Sol 6.1

  1. إن كانَ أطلقَ دمعَه المحبُوسا

    فلِعلَّةٍ تُشفى وجُرحٍ يوسَى

    If he has released his pent-up tears,

    it is for a curable ailment and a wound that can be healed,

  2. لا كالَّذي عَبدَت جَوارحُهُ لكم

    نيرانَ لَوعَتِه فصِرنَ مَجوسا

    not like the man whose limbs, for your sake, worshipped

    the fires of his anguish and became Magians.

  3. قام الوداعُ له بدَسكرَةِ الهَوى

    وأدارَ أعينَكُم عَلَيه كُؤوسا

    Farewell served him in love's tavern,

    and passed your eyes to him as cups.

  4. سكرانُ راحٍ راحَ يودعُ نفسَه

    مِنها ولَم يَرَها تضيعُ نُفوسا

    Drunk on wine, he went bidding his soul farewell

    because of it, though he had never seen it squander souls.

  5. مازالَ يَجرعُ صَبرَها ويُنيلُها

    من صَبرهِ حتَّى انثَنى مَنحوسا

    He kept swallowing her bitter aloes and giving her

    some of his patience, until he turned away ill-starred.

  6. ومنازلٍ خلفَ المَها فيها المَها

    حتَّى ظننتُ تَرحُّلاً تَعريسا

    And dwellings where oryx replaced the oryx-like beauties,

    until I mistook departure for a halt to sleep.

  7. ولربَّما خلفَت مهاةٌ لأختِها

    لتردَّ مؤنسَ ربعها مَأنوسا

    And often an oryx stood in for her sister,

    to give company to him who kept her dwelling company.

  8. وغَريرةٍ صدَّت فيُبنيني بها

    طيفُ الهجوعِ علَى الصدودِ عَروسا

    And a guileless girl who turned away—yet I am wed to her by

    sleep's phantom, a bridegroom despite her rejection.

  9. حتَّى نحلت خَيالَها من عنده

    عِلمُ الكتابِ وخِلتُها بَلقيسا

    Until I ascribed her apparition to him who possessed

    knowledge of the Book, and fancied her Bilqis.

  10. صِوَرٌ عرفتُ اللَّهَ فيها قادِراً

    من نَفسِ مَعرفَتي بِها إِبليسا

    Forms in which I recognized God as powerful,

    through my very recognition of Iblis in them.

  11. وقف القلوب لَها عَلى حَسَراتِها

    وَقفاً عَلى طولِ الزمانِ حَبيسا

    He dedicated hearts to them, amid their sorrows,

    an endowment held captive for all time.

  12. إن عِشنَ كانَت في الحَياةِ مَساكناً

    أو مُتنَ كانَت في المماتِ رموسا

    If they live, those hearts are dwellings in life;

    or, if they die, those hearts are tombs in death.

  13. يا للرِّجال لعُقلةٍ في مُقلةٍ

    نَجلاءَ تتَّخذُ العجولَ جَليسا

    O men, to the rescue—for a fetter in an eye,

    wide, that takes the hasty man as its companion;

  14. ولغُصنِ بانٍ لستُ أدري من نقاً

    أم من حشاً عاينتُه مَغروسا

    and for a ben-tree branch—I cannot tell whether in a dune

    or in a breast I saw it planted;

  15. ولصَوبِ غَيثٍ ما عَلِمتُ أجادَني

    بكرُ السحابِ بوَبلِه أم عيسى

    and for a rain shower—I could not tell who drenched me:

    the clouds' firstborn with its downpour, or Isa.

  16. ذو مُقلةٍ تَستَصغِرُ الدنيا وما

    فيها فليسَ يَرى النفيسَ نَفيسا

    One whose eye deems the world small, and all

    within it, so he does not regard the precious as precious.

  17. تَلقى الندى في غَيرِه عرَضاً كما

    تلقاهُ فيه مُجَسَّداً مَحسوسا

    You find generosity in others an incidental quality, just as

    you find it in him embodied and tangible.

  18. وتراهُ يأتي منةً من مَنِّه

    متحفِّظاً مُتحرِّزاً مَحروسا

    And you see him grant a favor—against self-vaunting,

    watchful, wary, and guarded.

  19. وكذا المَعالي لا يَطولُ بِناؤها

    إلا إذا كانَ الندى تأسيسا

    So too, high honors: their edifice cannot rise high

    unless generosity is its foundation.

  20. لا تَحسَبِ الأقلامَ أقلاماً إذا

    خَدمَت سواهُ ولا الطروس طُروسا

    Do not reckon pens as pens if

    they serve anyone but him, nor written sheets as written sheets.

  21. يا مَن يُعيد نَداهُ رأي مَذمَّتي

    لِلعَيشِ بعدَ لقائِه مَعكوسا

    O one whose bounty makes my condemning view

    of life, after meeting him, turn to its opposite.

  22. كذِّب ظُنونَك في بني الدُّنيا فإن

    عَلِقَت به فاربِط عَليها كيسا

    Distrust your hopes regarding this world's sons; but if

    they attach to him, tie a purse to them.

  23. أوليتَني نِعَماً إذا أظهَرتُها

    للناسِ أظهرَ حاسِدوها بُوسا

    You bestowed favors on me that, when I show them

    to people, those who envy them show misery.

  24. مازالَ يَلحظُني الزمانُ بناظِرٍ

    من صَرفِه فيرُدُّه مَطموسا

    Time has kept watching me with an eye

    of its vicissitudes, but he turns it back blinded.

  25. يأبى دخولُكَ تحت أعباءِ العُلى

    لسواكَ أن يُدعى سِواكَ رَئيسا

    Your shouldering the burdens of eminence bars

    anyone else—anyone but you—from being called a chief.

  26. قدَمٌ سعَت لكَ فوقَ أعناقِ العِدى

    فغَدَت أناملها تُعدُّ رؤوسا

    A foot that strode for you above your foes' necks,

    so its toes came to be counted as heads.

  27. ومَناقبٌ أشرَقنَ ما بينَ الوَرى

    ونُشِرنَ حتى خِلتهُنَّ شموسا

    And virtues that shone among mankind,

    and were spread abroad, until I thought them suns.

  28. فارضَ التفَكُّرَ في عُلاك لحاسدٍ

    فالفكرُ فيها يُفسِدُ الكَيموسا

    So be content to let an envier ponder your eminence,

    for thinking of it corrupts the chyme.