Sol 6.1

  1. سل الخلصاء ما صنعوا بعهدي

    أضاعوه وكم هزلوا بجدي

    Ask the true friends what they did with my pledge.

    They squandered it; how often they mocked my earnestness!

  2. ركبت إليهم ظهر الأماني

    على ثقة فعدت أذم وخدي

    I rode to them upon the back of hopes,

    In confidence, then returned condemning my haste.

  3. وصلت بحبلهم حبلي فلما

    نأوا عني قطعت حبال ودي

    I joined my cord to theirs; but when

    They drew away from me, I severed the cords of my affection.

  4. وكانوا حليتي فعطلت منها

    وغمدي فالحسام بغير غمد

    They were my adornment, and I was left without it,

    And my sheath; now the sword is without a sheath.

  5. أذم العيش بعدهم ومن لي

    بمن يدري أذموا العيش بعدي

    I condemn life without them; but who can find me

    Someone who knows whether they have condemned life without me?

  6. وما راجعت صبري غير أني

    أكتم لوعتي في الشوق جهدي

    I have not regained my patience, save that I

    Hide, as best I can, the anguish of my longing.

  7. ولو أطلقت شوقي بل نحري

    وروى وبل غاديتيه خدي

    Were I to unleash my longing, it would wet my breast,

    And the downpour of its two morning clouds would drench my cheek.

  8. جفاءٌ في مطاويه حفاظٌ

    كحسن القد في أسمال برد

    A coldness with fidelity within its folds,

    Like a graceful figure in a tattered cloak.

  9. وكم من نزوةٍ للقلب عندي

    وهجعة سلوةٍ وقيام وجد

    How many a leap of the heart I have known,

    And a slumber of forgetting, and an awakening of passion.

  10. على أني وإن أطرب لقربٍ

    ليعجبني عن المخفار بعدي

    Yet, although I rejoice in closeness,

    I relish my distance from the pledge-breaker.

  11. إذا ما ضن بالتسليم قومٍ

    فإن الجود بالتوديع ردى

    If people begrudge a greeting,

    Then to lavish farewells is ruin.

  12. لكلٍّ في احتمال الناس طبعٌ

    ولست على تملقهم بجلد

    Each has his own way of bearing with people;

    And I have no patience for flattering them.

  13. وغر ماضغ بالغيب لحمي

    خلاه الذم إذ جدنا بحمد

    And a fool who gnaws my flesh behind my back

    Was spared reproach when we lavished praise.

  14. صفوت له على العلات دهراً

    فرنق بالسفاهة ماء وردي

    Long was I true to him, despite his faults;

    Then with his foolishness he muddied my drinking-water.

  15. وكنت إذا هتفت به أتتني

    قوارص شر ما يحبو ويهدي

    And whenever I called to him, there came to me

    Stinging taunts, the worst of his gifts and offerings.

  16. وإني حين تغشاني أذاةٌ

    ليشفع للمسيء الود عندي

    And when harm descends on me,

    Affection surely pleads with me for the offender.

  17. فإن يسبق إلى كفر وظلم

    فقد سبقت يداي له برفد

    If he hastens to ingratitude and wrong,

    My hands have already preceded him with aid.

  18. ظلمتك أن تخذتك لي وليّاً

    ولو أنصفت كان سواك قصدي

    I wronged you by taking you as my friend;

    Had I been fair, I would have sought another.

  19. غروراً كان ما وعدت ظنوني

    وأشقى الناس مغرور بوعد

    What my expectations promised was delusion,

    And the most wretched of people is one deceived by a promise.

  20. أيغضبه السكوت وقد سكتنا

    ولو قلنا لما أرضاه نقدي

    Does silence anger him? We have held our peace;

    Had we spoken, my criticism would not have pleased him.

  21. وجهلٌ بين في غير شاكٍ

    تعرضه لشاك مستعد

    It is plain folly in an unarmed man

    To challenge one armed and ready.

  22. مضى زمن التسامع والتغاضي

    وذا زمن الترامي والتحدي

    The time for listening and overlooking faults is past;

    This is the time for trading shots and defiance.

  23. لئن أعلى خسيستهم سكوتي

    فسوف يحطها بدئي وعودي

    If my silence has exalted their baseness,

    My onset and return shall surely bring it low.

  24. وإن أثمر لهم ذماً كثيراً

    فهم غرسوا بذور الذم عندي

    And if it bears them much reproach,

    They themselves planted the seeds of reproach in me.