Sol 6.1

  1. نَأَتكَ أُمامَةُ إِلّا سُؤالا

    وَأَبصَرتَ مِنها بِطَيفٍ خَيالا

    Umāmah has gone far from you, save for asking after her.

    And in a dream you glimpsed her phantom,

  2. خَيالاً يَروعُكَ عِندَ المَنامِ

    وَيَأبى مَعَ الصُبحِ إِلّا زَوالا

    A phantom that startles you in sleep,

    And at dawn will do nothing but vanish.

  3. كِنانِيَّةٌ دارُها غَربَةٌ

    تُجِدُّ وِصالاً وَتُبلي وِصالا

    A woman of Kinānah, whose home lies far away,

    She renews a bond of love and wears a bond out.

  4. كَعاطِيَةٍ مِن ظِباءِ السَليلِ

    حُسّانَةِ الجيدِ تُزجي غَزالا

    Like a doe reaching up among the gazelles of al-Salīl,

    Beautiful of neck, urging her fawn along.

  5. تَعاطى العِضاهَ إِذا طالَها

    وَتَقرو مِنَ النَبتِ أَرطى وَضالا

    She reaches for thorn trees when she can reach them,

    And seeks among the plants arṭā shrubs and wild lote trees.

  6. تَصَيَّفُ ذَروَةَ مَكنونَةً

    وَتَبدو مَصابَ الخَريفِ الحِبالا

    She summers at Dharwah, sheltered,

    And at autumn's rainfall goes out to the sand ridges,

  7. مُجاوِرَةً مُستَحيرَ السَرا

    ةِ أَفرَغَتِ الغُرُّ فيهِ السِجالا

    Dwelling beside the pooled waters of al-Sarāh,

    Where white clouds have emptied their buckets.

  8. كَأَنَّ بِحافَتِهِ وَالطِرافِ

    رِجالاً لِحِميَرَ لاقَت رِجالا

    As though along its edge and outer fringe

    Men of Ḥimyar were meeting other men.

  9. فَهَل تُبلِغَنَّكَها عِرمِسٌ

    صَموتُ السُرى لا تَشَكّى الكَلالا

    Will a sturdy she-camel, then, carry you to her?

    Silent on night journeys, never complaining of fatigue,

  10. مُفَرَّجَةَ الضَبعِ مَوّارَةً

    تَخُدُّ الإِكامَ وَتَنفي النِقالا

    Her upper forelegs held wide, her gait surging,

    She furrows the hillocks and flings away loose stones.

  11. إِذا ما النَواعِجُ واكَبنَها

    جَشَمنَ مِنَ السَيرِ رَبواً عُضالا

    When fleet she-camels keep pace with her,

    They suffer severe breathlessness from the journey.

  12. وَإِن غَضِبَت خِلتَ بِالمِشفَرَينِ

    سَبائِخَ قُطنٍ وَبِرساً نُسالا

    And if she grows angry, you would imagine on her two lips

    Tufts of cotton and loose strands of flax.

  13. وَتَحدو يَدَيها زَجولا الحَصى

    أَمَرَّهُما العَصبُ ثُمَّ اِستَمالا

    And two pebble-flinging hindlegs urge her forelegs onward,

    Sinews having twisted them tight, then set them slanting.

  14. وَتُحصِفُ بَعدَ اِضطِرابِ النُسوعِ

    كَما أَحصَفَ العِلجُ يَحدو الحِيالا

    And she quickens after the saddle-straps begin to shake,

    As a wild-ass stallion speeds, urging on barren she-asses.

  15. تُطيرُ الحَصى بِعُرى المَنسَمَينِ

    إِذا الحاقِفاتُ أَلِفنَ الظِلالا

    She sends pebbles flying with the rims of her two hoof-pads,

    When dune-bedded gazelles have taken to the shade.

  16. وَتَرمي الغُيوبَ بِماوِيَّتَينِ

    أُحدِثَتا بَعدَ صَقلٍ صِقالا

    And casts her gaze into the unseen with two mirror-like eyes,

    Given fresh polish after earlier polishing.

  17. وَلَيلٍ تَخَطَّيتُ أَهوالَهُ

    إِلى عُمَرٍ أَرتَجيهِ ثُمالا

    And many a night I crossed through its terrors,

    Toward ʿUmar, whom I look to as a refuge.

  18. طَوَيتُ مَهامِهَ مَخشِيَّةً

    إِلَيكَ لِتُكذِبَ عَنّي المَقالا

    I crossed fearsome trackless wastes,

    To you, so you might refute the accusation against me,

  19. بِمِثلِ الحَنِيِّ بَراها الكَلالُ

    يَنزِعنَ آلاً وَيَركُضنَ آلا

    On bow-like camels, worn thin by fatigue,

    They leave one mirage behind and gallop through another,

  20. إِلى مَلِكٍ عادِلٍ حُكمُهُ

    فَلَمّا وَضَعنا لَدَيهِ الرِحالا

    Toward a king whose judgment is just.

    So when we laid our saddles down before him,

  21. صَرى قَولَ مَن كانَ ذا إِحنَةٍ

    وَمَن كانَ يَأمُلُ فِيَّ الضَلالا

    He checked the words of anyone who bore a grudge,

    And of anyone who hoped for my ruin,

  22. وَخَصمٍ تَمَنّى عَلَيَّ المُنى

    لَأَن جاشَ بَحرُ قُرَيعٍ فَسالا

    And of a foe who nursed wishes against me,

    Because the sea of Qurayʿ surged and flowed.

  23. أَمينَ الخَليفَةِ بَعدَ الرَسولِ

    وَأَوفى قُرَيشٍ جَميعاً حِبالا

    O trusted man of the caliph after the Messenger,

    And most faithful of all Quraysh in keeping bonds,

  24. وَأَطوَلَهُم في النَدى بَسطَةً

    وَأَفضَلَهُم حينَ عُدّوا فِعالا

    And the farthest-reaching of them in generosity,

    And best of them in deeds, when they are reckoned.

  25. أَتَتني لِسانٌ فَكَذَّبتُها

    وَما كُنتُ أَرهَبُها أَن تُقالا

    A report came to me, and I declared it false;

    And I had not feared that it might be uttered:

  26. بِأَنَّ الوُشاةَ بِلا جِرمَةٍ

    أَتَوكَ فَراموا لَدَيكَ المِحالا

    That slanderers, though I had committed no offense,

    Had come to you, seeking deceitful schemes before you.

  27. فَجِئتُكَ مُعتَذِراً راجِياً

    لِعَفوِكَ أَرهَبُ مِنكَ النِكالا

    So I came to you, pleading my defense and hoping

    For your pardon, fearing punishment from you.

  28. فَلا تَسمَعَن بي مَقالَ العِدا

    وَلا توكِلَنّي هُديتَ الرِجالا

    So do not heed my enemies' words against me,

    Nor hand me over to men—may you be guided.

  29. فَإِنَّكَ خَيرٌ مِنَ الزِبرَقانِ

    أَشَدُّ نَكالاً وَخَيرٌ نَوالا

    For you are better than al-Zibriqān,

    More severe in punishment and better in bounty.

  30. أَعوذُ بِجَدِّكَ إِنّي اِمرُؤٌ

    سَقَتني الأَعادي إِلَيكَ السِجالا

    I seek refuge in your greatness; I am a man

    Whom enemies have made drink bucketfuls of slander before you.

  31. فَإِنَّكَ خَيرٌ مِنَ الزِبرَقانِ

    أَشَدُّ نَكالاً وَأَرجى نَوالا

    For you are better than al-Zibriqān,

    More severe in punishment, with bounty more to be hoped for.

  32. تَحَنَّن عَلَيَّ هَداكَ المَليكُ

    فَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ مَقامٍ مَقالا

    Have compassion on me; may the Sovereign guide you.

    For every occasion has its fitting words.

  33. وَلا تَأخُذَنّي بِقَولِ الوُشاةِ

    فَإِنَّ لِكُلِّ زَمانٍ رِجالا

    And do not punish me on the word of slanderers,

    For every age has its men.

  34. فَإِن كانَ ما زَعَموا صادِقاً

    فَسيقَت إِلَيكَ نِسائي رِجالا

    For if what they claimed is true,

    Then may my women be driven to you on foot,

  35. حَواسِرَ لا يَشتَكينَ الوَجى

    يَخفِضنَ آلاً وَيَرفَعنَ آلا

    Bareheaded, making no complaint of aching feet,

    Lowering one mirage and raising another.