Sol 6.1

  1. حُورٌ بَعَثنَ رَسُولاً في مُلاطَفَةٍ

    ثَقفاً إِذا أَسقَطَ النَسَّاءَةُ الوَهِمُ

    Fair-eyed women sent a messenger with gentle overtures,

    a shrewd man, where a forgetful blunderer would fail,

  2. إِلَيَّ أَن إِيتِنا هُدءٍ إِذا غَفَلَت

    أَحراسُنا إِفتَضَحنا إِن هُمُ عَلِمُوا

    to me: “Come to us in the still of night, when

    our guards are heedless; we are disgraced if they find out.”

  3. فَجِئتُ أَمشي عَلى هَولٍ أُجَشَّمُهُ

    تَجَشُّمُ المَرءِ هَولاً في الهَوى كَرَمُ

    So I came walking amid terrors I was made to bear;

    to brave danger for love is nobility.

  4. إِذا تَخَوَّفتُ مِن شَيءٍ أَقُولُ لَهُ

    قَد جَفَّ فامضِ بِما قَد قُدِّرَ القَلَمُ

    Whenever I feared something, I would say to it,

    “Press on: the pen has dried upon what was decreed.”

  5. أَمشي كَما حَرَّكت رِيحٌ يَمانِيَةٌ

    غُصناً مِنَ البانِ رَطباً طَلَّهُ الرِهَمُ

    I walked as a wind from Yemen sways

    a fresh bough of the bān tree, bedewed by gentle rain,

  6. في حُلةٍ مِن طِرازِ السُوسِ مُشرَبَةٍ

    تَعفُو بِهَدّابِها ما تُندِبُ القَدَمُ

    in a dyed robe of Sūs workmanship,

    whose fringe erased the marks my footsteps left.

  7. وَهُنَّ في مَجلِسٍ خالٍ وَلَيسَ بِهِ

    عَينٌ عَلَيهِنَّ أَخشاها وَلا بَرَمُ

    They were in a secluded gathering, with no

    watchful eye upon them that I feared, nor any tiresome intruder.

  8. لَما بَلَغتُ إِزاءَ البابِ مُكتَتِماً

    وَطالِبُ الحاج تَحتَ اللَيلِ مُكتَتِمُ

    When I reached the doorway, keeping myself hidden—

    one pursuing his desires keeps hidden beneath the night—

  9. سَدَّدنَ لي أَعيُناً نُجلاً كَما نَظَرَت

    أُدمٌ هِجانٌ أَتاها مُصعَب قَطِمُ

    they trained their wide eyes on me, like the gaze

    of pale, purebred she-camels approached by a lustful, untamed stallion.

  10. قالَت كِلابَةُ مَن هَذا فَقُلتُ لَها

    أَنا الَّذي أَنتِ مِن أَعدائِهِ زَعَمُوا

    Kilāba said, “Who is this?” And I told her,

    “I am the one whose enemies they claim you are among.

  11. إِنّي امرُؤلَجَّ بي حُبٌ فَاحرَضَني

    حَتّى بَليِتُ وَحَتّى شَفَّني السَقَمُ

    I am a man beset by love, which has wasted me away,

    until I grew worn, until illness left me emaciated.

  12. لا تَذكُرِيني لِأَعداءٍ لَو أَنَّهُمُ

    مِن بُغضِنا أُطعِمُوا الحِمى إذن طَعِمُوا

    Do not speak of me to enemies who, if they

    were fed fever, would swallow it out of hatred for us.

  13. فانعِمي نَعمَةً تُجزَي بِأَحسَنِها

    فَرُبَّما مَسَّنى مِن أَهلِكِ النِعَمُ

    Grant a favor, and receive the finest recompense for it;

    for favors from your family have often reached me:

  14. سِترُ المُحبِينَ في الدُنيا لَعَلَّهُمُ

    أَن يُحدِثُوا تَوبَةً فيها إِذا أَثُموا

    shielding lovers in this world, in the hope that they

    may turn to repentance here if they have sinned.

  15. إِذا أُناسٌ مِنَ الآناسِ جاوَرَهُم

    تَذَمَّمُوا بِاصطلاحٍ بَعدَما حُرِمُوا

    When others among mankind become their neighbors,

    they feel honor-bound to make peace after deprivation.

  16. هَذي يَميني رَهيناً بِالوَفاءِ لَكُم

    فَارضى بِها وَلا نفِ الكاشِح الرَغَمُ

    Here is my right hand, pledged to keep faith with you;

    accept it, and dust be upon the spiteful foe’s nose!”

  17. قالَت رَضِيتُ وَلَكِن جِئتَ في قَمَرٍ

    هَلّا تَلَبَّثتَ حَتّى تَدخُلُ الظُلَمُ

    She said, “I accept; but you have come in moonlight.

    Why did you not wait until the darkness came?”

  18. خَلَّت سَبِيلي كَما خَلَّيتُ ذا عُذُرٍ

    إِذا رَأَتهُ إِناثُ الخَيلِ تَنتَحِمُ

    She cleared my path, as I might loose a maned stallion

    at whose sight the mares begin to snort,

  19. حَتّى أَوَيتُ إلى بِيضٍ تَرائِبُها

    مِن زَيِّها الحَليُ وَالحنّاءُ وَالكَتَمُ

    until I joined fair-bosomed women,

    whose adornments included jewelry, henna, and katam dye.

  20. فَبِتُّ أَسقي بِأَكواسٍ أُعَلُّ بِها

    أَصنافَ شَتّى فَطابَ الطَعمُ وَالنَسَمُ

    So I spent the night serving cups and being plied with them,

    of many different kinds; sweet were the taste and breath.

  21. يَجَعَلنَني بَعدَ تَسويفٍ وَتَغديَةٍ

    بِحَيثُ يُثبِتُ غُرضَ الضَامِرِ الوَلَمُ

    After delays and promises of tomorrow, they placed me

    where the saddle-strap secures a lean mount’s girths.

  22. حَتّى بَدا ساطِعُ مِلفَجرِ تَحسبُهُ

    سَنا حَريقٍ بِلَيلٍ حِينَ يَضطَرِمُ

    Then dawn’s bright gleam appeared—you would think it

    the glow of a fire blazing in the night,

  23. كَغُرَّةِ الأَزهَرِ المَنسوبِ قَد حُسِرَت

    عَنهُ الجِلالُ تِلالاً وَهوَ مُصطَخِمُ

    like the blaze of a bright, pedigreed horse, stripped

    of coverings piled in heaps, his head held proudly high.

  24. وَدَّعتُهنَّ وَلا شَيءٌ يُراجِعُني

    إِلّا البَنانُ وَإِلّا الأُعيُنُ السُجُمُ

    I bade them farewell; nothing answered me

    except their fingertips and their streaming eyes.

  25. إِذا أَرَدنَ كَلامي عِندَهُ اِعتَرَضَت

    مِن دُونِهِ عَبَراتٌ فَاِنثَنى الكَلِمُ

    Whenever they wished to speak to me then, there intervened

    tears that barred the way, and their words fell back.

  26. لَمّا تَبَيَّنَّهُ وَالوَجدُ يَعطُفني

    لِحُبِّهِنَّ وَهُنَّ الوُلَّهُ الرُؤَمُ

    When they saw it clearly—while longing swayed me

    in love for them, those distraught, devoted women,

  27. تَمَيُّلَ التِينِ يَجري تَحتَهُ نَهَرٌ

    يَغطى وَتَرفَعُ مِن أَفنانِهِ النَسَمُ

    as a fig tree sways above a flowing river,

    shaded over, while breezes lift its branches—

  28. تَكادُ ما رُمنَ نَهضاً لِلقِيام مَعاً

    أَعجازُهُنَّ مِنَ الأَقطانِ تَنقَصِمُ

    whenever they tried to rise together, it seemed

    their haunches would snap away at the loins.

  29. يَخُونُها فَوقَها مَهضُةمَةٌ صُوِيَت

    كَما تَخُونُ عُكُومَ المُثعِلِ الخَضَمُ

    A slender, shrunken waist above failed to support them,

    as a bulky beast fails beneath heavy packs [wording uncertain].

  30. مُستَتنشِداتٌ وَقَد مالَت سَوالِفُها

    إِلى الوَلائِدِ لا غَيرَ الهَوى أَلَمُ

    They asked for verse, their necks already leaning

    toward the servant girls; love alone was their pain.

  31. لَمّا رَأَيتُ الَّذي يَلقَينَ مِن كَمَدٍ

    وَأَنَّ آخِرَ لَيلي سَوفَ يَنصَرِمُ

    When I saw the anguish they suffered,

    and that the last of my night would soon be over,

  32. لَبِستُ ساجي عَلى بُرديَّ مُنطَلِقاً

    تَحتَ الشَمالِ وَفيها قِطقِطٌ شَبِمُ

    I put my shawl over my two striped cloaks and set out

    beneath the north wind, with its icy drizzle,

  33. لا مُسرِعَ المَشي مِن خَوفٍ وَلا ثَبِطاً

    كَاللَيثِ أَبرَزَهُ تَحتَ الدُجى الرِهَمُ

    neither hastening my steps from fear nor lagging,

    like a lion driven out beneath the darkness by gentle rain,

  34. حَتّى أَوَيتُ إِلى طِرفٍ بِرابِيَةٍ

    كَأَنَّهُ مُعرَضاً مِن ساعَةٍ عَلَمُ

    until I reached a noble steed upon a rise,

    standing broadside awhile as though he were a mountain.

  35. لا يَكسِرُ الطَرفَ نَظّارٌ يُقالُ بِهِ

    مِن حِدَّةِ الطَرفِ لاستِيناسِهِ لَمَمُ

    He never lowers his gaze, ever watchful; one might say he had

    a touch of madness, so keen-eyed and alert was he.

  36. كَأَنَّما قَرصُ نابيهِ شَكِيمَتَهُ

    قَرشُ المُدى يَنتَحِيها الجازِ وَالخذِمُ

    The biting of his two canine teeth upon his bit seemed

    the scraping of knives worked by a shearer and a swift cutter.

  37. ضافى السَبِيبِ تَقُدُّ الغُرضَ زَفرَتُهُ

    نَهدٌ وَتَقصُرُ عَن أَضلاعِهِ الحزُمُ

    With flowing mane and tail, his exhalation splits the girths;

    powerfully built, the girth-straps fall short around his ribs.

  38. فَذاكَ حُصنُ الفَتى مِثليِ إِذا جَعَلَت

    بِالمُحصِنِينَ قُصُورُ الشِيدِ تَنهَدِمُ

    That is the fortress of a young man like me, when

    plastered palaces collapse upon those sheltering within.