Sol 6.1

  1. قام يرنو بمقلةٍ كحلاءِ

    علمتْني الجنون بالسوداءِ

    He stood gazing with a kohl-dark eye

    that taught me the madness of black bile.

  2. رشأٌ دبَّ في سوالفه النم

    لُ فهامت خواطر الشعراء

    A gazelle fawn: ants crept along his cheeks,

    and the poets' fancies wandered, love-struck.

  3. روض حسن غنى لنا فوقهُ الحل

    يُ فأهلاً بالرَّوضةِ الغناء

    A garden of beauty: above it the jewels sang to us;

    welcome, then, to the luxuriant garden!

  4. جائر الحكم قلبه ليَ صخرٌ

    وبكائي له بكى الخنساء

    Unjust in judgment, his heart is stone—Sakhr—to me;

    and my weeping for him is al-Khansa's weeping.

  5. عذلوني على هواهُ فأغرَوا

    فهواه نصبٌ على الأغراء

    They reproached me for loving him, and so incited me;

    thus love of him is an accusative of exhortation.

  6. من معيني على رشاً صرتُ من ما

    ءِ دموعي عليه مثل الرشاء

    Who will help me against a fawn? I have become, from the water

    of my tears over him, like a well-rope.

  7. من معيني على لواعج حبٍّ

    تتلظَّى من أدمعي بالماء

    Who will help me against love's burning pangs,

    which blaze with water from my tears,

  8. وحبيبٍ إليَّ يفعلُ بالقل

    بِ فعال الأعداء بالأعداء

    and against a beloved, dear to me, who does to the heart

    what enemies do to enemies?

  9. ضيقِ العينِ إن رنا واسْتمحنا

    وعناء تسمح البخلاء

    Narrow-eyed when he gazes and we seek his favor—

    what torment is the generosity of misers!

  10. ليتَ أعطافهُ ولو في منامٍ

    وعدتْ باستراقةٍ للقاء

    If only his flanks, even in a dream,

    would promise a stolen chance to meet.

  11. يتثنَّى كقامة الغصن اللد

    ن ويعطو كالظبية الأدماء

    He sways, his figure like a supple branch,

    and reaches up like a white doe.

  12. يا شبيهَ الغصون رفقاً بصبٍّ

    نائحٍ في الهوى مع الورقاء

    O likeness of branches, be gentle with a lover

    wailing in love beside the gray dove.

  13. يذكرُ العهدَ بالعقيقِ فيبكي

    لهواهُ بدمعةٍ حمراء

    He recalls the pledge at al-'Aqiq and weeps

    for his love with a red tear.

  14. يا لها دمعةٌ على الخدِّ حمرا

    ء بدتْ من سوداء في صفراء

    Oh, what a red tear upon the cheek,

    emerging from blackness onto yellow!

  15. فكأنِّي حملتُ رنك بن أيو

    ب على وجنتي لفرط ولاء

    It is as though I bore Ibn Ayyub's blazon

    upon my cheek, out of intense loyalty.

  16. ملك حافظ المناقب تروي

    راحتاه عن واصل عن عطاء

    A king, guardian of noble deeds narrated

    by his two palms, from Wasil, from Ata.

  17. في معاليه للمديح اجتماعٌ

    كأبي جاد في اجتماع الهجاء

    In his lofty virtues, praise gathers,

    as the alphabet gathers in Abu Jad.

  18. خلِّ كعباً ورُم نداه فما كع

    بُ العطايا ورأسها بالسواء

    Leave Ka'b and seek his bounty, for the heel

    of giving and its head are not equal.

  19. وارجُ وعدَ المنى لديه فإسما

    عيلُ ما زال معدناً للوفاء

    And hope for his pledge to grant your wishes, for Isma'il

    has ever been a mine of faithfulness.

  20. ما لكفيهِ في الثراء هدوّ

    فهو فيه كسابحٍ في ماء

    His two palms know no rest amid wealth;

    for in it he is like a swimmer in water.

  21. جمعتْ في فنائِه الخيل والإب

    ل وفوداً أكرم بها من فناء

    In his courtyard horses and camels are gathered

    as delegations—what a noble courtyard!

  22. لو سكتْنا عن مدحِه مدحته

    بصهيل من حوله ورُغاء

    Were we silent in his praise, they would praise him

    with neighing and camel-bellowing around him.

  23. همةٌ جازت السماكَ فلم يع

    بأ مداها بالحاسد العوّاء

    An ambition that passed al-Simak, paying no heed

    in its reach to the howling envier.

  24. وندًى يخجلُ السحابَ فيمشي

    من ورا جودِهِ على استحياء

    And bounty that shames the clouds, so they walk

    behind his generosity, bashfully.

  25. طالَ بيتُ الفخار منه على الشع

    ر فماذا يقول بيتُ الثناء

    His house of glory towers above poetry;

    what, then, can a verse of praise say?

  26. أعربت ذكرَه مباني المعاني

    فعجبْنا لمعرَبٍ ذي بناء

    The structures of meaning gave clear expression to his renown;

    so we marveled at an inflected word with a fixed form.

  27. ورقى صاعداً فلم يبقَ للحا

    سدِ إلا تنفسُ الصعداء

    He climbed ever higher, leaving the envier

    nothing but deep sighs.

  28. شرفٌ في تواضعٍ ونوالٌ

    في اعتذارٍ وهيبةٍ في حياء

    Nobility in humility, and bounty

    in apology, and majesty in modesty.

  29. يا مليكاً علا على الشمسِ حتَّى

    عمَّ إحسانهُ عمومَ الضياء

    O king who rose above the sun, until

    his beneficence spread as universally as light.

  30. صنت كفي عن الأنامِ ولفظي

    فحرامٌ نداهُم وثنائي

    You kept my hand and my words from other men;

    their bounty is forbidden to me, my praise to them.

  31. وسقتْني مياهُ جودِك سقياً

    رفعتْني على ابن ماء السماء

    And the waters of your generosity gave me such a draught

    that raised me above Ibn Ma' al-Sama'.

  32. فابقَ عالي المحل داني العطايا

    قاهرَ البأس ظاهر الأنباء

    So remain high in station, your gifts close at hand,

    vanquisher of might, renowned in report.

  33. يتمنى حسودُكَ العيشَ حتَّى

    أتمنَّى له امتدادَ البقاء

    Your envier so longs for life

    that I wish him a longer life.