وقَلْعَةٍ عَانَقَ العُيُّوقُ سَافِلَها
وجَازَ مَنْطِقَةَ الجَوْزا أَعالِيها
And a fortress whose lower reaches Capella embraced,
and whose heights passed beyond Orion's belt.
لا تَعْرِفُ القَطْرَ إِذْ كَان الغَمامُ لَها
أَرْضاً تَوَطّأُ قطريه مَواشيها
It knows no rain, for the clouds are its
ground, whose two sides its livestock tread.
إِذا الغَمامَةُ لاحَتْ خاضَ ساكِنُها
حِياضَها قَبْلَ أَنْ تَهْمى عَزالِيها
When a cloud appears, its inhabitant wades
through the cloud's pools before its spouts pour down.
يُعَدُّ مِنْ أَنْجُمِ الأَفْلاكِ مَرقَبُها
لَوْ أَنَّهُ كانَ يَجْري في مَجاريها
Its lookout would be counted among the stars of the celestial spheres,
if it moved along their courses.
عَلى ذُرىً شامِخٍ وعرٍ قَد امْتَلأَتْ
كِبْراً بِهِ وهو مَمْلوءٌ بِها تِيها
On the peaks of a towering, rugged mountain, it is filled
with pride in that mountain, while the mountain is filled with vainglory in it.
لَهُ عقابٌ عقاب الجَوّ حَائِمةٌ
مِنْ دونِها فَهيَ تَخْفَى في خَوافيها
The mountain has steep passes; the eagle of the sky circles
below them, hidden in their recesses.
ردت مَكايِد أَمْلاكٍ مَكايِدها
وقَصَّرَتْ بِدَواهِيهِمْ دَواهيها
The fortress's stratagems repelled the stratagems of kings,
and its wiles checked their wiles.
أَوْطَأَتْ هِمَّتكَ العَلْياءَ هامَتَها
لَما جَعَلْتَ العَوالي مِنْ مَراقيها
It let your lofty ambition tread its crown,
when you made spears steps for scaling it.
ولم تَقِسْ بِكَ خَلْقاً في البَريَّةِ إِذْ
رَأَتْ قُسِيَّ الرَّدى في كَفِ باريها
And it compared no creature in creation with you, when
it saw the bows of death in the palm of their maker.
Sol 6.1