Sol 6.1

  1. أجيرةَ قَلبي إن تَدانَوْا وإن شَطُّوا

    ومُنيَةَ نَفسي أنْصَفُونِي أو اشْتَطُّوا

    O neighbors of my heart, whether near or far,

    and my soul's desire, whether fair to me or unjust!

  2. عصَيْتُ اللّواحِي فيكُمُ وأطعتُمُ

    مقَالَهُمُ ما هكَذا في الهَوى الشرْطُ

    I disobeyed the women who reproached me over you, while you obeyed

    their words; such is not the covenant of love.

  3. ولو عَلمُوا مقدارَ حَظِّيَ منكُمُ

    وهمّي بكم زال التّنافُسُ والغَبْطُ

    Were they to know the measure of my lot with you,

    and my anguish over you, rivalry and envy would cease.

  4. إذا كانَ حظّي منكُمُ في دنُوِّكُم

    صدودٌ وهجرٌ فالّتداني هو الشّحطُ

    If my lot with you, when you are near,

    is rejection and abandonment, then nearness is remoteness.

  5. فيا قلبُ مهلاً لا تُرَعْ إنَّ قُربهمْ

    إذا هَجروا مثلُ التّنائي إذا شَطّوا

    So, heart, be calm; do not fear: their nearness,

    when they forsake me, is like separation when they go far.

  6. هَواهُم هَوىً لا البعدُ يُبْلي جَديدَه

    لدَيْنا ولا عَالِيهِ بالهجر يَنْحَطُّ

    Love for them is a love whose freshness distance cannot wear away

    within us, nor can abandonment bring its height low.

  7. أُحبّهُمُ حُبّي الحياةَ محبّةً

    جرتْ في دَمي والرّوحِ فَهي لها خِلْطُ

    I love them as I love life, with a love

    that has coursed through my blood and soul and is blended with the soul.

  8. لهُم من فُؤادِي مَوضعُ السّرِّ والهَوى

    فمَحضُ هَواهُم في سُويدائِه وَخْطُ

    Theirs within my heart is the seat of secrets and love;

    so pure love for them is marked in its inmost core.

  9. يُعلّلُني شَوقي بزَوْرةِ طَيفهم

    وَجَيْبُ الدُّجَى عن واضحِ الصبحِ مُنْغَطُّ

    My longing consoles me with a visit from their phantom,

    while night's bosom is shrouded from the brightness of dawn.

  10. وَطَرفِي يُراعي النّجْمَ حَيرانَ مِثلَه

    إلى أن دَعَاهُ في مغَارِبِهِ الهَبْطُ

    My gaze watches the star, bewildered like it,

    until descent summons it in its western reaches.

  11. عجبتُ له كيفَ اهتَدى لرِحَالنَا

    وكم للّوى من دُونِ تَعْرِيْسِنَا سقْطُ

    I marveled how it found its way to our camp,

    with so many edges of winding dunes before our night's halting-place.

  12. وكيفَ فَرَى عرضَ الفَلاَ من يؤودُه

    ويَبهرهُ في جانِب الخِدرِ أن يَخْطُو

    And how did one cross the desert's breadth, though wearied

    and left breathless by a step beside the curtained chamber?

  13. فلما استَفَاض الفَجرُ كالبحر وانْبَرت

    نُجومُ الدّجى فيهِ تَغُورُ وتَنْغَطُّ

    But when dawn spread like the sea, and

    night's stars began to sink and plunge into it,

  14. أسِفْتُ على زَوْرٍ أتَانِي به الكَرى

    وما زَارَني مُذْ كَان مستيقظاً قَطُّ

    I grieved for a visitor whom sleep had brought me,

    who had never, in all his life, visited me while I was awake.

  15. إذا مَاسَ خلتُ المسَّ غَالَ عقولَنا

    وخَامَرها من سَوْرَةِ الوجدِ إسْفَنْطُ

    When he sways, I think madness has stolen our wits,

    and the wine of passion's frenzy has intoxicated them.

  16. يَقولُون خُوطٌ أو قَناةٌ قويمةٌ

    وما قَدّهُ ما يُنبتُ البانُ والخَطُّ

    They say, 'A supple shoot, or a straight spear-shaft!'

    Yet his stature is not what the moringa tree and al-Khatt produce.

  17. شبيهةُ أمِّ الخِشْف جِيداً ومُقلَةً

    بِجيدِكِ تزدانُ القلائدُ والقُرْطُ

    You who resemble the fawn's mother in neck and eye,

    your neck adorns the necklaces and earrings.

  18. تَروّضَ جَوٌّ جُبْتِهِ وتضوَّعَتْ

    رُبىً مَسّها مما تَسرْبَلتِهِ مِرْطُ

    A plain you crossed became a meadow, and fragrance rose

    from hills touched by a mantle you had worn.

  19. حكى وجهُكِ الشمسَ المُنيرةَ في الضّحَى

    ولونَ الدّياجِي شَعرُكِ الفاحمُ السّبطُ

    Your face mirrored the radiant sun at forenoon,

    and your coal-black, straight hair the color of dark nights.

  20. فتكْتِ ببَتّاك الحُسامِ إذا هَوَى

    على مُفْردٍ ثَنّاهُ في المعرَكِ القَطُّ

    You slew one whose sword cleaves: when it falls

    on a single man, its cut makes two of him amid the fray.

  21. وما خلتُ آسادَ الشرى إذْ تَبَهْنَستَ

    فرائسَ غِزلانِ الصّرِيمةِ إذ تعطو

    Nor did I think, as you strutted proudly, that al-Shara's lions

    would be prey to the sandbank's gazelles as they reached up to browse.

  22. فيا عَجَباً من فَاتِرِ الطّرِفِ فاتِنٍ

    سَطَا بِكَمِيٍّ لم يزلْ في الوغَى يَسطُو

    So, what a wonder—a languid-eyed beguiler

    overpowered an armored champion who never ceased striking in battle!

  23. فأردَاهُ فردُ الحُسن فرداً وإنّه

    ليُرهِبُهُ من رَهطِ قَاتِلِه الرّهطُ

    So beauty's peerless one felled him alone; indeed,

    a band from his slayer's clan surely fills him with dread.

  24. أيا ساكني مصرٍ رضَانَا لِبعدِكُم

    عن العيشِ والأيّامِ لا تبعدُوا سُخطُ

    O dwellers in Egypt, our acceptance of your distance

    is discontent with life and its days—may you never be far!

  25. إذا عنَّ ذكراكُم ظَلِلْتُ كأنّني

    غَريقُ بحارٍ ما لِلُجّتِها شَطُّ

    Whenever remembrance of you arises, I remain as though I were

    a man drowning in seas whose depths have no shore.

  26. وأُلزِمُ كفّي صدعَ قلبٍ أطارَهُ

    جوَى الشوقِ لولاَ أن تَدارَكَهُ الضّبطُ

    I press my palm against the rift in a heart that would have flown apart

    from longing's anguish, had self-restraint not caught it.

  27. فَهْل لي إليكُم أو لَكُم بعد بُعدِكُم

    إيابٌ فقد طَال التّفرقُ والشّطُّ

    Is there, for me to you—or for you, after your departure—

    a return? Separation and distance have indeed lasted long.

  28. أراكُم على بعْدِ الديارِ بناظرٍ

    لكلّ فراقٍ من مدامِعهِ قِسطُ

    I see you, despite the distance between our dwellings, with an eye

    of whose tears every parting has its share.

  29. إذا عايَنَ التّوديعَ أرسَل لُؤلؤاً

    من الدّمعِ لم يَجمعْ فرائِدَهُ اللّقْطُ

    When it witnesses farewell, it sends forth pearls

    of tears, whose loose gems have never been gathered up.

  30. وما شَفَّهُ إلا نَوى من يَودُّهُ

    وفُرقَةُ أُلاّفٍ هي الميتَة العَبْطُ

    Nothing has worn it thin but the departure of one it loves,

    and separation from dear companions is untimely death.

  31. فراقٌ أتَى لم تُخبرِ الطير كَونَه

    ولاَ رَفعُوا فيه الحدُوجَ ولا حَطّوا

    A parting came whose coming the birds had not foretold,

    nor did they raise the camel-litters for it, nor set them down.

  32. تَلقّتهُ مني سُلطةٌ وصريمةٌ

    ومن ليَ أنّي بَعدَ وشْكِ النّوَى سَلْطُ

    I received it with strength and firm resolve;

    yet who can assure me I shall stay strong after separation's swift onset?

  33. وما كنتُ أدري أنّ للشّوقِ زَفْرةً

    تَزيدُ كما يَنْمِي ويَضطرِمُ السّقطُ

    I did not know that longing has a sigh

    that grows as a spark grows and bursts into flame.

  34. بِرغْمَى أن تُمسِي وتُصبحَ دُونكُم

    فَيافٍ لأيدي الجُردِ في وعْرِهَا لَغْطُ

    It grieves me that, evening and morning, there lie between us

    deserts where sleek steeds' forehooves clatter over rugged ground,

  35. وأن تَنزِلُوا دَارَ القطيعةِ والقِلَى

    وجِيرَانُكُم بَعدَ الكرامِ بها القبطُ

    and that you settle in the abode of estrangement and hatred,

    with the Copts for neighbors there, after noble men.