Sol 6.1

  1. أَضُمُّ على قلبي يَديَّ من الوَجْدِ

    إذا ما سَرى وَهْناً نسيمُ صَبا نَجْدِ

    I press my two hands to my heart in longing,

    whenever, deep in the night, Najd's east breeze steals by.

  2. وأهوَنُ شَيءٍ ما أُقاسي منَ الجَوى

    إذا ما صَفا عيشُ الأحبّةِ من بَعْدي

    What I endure of love's anguish is the lightest of things,

    if my loved ones live serenely after my departure.

  3. خليلَيّ من سَعْدٍ ألم تَعرِفا الهوى

    ومَن لي بأن يَهوَى خَليلايَ من سَعْد

    My two friends of Sa'd, have you not known love?

    Who will assure me that my two friends of Sa'd will fall in love?

  4. أُقيمُ بأَعلَى الدَّيرِ فَرْداً مُتَيّماً

    أُسائلُ عَمَّنْ حَلّ بالأجْرَعِ الفَرد

    I dwell atop the monastery, alone and love-stricken,

    asking after those who settled on the solitary sandy ridge.

  5. ونَدَّتْ بلَيلٍ للرّياحِ لَطيمةٌ

    فنَمَّ بها للرّكبِ نَشْرٌ منَ النَّدّ

    A perfume-caravan strayed into the winds by night,

    and a waft of aromatic incense betrayed it to the riders.

  6. يُسائلُها السّاري عنِ الجِزعِ والحمى

    ويَنْسُبها الواشي إلى البانِ والرَّنْد

    The night traveler asks it about the valley bend and protected pasture,

    and the tale-bearer traces it to moringa and laurel.

  7. وما خطَرتْ إلاّ برمَلْة عالجٍ

    ولا عَطِرتْ إلاّ بحاشيتَيْ بُرد

    Yet it had wandered only over the sands of 'Alij,

    and gained its fragrance only at the two edges of a striped cloak.

  8. فلا تَعْجَبا من طُولِ وَجْدي فإنّما

    وُجوديَ حَيّاً بعدَ أسماءَ من وَجْدي

    Do not marvel, you two, at my prolonged longing, for

    my being alive after Asma' is itself due to my longing.

  9. إذا فارقَتْ رُوحي سوى عُلْقةٍ لها

    بقَلْبي من الذِّكرى ففي قَطْعِها فَقْدي

    When my soul has departed, save for one bond it has

    to my heart through remembrance, cutting it would end me.

  10. وما زلْتُ من أسماءَ منذُ عَلِقْتُها

    على حالةٍ في الدَّهْرِ مَذْمومةِ العَهْدِ

    Ever since I fell in love with Asma', I have remained

    in a state, through time, of ever-broken faith:

  11. فإمّا على شَوقٍ يُتاحُ معَ النّوى

    وإمّا على قُرْبٍ يُنغَّصُ بالصَّدّ

    either in yearning brought about by separation,

    or in nearness embittered by rejection.

  12. هِلاليّةٌ تَحِكي الهلالَ بوجْهها

    إذا لاح في ليلٍ من الفاحمِ الجَعد

    A woman of Hilal, whose face resembles the crescent

    when it appears in a night of coal-black curls.

  13. بها سُكْرُ طَرْفٍ من مُدامةِ ريقةٍ

    لعُنقودِ صُدْغٍ فوقَ غُصْنٍ من القَدّ

    Her glance is drunken with the wine of her saliva,

    from a cluster of temple-curls above her branchlike figure.

  14. أوَرديّةَ الخَدَّينِ من تَرَفِ الصِّبا

    ويا ابنةَ ذي الإقدامِ بالفَرسِ الوَرْد

    O you whose cheeks are rosy with youth's luxuriance,

    O daughter of one who charges on a bay horse,

  15. صِلِي واغنمي شُكْراً فما وردةُ الرُّبا

    تَدومُ على حالٍ ولا وَردةُ الخَدّ

    grant union and win thanks: neither the hillside rose

    lasts unchanged, nor the rose of the cheek.

  16. فمالي وما للَّهوِ يا صاحِ والصِّبا

    على حينَ مُبيَضّي يَصيحُ بمُسْودّي

    What have I to do, my friend, with amusement and youth,

    now that my white hair cries out against my black?

  17. أبُثُّكَ أنّ الصّدرَ ضاق عن الجوَى

    فدعْ عنك لَومي واتْركِ النّارَ في الزَّنْد

    I confide to you that my breast can no longer contain its anguish;

    so spare me your blame, and leave the fire in the firestick.

  18. أكلُّ امرئٍ صاحبْتُ أخبُرُ وُدَّهُ

    تَجَلَّى سريعاً رَغْبتي فيه عن زُهْدي

    Must every man I befriend, whose affection I test,

    so quickly turn my fondness for him into disdain?

  19. وكم صاحبٍ لمّا عدا الدّهُر طَوْرَهُ

    تَناوَم عن نَصْري وقد جْئتُ أستَعْدي

    How many a friend, when time overstepped its bounds,

    feigned sleep rather than help me, though I had come seeking aid!

  20. وحَرّكْتُه فازداد نَوماً كأنّني

    أحَرّكُ طِفلاً يَمْرُثُ الوَدْعَ في المَهد

    I shook him, but he sank deeper into sleep, as though

    I were rocking a child sucking cowries in its cradle.

  21. فهل نظرةٌ في الخَلْقِ تَصقُلُ ناظري

    فكم فيهمُ للعينِ من نَظَرٍ يُصدي

    Is there a look among mankind that might polish my sight?

    How many a sight among them tarnishes the eye!

  22. رمَيتُ بعَيْني في عيونِ نُجومِها

    وهُنّ حَيارى من صِحاحٍ ومن رَمد

    I cast my eyes into the eyes of the sky's stars,

    bewildered, some clear-eyed and some bleary,

  23. إلى أن حدا اللّيلُ الكواكبَ سُحْرةً

    وأشبَه عِقْدَ الغادةِ الثّغْرُ في البَرد

    until, just before dawn, night drove the stars onward,

    and teeth in the chill resembled a maiden's necklace.

  24. وقام عَمودُ الفجرِ وَسطَ سُرادقٍ

    من اللّيلِ فوق الشّرقِ والغَربِ مُمتَد

    Dawn's pillar rose within a pavilion

    of night, stretched over east and west.

  25. ولاحتْ معَ الصّبحِ الثُّريّا كأنّها

    صَنيعُ يدٍ بيضاءَ من مُبتغِي حَمْد

    The Pleiades appeared with morning, as though

    a white hand's benefaction, from one who seeks praise.

  26. وكم لسديدِ الدّولةِ القَرْمِ من يَدٍ

    سَرتْ مثْلُها منه إليّ على البُعْد

    How many favors of Sadid al-Dawla, the noble chief,

    have had their like reach me from him across the distance!

  27. أخو كَرمٍ كالشّمسِ في فَلكِ العُلا

    وكالغُرّةِ البيضاء في جَبهةِ المجد

    A man of generosity, like the sun in the sphere of eminence,

    and like the white blaze on glory's brow.

  28. بَعيدُ مَناطِ الهَمّ يُسْرِفُ في النَدى

    ويَختارُ في غيرِ النَّدى مَذْهَبَ القَصد

    His aspirations reach far; he is extravagant in giving,

    but in all else chooses the path of moderation.

  29. ولا عيبَ فيه غيرُ شُغْلِ زمانِه

    بمكْرمةٍ يُولي وعارفةٍ يُسدي

    He has no fault except that all his time is taken up

    with noble gifts he bestows and favors he confers.

  30. وكم جاد بالدّنيا على الدّينِ كَفُّه

    وأصبح يَجْنِي عَفْوُهُ جَمْرةَ الحِقْد

    How often his hand has lavished worldly wealth for religion,

    and his pardon plucks away rancor's live coal.

  31. ويَغْلِبُ جَهْلَ الجاهِلين بحِلْمِهِ

    ولا طِبَّ حتّى يُدفَعَ الضِّدُّ بالضِدّ

    He conquers the folly of fools with his forbearance;

    there is no cure until an opposite is repelled by its opposite.

  32. مُؤيِّدُ دينِ اللهِ ما زال بالنهي

    إذا أبدتِ الأيّامُ عن حادثٍ إدّ

    Upholder of God's religion, he has ever relied on reason

    whenever the days unveil some monstrous calamity.

  33. إذا المَوقِفُ المُسترشِدِيُّ دعَا بِه

    غدا بصَراً في ناظِرَيْ ذلك الرُّشد

    Whenever al-Mustarshid's court calls upon him,

    he becomes the sight in the two eyes of that right guidance.

  34. حَباهُ أميرُ المؤمنين لنُصْحِه

    بضافيةِ النُّعَمى وصافيةِ الوُدّ

    The Commander of the Faithful rewarded his loyal counsel

    with abundant bounty and unclouded affection.

  35. رآه سديداً من سهامِ كِفايةٍ

    وعن ساعدٍ يَنْضو من الرأيِ مُستَدّ

    He saw him as an unerring arrow of competence,

    drawn from an arm of judgment by a sure marksman.

  36. ولا تَدعُ العلياءُ صَهْوةَ طِرْفِه

    تَقِرُّ ولا مِقْدارَ تَجفيفةِ الِّبْد

    High ambition never lets his steed's back

    rest, even long enough for its saddlecloth to dry.

  37. وما النّجمُ يَحْكِي سَيْرَهُ وهْو لم يَزلْ

    من الشّرقِ نحو الغَرْبِ في ليلةٍ يَخْدي

    No star can match his course, though it never ceases

    to stride from east toward west within a night.

  38. فإن يكُ كالإسكندرِ المَلْكِ عَزمْةً

    فمَسْعاهُ منِ دونِ الحوادثِ كالسُّدّ

    If in resolve he is like King Alexander,

    his striving stands like the barrier against calamities.

  39. أيا مَن سكونُ المُلْكِ من حَركاتِه

    فما لِمَطاياهُ قَرارٌ منَ الوَخْد

    O you whose movements bring repose to the kingdom,

    whose mounts find no rest from their swift pace!

  40. رفعتَ لعصرٍ أنت سَيِّدُ أهلِه

    لواءً إلى تَفْضيلِه للورَى يَهْدي

    For an age whose people you lead, you have raised

    a banner guiding mankind to acknowledge its preeminence.

  41. وما حَسُنَ النَّيروزُ إلا لأنّه

    أجَدّ طُلوعاً فيه وجهُك بالسَّعْد

    Nowruz is fair only because

    your face rose anew upon it with good fortune.

  42. وما أعبَقَ الوردَ الرّبيعُ وإنّما

    بَنانُك أهدَى عَرْفُ عُرْفِك للوَرد

    Spring did not make the roses fragrant; rather,

    your fingers gave the rose the fragrance of your bounty.

  43. بيُمنك عادَتْ جِدّةُ الأرضِ بعدما

    غدا الرّوضُ حيناً وهْوكالرَّيْطةِ الجرد

    Through your good fortune, earth's freshness returned, after

    the meadow had for a time been like a threadbare robe.

  44. وحَلّتْ عليها عِقْدَها كُلّ مُزْنةٍ

    كثيرةِ ضِحْكِ البرقِ من ضَجّةِ الرَّعْد

    Every raincloud loosened its necklace over it,

    with much lightning-laughter at the thunder's roar.

  45. وغَنّى حَمامُ الأيكِ والغُصْنُ مُنتَشٍ

    بكأْسِ الصَّبا والغُدْرُ تَلعَبُ بالنّرد

    The wood-doves sang, and the bough was tipsy

    with the east wind's cup, while pools played backgammon.

  46. لعَمْري لقد أبدى السّرورَ بك الورَى

    ولا عيبَ في نَشْرِ السُّرورِ لمَنْ يُبْدي

    By my life, mankind has shown its joy in you,

    and one who proclaims his joy incurs no blame.

  47. وزارتْك أبناءُ الوفودِ فأقبلُوا

    وُرودَ قطا البيدِ المُصِّبحِ للوِرد

    The men of delegations visited you, arriving

    like desert sandgrouse coming at dawn to water.

  48. حلَفْتُ لأنت المرءُ يُرجَى ويُتّقى

    وإن زاد أبناءُ الزّمانِ على العَدّ

    I swear, you are the man in whom hope and fear are placed,

    though the sons of this age are beyond counting.

  49. إذا ما الورى طُرّاً فدَوْكَ من الردى

    فقد جَلّ مَن يُفدَى وقد قَلَّ مَن يَفْدي

    If all mankind were to ransom you from death,

    the one ransomed would be exalted, the ransomers of little account.

  50. وما أنت إلاّ للورى بيتُ سُؤددٍ

    وكَعبةُ مَجْدٍ قَصْدُها أبداً مُجْدي

    To mankind you are nothing less than a house of lordship,

    a Kaaba of glory, always fruitful to approach.

  51. فإن أكُ عن حَجِّي له العامَ عاجزاً

    على أنّني لم آل في البَذْلِ للجُهد

    Though this year I cannot make my pilgrimage to it,

    despite sparing no effort in my exertions,

  52. فلم يُعْيِني في البُعْدِ إنفاذُ مِدحةٍ

    وذلك تَقبيلٌ إلى رُكْنِه أُهدي

    distance has not kept me from dispatching a poem of praise:

    this is a kiss I send to its corner.

  53. فدونكَها عِقْداً ثميناً نظمتُه

    ليُهدي إلى جيدٍ به زينةُ العِقد

    Take it, then, as a precious necklace I have strung,

    to be presented to a neck that itself adorns the necklace.

  54. وأصحبْتُه مَن لم أَلِدْه وحُبُّه

    من العِزّ حبٌّ الأكرمِين من الوُلْد

    I sent with it one I did not beget, yet my love for him

    is, in its dearness, my love for the noblest sons.

  55. فجُدْ باعتناءٍ آنِفٍ بعد سالفٍ

    وطُرْفٍ من الإنعامِ ضُمّ إلى تُلد

    Be lavish, then, with fresh care following former care,

    and fresh gifts of bounty joined to the old.

  56. فما أنا إلاّ مَن أَعُدُّك عُدَّتي

    وما أنت إلاّ مالِكُ الكَرَمِ العِدّ

    For I am merely one who counts you as his mainstay,

    and you are master of inexhaustible generosity.

  57. فتىً كيفما قَلّبتُ أَمرِيَ ناظِراً

    أرى عنده قلبي وإحسانَهُ عِندي

    A noble youth: however I turn my affairs over in thought,

    I see my heart with him, and his kindness with me.

  58. ومن قَبلُ لمّا جاء جَيّاً بعَزْمةٍ

    تُزعزِعُ أعطافَ المُطَهّمَةِ الجُرد

    Earlier, when he came to Jayy with a resolve

    that shook the flanks of noble, sleek-coated horses,

  59. أتانا وكانتْ مائلاتُ أزِمّةٍ

    إليه المطايا بالقصائدٍ والقَصد

    he came to us while, with inclined reins,

    the mounts were heading toward him with poems and purpose.

  60. وكنتُ إليه أعقِدُ النِسْع راحِلاً

    فجاء فأغنَى حَلُّه هو عن عَقْدي

    I was fastening the saddle-girth to journey to him,

    but he came, and his arrival spared me the fastening.

  61. وكم قد رأوا وفداً إلى البحرِ سائراً

    وما سَمِعوا بالبحرِ سارَ إلى وفْد

    How often they have seen a delegation journey to the sea,

    but never heard of the sea journeying to a delegation!

  62. وزارتْ بلا وَعْدٍ أياديه زورةً

    فكيف إذا ما نحنُ زُرْنا على وَعد

    His favors came visiting without a promise;

    what then, if we ourselves visit on a promise?

  63. أرى النّاسَ من هَزْلٍ وهُزْءٍ ولا أرى

    سوى واحدٍ قد فاز بالجِدِّ والجَدّ

    I see men made of frivolity and mockery, and see

    only one who has won earnestness and good fortune.

  64. خلا الدّهرُ من سَمْحٍ وجُدْتَ تَكَرُّماً

    فحُزْتَ جميعَ الحَمْدِ بالفَرْضِ والرَّدّ

    The age was empty of a generous man, and you gave freely,

    so all praise fell to you, by allotted share and reversion.

  65. وما قدَّم الأيامُ مثْلَك غَلْطةً

    ولكنّ كَفَّ الدّهرِ أعرفُ بالنّقْد

    The days did not advance a man like you by mistake;

    time's hand knows better how to assay coin.

  66. بنَفْسٍ وأصْلٍ قد تَقدَّمْتَ ماجِداً

    ولا بُدَّ من صَفْحٍ لسَيْفٍ ومن حَدّ

    Through your own worth and lineage you have risen nobly:

    a sword must have both a broad face and an edge.

  67. وأعظَمُ مِمّا نِلْتَ ما ستَنالُه

    فَمبْدأُ ألفٍ حين يُحسَبُ من فَرد

    What you will attain is greater than what you have attained;

    a thousand, when counted, begins with one.

  68. شَهِدْتُ لمَا شاهدْتُ مثْلَكَ في الورَى

    أغرَّ كريماً ذا شمائلَ كالشُّهْد

    I testify: I have never seen your like among mankind,

    radiant, generous, with qualities sweet as honey.

  69. ولم أَر في الدُنيا كلُطْفِك بالفَتى

    وعَطْفِك لولا أنّه جائزُ الحَدّ

    I have seen nothing in the world like your kindness to a man

    or your compassion—save that it exceeds all bounds.

  70. بَقيت ولا أبقَى أعادِيَك الردى

    ودُمتَ مدى الأيّامِ في عيشةٍ رَغْد

    May you endure, and may death spare none of your enemies;

    may you live through all your days in ease.

  71. ومُتِّعْتَ بالفَرْعِ الكريمِ انضِمامُه

    إلى الأصلِ ضَمَّ الكَفَّ منك إلى الزَّند

    May you enjoy the noble branch, whose joining

    to the root is like the joining of your hand to your wrist.

  72. ومُلِّيتَ أشبالاً لا تُناجِلُ أو تَرى

    بهم قَصْرَكَ العالي عَريناً من الأُسد

    May you long enjoy lion-cubs: no sooner do you beget them than you see

    your lofty palace become through them a lions' den.

  73. أيا سَيِّداً سَبْطَ الأناملِ بالنّدى

    فِداؤك جَعْدٌ كَفُّه ليس بالجَعد

    O lord, open-fingered in generosity,

    may the tight-fisted—not the curly-haired—ransom you.

  74. دعوتُك والأحداثُ حَوْلي مُطيفةٌ

    دُعاءَ أسيرٍ في العِدا مُوثَقِ الشّدّ

    I called upon you while calamities encircled me,

    as a captive among foes, tightly bound, cries out.

  75. وليس المُعنَّى القَلْبِ في حَلَقِ الأسى

    كمثْلِ المُعنّى القَلْبِ في حَلَق القِدّ

    The man whose heart is tormented in grief's fetters

    is not like one tormented at heart in leather fetters.

  76. فها أنا قِرْنُ الدّهْرِ ألقاهُ واحداً

    وقد جاءني من صَرْفهِ وهْو في حَشد

    Here I am, time's adversary, meeting it alone,

    while it comes against me with its reversals, in a host.

  77. فأمدِدْ على نَأْيِ الدّيارِ بنُصْرةٍ

    فقد يُهرَعُ المَولَى إلى صَرخةِ العَبد

    Send support, though our homes lie far apart;

    for a master may hasten to his servant's cry.

  78. وخَلْفِيَ أقوامٌ أمدُّوا عيونَهم

    إلى يومِ سَعْدٍ منك يَعلو به جَدّي

    Behind me are people who have stretched their eyes

    toward a fortunate day from you that will raise my fortune.

  79. فإن انت لم تَمنَعْ من الدّهرِ جانبي

    ولم تُعْدِني نَصْراً عليه فَمْن يُعدي

    If you do not shield my side from time,

    and aid me against it, who will give me aid?

  80. وكم خاطبٍ إحدى بناتِ خواطري

    بمَهْرَيْنِ من جاهٍ وسيعٍ ومن رِفد

    How many a suitor seeks a daughter of my thoughts,

    with two dowries: ample influence and gifts.

  81. ولكنّني أرجوك وحدَكَ في الورى

    وإنْ لم تكنْ نُعماك تَشمَلُني وحْدي

    Yet among all mankind I place my hope in you alone,

    though your bounty does not embrace me alone.