Sol 6.1

  1. أعدي عليَّ هواه خصمُ جفونه

    مالي به قبلٌ ولا بفنونه

    His love has been aided against me, the adversary of his eyelids;

    I have no strength against it, nor against its arts.

  2. إن لم تُجرني منه رحمةُ قلبه

    من ذا يجيرُ عليه ملكُ يمينه

    If his heart's mercy does not shelter me from him,

    Who will protect from him the slave his right hand owns?

  3. صابٍ منَ الأتراك أصبى مهجتي

    فعبدت نور الحسن فوق جبينه

    An amorous Turk has captivated my soul;

    So I worshipped beauty's light above his brow.

  4. مُتمكّنٌ في الحسنِ نوَّن صدغه

    فتبيّن التمكينُ في تنوينه

    Firmly established in beauty, he has marked his temple with a nūn;

    Thus his firm standing is clear in its nunation.

  5. تنسابُ عقربُ صدغه في جنّة

    لم يجن منها الصبُّ غير منونه

    The scorpion of his temple glides through a garden

    From which the lover has reaped nothing but his death.

  6. ولوى ضفيرته فولّى مُدبرا

    فعل الكليم ارتاع من تبيينه

    He coiled his braid; the lover turned away in flight,

    As Moses did, terrified at its display.

  7. قد أطمعتني فيه رقةُ خدّه

    لو أمكنتني فيه رقة دينه

    The softness of his cheek has made me hope to win him,

    If only laxity in his faith would give me access to him.

  8. ورجوتُ لينَ قوامِه لو لم يكْن

    كالرمحُ شدة طعنه في لينه

    And I would have hoped for the softness of his form, were it not

    Like a spear, fierce in its thrust despite its suppleness.

  9. شاكي السلاح وما الذي في جفنه

    أعدى عليَّ من الذي بجفونه

    He is fully armed; what lies in his scabbard is not

    Deadlier to me than what lies in his eyelids.

  10. ناديتُه لما ندت لي سينه

    وشعرتُ من لفظ السلام بسينه

    I called to him when his sīn slipped out to me,

    And sensed his sīn in the word salām—'peace':

  11. رحماك في دنفٍ غدا وحياتُه

    ومماتُه وحراكُه كسكونه

    Have mercy on a wasted lover, whose life has become

    One with his death, his movement like his stillness.

  12. إن لم تمنَّ عليَّ منة راحمٍ

    فمناه أن يلقاه ريبُ منونه

    If you will not bestow on me a merciful person's favor,

    Then his wish is for death's calamity to befall him.

  13. ولذا أبيت سوى سمات عدوه

    فأمانه من ذاك ظهر أمونه

    For this I have refused all but the marks of his enemy;

    For his safety from that is his trusty she-camel's back.

  14. سننيخها في باب أروع ماجدٍ

    فيرى محلّ الفضلِ حق يقينه

    We shall make her kneel at the gate of an awe-inspiring nobleman,

    And he will see, with true certainty, the abode of excellence.

  15. حيث المعارف والعوارف والعُلا

    في حدّ مجد جامع لفنونه

    Where learning, bounty, and high rank

    Lie within the bounds of a glory embracing all its forms.

  16. بدرٌ وفي الحسن بن أحمد التقت

    نُجُبُ مررن على العطا بركونه

    A full moon—around al-Hasan ibn Ahmad have gathered

    Noble camels, come to bounty in reliance on him,

  17. تبغي مناها في مناها عنده

    وتطوفُ بالحاجات عند حُجونه

    Seeking their wishes in their Minā beside him,

    And circling with their needs beside his Ḥajūn.

  18. فرعٌ من الأصل اليماني طيّبٌ

    ورثَ البيانَ وزادَ في تبيينه

    A noble branch from the Yemeni root,

    He inherited eloquence and made it clearer still.

  19. يُبدي البشاشة في أسرّة وجهه

    طوراً ويحمي العزَّ في عِرنينه

    He displays good cheer in the lines of his face

    At times, and guards his dignity in the bridge of his nose.

  20. بسطت شمائله الزمان كمثل ما

    بسطَ الغناءُ نفوسنا بلحونه

    His virtues have gladdened the age, just as

    Song has gladdened our souls with its melodies.

  21. يُثني عليه كلُّ فعل سائرٍ

    كالمسكِ اذ تُثني على دارينه

    Every deed that travels far sings his praise,

    Like musk when it sings the praise of its Dārīn.