Sol 6.1

  1. وَسُلافٍ مِمّا يُعَتَّقُ حِلٍّ

    زادَ في طيبِها اِبنُ عَبدِ كُلالِ

    And pure, lawful wine of the kind left to age,

    whose savor Ibn ʿAbd Kulāl enhanced,

  2. ذَكَّرَتني المُخَنَّثاتِ لَدى الحِج

    رِ يُنازِعنَني سُجوفَ الحِجالِ

    recalled to me the swaying women beside al-Hijr,

    tugging against me at the curtains of the bridal chambers.

  3. يا سُلَيمانُ إِن تُلاقِ الثُرَيّا

    تَلقَ عَيشَ الخُلودِ قَبلَ الهِلالِ

    O Sulaymān, if you meet al-Thurayyā,

    you will find life everlasting before the crescent moon.

  4. حَبَّذا الحَجُّ وَالثُرَيّا وَمَن بِال

    خَيفِ مِن أَجلِها وَمُلقي الرِحالِ

    How lovely are the pilgrimage, al-Thurayyā, and those at

    al-Khayf for her sake, and those setting down their saddles!

  5. دُرَّةٌ مِن عَقائِلِ البَحرِ بِكرٌ

    لَم تَنَلها مَثاقِبُ اللَآلِ

    A virgin pearl among the sea's choicest treasures,

    untouched by the pearl-worker's drills.

  6. تَعقِدُ المِئزَرَ السُخامَ مِنَ الخَز

    زِ عَلى حَقوِ بادِنٍ مِكسالِ

    She ties her soft waist-wrapper of silk

    around the waist of her full, languorous form.

  7. قَطَنَت مَكَّةَ الحَرامَ فَشَطَّت

    وَعَدَتني نَوائِبُ الأَشغالِ

    She dwelt in sacred Mecca and so grew distant,

    and the recurring demands of business kept me away.

  8. إِن تَرَيني تَغَيَّرَ اللَونُ مِنّي

    وَعَلا الشَيبُ مَفرِقي وَقَذالي

    If you see my complexion altered,

    and gray hair spreading over my crown and nape,

  9. فَظِلالُ السُيوفِ شَيَّبنَ رَأسي

    وَطِعاني في الحَربِ صُهبَ السِبالِ

    then the shadows of swords have grayed my head,

    and my lance-fighting in war against tawny-mustached men,

  10. وَاِغتِرابي عَن عامِرِ بنِ لُؤَيٍّ

    بِبِلادٍ كَثيرَةِ الأَقتالِ

    and my exile from ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy,

    in lands teeming with foes.

  11. كُلَّ يَومٍ أَلقى اِبنَ شانِئَةٍ لَي

    سَ عَنِ الشَرِّ ما اِستَطاعَ بِآلي

    Every day I face some hostile woman's son,

    who never holds back from any evil he can do.

  12. حَولَهُ قَومُهُ وَقَومي بِأَرضٍ

    حَرَمٍ دونَهُم حَنينُ الشَمالِ

    His people surround him, while mine are in a land

    held sacred, with the north wind's moan between us.

  13. وَمُلوكٌ فارَقتُهُم أَفرَدوني

    وَصُروفُ الأَيّامِ بي وَاللَيالي

    And kings I parted from have left me alone,

    as have the turns that days and nights have dealt me.

  14. أَقفَرَت مِنهُمُ الفَراديسُ فَالغو

    طَةُ ذاتُ القُرى وَذاتُ الظِلالِ

    Deserted of them are al-Farādīs and al-Ghūṭa,

    with its villages and its shade.

  15. فَضُمَيرٌ فَالماطِرونَ فَحَورا

    نُ قِفارٌ بَسابِسُ الأَطلالِ

    And Ḍumayr, al-Māṭirūn, and Ḥawrān—

    desolate wastes, barren expanses of ruins.

  16. لَم تُجِبني مِنها الطُلولُ وَلَم أَم

    لِك دُموعاً تَسيلُ كَالأَوشالِ

    Their ruined traces did not answer me, nor could I restrain

    tears flowing like rivulets.

  17. وَتَذَكَّرتُ مَعشَري وَهُمُ كا

    نوا مُلوكاً في سالِفِ الأَحوالِ

    And I remembered my people, who had been

    kings in times gone by.

  18. مُلكُهُم صالِحٌ وَدَهرُهُمُ دَه

    رٌ نَقِيٌّ وَشَرُّهُم غَيرُ عالي

    Their rule was good, and their age an age

    untainted, their evil never ascendant.

  19. كُلَّما أُوجِفَت إِلَيهِم رِكابي

    رَجَعَت مِنهُمُ بِأَهلٍ وَمالِ

    Whenever my riding-camels were driven swiftly to them,

    they returned from them with family and wealth.

  20. إِنَّ شيباً مِن عامِرِ بنِ لُؤَيٍّ

    وَفُتُوّاً مِنهُم رِقاقَ النِعالِ

    Indeed, graybeards of ʿĀmir ibn Luʾayy,

    and their young men in thin-soled sandals,

  21. لَم يَناموا إِذ نامَ قَومٌ عَنِ الوِت

    رِ بِحَركٍ فَعَرعَرٍ فَالسِخالِ

    did not sleep, though others slept heedless of vengeance,

    at Ḥarak, then ʿArʿar, then al-Sikhāl.

  22. عَلَّقوا أَرسُنَ الجِيادِ وَمَرّوا

    جانِبَيها بِشاحِجاتِ البِغالِ

    They fastened the steeds' halters and went

    along their two flanks with braying mules.

  23. كُلَّ خَيفانَةٍ مُجَنَّبَةِ الرِج

    لَينِ عَجلى خَفيفَةٍ في الشَمالِ

    Every locust-slim mare, with wide-set hindlegs,

    swift and light in the left hand,

  24. مَرَطى الشَدِّ كَالعُقابِ تَدَلَّت

    بَينَ نيقَينِ مِن رُؤوسِ الجِبالِ

    long-striding in the gallop, like an eagle swooping

    between two lofty mountain peaks.

  25. وَهَزيمٍ أَجَشَّ يَستَنُّ بِالدا

    رِعِ يَومَ النِهابِ وَالأَنفالِ

    And a thundering, hoarse-voiced steed, galloping with a mail-clad rider

    on the day of plunder and spoils,

  26. جُرشُعٍ يَملَأُ الحِزامَ كَأَنَّ ال

    جَهدَ يَجلو أَديمَهُ بِصِقالِ

    massive-bodied, filling the girth, as though

    exertion polished his hide to a shine.

  27. بُدِّلَت بِالشَعيرِ وَالخَفضِ وَالقَت

    تِ وَمَسحِ الغُلامِ تَحتَ الجِلالِ

    They were given, instead of barley, ease, and alfalfa,

    and the groom's rubbing beneath their horse-blankets,

  28. غارَةَ اللَيلِ وَالنَهارِ فَما تُص

    بِحُ إِلّا مُحِسَّةً بِقِتالِ

    raids by night and day; they never greet the morning

    without sensing battle.

  29. قَد بَراها الوَجيفُ وَالدَأبُ حَتّى

    هِيَ قُبٌّ شَوازِبُ الأَكفالِ

    Galloping and unceasing toil have worn them down, until

    they are hollow-bellied, their rumps grown lean.

  30. فَغَدَونا بِهِنَّ في غَبشِ اللَي

    لِ دِقاقاً كَأَنَّهُنَّ المَغالي

    So we set out on them through the murk of night,

    slender, as though they were flight-arrows,

  31. نَبتَغي دِمنَةً لَنا في بَني العَل

    لاتِ نَسقي سِجالَها بِسِجالِ

    pursuing an old score of ours among our paternal half-brothers,

    matching its bucketfuls with bucketfuls of our own.

  32. أَدرَكَ الذَحلَ فِتيَةٌ مِن بَني عَم

    روٍ بِصَبرِ النُفوسِ بَينَ العَوالي

    Vengeance was won by youths of Banū ʿAmr,

    through steadfastness of spirit among the spearheads.

  33. لَو رَأَتني اِبنَةُ النُوَيعِمِ لَيلى

    إِذ نَلُفُّ الأَبطالَ بِالأَبطالِ

    If Laylā, al-Nuwayʿim's daughter, had seen me

    as we entangled champions with champions,

  34. حينَ نَنعى أَخاكِ بِالأَسَلِ السُم

    رِ وَشُعثٍ كَأَنَّهُنَّ السَعالي

    when we proclaimed your brother's death with brown lances

    and shaggy mares like she-ghouls,

  35. لَشَفى نَفسَكِ اِنتِقامُ بَني عَم

    مِكِ حينَ الدِماءُ كَالجِريالِ

    your cousins' vengeance would surely have healed your soul,

    when the blood was like crimson dye.

  36. طُلَّ مَن طُلَّ في الحُروبِ وَلَم يُط

    لَل عَلِيٌّ وَلا دِماءُ المَوالي

    Whoever's blood went unavenged in war went unavenged;

    but not ʿAlī's, nor the blood of the allies.

  37. وَبَني مالِكِ بنِ حِسلٍ ثَأَرنا

    غَيرَ فَخرٍ بِنا وَغَيرَ اِنتِحالِ

    And we avenged the sons of Mālik ibn Ḥisl,

    no boast of ours, no false claim.

  38. وَأَصَبنا بَعدَ الرِجالِ رِجالاً

    وَحَوَينا الأَموالَ بِالأَموالِ

    And we struck down men after men,

    and gathered wealth in return for wealth.