Sol 6.1

  1. أنيخاها فَقَدْ بَلَغَت مُناها

    وغادرها المسيرُ كما تراها

    Make her kneel, you two: she has reached her goal.

    And travel has left her as you see her.

  2. سلكتُ بها فجاج الأرض حتَّى

    أضَرَّ بها وأوهنها قواها

    I took her through the earth's broad passes until

    it wore her down and sapped her strength.

  3. فَسَلْني كيفَ جابتها قِفاراً

    وكيفَ طَوَتْ فدافدها خطاها

    So ask me how she crossed those barren wastes,

    and how her steps folded up their desolate expanses.

  4. وما أنسى الوقوف على رسومٍ

    عَناني في الصبابة ما عناها

    Nor do I forget standing by traces of dwellings;

    in longing, what afflicted them afflicted me.

  5. قضى بوقوفه المشتاقُ فيها

    وجوهاً يا أمَيْمَة لا أراها

    The yearning lover, by standing there, fulfilled

    purposes, O Umaymah, that I do not see.

  6. وقفتُ أناشِدُ الأطلال منها

    ديوناً للمنازل ما قضاها

    I stood entreating those ruins for

    debts owed the dwellings, which he had not paid.

  7. وأذكر ما هنالك طيبَ عيشٍ

    به تجري النفوس على مداها

    And I recall what was there: the sweetness of life,

    in which souls ranged to their fullest reach.

  8. جرَينا في ميادين التصابي

    إلى اللّذات نستحلي جناها

    We ran through the arenas of youthful dalliance,

    toward pleasures, savoring their fruit.

  9. فواهاً لِلّذائذ كيف ولّت

    وآهاً من تصرّمها وآها

    Oh, for those pleasures—how they fled!

    And alas for their ending, alas!

  10. تدار من المدام على الندامى

    كؤوسُ الراح تشرق في سناها

    Among the drinking companions are passed, filled with wine,

    cups of wine, gleaming in their radiance.

  11. وألحان المثالثِ والمثاني

    يُغنّيها فتطربُ في غناها

    And the melodies of the third and second strings—

    he sings them, and you delight in their song.

  12. وينظمنا اجتماعُ في رياضٍ

    نثار الطل يلبسها حلاها

    And a gathering unites us in gardens,

    where scattered dew dresses them in their jewels.

  13. وقد أمْلَتْ حمائمها علينا

    من الأوراقِ شيئاً من أساها

    And their doves have dictated to us

    from the leaves, something of their sorrow.

  14. كأنَّ الوُرْقَ حين بكت وأبكتْ

    رَماها بالقطيعة من رماها

    As though the gray doves, when they wept and made others weep,

    had been struck with abandonment by whoever struck them.

  15. تُكَتِّمُ أدمعاً وتبوحُ وجداً

    وتعربُ ما هنالك عن جواها

    They hide their tears yet reveal their longing,

    and there give voice to their burning grief.

  16. وربَّ مديرةٍ كأس الحميّا

    أخذْتُ بكفِّها ورشفتُ فاها

    And many a woman passing the cup of heady wine—

    I clasped her hand and sipped from her mouth.

  17. ومُسودِّ الإهاب من الدياجي

    كشَفْتُ بشهب أكؤسنا دجاها

    And many a night with blackened hide—

    I dispelled its gloom with the meteors of our cups.

  18. وعانقتُ القوام اللَّدنَ منها

    وعينُ الواشي يحجبها عماها

    And I embraced her supple form,

    while the talebearer's eye was veiled by its own blindness.

  19. فآونةً ترشِّفني طلاها

    وآونة ترشِّفني لماها

    Then at times she lets me sip her wine,

    and at times she lets me sip her dusky lips.

  20. ومِن عَجَبٍ أذِلُّ لذاتِ دَلٍّ

    وتسبيني المحاسن في هواها

    And strangely, I humble myself before a woman of coy grace,

    and her charms take me captive in love for her.

  21. ولي نفس متى دُعيَتْ لذُلٍّ

    نهاها عن إجابته نهاها

    Yet I have a soul: whenever it is called to abasement,

    its reason forbids it to answer.

  22. أبَتْ نفسي مداناة الدّنايا

    وأغنتها القناعة عن غناها

    My soul refused to draw near to base deeds,

    and contentment freed it from needing their riches.

  23. وهل تستعبد الأطماع حراً

    إذا عُرضت له الدنيا ازدراها

    Can greedy desires enslave a free man

    who, when the world is offered to him, scorns it?

  24. ولست ألينُ والأيام تقسو

    بشدَّتها ولمْ أطلبْ رخاها

    I do not bend when the days grow harsh

    in their severity, nor have I sought their ease.

  25. وأرض يَفْرَقُ الخرّيت فيها

    ويفزعُ من مهالك ما يراها

    And many a land where the expert guide is afraid,

    and trembles at perils he does not see—

  26. سلكتُ فجاجها ومَرَقْتُ منها

    مروقَ النَّبل يبعُدُ مرتماها

    I traversed its passes and darted out of it

    like arrows whose landing lies far away.

  27. سَليني كيفَ جرَّبت الليالي

    وكيف عرفَتها وعَرَفْتُ داها

    Ask me how I put the nights to the test,

    and how I knew them and recognized their malady.

  28. بلوت النَّاس قَرناً بعد قرنٍ

    وكنتُ بها أحقَّ من ابتلاها

    I tested people, generation after generation,

    and I was the best qualified of those who tested them.

  29. فلم أزدَد بها إلاَّ اختباراً

    ولم أزْدَدْ بها إلاَّ انتباها

    Through them I gained nothing but experience,

    and through them nothing but vigilance.

  30. وفي عبد الحميد بديع شعري

    مناقبُ عن معاليه رواها

    And on Abd al-Hamid, my exquisite poetry

    recounts virtues drawn from his lofty deeds.

  31. نعمتُ بفضله وشكرت منه

    يداً لا زال يغمرني نداها

    I enjoyed his bounty and thanked him for

    a hand—may its generosity never cease to flood over me.

  32. فما استعذبتُ غير ندى يديه

    وما استعذبته مما عداها

    I found no sweetness but the bounty of his hands,

    nor found any in what lay beyond them.

  33. فلو أني وَرَدْتُ البحر عذباً

    أنِفْتُ من الموارد ما خلاها

    Even if I came to the sea and it were fresh,

    I would scorn all watering places save his hands.

  34. وإنَّ الله أودع فيه معنىً

    لتسمية المكارم مذ براها

    And God has lodged within him a meaning

    by which to name noble virtues, since He created them.

  35. من السادات من أعلى قريشٍ

    سلالة خير خلق الله طه

    One of the noble lords, from the loftiest of Quraysh,

    offspring of the best of God's creation, Ta-Ha.

  36. شديد البأس ألطفَ من نسيم

    تعطِّره الأزاهر من شذاها

    Fierce in battle, yet gentler than a breeze

    that blossoms perfume with their fragrance.

  37. يخوض غمارها الهيجاء خوضاً

    وماء الموت يرشحُ من ظباها

    He plunges deep into the depths of battle,

    while the water of death seeps from its blade-edges.

  38. ويرفع راية المنصور فيها

    ويخفض من أعاديه الجباها

    And he raises al-Mansur's banner there,

    and brings his enemies' foreheads low.

  39. وتلك رئاسةٌ وعلوُّ قَدرٍ

    إليه العزُّ يتَّجهُ اتّجاها

    Such is leadership and loftiness of rank:

    glory turns directly toward him.

  40. تريه بواطنَ الآراء تبدو

    فلمْ تَحجُبْ لعمرك ما وراها

    It shows him the hidden depths of opinions laid bare,

    and, by your life, has not concealed what lies behind them.

  41. أرَته زينةَ الأمجاد تزهو

    بأرديةِ المحاسن فارتداها

    It showed him the adornment of glories resplendent

    in robes of excellence, and he donned them.

  42. تَولَّى والولاية فيه أضْحَتْ

    تزيد بعزِّه عزًّا وجاها

    He took office, and his governorship began

    to gain glory and prestige through his glory.

  43. أمورٌ في الرّياسة يَبْتديها

    ويعْلَمُ بعدَ ذلك منتهاها

    Affairs of leadership he sets in motion,

    and knows thereafter their ultimate outcome.

  44. وأحيا بالعمارة كلَّ أرضٍ

    وأجرى في ضواحيها المياها

    And he revived every land through development,

    and made waters flow through its outskirts.

  45. وأمَّن بالصيانة ساكنيها

    وأصبَحَ فيه محْميًّا حماها

    He secured its inhabitants through protection,

    and under him its precincts became protected.

  46. حماها حيثُ كانت من لَدُنْه

    بعينِ عنايةٍ ممَّن رعاها

    He protected it wherever it lay, with his own

    watchful eye of care, as the one who tended it.

  47. ودبَّرها بلطفٍ لا بعنفٍ

    فأرشَدَها وألهَمَها هداها

    He managed it gently, not with violence,

    and guided it, inspiring it with the right course.

  48. وكفَّ يدَ الخطوب السُّود عنها

    فما مُدَّتْ إلى أحدٍ يداها

    He kept the hand of dark calamities away from it,

    so their two hands reached toward no one.

  49. فهَلْ مِن مبلغٍ عَنِّي ثناءً

    تقيَّ الدِّين يشكره شفاها

    Is there anyone to convey praise on my behalf

    to Taqi al-Din, thanking him by word of mouth?

  50. ربَّما أسدى من الحُسنى إلَيْنا

    وما عَرفَ الأَماجدَ فاجتباها

    Often he has bestowed kindness upon us,

    and he chose the noble men whom he recognized.

  51. تَفَرَّسَ بالرِّجال فازداد عِلماً

    فولاّها الأُمورَ بمقتضاها

    He discerned men's characters and grew in knowledge,

    then entrusted them with affairs according to their requirements.

  52. بلغنا غايةً من لطفِ مولًى

    بشيرٍ للمؤمّلِ مبتداها

    We reached a height of a patron's kindness,

    whose beginning brings glad tidings to the hopeful.

  53. وسيَّرْنا لساحته الأَماني

    فأَلقَت في مغانيه عصاها

    We sent our wishes toward his courtyard,

    and in his abodes they laid down their staff.

  54. إليك ركبْتُها في البحر تجري

    من الفُلك السوابق في سراها

    Toward you I boarded her, running upon the sea,

    one of the ships swift in their night passage.

  55. تَنَفَّسُ بالدخان وفي حشاها

    لظى نارٍ مُسَعَّرةٍ لظاها

    She breathes smoke, and in her belly

    is the blaze of a fire whose flames are stoked.

  56. ويخفِقُ وهي مثل الطير سبحاً

    جناحاها إذا دارتْ رحاها

    And as she swims like a bird, there beat

    her two wings whenever her wheel turns.

  57. جَرَت مجرى الرياح بلا توانٍ

    فما احتاجت إلى ريحٍ سواها

    She ran as winds run, without faltering,

    and needed no wind other than herself.

  58. وما زلنا بها حتَّى بلغنا

    مِنَ الآمال أقصى مبتغاها

    We continued aboard her until we reached

    the furthest goal of our hopes.

  59. بقيتَ لنا مدى الأنام ذخراً

    نواها فيك أحْسَنَ ما نراها

    May you remain our treasure as long as humankind lasts.

    Their aims in you are the finest we behold.

  60. فمثلك في المكارم لا يجارى

    ومثلك في الأَكارم لا يضاهى

    For one like you cannot be rivaled in noble virtues,

    and among the noble, one like you has no equal.