Sol 6.1

  1. أينما كنتَ كنتَ رمزَ الكمالِ

    وتُرى في الرِّجالِ فَذَّ الرجالِ

    Wherever you are, you are the emblem of perfection,

    And among men you are seen as the peerless one.

  2. أينما كنتَ أنتَ التهامي

    العَظِيم المَرمُوق بالإجلالِ

    Wherever you are, you are al-Tihami,

    The great one, regarded with reverence.

  3. ذو خِصالٍ شَريفةٍ مُشرِقاتٍ

    وخلالٍ أعظِم بها من خِلالِ

    Possessed of noble, radiant qualities,

    And virtues—what magnificent virtues they are!

  4. وشريفُ الخِصال خيرُ شريفٍ

    وخصالُ الشَّريف خيرُ خِصالِ

    And the noble in character is the best of nobles,

    And the noble man's virtues are the finest virtues.

  5. مِن فرنسا أتاكَ أعظَمُ وفدٍ

    وُزراءٍ وسَادَةٍ أقيالِ

    From France came to you the greatest delegation

    Of ministers and princely lords.

  6. وشَّحوا صدرَكَ الرَّحيبَ ونادَوا

    أنتَ بين الرِّجالِ فذُّ الرجالِ

    They adorned your broad chest and proclaimed:

    Among men, you are the peerless one.

  7. وأتى من أنحاءِ مَغرِبنا الأق

    صى عِظامُ الأعيانِ والعُمَّالِ

    And from across our farthest Maghreb came

    The foremost notables and governors.

  8. وبدَا الشعبُ ازدِها وازدهارٍ

    ومُحياهُ مُشرِقٌ مُتَلالِي

    The people appeared in pride and splendor,

    Their face radiant and glittering.

  9. وفنونُ الهُتافِ من كلِّ صَوبٍ

    شَقَّتَ أصداؤُها عِنانَ العَوالي

    And varied cheers from every direction—

    Their echoes pierced the lofty vault of heaven.

  10. يا وِسامَ الفَخارِ نِلتَ فَخاراً

    حينَ قَبَّلتَ صَدرَ باشا المَعالِي

    O medal of glory, you have gained glory

    When you kissed the chest of the pasha of lofty honors.

  11. يا وِسامَ الفَخارِ نِلتَ فَخاراً

    بارتماءٍ في حِضنِ ربِّ الكَمال

    O medal of glory, you have gained glory

    By throwing yourself into the bosom of perfection's master.

  12. يَستَحِقُّ الإعجابَ والفخرَ دَوماً

    مَن تَبَدَّى مُعانِقَ الرِّنبالِ

    Admiration and pride are always deserved

    By anyone seen embracing the lion.

  13. لاَسمِه هَيبةُ الأُسودِ خُصوصاً

    في قُلوبش الجحاجح الأَبطالِ

    His name inspires the awe of lions, especially

    In the hearts of the heroic chiefs.

  14. حاوَلوا منها عَدَّ تلكَ المَزايا

    في مَغيبٍ يَحكي مَغيبَ هِلالِ

    They tried to count those excellences among them,

    During an absence like a crescent's setting.

  15. قُلتُ خَلُّوا النُّجومَ عنكُمُ عَدّاً

    ولتَجيئُوا له بِفَردٍ مِثالِ

    I said: Leave off counting the stars,

    And bring him a single equal.

  16. خُلُقُ كالنَّسيمِ والزَّهرِ والنَّو

    رِ ونَشرِ العَبير والسِّلسالِ

    A character like the breeze, flowers, and light,

    The wafting of fragrance and limpid water.

  17. فهو يَلقاكَ بالبَشاشَةِ والبِش

    رِ لقاءَ الأمثال للأَمثال

    For he meets you with cheerfulness and gladness,

    As equals meet their equals.

  18. وأمامَ نَوالِه أجوَدُ الأَج

    وادِ يُسَّمى بأبخَلِ البُخَّالِ

    Before his bounty, the most generous of the generous

    Is called the stingiest of the stingy.

  19. فَيُرَى أضبَطَ اليَدينِ لَدَى البذ

    لِ يَمينٌ لم تُغنِهِ عن شِمَالِ

    In giving, he is seen to use both hands:

    His right hand never suffices him without his left.

  20. باسمِه يَعبَقُ المَكانُ أرِيجاً

    كَأريجِ الأَزهارِ في الآصلِ

    With his name, the place fills with fragrance,

    Like flowers' fragrance in the late afternoon.

  21. وبه يَكتَسي القريضُ جَمالاً

    فَأخو النَّقصِ مِثلُ رَبَّ الكَمالِ

    And through him, poetry is clothed in beauty,

    So the brother of imperfection is like the master of perfection.

  22. والمَعالي قد حازَ منها المَزايا

    وسواهُ ألقابُ تلكَ المَعالي

    Of lofty honors, he has attained the true excellences,

    While others have only the titles of those lofty honors.

  23. بِمَديحي له مَدَحتُ قَريضي

    وبِجِيد الحَسناءِ تَسمو اللاَّي

    In praising him, I have praised my own poetry,

    And pearls are exalted upon a beautiful woman's neck.

  24. إن أَرُم مَدحَ غَيرِه قالَ شِعري

    أنَاما للِمديحِ ياذا ومالي

    If I seek to praise another, my poetry says:

    I am not for praise, sir—what is it to me?

  25. وإذا رُمتُ مَدحَهُ قال هَيَّا

    أنا أجري مِن جَدولٍ بِزُلالِ

    And when I seek to praise him, it says: Come!

    I flow with limpid water from a stream.

  26. كُلُّ شِعرٍ في غَيرِ فردِ بني المَز

    وارِ أُكذوبَةٌ على الأجيالِ

    All verse about anyone but the peerless one of Banu al-Mazwar

    Is a falsehood told to the generations.

  27. سَمِّه هيبةَ الأُسودِ خُصوصاً

    بِقُلوبِ الجَحاجِح الأبطالِ

    Call him the awe of lions, especially

    In the hearts of the heroic chiefs.

  28. وسَدادُ الآراءِ منه يُرِى العَي

    نَ مثالَ الأشياءِ قَبلَ المآلِ

    His sound judgment reveals to the eye

    The shape of things before their outcome.

  29. واغتَنم إن حواكَ مجلسُ آدا

    بٍ وعِلمٍ مَعهُ كنُورزَ اللاَّلي

    And seize—if a gathering of letters

    And learning brings you together with him—treasures of pearls.

  30. فهو يُغني عنِ الأغاني وعن تَب

    يينِ عَمرِو وعن أمَالي القَالي

    For he suffices in place of al-Aghani and the Tabyin

    Of Amr, and al-Qali's Amali.

  31. وإذا جالَ في مَيادين شِعرٍ

    فَكَجَولاتِهِ غَداةَ نِزالِ

    And when he ranges through the fields of poetry,

    It is like his sorties on the morning of battle.

  32. زادَه اللهُ بالتَّواضُعِ عِزّاً

    واعتلاءً على نَواصي العَوالي

    God has increased his honor through humility,

    And raised him above the brows of the lofty.

  33. في حياءٍ وفي عُذوبَةِ طبعٍ

    فتَرى اللَّيثَ في كِناسِ غَزالِ

    In modesty and sweetness of nature,

    You see a lion in a gazelle's covert.

  34. لِكِنِ إذ يَستَبيكَ ظَبيُ كِناسٍ

    فَلتُحاذِر لَيثَ الشَّرى في صِيالِ

    But when a gazelle in its covert captures you,

    Beware the lion of al-Shara in its onslaught.

  35. فالحَيا إن كُفِّرت نُعماهُ جاءت

    صعقةٌ من سحابِهِ الهَطَّالِ

    For if rain's bounty is met with ingratitude, there comes

    A thunderbolt from its downpouring cloud.

  36. وكذا العضبُ يَكمُنُ الحَتفُ فيهِ

    رغم افرند متنه المتلالي

    Likewise, death lies hidden within the sharp sword,

    Despite the glittering damask upon its blade.

  37. هو للعين قرةٌ وقذاةٌ

    لِحَسودٍ ومُنصفٍ للكَمالِ

    He is a delight to the eye, and a mote in it,

    For the envious and the fair judge of perfection.

  38. إن يَكن للأيَّامِ شمسَ جبينٍ

    فهو البدرُ مشرقٌ في اللَّيالي

    If his brow is the sun of the days,

    He is the full moon shining through the nights.

  39. يا عظيماً في عينِ كلِّ عَظيمٍ

    وعظيمَ الأقوالِ والأفعالِ

    O you, great in the eyes of every great man,

    And great in words and deeds,

  40. نظرةٌ فيكَ تُنعِشُ الروحَ مِنِّي

    فإذا غبتَ عِشتُ كاسفَ بالِ

    A glance at you revives my spirit;

    When you are absent, I live with clouded spirits.

  41. غيرَ أنيِّي أراكفي كلِّ وقتٍ

    فاتِّصالُ الأرواحِ خيرُ اتِّصالِ

    Yet I see you at every moment,

    For the communion of souls is the best communion.

  42. فَبِخَيرِ البِقاعِ فَلتَهنَأن يا

    خيرَ مَن أمَّها مِنَ الأقيالِ

    So may you find joy in the best of lands, O

    Best of the princes who have sought it.

  43. سِر وحُصِّنتَ بِالحَواميمِ تَحصي

    ناً وطهَ وسورةِ لاأنفالِ

    Go, thoroughly guarded by the Ha-Mim chapters,

    And by Ta-Ha and the chapter al-Anfal.

  44. واذكرونا كذِكرِنا لَكُمُ دَو

    ماً وَحَيُّوا مِنَّا عهودَ وِصالِ

    And remember us as we always remember you,

    And salute, on our behalf, the days of communion.

  45. وعَسى أن أعيشَ حتى أراكُم

    ثُمَّ أهلاً مِن بعدِ ذا بارتِحالِ

    May I live until I see you,

    Then, after that, departure will be welcome.

  46. فَحَياتي سراجُها في ذُبولٍ

    عَن قريبٍ يَسودُ رأسَ الذُّبالِ

    For the lamp of my life is fading;

    Soon the wick's tip will grow black.

  47. كم تململتُ في فراشِ سَقامٍ

    ويَميني أرمي بها وَشِمالي

    How often I have tossed on a bed of illness,

    Flinging my right hand and my left about.

  48. كلُّ شيءٍ يَبدو أمامِي خَيالاً

    لست أدري حقيقةً من خَيالِ

    Everything before me appears a phantom;

    I cannot distinguish reality from illusion.

  49. وكذاكَ الأديبُ دوماً مُصابٌ

    مِن زمانٍ بِكُربَةٍ واعتِلالِ

    And so the man of letters is always afflicted

    By time, with anguish and illness.

  50. لستُ أخشى منَ المَنونِ وإن أد

    ري بأنَّ المَنونَ دَومأً حِيالي

    I do not fear death, though I know

    That death is always before me.

  51. إن أَكُن تحتَ صارِمِ القَهرِ منها

    إنَّها تحتَ صارِم الآجالِ

    If I am beneath its sword of oppression,

    It is beneath the sword of appointed lifespans.

  52. وزماني إن سامني كلَّ ضَيمٍ

    فهوَ مع مِثلي دائماً في قتالِ

    And if my age heaps every injustice upon me,

    It is always at war with one like me.

  53. ليس يَرضى بغيرِ فَقري وذُلِّي

    وبهذا يَرومُ نِصفَ المُحالِ

    It will settle for nothing but my poverty and humiliation,

    And in this, half of what it seeks is impossible.

  54. له إفقاري كيفَ ماشاءَه ل

    كن إذلالي مِنهُ صعبُ المَنالِ

    It may impoverish me however it wishes, but

    My humiliation is hard for it to attain.

  55. وعجيبٌ ألاَّ يَزالُ عَنيدي

    وهو يدري تَجَمُّلي واتِّكالي

    And it is strange that it remains my stubborn foe,

    Though it knows my dignified endurance and my trust.

  56. فاشتِكائي منه لرَبٍّ رَحيمٍ

    هو سبحانَه عَليمٌ بِحالي

    So my complaint against it is to a merciful Lord,

    He—glory be to Him—knows my condition.

  57. واشتِكائي منه إليكمُ أيضاً

    فهوَ مثلي لكم سريعُ امتِثالِ

    And I also bring my complaint against it to you,

    For it, like me, is quick to obey you.

  58. كم وقيتَ الأنام شرَّ أذاةٍ

    وكَم أنقَذَتهُم منَ الأهوالِ

    How often you have shielded humankind from harm,

    And how often you have rescued them from terrors.

  59. أنت مَخلوقٌ للأنامِ جميعاً

    فلتَدُم للأنامِ لا سِيمَا لي

    You were created for all humankind;

    May you endure for humankind—especially for me.