Sol 6.1

  1. نعمْ هذهِ آثارهُم والمنازلُ

    وان لا مني فيها نصيحٌ وعاذلُ

    Yes, these are their traces and their dwellings,

    Though a well-wisher and a reprover reproach me for them.

  2. أغرَّهمُ خدٌّ من الدمع مُخصبٌ

    ومِن تحته قلبٌ من الصَّبر ماحل

    Did a cheek made fertile by tears deceive them,

    While beneath it lies a heart barren of patience?

  3. مشى فوقها حادٍ من الريح مزعجٌ

    وجُرَّ بها ذيل نن السَّبل سائل

    A disturbing camel-driver of wind has crossed above them,

    And a flowing train of rain has been dragged across them.

  4. وغيَّرها ركض الجنائبِ والصَّبا

    وسعيُ الحيا في تربها وهو راجل

    The galloping south winds and east wind have changed them,

    And the rain's running on foot across their soil.

  5. وجال عليها كلُّ أدكنَ راعدٍ

    كما جرَّ فضل لبعلّ أدهمُ صاهل

    Every dusky, thundering cloud has ranged over them,

    As a neighing black steed drags a master's train.

  6. كأنَّ الغمام الجَون جُنَّ بأفقها

    وقد صِيغ منِ تبر البروق سلاسل

    As though the dark clouds had gone mad in their sky,

    With chains forged from the gold of lightning.

  7. فكم خفقتْ فيها بنودُ سحابةٍ

    تسحُّ سِهاماً والوميضُ مناضل

    How many a cloud's banners have fluttered there,

    Pouring down arrows, with the lightning-flash contesting as an archer!

  8. تمادى بها سلمُ الليالي وحربُها

    وكرَّ عليها خطوُها المتثاقل

    Long have the nights' peace and war lingered there,

    And their ponderous footsteps returned over them.

  9. عذيري من نُؤيِ القباب وقد خلت

    فهالاتها أقمارهنَّ اوافل

    Who will excuse my grief for the deserted tents' encircling trenches?

    Their halos remain, their moons having set.

  10. تَولَّت شموسُا الظاعنين فأدُمعي

    كما انتثرت فوق الصعيد المَراسل

    The suns of the departing have turned away; my tears

    Are like necklaces scattered over the ground.

  11. طوالعُ في جنح الشَّبيبةَ والدجُّى

    أُفولٌ ووجهُ الصبح والشيبُ شُامل

    Rising beneath the wing of youth and darkness,

    Setting when dawn's face and gray hair spread.

  12. بنفسي بعيدٌ والديارُ قريبةٌ

    وصاح وانْ لم تصحُ منهُ الثمائل

    My soul be ransom for one far away, though the dwellings are near,

    And sober, though his wine-dregs never sober.

  13. عشيَّة تلقانا العيونُ بهدُبها

    فتلقى إلى تلك السّهام الَمقائل

    That evening, eyes met us with their lashes,

    And our vital spots were offered to those arrows.

  14. وترتع في تلك الوجود لحاظنا

    فهن رياض والثغور مناهل

    Our glances grazed upon those faces,

    For they were gardens, and mouths were watering places.

  15. لدى ألفات البان وهي سواكن

    وحيث أجادت همزهن البلابل

    Beside the motionless, alif-like bān trees,

    Where nightingales deftly supplied their hamzas.

  16. كأن اطراد النهر سيف مجرد

    وأفياؤها من جانبيه حمائل

    As though the river's onward flow were a drawn sword,

    And their shadows along its banks were sword-belts.

  17. ويبرد من عذرانه إثمد الدجى

    حرار عيون هدبهن الخمائل

    The kohl of darkness, drawn from its pools, cools

    The heat of springs whose lashes are the thickets.

  18. عواطل حلى جيدها ذهب الضحى

    فشف إلى أن أحرقته الأصائل

    Unadorned, their necks were decked with forenoon's gold;

    It thinned until the late afternoons burned it away.

  19. كأن لم تضفني والنوى أجنبية

    ترائب إلاَّ من دموعي هواطل

    As though, when separation was a stranger, I had never been welcomed

    By bosoms streaming with nothing but my tears.

  20. فلا خاب ظني في العقيق وأهله

    كما لم يخب في الظافر الملك سائل

    May my hopes in al-Aqiq and its people never fail,

    As no petitioner has failed with King al-Zafir.

  21. طليق النهى لم تملك الخمر لبه

    ولا حكمت فيه الظباء الخواذل

    Unfettered in mind, wine has never mastered his reason,

    Nor have the gazelles that keep apart from their herds ruled him.

  22. جزيل هبات الكف والعام مسنت

    فكيف يذال الجود والضرع حافل

    His hand's gifts are abundant even in a famine year;

    How freely, then, is bounty bestowed when the udder is full!

  23. هو البحر كم مرت له من عجيبة

    تحدث عنها قبل ذاك السواحل

    He is the sea: how many a marvel of his has passed,

    Of which the shores had spoken beforehand!

  24. وكم صبحت لدن الوالي يمينه

    فللتيه والإعجاب هن عواسل

    How often his right hand has given the supple spears their morning draught!

    With pride and self-admiration they sway.

  25. ويا كم له من وقفة ظافرية

    بها أينعت أغصانهن الذوابل

    Oh, how many a victorious stand he has made,

    Through which their withered branches ripened!

  26. فلو كان يسطيع الجماد إرادة

    إذن نزلت شوقا إليه المعاقل

    Had inanimate things been capable of willing,

    The fortresses would have descended to him in longing.

  27. تود عوالي سمرها وصدورها

    وقد حطمت لو أنهن أسافل

    The tips and upper shafts of their brown spears would wish,

    Once shattered, that they had been the lower ends.

  28. تعجب لعقبان نمتها ثعالب

    تظل أسوداً تحتهن أجادل

    Marvel at eagles raised by foxes,

    Beneath which falcons become lions.

  29. كأَنَّ الرماح الذابلات مخاصر

    لهم والدّلاص السابري غلائل

    As though the slender lances were hand-staves

    For them, and the smooth Sabiri mail were thin undergarments.

  30. إذا أضرمت نار الظبى في أكفهم

    فما عسلان السمر إلاَّ أفاكل

    When the fire of sword-edges is kindled in their palms,

    The brown spears' swaying is nothing but feverish shudders.

  31. وتظمأ أطراف القني إلى العدى

    وقد قذفت ماءَ الحديد القساطل

    The lance-tips thirst for the enemy,

    Though the battle-dust has poured forth steel's liquid gleam.

  32. فصيح خطيبي سيفه ولسانه

    يجالد عن عليائه ويجادل

    Eloquent are his two spokesmen, his sword and tongue;

    He fights and argues for his lofty glory.

  33. شديد السطا لا ينثني عن ملمةِ

    ولو كان صرف الهر ممن ينازل

    Mighty in assault, he never recoils from a calamity,

    Even were Time's reversals among those he must fight.

  34. يعيد المذاكي داميات وجوها

    مسلمة أكفالها والأياطل

    He brings the full-grown steeds back with bleeding faces,

    Their croups and flanks unharmed.

  35. ثقيلة خطو بالفوارس والقنا

    فما جمعها أمير وعامل

    Heavy of stride with horsemen and lances,

    No commander or governor has mustered them.

  36. ينال المدى يعيي الورى وهو وادع

    ويدرك أقصى جدهم وهو هازل

    He reaches, at ease, the goal that exhausts humankind,

    And attains their utmost earnest striving while jesting.

  37. فلله ما ألقت من الخير أمه

    وما حملت منها إليها القوابل

    Praise be to God for the goodness his mother brought forth,

    And for what the midwives carried from her to her!

  38. قصدت من الآفاق خوفاً ورهبة

    وإنك ذاك الألمعي الحلاحل

    You are sought from every horizon in fear and awe,

    For you are that keen-witted, mighty chieftain.

  39. كسوت دمشقاً عاطفا حلة الرضى

    وقد عريت في ساحتيك الوسائل

    In kindness you clothed Damascus in the robe of favor,

    When all means of intercession stood naked in your two courts.

  40. عشية للركض العنيف بأرضها

    خسوف وللطرد المخيف زلازل

    That evening, the furious galloping across her land

    Brought cave-ins, and the terrifying pursuit brought earthquakes.

  41. وقد خفقت تحت السيوف قلوبهم

    كما اضطربت تحت النصال العوامل

    Their hearts fluttered beneath the swords,

    As spearshafts quivered beneath the spearheads.

  42. وسح سحاب النبل فوق ربوعها

    وسالت وصالت من ظباك الجداول

    The cloud of arrows poured above her quarters,

    And streams flowed and charged from your sword-edges.

  43. ولولا حلول السلم وهو سلمة

    يعيش بها حق ويهلك باطل

    Had peace not arrived—a deliverance

    Through which truth lives and falsehood perishes—

  44. لأصبح برد الماء في كل جدول

    غساقاً وأضحى ظلها وهو زائل

    The cool water in every stream would have become

    Foul ichor, and her shade would have vanished.

  45. هو العرس المشهود زفت مهاته

    فلولا التقى غنت لديه المناصل

    This is the wedding all witnessed, its oryx-does led as brides;

    But for piety, the swordblades would have sung there.

  46. ولو حلت عن عهد هابك سالف

    لبانت وعاليها بسخطك سافل

    Had she withdrawn from an earlier covenant that feared you,

    She would have fallen apart, her heights brought low by your wrath.

  47. ولو شئت في تلك السيوف قطيعة

    لردت إلى الأعناق وهي سلاسل

    Had you wished a severance through those swords,

    They would have been put around necks as chains.

  48. إذاً دستهم بالمقربات شوازباً

    كعادك في العادين والسيف قاصل

    Then you would have trampled them with favored, lean steeds,

    As is your custom with aggressors, the sword cutting them down.

  49. عشية يسلو الثاكلون عن البكا

    ويذهل عن أبنائهن الحلائل

    On an evening when the bereaved forget their weeping,

    And wives forget their sons.

  50. نجا أهلها حيث السيوف صحائف

    ونالوا المنى حيث الخضوع رسائل

    Her people escaped where swords were the written pages,

    And won their wishes where submission was the letters.

  51. وما جادها الوسمي حتى تصاهلت

    فأسقط للخوف السحاب الحوامل

    No autumn rain had watered her before the steeds neighed,

    And the pregnant clouds miscarried in fear.

  52. لك اللهُ سيفاً في يد الله مصلتاً

    يعيش به نفسُ الهُدى وهو قاتل

    God be with you, a drawn sword in God's hand,

    Through which the soul of guidance lives, though it kills.

  53. يظنٌّ حسودٌ أن فضلَ أناتهُ

    لما يبتغيهِ هاجرٌ وهو واصل

    An envier thinks his abundant deliberation

    Forsakes what he seeks, though it reaches it.

  54. سقاها من النعماءِ رياً ولو نعتْ

    سقى تربها هامٍ من الدَّم هامل

    He gave her her fill of blessings; had she announced a death,

    A heavy, pouring rain of blood would have watered her soil.

  55. توليَّت إصلاح الفريقين جاهداً

    فلم ينكشفْ نورٌ ولا جاد عادل

    You labored to reconcile the two sides,

    So no light was eclipsed, nor did a just man stray [text uncertain].

  56. غداةَ أطعتَ الحلمَ والحلمُ زاجرٌ

    وخالفتَ أمرَ الحقد والسيفُ قابل

    That morning you obeyed forbearance as it restrained you,

    And disobeyed rancor's command, though the sword was compliant.

  57. فلا الدَّهر مذمومٌ ولا اليومُ عابسٌ

    ولا الشهرُ مخثيٌّ ولا العام ماحل

    Thus Time is not blamed, nor does the day frown,

    Nor is the month feared, nor is the year barren.

  58. نصبتَ رماحَ الخطّ وهي خوافضٌ

    وما انتصبتْ إلا لأنك فاعل

    You raised the lances of al-Khatt, though they brought others low;

    They stood upright only because you were the agent.

  59. فسيفك قاضٍ في الحكومة قاضبٌ

    وعزمك كافر للرعَّية كافل

    Your sword is a judge in judgment, a blade that severs,

    And your resolve, armor-clad, is the subjects' guardian.

  60. وليس باولى موقفٍ حزت ذكره

    ولا مشهدٍ اثنت عليه الجحافل

    This is not the first stand whose renown you have won,

    Nor the first battlefield praised by the hosts.

  61. وما زلت تنسى ما فعلتَ تكرُّماً

    فليتك تدري ما تقول المحافل

    You keep forgetting your deeds out of nobility;

    Would that you knew what the assemblies say!

  62. ولو لم يلذ بالعفو من لاذ بالوغى

    لنا ارتفعت عنهُ الخطوب النوازل

    Had those who sought refuge in battle not sought refuge in pardon,

    The descending calamities would never have lifted from them.

  63. يعاديك ذو ملكٍ بحلمك عالمٌ

    ويلقاك ذو جيشٍ ببأسك جاهل

    A king opposes you, knowing your forbearance,

    And an army's master meets you, ignorant of your might.

  64. وكلُّ مكانٍ موحشٌ وهو آنسٌ

    وقفرٌ إذا نازلتهُ وهو آهل

    Every desolate place becomes companionable,

    And every wilderness, when you encamp there, becomes inhabited.

  65. واني لمن حتفُ الأعادي حياتهُ

    ومن كبتَ الحسِّادَ ما هو قاتل

    I am one whose life lies in the death of enemies,

    And some thwarting of the envious is fatal.

  66. بقيت كما تدعو العُلى فبمنطقي

    تُزَفُّ إلى العلياءِ هذي العقائل

    May you endure as high honor prays; through my speech,

    These noble maidens are led as brides to the heights of glory.

  67. غوانٍ إذا قيس الغواني بحسنها

    فلا الريق معسولٌ ولا القدّ عاسل

    Beauties—if other beauties are compared with their loveliness,

    No saliva is honeyed, and no figure sways.

  68. أطنُّ وحيداً وهو دوني معاشرٌ

    تحارب من حاربته وقبائل

    I ring out alone, yet behind me stand companies

    And tribes that fight whomever I fight.

  69. غلبت العدى منها ببكري وتغلبي

    فلا وألت حتى القيامة وائلُ

    With my Bakr and my Taghlib among them, I vanquished the foes;

    May Wa'il find no refuge until the Resurrection!

  70. إذا نشرت أيدي الرّواة كتابها

    تعجبتَ من بحرٍ حواشيهِ ساحل

    When the reciters' hands unfold their book,

    You marvel at a sea whose margins are a shore.

  71. مديحٌ حكى زأرَ الأسود جزالةً

    وراءَ مسيب كالغزال يغازل

    Praise that echoes the lions' roar in forcefulness,

    After a love-prelude that flirts like a gazelle.

  72. فما نقسها إلا سوادُ عجاجةٍ

    ولا شكيها إلا قناً ومناصل

    Their ink is nothing but the blackness of battle-dust,

    And their markings nothing but spears and swordblades.

  73. فعش عمرها لا عمرَ يومٍ وليلةٍ

    ألا أن أعمارَ الليالي قلائل

    Live as long as they do, not a day and a night;

    Indeed, the lifetimes of nights are few.