Sol 6.1

  1. لنا من ليلنا بلِوى الصريمِ

    قراعُ الهمِّ أو عدُّ النجومِ

    Our share of our night at the sandy bend of al-Sarim

    is combat with sorrow, or counting the stars.

  2. حبسنا العيشَ منه على بخيلٍ

    نؤمِّلُ عندَه جدوَى الكريمِ

    We made our livelihood there depend upon a miser,

    hoping from him for a generous man's bounty.

  3. فلم نَقفِ السؤالَ على مُجيبٍ

    ولم نشكُ الغرامَ إلى رحيمِ

    Yet we brought our plea before no one who answered,

    nor complained of love's torment to anyone merciful,

  4. سوى ذكرى نَزَتْ بجوىً دفينٍ

    كما كرَّ العِدادُ على السليمِ

    save a memory that stirred a buried heartache,

    as venom's recurring pang returns to one snake-bitten.

  5. عِطارٌ في الثرى وطروسُ وحيٍ

    تحادثنا عن العهد القديمِ

    Traces in the dust, and pages of writing,

    converse with us about the time long past.

  6. سقاكَ وإن صممتَ فلم تُفِدنا

    سوى سفَهِ المنازل بالحلومِ

    May you be watered, though you turned deaf and gave us

    nothing but dwellings' mockery of sober minds,

  7. رقيقُ القَطْرِ حنَّانُ العشايا

    نَتاجَ المنجباتِ من الغيومِ

    by rain gentle of drop, yearning at evening,

    the offspring of fruitful mothers among the clouds.

  8. تعودُ مع الصَّباح له بِداناً

    جسومُ الناحلاتِ من الرسومِ

    By morning, through it, full-bodied again become

    the bodies of the emaciated remnants.

  9. عصَيْت لوائحي وأطعتُ وجدي

    برملة والخِيارُ إلى الملومِ

    I disobeyed my reprovers and obeyed my passion

    at Ramlah; the choice belongs to the man reproached.

  10. فما العَدوَى على ولَهي ودمعي

    وقد حكَّمت في قلبي خُصومي

    What redress, then, is there for my frenzy and tears,

    when I have made my adversaries judges over my heart,

  11. وأرسلتُ اللحاظَ على يقينٍ

    بما تجني العيونُ على الجسومِ

    and let loose my glances, knowing full well

    what eyes inflict upon bodies?

  12. فإن تك صاحباً وعزمتَ رشداً

    غداً وحملتَ شطراً من همومي

    If you are a companion and resolve on a wise course

    tomorrow, and bear a share of my cares,

  13. فمل مَيْلَ الغميم وحيِّ عنّي

    مواسمَ للبطَالةِ بالغَميمِ

    then turn toward al-Ghamim and greet on my behalf

    the seasons of carefree pleasure at al-Ghamim.

  14. وقل لملاعبِ العلَمين سيري

    مع الحيِّ المقوّض أو أقيمي

    And say to the playgrounds of al-Alamayn: 'Journey

    with the tribe striking camp, or remain.'

  15. إذا عَرِيَ اللِّوى من شجوِ قلبي

    ومن طرفٍ أصيبَ به سقيمِ

    If the sandy bend is stripped of my heart's sorrow

    and of an ailing eye afflicted by it,

  16. فلا ناحت بحاجرَ بنتُ غصن

    ولا نظرَتْ برامةَ أمُّ ريمِ

    then may no daughter of a branch lament at Hajir,

    nor a gazelle's mother gaze at Ramah.

  17. سقى الله العراقَ بما سقاني

    حلوبةَ لا السحابِ ولا الكرومِ

    May God give Iraq to drink what it gave me,

    a draught milked from neither clouds nor vines,

  18. وأنصفَ بين أيّامي وبيني

    إذا المظلوم دِينَ من الظَّلومِ

    and judge fairly between my days and me,

    when the wronged receives redress against the wrongdoer.

  19. أعاتبُها وعنّي صَمَّ سَمْعٌ

    لتنزِعَ وهي توغلُ في صميمي

    I reproach them, but their hearing is deaf to me,

    hoping they will desist, while they penetrate my very core:

  20. فيوماً في شبابي أو حميمي

    ويوماً في صديقي أو نديمي

    one day assailing my youth or my dear companion,

    another, my friend or my boon companion.

  21. طوارقُ للبعاد فرت أديمي

    بحدّ شِفارها فَرْيَ الأديمِ

    Night-visiting calamities of separation have rent my skin

    with their keen blades, as leather is cut.

  22. أعالجها بصبري وهو داءٌ

    كما تقعُ الكُلومُ على الكلومِ

    I treat them with my patience, itself a sickness,

    as wounds fall upon wounds.

  23. تكنَّفني الزمان يُطيلُ ضغطي

    فما أنفكُّ من جنبٍ أليمِ

    Time has hemmed me in, prolonging its pressure,

    and I am never free of an aching side.

  24. ويُضعِفُ مُنَّتي ويميتُ فضلي

    تَطَلُّبِيَ الثراءَ من العديمِ

    And what weakens my strength and kills my merit

    is my seeking wealth from one who has none.

  25. وكان يضيءُ لي أملي فأَسِري

    فقد أضللتُ في الأملِ البهيمِ

    My hope once shone for me, and I would journey by night;

    now I have lost my way in hope's black darkness.

  26. كأنّي لم أنُطْ بالمجد همّي

    ولم أركَبْ إلى العليا عزيمي

    As though I had never fastened my ambition to glory,

    nor ridden my resolve toward eminence,

  27. ولم أهتِك دُجُنّةَ كلِّ خطبٍ

    بفجرٍ من بني عبد الرحيمِ

    nor torn apart the gloom of every calamity

    with a dawn from the sons of Abd al-Rahim,

  28. يضيءُ ليَ المنَى ويدُلُّ عيني

    على نهج العلاءِ المستقيمِ

    illuminating my wishes and guiding my eye

    along the straight path of eminence.

  29. فقام البعدُ بينهُمُ وبيني

    بروعةِ مُقعِد منهم مُقيمِ

    Then distance rose between them and me,

    with a crippling dread that held me far from them.

  30. وولَّوْها الأعنّةَ مطلقاتٍ

    وبقَّوْني أعَضُّ على الشكيمِ

    They handed it the reins, freely loosed,

    and left me biting on the bit.

  31. فهل بُلِّغتُمُ أخبارَ قلبي

    على التصحيح في النقلِ السليمِ

    Have the tidings of my heart reached you,

    accurately, in faithful transmission?

  32. وهل يدرون ما سَهري ووجدي

    إذا سكنوا إلى الليل المنيمِ

    And do they know my sleeplessness and passion

    when they settle into the sleep-bringing night,

  33. وطوفي بالبلايا والرذايا ال

    مُعرَّة بعد بُزْلِهمُ القُرومِ

    and my roaming among afflictions and worn-out she-camels,

    mangy ones, after their full-grown noble stallions?

  34. بلَى عند الوزير بذاك علمٌ

    وأنباءٌ تشُقُّ على الكريمِ

    Yes, the vizier knows of this,

    and has tidings grievous to a generous man.

  35. سيجمعها وإن طُفْتُ انتشاراً

    عظيمٌ لا يروَّعُ بالعظيمِ

    He will gather them, though I roam dispersed—

    a great man whom great calamities do not frighten,

  36. وفيُّ العهدِ في قربٍ وبعدٍ

    غنيُّ النفس من كَرمٍ وخِيمِ

    faithful to his pledge, in nearness and distance,

    rich of soul through generosity and disposition,

  37. من البيت الذي بذؤابتيه

    سما والمنبت الزاكي الأرومِ

    from the house by whose two pinnacles

    he rose, and from stock with flourishing roots;

  38. وقوم تذهبُ الأحساب عرضاً

    ومنَصبُهم على السَّننِ القديمِ

    and a people whose ancestral honors spread wide,

    while their lineage follows the ancient course.

  39. يسود الناسُ شيباً أو كهولاً

    وفيهم سؤدد الطفلِ الفطيمِ

    Others gain lordship when gray-haired or mature;

    among them, even the newly weaned child is a lord.

  40. دُعُوا بُزْل الرجال وهمْ جِذاعٌ

    وتمُّوا في المرَاسلِ والتميمِ

    They were called mature men while still young camels,

    and attained perfection while still in necklaces and amulets.

  41. وساسوا الدهرَ والسلطانَ عسفاً

    وليناً بالحميَّةِ والحُلومِ

    They governed time and sovereign power with sternness

    and gentleness, with ardor and forbearance.

  42. فما أَشِروا مع القدَرِ المُوالي

    ولا بطِروا على المُلك العقيمِ

    They did not grow wanton when fortune favored them,

    nor insolent over kingship that recognizes no kinship.

  43. مضَوا سلفَ العلا وأذى الأعادي

    وأنديةَ النّدَى وشجَا الخُصومِ

    They passed on, forebears of glory, a bane to enemies,

    assemblies of bounty, and thorns in their foes' throats.

  44. وأطلعتِ السعودُ لهم هلالاً

    جديدَ النور بانَ من النجومِ

    Then auspicious stars raised for them a crescent

    of new light, distinct among the stars.

  45. وفَى لَهُمُ أبو سعدٍ بسعيٍ

    مَزيدِ الحُضْرِ طمَّ على الرسيمِ

    Abu Sa'd fulfilled their due with an endeavor

    of heightened gallop, surging beyond the steady trot.

  46. وصاغ بذكره تيجانَ فخرٍ

    على جَبَهاتهم بدلَ الوُسومِ

    And with his renown he fashioned crowns of pride

    upon their brows in place of brands.

  47. يموتُ الدهرُ من هَرَمٍ وتفنَى

    بنوهُ وهي باقيةُ الرسومِ

    Time dies of old age, and perish

    its sons, while those crowns' outlines endure.

  48. عدوّك بعدَ بُعدك مثلُ ملكٍ

    سحيلِ الحبل منقوضِ الجريمِ

    Your enemy, after your departure, is like a kingdom

    with a loosely twisted rope, its body unraveled.

  49. تهافتَ شملُه وهوَى سقِيطاً

    تداعِي السلكِ في العِقدِ النظيمِ

    Its cohesion collapsed, and it fell in scattered fragments,

    like the thread's undoing in a well-strung necklace.

  50. عصَى بك والداً حَدِباً فآل ال

    عقوقُ به إلى ذلِّ اليتيمِ

    In you he defied a compassionate father, and so

    his ingratitude brought him to an orphan's abasement.

  51. تعاورَهُ الولاةُ فشذَّبوه

    بعسف الغمز أو عسف الغُشومِ

    Governors took him in turns and lopped him down

    with cruel squeezing or a ruthless tyrant's brutality.

  52. فدولته الشَّعاعُ بلا عميدٍ

    وأمَّتُه الضياعُ بلا زعيمِ

    His realm lies scattered, without a pillar,

    and his people are lost, without a leader.

  53. أُحِلَّ حرامُها فقد استبيحت

    وكانت من جِوارِك في حريمِ

    Its sanctities were declared lawful, and it was laid open to violation,

    though under your protection it had been inviolate.

  54. تَوالغُ في جوانبها ذئابٌ

    منعتَ أنوفَها قصَّ الشمِيمِ

    Wolves lap at its flanks,

    whose noses you once kept from following its scent.

  55. فها هي لا تظنّ بها شفاءً

    إذا الإبلالُ قُدِّرَ في السقِيمِ

    There it is: do not expect it to recover,

    even if recovery were decreed for the sick.

  56. بلَى أرجو لها بك أو لأخرى

    علاجَ الداءِ أو سدَّ الثُّلومِ

    Yet I hope for it, through you—or for another—

    a cure for the sickness, or the closing of the breaches,

  57. إذا اضطرّوا وأجدب وادياهم

    إلى استمطار وابلك العميمِ

    when they are driven, their two valleys parched,

    to beg the rain of your all-embracing downpour.

  58. ديونٌ لي على الأيّام فيكم

    وغائبةٌ تبشِّر بالقُدومِ

    The days owe me debts concerning you,

    and something absent gives promise of its arrival.

  59. أطالبُها وأعلمُ أن ستُقضَى

    وإن طالت مماطلةُ الغريمِ

    I demand their payment, knowing they will be paid,

    however long the debtor delays.

  60. بغاك لها وقد قُرِنت وأنَّتْ

    وجرَّ نهوضَها طولُ الجثُومِ

    He sought you for them, though they lay fettered and groaning,

    and long crouching dragged down their rising.

  61. فإنَّ الأمر يبطىءُ ثم يأتي

    أحبَّ من التسرُّع والهجومِ

    For a matter may be slow, yet then arrive

    more welcome than haste and headlong rushing.

  62. وبعدُ على النوى وعلى التداني

    فقد أشقيتني بعد النعيمِ

    And further, whether far away or close at hand,

    you have made me wretched after bliss.

  63. وقد خلَّفتني من كفِّ دهري

    بطول الصدِّ في أَسرٍ لئيمِ

    You have left me at the hand of my time,

    through prolonged rejection, in a vile captivity.

  64. أروضُ الحمدَ في أيدٍ جعادٍ

    وأرعَى جانبَ العيش الذميمِ

    I school my praise among tight-fisted hands,

    and graze the wretched side of livelihood.

  65. تَصوَّحَ مرتعي وذوتْ عروقي

    بهجرِ سحابك الصخِبِ الهزيمِ

    My pasture has withered and my roots have dried

    because your clamorous, thundering cloud deserted me.

  66. ولم تك قطّ في سَعةٍ وضيقٍ

    لتُغفلَني وتُشغَلَ عن رسومي

    Never, in plenty or in hardship, were you

    one to neglect me or forget my customary dues.

  67. فما بالي جُفيتُ أما حديثي

    يذكَّرك الحقوقَ أما قديمي

    Why, then, am I shunned? Does not my recent record

    remind you of my rights? Does not my past?

  68. ألستَ بصحبتي ووفايَ أهلاً

    بمنزلة المساهمِ والقسيمِ

    Are you not worthy of my companionship and loyalty,

    in the standing of a sharer and a partner?

  69. نطقتُ ولو أطقتُ لطال صمتي

    على ما اعتدتُ من خُلُقي وخِيمي

    I have spoken; had I been able, my silence would have lasted,

    as is customary in my character and disposition.

  70. ولكنّي أطقتُ جنونَ دهرٍ

    ينقّل شيمةَ الرجلِ الحليمِ

    But I have borne the madness of an age

    that alters the temper of a forbearing man.

  71. بقِيتُ لمدحكم فابقوا لرفدي

    على رعي المصوِّح والهشيمِ

    I live on to praise you; live on to sustain me,

    while I graze on withered plants and dry stalks.

  72. فإني ما وجدتكُمُ قليلٌ

    من العَدَم ارتياعي أو وُجومي

    For as long as I find you, little is

    my terror of want, or my silent dejection.

  73. لكم في كّل غاسقةٍ وفجر

    حبائر من فمي رُقشُ الوُشومِ

    For you, in every dark night and dawn,

    are brocades from my mouth, richly patterned:

  74. تكون عليكُمُ دُرّاً نثيراً

    وحِصناً من عدوّكم الرجيمِ

    they become scattered pearls upon you,

    and a fortress against your accursed enemy.

  75. بنيتُ لكم بها مجداً مضافاً

    إلى مجدِ الخُؤولة والعُمومِ

    With them I have built for you a glory added

    to the glory of your maternal and paternal uncles.

  76. يزوركُمُ بها النّيروز يَسرِي

    بطول اللّبثِ فيها واللزومِ

    Nowruz visits you through them, journeying by night,

    with long abiding in them and constant attendance,

  77. بواقَي فيكُمُ متداوَلاتٍ

    بقاءَ الفخرِ في سَلَفَيْ تميمِ

    remaining among you, passed from hand to hand,

    as pride endures in Tamim's two ancestral lines.