Sol 6.1

  1. جَنَّ الظَلام عَلى الكَثيب وَقَد سَجا

    وَالطَرف من فَيضِ المدامع قَد سجا

    Darkness fell over the dune and lay still.

    And the eye lay still from the flood of tears.

  2. جرحت حشاه الغانيات فَلَم يَزَل

    يَخشى من الآرام طرفا ادعجا

    The beauties wounded his heart, so he never ceased

    to fear the gazelles’ deeply dark-eyed gaze.

  3. جزع لأهل الجزع قد أَودى به

    أَرأَيت صبأ من بلآء قد نَجا

    Anguish for the valley bend’s people has undone him.

    Have you seen a lovesick man who has escaped affliction?

  4. جهل العَذول كلومه في حسبهم

    أَو ما تَراه بالدمآء مضرجا

    In their reckoning, the reprover knew nothing of his wounds.

    Or do you not see him drenched in blood?

  5. جنت الحسان عَلى مشوق ما جنى

    وَردا وَلَم يدع الشَقيق بنفسجا

    The beauties wronged a yearning lover who had not plucked

    roses, nor left the red anemone a violet.

  6. جاروا فَحاروا في العلاج وكل ذا

    راض وَلَم يَشكو لهم بعض الوجا

    They wronged him, then puzzled over a cure; through all this

    he was content, not complaining to them of any pain.

  7. جلبوا عليه من السقام بخيلهم

    وَالكل أَضحى ملجما أَو مسرجا

    They mustered sickness against him with their cavalry,

    and all were now bridled or saddled.

  8. جادوا عليه بنظرة لمّا قَضى

    وَقَضوا بوصل لَيسَ فيه مرتجا

    They bestowed a glance on him when he died,

    and decreed a union from which nothing could be hoped.

  9. جبروا المنام فمذ رأوه ناحِلا

    جبروا بطيف حاله وقت الدجا

    They restored sleep; then, when they saw him wasted away,

    they eased his plight with a dream-vision in the darkness of night.

  10. جلبت عَلى فرط النفار قلوبهم

    وَشَجا النفار أَمر من أَكل الشجا

    Their hearts were drawn toward extreme aversion,

    and aversion’s anguish is bitterer than swallowing a choking bone.

  11. جنحوا الى صوغ الوشاة أَما دَروا

    ذاك المَقال زيوف نقد يهرجا

    They inclined toward the slanderers’ fabrications—did they not know

    that such talk is counterfeit coinage that breeds confusion?

  12. جروا الأَسير بقيد سقم في الهَوى

    أَفَما لِذاكَ القيد يَوماً مخرجا

    They dragged love’s captive in a chain of sickness;

    will there not someday be release from that chain?

  13. جدوا بذاك فمذ رأوه شاعر ال

    شهم الوَزير تَسللوا نحو النجا

    They persisted in that; then, seeing he was poet to the

    noble minister, they slipped away toward safety.

  14. جون المَكارِم أَحمد المَجد الَّذي

    فاقَ المَصاقِع بالبَلاغة وَالحجا

    The ocean of noble deeds, Ahmad of glory, who

    surpassed the orators in eloquence and wisdom.

  15. جيد الزَمان منمق من فضله

    أَو ما تَراهُ بالأَمانَ متوّجا

    The neck of time is adorned by his bounty;

    or do you not see it crowned with security?

  16. جارَت يَداه عَلى خَزائن ماله

    فَغَدَت من العاقين حقاً أَحوَجا

    His two hands have wronged the coffers of his wealth,

    so they have become truly needier than the undutiful.

  17. جهد المَواهِب أَن تدع أَمواله

    أَبَداً مفرقة بأَرباب الرجا

    His gifts strive to leave his wealth

    forever distributed among those who hope.

  18. جمل القَريض بمدحه قد فصلت

    عقداً عليه وَفي سواه زبرجا

    The phrases of poetry in his praise have been fashioned

    as a necklace upon him, but mere glitter upon anyone else.

  19. جَلَت مَزاياه فَحَلَّت منطقي

    عند النَشيد ودمت فيها لاهجا

    His virtues shone forth and adorned my speech

    as I recited, and I kept proclaiming them.

  20. جرت صوارمه الرقاب فكلما

    خَرَّت تصل وذاكَ صوت أَزعجا

    His keen swords dragged necks down; whenever

    they fell, they rang, and that sound struck fear.

  21. جود الأَكارِم لَو يُقاس بجوده

    لَرأَيت نهراً من خضم أَخرَجا

    Were the generosity of the noble measured against his,

    you would see a river drawn out of a vast sea.

  22. جمع الفخار فَما اِستقر بمهده

    حَتّى اِستقلَّ له المجرة معرجا

    He gathered glory; scarcely had he settled in his cradle

    before he deemed the Milky Way too slight a stairway for himself.

  23. جاءَت له كل الشعوب مطيعة

    فشهدت بحراً بالجيوش تموجا

    All peoples came to him in obedience,

    and you beheld a sea surging with armies.

  24. جلى المرام بان يكونوا اعبداً

    تحت الأَوامِر وهو نعم الملتجا

    He made his aim plain: that they should be slaves

    under his commands; and what an excellent refuge he is!

  25. جهرا اذا نطق الوجود بفضله

    خرس العدو مهابة وَتلجلجا

    When existence proclaims his bounty aloud,

    the enemy falls silent in awe and stammers.

  26. جرد الخيول معدة في داره

    تَبغي النزال فَكَم بها قَد ادلجا

    Sleek horses stand ready in his dwelling,

    seeking combat—how often he has ridden them by night!

  27. جون اذا عاينت غرة وجههم

    أَبصرت لَيلا فيه صبح مسرجا

    Black steeds: when you behold the white blaze upon their faces,

    you see a night with dawn kindled within it.

  28. جليب به كرب الزَمان فكلما

    لاقيته أَبصرت فجراً أَبلجا

    Time’s anguish is held captive by him; whenever

    you meet him, you behold a radiant dawn.

  29. جعل الآله له المرام ميسراً

    ما قادَت الأَعراب يَوماً هو دجأ

    May God make his goal easy to attain,

    so long as the Bedouins ever lead a howdah.