Sol 6.1

  1. شديدٌ ما أَضَرَّ بها الغرامُ

    وأَضْناها لِشقْوتِها السّقامُ

    Severe is the harm that passion has done her,

    and illness has wasted her, to her misery.

  2. وما انفروت بصَبْوتها ولكنْ

    كذلكم المحبُّ المستهام

    She is not alone in her ardor, however;

    such is the love-crazed lover.

  3. تشاكَيْنا الهوى زمناً طويلاً

    فأَدْمُعَنا وأدْمُعها سِجام

    We lamented love to one another for a long time,

    so our tears and hers streamed freely.

  4. قريبة ما تذوب على طلول

    عَفَتْ حتَّى معالمها رمام

    Qurayba—how she melts away over ruins [reading uncertain],

    effaced until even their landmarks are rubble.

  5. سقى الله الدّيار حياً كمدمعي

    لها فيها انسكاب وانسجام

    May God water the dwellings with rain like my tears,

    spilling and streaming there for them.

  6. وبات الغيث منهلاًّ عليها

    تسيل به الأَباطح والآكام

    And may rain spend the night pouring upon them,

    the gravelly valleys and hills running with it.

  7. حبستُ بها المطيَّ فقال صحبي

    أَضرَّ بهذه النُّوق المقامُ

    I halted the riding camels there, and my companions said:

    'Staying here has harmed these she-camels.'

  8. وبرَّح بالنّياق نوًى شطونٌ

    وأشجانٌ تُراشُ لها سهام

    Distant separation has tormented the she-camels,

    and sorrows with arrows fletched for them.

  9. فلا رنداً تشمّ ولا تماماً

    وأين الرّند منها والثّمام

    They smell neither laurel nor thumam grass,

    and how far from them are laurel and thumam grass!

  10. مفارقة أحبَّتُها بنجدٍ

    عليك الصَّبر يومئذٍ حرام

    O woman parted from her loved ones in Najd,

    patience that day is forbidden to you.

  11. تقرُّ لأعيُني تلك المغاني

    وهاتيك المنازلُ والخيام

    Those dwelling places soothe my eyes,

    and those homes and tents.

  12. إذا ذُكِرَتْ لنا فاضَتْ عيون

    وأَضْرَمَ مهجة الصّبِّ الضّرام

    When they are mentioned to us, eyes overflow,

    and the blaze sets the ardent lover's heart aflame.

  13. لعمرِك يا أُميمَةُ إنَّ طرْفي

    على العبرات أَوْقَفَهُ الغرام

    By your life, Umayma, my gaze

    has been fixed by passion upon tears.

  14. أشيمُ البرق يبكيني ابتساماً

    وقد يُبكي الشجيَّ الابتسام

    I watch the lightning; its smile makes me weep,

    and a smile may make the sorrowful weep.

  15. تَبَسَّم ضاحكاً فكأَنَّ سُعدى

    تزحزح عن ثناياها اللّثام

    It smiles and laughs, as though Su'da

    were drawing the veil away from her front teeth.

  16. يلوحُ فيَنْجَلي طَوْراً ويخفى

    كما جُلِيَتْ مضاربه الحسام

    It flashes, revealing itself at times, then disappears,

    like a keen sword with its striking edges polished.

  17. أما وهواك يمنحني سقامي

    ومنك البرءُ أجمَعُ والسّقام

    Indeed, by your love that grants me my sickness,

    from you come all recovery and sickness.

  18. لقد بلغَ الهوى منِّي مُناه

    ولم يبلغْ مآرِبَه الملام

    Passion has achieved its desire in me,

    while reproach has failed to achieve its aims.

  19. على الأَحداق لا بيضٌ حدادٌ

    يُشَقُّ بها حشًى ويُقَدُّ هام

    Through eyes—not sharp, gleaming swords—

    entrails are split and heads cleft.

  20. سلي السُّمر المثقَّفَةَ العوالي

    أتفتكُ مثل ما فتك القوام

    Ask the tall, straightened, dark-hued spears:

    do they slay as the graceful figure has slain?

  21. أَبيتُ أرعى النجمَ فيه

    بطرفٍ لا يلمُّ به منام

    I spend the night watching the stars therein,

    with an eye that sleep never visits.

  22. يذكّرني حَمامُ الأَيْكِ إلْفاً

    ألا لا فارقَ الإِلفَ الحَمامُ

    The doves of the thicket remind me of a beloved;

    ah, may the doves never part from their mates.

  23. وهاتفةٍ إذا هتفت بشجوي

    أقول لها ومثلك لا يلام

    And a calling bird, when she voices my grief—

    I tell her—and one like you is not to blame—

  24. فنوحي ما بدا لكِ أن تنوحي

    فلا عيبٌ عليك ولا منام

    'So lament however much you wish to lament;

    there is no fault in you, nor any sleep.'

  25. بذلتُ لباخلٍ في الحبّ نفسي

    ولَذَّ لي الصبابةُ والهيام

    I offered my soul to one miserly in love,

    and longing and love's delirium grew sweet to me.

  26. منعتُ رضابه حرصاً عليه

    ففاض الريُّ واتَّقد الأُوام

    I was denied his lips' nectar, jealously guarded;

    then refreshment overflowed, and burning thirst blazed.

  27. وفي طيِّ الجوانح لو نَشَرْنا

    بها المطويَّ طال لنا كلام

    And in the folds of the ribs, if we unfolded

    what lies folded there, we would have much to say.

  28. أرى الأَيَّام أَوَّلُها عناءٌ

    وعقباها إذا انقرَضَتْ أثام

    I see that the days begin in hardship,

    and their aftermath, once they have ended, is punishment.

  29. عناءٌ إنْ تأَمَّلها لبيبٌ

    وما يشقى بها إلاَّ الكرام

    They are hardship, if a discerning man considers them,

    and none but the noble suffer through them.

  30. لذاك الأَكرمون تُزادُ عَنها

    فتُمنَعُها ويَعطاها اللّئام

    For that reason the noblest are driven away from them,

    and denied them, while the base receive them.

  31. نَزَلْنا من جميل أبي جميل

    بحيث القصد يُبلغُ المرام

    We have lodged in the bounty of Abu Jamil,

    where seeking brings one to one's goal.

  32. فثَمَّ العروةُ الوثقى وإنَّا

    لنا بالعروة الوثقى اعتصام

    There is the firmest handhold, and we

    hold fast to that firmest handhold.

  33. إذا بَذَلَ النَّدى قالت علاه

    لكسْبِ الحَمْد يُدَّخَرُ الحطام

    When he lavishes bounty, his eminence declares:

    'Worldly wealth is stored up to earn praise.'

  34. فللأموال فيما يقتنيه

    صُدوعٌ ما هنالك والتئام

    For the wealth that he acquires,

    there are some breaches there, and replenishment.

  35. وعضبٌ صارم الحدَّين ماضٍ

    ولا كالصَّارم السَّيفُ الكَهام

    And he is a keen blade, sharp on both edges and piercing,

    and no blunt sword is like the cutting blade.

  36. إذا نَزَلَ المروع لديه أمسى

    يضيم به الخطوب ولا يُضام

    When a frightened man lodges with him, he finds himself

    subduing calamities through him, never oppressed.

  37. جوادٌ لا يجود به زمانٌ

    ولا يستنتج الدَّهر العقام

    A generous man whose like no age bestows,

    nor can barren time bring forth.

  38. أشيمُ بروقه في كلّ يومٍ

    وما كلٌّ بوارقه تُشام

    I watch his lightning flashes every day,

    but not everyone's lightning flashes are watched.

  39. إذا افتَخر الأَنام وكان فيهم

    فليس بغيره افتخر الأَنام

    When people boast, and he is among them,

    it is of none but him that people boast.

  40. وإنْ عُدَّتْ على النسق الأَعالي

    فذاك البدء فيه والختام

    And if the lofty ones are counted in order,

    he is both its beginning and its end.

  41. تيقَّظَ للمكارم والعطايا

    وأَعُنُ غيره عنها نيام

    He has awakened to noble deeds and gifts,

    while others' eyes sleep through them.

  42. مكانُكَ من عرانين المعالي

    مكانٌ لا يُنالُ ولا يرام

    Your station among the pinnacles of glory

    is a station that cannot be reached or aspired to.

  43. وما جود الرَّوائح والغوادي

    فإنَّ الجودَ جودُك والسَّلام

    What is the bounty of evening and morning rainclouds?

    True bounty is your bounty—and that is all.

  44. بنفسي من لدى حربٍ وسِلْمٍ

    هو الضرغام والقرم الهمام

    My life be ransom for him who, in war and peace,

    is the lion and the valiant, noble chief.

  45. تُراعُ به أُلوفٌ وهوَ فَردٌ

    وليسَ يَروعُه العَدَدُ اللَّهام

    Thousands are terrified by him, though he is one,

    and the vast host does not terrify him.

  46. ومن عَظُمتْ له في المجد نفسٌ

    أُهِينَتْ عنده الخِطَطُ العظام

    One whose soul has grown great in glory

    finds great undertakings made small before him.

  47. لتهدى أُمَّة بك في المعالي

    وما ضَلَّتْ وأنتَ لها إمام

    Let a nation be guided through you toward glory;

    it cannot go astray with you as its leader.

  48. كأنَّك في بني الدُّنيا أبوها

    وراعٍ أنتَ والدُّنيا سَوام

    Among the world's sons, you seem to be its father,

    and you are a shepherd, while the world is a grazing flock.

  49. محلُّك من بلادٍ أنتَ فيها

    محلُّ الأَمن والبلد الحرام

    Your dwelling in the land where you reside

    is an abode of safety and a sacred city.

  50. لكلٍّ في حِماك له طوافٌ

    وتقبيلٌ لكفِّك واستلام

    Everyone in your sanctuary has his circling rite,

    and the kissing and reverent touching of your hand.

  51. تَعودُ بوجْهك الظَّلماءُ صُبحاً

    ويُسْتَسْقى بطلعتِك الغمام

    By your face, the darkness becomes morning,

    and through your countenance the clouds are asked for rain.

  52. ويُشرقُ من جمالِك كلُّ فجٍّ

    كما قد أَشْرَقَ البَدر التّمام

    Every mountain pass shines with your beauty,

    as the moon has shone at its fullest.

  53. فِداؤك من عَرَفْتَ وأَنتَ تدري

    فخيرٌ من حياتهمُ الحِمام

    Let those you know be your ransom—and you know them,

    for death is better than their lives.

  54. أُناسٌ حاوَلوا ما أنتَ فيه

    وما سَلَكوا طريقك واستقاموا

    People who sought the station you possess,

    yet neither followed your path nor walked straight.

  55. لقد بَخِلوا وجُدْتَ أَنت فينا

    كما انهلَّت عَزاليه الرّكام

    They were miserly, while you lavished gifts upon us,

    as the piled-up cloud poured from its waterspouts.

  56. وما كلٌّ بِمندورٍ ببخلٍ

    ولا كلٌّ على بُخلٍ يُلام

    Not everyone is [unclear epithet] for miserliness,

    nor is everyone blamed for being miserly.

  57. تميل بنا بمدحتك القوافي

    كما مالتْ بشاربها المدام

    The rhymes sway us with your praise,

    as wine sways its drinker.

  58. ولولا أَنتَ تُنْفِقُها لكانتْ

    بوائِرُ لا تُباعُ ولا تُسام

    And were it not that you give them currency,

    they would be unsalable wares, neither sold nor bid for.

  59. نزورُك سَيِّدي في كلّ عامٍ

    إذا ما مرَّ عامٌ جاءَ عام

    We visit you, my lord, each year;

    whenever one year passes, another comes.

  60. تُخَبر أَنَّنا ولأنتَ أدرى

    صيامٌ منذ وافانا الصِّيام

    You are told that we—and you know better—

    have been fasting ever since the fasting season reached us.