Sol 6.1

  1. مَنازِلُنا التي لَبِسَت بِلاَها

    وحاَلت بَعدَ نُضرَتِها حِلاَها

    Our dwellings, which have clothed themselves in decay,

    and whose adornments have changed since their freshness.

  2. خَطَتكِ رِكابُنا لحُلولِ خَطبٍ

    أناخَ على رُباكِ فما خَطَاها

    Our mounts passed you by because a calamity

    had knelt upon your heights and had not passed them by.

  3. مَنحنَاها القِلَى كُرهاً ولَولا

    صُروفُ الدَّهرِ لم نَختَر قِلاها

    Reluctantly we gave them our aversion; were it not for

    time's vicissitudes, we would not have chosen to shun them.

  4. يَميلُ بنا الهَوى طَرَباً إليها

    فنَبكِيها ونَسعَدُ من بُكاها

    Longing draws us toward them in rapture,

    so we weep for them and join whoever mourns them.

  5. تَلقَّاها الزَّمانُ بخَفْضٍ عَيشٍ

    وعاودَها السُّرورُ كما بَدَاها

    May time welcome them to a life of ease,

    and joy revisit them as it first came to them.

  6. نَقولُ لها سَقاها الغيثُ رَيّاً

    وقلَّ لها مَقالُتنا سَقَاها

    We say for them, "May the rain water them to fullness,"

    yet too little for them is our saying, "May it water them."

  7. قُصورٌ حَلَّقَت في الجوِّ حتّى

    لقَصَّرَتِ الكَواكِبُ عن مَداها

    Palaces that soared into the sky so high

    that even the stars fell short of their reach.

  8. مُشَرَّفةٌ كأنَّ بَناتِ نَعشٍ

    تُناجيها إذا خَفقَت شِفاها

    Battlemented, as though the Daughters of Naʿsh

    whispered to them whenever their lips quivered.

  9. يُتَوِّجُها اصفرارُ الشمسِ تِبراً

    فَتُمْسِي وَهيَ مُذْهَبةٌ ذُراها

    The sun's yellow glow crowns them with raw gold,

    so evening finds their summits gilded.

  10. وجَنَّاتٌ يحيِّي الشَّربَ وَهناً

    جَنَى وَهَدَاتِها وجَنَى ربُاها

    And gardens where, late at night, the drinkers are greeted

    by the fruit of their hollows and the fruit of their heights.

  11. مُصَنْدَلةُ الثَّرى والريحُ تَأْبَى

    غرائبَ حُسنِها إلا اشتَباها

    Their soil is sandalwood-scented, and the breeze insists

    on resemblance among their wondrous beauties.

  12. إذا رَكَدَ الهواءُ علَت نسيماً

    وإن فُقِدَ الغَمَامُ طَغَتْ مِياها

    When the air lay still, they rose in breezes;

    and if clouds were absent, they overflowed with water.

  13. تَفرَّجَ وَشيُها عَن ماءِ وَردٍ

    يَفيضُ على لآلٍ من حَصاها

    Their brocade parted to reveal rosewater

    flowing over the pearls of their pebbles.

  14. إذا صلَّتْ بها أوقاتُ فَرضٍ

    جِباهُ الشَّربِ عَطَّرتِ الجِباها

    When prayer was offered there at the prescribed times

    by the drinkers' brows, the gardens perfumed those brows.

  15. وذائدةٍ دموعَ العَينِ صَفواً

    إذا باتَت تُرَقرِقُ في صَفاها

    And one whose purity outdoes the eye's tears,

    when it shimmers by night in its clear water.

  16. تُعانِقُ رِيحُها لِمَمَ الخُزامى

    وأعناقَ القَرَنْفُلِ في سُراها

    Its breeze embraces the tresses of lavender

    and the necks of carnations on its night journey.

  17. ويَأبى زَهرُها إلاّ هُجوعاً

    ويأبَى عَرفُها إلا انتباها

    Its flowers will have nothing but slumber,

    while its fragrance will have nothing but wakefulness.

  18. قَرَاها الدَّهرُ بُؤسَى واقشَعَّرتْ

    مَغانِيها الحِسانُ كما قَراهَا

    Time served them misery, and there shuddered

    their lovely haunts as it served them.

  19. ذَوَتْ أشجارُها الغِيدُ اللَّواتي

    إذا عَبثَ النَّسيِمُ بها ثَناها

    Their graceful trees withered, those that

    the breeze would bend whenever it played with them.

  20. وقد مَرِيَ الحَمامُ بها وكانت

    على الأفنانِ لا يُغني مَراها

    And the doves there have been coaxed, though once

    upon the boughs, coaxing them availed nothing.

  21. كأنْ لم تَغْنَ عَرصَتُها بخُضرٍ

    يُقَيِّدُ لَحْظَ مُبصِرها غِناها

    As though their courtyard had never flourished with greenery,

    whose richness held its beholder's gaze captive.

  22. ترقْرَقُ في نَواظِرها دُموعٌ

    أحَبُّ إلى النَّواظرِ من كَراها

    Tears shimmer in their eyes,

    dearer to gazing eyes than their slumber.

  23. وساقيةٍ كأنَّ الريحُ ساقَت

    إليها الخوفَ فارتعَدَت حشَاها

    And a watercourse, as though the wind had driven

    fear into it, so that its innards trembled.

  24. إذا نَظمَ الشَّقائقُ جَانِبَيها

    أَرَتكَ صفائحاً دُمِيَت ظُباها

    When anemones strung its two banks,

    it showed you sword-blades with bloodied edges.

  25. عفَت منَّا السُّوَيقةُ فالمُصلَّى

    فمُشرِقةُ المِياه فمُلتقاها

    Al-Suwayqah lies empty of us, then al-Musalla,

    then Mushriqat al-Miyah, then their confluence.

  26. ملاعبُ لو جُلِينَ غَداةَ دَجْنٍ

    على النُّعمانِ آثر مُجتلاها

    Pleasure grounds that, if unveiled on a cloudy morning

    to al-Nuʿman, he would have preferred the sight of them.

  27. يُجلِّلُ رِيحُها الرِّيحانَ حسرَى

    مُعَنبرةَ الهُبوبِ وهَتْ قُواها

    Their weary breeze cloaks the basil,

    ambergris-scented in its blowing, its strength spent.

  28. وتَقصِدُ أو تَجوُرُ بها سواقٍ

    كحيَّاتِ الرِّمالِ عَصَت رُقَاها

    Watercourses run straight or swerve through them,

    like sand-serpents defying the charms cast on them.

  29. وتَبتسمُ القِبابُ البِيضُ منها

    على خَضراءَ مُحمرٍّ جَناها

    And white domes among them smile

    over a green expanse whose fruit is red,

  30. على جرعاءَ مَيثَاءَ النَّواحي

    يُلبِّدُ نَقْعَ تُربتِها نَداها

    on a sandy stretch, soft-soiled at its edges,

    whose dew settles the dust of its soil.

  31. تُساقُ إلى أصائِلها النَّدامَى

    فتُنسِيهم أصائلُها ضُحَاها

    The drinking companions are led to their late afternoons,

    and their afternoons make them forget their mornings.

  32. تراءَت من كِفاحِ الدَّهرِ غُبراً

    كأنَّ عِجاجَ حُومتِها عَلاها

    They appeared dust-grey from battling time,

    as though the dust of their arena had risen over them.

  33. فما لِنَعيمِها انفضمَت عُراها

    وما لرِياضِها حَسَرت كُساها

    So why have the bonds of their bliss been snapped?

    And why have their gardens shed their coverings?

  34. وما لرياحها العَطِراتِ ردَّت

    رِداءَ الحِلمِ وادَّرَعت سَفاها

    And why have their fragrant winds cast off

    the robe of forbearance and donned folly as armor?

  35. أَحِينَ أَظلَّها سِلمُ اللَّيالي

    وقُلنا قد تجَنَّبَها أَذاها

    Was it when the peace of the nights sheltered them,

    and we said the nights' harm had avoided them,

  36. رمَاها بالتي عَظُمت ولكِن

    أصابَ قلوبَنا لمّا رَماها

    that time struck them with a mighty calamity? Yet

    it struck our hearts when it struck them.

  37. فمالَ بمَعشَرٍ غِرَرٍ إليها

    ومالَ بِنا إلى أُخرى سِواها

    Then it turned a company of unwary men toward them,

    and turned us toward another place besides them.

  38. أراذلُ ليسَ تَحمي الأُسدُ غِيلاً

    كما تَحمِي رَوائحُها حِماها

    Rabble! Lions do not guard a thicket

    as their stench guards their preserve.

  39. عُراةٌ في الجنائبِ لا تُبالي

    أصُدَّ العارُ عنها أم عَراها

    Naked in the southerly winds, they do not care

    whether shame is kept away from them or befalls them.

  40. لَهتنا أن نُلِمَّ بساحَتَيها

    رياحٌ إن سَطت أردَت سَطَاها

    We were kept from visiting their two courtyards

    by winds whose onslaught kills when they assail,

  41. وأَمواهٌ لو أنَّ التُّربَ يَشكو

    مجَاورةَ الأَذى يوماً شَكاها

    and waters which, if the soil could complain

    of harmful neighbors even once, it would complain of them.

  42. فلو غُسِلَت بماءِ المُزنِ مِنهم

    وماءِ البَحرِ لم يَطْهُرْ ثَراها

    Were they washed clean of those people with raincloud water

    and the sea's water, their soil would still not be pure.

  43. يَحِنُّ الطائرُ المُوفِي علَيها

    وتُوسِعُ كلُّ ماشيةٍ خُطاها

    The bird perched above them laments,

    and every walking creature lengthens its stride.

  44. سلامُ اللهِ منكَ على رِباعٍ

    نَأَتْ أحبابُها ودَنت عِداها

    God's peace, from you, upon dwellings

    whose loved ones have gone far away and whose foes have drawn near,

  45. وطيِّبَةِ النَسيمِ عدتْ علَينا

    جنائبُها وعَادَتْنا صَبَاها

    and upon a sweet-breezed dwelling: we were assailed

    by its southerly winds, and its east wind turned against us.

  46. وكافوريَّةِ البُنيانِ تُثني

    على من خَطَّها أو مَن بَناها

    And upon one of camphor-white construction, which praises

    whoever laid it out or built it.

  47. مُحلِّقةٍ يكِلُّ الطَّرفُ عَنها

    إذا ما الطَّرفُ حاولَ مُنتهَاها

    Soaring so high that the gaze tires before reaching it,

    whenever the gaze seeks its utmost height.

  48. تُضئُ إذا الدُّجَى اشتملَت علَيها

    فَتحسِبُها مُؤلَّقَةً دُجاها

    It shines when darkness wraps it,

    so you imagine its darkness ablaze.

  49. بَعَثْتُ الطَّرفَ مُشتاقاً إليها

    فكادَ يَرُدُّه عَنها سَناها

    I sent my gaze toward it in longing,

    and its radiance nearly turned it back from there.

  50. وَحَبَّبَها إليَّ وإن تَوَلَّت

    مآربُ بَلَّغتْ نفسي مُناها

    And what endeared it to me, though it turned away,

    were benefits that fulfilled my soul's desires.

  51. لقد كانَت جِلاءَ العَينِ حُسناً

    فعادَت وهي من قُبحٍ قَذاها

    In beauty, it once was a polish for the eye;

    now, in ugliness, it has become the eye's mote.

  52. عِقابُ الدَّهرِ بُقياه علَيها

    وعَفوُ الدهرِ عَنها لو عَفَاها

    Time's punishment is to spare it,

    and time would pardon it if it erased it.

  53. فيا نُوَبَ الخُطوبِ إليكِ عَنها

    كفَاها ما أَلمَّ بها كفَاها

    O turns of calamity, away from it!

    What has befallen it is enough—enough!