Sol 6

  1. رَبعَ الغَمامُ بِرَبعِ ذاكَ المَنزلِ

    وَسَخا بِهِ نوءُ السِماك الأَعزَلِ

    The cloud watered the grounds of that dwelling,

    and the rain of al-Simak al-Azal poured generously upon it.

  2. وَغَدَت عَلَيهِ مِنَ الزَمان نَضارَةٌ

    شُفِعَت نَضارَتُها بِشَرخ مُقبِلِ

    Time bestowed a freshness on it

    whose beauty was joined by the dawn of a promising age.

  3. وَكَسا مَعالِمَهُ الرَبيعُ مَطارِفاً

    خُضراً تُسدّيها رِياحُ الشَمألِ

    Spring clothed its landmarks in mantles

    of green, woven by the north winds.

  4. وَمَشَت بِعُقوتِهِ الرِياحُ كَما مَشَت

    صِرفُ الحُميّا في مَجاري المِفصَلِ

    The winds moved through its environs as

    pure wine moves through the joints.

  5. فَلَرُبَّما اِرتَبَعَت رباهُ فتيةٌ

    مِثلُ البُدورِ طَوالِعاً لَم تَأفُلِ

    How often youths made its hills their spring abode,

    like rising full moons that never set.

  6. طارَحتُها قِدماً حَديثَ صَبابَةٍ

    وَهوَ سُلافٌ كَالسُلافِ السَلسَلِ

    Long ago I exchanged words of passion with them,

    words like choice wine, clear and flowing.

  7. حَتّى اِرتَقَت شَرفَ السِيادة وَالعُلا

    وَبقيتُ مُلقىً في الحَضيضِ الأَسفَلِ

    Then they rose to the heights of leadership and glory,

    while I remained cast into the lowest depths,

  8. وَلهانَ في تِلكَ المَعاهِدِ مُنشِداً

    في إِثرِها حُزناً مَقالَ مُفَضِّلِ

    distraught among those familiar places, reciting

    after them, in sorrow, the words of Mufaddal:

  9. لِلّهِ دُرُّ عِصابة نادَمتُهُم

    يَوماً بِجِلَّق في الزَمان الأَوّلِ

    How splendid that company with whom I shared wine

    one day in Jilliq, in former times,

  10. حَيثُ الشَبابُ الغَضُّ مُقتَبِلٌ وَلي

    بِهَوى الغَواني غَمرةٌ ما تَنجَلي

    when fresh youth was just beginning for me

    and a passion for fair women engulfed me without lifting.

  11. وَلَقَد وَقَفتُ عَلى المَعاهِدِ سائِلاً

    عَهدَ الشَبابِ وَخابَ مَن لَم يَسألِ

    I stood at the old haunts, asking

    after the days of youth; whoever failed to ask was disappointed.

  12. وَذَكَرتُ أَيّامَ الصِبا فَبَكَيتُها

    ذِكرى حَبيبٍ يَومَ بانَ وَمَنزِلِ

    I remembered the days of early youth and wept for them,

    as one recalls a beloved on the day of parting, and a home.

  13. وَغَدوتُ أُنشِدُ في مَعالِمِ رَسمِهِ

    وَالعَينُ سَكرى بِالدموعِ الهُمَّلِ

    I went on reciting among the traces of its ruins,

    my eyes dazed with streaming tears.

  14. حُيّيتَ يا ربع الصِبا مِن مَنزلٍ

    وَسُقيتَ رَيعانَ الغَمامِ المُسبلِ

    Greetings to you, dwelling of my youth;

    may you be watered by the first pouring clouds.

  15. وَرَسا النَسيمُ بِساحَتيكَ فَأَصبَحَت

    عَرَصاتُ داركَ نزهَة المُتَأمّلِ

    May the breeze settle in your courtyards, so that

    your open grounds become a delight to the contemplative eye.

  16. يا مَنزِلاً نَزَلَتهُ أَحداثُ النَوى

    وَخُطوبُ دَهرٍ لِلصِعاب مُذلَّلِ

    O dwelling visited by the calamities of separation

    and the blows of time that subdue even the hardiest,

  17. إِن يُمسِ رَبعُكَ مُبدلاً مِن ديمةٍ

    بِالريمِ أَو مِن طِفلَةٍ بِالمُطفلِ

    if your grounds have exchanged a steady rain

    for gazelles, or a young woman for one with a child,

  18. فَلَقَد شَهِدتُ بِكَ الحِسانَ كَواعِباً

    بيضاً طَوالع كَالبُدور الكُمَّلِ

    I once saw within you lovely young women,

    radiant and fair as full moons.

  19. مِن كُلِّ غَيداء التَثَنّي ألبِسَت

    أَعطافها بُرد الشَباب المُسدلِ

    Each graceful woman, swaying as she walked, was clothed

    across her shoulders in the flowing mantle of youth.

  20. رُودٌ سَقاها الحُسنُ ماءَ شَبيبةٍ

    فَغَدَت كَزَهرِ الرَوضِ غاداه الوَلي

    Gentle beauties drank the fresh water of youth from beauty's hand

    and became like garden flowers visited by a morning rain.

  21. قالَت وَقَد بَصُرت بَوَجهي شاحِباً

    أزجي الركاب إِلى العُلا بِتَنقّلِ

    She said, seeing my face grown pale

    as I urged the mounts onward in pursuit of distinction:

  22. أَقفُ المُطِيَّ عَلى الطلولِ رَواسِماً

    أَبكي رُسوماً في مَحلّ مُحولِ

    I halt the riding beasts at the traced remains

    and weep over ruins in a deserted place.

  23. أَتَرومُ إِدراكَ المَعالي جاهِداً

    نِضوَ القَريضِ بِمَعلَمٍ وَبِمَجهَلِ

    Do you strive to reach the heights,

    worn thin by verse, through known and unknown lands?

  24. تَاللَهِ لَن تَرقى مَحلاً سامِياً

    حَتّى تُلِمَّ بِصَدر ذاكَ المحفلِ

    By God, you will not rise to an exalted station

    until you come to the foremost seat of that assembly.

  25. هِيَ حَضرةُ المَولى المُعَظَّمِ قَدرُهُ

    قاضي العَساكر مَن سَما شَرَفاً عَلي

    It is the court of the lord whose rank is revered,

    the judge of the armies, Ali, exalted in honor.

  26. مَن رَأيُهُ لِلمُهتَدي وَنَوالُهُ

    لِلمُجتَدي وَعَطاؤهُ لِلمُرمِلِ

    His judgment serves the seeker of guidance, his bounty

    the petitioner, and his gifts the destitute.

  27. كُسِيَت بِهِ الأَيّام لِيلة تِمِّهِ

    مُتَهَلّلاً كَالعارض المُتَهَلِّلِ

    Through him, the days were clothed in the night of their fullness,

    beaming like a rain cloud breaking into a smile.

  28. طلقُ المُحيّا قَد علتهُ مَهابَةٌ

    فَكَأَنَّهُ مِن نُورِها في جَحفَلِ

    His face is open and bright, yet dignity crowns it,

    as though its light placed him amid an army.

  29. عَفُّ الإِزارِ يَجُرُّ أَذيالَ التُقى

    وَالدين بِالرَأيِ الأَسَدِّ الأَكمَلِ

    Chaste in conduct, he trails the robes of piety

    and religion, with the soundest and most complete judgment.

  30. لا تَزدَهيهِ مَطامِع الدُنيا وَلا

    يَرنو لِزُخرُفِ حُسنِها المُتَعَجِّلِ

    The ambitions of this world do not beguile him, nor

    does he gaze at its fleeting finery.

  31. بِنَداه أَمسى الجود مُلقٍ رَحلَهُ

    لَما اِغِتَدى فيهِ مَحَطَّ الأَرحُلِ

    Through his generosity, liberality has set down its baggage

    since it found in him a resting place for travelers.

  32. بَوَّأتُ أَطماعي بِهِ فَكَأَنَّما

    بَوَّأتُ رَحلي في المَرادِ المبقِلِ

    I lodged my hopes with him, as though

    I had pitched my camp in a verdant meadow of fulfilled desire.

  33. يا مَن لَهُ قَلم شباةُ قناتِهِ

    أَمضى وَقُوعاً مِن شباة المنصُلِ

    O you whose pen has a spearpoint

    that strikes more keenly than the edge of a sword,

  34. إِن يُمطِهِ الخمسُ الجَداول مُفرغاً

    مِن بَحرِ فِكرٍ فيهِ دُرُّ المِقوَلِ

    when the five channels pour it out

    from a sea of thought filled with pearls of eloquence,

  35. خَضَعَت لَهُ فُرسانُ كُلِّ بِلاغَةٍ

    وَسَطاً بِناديها لِخِطبةِ فَيصَلِ

    the champions of every art of rhetoric submit to him

    in the midst of their assembly when he delivers a decisive address.

  36. حَتّى يُرى عَبدُ الحَميدِ حَميدَ ما

    أَنشاه مِن إِنشاء حُسن تَرسّلِ

    Even Abd al-Hamid appears praiseworthy for what

    he composed in the art of elegant correspondence,

  37. وَاِبنُ العَميدِ عَميدَ نَشر بَلاغةٍ

    في طَيِّها دُرُّ النِظامِ المُرسَلِ

    and Ibn al-Amid, a pillar of spreading eloquence,

    within whose folds lie the pearls of flowing verse.

  38. لَكَ هَضبةُ العِلمِ الَّتي فرعت عُلا

    هَامَ النَعائم وَالسماك الأَعزَلِ

    Yours is a summit of learning that rises above

    the heads of al-Na'aim and al-Simak al-Azal.

  39. لَو رامَ رِسطاليسُ يُدركُ شأوَها

    لَم يَستَطع وَكَذا الرَئيسُ أَبو علي

    Were Aristotle to try to reach its height,

    he could not, nor could the Master Abu Ali.

  40. مَولاي يا مَن جُود راحَةِ كَفِّهِ

    يَربُو عَلى جودِ السَحاب الأَهطَلِ

    My lord, the generosity of your open palm

    surpasses that of the heaviest rain cloud.

  41. لا تُغبِبُ الأَنواءُ ربعك إِنَّه

    مِن حادِثِ الأَيّامِ أَحصنُ مَعقَلِ

    May the rain stars never fail your dwelling: it is

    the strongest refuge against the accidents of time.

  42. وَليَهنِ مَنصِبُ دَولَةٍ قُلِّدتَهُ

    عَفواً كَما مِن قَبلُ قيلَ لأَوّلِ

    May the office of state with which you were invested rejoice,

    freely bestowed, as was said of its first holder.

  43. ما مَنصبٌ إِلّا وَقَدرُكَ فَوقَهُ

    فَبِمَجدِكَ السامي يُهَنّا ما يَلي

    There is no office that your worth does not exceed;

    your lofty glory lends honor to whatever you hold.

  44. وَإِلَيكَ وافَت غادةٌ أَمسَت عَلى

    فَلَكِ القَريضِ بِوَصفِ مَدحِكَ تَعتَلي

    And to you has come a maiden who has risen

    through the sphere of poetry in praise of you.

  45. شامِيّةُ المَنشا غَدَت لَكِنَّها

    طائيّةُ الأَنسابِ مَهما تُسألِ

    Syrian in origin she has become, yet

    she is Tayyite in lineage whenever asked.

  46. لَو أَنَّها عَرَضَت لِقُسٍّ خاطِباً

    بِعكاظهِ لعرَته هِزّةُ أَفكلِ

    Had she appeared before Quss as he preached

    at Ukaz, a trembling fit would have seized him.

  47. قَصَدَت إِلى عُليا ذُراكَ لَعَلَّ أَن

    يَرنُو لَها لَحظُ السَعادَةِ مِن عَلِ

    She has sought the loftiest reaches of your court, hoping

    that fortune's glance might look down upon her.

  48. فَتَعودُ صادِرَةً وَقَد أَنهَلتها

    مِن وَردِكَ الفَيّاضِ أَعذبَ مَنهَلِ

    Then she would depart, having drunk her fill

    from your overflowing spring, the sweetest watering place.

  49. لا زِلتَ مَحروسَ الجَنابِ بِدَولةٍ

    تَسمو بِسُؤدد مَجدِها المُتَأَثِّلِ

    May your domain remain protected by a state

    that rises through the noble prestige of its deep-rooted glory.

  50. وَعراصُ رَبعِكَ لِلوُفودِ مَحَطَّةٌ

    تَأوي لَها آمالُ كُلِّ مُؤمّلِ

    May the courts of your dwelling be a stopping place for visitors,

    where the hopes of every hopeful person take refuge,

  51. ما راقَ مَدحٌ في عُلاكَ وَما شَدَت

    وُرقُ الحَمائم في الغُصونِ المُيَّلِ

    as long as praise of your eminence delights and

    gray doves sing among the swaying branches,

  52. وَسَرى نَسيمُ اللُطفِ مِنكَ مُبَشِّراً

    بِبلوغِ آمالي بِغَيرِ تَعلُّلِ

    and the breeze of your kindness travels with glad tidings

    that my hopes will be fulfilled without delay.