Sol 6.1

  1. أمن طرب أأم تجد اكتماداً

    أأم ذكرت خواطرك الخرادا

    Is it rapture, or do you feel smoldering grief?

    Or have your thoughts recalled the bashful maidens?

  2. أأم بعث الهموم عليك خطب

    ومال بحادث فنفى الرقادا

    Or has some calamity stirred cares against you,

    and borne down with misfortune, banishing sleep?

  3. وما همٌّ عراك فأي أمر

    عناك فصرت مفترشاً قتادا

    And what grief has assailed you? What matter

    has troubled you, that you lie upon thorn bushes?

  4. بذلت إلى البرية ماء وجهي

    لأرشدهم فما اغتنموا الرشادا

    I sacrificed my dignity before humankind,

    to guide them, but they did not seize right guidance.

  5. وذاك من التلدد والتمادي

    وغيري من تلدد أو تمادى

    And that comes of vacillation and delay;

    it is someone other than me who wavers or delays.

  6. دنت فنأت أراذلهم وأما

    أشابههم فقد صدعوا الفؤادا

    Their basest drew near, then drew away; as for

    their fellows, they have shattered my heart

  7. بوعد غد وبعد غد وحتى

    وسوف ترى وما اعتزل الوسادا

    with promises of tomorrow, the day after, and 'until...'

    and 'you shall see'—yet he never leaves his pillow.

  8. وأردية الفخار فما إليها

    يمد يديه من ترك الجهادا

    And toward the robes of glory

    no man who forsakes struggle stretches his hands.

  9. عجبت لمن يحاول أمر ملك

    ويكره إن يعاند أو يعادا

    I marvel at one who seeks a sovereign's power,

    yet hates it if he meets opposition or hostility.

  10. فأي فتي تتوج تاج عزّ

    يحيد إذا السواد لقي السوادا

    What youth, then, has donned a crown of glory,

    yet swerves when one dark host meets another?

  11. وهل لبس المهابة أو تردى

    ردا النجدات من كره الجلادا

    And has one clothed himself in awe, or wrapped himself

    in the cloak of valor, who hates sword combat?

  12. وما صحب الرقاد فتى علمنا

    فنال محل من صحب السهادا

    No youth we know has kept company with sleep

    and attained the station of one who keeps vigil.

  13. ومن جعل الأياس له قريناً

    تحول أمر مطلبه وبادا

    Whoever makes despair his companion

    finds his quest diverted and brought to nothing.

  14. وبالدلجات في الدلجات يحوي

    أخو الهمم السنية ما أرادا

    And through night marches in night's darkness, he gains—

    the man of lofty ambitions—whatever he desires.

  15. فما أنا بالمقيم ولست ممن

    يمل لنصر خالقه ارتيادا

    For I will not stay put, nor am I one

    who tires of questing to aid his Creator.

  16. أخاف بأن تغافصني المنايا

    وما كسبت يداي لهن زادا

    I fear that death may seize me unawares,

    while my hands have earned no provisions for it.

  17. سأقحم مهجتي لجج المنايا

    وأوردها مواردها الشدادا

    I shall plunge my soul into death's surging depths,

    and lead it to death's perilous watering places.

  18. واطلب ما حييت ولا أبالي

    أفي زمر أغادر أم فرادا

    And I shall seek as long as I live, caring not

    whether I depart in bands or alone.

  19. ولست وإن لقيت أذى وهجرا

    بأول قايم لقي العنادا

    And though I meet harm and abandonment, I am not

    the first to rise and encounter opposition.

  20. أقول وقد ذكرت بكاء خود

    عشية صاح صائحنا ونادا

    I speak, recalling a maiden's weeping

    on the evening our herald cried out and called

  21. برحلتنا وقد أخذت بسيفي

    وأمسكت الحمائل والنجادا

    for our departure, while she had grasped my sword

    and clutched its straps and sword-belt,

  22. وقولتها مراقبة ألالا

    تفارق من يماحضك الودادا

    and her watchful words: 'Ah, do not

    leave one who offers you unalloyed affection.'

  23. لأن جزعت لمرتحلي فإني

    ظفرت بأن قصدت فتى جوادا

    Since you grieved at my departure, I

    have won good fortune by seeking a generous youth,

  24. أخا همم ومعرفة وجود

    به غمر الأقارب والبعادا

    a man of lofty aims, knowledge, and generosity

    with which he has showered kin and distant folk.

  25. أعز فتى بحاشية قياداً

    وأسهلهم لمكرمة قيادا

    A youth most unyielding, with his retinue,

    yet the easiest to lead toward a noble deed.

  26. من الأسد الحواشب حوشبيا

    كمثل جدوده ملك العبادا

    A Hawshabi, from the lions of the Hawashib,

    he has ruled over men like his forefathers.

  27. أبان لنا البشاشة إذ نزلنا

    منازلنا وهش لنا وجادا

    He showed us cheerfulness when we alighted

    at our lodgings, welcomed us warmly, and gave generously.

  28. وقال فأفرجت وجلت همومي

    مقالته سأبلغك المرادا

    He spoke, and my cares were eased and dispelled;

    his words were: 'I shall bring you what you desire.'

  29. كما نطقت قصيدته بوعد

    وما وعد الكريم وفي وزادا

    just as his poem proclaimed a promise—

    and the noble fulfills his promise and gives more—

  30. بحيث يقول تعلم صدق قولي

    إذا جاوزت رحبة والغيادا

    where he says: 'You will know my words are true

    when you have passed Rahbah and al-Ghiyad.'

  31. وذلك أنت أنك يا ابن معن

    لفظت بما لفظت به اتعادا

    And such are you: indeed, O son of Ma'n,

    you spoke the words you spoke by way of threat.

  32. وأصبح من يعاندنا وأمسى

    لعمرك منك يرتعد ارتعادا

    And whoever opposes us, at morning and evening,

    by your life, trembles mightily before you.

  33. فكيف إذا عساكرك استطارت

    قساطلها واسرعت الصعادا

    What then, when your armies send aloft

    their dust-clouds, and the spears speed onward?

  34. إذاً لرأيت كل أخى نفاق

    يمد إليك عاتقه انقيادا

    Then you would surely see every hypocrite

    stretch his shoulder toward you in submission.

  35. فاحسر عن ذراعك عن قريب

    معاجلة وأور لنا زنادا

    So bare your arm before long,

    in haste, and strike sparks for us from the firesticks.

  36. وقم وقد الجيوش إلى الأعادي

    وأوطهم المسوّمة الجيادا

    Rise, and lead the armies against the foes,

    and have the marked, noble steeds trample them.

  37. وجلّ دعا اليمان فهم جميعاً

    يرونك بعد خالقهن عمادا

    And mighty is Yemen's call, for all its people

    see you, after their Creator, as their support.

  38. فخيلك والقواضب والعوالي

    تصير سدى إذا عدمت طرادا

    For your horses, the cutting blades, and the lofty spears

    go to waste when they lack mounted combat.

  39. ومثلك والعظيم يحوز أجراً

    وفخراً حين ناصبهم وعادا

    One like you—by the Almighty—wins reward

    and glory when he confronts them as a foe.

  40. علا وعلت مراتبه ارتفاعاً

    وأنعم في جزيرته وسادا

    He rises, and his ranks climb ever higher,

    and lives at ease on his island and holds sway.

  41. وتعلم يا ابن معن أن عزمي

    يفل غراره القضب الحدادا

    And know, O son of Ma'n, that my resolve

    blunts the sharp blades with its cutting edge.

  42. ولي همم لها همم تسامي

    إذا بلداً حمت ذكرت بلاداً

    And I have ambitions, with ambitions of their own that soar:

    when they defend one land, they recall other lands.

  43. أرى كلاّ بنا حية إذا ما

    رفعت فساد مفسدها فسادا

    I see each among us as a serpent: whenever

    I remove its corrupter's corruption, corruption returns.

  44. فثق بمقالتي وكفاك أني

    أحب لمن يوازرني السدادا

    So trust my words; enough for you that I

    wish right conduct for whoever supports me.

  45. واحفظ للمجامل كل فضل

    إِذا ذهب اللئيم بما استفادا

    And I remember every kindness from the gracious,

    while the base man departs with what he has gained.

  46. ودونك حكمة خلصت فصيغت

    على سلك من الأدب انقيادا

    And here is wisdom, purified and fashioned

    upon a thread of letters, strung obediently.

  47. إذا شديت لذى الأدباء نادوا

    علت رتب الأمام لقد أجادا

    When you chant before the men of letters, they cry:

    'Exalted are the Imam's ranks! He has indeed excelled!'

  48. وأختم بالصلوة على نبي

    شفاعته يزين بها المعادا

    And I end with blessings upon a prophet

    whose intercession adorns the final Return.