Sol 6.1

  1. سقى اللّه سوحاً منبتي من جنابِها

    وبارك في قُطانها ورحابها

    May God water the grounds from whose precincts I sprang,

    And bless their inhabitants and spacious courts.

  2. وسحت شآبيب الرضا ببشامها

    ولا فتئت مغبوطة بشبابها

    May showers of favor pour upon her balsam trees,

    And may she never cease being envied for her young men.

  3. فرغت لها من كل همّ وإن نأَت

    وخلفتُ نفي لا تريم ببابها

    I have devoted myself to her, free of every care, though she is far away,

    And left myself [reading uncertain] at her door, never departing.

  4. وإن ارتباط النفس في عرصاتها

    شهود يُريح النفس بين إغترابها

    The soul's attachment to her grounds

    Is a presence that comforts it amid exile.

  5. وكيف سلوي وارتياحي بغيرها

    وعنبرة الأكوان نفس تُرابها

    How could I forget her or find repose elsewhere,

    When her very soil is the ambergris of the worlds?

  6. أهابت بشكواها إلينا افتقادنا

    وفيها إلينا فوق أضعاف ما بها

    Her complaint to us has stirred our longing for her,

    And her yearning toward us exceeds manyfold the sorrow she bears.

  7. إذا لاح برق أوقدت في جوانحي

    لواعجَ تنسى النار لفح اهابها

    When lightning flashes, she kindles in my breast

    Burning pangs that make fire forget the scorching of its own skin.

  8. ولم تقدح الشكوى شرارة مهجتي

    ونيران شوق النفس ملء اهابها

    Complaint did not strike the spark of my heart,

    For the fires of the soul's longing already fill its skin.

  9. ولكن شكوى الحب للحب بثه

    مزيد تباريح الجوى في عذابها

    But love's complaint to love, its outpouring,

    Adds fiercer pangs of passion to its torment.

  10. بنفسي من تشكو إلى ذي صبابَةٍ

    وليت النوى طارت مطار غرابها

    My soul would ransom her who complains to one consumed by longing,

    And would that separation flew the flight of its raven.

  11. بحكم بنات الدهر فارقتُ إلفَها

    وسلني عنها لم أضق عن جوابها

    By the decree of Time's daughters, I parted from her companionship;

    Ask me about them: I am not at a loss to answer.

  12. بهن تركتُ الالف رغماً وأنهُ

    لترك حياة النفس بين شعابها

    Through them I left my companions unwillingly, and that

    Was indeed leaving the soul's life amid her ravines.

  13. خليل شان الدهر بين مشتت

    فما الفة الاثنين إلا اعتِنا بها

    Friend, Time's way is a scattering separation;

    Two people's fellowship is merely an object of its concern.

  14. ولولا ولوع الدهر بالبين لم تزل

    يتيمة هذا البحر تحت عبابها

    Were Time not enamored of separation, there would still remain

    The matchless pearl of this sea beneath her surging waves.

  15. ولا رجّعت فوق الفنون حنينها

    هتوف شجتها مثلها بغيابها

    Nor would a plaintive song echo above the branches

    From a calling bird grieved by the absence of another like herself.

  16. ولا خليت دور الفضائل والتقى

    وطارت أعاصير الفنا بصَحابها

    Nor would the homes of virtue and piety be emptied,

    And extinction's whirlwinds carry their companions away.

  17. أما هكذا الاقدار تنفذ حكمها

    بلى إن هذا خصلة من عجابها

    Is this not how the fates enforce their decree?

    Indeed, this is one of their wondrous traits.

  18. تريد الأماني أن تقر قرارها

    وتابى لها الاقدار غير انتيابها

    Hopes desire to settle in their resting place,

    But the fates allow them only recurring disturbance.

  19. على عجمات الصبر شجت قلوبنا

    ليمتاز رخو الصبر بين صلابها

    Against the hard tests of patience our hearts are wounded,

    So that weak endurance may be distinguished from the strong.

  20. بعيشكما هل تعَلمان وديعةً

    ولم تطرق الأكدار عتبة بابها

    By your lives, do you two know an entrusted treasure

    Whose doorstep sorrows have never struck?

  21. وهل مقلة لم يملأ الدمع غربها

    وهل كبد لم تحترق بمصابها

    Or an eye whose inner corner tears have never filled?

    Or a liver that has not burned from its affliction?

  22. أفيضا علي العذر إن تلك أسوقي

    لدى فعلات الدهر أهل صعابها

    Pour pardon upon me: these legs of mine

    Bear the hardships of Time's deeds.

  23. انلزم هذا الدهر خلة منصف

    تزول جبال الأرض قبل انقلابها

    Shall we compel this Time to adopt a fair man's character?

    Earth's mountains would vanish before its character changed.

  24. وللكل منهُ طعنة فوق نحره

    ولا تنثني للبرء إلا ثنى بها

    Everyone receives from it a thrust into his throat,

    And scarcely does the wound turn toward healing before it strikes again.

  25. ومن لي وللأيام إن تعقب امرءاً

    وقد فرغت كل النهى من عتابها

    Who will help me against the days when they pursue a man?

    Every discerning mind has ceased reproaching them.

  26. لقد كاشفتنا بالذي في ضميرها

    وعم الورى ما أنفقت من جوابها

    They have laid bare to us what is in their heart,

    And the answer they have dispensed has reached all creation.

  27. لأعَمد ممن ينسب الغدر نحوها

    وتصريفها فرع لأصل صوابها

    I would address those who charge them with treachery,

    Though their workings branch from the root of their rightness.

  28. ألم تظهر التحقيق عن ذات طبعها

    فما ثقة الأحرار منها بعابها

    Have they not revealed the truth about their very nature?

    Free men's trust in them is not their fault.

  29. ومن ظن بالأيام ما ليس خلقها

    أضاف لها ما لم يكن من حسابها

    Whoever assumes of the days what is not their nature

    Attributes to them what was never in their reckoning.

  30. أفادت ذوي الأبصار كيف اقتضاؤها

    بما أتقنوا من درسهم في كتابها

    They have taught those with insight how their exactions work,

    Through the lessons they mastered in their book.

  31. فاذسقت المخدوع شهداً بكاسها

    فقد بَصّرته لو درى كأس صابها

    If they give the deceived one honey from their cup,

    Their cup of bitter sap has already warned him, if he understood.

  32. شكا الناس من أيامهم بعد فوزها

    لهم بين بحري مائها وسرابها

    People complain of their days after the triumphs they won

    For them between the twin seas of their water and mirage.

  33. ولا أشتكي منها ولستُ ألومها

    على الحلو والمر الذي في شرابها

    Yet I do not complain of them, nor do I blame them

    For the sweetness and bitterness within their drink.

  34. ومن كشف الأيام كشفي خصالها

    وشاهَدَ كنه الحال خلف حجابها

    Whoever unveils the days' qualities as I have,

    And witnesses the essence of things behind their veil,

  35. رماها بصير لا تقيم ظهورها

    عليه وألقى حبله في رقابها

    Strikes at them clear-eyed; they cannot raise their backs

    Against him, and he casts his rope around their necks.

  36. على أنني والصبر بعد أحبتي

    كهيم فلاةٍ أثكلت بذئابها

    Yet I, with patience after my loved ones' loss,

    Am like thirsty desert camels bereaved by its wolves.

  37. متى أدعي صبراً لماضي عهودهم

    ولستُ بلاقيها عقيب دهابها

    How can I claim patience for their bygone days,

    When I shall never meet them after their passing?

  38. عهود كأمثال العرائس ودّعت

    وواحزنا حادي المنايا حدَابها

    Days like brides have bid farewell,

    And—alas my grief!—death's camel-driver drove them onward.

  39. أقمت لعهد الحزن بعد انصرافها

    ظعائن تم السير اثر ركابها

    After their departure I marshaled, for sorrow's season,

    Traveling litters whose journey was completed behind their mounts.

  40. ابعد بني السبطين في الأرض سلوة

    وقد أضمرتهم في قلوب يبابها

    After the descendants of the two Grandsons, is there solace on earth,

    When she has hidden them in the hearts of her wastes?

  41. ابعد النجوم المشرقات هدايَة

    وقد أفلت لا مرتجى لإِيابها

    Is there guidance after the shining stars

    Have set, with no hope of their return?

  42. ابعد انفرادي عن عرانين هاشم

    هناء وفي عيني انهداد قبابها

    After my separation from Hashim's foremost men,

    Is there joy, with their domes collapsing before my eyes?

  43. فيا لسراة القوم أين مقركم

    معهادكم قد عمرت بخرابها

    O nobles of the people, where is your dwelling?

    Your haunts are now filled with their own ruin.

  44. وعهدي بكم والنور في الأرض ساطع

    بأوجهكم فاليوم أينَ ثوى بها

    I remember you when light shone upon the earth

    From your faces; where today does it dwell in her?

  45. وعهدي بكم أن الرسول بحارها

    فماذا قضى وحيا بغور عُبابها

    I remember you: the Messenger was her seas;

    What, then, decreed so swiftly the sinking of her waves?

  46. وعهدي بكم أهل الكساء كساءها

    فواحربا قد عرّيَتْ من ثيابها

    I remember you, People of the Cloak, as her covering;

    Alas, she has been stripped of her garments!

  47. وعهدي بكم والعلم في كبد السما

    سراجاً فما بال الظلام سَجى بها

    I remember you when knowledge, in the heart of heaven,

    Was a lamp; why has darkness spread over her?

  48. وعهدي بكم والأرض أنتم غيوثها

    فقد أجدبَت من غيثها وسحابها

    I remember you as the nourishing rains of earth;

    Now she lies barren, bereft of rain and clouds.

  49. بنى العلم ما بالاختيار كسرتُمُ

    معاهده بالحزن بعد انتصابها

    Sons of knowledge, not by choice have you broken

    Its institutions with sorrow after they stood erect.

  50. لقد كان هذا العلم نفساً وروحها

    جباتكم ما الشان بعد اقتضابها

    This knowledge was a soul, and its spirit

    Was your life [reading uncertain]; what remains after it was cut short?

  51. مدينته أنتم مباني عروشها

    وأنتم بني الزهراء أبناء بابها

    You are the structures of the thrones of its city,

    And you, sons of al-Zahra, are sons of its gate.

  52. فمن لي بالأنوار بعد انطفائها

    وعضتكم أم اللهيم بنابها

    Who will bring me the lights after their extinction,

    When Umm al-Luhaym has bitten you with her fang?

  53. أفيقوا بني المختار بعد هجوعكم

    تدع سنة المعروف بعد انتحابها

    Awake, sons of the Chosen One, after your slumber:

    The tradition of goodness calls after its sobbing.

  54. أفيقوا تداعى الفضل وانقض اسه

    وعزّ على العلياء ندب انتدابها

    Awake: excellence is collapsing, its foundation has fallen.

    Glory can scarcely find a champion to answer her call.

  55. أفيقوا فإن المكرمات تعطلت

    معالمها واندك مرسى هضابها

    Awake, for noble deeds have fallen into neglect,

    Their landmarks abandoned, their hills' anchorage crumbled.

  56. زكت بهم الأكوان حيناً وبوركت

    فيا بركات أفرغت من عيابها

    Through them the worlds flourished for a time and were blessed;

    O blessings poured out from their treasure chests!

  57. وكنتم نصاب الفضل في الخلق حقبةً

    فمن للعلى بعد افتقاد انتصابها

    For an age you were excellence's pillar among creation;

    Who will serve the heights now that their support is lost?

  58. فيا غرباء الأرض هل هي نجعة

    تمنّ برجعاها عقيب اغترابها

    O earth's strangers, is this a journey to fresh pasture

    That will grant a return after its wandering?

  59. فهيهات لا أقفال والرمس حائل

    وأينق أظفار الردى في هبابها

    Far from it: there is no homecoming, and the grave stands between,

    While the she-camels of death's claws rush in frenzy.

  60. أرى الأرض تدري أنكم من سيوفها

    فمن دابها أغمادكم في قرابها

    I see that earth knows you are among her swords;

    Sheathing you in her scabbards is her habit.

  61. فيا لسميط ما رضائي بعيشةٍ

    خلافكم إلا رضا بذهابها

    O Sumayt, my acceptance of a life

    After you is only acceptance of its passing.

  62. أجدّكمُ هذا الرحيل مجدّد

    وقد بنتم للنفس طول اكتئابها

    In earnest, this departure renews,

    Now you have parted, the soul's prolonged sorrow.

  63. أعيشاً وقد ألقى الجران طليحكم

    بزيزاء تذروها الرياح بما بها

    Am I to live, when your weary camel has laid down its neck

    On a bare upland whose contents the winds scatter?

  64. نوعتم إلى الارماس وَحياً وتلكم

    لعمركم لا منثنى عن مآبها

    You went swiftly to the graves, and those—

    By your lives—are a final abode from which there is no turning.

  65. لقد أنطقتني بالرثاء صفاتكم

    وإذ أخرستني دهشتي بانسلابها

    Your qualities have made me speak in elegy,

    Even as shock at their loss struck me dumb.

  66. ولو أن تابين الرثاء مبرّد

    أسا النفس لكن مسعر لالتهابها

    If only the commemorative praise of elegy cooled

    The soul's grief; instead, it kindles its blaze.

  67. أحباي برح الطاعنينَ مبرح

    ولكن عزاء النفس فضل احتسابها

    My loved ones, the anguish of departing travelers is grievous;

    But the soul's solace is the merit of seeking God's reward.

  68. تذوب الليالي من أسى بين أضلعي

    بمعترك بيني وبين حِرابها

    The nights melt from grief between my ribs,

    On a battlefield between me and their spears.

  69. ولو حجزت بيني وبين صروفها

    صروف لكان العزم لي في ضرابها

    If, between me and their vicissitudes, there intervened

    Other turns of fortune, I would have resolve to fight them.

  70. ولكنها تعنو لذل انتقابها

    مقادير تفري جلدها باختلابها

    But they bow to the humiliation of being pierced

    By decrees that rend their skin as they reap it.

  71. وأوشك مقدار يؤم حصادها

    بلا دافع يأتي بحين انتكابها

    And near is a decree intent on their harvest,

    Coming unopposed at the hour of their affliction.

  72. كذا كل شيء ما خلا اللّه مُنتهٍ

    لحد ومرمى نفسه لتبابها

    Thus everything, except God, comes to an end,

    At a limit, its own destination set toward ruin.

  73. فيا عرصة الأبرار ما عنك رغبة

    وإن دام بالاشباح طول مغابها

    O abode of the righteous, I have no wish to turn from you,

    Even if the absence of their bodily forms endures.

  74. وني لأرجو أن فيك بقيةً

    من البيت تسعى في صلاح منابها

    And I surely hope a remnant remains within you

    Of the House, striving to fulfill its charge well.

  75. وتعمر رسماً شدّ ما التمأت بهِ

    شعائر دين اللّه بعد انشعابها

    And rebuilds an abode where firmly were united

    The rites of God's religion after their dispersal.

  76. وتجري مياه الفضل في مدح روضةٍ

    بكف أمين الوحي فيض شرابها

    And makes excellence's waters flow in praise of a garden,

    Whose overflowing drink lies in the hand of revelation's faithful keeper.

  77. هنا مطمح الأمال في عثرة الهوى

    لان كمال المصطفى من ذنابها

    Here is the highest aim of hope amid love's stumbling,

    For the Chosen One's perfection comes from her following.

  78. فلا توحشونا من معالي أصولكم

    وطبع فروع الأصل صدق انجذابها

    So do not estrange us from your ancestors' lofty virtues;

    A root's branches naturally incline faithfully toward it.

  79. عليكم سلام اللّه ما السحب أمطرت

    وروى شباماً رائنات انسكابها

    God's peace upon you as long as clouds bring rain,

    And their enveloping torrents water Shibam,

  80. وعلل هاتيك المشاهد رَوحُه

    وَرَيحانُه ما لاح برق جنابها

    And His mercy refreshes those shrines again,

    And His fragrant bounty, as long as lightning flashes over their precinct.