Sol 6.1

  1. ألمّت سليمى والنسيمُ عليلُ

    فخيل لي أن الشمال شمولُ

    Sulayma came by, and the breeze was languid.

    It seemed to me the north wind was wine.

  2. كأنَّ الخزامى صفقت منهُ قرقفاً

    فالمسكر أعناق المطيّ تميل

    As though the lavender had decanted strong wine from it,

    the intoxicant made the riding-camels' necks sway.

  3. تلاقت جفون ما تلاقى قصيرةٌ

    وليل مشوقٍ بالغرام طويل

    The meetings of eyelids, whenever they meet, are brief,

    and a yearning lover's night of passion is long.

  4. شديد إلى باب البريد حنينه

    وليس إلى باب البريد سبيل

    Intense is his longing for Bab al-Barid,

    but there is no way to Bab al-Barid.

  5. منازل أما ماؤها فمصفقٌ

    زلال وأما ظلها فظليل

    Dwellings whose water is filtered,

    clear and sweet, and whose shade is deep.

  6. تجلت وما قولي نحلت تعجباً

    هل الحب إلاّ لوعة ونحول

    She appeared in radiance; my saying 'I have wasted away' is no marvel:

    is love anything but anguish and wasting away?

  7. وبي فاترُ الألحاظ نشوى جفونه

    أحمُّ سقيم المقتلين كحيل

    I suffer for one with languid glances, whose eyelids are drunk,

    dark, with languid, deadly eyes, kohl-darkened.

  8. تمنيتهُ والبعد بيني وبينهُ

    وللعيس وخد في الفلا وزميل

    I longed for him, with distance between us,

    while the pale camels sped and trotted across the wilderness.

  9. فأخفيت قولاً كاد يبدو لحاسد

    فيا ليت أنّا نلتقي فأقول

    I hid words that almost escaped before an envier:

    would that we might meet, and I could speak!

  10. أسارت بنا عنه الحمول ولم أمت

    به كمداً إني إذاً لحمول

    Have the litters borne us away from him, yet I not died

    of grief for him? Then I am enduring indeed!

  11. فجسمي على الخصر السقيم سقامه

    ودمعي على الخد الأسيل يسيل

    My body's ailment is for that ailing waist,

    and my tears stream over my smooth cheek.

  12. ومن عجب إني أروم بضمّه

    شفاء نحولي منه وهو نحيل

    Strange that by embracing him I seek

    from him a cure for my wasting, though he too is slender.

  13. بيلتُ بعطف لا يميل لعاشق

    كئيب وعطف كالقضيب يميل

    I am afflicted with a heart unbending toward a lover

    in grief, and a waist that bends like a bough.

  14. فوجدي وسلواني مقيم وظاعن

    وحزني ولهوي جائد وبخيل

    My passion stays; my consolation departs;

    my sorrow is lavish, my pleasure miserly.

  15. ولم أر مثل العام يقصر إن دنا

    ولا اليوم ينأى شخصه فيطول

    I have never seen a year so short when he draws near,

    nor a day so long when his person draws away.

  16. ولا مثل دمع العين أمّا بوجنتي

    فماءٌ وأمّا في الحشى فغليل

    Nor tears like the eye's: upon my cheek

    they are water, but within my breast, burning thirst.

  17. وما كان ظنّي أن قلبي قلّبٌ

    ولا إن حالي في هواه يحول

    I never thought my heart would be fickle,

    nor that my condition in loving him would change.

  18. فلي وله حزنٌ وحسنٌ ممنّع

    ومنه ومنّي قاتل وقتيل

    Mine is sorrow; his, an inaccessible beauty;

    he is the slayer, and I the slain.

  19. إليكَ أمير المؤمنين رحلتها

    نواحلَ في مثل النطاق تجول

    To you, Commander of the Faithful, I saddled them,

    gaunt, moving within what seems a girdle.

  20. تطلّبينَ ورد الجود حتى أصبنهُ

    وقد ذاب منها كاهلٌ وتليل

    Seeking bounty's watering place until they found it,

    their withers and necks had wasted away.

  21. هنالك لا البيض الرقاق كليلة

    ولا أنجمُ السمرِ الدقاقِ أفول

    There the slender white blades are not blunted,

    nor do the stars of slender brown lances set.

  22. بحيث منيعات العطايا مباحة

    وحيث حزون المكرمات سهول

    There, unattainable gifts lie open,

    and the rough ways of noble deeds are smooth.

  23. إذا أوحشت خوف الأعادي

    دعتك فلبتها قناً ونصول

    When dread of enemies brings desolation,

    she calls to you, and lances and blades answer her:

  24. مواضٍ تخوض النقع والهامَ والطُّلا

    وهنَّ صقالٌ مت بهنَّ فلول

    keen weapons plunging through dust, heads, and necks,

    polished, with apparently no nicks upon them—the wording is uncertain.

  25. وما هالني لما انتجعتك سبسبٌ

    ودوّية لا تمتطي وهجول

    No vast waste alarmed me when I sought your bounty,

    nor an untraversed desert, nor a trackless wilderness.

  26. تهبُّ بها الأرواح وهي مريضة

    ويغمد سيف البرق وهو كليل

    There the winds blow sickly,

    and lightning's sword is sheathed, its edge dulled.

  27. وليل خلعت الجنح ثم لبستهُ

    وقد جرُّ منهُ في البلاد ذيول

    And a night: I cast off its darkness, then wore it again,

    while its trailing skirts spread across the lands.

  28. تدرّعتهُ في عنفوان شبابه

    إلى أن علاه للمشيب نصول

    I donned it as armor in the prime of its youth,

    until the bleaching of gray age came over it.

  29. ونامت دراريه وطرفي ساهر

    رجاءَ كرى عذب إليه يؤول

    Its brilliant stars slept while my eyes kept vigil,

    hoping for sweet slumber into which my gaze might fall.

  30. لزدتُ به عاماً تعفّى جماله

    وما يتساوى عالمُ وجهول

    I would have added through it a year whose beauty had faded;

    the knowing and the ignorant are not alike.

  31. فلم يصفُ لي إلاّ عليك مديحه

    ولم يصف لي إلاّ إليك رحيل

    Its praise rang true to me only when bestowed upon you,

    and no journey pleased me unless it led to you.

  32. بوجناءَ يكبو لاحقٌ عن لحاقها

    ويقصر عنه شدقمٌ وجديل

    On a sturdy-cheeked camel that Lahiq stumbles in pursuing,

    while Shadqam and Jadil fall short of him.

  33. فلم يغنها عن ربع بغداد مربع

    ولم يثنها ماءٌ به ونزيل

    No pasture could replace Baghdad's dwelling place for her,

    nor did water there, or a fellow traveler, turn her aside.

  34. وكل مكان أنت ساقي دهاسه

    خصيبٌ له ريفٌ يزار ونيل

    Every place whose soft sands you water

    is fertile, with countryside to visit and bounty to gain.

  35. فمن مبلغ الحسّاد عني ألوكة

    بأنَّ بياض الصبح ليس يحول

    Who will carry a message from me to the envious,

    that the whiteness of dawn does not change?

  36. وإني عانٍ كنت لا يستميلني

    دنيٌّ ولا يسمو إليَّ مثيل

    Even as a captive, I was never swayed

    by a base man; nor could an equal rise to my height.

  37. إذا ما العيون الشّوس أخفى مكانتي

    عليها حقودٌ في الحثى وذحول

    When my rank was hidden from hostile eyes

    by rancor in the dust—the wording is uncertain—and old feuds,

  38. أزلتُ عماها من سناني بأثمدٍ

    له أكعبَ اللَّدنِ المثقَّفِ ميل

    I cured their blindness with antimony from my spearpoint;

    the joints of a supple, straightened shaft served as its kohl-stick.

  39. أبعدَ مقامي ذا مقام أنالهُ

    يقصر عنهُ لو بغاه ذهول

    After this station of mine, is there another I might attain,

    which oblivion itself would fail to reach, were it to seek it?

  40. وذادك عني في الخلائق موقف

    مخوفٍ كحدّ المشرفيّ زليل

    A station among men keeps you away from me,

    fearsome and slippery as a Mashrafi sword's edge.

  41. ولا تنكرنْ إني أمامٌ جلالهُ

    لعمر القوافي إنّهُ ليهول

    Do not deny that I am a leader whose majesty—

    by the life of rhyme—truly inspires awe.

  42. لقد خلف المبعوثَ خيرُ خليفة

    قؤولٌ لما يرضي الإله فعول

    The finest caliph has succeeded the Messenger,

    speaking and doing much of what pleases God.

  43. تذلُّ له الأيام وهي عزيزة

    وتصغر حيث الخطب وهو جليل

    Days yield to him, though mighty themselves,

    and calamity, though mighty, dwindles in his presence.

  44. إذا سار سدَّ الأفق والأفق واسع

    رماحٌ وبيضٌ عصبةٌ وخيول

    When he marches, the horizon, vast though it is, is filled

    by lances, white swords, a warband, and horses.

  45. تجود لها صمُّ الصخور مخافةً

    وشمُّ الجبال الراسيات تزول

    Hard rocks give freely to them out of fear,

    and lofty, firmly rooted mountains move away.

  46. صقور جيادٍ والمواضي مخالبٌ

    لها وأسودٌ والذوابل غيل

    Falcons on noble steeds, keen swords their talons,

    and lions, the slender spears their thickets.

  47. كبت دونه الأبصار وهي حسيرة

    وخابت نفوس عندها وعقول

    Eyes falter before him, exhausted,

    and souls and minds are thwarted there.

  48. ومن كان نور الوحي فوق جبينه

    ثنى كلّ طرف عنه وهو كليل

    He whose brow bears the light of revelation

    turns every gaze back from him, its vision blunted.

  49. فروع إلى العبَّاس تنمى أصولها

    وما خير فرع أسلمته أصول

    Branches whose roots trace back to al-Abbas—

    what good is a branch abandoned by its roots?

  50. هو النسبُ الزاكي أناف بفضله

    وصيٌّ سبق العلا ورسول

    It is the pure lineage, through whose excellence rose

    a legatee who surpassed the heights, and a Messenger.

  51. ترى اليوم طلقاً حين يذكر جعفر

    ويسمى إليه حمزةٌ وعقيل

    You see the day smiling when Ja'far is mentioned,

    and Hamza and Aqil are named beside him.

  52. صفا صفو ماءِ المزن يبسم دجنهُ

    وقد قبّلتهُ شمالٌ وقبول

    Clear as the clearest rainwater, his dark cloud smiles,

    kissed by the north wind and the east wind.

  53. له شرف البيت العتيق وزمزمٍ

    وما ساقهُ حادٍ إليه عجول

    His is the honor of the Ancient House and Zamzam,

    and of whatever a hurrying camel-driver has driven there,

  54. وفضل الذبيحين الذي ما لفظه

    نظيرٌ وهل للنيّرين عديل

    and the merit of the two destined for sacrifice, whose description has

    no peer—have those two luminaries any equal?

  55. هم القوم أمّا عرضهم فهو وافر

    مصون وأمّا وفرهم فهزيل

    They are the people whose honor is abundant,

    safeguarded, while their wealth is meager.

  56. رموا جمرات الجاهليّة بالقنا

    خفافاً ولكنزْ وقعهنَّ ثقيل

    They struck paganism's embers with lances,

    light, yet heavy in their impact.

  57. وكلّ طويل باعه وقناته

    وما كلُّ باع للقناةِ طويل

    Each had a long reach and a long lance,

    but not every arm has a long reach with a lance.

  58. كبدرٍ ويا طوبى لبدرٍ وأختها

    ويومُ حنينٍ والكماةُ تصول

    As at Badr—blessed be Badr and its sister—

    and the day of Hunayn, when armored champions charged.

  59. ولولا نجوم السمهرية أحجمت

    حماةُ وغى ما شأنهنَّ نكول

    Without the stars of the Samhari spears, there would have recoiled

    war's defenders, whose way is not retreat.

  60. وكان صهيل الخيل شدواً فلم يزل

    بها الضرب حتى عاد وهو عويل

    The horses' neighing was song, but the blows never ceased

    upon them, until it became a wail.

  61. بهم قرَّ حكم الله في مستقرّهِ

    وآض عزيز الشرك وهو ذليل

    Through them God's rule settled in its appointed place,

    and polytheism's mighty one became abased.

  62. فيا لك يوماً صافياً كان غيمه

    عجاجَ المذاكي والدماءُ وحول

    What a clear day it was! Its clouds were

    the dust of full-grown steeds, and blood was mire.

  63. لقد كان يوم الفتح للدهر غرَّةً

    ومنه شياةٌ جمَّة وحجول

    The day of conquest was a white blaze on time's brow;

    from it came many markings and white stockings.

  64. حلفتُ بها هوجاً قواطع للمدى

    تجاوبُ أنساعٌ لها وحمول

    I swore by those headstrong camels, cutting through the distances,

    their girth-straps and litters answering one another,

  65. وما حملت من كلّ أشعث وجهه

    إلى الله يرجو أن يكون قبول

    and by all they carried: each disheveled man whose face

    was turned toward God, hoping for acceptance,

  66. وبالمشعرات القود تهدى إلى منى

    مقلّدة حيثُ الدماء همول

    and by the marked, long-necked offerings led to Mina,

    garlanded, where the blood streams down:

  67. لقد شدَّ حبل المجد بعد انفصامه

    وأبرم حبل الله وهو سحيل

    he bound glory's cord after it had snapped,

    and twisted God's cord tight when it was a single strand.

  68. وأضرم نار المشرفية بعدما

    علاها خمود دائم وخمول

    He rekindled the Mashrafi blades' fire after

    unceasing dormancy and neglect had settled over it.

  69. جدير بميراث النبوّة قائم

    هو السيف ماضي الشفرتين صقيل

    A steadfast guardian, worthy of prophecy's inheritance,

    he is the sword, polished and keen on both edges.

  70. كفيل بردّ الحق من مستعيره

    له الله في كلّ الأمور كفيل

    He undertakes to reclaim the right from its borrower;

    God is his guarantor in every affair.

  71. وقد يتداعى الظلم بعد انتشاره

    ويعظم أمر الحقّ وهو ضئيل

    Oppression may crumble after spreading far,

    and the cause of right grow mighty, though once slight.

  72. محبُّ الندى يمضي على غلوائه

    ولو لجَّ فيه لائم وعذول

    A lover of generosity, he persists in his ardor,

    even if critic and reprover persist against him.

  73. عزيز التشكي لا يخاف ملالةً

    وربَّ محب عاد وهو ملول

    Rarely complaining, he fears no weariness,

    though many a lover has turned weary.

  74. أناصرَ دين الله بالسيف آخراً

    وناصرهُ كالأوّلينَ قليل

    O champion of God's religion with the sword in these latter days,

    when champions like those of old are few!

  75. أعدتَ شعاب الدين وهي أواهل

    كأن لم يكن دهرٌ وهنَّ طلول

    You restored religion's ravines, now full of inhabitants,

    as though no age had passed while they lay ruined.

  76. علاه على السبع الشداد محلّه

    ومجدٌ قديم لا يرام أثيل

    His glory has its station above the seven mighty heavens,

    an ancient, deep-rooted majesty beyond assault.

  77. ففي كلّ يوم للملائكة العلى

    طوافٌ على أبياتكم ونزول

    Each day the exalted angels

    circle about your dwellings and descend.

  78. لقد صدقوا أنَّ اللهى تفتح اللّها

    مقاليَ جزل والنوال جزيل

    They spoke truly: gifts open mouths;

    my speech is rich, and the bounty abundant.

  79. وما لبنات الفكر تهدى حسانها

    كأفهامكم في العالمين بعول

    The daughters of thought, whose fair ones are offered as brides,

    have no husbands in the world like your discerning minds.

  80. عليكم سلام الله فالشعر عاجزٌ

    على أنه فيمن عداك غلول

    God's peace be upon you: poetry is powerless,

    though bestowed on anyone but you, it is treachery.

  81. وهبني نظمت الأنجم الزهر مدحةً

    وكنتُ مطيعاً ما عساي أقول

    Suppose I strung the shining stars into a eulogy,

    and were obedient—what could I possibly say?