Sol 6.1

  1. سلام المزن أبلغ من سلامي

    على ربع بعلوى الشآمِ

    The rain clouds' greeting is more eloquent than mine

    Upon a dwelling in the uplands of Syria.

  2. كأني حين أذكره نزيف

    تميل بعطفه كأس المدامِ

    As though, when I remember it, I am a drunken man,

    Whose body a cup of aged wine makes sway.

  3. ضمنت له عن الأجفان دمعا

    يبخل عنده جود الغمامِ

    I pledged it tears on behalf of my eyelids,

    Beside which the clouds' bounty seems miserly.

  4. الأهل لي بعرصتيه وقوف

    إبل به على ظمأ أوامي

    Ah, may I stand in its two courtyards,

    To quench there my burning thirst?

  5. وهل أشفى بتقبيلي رغاما

    عليه صبابتي وبه غرامي

    And can I be healed by kissing the dust

    On which my yearning rests, to which my passion is bound,

  6. واسمع في مغانيه عتابا

    تحل رقاه أطواق الحمام

    And hear reproach within its haunts,

    Whose spells undo the doves' neck-rings?

  7. كأني ما سحبت رداء لهو

    ولا أمسيت جني العرامِ

    As though I had never trailed a robe of pleasure,

    Nor spent an evening a jinn of wild revelry,

  8. ولم أتناول الصهباء يسعى

    بها خنث الشمائل والقوامِ

    Nor drunk the tawny wine, borne along

    By one delicate in manner and form,

  9. على فضي ماء ذهبته

    بروق الغيم بكرة يوم رامِ

    Beside silvery water, gilded

    By cloud-lightning at dawn on a rain-casting day.

  10. وبتنا في رداء من عفاف

    يشف وفي لثام من لثامِ

    And we spent the night in a robe of chastity,

    Translucent, and in a veil of kisses,

  11. نخاف الصبح أن يغشى فيبدو

    تمسكنا بمسكي الظلامِ

    Fearing dawn might arrive and reveal

    Our clinging to the musk-black darkness.

  12. لقد ألف العواذل فيك لومي

    وألفَوا منه عاما بعد عامِ

    The reproachers have grown used to blaming me for you,

    And have found through it, year after year,

  13. غراما لا يلم به سلو

    وصبا لا يصب إلى ملامِ

    A passion that no forgetfulness visits,

    And a lovesick man who never inclines toward reproach.

  14. كأن البينَ أصبح مستهاما

    بتعذيب المحب المستهامِ

    As though separation had become besotted

    With tormenting the besotted lover.

  15. فلا وجد سوى وجدي بليلى

    ولا مجد كمجد ابن الدوامي

    There is no passion but my passion for Layla,

    And no glory like Ibn al-Dawami's glory.

  16. كريم العود مشفوع العطايا

    معاد الجود مشهود المقام

    Noble of stock, with gifts bestowed in pairs,

    His bounty renewed, his standing attested.

  17. رأى طمأى فأوردني نداه

    على بحر من الإحسان طامي

    He saw my thirst; his bounty brought me to water

    At an overflowing sea of kindness.

  18. فهنا أنا ذا أُحدث عنه دهري

    بلا حرج وأصدق في كلامي

    So here I am, telling of him throughout my life,

    Without misgiving, truthful in my speech.

  19. كريم راح في الكرماء فذا

    ببذل الرفد والمنن التؤامِ

    A generous man become peerless among the generous,

    Through lavish gifts and favors in pairs.

  20. تراه إذا تشاجرت العوالي

    وطاش الحلم أثبت من شمامِ

    You see him, when the spearpoints intertwine,

    And composure falters, firmer than Shammam.

  21. تواضع رفعة وسما علاء

    بجود ماله فيه مسامي

    He humbled himself in greatness, and rose to eminence

    Through generosity in which no one rivals him.

  22. له خلق كروض الحزن راضت

    نواحيه أهاضيب الرهامِ

    His character is like an upland meadow, made lush

    At its edges by copious showers of fine rain.

  23. ورأى لم يزل أقضى وأمضى

    وأحسم في الخطوب من الحسامِ

    And his judgment remains more decisive and incisive,

    More conclusive in crises than a keen sword.

  24. جزيل العرف لم يعرف بنكر

    يشان به ولم يقرف بذامِ

    Lavish in kindness, never known for an ill deed

    That would disgrace him, nor accused of any fault.

  25. يهم فلا يقصر عن مراد

    وتلك سجية الخرق الهاممِ

    He resolves, and never falls short of his aim;

    Such is the nature of the bold, determined man.

  26. وسيم مثل صدر السيف طلق

    أشم الباع والعرنين سامي

    Handsome as the forepart of a sword, cheerful,

    Lofty in reach and nose, exalted.

  27. فمطعام إذا ما الجار أكدى

    وجب المحل أسنمة السوامِ

    He feeds generously when a neighbor falls into want,

    And drought has shorn the grazing herds' humps.

  28. وواهبها كأمثال النعامى

    لمعتر وراتكة النعامِ

    And gives them away, like the south wind,

    To a needy visitor, along with swift-trotting ostriches.

  29. عبيد الله دمت فأنت أوفى

    بني الدنيا بعهد أو ذمامِ

    Ubayd Allah, may you endure: you are the most faithful

    Of this world's sons to covenant or bond of protection.

  30. وأحزم من يجول غداة حرب

    على عبل الشوى قلق الحزامِ

    And the most resolute of those who ride on battle's morning

    Upon a stout-limbed steed with a shifting girth.

  31. فداؤك من إذا أعطى عطاء

    فذلك رمية من غير رامِ

    May he be your ransom who, if he gives a gift,

    Gives but a shot from one who is no archer.

  32. إذا أبدى التجهم عند رفد

    فما يرجى من الغيم الجهامِ

    If he shows a scowl when granting aid,

    What can be hoped for from a rainless cloud?

  33. ليهنك يا حليف الجود عيد

    حدا بسعوده شهر الصيامِ

    May the festival bring you joy, O ally of generosity,

    Which the month of fasting ushered in with its blessings.

  34. خلصت بفعلك المقبول فيه

    نقي الجيب من دنس الأثامِ

    You have emerged through your accepted deeds therein,

    Pure of bosom, free of the stain of sins.

  35. فحاط الله منك أَغربِرّاً

    وناطلك السعادة بالدوامِ

    So may God preserve in you a radiant, righteous man,

    And bind happiness to you for all time.