Sol 6.1

  1. هِيَ الأَيّامُ صِحَّتُها سَقامُ

    وَغايَةُ مَن يَعيشُ بِها الحِمامُ

    Such are the days: their health is sickness,

    And the end of whoever lives in them is death.

  2. إِذا وَصَلَت فَلَيسَ لَها وَفاءٌ

    وَإِن عَهِدَت فَلَيسَ لَها ذِمامُ

    If they grant closeness, they offer no faithfulness,

    And if they pledge, they honor no bond.

  3. رَضِعناها وَتَفطِمُنا المَنايا

    بِها وَلِكُلِّ مُرتَضِعٍ فِطامُ

    We suckled at them, and death weans us

    In them; and every suckling has a weaning.

  4. فَلا تَستَوطِ مِن دُنياكَ ظَهراً

    بِكَفِّ النائِباتِ لَها زِمامُ

    So do not deem your world's back a comfortable mount:

    Its reins are in the hand of calamities.

  5. فَلَيسَ لَها وَإِن ساءَت وَسَرَّت

    عَلى حالي تَلَوُّنِها دَوامُ

    For it has—whether it grieves or gladdens—

    No permanence in either of its changing states.

  6. أَباطيلٌ تُصَوِّرُها الأَماني

    وَأَحلامٌ يُمَثِّلُها المَنامُ

    Illusions given shape by wishes,

    And dreams conjured by sleep.

  7. أَلا يا ظا عِنينَ وَفي فُؤادِ ال

    مُحِبِّ لِوَشكِ بَينَهِمِ ضِرامُ

    Ah, you departing ones! Within the heart of the

    Lover burns a fire at their imminent parting.

  8. تَرى يَدنو بِكُم مِن بَعدِ شَحطٍ

    مَزارٌ أَو يُلِمُّ بِكُم لِمامُ

    I wonder: after such distance, will you be brought near

    By a visit, or will a fleeting meeting come your way?

  9. وَهَل لِزَمانِ وَصلِكُمُ مَعادٌ

    وَهَل لِصُدوعِ شَملِكُمُ التِيامُ

    Will the time of union with you return?

    And will your broken fellowship be mended?

  10. قِفوا قَبلَ الوَداعِ تَرَوا نُحولاً

    جَناهُ عَلى مُحِبِّكُمُ الغَرامُ

    Stop before farewell, and you will see a wasting

    That consuming love has wrought upon your lover.

  11. فَلا تَثِقوا بِأَن أَبقى فَإِنَّ ال

    بَقاءَ عَلَيَّ بَعدَكُمُ حَرامُ

    So do not trust that I shall live on, for

    Survival after you is forbidden me.

  12. وَمِمّا زادَني قَلَقاً فَجَفني

    لَهُ دامٍ وَقَلبي مُستَهامُ

    Among what has increased my anguish—so that my eyelid

    Bleeds for it, and my heart is distraught—

  13. رَزيئَةُ مَن تَهونُ لَها الرَزايا

    وَتَصغَرُ عِندَها النُوَبُ العِظامُ

    Is the loss of one whose loss makes other losses seem slight,

    And beside it great calamities dwindle.

  14. كَأَنَّ وَقارَها يَومَ اِستَقَلَّت

    بِها الأَعناقُ رَضوَةُ أَو شَمامُ

    As though her dignity, the day she was borne aloft

    Upon men's necks, were Radwa or Shamam.

  15. تَسيرُ عَلى المُلوكِ لَها اِحتِشامُ

    وَلِلآمالِ حَولَيها اِزدِحامُ

    She passes, borne by kings who hold her in awe,

    While hopes throng all around her.

  16. بِرَغمي أَن تَبيتَ عَلى مِهادٍ

    حَشاياهُ الجَنادِلُ وَالرَغامُ

    It grieves me that she spends the night upon a bed

    Whose cushions are rocks and dust;

  17. وَأَن تُمسي وَضيقُ اللَحدِ دارٌ

    لَها وَحِجابُها فيهِ الرُخامُ

    And that at evening the narrow grave is a home

    For her, and marble there her veil;

  18. وَأَن تَنوي إِلى سَفَرٍ رَحيلاً

    وَلَم تُرفَع لِنِيَّتِها الخِيامُ

    And that she intends to set out upon a journey

    For which no tents were raised in readiness;

  19. وَإِن تُسري وَلَم يَملَأ فَضاءَ ال

    بَسيطَةِ حَولَها الجَيشُ اللُهامُ

    And if she journeys by night, the expanse of the

    Earth around her is not filled by the mighty host.

  20. فَأَيَّ حِمىً أَباحَتهُ اللَيالي

    وَلَم يَكُ عِزُّهُ مِمّا يُرامُ

    What a sanctuary the nights have violated,

    Though its might had been beyond all reach!

  21. رَمَتهُ مِنَ الحَوادِثِ كَفُّ رامٍ

    مُصيبٍ لا تَطيشُ لَهُ سِهامُ

    From among calamities, an archer's hand struck it—

    An unerring one, whose arrows never stray.

  22. فَما أَغنَت أَسِنَّتُها المَواضي

    وَلا مَنَعَت عَشيرَتُها الكِرامُ

    So her keen spearheads availed her nothing,

    Nor did her noble clan protect her.

  23. إِلى مَن يَفزَعُ الجاني وَيَأوي ال

    طَريدُ وَيَستَجيرُ المُستَضامُ

    To whom can the wrongdoer turn, and the

    Outcast find shelter, and the oppressed appeal for protection?

  24. فَلا جودٌ غَداةَ ثَوَيتِ يُرجى

    مَخيلَتُهُ وَلا كَرَمٌ يُشامُ

    So, since the morning you lay buried, no generosity's

    Raincloud is hoped for, nor bounty's lightning watched.

  25. وَسيمَت بَعدَكِ العَلياءُ ضَيماً

    وَكانَت في حَياتِكِ لا تُضامُ

    And after you, exalted glory was subjected to humiliation,

    Though in your lifetime it was never wronged.

  26. فَوَجهُ الأَرضِ بَعدَكِ مُقشَعِرُّ ال

    ثَرى وَالمُزنُ مُخلِفَةٌ جَهامُ

    So after you, the face of the earth shudders in its

    Soil, and the clouds fail their promise, empty of rain.

  27. وَكُنتِ النَجمَ جَدَّ بِهِ أُفولٌ

    وَشَمسُ الأَرضِ وَاراها الظَلامُ

    And you were the star whose setting came swiftly,

    And the earth's sun, hidden away by darkness;

  28. وَبَدرُ التِمِ عاجَلَهُ سَرارٌ

    وَأَسلَمَهُ إِلى النَقصِ التَمامُ

    And a full moon, too soon overtaken by its dark phase,

    Its fullness surrendering it to waning.

  29. كَريمَةَ قَومِها لَو أَنَّ خَلقاً

    يَكونُ لَهُ عَنِ المَوتِ اِعتِصامُ

    O noble lady of her people, if any creature

    Could find refuge from death,

  30. لَحامَت عَنكِ أَسيافٌ حِدادٌ

    وَجُردٌ في أَعِنَّتِها صِيامُ

    Sharp swords would have defended you,

    And sleek steeds standing still within their reins.

  31. وَلَو دَفَعَ الرَدى المَحتومِ بَأسٌ

    وَإِقدامٌ وَرَأيٌ وَاِعتِزامُ

    And if valor could avert inevitable death,

    And boldness, judgment, and resolve,

  32. وَقاكِ حِمامَكِ البَطَلُ المُحامي

    أَبوكِ وَعَمُّكِ اللَيثُ الهُمامُ

    You would have been shielded from death by the defending hero—

    Your father—and your uncle, the valiant lion.

  33. وَقارَعَ مِن بُناةِ المَجدِ آلَ ال

    مُظَفَّرِ عَنكِ أَنجادٌ كِرامُ

    And from the glory-building House of al-

    Muzaffar, noble champions would have fought for you;

  34. بِكُلِّ يَدٍ يَكادُ يَذوبُ فيها

    لِشِدَّةِ بَأسِ حامِلِهِ الحُسامُ

    In every hand would almost melt

    The sword, from its bearer's fierce valor.

  35. حَلَلتِ بِموحِشِ الأَرجاءِ قَفرٍ

    غَدا ما لِلأَنيسِ بِهِ مُقامُ

    You have settled in a waste with desolate reaches,

    Where no companion can now abide.

  36. وَلا ضَحِكَ الثَرى مُذ بِنتِ عَنهِ

    بِنُوّارٍ وَلا هَطَلَ الغَمامُ

    Nor has the soil smiled, since you departed it,

    With blossoms, nor have the clouds poured rain;

  37. وَلا مالَت بِدَوحَتِها غُصونٌ

    وَلا غَنَّت عَلى الأَيكِ الحَمامُ

    Nor have branches swayed in their spreading tree,

    Nor have doves sung in the groves;

  38. وَلا خَطَرَت عَلى رَوضٍ شَمالٌ

    وَلا سَفَرَت عَنِ النَورِ الكِمامُ

    Nor has a north wind wandered over a meadow,

    Nor have the flower-sheaths unveiled the blossoms.

  39. مَضيتِ سَليمَةً مِن كُلِّ عابٍ

    عَلى قَبرٍ حَلَلتِ بِهِ السَلامُ

    You departed free from every blemish;

    Peace upon the grave in which you have settled.