Sol 6.1

  1. رُمينا بأدهى المعضلات النوائب

    وفقدُ الذي نرجو أجلُّ المصائب

    We have been struck by the direst of intractable calamities.

    And losing the one in whom we place our hopes is the greatest calamity.

  2. وغائب قوم لا يرجّى إيابه

    وما غائب تحت التراب بآيب

    And one is absent from his people, with no hope of his return;

    And no one gone beneath the dust returns.

  3. نؤمِّل في الدنيا حياةً هنيَّةً

    وما نحن إلاَّ عرضة للمصائب

    We hope for a pleasant life in this world,

    Yet we are nothing but targets for calamities.

  4. ونَغْتَرُّ في برق المنى وهو خُلَّبُ

    وهيهات ما في الآل ماءٌ لشارب

    And we are beguiled by the lightning of hopes, though it brings no rain;

    Far from it! There is no water in the mirage for a drinker.

  5. نصدّقُ آمالاً محالاً بلوغها

    ومن أعجب الأشياء تصديق كاذب

    We trust in hopes impossible to attain,

    And among the strangest things is believing a liar.

  6. تسالِمُنا الأيام والقصد حَرْبُنا

    وما هي إلاَّ خدعة من محارب

    The days make peace with us, yet their intent is war against us;

    And it is nothing but an adversary's ruse.

  7. ونطمع أن تبقى ويبقى نعيمُها

    فلم يبق منها غير حسرة خائب

    And we hope it will endure, and its bliss endure;

    Yet nothing remained of it but a disappointed man's regret.

  8. فلا تحسبنّ الدهر يوفي بعهده

    أبى الله أن يرعى ذماراً لصاحب

    So never think that time will keep its pledge:

    God has refused to let it safeguard a companion's honor.

  9. وإنَّ الليالي لا تدوم بحالة

    وهل تترك الأحداث كسباً لكاسب

    And the nights do not remain in one condition;

    And do misfortunes leave any gain to its earner?

  10. يروقك منها ما يسوؤك أمرها

    وإنَّ الردى ما راق من حد قاضب

    What delights you in them brings an outcome that grieves you,

    And death is the allure of a keen sword's edge.

  11. وجود الفتى نفس الحمام لنفسه

    فلولاه لم يسلك سبيل المعاطب

    A young man's existence is death itself for him;

    For without it he would never tread the path of deadly perils.

  12. وتسعى به أنفاسُه لحمامه

    وكم أصبح المطلوب يسعى لطالب

    And his breaths hasten him toward his death;

    And how often the hunted hastens toward his hunter!

  13. كأنَّا من الآجال وهي كواسر

    من الأسد الضرغام بين المخالب

    Facing our appointed deaths—those beasts of prey—we seem

    To lie between the claws of a ferocious lion.

  14. ولا يدفعُ السيفُ المنيَّةَ والقنا

    وتمضي سيوف الله من غير ضارب

    And neither sword nor lances can ward off death;

    And God's swords cut without anyone to wield them.

  15. وكلٌّ لمطلوب الردى وهو لاعب

    كأنَّ المنايا لا تجدُّ بلاعب

    And everyone is surely death's quarry while at play,

    As though the fates of death were not in earnest with one at play.

  16. فمن لفؤاد راعه فقد إلْفِهِ

    فأصبح من أشجان نهب ناهب

    So who will comfort a heart appalled by the loss of its dear companion,

    Which through sorrow has become a plunderer's spoil,

  17. وجفن يهلُّ الدمع من عبراته

    على طيّب الأعراق وابن الأطايب

    And an eyelid from whose weeping tears stream

    For one of noble lineage, a son of the noblest—

  18. على عمر الرماضان ذي الفضل والنهى

    أحاطت بي الأحزان من كلِّ جانب

    For Umar al-Ramāḍān, a man of excellence and wisdom?

    Sorrows have surrounded me on every side.

  19. أذَبْتُ عليه يوم مات حشاشتي

    وأمسيت في قلبٍ من الحزن ذائب

    I melted my very life in mourning for him the day he died,

    And evening found me with a heart dissolved in grief.

  20. بكيت وما يجدي الحزين بكاؤه

    وضاقت علينا الأرض ذات المناكب

    I wept, though a grieving man's weeping avails him nothing;

    And the broad-shouldered earth grew narrow around us.

  21. فتىً كانَ فينا حاضراً كلَّ نكبة

    فغاب ولكن ذكره غير غائب

    A young man who was there among us at every calamity,

    So he is gone, yet his memory is not gone.

  22. تذكّرُني آثاره بفعاله

    فأبكي عليها بالدموع السواكب

    His traces remind me of his deeds,

    So I weep over them with streaming tears.

  23. صبور على البلوى غيور إذا انتخى

    جميل السجايا الشمِّ جمّ المناقب

    Patient under trial, zealous for honor when his pride was roused,

    Beautiful in his lofty character, rich in virtues.

  24. وما زال بالآداب والفضل مُفْعَماً

    ولكنَّه إذ ذاك صفر المصائب

    And he was always filled with learning and excellence,

    But then he was free of calamities.

  25. وقد كانَ مثل الشهد يحلو وتارة

    لكالصلِّ نَفَّاثاً سموم العقارب

    And he was sweet as honey, and at times

    Indeed like an asp, spitting scorpions' venom.

  26. وكم أخبر التجريبُ عن كنه حاله

    ويَظْهَرُ كَنهُ المرء عند التجارب

    And how often experience revealed the essence of his character;

    And a man's true nature is revealed in trials.

  27. لسان كحدّ السيف ماضٍ غرارُه

    وأمضى كلاماً من شفار القواضب

    A tongue like a sword's edge, its cutting edge keen,

    And keener in speech than the edges of cutting swords.

  28. وكم صاغ من تبر القريض جمانة

    وأفرغ معناها بأحسن قالب

    And how many a pearl he fashioned from the raw gold of poetry,

    And poured its meaning into the finest mold.

  29. وزانت قوافيه من الفضل أفْقه

    فكانت كأمثال النجوم الثواقب

    And his rhymes adorned his horizon of excellence,

    So they were like stars of piercing brilliance.

  30. وأدرك فضلَ الأوَّلين بما أتى

    فقصَّر عن إدراكه كلُّ طالب

    And through what he produced, he attained the excellence of those before him;

    So every aspirant fell short of reaching him.