Sol 6.1

  1. قل للأمِيرِ ابنِ الإمامِ الّذي

    أمّنَنا من نائباتِ الزمانْ

    Say to the emir, the imam’s son, who

    has kept us safe from the calamities of time:

  2. لو صُوِّرتْ أفعالُك الغُرُّ ما

    أصبحنَ إلاّ أوْجُهاً لِلحسانْ

    Were your radiant deeds given form, they would not

    become anything but the faces of beautiful women.

  3. نحن من المَعْشوقِ في لّذَّةٍ

    زادت على لَذّة طِيبِ الأَمان

    The delight we find in al-Ma‘shuq

    surpasses the delight of sweet security.

  4. فأيَّ شيء أبتدي وَصْفَه

    منه وقد أفرَطَ في كل شان

    What, then, shall I first describe

    of it, when it excels beyond measure in every regard—

  5. أماءَه العَذْبَ القليلَ القَذَى

    أم ظِلَّه الدانيَ من كلِّ دان

    its sweet water, with scarcely a speck of debris,

    or its shade, close to all who draw near?

  6. رُحْتُ به لِلّهوِ في فتيةٍ

    كلّهمُ حُرٌّ كريمٌ هِجان

    I went there to make merry among young men,

    each freeborn, generous, and pure of lineage.

  7. نَلقَى الصَّبَا فيه بَحرِّ الصِّبَا

    ونطرد الهمَّ بِبنت الدِّنان

    We greet the east breeze there with youth’s heat,

    and banish care with the daughter of the wine-jars:

  8. صفراءُ لولا طِيبُ أنفاسِها

    غابت عن الحسّ ولُطْفِ العِيان

    a golden wine that, but for its fragrant breath,

    would elude the senses and the keenest sight.

  9. نَشْربُها مَزْجاً وصِرْفاً وما

    لنا سِوى المَثْلَثِ من تَرْجُمان

    We drink it mixed and neat, with no

    interpreter for us but the lute’s third string.

  10. والبَمُّ يَهْدِينا لِطُرْقِ الصِّبا

    إذا تبارتْ فيهِ أيدي القِيانْ

    And the bass string guides us along the paths of youth

    when the singing girls’ hands vie upon it.

  11. كأنّما رِقّةُ مَسْموعهِ

    رِقّة ما يلفظ مِنك اللِّسان

    As though the delicacy of its sound

    were the delicacy of what your tongue utters.