Sol 6.1

  1. حَنَانَيْكَ إنَّ الغَدْرَ ضَرْبةُ لازِبِ

    فيا لَيتَ للأحبابِ عَهدَ الحَبائِبِ

    I beg your mercy: betrayal is an inescapable blow.

    Oh, would that friends had the faithfulness of beloved women!

  2. شَكَوْتُهُمُ سِرّاً شِكايَةَ مُشْفِقٍ

    وحَيَّيْتُهمْ جَهراً تحيّةَ عاتِبِ

    I complained of them in secret, as one full of concern,

    and greeted them openly with a reproachful greeting.

  3. أُقَلِّبُ طَرْفي في عُهودٍ وراءَها

    خَبيئَةُ غَدرٍ في مَخيلَةِ كاذِبِ

    I turn my gaze over covenants behind which

    treachery lies hidden in a liar's imagination.

  4. وأعْطِفُ أخلاقي على ما يَريبُها

    إلَيْهِم فقد سَدَّ الوَفاءُ مَذاهِبي

    And I bend my disposition, despite what troubles it,

    toward them, for loyalty has blocked my paths.

  5. ولي دونَهُمْ منْ سِرِّ عَدنانَ فِتيةٌ

    نِزاريّةٌ تَهفو إليهِمْ ضَرائبي

    Yet apart from them I have young men of Adnan's noblest stock,

    of Nizar's line, toward whom my inborn traits incline.

  6. إذا ما حَدَوْتُ الأرْحَبيَّ بِذِكْرِهمْ

    عَرَفْتُ هَواهُم في حَنينِ الرّكائِبِ

    Whenever I urge the Arhabi camel on by singing of them,

    I recognize love for them in the riding camels' yearning cries.

  7. ولكِنْ أبَتْ لي أن أُوارِبَ صاحِباً

    سَجيَّةُ شَيْخَيْنا لُؤَيٍّ وغالِبِ

    Yet I was forbidden to deal deceitfully with a friend

    by the nature of our two elders, Lu'ayy and Ghalib.

  8. فللّهِ قَوْمٌ بالعُذَيْبِ إليهِمُ

    نَضَوْتُ مِراحَ الرَّازِحاتِ اللَّواغِبِ

    God bless a people at al-'Udhayb, toward whom

    I spent the vigor of flagging, weary camels.

  9. طَرَقْتُهُمُ والليلُ مَرْضى نُجومُهُ

    كأنَّ تَواليها عُيونُ الكَواعِبِ

    I came to them by night, its stars ailing,

    their trailing ranks like the eyes of budding-breasted maidens.

  10. وثاروا إِلى رَحْلي تَحُلُّ نُسوعَهُ

    أنامِلُ صِيغَتْ للظُّبا والمَواهِبِ

    And they sprang toward my saddle, its straps unbound

    by fingers fashioned for sword-edges and gifts.

  11. وهَبَّ الغُلامُ العَبْشَميُّ بسَيفِهِ

    إِلى جُنَّحِ الأضلاعِ مِيلِ الغَوارِبِ

    The 'Abshami youth sprang up with his sword

    toward camels with arched ribs and slanting humps,

  12. بأبْيَضَ مَصقولِ الغِرارَيْنِ حَدُّهُ

    نَجِيُّ عَراقيبِ المَطيِّ النّجائِبِ

    with a gleaming sword polished on both edges, whose edge

    is the confidant of the noble riding camels' hocks.

  13. كأنّ الحُسامَ المَشرَفيَّ شَريكُهُ

    إذا سَنَحَتْ أُكْرومَةٌ في المَناقِبِ

    As though the Mashrafi sword were his partner

    whenever a generous deed arose among feats of honor.

  14. وما هي إلا شِيمَةٌ عربيّةٌ

    تَنَقَّلُ من أيْمانِنا في القَواضِبِ

    It is nothing but an Arab trait,

    passing from our right hands into cleaving swords.

  15. فما ليَ في حَيَّيْ خُزَيمَةَ بَعدَهُمْ

    أُريغُ أماناً من رِماحِ الأجارِبِ

    What business have I, after them, among Khuzayma's two clans,

    seeking safety from the spears of mangy men?

  16. وتَغدو إِلى سَرْحي أراقِمُ وائِلٍ

    وقَد كان تَسْري في رُباهُمْ عَقاربي

    And Wa'il's speckled serpents advance on my grazing herd,

    though once my scorpions traveled by night through their hills.

  17. أفي كُلِّ يومٍ من مُشايَحةِ العِدا

    أُعالِجُ رَوعاتِ الهُمومِ الغَرائِبِ

    Must I, every day, through clashing with enemies,

    wrestle with the terrors of unfamiliar cares?

  18. كأنِّيَ لمْ أسفَحْ بتَيماءَ غارَةً

    تُفرُّقُ ما بينَ الطُّلى والكَواثِبِ

    As though I had never unleashed a raid at Tayma

    that severed necks from shoulders,

  19. ولمْ أرْدِفِ الحَسناءَ تَبكي منَ النّوى

    وتَشكو إِلى مُهْري فِراقَ الأقارِبِ

    nor seated the beauty behind me, weeping at separation,

    and complaining to my colt of parting from her kin.

  20. فَغادَرَني صَرْفُ الزَّمانِ بمَنْزِلٍ

    أطأطِئُ فيهِ للخَصاصَةِ جانِبي

    So time's reversals left me in a dwelling

    where I bend my side in submission to want.

  21. وأذْكُرُ عَهدي من غُفَيْلَةَ بَعدَما

    طَوَيْتُ على أسرارِ حُزْوى تَرائِبي

    And I recall my days at Ghufayla, after

    I folded my breast around the secrets of Huzwa.

  22. وما كُنتُ أخشى أنْ أوَكِّلَ ناظِري

    ببَرْقٍ كَنارِ العامِريّةِ خالِبِ

    I never feared that I would entrust my gaze

    to deceptive lightning like the 'Amiri woman's fire,

  23. ولا أمْتَطي وَجْناءَ تَختَلِسُ الخُطا

    وتَشْكو أظلَّيْها عِراصُ السّباسِبِ

    nor ride a sturdy she-camel that snatches her strides,

    while the open plains complain of her two footpads.

  24. وتوغِلُ في البَيْداءِ حتى كأنّها

    خَيالٌ أُناجيهِ خِلالَ الغَياهِبِ

    She plunges so deep into the desert that she seems

    a phantom I commune with amid deep darkness.

  25. عليها غُلامٌ من أميّةَ شاحِبٌ

    يُنادِمُ أسْرابَ النّجومِ الثّواقِبِ

    Upon her rides a pale youth of Umayya,

    who takes flocks of piercing stars as drinking companions.

  26. فَما صَحْبُهُ الأدْنَوْنَ غيرَ صَوارِمٍ

    ولا رَهْطُهُ الأعْلَوْنَ غيرَ كَواكِبِ

    His nearest companions are nothing but keen swords,

    nor are his loftiest kinsmen anything but stars.

  27. يلُفُّ وإنْ كَلَّ المَطِيُّ مَشارِقاً

    على هِمَّةٍ مَجنونَةٍ بمَغارِبِ

    He folds the eastern lands, though the mounts grow weary,

    into the western lands, driven by a mad resolve.

  28. ويُطبِقُ جَفْنَيهِ إذا اعْتَرَضَ السَّنا

    مَخافَةَ أنْ يُمْنَى بِنارِ الحُباحِبِ

    He closes his eyelids whenever a gleam appears,

    for fear of being afflicted by Hubahib's fire.

  29. دَعاهُ ابنُ مَنصورٍ فَقارَبَ قَيْدَهُ

    على البَحْرِ في آذِيَّهِ المُتَراكِبِ

    Ibn Mansur summoned him, and he shortened his tether

    by the sea, amid its heaped-up waves.

  30. وألْقَى بمُسْتَنِّ الأيادي رِحالَهُ

    فنَكَّبَ أذْراءَ الخَليطِ الأشائِبِ

    And he laid down his saddles where favors stream,

    and shunned the shelters of the motley company.

  31. أغَرُّ إذا انْهَلَّتْ يَداهُ تَواهَقَتْ

    مَنايا أعاديهِ خِلالَ الرّغائِبِ

    A radiant man: when his hands pour forth, there race together

    the deaths of his enemies amid coveted gifts.

  32. تَبَرَّعَ بالمعْروفِ حتّى كأنّهُ

    يَعُدُّ اقْتِناءَ المالِ إحْدى المَثالِبِ

    He gave kindness freely, until he seemed

    to count possessing wealth among disgraceful faults.

  33. منَ القَوْمِ لا يَسْتَضْرِعُ الدّهْرُ جارهُمْ

    ولا يَتحاماهُ حِذارَ النّوائِبِ

    He is of a people whose neighbor Time cannot humble,

    nor does their neighbor shun it for fear of calamities.

  34. عِظامُ المَقاري والسَّماءُ كأنَّها

    تَمُجُّ دَمَاً دونَ النُّجومِ الشَّواحِبِ

    Vast are their guest-bowls, while the sky seems

    to spew blood beneath the pallid stars.

  35. مَساميحُ للعافي ببيضٍ كَواعِبٍ

    وصُهْبٍ مَراسيلُ وجُرْدٍ سَلاهِبِ

    Generous to the supplicant with fair, budding-breasted girls,

    and tawny, swift-striding camels and sleek, long-bodied horses.

  36. وأفياؤهُمْ للمُجْتَدي في عِراصِها

    مَجَرُّ أنابيبِ الرِّماحِ السّوالِبِ

    Their shade is for the petitioner; within its grounds are

    a dragging-place for the shafts of plundering spears,

  37. ومَلْعَبُ فِتيانٍ ومَبْرَكُ هَجْمَةٍ

    ومَسْحَبُ أطْمارِ الإماءِ الحَواطِبِ

    a playground for youths, a kneeling-ground for a camel herd,

    and ground where wood-gathering slave women trail their rags.

  38. إليكَ أمينَ الحَضرَتَيْنِ تَناقَلَتْ

    مَطايا بأنضاءٍ خِفافِ الحَقائِبِ

    To you, trustee of the two courts, have sped

    mounts bearing emaciated riders with light saddlebags.

  39. وهُنَّ كأمثالِ القِسِيِّ نَواحِلٌ

    مَرَقْنَ بأمثالِ السِّهامِ الصّوائِبِ

    They are lean, like bows,

    and have darted forth bearing riders like unerring arrows.

  40. فإِنَّ يَداً طَوَّقْتَني نَفَحاتُها

    لَمُرْتَقِبٌ منها بُلوغَ المآرِبِ

    For a hand whose gifts have wreathed my neck—

    from it I surely await the fulfillment of my aims.