أيُّ شِعري نظَرتُ فيه لِضَبٍّ
أوحَدٍ ما لَهُ على الدهرِ عونُ
Which of my poems did I examine for a lizard—
What poetry of mine have I looked upon as just
Which of my verses did I inspect for a lizard,
a solitary one, with no helper against time?
One solid piece, with no aid against time?
A solitary wretch with no aid against Time?
كُلُّ بيتٍ يجيءُ يبرز فيه
لكَ من جوهَرِ الفصاحَةِ لونُ
In every verse that comes forth, there emerges
Every verse comes forward displaying for you
Every line that comes forth reveals within it
for you a hue from the essence of eloquence.
Some hue of eloquence, some tone.
For you, a facet of the essence of eloquence.
يا لك الويلُ ليسَ يعجز موسى
رجُلٌ حشو جلدِه فرعونُ
Woe to you! Moses cannot be thwarted
Woe to you! Not even Moses despairs-
Woe unto you! Moses is not baffled by
by a man whose skin is stuffed with Pharaoh.
A man whose innards are Pharaoh.
A man whose very skin is stuffed with Pharaoh.
أنا في عينكَ الظلامُ كما أنـ
ـنَ بياضَ النهارِ عندكَ جونُ
In your eyes I am darkness, just as
To your eyes I am darkness, just as I am
To your eye I am darkness, just as
the whiteness of day is black to you.
The essence of daylight to you, Jonah.
The whiteness of the day is, to you, pitch black.
Sol 6.1