Sol 6.1

  1. تحيةً وسلاماً أيها الشادي

    وعزةً واحتراماً أيها النادي

    Greetings and peace, O singer,

    and honor and respect, O assembly.

  2. أنستَ بالجمع أنسَ العائدين إلى

    أمين أوطانهم من وحشة الوادي

    You found comfort in the gathering, like those returning to

    the safe haven of their homelands from the valley's desolation.

  3. واستبقت النغماتُ الروحَ في جسدٍ

    أبلاه رائعُ إبراق وإرعاد

    And the melodies kept the soul within a body

    worn down by the terror of lightning and thunder.

  4. عيد الحزين على دنيا مضرَّجةٍ

    لو كان يشغل محزونٌ بأعياد

    A festival for the grieving in a bloodstained world—

    if a grieving soul could be distracted by festivals.

  5. ذكرتَ قومك بالفاروق ترشدهم

    وأنت فيهم لتذكير وإرشاد

    You reminded your people of al-Faruq, guiding them,

    and you are among them to remind and guide.

  6. أكبرته شكساً في جاهليته

    ومسلماً في سجايا الحاضر البادي

    You exalted him, headstrong in his pre-Islamic days,

    and as a Muslim, with the qualities of townsman and nomad.

  7. وصفتَ سيرةَ من كانت إشارته

    تغني الخلافةَ عن جند وقواد

    You described the life of one whose gesture

    spared the caliphate the need for troops and commanders;

  8. وَمنفذِ الحكم عدلاً من فراسته

    ورأيه قبل إقرار وإشهاد

    and who justly enforced verdicts through his discernment

    and his judgment, before confession and attestation;

  9. وطالبِ الحق في عزلٍ وتوليةٍ

    يصونه بين تقريب وإبعاد

    and who sought justice in dismissal and appointment,

    safeguarding it in favor and exclusion;

  10. واللابسِ الخشنِ البالي على بدنٍ

    قوامُه الواهن الواهي من الزاد

    and who wore coarse, threadbare cloth upon a body

    barely sustained by meager provisions.

  11. يرعى وليس لديه من رعيته

    سوى حسيبٍ وعدَّادٍ ونقَّاد

    He governed, with none among his subjects

    but reckoners, tally-keepers, and critics;

  12. ومن قضى راضياً عن نفسه ثقة

    بربه بعد إصدار وإيراد

    and he died content with himself, trusting

    in his Lord after sending forth and bringing in.

  13. ورب ملكٍ بفرد طال سؤدده

    ولم يطل بجماعات وأفراد

    And many a kingdom's glory rose through one man,

    but did not rise through groups and individuals.

  14. خير الممالكِ ما يبني على شرفٍ

    ورحمةٍ لا على غل وأحقادِ

    The best of kingdoms is that which builds on honor

    and mercy, not on rancor and grudges.

  15. وخير محتكمٍ من كان في يده

    رد الشعوبِ رفاقاً غيرَ أضداد

    And the finest arbiter is one who holds the power

    to make peoples companions, not adversaries.

  16. الفتح بالعلم والعرفان لا بدمٍ

    يسيل من مهجٍ حرَّى وأكباد

    Conquest comes through learning and understanding, not through blood

    flowing from burning hearts and livers.

  17. هنا السلام فألق الشعر مبتدعاً

    وانشره بين ميامينٍ وأمجاد

    Here is peace; so recite poetry inventively,

    and spread it among the blessed and the illustrious.

  18. عسى يُريح الحديثُ العذبُ أفئدةً

    ملتْ أحاديثَ طرَّادٍ ومنطاد

    May sweet discourse bring rest to hearts

    that have tired of talk of cruisers and airships.

  19. قد مثل اللّه لطف اللّه في نجب

    غُرِّ الشمائل أقمارٍ وآساد

    God has embodied God's kindness in noble men,

    radiant in character—moons and lions.

  20. مواسِمُ الشعر من عالي مكارمهم

    مثل الربى والسحاب الرائح الغادي

    Poetry's festivals spring from their lofty generosity,

    like the hills and the clouds that pass at evening and morning.

  21. بنو الشآم التي ما زلت أذكرها

    وفي حشايا إليها غلة الصادي

    Sons of al-Sham, which I have never ceased to remember,

    and deep within me is a parched man's burning thirst for her.

  22. والشام إن قربتْ من مصر أو بعدتْ

    أهلٌ لمنتَجعٍ سهلٌ لمرتاد

    And al-Sham, whether near to Egypt or far away,

    is kin to the refuge-seeker, welcoming to the visitor.

  23. كفى بميكالَ في أخلاقه ملكاً

    يسير في مصر سيرَ السيد الغادي

    Mikal is king enough in his character,

    walking through Egypt like a lord setting out in the morning.

  24. يضيف كلَّ جميلٍ من مآثره

    إلى مآثر آباءٍ وأجداد

    He adds each fine deed of his own

    to the noble deeds of fathers and forefathers.

  25. يعيد في زمن السلطان أحمدَ ما

    أحيا الرشيدُ به آدابَ بغداد

    He restores, in Sultan Ahmad's time, that with which

    al-Rashid brought Baghdad's literature to life.

  26. أهدى إليك نفيساً من جواهره

    هو الفخارُ لأقرانٍ وأنداد

    He gave you a precious gem from among his jewels,

    a source of pride for peers and equals.

  27. جوائزٌ هي برءُ الشعر أدركه

    وكم أقامَ بلا آسٍ وعوَّاد

    Prizes are the cure that has reached poetry—

    and how long it lay without a healer or visitors!

  28. وراح يأخذ من غالي قرائحهم

    نفائساً من أماديحٍ وإنشاد

    And he began drawing from their precious talents

    treasures of praise-poems and recitation.

  29. رأيت ما هاج أشعاري فأنطقني

    وكنت أرجىء أشعاري لميعاد

    I saw what stirred my verse and made me speak,

    though I had been postponing my verse until an appointed time.

  30. وذاك بعضٌ لما أخفي وأكتمه

    إن الزمان لأمثالي بمرصاد

    And that is a part of what I hide and keep secret;

    indeed, time lies in ambush for the likes of me.