Sol 6.1

  1. أتَتِ القَوافي تُسفِرُ

    فَسَأَلتُها أتَبَصَّرُ

    The rhymes came, unveiling themselves;

    so I asked them, seeking understanding:

  2. هل أنتِ يُنبوعُ الحَشا؟

    أم أَنتِ طَيفٌ عَابِرُ؟

    Are you the heart's wellspring?

    Or are you a passing phantom?

  3. هَل أَنتِ مِن قَطرِ النَّدَى؟

    أم أَنتِ فَيضٌ غامِرُ؟

    Are you made of drops of dew?

    Or are you an engulfing flood?

  4. شَطْرٌ تَرصَّعَ أَحرُفًا

    وتَلَبَّسَتْهُ مَشاعِرُ

    A half-line studded with letters,

    and feelings clothed it.

  5. آهٍ، لَكَمْ أَغرَاكِ دَومًا (م)

    لِلقَصائِدِ شَاعِرُ

    Ah, how greatly you have always been wooed—

    into poems by a poet!

  6. كم بُحتِ في وجدانه

    حتى تمخَّضَ يَجهَرُ

    How much you confided in his soul,

    until he travailed and spoke aloud.

  7. كَيفَ ابْتَدَأتِ بِكَلْمَةٍ

    وَتَرادَفَتْ بك أسطُرُ

    How you began with a word,

    and lines followed in succession through you!

  8. أسْلَمتِ في أَورَاقِهِ

    بَلْ كُنتِ حِسًّا يَهدُرُ

    You surrendered within his pages;

    rather, you were a roaring feeling,

  9. في نَظمِ عِقدٍ راتِلٍ

    والفَصُّ وسْطُهُ نادِرُ

    in the stringing of a chanting necklace,

    and the gem at its center is rare.

  10. كمُرتَّباتٍ في الصَدى

    كمُبَعثَراتٍ تُجْبَرُ

    Like ordered things within the echo,

    like scattered fragments being mended.

  11. لِلنَّحوِ فيها مَذْهَبٌ

    وَلَها العَرُوضُ تُأطِّرُ

    Within them, grammar has a method,

    and prosody gives them a frame.

  12. مُستَثنَياتٌ بَعضُها

    والعَدلُ فِيها جَائِرُ

    Some of them are exceptions,

    and justice within them is unjust.

  13. فيها الحَنايا ضَمَّةٌ

    والفَتحُ جُرحٌ غائِرُ

    Within them, the heart's folds are an embrace;

    and opening is a deep-set wound;

  14. والكَسرُ في قَلبٍ أسَى

    والشَّدُ شَوقٌ آسِرُ  

    and breaking in a heart is sorrow;

    and tightening is a captivating longing.

  15. وَبُحُورُ شِعرٍ يَحتَسِيها (م)

    شَاعِرٌ، بَلْ سَاحِرُ

    And seas of verse are sipped—

    by a poet—rather, a sorcerer.

  16. غَنَّى الرَّعاعُ بِسَجعِها

    وَبِها المُلوكُ تَبَخْتَروا

    The rabble sang with their rhymed prose,

    and kings strutted with them.

  17. مَحْروسَةٌ عند الوَرَى

    تَبقى ويَفنَى الشّاعِرُ

    Guarded among humankind,

    they endure while the poet perishes.

  18. في بَحْرِها صافِي النَقا

    يَعْتَلُّ سِحرٌ خاثِرُ

    In their sea of limpid purity,

    a thickened magic falls ill.

  19. إن سَبَّحَتْ في قَانِتٍ

    فَهِيَ التَقيُّ الطّاهرُ

    If they sing praise in a devout soul,

    then they are pious and pure;

  20. أو أَسرَفَتْ في ماجِنٍ

    فَهِيَ اللَّعُوبُ الفاجِرُ

    or run to excess in a libertine,

    then they are wanton and sinful.

  21. كاليَمِّ صافٍ سائِبٌ

    كَالبَحرِ فَظٌّ هادِرُ

    Like the sea, clear and unrestrained;

    like the ocean, harsh and roaring.

  22. تَقْتاتُ مِن قَلبِ الأسى

    مَقروحَةٌ تَتَنَمَّرُ

    They feed on the heart of sorrow;

    wounded, they grow tiger-fierce.

  23. مَسراكِ حَيٌّ رُبَّما مِن

    أَلفِ عامٍ يَحضُرُ

    Your night-journey lives on; perhaps from

    a thousand years ago, it comes into the present.

  24. مَاتَ الأُلَى مِن شِعرِهِم

    رُغمَ المَمَاتِ تَحضَّروا

    Those who died, through their poetry,

    despite death, have made themselves present.

  25. فَبِكِ استَحالَ رَحيلُهمْ

    وبِكِ الشَواعِرُ أُنْشِروا

    So through you, their departure became impossible,

    and through you, the women poets were resurrected.

  26. عَجَبي لِمَيتٍ قَلبُه

    بِفَمِ المَلا يَتفَطَّرُ

    How I marvel at a dead man whose heart

    splits apart in the mouth of the multitude!

  27. لُطفًا فلا تَتَمَنَّعي

    عَنّا فَيَبْلَى الشَّاعِرُ

    Please, do not withhold yourself

    from us, lest the poet waste away.

  28. 17/01/2022م

    17/01/2022 CE