Sol 6.1

  1. وَهي الشُموسُ فإنْ رأينَ طَوالِعا

    يَضحكْنَ في الفَودَين عُدن أوافِلا

    They are suns; but if they see others rising

    and smiling at the temples, they themselves set.

  2. وَلَطالَما عَقَلَ الشبابُ شَوارداً

    منهنَّ لي في ظِلِّه وعَقائِلا

    And how often youth tethered elusive beauties

    from among them for me beneath its shade, and noble ladies.

  3. يَمسحْنَ جَعدَ غَدائري وكأنَّما

    يَمسَحْنَ بالمِسكِ الذكيِّ سَلاسِلا

    They stroke the curls of my tresses, as though

    they were rubbing chains with fragrant musk.

  4. بيني وبينَ الجاهلَينِ ضَغائنٌ

    خُزرُ النَّواظِرِ يقتضين طوائلا

    Between me and the two fools lie grudges,

    with sidelong glares, demanding vengeance.

  5. فَلَئِنْ عفوتُ لأُسْدِيَنَّ عَوارفاً

    وَلئِن سَطوتُ لأُسدِينَّ زَلازِلا

    If I forgive, I shall surely bestow favors;

    and if I strike, I shall surely unleash earthquakes.

  6. صَهَلا بشِعري مُقرِفَينِ فكُذِّبا

    إنَّ المَقارِفَ لا يَكُنَّ صَواهِلا

    They neighed my verse, two mongrels, but were proved liars:

    mongrel beasts do not neigh.

  7. وتَناهبا منه دمي فرَجَعنَ دا

    ميةَ النحورِ عواطلا

    They plundered statue-like beauties from it, which returned blood-

    stained at the throats, stripped of ornaments,

  8. في غارةٍ لم تَسقِ ظَمآنَ الثَّرى

    عَلَقاً ولم تُغشِ السَماءَ قَساطِلا

    in a raid that did not slake the thirsty earth

    with clotted blood, nor shroud the sky in clouds of dust.

  9. كانَت لأشرافِ الملوكِ حَلائِلاً

    فغدَت لأنباطِ العِراقِ حَلائِلا

    They had been wives to the noblest kings,

    but became wives to the Nabataeans of Iraq.

  10. الدّهرُ يعلَمُ أنني زاحمتُه

    بأشدَّ منه في الشّدائد كاهلا

    Time knows that I have jostled against it

    with one stronger of shoulder than it in hardship.

  11. وهَزَزْتُ إبراهيمَ فيه وإنَّما

    أعملتُ فيه مُهَنَّداً أو عَامِلا

    And I brandished Ibrahim against it; in truth,

    I wielded against it an Indian-forged sword or a spearhead.

  12. والسيفُ ليسَ تَهُزُّه يدُ فارسٍ

    إلا إذا كان الحُسامَ القَاصِلا

    And no horseman's hand brandishes a sword

    unless it is a keen, severing blade.

  13. رَدَّ السماحَ أنيقةً أيامُه

    حتَّى اشتبهنَ أواخِراً وأَوائِلا

    His lovely days restored generosity,

    until their last and first were all alike.

  14. وأَحلَّه الشرفُ الرفيعُ هِلالَه

    فغَدا وراحَ به هِلالاً مَاثِلا

    Lofty honor installed him as its crescent;

    morning and evening he stood there, a crescent in plain sight.

  15. بحرٌ لَقِيتُ نَوالَه فتلاعَبتْ

    بيَ غَمرةٌ لم أَلْقَ فيها سَاحِلا

    An ocean: I encountered his bounty and was tossed

    by a flood in which I found no shore.

  16. وفتىً إذا هَزَّ اليَراعَ حَسِبْتَه

    لِمَضَاءِ عَزمتِه يهزُّ مَناصِلا

    And a youth who, when he wields the reed pen, seems

    in the keenness of his resolve to be brandishing blades.

  17. من كلِّ ضافي البُردِ ينطِقُ راكباً

    بلسانِ حامِله ويَصمُتُ رَاجِلا

    Each, in an ample cloak, speaks when mounted

    with its bearer's tongue, but falls silent when afoot.

  18. وأَرى الدروعَ معاقلاً فإذا انتَقى

    آراءَه يوماً فلسنَ مَعاقِلا

    I see coats of mail as strongholds; but when he chooses

    his counsels one day, they are strongholds no longer.

  19. يرمي الخُطوبَ بصائباتِ عَزائمٍ

    أضحَت لها جُنَنُ الخطوبِ مَقاتِلا

    He attacks calamities with unerring resolves,

    before which their shields have become mortal weak spots.

  20. ولكم شجاعٍ في النوائبِ لم يكن

    لحمائلِ السيفِ المهنَّدِ حَامِلا

    And many a man brave in adversity has never

    borne the baldric of an Indian-forged sword.

  21. فرَضَت عليه المكرُماتُ فَرائضاً

    للمَجدِ أدَّاها وزادَ نَوافِلا

    Noble deeds imposed obligations upon him

    toward glory; he fulfilled them and added voluntary deeds.

  22. لولاه طالَ على المدائحِ أن تَرى

    طَولاً تلوذُ بظِلِّه أو طائِلا

    Without him, praises would have waited long to find

    bounty in whose shade to shelter, or a benefactor.

  23. فإذا لَقِيتَ أخا المكارمِ قائلاً

    لم تَلقَ إبراهيمَ إلاّ فَاعلا

    And if you meet a man of noble qualities who speaks,

    you meet Ibrahim only as one who acts.

  24. وإذا السحابُ رأَت أناملَ كَفِّهِ

    تَنهلُّ ودَّت إن تكونَ أَنامِلا

    And when the clouds see the fingertips of his hand

    pouring forth, they wish that they were fingertips.

  25. كم روضةٍ للمَجدِ زاهرةِ الرُّبا

    ظَمِئَت إليك فكنتَ غَيثاً هَاطِلا

    How many a meadow of glory, its uplands in bloom,

    thirsted for you—and you became a downpour of rain.

  26. لمّا تَبَسَّمَ في فَنائِك نَورُها

    أجريْتَ بالمعروفِ فيه جَداوِلا

    When its blossoms smiled in your courtyard,

    you made streams of kindness flow there.

  27. فاضَت عليَّ سِجالُ كفَّك بالنَّدى

    حتى ظَننتُك بالغَمامِ مُساجِلا

    Your hand's brimming buckets poured bounty upon me,

    until I thought you were vying with the clouds.

  28. فوَقفتُ نفسي عن سِواك ومَنطِقي

    إن المَطَالِبَ يَختَلِفنَ مَنازِلا

    So I withheld myself and my speech from all but you:

    for the objects of desire differ in rank.

  29. للهِ أنتَ إذا بَرقْتَ لآملٍ

    وسَقَيتَ أخلافَ السَّحابةِ آمِلا

    God bless you when you flash for a hopeful man

    and give a hopeful man drink from the cloud's udders!

  30. أخلَفتَ سَحبانَ الفَصاحةِ وعدَه

    وغَدوتَ تُؤثِرُ بالعِنايةِ باقِلا

    You broke your promise to Sahban of eloquence,

    and came to favor Baqil with your attention.

  31. حلَّيتَ بعضَ الناسِ من ألفاظِه

    حَلياً يروحُ به المُحلَّى عاطِلا

    You adorned someone with his words—

    with ornaments whose wearer goes forth unadorned.

  32. وَحَرَمْتَهُ الراحَ التي رَوَّقْتَها

    وسقيتَه بالكُرهِ سُماً قاتِلا

    And you denied him the wine you had clarified,

    and made him drink deadly poison against his will.

  33. والخَصمُ يعجَزُ عن جِدالِك هيبةً

    حتى يَنوبَ الشعرُ عنه مُجادِلا

    The adversary is too awed to debate you,

    until poetry takes his place in argument.

  34. فيكونَ طَوراً في مديحِك صادقاً

    ويكونَ طَوراً في عِتابِك عاذِلا

    At times it is truthful in your praise,

    and at times admonishing in its reproach of you.

  35. ومِنَ العَجائِب أن تَراه هَواجِراً

    ولقد بعثتُ به إليك أصائِلا

    It is a wonder that you see it as scorching noons,

    though I sent it to you as late afternoons.

  36. لا تأنَفنَّ من العِتابِ وَقَرصِه

    فالمِسكُ يُسحَقُ كي يَزيدَ فَضائِلا

    Do not disdain reproach and its sting;

    musk is crushed so that its virtues may increase.

  37. ما حُرِّقَ العُودُ الذي أَشبهتَه

    خطأ ولا غُمَّ البَنَفسجُ باطِلا

    The aloeswood you resemble was not burned

    by mistake, nor were violets covered over in vain.

  38. حاشاكَ أن يلقَى القريضُ سَمائماً

    ونَداك يَلقاه صَبَاً وشَمائِلا

    Far be it from you that poetry should meet scorching winds,

    while your bounty greets it as east and north breezes.

  39. ما كنتَ إلا السَّمهريَّ هَزَزْتُه

    فوجدْتُه لَدنَ المهزَّةِ ذَابِلا

    You were but a Samhari spear I brandished—

    and found supple when shaken, a slender shaft—

  40. بغرائبٍ مثلِ السيوفِ إضاءةً

    وجَدَت من الفِكَرِ الدِّقاقِ صياقلا

    with rare verses as bright as swords,

    which found their polishers in subtle thoughts.

  41. فلو استعارَ الشيبُ بعضَ جمالِها

    أضحَى إلى البِيضش الحِسان وَسائِلا

    And if gray hair borrowed some of their beauty,

    it would become a means of winning fair, lovely women.

  42. جَاءَتكَ بين رَصينةٍ ودَقيقةٍ

    تُهدي إليك مَطارفاً وغَلائلا

    They came to you, some stately and some delicate,

    offering you rich cloaks and gauzy underrobes.