Sol 6.1

  1. ولما رأيتُ الخيل تُهدي فقاصِرٌ

    بطيءٌ ومِقْلاقُ العِنانِ جَواد

    And when I saw horses offered as gifts—one a laggard,

    Slow, another a swift steed restless at the reins—

  2. حملتُ اليكم سُبَّقاً عربيةً

    تُساقُ بودِّي نحوكمْ وتُقاد

    I brought you swift Arabian racers,

    Driven toward you by my affection, and led.

  3. خلت من هجين فهي بيض صريحة

    وطابَ لها مُسترضعٌ ووَلاد

    Free of mongrel stock, they are white and purebred,

    And noble are their nurture and birth.

  4. من الشهب ذكراً واشتهاراً ولم تكن

    من الدُّهْمِ لولا مِزْبرٌ ومِداد

    They are among the greys in repute and renown, and would not have been

    Among the blacks but for a pen and ink.

  5. اذا جنحت يوم الرهانِ لغايةٍ

    مراها فأمْضاها حِجاً وسَدادُ

    When they turn toward a goal on the day of the race,

    Reason and sound judgment spur them on and speed them forward.

  6. تكونُ لقطب الدين ذخراً من العُلي

    اذا عَزَّ ذُخْرٌ نافعٌ وعَتادُ

    They will be a treasure of glory for Qutb al-Din,

    When useful stores and equipment grow scarce;

  7. لأغلبَ ضرابِ الجماجم بالضُّحى

    اِذِ الشًّهبُّ من نضح النجيع وراد

    For a mighty warrior, a smasher of skulls at midmorning,

    When the greys turn bay from the spray of blood;

  8. وفارسِ يومَيْ بأسهِ ونوالهِ

    اذا طال محْلٌ عارقٌ وجِلادُ

    And a knight on his two days of battle and bounty,

    When wasting drought and combat drag on.

  9. فهُنِّيَ أيامَ المَسَرَّةِ كلَّما

    خلتْ فلأُخرى بالسُّرور مَعاد

    So may he be congratulated on days of joy; whenever

    They pass, there is a joyful return to another.