Sol 6.1

  1. أَراهُ الهَوى ما لَم يَكُن في حِسابِهِ

    فَأَقلَقَهُ عَن صَبرِهِ وَاِحتِسابِهِ

    Love showed him what he had never reckoned with,

    and dislodged him from his patience and pious resignation.

  2. وَلا تُؤلِماهُ بِالمَلامِ فَإِنَّهُ

    يُثيرُ جَواهُ وَاِترُكاهُ لِما بِهِ

    Do not hurt him with reproach, you two, for it

    stirs his burning grief; leave him to what ails him.

  3. أُعيذُكما مِن وَجدِهِ وَغَرامِهِ

    وَلوعاتِهِ يَومَ النَوى واِكتِئابِهِ

    I seek protection for you both from his yearning and consuming passion,

    his pangs on the day of parting, and his dejection.

  4. فَهل لَكُما أَن تَذهَبا لا شُفِيتُما

    لِشأنِكُما أَو تُقصِرا عَن عِتابِهِ

    Will you both go—may you never be healed!—

    about your business, or cease reproaching him?

  5. تُريدانِ مِنهُ سَلوَةً وَتَناسِياً

    وَصَبراً لَقَد بالغتُما في عَذابِهِ

    You demand of him solace and deliberate forgetting,

    and patience—you have gone too far in tormenting him.

  6. وَأَنّى لَهُ الصَبرُ الَّذي تَطلُبانِهِ

    وَقد ضاعَ يَومَ الحَشرِ مِفتاحُ بابِهِ

    And how can he have the patience you both demand,

    when the key to its door was lost on the day of gathering?

  7. سَلا عَنهُ غِزلانُ القُرَيَّةِ أَيُّها

    غَدا بِبقايا لُبِّهِ في نهابِهِ

    Ask the gazelles of al-Qurayya about him: which of them

    went off with the remnants of his mind as its plunder?

  8. وَقولا لَهُ يا أَحسَنَ السِربِ إِنَّهُ

    غَريبٌ فَهل مِن رِقَّةٍ لِاِغتِرابِهِ

    And tell him: O fairest of the herd, he

    is a stranger; is there any tenderness for his exile?

  9. وَعَلَّ نَوالاً مِنهُ يَحمي حشاشَةً

    يُزَكّي بِهِ عَن حُسنِهِ وَشَبابِهِ

    And perhaps a favor from him will preserve a spark of life,

    with which he pays the alms due on his beauty and youth.

  10. فَإِنَّ زَكاةَ الحُسنِ تَقبيلُ ثَغرِهِ

    وَرَشفُ ثَناياهُ وَبَردِ رُضابِهِ

    For beauty's alms are kissing his lips

    and sipping at his front teeth and his cool saliva,

  11. حَلالاً لِأَبناءِ السَبيلِ مُخَصَّصٌ

    لَهُم دونَ مَن قَد نَصَّهُ في كِتابِهِ

    lawful for wayfarers, reserved

    for them, excluding those He has named in His Book.

  12. رَعى اللَّهُ أَيّامَ الشَّبابِ فَإِنَّها

    هيَ العُمرُ يا طُولَ الأَسى بِاِستِلابِهِ

    May God cherish the days of youth, for they

    are life itself—how long the grief at being robbed of it!

  13. وَجادَ ديارَ الحَيِّ مِن أَيمَنِ الحَسا

    مُرِبٌّ يُواري الهُضبَ داني رَبابِهِ

    And may the clan's abodes to the right of al-Hasa be drenched

    by a lingering cloud whose low banks veil the hills,

  14. كَجودِ اِبنِ مَسعود الفَتى الواهِبِ اللُّها

    وَمُخجِلِ مُنهَلِّ الحَيا في اِنسِكابِهِ

    like the bounty of Ibn Mas'ud, the gift-bestowing youth,

    who shames the gushing rain as it pours.

  15. همام مِن الوَسميِّ أَغزَرُ ديمَةً

    إِذا لَجَّ في تَهتانِهِ وَاِنصِبابِهِ

    A high-hearted lord, more copious in steady rain than the first autumn showers,

    when they persist in their downpour and streaming.

  16. وَأَمضى مِن الصِّمصامِ عَزماً إِذا غَدا

    يَمُجُّ دَماً مِن صَدرِهِ وَذُبابِهِ

    And keener in resolve than a sharp sword when it goes forth,

    spewing blood from its breast and point.

  17. وَأَضبطُ جَأَشاً يَومَ يُثني حِفاظَها

    بَنو الحَربِ مُبدي لبدِهِ عِندَ بابِهِ

    And steadier of heart, when zeal for its defense is redoubled

    by the sons of war, baring his mane at his door.

  18. وَأَحلَمُ مِن قَيسٍ إِذا الحِلمُ لَم يُشِن

    عُلاهُ وَلَم يُغرِ العِدا بِجنابِهِ

    And more forbearing than Qays, when forbearance does not tarnish

    his eminence or embolden his foes against his domain.

  19. وَأَبلغُ مِن قسٍّ وَسَحبانِ وائِلٍ

    إِذا الشَّرُّ أَبدى كَالِحاً جُلَّ نابِهِ

    And more eloquent than Quss and Sahban of Wa'il,

    when evil, snarling, bares most of its fang.

  20. طَويلُ المطا عِندَ النِزالِ كَأَنَّما

    دَمُ الفارِسِ المَرهوب أَحلى شَرابِهِ

    Long of back in combat, as though

    the dreaded horseman's blood were his sweetest drink.

  21. إِذا مَلكٌ راحَ الحطامَ اِكتِسابُهُ

    فَإِنَّ العُلا وَالمَجدَ حَبلُ اِكتِسابِهِ

    When a king's gains turn out to be worldly dross,

    eminence and glory are the cord of his own gain.

  22. بَصيرٌ بِمَعنى كُلِّ أَمرٍ كَأَنَّما

    تُريهِ خَطاهُ عَينهُ مِن صَوابِهِ

    Keenly aware of the meaning of every affair, as though

    his eye showed him his error distinct from his right judgment.

  23. ضروبٌ لِهاماتِ الكُماةِ إِذا اِستَوَت

    مِنَ الرُّعبِ آسادُ الشَرى مِن كِلابِهِ

    A mighty striker at champions' heads, when

    through terror the lions of al-Shara rank among his dogs.

  24. يَهُزُّ حُساماً صارِماً لَو رَمى بِهِ

    شَماريخَ رَضوى لاِنزَوى عَن هِضابِهِ

    He brandishes a keen-edged sword; were he to strike with it

    Radwa's peaks, Radwa would recoil from its own hills.

  25. تَضِجُّ حَماليقُ العِدا مِن طعانِهِ

    وَتَبكي دَماً هاماتها مِن ضِرابِهِ

    His enemies' inner eyelids cry out at his thrusts,

    and their heads weep blood beneath his blows.

  26. إِلى الصِّيدِ مِن نَسلِ العُيونيِّ يَنتَمي

    وَأَيُّ نِصابٍ في الوَرى كَنِصابِهِ

    He traces his descent to the proud lords of al-'Uyuni's stock,

    and what lineage among mankind is like his?

  27. إِذا ذُكرَت آباؤُهُ يَومَ مَفخَرٍ

    تَضاءا لِمَن يَبغي العُلا بِاِنتِسابِهِ

    When his forefathers are named on a day of boasting,

    he shines for whoever seeks eminence through his lineage.

  28. لَعَمري لَقَد أَحيا مَكارِمَ قَومِهِ

    فَحَسبُ معدٍّ سَعيُهُ وَكَفى بِهِ

    By my life, he has indeed revived his people's noble deeds;

    his striving suffices Ma'add, and he is enough.

  29. تَقَبَّلَ فَضلاً ذا العُلا وَمُحَمَّداً

    فَما لَهُما مِن بَعدِهِ مِن مُشابِهِ

    He has received Fadl the exalted and Muhammad;

    after him, those two have no peer.

  30. رَأَيتُ لَهُ فيما رَأيتُ خَلائِفاً

    أَلَذَّ وَأَحلى مِن زلالِ ثغابِهِ

    I have seen successors of his, among all I have seen,

    more delightful and sweeter than his rock pools' clear waters.

  31. فَتىً مالُهُ لِلمُعتَفينَ وَجاهُهُ

    لِمُستَضعَفٍ لا يرعَوي لِخطابِهِ

    A youth whose wealth is for petitioners, and whose influence

    serves the downtrodden whose plea goes unheeded.

  32. نَماهُ إِلى العَلياءِ فَضلٌ وَعَبدَلٌ

    وَلو أَدركاهُ اليَومَ لاِفتَخَرا بِهِ

    Fadl and 'Abdal raised him to the heights;

    had they lived to see him today, they would have taken pride in him.

  33. وَخَيرُ عَقيلٍ كُلِّها حينَ يَنتَمي

    خُؤولَتُه بِالصِدقِ لا بِكذابِهِ

    And the finest of all 'Aqil, when he traces his descent,

    are his maternal kin—in truth, not through any lie of his.

  34. وَلا خالَ إِلّا دونَ مَن كانَ جَدُّهُ

    سِنانٌ مَحَلُّ الضَيفِ رَحبُ جَنابِهِ

    Every maternal uncle falls below him whose grandfather

    was Sinan, a home for guests, spacious in his domain.

  35. أَقولُ لِعيسى وَالرِّياشِيُّ مُعرِضٌ

    وَتِلكَ الرَوابي عُوَّمٌ في سَرابِهِ

    I say to 'Isa, while al-Riyashi shows its flank,

    and those hills float in its mirage:

  36. إِذا حسَنٌ بَلَّغتِنِيهِ فَأَبشري

    بِمَرعىً يَفوقُ المسكَ رَيّا تُرابِهِ

    If you bring me to Hasan, then rejoice

    in a pasture whose soil's fragrance surpasses musk.

  37. نَظمتُ لَهُ مَدحي وَما جِئتُ طالِباً

    نَداهُ وَلا مُستَمطِراً مِن سَحابِهِ

    I composed my praise for him; I did not come seeking

    his bounty, nor asking rain from his cloud.

  38. وَلَكِن هَزّتني لِذاكَ اِرتِياحَةٌ

    وَعُجتُ لِمَحمودِ الثَنا مُستَطابِهِ

    But a thrill of delight stirred me to it,

    and I turned aside to praise that is commendable and sweet.

  39. عَلى أَنَّهُ البَحرُ الَّذي لا مَذاقُهُ

    أُجاجٌ وَلا يَجري القَذا مِن عُبابِهِ

    Yet he is the sea whose taste is not

    briny, nor does debris flow from its billows.

  40. لِأَنَّ عُبابي دَفقَةٌ مِن عُبابِهِ

    وَهَضبَةُ عِزّي تَلعَةٌ مِن هِضابِهِ

    For my surge is but a gush from his surge,

    and the hill of my might is a small rise among his hills.

  41. وَآباؤُهُ الغُرُّ الكِرامُ أُبُوَّتي

    وَآسادُ غابي مِن رَآبيلِ غابِهِ

    And his illustrious, noble forefathers are my forefathers,

    and the lions of my forest spring from the mighty lions of his.

  42. وَلَيسَ يَليقُ المَدحُ إِلّا بِسَيِّدٍ

    مُهينٍ لِغالي مالِهِ مِن طِلابِهِ

    And praise befits none but a lord

    who holds his costliest wealth cheap for those who seek it.

  43. إِذا قالَ فيهِ مادِحٌ قالَ سامِعٌ

    صَدَقتَ وَلَم يَصدُق فَتىً بِاِغتِيابِهِ

    When a panegyrist speaks of him, a listener says:

    You speak truly—and no man has spoken truth in backbiting him.

  44. كَمِثلِ اِبنِ مَسعودٍ وَهَيهاتَ مِثلُهُ

    إِلى حَيثُ يَدعو الخَلقَ داعي حِسابِهِ

    Like Ibn Mas'ud—far beyond reach is his equal,

    till the herald of His reckoning summons all creation.

  45. فَحازَ الَّذي يَرجو جَميلَ ثَوابِهِ

    وَيَخشى مَدى الدُنيا أَليمَ عِقابِهِ

    So victorious is he who hopes for His fair reward

    and fears His painful punishment throughout earthly life.

  46. فَلا زالَتِ الأَعداءُ قَتلى سُيوفِهِ

    وَأَقلامِهِ في أَرضِها وَحِرابِهِ

    So may his enemies ever be slain by his swords,

    his pens and spears, upon their own land.

  47. وَعَزَّ بهِ الدّينُ الحَنيفُ وَحَلَّلَت

    مَحارِمُ دارِ الشِركِ حُمرُ قِبابِهِ

    And may the upright faith grow mighty through him, and may

    his red pavilions make lawful the inviolable precincts of polytheism's abode.

  48. وَلا بَرِحَت عَينُ الإِلَهِ تَحُوطُهُ

    وَتَحفَظُهُ في مُكثِهِ وَذَهابِهِ

    And may the eye of God never cease to watch over him

    and guard him in his staying and his going.