سَقى الصِبا وَاللَهو عَهدُ الرَباب
وَلا عَدا الوَسمِيُّ عَهد الرَباب
May Rabab’s days give drink to youth and revelry,
May the days of Rabab water youth and mirth,
and may the season’s first rain never pass Rabab’s days by;
And may the autumn rain never pass Rabab's days by;
وَلا أَغبَّت رَبعَهُ دِيمَةٌ
مَجلوبةُ المِرزم ذاتُ اِنصِباب
nor may a steady rain ever fail to visit his dwelling—
And may steady rain never visit its abode only at intervals,
a downpour summoned by al-Mirzam, pouring abundantly—
Brought by al-Mirzam, pouring down.
حَيثُ الشَباب الغَضُّ نَوّارَةٌ
نَسيمُها الخَفّاقُ رَطب المَهاب
there where tender youth is a blossom
Where tender youth is a blossom,
whose fluttering breeze blows fresh and moist;
Its fluttering breeze moist wherever it blows;
أَيّام رَوضي بِالمُنى زاهِرٌ
وَربعُ لَهويَ آهلٌ بِالتَصَاب
the days when my garden bloomed with hopes
In the days when my garden bloomed with hopes,
and the abode of my pleasure teemed with youthful passion;
And the abode of my mirth was peopled with youthful dalliance;
وَظَبيُ ذاكَ السِرب لي مُنيَةٌ
وَالدَهرُ طَلقٌ وَالمَغاني رِحاب
when the gazelle of that herd was my heart’s desire,
And the gazelle of that herd was my heart's desire,
time smiled, and the beloved haunts were spacious;
And time was smiling, and the dwellings spacious.
وَإِذ غُصونُ الأُنس فَينانةٌ
قَد جاذبتها الوَصل أَيدي العِتاب
when the boughs of companionship were luxuriant,
And when the boughs of companionship were luxuriant,
and the hands of reproach contended with union over them;
The hands of reproach had tugged at them for union;
وَالحُبُّ يُزهى بَينَ رَيحانَةٍ
يانِعةٍ تُسقى بِماء الشَباب
when love took pride amid a sweet basil plant,
And love flourished amid a sweet-basil plant,
ripe and watered with the water of youth—
Lush, watered with the water of youth.
كَأَنَّها وَالبِشرُ بادٍ بِها
غُرَّةُ شَمسِ الدينِ سامي الجَناب
as though she, with gladness showing upon her,
As though it, with gladness shining upon it,
were the radiant brow of Shams al-Din, lord of lofty rank:
Were the radiant brow of Shams al-Din, lofty in station:
مولىً عَلا بِالمَجدِ هامَ العُلا
فَاقتَعدَ الجَوزاء أَعلى هِضاب
a master who rose through glory to the summits of eminence
A lord who, through glory, rose above the summits of greatness,
and made Gemini his seat upon the highest hills.
And mounted al-Jawza, the loftiest of hills.
أَخلاقُهُ الزُهر حكين الرُبى
حُسناً وَأَزرينَ بِغُرِّ السَحاب
His radiant virtues rival the hills
His radiant virtues mirrored the hills
in beauty, and outshine the bright-edged clouds.
In beauty, and put the brightest clouds to shame.
ما وَجَّهَ الفِكرَ إِلى مَطلَبٍ
إِلّا أَتى فيهِ بِأَمرٍ عُجاب
Never does he direct his thought toward an aim
He never directed his thought toward a goal
without accomplishing something wondrous in it,
Without accomplishing something wondrous in it,
بِهِمّةٍ كَاللَّيثِ عِندَ اِنسِياب
وَراحَةٍ كَالغَيث عِندَ اِنسِكاب
with resolve like a lion’s when it charges
With resolve like a lion as it glides forward,
and a giving hand like rain when it pours.
And a palm like rain as it pours.
إِذا مَشَت في الطِرس أَقلامُهُ
أَهوِن بِفعل السُمرِ ذاتِ الكِعاب
When his pens move across the page,
When his pens walk across the parchment,
how slight beside their work is that of supple brown spears!
How trifling the work of brown, jointed spears!
وَإِن جَرى وَالخَصم في حَلبةٍ
وَوجّهت تِلكَ القَضايا الصِعاب
And when he enters an arena against an adversary
And if he races with an opponent in an arena,
and those difficult cases are put before him,
And those difficult cases are presented,
أَتى مِنَ الحُكمِ بِفَصلِ الخِطاب
فيها وَحازَ الخَصمُ غُنمَ الإِياب
he renders in them the decisive word of judgment,
He delivers the decisive word of judgment
and the litigant departs bearing the profit of his return.
In them, while the opponent gains the spoils of returning.
يا فاضِلاً سُؤددهُ باهِرٌ
وَفَضلُهُ بادٍ بِغَيرِ اِحتِجاب
O excellent man, whose eminence is dazzling
O excellent man, whose eminence is dazzling,
and whose bounty appears without a veil,
And whose excellence is manifest, without concealment:
أَنتَ فَتى الآدابِ في عَصرِنا
وَفيكَ لا عَنكَ تُنَصُّ الرِكاب
you are the champion of letters in our age;
You are the gallant of letters in our age,
to you—not away from you—the camel trains are urged.
And toward you, not away from you, riding camels are spurred.
رُضت لَنا شُوس القَوافي وَقَد
كانَت عَلى مَن يَمتَطيها صِعاب
You have tamed for us the fiercest rhymes, though
You tamed for us the headstrong rhymes, though
they were difficult for anyone who sought to ride them.
They had been intractable for anyone who mounted them.
فَلَم نَجِد قافِيَةً أُحكِمَت
إِلا لَها نَحو ذُراك اِنتِساب
We have found no finely wrought rhyme
So we found no well-wrought rhyme
that does not claim kinship with your lofty court.
Without a lineage reaching toward your heights.
إِلَيكَ وَجَّهتُ بِها مُلغزاً
وَقَد أَتَت مِن خَجل في اِنتِقاب
To you I have directed this poem as a riddle,
To you I have sent it, posing a riddle,
though out of shyness it has come wearing a veil:
And out of shyness it has come wearing a veil:
في اِسمٍ ثلاثِيٍّ يُرى سامياً
يُهدى بِهِ الساري سَبيلَ الصَواب
about a three-letter name, seen on high,
About a three-letter name that is seen aloft,
by which the night traveler is guided to the proper path.
By which the night traveler is guided on the right path.
يَرعاهُ طرفي بِالدَياجي كَما
يَرعاهُ طرفي بِثَنايا الشِعاب
My eye watches it through the darkest nights, just as
My eye watches it in dark nights, just as
my eye watches it among the folds of the mountain passes.
My eye watches it in the folds of ravines.
مَقلوبُهُ يا صاحِ ما يُتَّقى
بِهِ مِنَ الأَعداء وُقِّيت المَصاب
Reversed, my friend, it is that by which one seeks protection
Its reversal, my friend, is a means of protection
from enemies—may you be spared calamity.
Against enemies—may you be spared harm.
ماضيهِ فِعلٌ إِن تَزُل عَينُهُ
فَذَلِكَ اِسمٌ لجنىً مُستَطاب
Its unreversed form is a past-tense verb; if its middle letter is removed,
Its past-tense form is a verb; if its middle letter disappears,
the result is a noun for a delectable fruit.
Then that is a name for a delectable harvest.
حَكى سَجاياكَ واقِعاً لَها
وَمِن سَجايا المَرءِ ما يُستَطاب
It truly resembles your qualities,
It mirrors your qualities, corresponding to them,
and among a person’s qualities are those found delightful.
And among a man's qualities are some that delight.
أَوضِح لَنا مَعناه مَنّاً وَجُد
بِحلِّه أَثناءَ رُودٍ كِعاب
Explain its meaning to us as a favor, and be generous
Explain its meaning to us as a favor, and be generous
by solving it amid graceful, full-breasted maidens.
With its solution amid supple, full-breasted maidens.
لا زِلتَ تَسمُو الدَهرَ في نِعمَةٍ
مَضروبَةَ الأَوتادِ حَيثُ القِباب
May you continue to rise forever amid a blessing
May you ever rise, for all time, in prosperity,
whose tent pegs stand firm wherever domed pavilions rise—
With tent-pegs driven where the pavilions stand,
ما وَشَّع الطِرس أَديبٌ وَما
وَشَّحَتِ الأَقلامُ يَوماً كِتاب
as long as a man of letters ornaments a page, and as long as
As long as a man of letters adorns the parchment, and as long as
pens someday adorn a book;
Pens ever embroider a book,
وَلَعلَع الحادي بِسَلعٍ وَما
شُبِّبَ في الحَيِّ بِصَوت الرَباب
as long as the caravan leader raises his cry at Salʿ, and as long as
And the camel-driver chants aloud at Salʿ, and as long as
love poetry is sung in the encampment to the sound of the rebab.
Love verses are sung in the camp to the sound of the rebab.
Sol 6.1