Sol 6.1

  1. أَيَا عَرَبَ الجَرْعَاءِ مَنْ أَيْمَنِ الشِّعْبِ

    بِكُمْ لاَ بِشَيءٍ غَيْرِكُمْ شَغَفُ الصِّبَّ

    O Arabs of al-Jarʿāʾ, from the ravine’s right side,

    For you—not for anything besides you—is the ardent lover’s passion.

  2. أَلَمْ تَعِدُونَا أَنْ نَرَاكُمْ بِذِي الفَضَا

    أَظُنُّكُمُ تَعْنَونَ أَنَّ الغَضَا قَلْبِي

    Did you not promise us that we would see you at Dhū al-Faḍā?

    I think you mean that my heart is the ghaḍā shrub.

  3. غَرَاماً بِكُمْ والنَّارُ يَضْرمُهَا الصَّبَا

    أَقَولُ عَلى نَارِي بِكُمْ لِلصَّبَا هُبِّي

    In passion for you, while the east wind kindles the fire,

    I tell the east wind: “Blow upon my fire for you!”

  4. وَوَجْدَاً إذا مِلْتُمْ إليَّ معَ الهَوَى

    أقولُ اعتذاراً يَحْسُنُ الميلُ للقُضْبِ

    And in longing, when you incline toward me with desire,

    I say in excuse: “Swaying befits the boughs.”

  5. وَإِنْ تُوقِدُوا نَارَ الحَرِيقِ فَكَمْ أَضَا

    وَنَارُ فُؤادِي فِي حَشَا الْوَالِهِ الصِّبِّ

    And if you kindle the consuming fire, how often it has shone—

    and my heart’s fire lies in the breast of the distraught, ardent lover.

  6. وَإِنْ تَجِدُوا بِالشِّعْبِ سَيْلاً وَلُجَةً

    فَأَنْتُمْ بِمَجْرَى الدَّمْعِ يَا سَاكِني قَلْبِي

    And if you find a torrent and a deep pool in the ravine,

    then you are in the channel of tears, O dwellers in my heart.

  7. سَبَتْنَا الجُفُونُ البَابِليَّاتُ مِنْكُمُ

    وَإِنَّ لُبَانَاتِ الُّلَباءَةِ فِي الحَبِّ

    Your Babylonian eyelids have taken us captive.

    And surely the longings of [unclear word] lie in love—

  8. نُصَيْصٌ فَهلاَّ لِلرَقِيبَ وَعَاذِلٍ

    لِكَيْمَا يَبِيتَا فِي عَذَابٍ وَفِي نَصْبِ

    a little text [reading uncertain]; why not for the watcher and a reproacher,

    so that both might spend the night in torment and weariness?

  9. غَزَالُكُمُ ذَاكَ المُمَنَّعُ وَصْلُهُ

    أَبَاحَ حِمى دَمْعِى وَبَالَغَ في نَهْبى

    That gazelle of yours, union with whom is withheld,

    has laid open my tears’ sanctuary and gone far in plundering me.

  10. هُوَ الظَّبْىُ لاَ بَلْ صَائِدُ الظَّبْيِ لَحْظُهُ

    وَيَا مَا أُحَيْلاَ الصَّيْدَ في شَرَكِ الهُدْبِ

    He is the gazelle—no, rather, his glance is a hunter of gazelles.

    And oh, how sweet is capture in the snare of eyelashes!

  11. حَلاَ لَحْظُهُ وَالمُرُّ فِي الحُبِّ وَصْلُهُ

    وَلَمْ تَحْلُ حَتَّى مَرَّ فِي رِيقِهِ العَذْبِ

    His glance is sweet; what is bitter in love is union with him.

    And it did not grow sweet until it passed through his sweet saliva.

  12. عَلَى عِطْفِهِ حَتَّى مِنَ الوُرْقِ غَيْرَتِي

    أَلَمْ تَرَهَا هَاجَتْ عَلَى الغُصُنِ الرَّطْبِ

    My jealousy over his graceful side extends even to the gray doves.

    Have you not seen it flare over the tender branch?

  13. فَإِنْ ذَبَلَتْ أَجْفَانُهَا وَهْيَ نَرْجِسٌ

    فَمِنْ طُوْلِ مَا أَدْمَنْتُ فِيهِنَّ مِنْ شُرْبِ

    And if her eyelids have wilted, though they are narcissi,

    it is from my long addiction to drinking from them.

  14. وَمِنْ عَجَبٍ وَهْىَ الكُؤُوُسُ فَمَا لَهَا

    إِذَا كُسِّرَتْ صَحَّتْ وَدَارَتْ عَلى الشَّربِ

    And how strange—they are cups—why is it

    that, when broken, they grow whole and circulate among the drinkers?

  15. فَهَلْ عَوْدَةٌ فِي لَيْلَةٍ مِنْ ذَوَابَةٍ

    عَنِ البَدْرِ مِنْ ظَلْمَائِهَا دَائِماً تُنْبى

    Is there, then, a return in a night made of a tress,

    that, from its darkness, ever speaks of the full moon?

  16. تَرَقَّى بِهَا قَلْبِي إلى سِرِّ وَقْدِهِ

    سَلاَمٌ على مَنْ تَحْتَهُ سُبَحُ الرَّطْبِ

    My heart ascended through it to the secret of its burning.

    Peace upon the one beneath whom are rosaries of fresh dates.

  17. أَرَادَ تَوَلَّى الحَلَّ وَالعَقْدَ عِنْدَهُ

    فَجَارَ عَلَى المسَجْوُنِ مَنْ مُقْتَضَى الجَذْبِ

    He sought to take charge of loosing and binding in his presence;

    then he wronged the prisoner, as attraction required.

  18. دَعَانيِ انْكِسَارُ الجَفْنِ مِنْهُ لِضَمَّةٍ

    فَجَاوَبَنِي مَا لِلغُصُونِ سِوَى الهُضْبِ

    The drooping of his eyelid invited me to an embrace;

    then he answered me: “Boughs have nothing but the hills.”

  19. وَغَرَّدْتُ تَغْرِيدَ الحَمَامِ تَوَصُّلاً

    إليْهِ لِمَا بَيْنَ الحَمَائِمَ وَالقُضْبِ

    And I cooed as doves coo, seeking a way

    to him, because of the bond between doves and boughs.

  20. وَقُلْتُ زَكَاةُ الحُسْنِ فَرْضاً فَقَالَ مَا

    تَمِيلُ الغُصُونُ الوُرْقُ إلاَّ على النُّدْبِ

    And I said, “Beauty’s alms are obligatory.” He said, “Never

    do leafy boughs incline except toward the gallant.”