Sol 6.1

  1. ما عَناءُ الكَبيرِ بِالحَسناءِ

    وَهوَ مِثلُ الحَبابِ فَوقَ الماءِ

    Why should an old man trouble himself with a beauty,

    When he is like foam upon the water?

  2. يَتصابى وَلاتَ حينَ تَصابٍ

    بِعُيونِ المَها وَسِربِ الظِباءِ

    He plays the youth, though it is no time for youthful dalliance,

    With oryx eyes and a herd of gazelles.

  3. وَلَعَمري لَمّا تُحِبُّ فَتاةٌ

    يَفَناً لَو غَدا مِنَ الخُلَفاءِ

    By my life, no maiden loves

    A decrepit old man, even if he became one of the caliphs.

  4. وَتُحِبُّ الفَتى الرَقيقَ الحَواشي

    حُبَّ ذي الجَدبِ صادِقَ الأَنواءِ

    She loves the youth of delicate bearing,

    As a drought-stricken man loves unfailing rains.

  5. كَيفَ لا وَهوَ يَهنَأ النَقبَ مِنها

    بِهَناءٍ يَزيدُ في البُرَحاءِ

    How could she not, when he anoints her sores

    With tar ointment that heightens her burning anguish?

  6. لَحَكاها لَطافَةً وَحَكَتهُ

    فَهُما في الهَوى كَمَزجِ الهَواءِ

    He indeed resembles her in delicacy, and she resembles him;

    So in love they blend like air with air.

  7. لا كَصادٍ أَناخَ عِندَ قَليبِ

    دونَ دَلوٍ يُدلي بِهِ وَرِشاءِ

    Not like a thirsty man who halts beside a well,

    Without a bucket to lower or a rope.

  8. يَلحَظُ الماءَ حَسرَةً وَهُوَ مِنهُ

    مُتَدانٍ في حالَةِ المُتَنائي

    He gazes at the water in sorrow, though he is

    Near it, yet in the plight of one far away.

  9. كُلُّ قِرنٍ يُعِدُّ سَيفاً كَليلاً

    لِلِقاءٍ يَخونُهُ في اللِقاءِ

    Every combatant who readies a blunt sword

    For battle finds it betrays him in battle.

  10. فَمِنَ الرَأيِ أَن تَكونَ جَباناً

    سامِريّاً يَدينُ بِالإِنزِواءِ

    Thus prudence counsels that you be a coward,

    Like the Samiri, making seclusion your creed.

  11. عَجَباً كَم رَأَيتُ مالاً مَصوناً

    وَفُؤاداً نَهباً بِأَيدي النِساءِ

    How strange! How often I have seen wealth guarded,

    And a heart left as plunder in women's hands.

  12. وَإِذا حازِمٌ عَلى المالِ أَبقى

    فَقُواهُ أَحَقُّ بِالإِبقاءِ

    And if a prudent man takes care to preserve his wealth,

    His strength is more deserving of preservation.

  13. فَتَساوى الرِجالُ في مِثلِ هَذا

    فَالمَجانينُ فيهِ كَالعُقَلاءِ

    So men are alike in such a matter;

    The madmen are like the wise in it.

  14. أَيُّ خَيرٍ لِوالِدٍ في بَنيهِ

    وَهُوَ عَنهُم يَفِرُّ يَومَ الجَزاءِ

    What good are a father's sons to him,

    When he flees from them on the Day of Recompense?

  15. وَالتَقيُّ المُوَفَّقُ البَرُّ مِنهُم

    عَدَمٌ كَالسَماعِ بِالعَنقاءِ

    The godfearing, rightly guided, dutiful one among them

    Is nonexistent, like the Anqa known only by hearsay.

  16. وَإِذا ما الأَديبُ شُبِّهَ فيهِم

    جَرَّ أَذيالَهُ مِنَ الخُيَلاءِ

    And when one among them is taken for a man of letters,

    He trails his hems in arrogance,

  17. وَاِزدَرَى بِالشُيوخِ وَاِعتَرَضَ الدَأ

    ماءَ جَهلاً بِنَفثَةِ الرَقّاءِ

    Scorns the elders and challenges the vast

    Sea, in ignorance, with an incantator's breath.

  18. ذَنبٌ أَبتَرٌ لَعَمرُكَ خَيرٌ

    مِن طَويلٍ يُجَرُّ في الأَقذاءِ

    A stumpy tail, by your life, is better

    Than a long one dragged through filth.

  19. وَمِنَ الغَبنِ هَجرُ دارِ خُلودٍ

    وَبَقاءٍ وَوَصلُ دارِ الفَناءِ

    And it is a grievous loss to forsake an abode of eternity

    And permanence, and embrace an abode of extinction;

  20. وَاِشتِغالٌ بِفَرتَنَى وَبِلُبنى

    وَبِدَعدٍ عَن خِطبَةِ الحَوراءِ

    And to be preoccupied with Fartana and Lubna,

    And with Da'd, instead of seeking a houri's hand.

  21. وَلَئِن عادَ لَيلُ رَأسِيَ صُبحاً

    وَوَشَى بي شَيبي إِلى الحَسناءِ

    And though the night of my head has become morning,

    And my gray hair has betrayed me to the beauty,

  22. إِنَّ عودي لِعاجِمِيهِ لَصُلبٌ

    وَفُؤادي كَصارِمٍ مَضَّاءِ

    My wood is indeed hard to those who test it,

    And my heart is like a keen, cutting sword.

  23. وَأُقَضّي لُبانَتي وَأُرَوّي

    عامِلَ الرُمحِ مِن دَمِ العَذراءِ

    And I fulfill my desire and drench

    The spear's point with the virgin's blood.

  24. وَأَنا قُرَّةٌ لِعَينِ صَديقي

    وَقَذَىً في مَحاجِرِ الأَعداءِ

    And I am a delight to my friend's eye,

    And a mote in the eye sockets of my enemies.

  25. هَذَّبَتني نَوائِبُ الدَهرِ حَتّى

    صِرتُ كَالوَصلِ بَعدَ طولِ الجَفاءِ

    The calamities of time have refined me until

    I became like reunion after long estrangement.

  26. فَسَفيني تَجري بِأَطيَبِ ريحٍ

    لا بِريحٍ ضَعيفَةٍ نَكباءِ

    So my ships sail with the most favorable wind,

    Not with a feeble, cross-blowing wind.

  27. بِعَليِّ بَنِ تَوبَةٍ فازَ قِدحي

    وَسَمَت هِمَّتي عَلى الجَوزاءِ

    Through Ali ibn Tawba, my lot-arrow has won,

    And my ambition has soared above al-Jawza.

  28. فَهَنيئاً لَنا وَلِلدينِ قاضٍ

    مِثلُهُ عالِمٌ بِفَصلِ القَضاءِ

    Congratulations to us and the faith on a judge

    Like him, learned in delivering decisive judgment.

  29. يَحسُمُ الأَمرَ بِالسِياسَةِ وَالعَد

    لِ كَحَسمِ الحُسامِ لِلأَعداءِ

    He settles matters through governance and

    Justice, as a keen sword cuts down enemies.

  30. لَو إِياسٌ يَلقاهُ قالَ اِعتِرافاً

    غَلِطَ الواصِفونَ لي بِالذَكاءِ

    If Iyas met him, he would confess:

    Those who called me intelligent were mistaken.

  31. وَلَو أَنَّ الدُهاةَ مِن كُلِّ عَصرٍ

    خَبَروهُ دانوا لَهُ بِالدَهاءِ

    And if the shrewd men of every age

    Had tested him, they would bow to his shrewdness.

  32. أَو رَأَى أَحنَفٌ أَو أَحلَمُ مِنهُ

    حِلمَهُ ما اِنتَمَوا إِلى الحُلَماءِ

    Or if Ahnaf, or one more forbearing than he, saw

    His forbearance, they would not count themselves among the forbearing.

  33. لَو رَأَى المُنصِفونَ بَحرَ نَداهُ

    جَعَلوا حاتِماً مِنَ البُخَلاءِ

    If the fair-minded saw the sea of his generosity,

    They would rank Hatim among the misers.

  34. هُوَ أَوفى مِنَ السَمَوأَلِ عَهداً

    وَلَما زالَ مُغرَماً بِالوَفاءِ

    He keeps his pledges more faithfully than al-Samaw'al,

    And has never ceased to be enamored of fidelity.

  35. وَحَيا المُزنِ ذو حَياءٍ إِذا ما

    هَمَلَت كَفُّهُ بِوَبلِ العَطاءِ

    And the rain of the clouds is ashamed whenever

    His palm streams with a downpour of gifts.

  36. يَشهَدُ العالِمونَ في كُلِّ فَنٍّ

    أَنَّهُ كَالشِهابِ في العُلَماءِ

    The learned in every discipline testify

    That he is like a meteor among scholars.

  37. وَقُضاةُ الزَمانِ أَرضٌ لَدَيهِ

    وَهُوَ مِن فَوقِهِم كَأُفُقِ السَماءِ

    The judges of the age are earth beside him,

    And above them he is like the horizon of heaven.

  38. لَتَعَرَّضتُ مَدحَهُ فَكَأَنّي

    رُمتُ بَحراً مُساجِلاً بِالدِلاءِ

    I have indeed attempted his praise, yet it is as though

    I challenged an ocean to a bucket-drawing contest.

  39. فَأَنا مُفحَمٌ عَلى أَنَّ خَيلي

    لا تُجارى في حَلبَةِ الشُعَراءِ

    So I am left speechless, although my horses

    Cannot be matched on the poets' racecourse.

  40. لَكَساني بِمَجدِهِ ثَوبَ فَخرٍ

    طالَ حَتّى جَرَرتُهُ مِن وَرائي

    He has indeed clothed me, through his glory, in a robe of pride;

    It grew long until I dragged it behind me.

  41. وَلَو أَنصَفتُهُ وَذاكَ قَليلٌ

    كانَ خَدّي لِرِجلِهِ كَالحِذاءِ

    And if I gave him his due—and even that were little—

    My cheek would be a shoe for his foot.

  42. فَأَنا عَبدُهُ وَذاكَ فَخاري

    وَجَمالي بَينَ الوَرى وَبَهائي

    So I am his servant, and that is my pride,

    And my beauty among humankind, and my splendor.

  43. وَثَنائي وَقفٌ عَلَيهِ وَشُكري

    وَدُعائي لَهُ بِطولِ البَقاءِ

    And my praise is reserved for him, and my thanks,

    And my prayer for him to live long.