Sol 6.1

  1. قَد أَذكَرتُ مِن عُهودِ الصَبِّ ما سَلَفا

    فَكادَ يُقضى عَلى تِذكارِهِ أَسَفا

    I have brought to mind what passed of the lovelorn one's former days,

    and he nearly perished from grief on recalling it.

  2. جَيداءُ منصَلت القُرطينَ في غَيَدٍ

    خَطَّت إِلَيَّ كَخُوطٍ تَنثَني قُطُفا

    A long-necked beauty, with dangling earrings and supple grace,

    stepped toward me like a slender bough, swaying in short steps.

  3. بَعيدةُ المُرتَمى تَرمي بِناظِرةٍ

    مِن رِيمِ وَجرَة يُبدي جِفنَهُ وَطَفا

    Far-reaching in her aim, she shoots with an eye

    of a gazelle of Wajra whose eyelid reveals thick lashes.

  4. خَطت على برحِ وَجدٍ بِتُّ أَكلَؤُهُ

    وَحر وقد شِغاف القَلبِ قَد شَغفا

    She trod upon the anguish of a passion I had watched over all night,

    and the heat of a blaze that had pierced the heart's very core.

  5. فَخِلت شَرخَ شَبابي رُدَّ رَيِّقُه

    عَلى مَن كُنتُ مَشغوفاً بِهِ كَلِفا

    So I thought my youthful prime had regained its freshness,

    for the one I had loved passionately and devotedly;

  6. إِذا الرُسوم تُرى بِالبِيضِ ناضِرةً

    وَبِالكَواعب تُلفى رَوضةً أُنُفا

    when the old dwelling-traces appeared fresh with fair beauties,

    and, with full-breasted maidens, seemed a fresh, untouched garden.

  7. وَآفت كَقطعةِ رَوض غِبَّ سارِيَةٍ

    سَقَت أَقاحيهِ مِن رَقراقِها نُطَفا

    And she arrived like a patch of meadow after a night shower,

    which watered its daisies with drops of its shimmering water.

  8. تَرَعرَعت فيهِ أَطفالُ الرُبى وَغَدا

    بَيتَ القَرار إِلى الحَوذانِ مُنعَطَفا

    The hills' children flourished within it, and it became

    an abode of repose, bending toward the buttercups.

  9. في طَيِّها نَشرُ داريٍّ بِهِ عَطِرت

    أَرجاءُ رَبع نَديها طالَ ما شَرُفا

    Within its folds lay a Dari perfumer's fragrance, which perfumed

    the precincts of its assembly's abode, long honored.

  10. لِلّهِ كَم جَمَعت عُليا بَلاغَتِها

    مِن كُلِّ رائِقٍ مَعنى راقَ أَو لَطُفا

    By God, how much its lofty eloquence has gathered

    of every exquisite meaning, pleasing or subtle,

  11. وَضَمّنَتهُ مِنَ الأَشواقِ في فِقَر

    كَأَنَّها الزُهر أَو زَهر الرُبى تَرَفا

    and filled it with longings, in passages

    as though they were bright stars, or hillside flowers in their luxuriance.

  12. مِنها التَهاني بِنجم الدينِ عَبدِكُمُ

    وَحَسبُ أَمثالِهِ أَن تَمدَحوا شَرفا

    Among them are congratulations for Najm al-Din, your servant;

    and for his like, your praise is honor enough.

  13. وَها بَعَثنا بِديوان الشَريف إِلى

    جَنابِكُم وَبِوَشيٍ إِثر ذَلِكَ قَفا

    And here we have sent al-Sharif's collected poems to

    your honored presence, and some embroidery following close thereafter.

  14. لَكِنَّهُ لا كَوَشيٍ حكتَ بُردَتهُ

    يُلفى اللآلي وَما قَد حكته الصَدَفا

    But it is not like the embroidery whose mantle you wove:

    yours proves to be pearls, while what I have woven is shells.

  15. لا زِلتَ تُرشِفُ سَمعي كُلَّ رائِقَةٍ

    تَغدو لِأَسماع آذان الوَرى شُنُفا

    May you always let my hearing sip every exquisite utterance,

    which becomes earrings for humankind's listening ears.