Sol 6.1

  1. طَحا بِهِ في الحسان الغِيد حَيثُ طَحا

    قَلبٌ عَلى العَهدِ مِن لَمياءَ ما بَرِحا

    He was swept among the graceful beauties, wherever it swept—

    by a heart that never forsook its pact with Lamya.

  2. هَيفاء تُخجل غصنَ البانِ مُنعَطِفاً

    وَالريمَ مُلتفتاً وَالظَبيَ إِن سَنَحا

    A slender-waisted beauty who shames a bending bān bough,

    and the white gazelle turning, and the gazelle when it appears.

  3. صِغر الوَشاحين رَيّاً الحجل ما سَفَرت

    إِلّا أَغارَ سَناها الشَمسَ وَقتَ ضُحى

    Slim at both sashes, full at the anklets, she never unveiled

    without her radiance making the midmorning sun jealous.

  4. رُودٌ تُخَطِّرُ في بُردَي صِباً وَهَوىً

    وَتَنثَني التِيهَ مِن سُكر الصِبا مَرَحا

    A tender beauty swaying in the two cloaks of youth and love,

    and bending in pride, merry with the intoxication of youth.

  5. سَقى الصِبا وَالشَبابُ الرُوقُ وَجنَتها

    ماءً مِنَ الحُسنِ مَغبُوقاً وَمُصطَبَحا

    Childhood and fresh youth watered her cheek

    with beauty's water, an evening and a morning draught.

  6. حاوَلتُ رَشفَ اللَمى مِن بَرد رِيقَتِها

    أُطفي بِهِ مِن لَهيب الوَجدِ ما لقَحا

    I sought to sip from her dusky lips the coolness of her saliva,

    to quench with it the flames of longing that had flared.

  7. فَأَعرَضت لِبياضٍ لاحَ قائِلَةً

    يا بُعدَهُ مُنتَبِذاً عَنّا وَمُطَّرِحا

    So she turned away at a gleam of white hair, saying:

    How far away he is, set apart from us and cast aside!

  8. هَيهاتَ وَصلُ الحِسان الغانيات وَفي

    لَيل الشَبيبة صُبحُ الشَيبِ قَد وَضَحا

    Far beyond reach is union with beautiful, alluring women, when in

    the night of youth the dawn of gray hair has shone clear.

  9. فَقُلتُ وَالعَينُ شَكرى وَالفُؤادُ بِهِ

    رَسٌّ أُكابِدُ مِنهُ الوَجدَ وَالبَرَحا

    So I said, my eyes brimming, and in my heart

    an ache from which I endure longing and anguish:

  10. ما ذاكَ عُوفيتِ يا لَمياءُ مِن كِبَرٍ

    إِنّي وَطَرفِ الصِبا المَقرور ما قَرَحا

    That is not from old age—may you be kept well, Lamya!

    I swear by youth's comforted eye: it has not grown sore.

  11. وَإِنَّما نُوَبُ الأَيّام جئنَ بِهِ

    كَما تَرَينَ وَدَهرٌ طالَ ما اِجتَرَحا

    And only the vicissitudes of the days have brought it,

    as you see, and time, which has long wrought harm.

  12. غَدَت تُكَلِّفُني فيهِ العُلا شِيَمٌ

    وَعَزمَةٌ لا تَني تَنحوهُ حَيثُ نَحا

    My virtues came to charge me with attaining greatness in it,

    and a resolve that never flags, pursuing it wherever it turns,

  13. وَهِمّةٌ لَيسَ تَرضى النَجمَ مَنزِلَةً

    تُعزى لِقَلبٍ إِلى العَلياءِ قَد كَدَحا

    and an ambition that will not accept a star as its station,

    ascribed to a heart that has toiled toward the heights.

  14. وَمَنطِقٌ تَنظِمُ الجَوزاءُ رُؤيَتَهُ

    لَكِن بِوَصفِ عِمادِ الدينِ قَد كَدَحا

    And speech whose vision Orion strings together,

    yet in describing Imad al-Din it has had to toil.

  15. مَولىً مَآثرُهُ تَستَغرقُ المِدحا

    لِذاكَ يَقصُرُ عَنها كُلُّ مَن مَدَحا

    A lord whose noble deeds exhaust all praise:

    thus everyone who praises falls short of them.

  16. مِن سادَةٍ وَرِثوا العَلياءَ وَاِقتَسَموا

    مَآثر المَجدِ فيما بَينَهُم مِنَحا

    One of lords who inherited the heights and shared

    glory's noble deeds among themselves as gifts.

  17. مِن كُلِّ أَزهرَ بادي البشر غُرّتُه

    تَلُوح في مُدلهمّاتٍ دَجت وَضُحا

    Each of them is radiant and openly cheerful; his bright brow

    shines as clear light amid gloom that has grown dark.

  18. يُبدي مُحيّاً يُريكَ البَدر طَلعَتُهُ

    يَغُضُّ مِنهُ حَياءً كُلُّ مَن لَمَحا

    He reveals a face whose appearance shows you the full moon;

    everyone who glimpses him lowers his gaze in modesty.

  19. إِلى شَمائِل تَندى كَالرِياض إِذا

    ما وابلُ المُزنِ فيها دَمعَهُ سَفَحا

    Alongside qualities dewy as gardens when

    the rain-clouds' downpour has shed its tears within them.

  20. إِمام أَهلِ التُقى وَالعلم شيمَتُهُ

    بَذلُ النَدى مِن أَيادٍ سَيبُها رَشَحا

    A leader of the people of piety and learning, whose habit

    is bestowing bounty from hands whose largesse flows.

  21. تَغدُو الأَمانيُّ حَسرى دونَ هِمّتِهُ

    إِذا يَروحُ عَلى العَلياء مُقتَرِحا

    Aspirations grow weary, falling short of his ambition,

    when he goes forth making demands upon the heights.

  22. فَلُذ بِهِ طَودَ عَلمٍ لَو تُوازِنُهُ

    هِضابُ رَضوى عَلى مِقدارها رَجحا

    So seek refuge in him, a mountain of learning: were he weighed against

    Radwa's peaks, mighty as they are, he would outweigh them.

  23. يُريكَ مِن لَفظِهِ الكَشاف إِن نَطَقَت

    عُليا بِلاغَتِهِ ما يُخرسُ الفُصَحا

    He shows you through his revealing speech, when

    his lofty eloquence speaks, what silences the eloquent.

  24. فَكَم بِهِ مِن مُشكلٍ لِلفَهمِ قَد وَضَحا

    وَمُقفَل بِدَقيق الفِكرِ قَد فُتِحا

    How many a difficulty for understanding has become clear through him,

    and how many a locked mystery has subtle thought opened!

  25. لَهُ يَراعٌ إِذا يَعلُو أَنامِلُهُ

    شاهدتَ أَروع بِالخَطيَّةِ اِتَّشَحا

    He has a reed pen: when it rises above his fingertips,

    you behold a gallant girded with a Khatti spear.

  26. وَإِن مَشى في أَعالي الطِرسِ مَرقَمُه

    تَخالُ أَرقمَ وَسط الرَوضِ فاهُ شَحا

    And if his stylus moves across the face of the page,

    you fancy a speckled serpent amid a garden, its mouth gaping.

  27. ما الليثُ إِن جَرحا وَالغَيثُ إِن رَشَحا

    وَالدَهرُ إِن سَمَحا وَالبَحرُ إِن طَفَحا

    Neither the lion when it wounds, nor the rain when it drips,

    nor time when it is generous, nor the sea when it overflows,

  28. أَمضى شَباً مِنهُ أَدنى مَنهُ وَقع فِدىً

    أَندى يَداً مِنهُ أَوفى مِنهُ إِن سَمَحا

    is sharper-edged than he, more prompt in delivering ransom,

    more generous-handed than he, or more bountiful than he when he gives.

  29. فَقُل لِمَن رامَ في فَضلٍ يُماثِلُهُ

    أَقصِر عَدِمتُكَ وَاقبَل نُصحَ مَن نَصَحا

    So tell whoever seeks to match him in excellence:

    Desist—may I lose you!—and accept a counselor's advice.

  30. إِنّ المَعالِيَ ما بَينَ الوَرى مِنَحٌ

    مَقسومَةٌ وَإِلهُ العَرشِ قَد مَنَحا

    Truly, high honors among mankind are gifts

    apportioned, and the God of the Throne has bestowed them.

  31. وَهاكها مِن بَناتِ الفِكرِ غانِيَةً

    فُؤادُها لِسوى مَغناكَ ما جَنَحا

    And take her, a beauty among the daughters of thought:

    her heart has never inclined toward any abode but yours.

  32. تَخالها رَوضةً غَنّاءَ قَد لَبِسَت

    مَطارفَ النُورِ في أَعطافِها وَشَحا

    You would think her a luxuriant garden that has donned

    robes of blossoms as sashes about her sides.

  33. حَلَّت عُرى الدَلوِ فيها لِلجَنوب يَدٌ

    بَيضاءُ وَالطَيرُ في أَغصانِها صَدَحا

    Within her, the south wind's hand has loosened the bucket's ties—

    a white hand—and birds have sung upon her branches.

  34. مِن عَبدِ رقٍّ تَرَجّى أَن تُكاتِبَه

    فَضلاً لِيَرتاض دَهر بَعدَما جَمَحا

    From a slave in bondage who hopes you will contract for his freedom,

    as a favor, so that time may be tamed after running wild.

  35. لا زِلتَ تَحمي حَريمَ الفَضلِ في بَلَدٍ

    بِهِ أُناسٌ لِبُهم القاع إِذ سَرَحا

    May you ever defend excellence's sanctuary in a land

    where people, like young cattle roaming the plain,

  36. تَظاهَروا بِنفاق الغَيِّ بَينَهُم

    حَتّى اِدّعاهُ عَلى مَكروههِ الفُصَحا

    have joined together in giving error currency among themselves,

    until even the eloquent claimed it, despite its loathsomeness;

  37. ما أَمَّ ساحَكَ طُلّابٌ وَما حَمَلَت

    غَوارِبُ الإِبلِ الغادينَ وَالرُوَحا

    as long as seekers make for your courtyard, and as long as

    camels' humps bear the morning travelers and the evening travelers.