Sol 6.1

  1. نضا عَضْباً من الجَفْن

    يرد العَضْبَ في الجفنِ

    He drew a keen blade from his eyelid,

    that sends the sword back into its sheath.

  2. وولّى كاشرَ السنّ

    بتيهٍ كاسرِ السَنِّ

    And he turned away, baring his teeth,

    with a pride that breaks teeth.

  3. فخلّ العَضْبَ واللَدْنَ

    مكانَ العُضْب واللُدْنِ

    So leave the keen blade and supple spear

    where blades and supple spears belong;

  4. فللحبّ جراحاتٌ

    بلا ضَربٍ ولا طَعْنِ

    for love has wounds

    without a blow or thrust.

  5. وما أسعد من لاقى

    جيوشَ الحُسنِ بالحَزْنِ

    And how fortunate is he who meets

    beauty's armies on rugged ground!

  6. فحِدْ عني يا لائ

    مُ أو فاسمعْ وخُذْ عنّي

    So turn aside from me, O reproacher,

    or listen, and learn from me.

  7. فإني إن تبصّرتَ

    مطيعٌ لك أو إنّي

    For I, if you look closely,

    am obedient to you—or indeed I...

  8. وقلبي في لَظى باتَ

    له طرفَي في عَدْنِ

    While my heart was in a blaze,

    my gaze spent the night, for him, in Eden,

  9. بغصنٍ فيه أزهارٌ

    بديعاتٌ من الحُسْن

    with a bough bearing blossoms,

    wondrous in their beauty.

  10. فمن وردٍ غَدا يُسقى

    حياءً لا حَيا مُزْن

    Among them, a rose that is watered

    with bashfulness, not the rain of clouds;

  11. وآسٌ أبداً يُجْنى

    على منْ رامَ أن يجْني

    and myrtle—wrong is always done

    to whoever seeks to pluck it.

  12. وقالوا الغُصْنُ في البستا

    نِ والبستانُ في الغُصْن

    'The bough is in the garden,' they say,

    yet the garden is within the bough.

  13. فساعِدْني يا عَدْن

    يَ أو عِدْني أو عُدْني

    So help me, O my Eden,

    or promise me, or visit me:

  14. منًى أحْلى من الأمن

    وحُرِّفْهُ من المَنِّ

    hopes sweeter than safety—

    and alter its letters from 'manna.'

  15. أظنّ الدهرَ يا أغي

    دُ قد أعداكَ بالضَنّ

    I think Time, O supple youth,

    has infected you with stinginess.

  16. أبٌ لولا عُلا الفاض

    لِ ما جرّتْ له بابنِ

    A father—were it not for al-Fadil's eminence,

    no son would have been brought to him.

  17. ولولا مجدُه الباس

    قُ لم أُثْنِ ولم أبْنِ

    And but for his towering glory,

    I would neither have praised nor built verse.

  18. فتًى أفصحُ من قسٍّ

    فتًى أسمعُ من معْنِ

    A youth more eloquent than Quss,

    a youth readier to listen than Ma'n.

  19. ترانا نمدحُ الفضل

    وعن أوصافِه نَكْني

    You see us praising excellence,

    and alluding to his qualities.

  20. ونستغرقُ في وصفِ ال

    معالي وله نَعْني

    We immerse ourselves in describing

    lofty deeds, and it is him we mean.

  21. أتينا بقرى الأشعا

    رِ نَهْديها الى المُدْنِ

    We have brought a feast of poems,

    presenting them to the cities,

  22. الى مَن بحرُه الزاخ

    رُ لا يُعْبَرُ بالسُفْنِ

    to one whose brimming sea

    cannot be crossed by ships;

  23. الى مَنْ لفظُه يُطر

    بُ كاللحنِ بلا لَحْنِ

    to one whose words enchant

    like melody, without an error of speech.

  24. كلامٌ يلجُ الأذْنَ

    على القلب بلا إذْنِ

    Speech that passes through the ear

    into the heart without permission.

  25. وكم أصفرَ يُجْريهِ

    بيُمناهُ على اليُمْنِ

    And many a yellow one he sets running

    with his right hand, in good fortune!

  26. فيَبْني ومعاذَ الل

    هِ أن يهدِمْ ما يَبْني

    Thus he builds—and God forbid

    that he destroy what he builds.

  27. فما أنأى الذي يُنئي

    وما أدنى الذي يُدْني

    How far is he whom he keeps distant,

    and how near is he whom he draws close!

  28. أتاهُ الناسُ في السهْلِ

    ووعرتُ على الحَزْنِ

    People came to him over level ground,

    while I struggled across rough ground.

  29. وما المركَبُ ذو وهْنِ

    ولا المِنكَبُ ذو وَهْنِ

    My mount has no weakness,

    nor is my shoulder feeble.

  30. ولكنْ قسمةُ الدهر

    كما تُعرَفُ بالغُبْنِ

    But Time's allotment

    is, as is known, unfair.

  31. كأني الآن من كثر

    ةِ ما يفتَرُّ عن سنّي

    As though I now, from so much

    smiling that bares my teeth...

  32. متى يمتلئُ الحوضُ

    متى يسمعُني عَلْني

    When will the basin fill?

    When will he hear my plea, 'Sustain me'?

  33. متى يَبْنِ على التبر

    جِراني أو على التِبْن

    When will it settle upon gold—

    my neck—or upon straw?

  34. فقد ضاقتْ بيَ الأرضُ

    كأني صرْتُ في سِجْنِ

    For the earth has grown too narrow for me,

    as though I had ended up in prison,

  35. بهمٍّ شاغلٍ للبا

    لِ والخاطرِ والذِهْنِ

    with care that preoccupies the mind,

    thought and intellect;

  36. وغمٍّ مُفزِعٍ للرأ

    سِ والراحةِ والبِطْنِ

    and grief that frightens the head,

    the palm and the belly.

  37. ومعذورٍ على الحُسن

    ومعذورٌ على الجَنِّ

    And one is excused for beauty,

    and excused for madness.

  38. وقد قال لي العُسر ال

    ذي أصبحَ صَحْفني

    And hardship said to me—the hardship

    that had dawned—'Misread me!'

  39. وما عندي لولا الشع

    رُ ما يُضبَطُ بالوزنِ

    And, but for poetry, I would have nothing

    that can be measured by weight.

  40. فقد سُلِّمَ من خَزْمٍ

    ومن خرْمٍ ومن خَبْنِ

    For it is free of metrical opening additions,

    initial truncation and second-letter elision.

  41. وإنْ تفتكّ فافتكّ

    فإني غلِقُ الرهنِ

    And if you would redeem me, redeem me,

    for I am a forfeited pledge.

  42. ولولا الساعدُ الضار

    بُ بالصارمِ لم يُغْنِ

    And without the arm that strikes

    with the keen blade, the blade would be useless.

  43. رعاكَ اللهُ كم منٍّ

    لنا منكَ بلا منِّ

    May God guard you! How many a favor

    we have from you, without reproach!