Sol 6.1

  1. قلبي يَقُولُ لِطَيفٍ منكَ يطرقُني

    عَسَى بفضلِكَ تَحْتَ اللَّيلِ تَسْرِقُني

    My heart says to a phantom of you that visits me at night:

    Perhaps, through your kindness, you will steal me away beneath the night.

  2. خذني لأَلْحَقَ مَوْلىً كنتَ منزِلَهُ

    وَصَاحِبي مَنْ ضَنَاهُ ليس يَلْحقُني

    Take me, that I may join a lord whose dwelling you were;

    my companion, through his wasting sickness, cannot follow me.

  3. ولو أَراد لَحَاقي كنتُ أَسبقُه

    لكنْ مَدامِعُ عيني سَوف تسْبِقُني

    Even if he wished to catch up with me, I would outpace him;

    but the tears of my eye will outstrip me.

  4. يا آخِذَ القَلْبِ في حِلٍّ وفي سَعَة

    بِشَرْط أَخْذِكَ بَعْد القلْبِ للبَدَنِ

    O taker of my heart, you have permission and ample freedom,

    provided that, after the heart, you take the body too.

  5. أَثِمتَ في أَخْذِ شَيْءٍ واحدٍ وإِذا

    أَرَدْتَ تُؤجَرُ خُذْ شَيْئَينِ في قَرَنِ

    You sinned in taking just one thing; and if

    you wish to be rewarded, take two things together.

  6. يا جنَّةَ الخلدِ قد خلَّدتِ في خَلَدِي

    وسنَّةَ البَدْرِ حُبِّي فِيكِ مِن سَنَي

    O garden of eternity, you have become eternal in my mind;

    and O full moon's countenance, loving you is among my ways.

  7. وفِتْنةً سُلَّ فيها سيفُ نَاظِرِهَا

    بذا جَرَى الرَّسْمُ سَلُّ السيفِ في الفِتَنِ

    And O enchantment, in whom the sword of her gaze was drawn—

    such is the custom: drawing the sword amid strife.

  8. لا شيءَ أَعجبُ عند الخلقِ قاطبةً

    مِنْ عِشْقيَ السرِّ أَو من حُسْنِك العَلَنِ

    Nothing is more wondrous to all creation

    than my secret love or your manifest beauty.

  9. والغصنُ يُعْرَف في البستان مَنْبِتُه

    وقَدْ رأَينا بِكَ البُستَانَ في غُصُنِ

    A branch's place of growth is known within the garden;

    yet in you we have seen the garden in a branch.

  10. حليتُ سمعي بأَلفاظٍ نطقْتَ بِها

    لا زالَ لفظُك مثلَ القُرْطِ في أُذُني

    I adorned my hearing with words you uttered;

    may your speech remain like an earring in my ear.

  11. تهوى السَّماءَ وتستَجْلي كواكِبها

    شوقاً إِلى الأَهْلِ أَو شَوْقاً إِلى الوَطَنِ

    You love the sky and contemplate its stars,

    longing for your kin, or longing for your homeland.

  12. يقولُ قد غَارَ حُسْنى إِذ تُزَاحِمُه

    أَمَا عَلِمْتَ بأَن الحُسْن يعشقُني

    He says, 'My beauty has grown jealous, since you rival it;

    did you not know that beauty loves me?'

  13. بالله قم نَخْتَلي الصهباءَ ضَاحكةً

    وخلِّ غَيْلاَنَ يَبْكِي ميَّ في الدَّمَن

    By God, rise; let us be alone with the laughing tawny wine,

    and leave Ghaylan to weep for Mayy among the ruined campsites.

  14. واجعل تواصُلنَا لَيْلاً ولا سُقِيت

    فيه حوائمُ أَجْفَانٍ مِنَ الوَسَن

    Let our union be at night; may they never be watered,

    those thirsting, circling eyelids therein, with drowsiness.

  15. سأَلتُ من لم يَجِبْني من تَعزُّزِه

    فانظر إِلى ذُلِّ مِسْكينٍ وعزِّ غَني

    I entreated one who, out of his haughtiness, did not answer me;

    look, then, at a poor man's abasement and a rich man's pride.

  16. فَكَمْ يَعِزُّ وشيطاني يَذِلُّ به

    وكم يجور وسُلْطَاني أَبُو الْحَسَنِ

    How often he exalts himself, while my demon is humbled by him;

    and how often he is unjust, though my sovereign is Abu al-Hasan,

  17. من لا يُرى الجورُ في أَيامِ دولتِه

    أَو يُبصَرُ البَرُّ يُجْرَى فيه بالسُّفُنِ

    in whose days of rule injustice is never seen,

    unless dry land is seen being sailed upon by ships.

  18. الواهِبُ الأَلْفِ بعد الأَلْفِ سَالمةً

    من المِطَالِ مُبَرَّاةً من المِنَن

    The giver of a thousand after a thousand, free

    of delay, untainted by reminders of his favors.

  19. انظر إِليه إِذا جَادَتْ أَنامِلُه

    وانظر لخجْلَةِ وجُهِ العارض الهَتنِ

    Look at him when his fingertips give generously,

    and see the shame on the face of the downpouring cloud.

  20. كَهْلُ الحداثَةِ نَظَّارٌ بِفطْنَتِه

    إِلى العَواقِبِ ريَّانٌ مِنَ الفِطَن

    Mature in youth, he looks keenly with his discernment

    toward consequences, well-watered with insights.

  21. مقدَّس العقلِ عن عيبٍ وعن خَطَلٍ

    منزَّهُ السِّرِّ عن عيبٍ وعن دَرَنِ

    His mind is kept pure of defect and folly,

    his inner self cleansed of defect and stain.

  22. في الحسْنَ والطِّيب أَخبارٌ لسيرته

    تُعْزَى بعدْنٍ ولا تُعزَى إِلى عَدَن

    In beauty and fragrance, accounts of his conduct

    are associated with Eden, not ascribed to Aden.

  23. لا نُطْقَ إِلا عَليهِ من مَحَبَّتِه

    يُثنى ولا مَدْحَ إِلاَّ في عُلاه ثَني

    No utterance but, out of love for him, in his honor

    offers praise; no praise but is repeated for his glory.

  24. يُبنَى لهُ القصْر في بَحْرِ الوغى حُفِرت

    أَساسُه وعلى مَوْجِ السُّيوفِ بُني

    A palace is built for him: in the sea of battle was dug

    its foundation, and upon waves of swords it was built.

  25. تأْبى سجاياه أَن تَنْفَكَّ عن كَرمٍ

    في المقبض اللين أَو في الموقِفِ الخَشِن

    His character refuses to part from nobility,

    in a gentle grasp or in a harsh encounter.

  26. عَلاَ عَليٌّ على الأَملاك كلِّهمِ

    بملكه لِنواصيهِمْ ولِلزَّمَن

    Ali rose above all kings,

    through his mastery of their forelocks and of Time.

  27. زانَ السِّلاحَ الذي يحوي وشرَّفَه

    فالمشْرَفيُّ بذا سمَّوه واليَزَني

    He adorned the arms he possesses and ennobled them;

    thus they called them Mashrafi and Yazani.

  28. وقد بكَتْ إِذْ قَلاَها كلُّ سابِغَةٍ

    فَشِدَّةُ البأْس تُغْنِيه عَن الجُنَن

    Every ample coat of mail wept when he spurned it;

    for the fierceness of his valor frees him from shields.

  29. يَعزُّ للدِّرْعِ من قرَّتْ شَجَاعَتُه

    وقد يكونُ لبعضِ النَّاسِ كَالكَفَن

    One whose courage is steadfast is dear to armor,

    though for some people it may be like a shroud.

  30. كم موقفٍ لك أَرضَيْتَ الإِلهَ بِه

    معَ النَّبيّ بِمَا أَهْلكْتَ مِنْ وَثَنِ

    How many a stand of yours has pleased God,

    as well as the Prophet, through the idols you destroyed!

  31. أَغْمَدْتَ سيْفَكَ لكِنْ في قلوبِهِم

    وَظلَّ سَيْفُكَ في غِمْدٍ من الإِحَنِ

    You sheathed your sword—but in their hearts;

    and your sword remained in a sheath of grudges.

  32. تناقضوا بك فالأَجسامُ باكيَةٌ

    من الإِقامةِ والأَرواحُ في ظَعَن

    Through you they became a contradiction: their bodies weep

    from remaining, while their souls are departing.

  33. يا أَفضلَ الخلقِ قولٌ لا يُلِمُّ به

    ظَنٌّ مِنَ القَولِ أَو قَوْلٌ من الظُنَنِ

    O best of creation—a statement untouched

    by conjecture in words, or words of conjecture.

  34. فارقتُ قُطْرَكَ يَا لَهْفي ويا أَسَفي

    وجُزتُ قَصْرَكَ يا شَوْقي ويا حَزَني

    I left your land—oh, my anguish and my regret!

    I passed beyond your palace—oh, my longing and my sorrow!

  35. وإِنَّ حَالي لو أَنِّي أَقَمْتُ بِه

    حالٍ كما أَنَّ عَيشي كان فِيه هَني

    Indeed, my condition, had I remained there,

    would be sweet, just as my life there was pleasant.

  36. حلَّيتَ جيدي بِحَلْيٍ صيغ من مِنَنٍ

    ما أَحْسَنَ الجِيدَ في حَلْيٍ مِنَ المِنَن

    You adorned my neck with jewelry fashioned from favors;

    how fair the neck in jewelry made of favors!

  37. لمَّا دعوتُ على بُعدٍ مواهبَه

    جاءَ النَّوالُ هنيّاً والعطاءُ سَني

    When from afar I called for his gifts,

    bounty came as a delight, and the gift was splendid.

  38. بِرٌّ تودَّد حتى صَارَ يأْلفُه

    كفِّي فيسكن من كَفِّي إِلى سَكَني

    Kindness that courted me until it grew familiar

    to my palm, then settled from my palm into my dwelling.

  39. لا فَخْرَ إِلا بجيش فيه نِسْبَتُه

    قد جلَّ بالفخر عن قيسٍ وعن يَمَنِ

    No pride save in the host to which his lineage is linked;

    it has risen in glory above Qays and Yaman.