Sol 6.1

  1. طابَ لي الأنس وَالصَفا بِفَريدِ

    فَاسمحي لي وَرقاءُ بِالتَغريدِ

    With Farid, companionship and serenity grew sweet to me.

    So grant me your song, O gray dove,

  2. وَاِنعشي وَالهاً كَثير هيامٍ

    لا يُبالي بِعاذل وَحَسود

    And revive one bewildered by love, full of passion,

    Who heeds neither a censurer nor an envier.

  3. لَست أَسلو الهَوى وَإِن بِتُ أَرعى

    طُول لَيلي النُجومَ بِالتَسهيد

    I do not forget love, even if I spend the night watching

    The stars throughout my night, kept sleepless,

  4. أَو تَسترت فيهِ حَتّى كَأني

    راهبٌ لا يَرى وِصالَ الغيد

    Or hide myself in it until I seem

    A monk who knows no union with graceful beauties.

  5. وَاتبعت المَلام وَهوَ حَرامٌ

    في اِعتِقادي فَصدّني عَن مريد

    And I followed reproach, though it is forbidden

    In my belief—so it kept me from a seeker.

  6. وَتَظاهرت بِالمَلام وَإِن كُن

    تُ بَريئاً في رَأي ذي تَفنيد

    And I made a show of reproach, although I was

    Innocent in the eyes of a faultfinder,

  7. حَيث لِلحب قَد تعرّض مَن لَم

    يَدرِ فيهِ ما لذة التَوحيد

    For love was assailed by one who did not

    Know the delight of devotion to one alone within it.

  8. وَترقبت فُرصة مِن زَمان

    طالَما عاقَني عَن المَقصود

    And I awaited an opportunity from Time,

    Which had so long kept me from my goal.

  9. وَلحزمي صبرت صَبر مُحبّ

    حاصرت حصنَه جُيوشُ الصُدود

    And through my resolve I endured with a lover's patience,

    Whose fortress the armies of rejection had besieged.

  10. وَتَحمّلت في الهَوى كُل ضَيم

    مِن أَلدٍّ مُقاطعٍ وَجَحود

    And in love I bore every wrong

    From an implacable foe, estranged and ungrateful,

  11. راجياً نصرتي عَلَيهِ بِعَدل

    مِن رَفيع الذُرى سَعيد الوُجود

    Hoping for just aid against him

    From one of lofty eminence, blessed in his being—

  12. أَوحد الدَهر شبل لَيث كَريم

    كانَ فينا بِالبرّ خَير عَميد

    The age's peerless one, cub of a noble lion,

    Who was among us, in goodness, the finest chief.

  13. فَلَقَد جدّد العُلوم بِمصر

    فَتَباهَت بِذَلِكَ التَجديد

    For he renewed the sciences in Egypt,

    So she took pride in that renewal.

  14. فَاِستَحَقَّ الثَنا بِكُل لِسانٍ

    وَتنوسي بِهِ زَمانُ الرَشيد

    Thus he earned praise upon every tongue,

    And through him the age of al-Rashid was forgotten.

  15. وَتَولى أُمورنا اليَوم صَدرٌ

    مِن بَنيه فسرّ كُلُّ العَبيد

    And today a chief has taken charge of our affairs,

    From among his sons—and all the subjects rejoiced,

  16. بِنَوال وَحكمة وَبَيان

    وَبَديع وَمَنطق مَحمود

    Through bounty, wisdom, and eloquence,

    And rhetorical artistry and praiseworthy speech,

  17. وَاِهتِمام وَهمة أَيقظتنا

    مِن نُعاس وَسكرة وَخُمود

    And care and zeal that awakened us

    From drowsiness, intoxication, and torpor.

  18. فَهُوَ صَدر حَوى بَديع صِفات

    هامَ فيها السُلطان عَبد المَجيد

    For he is a chief possessed of wondrous qualities,

    Of which Sultan Abd al-Majid was enamored.

  19. وَبَدا بَيننا بِوَجه بَشوشٍ

    فَذكرنا الصَفا وَطيب العُهود

    And he appeared among us with a smiling face,

    So we recalled serenity and the sweetness of earlier times.

  20. وَبِهِ فَرّج المُهيمن عَنا

    كُلَّ كَرب وَشدّة وَوَعيد

    And through him the Guardian lifted from us

    Every anguish, hardship, and threat.

  21. وَاِنجَلَت ظُلمة الغَياهب لَمّا

    بَزغت شَمسه بِأُفق السُعود

    And the darkness of deep gloom dispersed when

    His sun rose on the horizon of good fortune.

  22. وَتَجلت في مَوكب الحَجِّ مِنهُ

    طَلعة السَعد في سَماء الجُنود

    And in the pilgrimage procession there shone from him

    Fortune's countenance in the armies' sky.

  23. فَتحلّت مَصرٌ بِهِ وَتَباهَت

    وَتَوالى عيد بِها بَعد عيد

    So Egypt adorned herself with him and took pride,

    And festival followed festival within her.

  24. وَحَباها بِاليُسر مِن بَعد عُسرٍ

    بِاهتِمام يَبدو بِرأيٍ سَديد

    And he granted her ease after hardship,

    Through care manifest in sound judgment,

  25. وَمَساع سَعيدة لِعُلوم

    وَفُنون جلّت عَن التَقييد

    And auspicious endeavors for sciences

    And arts too great to be confined.

  26. فَتهنأ بِدَولة بِكَ عزت

    وَاستَظَلَت بِظلك المَمدود

    So rejoice in a realm made mighty through you

    And sheltered beneath your outspread shade.

  27. وَاقبل العذر يا مَليك فإني

    عاجز في المَديح غَير مُجيد

    And accept my excuse, O sovereign, for I

    Am inept at praise, unskilled.

  28. غَير أَني لَمّا مَدحتك أَضحى

    فيك شعري يزري بشعر لَبيد

    Yet when I praised you, it came to pass that

    My verse about you put Labid's verse to shame.

  29. وَتَعمدت معشراً أَنتَ مِنهُم

    بامتِداحي لَهُم وَنَظم عُقود

    And I singled out a company of whom you are one,

    With my praise of them and my stringing of necklaces.

  30. وَزَماني لَما صَفا قال أَرّخ

    نَجم مَصر رقى بِعَصر السَعيد

    And when my time grew serene, it said, "Mark the date:

    Egypt's star ascended in the age of Sa'id."