولقد شَقِيتَ بزورةٍ ولَها

    And indeed you delighted in her truth, enraptured,

    And indeed suffered through a visit, distraught with love.

  12. وذكرتَ أَنَّ الآس عذَّره

    ونسيتَ أَن الآس أَنْعَلها

    And remembered that myrtle had given him cheek-down,

    But forgot that myrtle had shod her.

  13. ولئن عرفتُ بها تفضَّلَه

    فلأَشكرنَّ لها تفضُّلها

    And if through her I recognized his generosity,

    Then I shall surely thank her for her generosity.

  14. لوجُزتَ بين جوانِحي عرضاً

    لرأَيتَها ورأَيتَ مَنْزِلها

    Were you to pass crosswise between my ribs,

    You would see her and see her dwelling.

  15. لله ليلةُ وصل قاتلتي

    ما كانَ أَقْصَرها وأَطْولها

    What a night of union with my slayer!

    How short it was, and how long!

  16. ما كان أَسْهَرنِي وأَرْقدها

    فيها وأَيْقَظني وأَغْفَلها

    How wakeful I was, and how soundly she slept

    That night; how alert I was, and how heedless she was!

  17. عانقتُ شاهدَها وغائبَها

    ولثمتُ آخرَها وأَوَّلها

    I embraced her visible and hidden parts,

    And kissed her end and her beginning.

  18. وحقرتُ في وَجَناتِها ذهباً

    كان الشَّبابُ به يَجودُ لها

    And I held cheap the gold upon her cheeks

    That youth used to lavish upon her.

  19. قد حقَرَته وغيرَه بِدَرٌ

    كان الأَجلُّ إِليَّ أَرسَلها

    Purses of coins had made it and all else seem paltry;

    The Most Illustrious had sent them to me.

  20. نِعمٌ على آثارِها نِعمٌ

    سال السحابُ بها وسلسلها

    Blessings, followed in their wake by blessings;

    The cloud streamed with them and strung them together.

  21. عن غيرِها في القدِّ رفَّعها

    لكنَّه بيَديهِ أَنْزلَها

    He raised them above other gifts in stature,

    Yet sent them down with his own two hands.

  22. تطوِي المراحلَ لي مواهبُه

    والجودُ زوَّدها وأَرسَلها

    His gifts traverse the stages of the road for me,

    And generosity provisioned them and sent them forth.

  23. هبةٌ جبيرُ الفضلِ حازَ بها

    ضلَّت دليلُ البَرِّ أَوصَلها

    A gift: the guarantor of bounty drove it onward;

    It strayed; the guide across the land delivered it.

  24. البيدُ أَصْغَرُ أَن تحيطَ بها

    والعيسُ تعجِز أَن تَحملَّها

    The deserts are too small to encompass it,

    And the pale camels cannot carry it.

  25. لم تلتفتْ عنِّي فأَعْطِفَها

    طلباً ولا مُنِعت فأَرْسلها

    It never turned from me for me to coax it back

    By entreaty, nor was it withheld for me to release it.

  26. جاءَت بلا طلبٍ فحسَّنها

    وأَتَتْ بلا مَنٍّ فكمَّلَها

    It came unasked, which made it beautiful,

    And arrived without reminders of favor, which made it perfect.

  27. فلذا تركتُ الخلقَ قاطبةً

    وقصدتُ فاضِلها وأَفْضَلها

    Therefore I left all people behind,

    And sought their virtuous one, their finest.

  28. ومدحْتُ سيِّدها ومُسْوَدها

    وحمدتُ مولاَها مؤمِّلَها

    And praised their lord and their acknowledged chief,

    And thanked their master, who gives them hope.

  29. من لا تزال السحبُ تَخْدمُه

    فانظر إِذا هَبَطَت تَذَلُّلَها

    He whom the clouds never cease to serve—

    Behold their submission when they descend.

  30. من لا تَزالُ السُّحبُ باكيةً

    مذ أَبصرت يدَه وأَنمُلَها

    He for whom the clouds have never ceased weeping,

    Since they saw his hand and its fingertips.

  31. من حلَّ في العلياءِ ذِرْوتها

    شَرَفاً وحلَّ النجمُ أَسْفَلها

    He who dwelt at the summit of exalted heights

    In honor, while the star dwelt at their foot.

  32. من لا يزال بِكَفِّه قلمٌ

    أَضنى السيوفَ به وأَنحلَها

    He in whose hand there is always a pen,

    With which he exhausted swords and made them lean.

  33. من لا يزال بِكَفِّه قلمٌ

    أَذْوى الرِّماحَ به وأَذْبلها

    He in whose hand there is always a pen,

    With which he withered spears and made them droop.

  34. من لا يزال بكفِّه قلمٌ

    أَسرَ الأسُودَ به وأَشْبُلَها

    He in whose hand there is always a pen,

    With which he captured lions and their cubs.

  35. نَظَم العُقُودَ من البَيَانِ به

    وبحَوْمَةِ الآراءِ فصَّلها

    With it he strung necklaces of eloquence,

    And in the arena of judgment set them with gems.

  36. فبدائعُ الأَقوالِ أَبْدَعها

    وأَصَالَةُ الآرَاءِ أَصَّلها

    Thus he created the marvels of speech,

    And gave sound judgment its foundations.

  37. زَهَتِ الوزَارةُ حينَ حرَّمها

    عن مَن يُعقِّدها وحلَّلها

    The vizierate gloried when he withheld it

    From anyone who would entangle it, and untangled it.

  38. واستبشَرت بوصاله جَذَلاً

    فانظر لها تنظرْ تهلُّلَها

    And it rejoiced at union with him, exultant;

    Look at it, and you will see its radiant joy.

  39. وتعطَّلت من غيره أَنفاً

    منها فحلاها وعطَّلَها

    And it went unadorned by others, out of disdain

    On its part; he adorned it and left it idle.

  40. تأتي الملوكُ لبابه زُمراً

    فجمِيعُهم يردُون مَنْهَلها

    Kings come to his door in companies,

    And all of them reach its watering-place.

  41. تأتي لَهُ فيحِلُّ مُشْكِلَها

    ببيانه ويكُفُّ مُعْضِلَها

    They come to him, and he resolves their difficulties

    With his exposition, and wards off their intractable troubles.

  42. فإليه قد أَلْقَت مقالِدها

    وعليه قد جَعَلتْ معوَّلها

    So they have cast their keys into his hands,

    And placed their reliance upon him.

  43. فأَقَلَّ أَثقالاً تكلَّفَها

    وأَدَرَّ أَرْزَاقاً تكفَّلها

    So he bore the burdens he undertook,

    And made the provisions he guaranteed flow freely.

  44. وعظائمٌ قد صار أَهونها

    بسدادِه ما كان أَهْوَلها

    And in grave affairs, what has become easiest

    Through his sound judgment was once most dreadful.

  45. فلئن غدَت بسدادِه خَولاً

    فلأَنه للمُلْكِ خوَّلها

    So if through his sound judgment they became servants,

    It is because he bestowed them upon the realm.

  46. فكأَنَّه بل إِنه كَرَماً

    لِضيَافَةِ الأَمْلاكِ أَهلَّها

    It is as though—nay, in generosity he truly has—

    Prepared them for entertaining kings.

  47. يا كعبةً طاف الملوكُ بها

    بل قبلةً حجَّ الأَنامُ لَها

    O Kaaba around which kings have circled,

    Nay, a qibla to which humankind has made pilgrimage.

  48. وافاكَ عيدُ النحر مبتهجاً

    إِذ نَال لقياً مِنْك أَمَّلها

    The Feast of Sacrifice came to you rejoicing,

    When it attained the meeting with you it had hoped for.

  49. ومبشِّراً برضى ومغفرةٍ

    وبنعمةٍ جعلتْك مَوْئِلَها

    And bearing glad tidings of favor and forgiveness,

    And of a blessing that made you its refuge.

  50. فتهنَّه وتهنَّ أَحسَنها

    وتملَّه وتملَّ أَجملَها

    So enjoy it, and enjoy the finest of them;

    And long enjoy it, and long enjoy the loveliest of them.