Sol 6.1

  1. سلا عنك قلبي بعد ما قيل لا يسلو

    فلا طل دمعي للطول ولا الوبل

    My heart ceased pining for you, after they said it never would.

    No dew of my tears remains for the ruins, nor any downpour.

  2. وكنت بكم في سكرةٍ من جهالةٍ

    فمات الهوى من بعدكم وصحا الجهل

    Because of you I was in a drunken stupor of folly;

    after you, passion died, and folly sobered up.

  3. خلت منك أحشاء أطال ولوعها

    غصون القدود أهيف والحدق النجل

    My breast is free of you; long had its yearning been prolonged

    by slender, boughlike figures and wide eyes.

  4. ورد عليها النأي ما القرب سالب

    وأحيا زمان اهجر من قتل الوصل

    Distance restored to it what nearness had stolen,

    and the time of estrangement revived those union had killed.

  5. وما كان ظني إن يطيب لي الكرى

    ويعذب في سمعي على حبك العذل

    I never thought sleep would grow sweet to me,

    or reproach for loving you sound pleasant in my ears.

  6. رأيت قدود البان ترقص غبطة

    ورقت شفاه الماءِ واللعس الظل

    I saw the bān trees' figures dancing for joy;

    the water's lips grew tender, with shade their dusky tinge.

  7. وكانت خدود الورد تسقى بأدمعي

    فلما عداها الوبل نقطها الطل

    The roses' cheeks were once watered with my tears;

    when the downpour passed them by, the dew dotted them.

  8. مضت دولة كنتم ولاة أمورها

    فلبس لكم ظلم يخاف ولا عدل

    Gone is the reign whose affairs you once governed;

    no tyranny of yours remains to fear, nor any justice either.

  9. وأصبحت مثلوج الفؤاد وكم مضى

    ومرجله يغلي وأشجانه تغلو

    My heart has become cool; how often time passed

    with its cauldron boiling and its sorrows surging!

  10. وطلقت عقلي في هواكم جهالة

    فلما أصبت الرشد راجعني العقل

    In folly I divorced my reason for love of you;

    when I found right guidance, reason returned to me.

  11. وأعتقت قلبي وهوى شر مالك

    فعز عليكم أن يكون له ذل

    I freed my heart—passion is the worst of masters—

    and it became too proud for you to abase.

  12. أمنتكم يأساً وخفت طماعة

    لقد سرني من بعد ما ساءني قبل

    Despair made me safe from you; hope had made me afraid.

    What once distressed me has since brought me joy.

  13. وهان علي الغانيات لأجلكم

    فلا أنعمت نعم ولا أجملت جمل

    For your sake, fair women became of little account to me;

    so may Naʿm grant no favor, nor Juml be gracious.

  14. وكنت أحب الدار مأهولة الربى

    فأيسر شيء منك عندي أن تخلو

    I used to love the dwelling with its hills inhabited;

    now its being empty of you is the least of my concerns.

  15. فلا جادها جفن من المزن سافح

    ولازال عن سكانها الخوف والمحل

    May no streaming eye of rainclouds lavish rain upon it,

    nor may fear and drought ever leave its dwellers.

  16. ولست إلى كثبانها متلفتاً

    ولا ساءلاً ما يصنع البان والأَثل

    I no longer turn toward its dunes,

    nor ask how its bān and tamarisk trees fare.

  17. إذا لم تكن مرعى جيادي وأينقي

    فلا أمرع الوادي ولا نبت البقل

    If it is no pasture for my steeds and she-camels,

    may its valley never flourish, nor its herbage sprout.

  18. تنكر مني عادلاً ما عرفتم

    ولاعجبا للظلم إن خلي الخل

    What you once knew in me has changed, now that I turn away;

    nor is injustice surprising when a friend is forsaken.

  19. ولذ مذاق اليأس بعد مرارة

    نعم وحلا صبري وقد آن أن يحلو

    Despair's taste grew pleasant after bitterness;

    yes, my patience grew sweet; it was time it did.

  20. وإن فارقت مالاً وأهلاً سوابقي

    فعند المليك الظافر المال والأهل

    Though my swift steeds have left wealth and kin behind,

    with al-Malik al-Zafir are wealth and kin.

  21. حننت إليه حنة عربية

    كما أطلق المأسور طال به الكبل

    I yearned for him with an Arabian she-camel's yearning,

    like a captive released after long confinement.

  22. سقاني على ظمئ به ماءَ بشرهِ

    فما بالحش مني غليل ولا غل

    Thirsting for him, I drank the water of his cheerful welcome;

    no burning thirst or rancor remains in my breast.

  23. جزيل العطايا لا تعد هباته

    لدى اليوم حتى يحسب القطر والرمل

    Abundant in gifts: his donations cannot be counted

    in a day, until raindrops and grains of sand are counted.

  24. أبى الله أن يروى حديث سماحهِ

    فيسند ألاَّ عن أنامله النقل

    God permits no tale of his generosity to be told

    unless its transmission goes back to his fingertips.

  25. هو المرء ولته البلاد سيوفه

    فهيهات يوماً أن يكون له عزل

    He is the man whose swords appointed him over the lands;

    far be the day when he could be deposed.

  26. وخف إلى العلياء يحمل ثقلها

    وخير صفات المجد أن يحمل الثقل

    He hastened toward exalted rank, bearing its weight;

    the finest mark of glory is to bear its burdens.

  27. سجية عزمٍ لايطور به الونى

    وسورة جد لا يمازجها هزل

    A nature of resolve that lassitude never approaches,

    and an ardor of earnest purpose untouched by jest.

  28. هو الباسل المجري دماءَ عداته

    وتلك دماء لا حرام ولا بسل

    He is the warrior who makes his enemies' blood flow,

    blood neither inviolable nor forbidden to shed.

  29. غداة النجيع النقس والصحف الفلا

    ومملي الحمام النصر والكاتب النصل

    On the day when blood was ink and the open plains were pages,

    victory dictated death, and the blade was the scribe.

  30. وحيث البروق البيض الركض رعدها

    وصفر البنود السحب والوابل النبل

    Where white blades were lightning, with galloping for their thunder,

    yellow standards were clouds, and arrows the pouring rain.

  31. سطور بأقلام الأَسنة نقطها

    وبالمرهفات القاضبات ها شكل

    Lines whose dots were set with pens of spearheads,

    and whose vowel-marks were made with keen, cleaving swords.

  32. ولم يغنهم من خلب البيض مخلب

    ولا صال من خطي سمرهم صل

    No talon saved them from the white blades' rending,

    nor did any viper strike from their dusky Khatt spears.

  33. وقاد إليهم كل جيش زهاؤه

    إذا حل ظهر الأرض أعجزها الحمل

    He led against them every army whose numbers,

    when it settled on earth's back, were too heavy for her to bear.

  34. لوجه الضحى جنح العجاج براقع

    به وبعين الشمس عثيره كحل

    Wings of dust were veils across the face of morning

    within it, while its dust was kohl in the sun's eye.

  35. أيا تابعاً إلا أباه وجده

    كذلك ليث الغاب يشبهه الشبل

    O follower of none but his father and grandfather—

    thus does the lion's cub resemble the lion of the woods.

  36. أخاف العدى حتى لو أن سحابة

    أظلت لخلوا قطرها انه نبل

    He so terrified his foes that, if a cloud

    shaded them, they would think its rain was arrows.

  37. وآمن أهل الأرض حتى قلوبهم

    لفرط سرور ليس يدخلها ثكل

    He made earth's people so secure that their hearts,

    from overflowing joy, admit no grief of bereavement.

  38. وحل من العلياء دار إقامةٍ

    مكرمةٍ في كفه العقد والحل

    He took up an enduring home on the heights,

    an honored station, with binding and loosing in his hand.

  39. هنالك تم الأمر والتام أهوى

    وزالت دواعي البين واجتمع الشمل

    There the affair was settled, and desires came together;

    the causes of separation vanished, and the scattered were united.

  40. فكم سد من ثغر وشيدت به على

    وشد به ركن وصد به جهل

    How many a frontier he fortified, how many heights were built through him,

    how many a pillar strengthened, how much folly checked!

  41. خيال الأماني لا يطوف بقلبه

    وحب الأماني شغل من لا له شغل

    The phantom of idle wishes never circles his heart;

    love of idle wishes occupies those with no occupation.

  42. من القوم بساَّمون واليوم عابس

    وليدهم في كل حادثةٍ كهل

    He comes of people who smile while the day scowls,

    whose infant is an elder in every crisis.

  43. هو المجد يحكي آخر منه أولاً

    ويشرف قدر الفرع ما شرف الأصل

    Such is glory: its latest bearer mirrors its first,

    and the branch's rank is noble as long as the root is noble.

  44. هم المحسنون القول والفعل بعده

    ولا خير في قول يخالفه الفعل

    They make their speech good, and their deeds after it;

    there is no good in words that deeds contradict.

  45. هم أنجم العلياء في كل عالم

    فمن سابق يمضى ومن لاحق يتلو

    They are the stars of exalted rank in every age:

    one predecessor passes on, and a successor follows.

  46. هم الواهبون المقرات خوارجاً

    عن الظل سبقاً فهي ليس ها ظل

    They give away prized steeds, racing out

    past their own shadows, so swiftly that they have none.

  47. مضمرة من كل مأمونةِ السرى

    على مثلها من لاحق يدرك البتل

    Lean steeds, each trusted for journeys by night;

    on their like, a pursuer overtakes the fugitive [reading uncertain].

  48. يقل لها أن الثريا لجامها

    وأن هلال الداجيات لها نعل

    Even the Pleiades as their bridles would be too little for them,

    and the crescent of dark nights as their horseshoe.

  49. مليون بالإحسان لا لمن والأذى

    ولا الوعد معروف لديهم ولا المطل

    Abounding in kindness, not reproach and injury,

    they know neither mere promises nor delay.

  50. إذا صمتوا فهي الحصافة والنهى

    وان نطقوا فهي الفصاحة والفصل

    When they are silent, it is discretion and wisdom;

    when they speak, it is eloquence and decisive judgment.

  51. فيا من نداه الغمر في كل أزمةٍ

    هو المثل الأعلى الذي ما له مثل

    O you whose overflowing bounty, in every crisis,

    is the highest exemplar, with nothing to equal it:

  52. أيحسن بي أني بغيرك لاحق

    ولا وطن لي في ذراه ولا رحل

    would it become me to attach myself to another,

    with neither homeland nor camp for me in his shelter?

  53. فأين الحفاظ المر يحلو مآله

    وأين الإباء الصعب والنائل السهل

    Where, then, is bitter loyalty, whose outcome is sweet?

    Where is unbending pride, and freely flowing bounty?

  54. وما أنت إلاَّ الغيث عم وليه

    وذا منزلي من وسم وسميه غفل

    You are the rain whose following showers reach all;

    yet here is my dwelling, unmarked by its first autumn showers.

  55. بوارق جود أخصبت غير شائم

    فما بال مثلي شائماً حظه المحل

    Lightning flashes of bounty have enriched those who never watched for rain;

    why, then, is drought the lot of one like me who watches?

  56. لعلك عن قرب ترق لآمل

    قصارى أمانيه المودة لا البذل

    Perhaps soon you will soften toward one who hopes,

    whose utmost wish is affection, not gifts.

  57. ولو نصرتني منك أذن سمعته

    لأفصح فضل كل أفعاله فضل

    If an ear of yours that heard it would support me,

    merit would speak out, all its deeds being merit.

  58. إذا ما تلا آياته منك مبلغاً

    رسول الرضى صلى على ربها الحفل

    When its verses are recited, conveyed on your behalf,

    by a messenger of favor, the gathering blesses their master.

  59. مدائح ترويها الغياهب والضحى

    ويحفظها حتى الركائب والسبل

    Praises recounted by night's darkness and morning,

    and remembered even by riding camels and roads.

  60. ويثني على عقل نماها جلاله

    وحسك من شيء يجل به العقل

    His majesty praises the mind that nurtured them;

    enough is a thing that brings the mind such honor.

  61. وما خير ملك فارقته ملوكه

    وتيجانها من مثل جوهرها عطل

    What good is a kingdom abandoned by its kings,

    while their crowns lack jewels such as these?

  62. أترغب طوعاً عن جواد فضائل

    به قصبات السبق تحرز والخصل

    Would you willingly turn away from a steed of virtues,

    by which the prize-reeds of precedence and winning stakes are secured?

  63. وتحسب كل النظم شعراً بمثله

    تحلى زمان بعد لم يخل أو يحل

    Do you deem all verse poetry like that

    which adorns an age not yet come or gone?

  64. إذا افعوعم الوادي فلا سال مذنب

    وإن صرصر البازي فلا نطق النمل

    When the valley brims, let no little watercourse run;

    when the falcon cries, let no ants utter a sound.

  65. وإني جدير بالكرامة منكم

    ولولا محاج النحل ما كرم النحل

    I am surely worthy of honor from you;

    but for their honeyed spittle, bees would not be prized.

  66. إذا لم يفق قدر الفضيلة فالغنى

    هو الفقر حقاَّ والحياة هي القتل

    If virtue's worth does not rank highest, then wealth

    is truly poverty, and life is death itself.

  67. وما كل سف في الكريهة قاطع

    إذا لم يصله السعد والساعد العمل

    Not every sword is cutting in adversity,

    unless fortune and a tireless arm lend it strength.

  68. ولستُ أميرَ النظم والنثر إنَ حدتْ

    إلى غيركَ الوجناءُ أو وَصلَ الحبل

    I am no prince of verse and prose if she turns

    toward another—the sturdy she-camel—or a bond is joined elsewhere;

  69. وإن جُليتْ إلاَّ عليك عرائسٌ

    أَبى نحو زاهِ أن يدلّلها الدَلُّ

    or if brides are unveiled for anyone but you,

    whose coy grace refuses to court a conceited suitor.

  70. إذا الحسنُ لم يبلغ بها حظَّ مثلها

    فلا خصرها ظامِ ولا ردفُها عَبل

    If beauty does not win them the portion their like deserves,

    may their waists not be parched-slender, nor their hips full;

  71. ولا نطقت منها الوشاحان أن عدا

    لها ناحلٌ خطباً لا صَمَتَ الحِجل

    nor may their twin sashes speak, if there hastens

    a gift-bearing suitor to them; nor may their anklets fall silent.

  72. وربّ جوادٍ طال فيها هياُمهُ

    فكان بهِ بَرْح الأسى ولك الوصل

    Many a generous man has long been mad with love for them;

    bitter grief was his, while union was yours.

  73. بغاداتها الحسني طويل حبالهِ

    وغير ملومٍ أن يطول بها الحبل

    Long are his courting-ropes for their fair maidens,

    and he is blameless if the rope stretches long for them.

  74. كفاها جلالاً أن فكري ولُّبها

    وأنك يا نجلَ الملوك لها بَعل

    Their honor is enough: my thought is their guardian,

    and you, O scion of kings, are their husband.

  75. فما كان مثلي اُبنُ الوليد وانما

    تقدَّم ميلادٌ ولا مثلَك الفَضل

    Ibn al-Walid was never my equal; his only advantage

    was earlier birth, nor was al-Fadl your equal.

  76. حببتكمُ حُبَّ الشبيبة والغنى

    وعصرُ الصّبى قدماً فهيهاتَ أن أسلو

    I have loved you as one loves youth and wealth,

    and the bygone days of childhood—far be it that I forget!

  77. فدُمتم ولا مُدَّت إلى غيركم يَدٌ

    ولا وقفت إلاَّ بأبوابكم رِجل

    May you endure; may no hand be stretched to another,

    nor any foot stop save at your gates.