Sol 6.1

  1. خَلِّ التغزُّلَ للمشوقِ المُغرمِ

    فالمجدُ بين مُثقَّفٍ ومُطهَّمِ

    Leave love poetry to the yearning, enamored man;

    glory lies between a straightened lance and a well-built steed.

  2. رغبت بك العلياءُ عن خدع الهوى

    فارغَبْ بنفسكَ عن مقام مُتَيَّمِ

    Lofty glory has turned you away from love's deceits;

    turn yourself away from the station of a lovesick man.

  3. وارفُ العشيرة ما استطعت فإنها

    أمُّ القبائل والفَخارِ الأعْظمِ

    Mend your clan as far as you can, for it is

    the mother of tribes and of the greatest pride.

  4. من مثل قومك حين تُعتبر العُلى

    في يوم مكْرمةٍ ويم تقدُّمِ

    Who equals your people when greatness is weighed

    on a day of noble giving and a day of taking the lead?

  5. المُطْعمين بكل ليلٍ حالكٍ

    والطاعنينَ بكل يومٍ أقْتَمِ

    They feed others through every pitch-black night

    and thrust their lances through every dust-darkened day.

  6. قومٌ إذا عدم الصَّريخُ مُجيبهُ

    كانوا إليه كالبنانِ إلى الفَمِ

    A people who, when a caller for help finds no answerer,

    are as close to him as fingers to the mouth.

  7. وإذا عَفاهُمْ مُسنتٌ عَدِم الحَيا

    أغْنوهُ عن عذب السَّحاب المُثجمِ

    And when a drought-stricken man, deprived of rain, seeks their bounty,

    they spare him need of the sweet rain from copiously pouring clouds.

  8. جمعتْ تميمٌ مجدها في دارمٍ

    فأُقِرَّ فاخِرُ مجدها في أكْثَم

    Tamim gathered its glory in Darim,

    and its finest glory was established in Aktham.

  9. وهُمُ نمَوْني بالعراق مُفَوَّهاً

    ذَرِباً إذا ما قلتُ غيرَ مُجَمجمِ

    They raised me in Iraq, eloquent,

    sharp-tongued whenever I speak, never mumbling.

  10. يخشى بليغُ الحي شِرَّةَ مِقولي

    ويهابُني بأسُ الكمي المُعْلمِ

    The tribe's eloquent speaker fears the fierceness of my speech,

    and even the might of the marked warrior stands in awe of me.

  11. وأُطيع حزْمي قبل طاعةِ عزْمتي

    والعزْمُ منقصةٌ إذا لم تحْزَمِ

    I obey my prudence before obeying my resolve;

    resolve is a defect when you lack prudence.

  12. وأعافُ إدْراكَ الغِنى بمذلَّةٍ

    وغنى الذليل عديلُ فقْرِ المُعدمِ

    I disdain attaining wealth through humiliation;

    the humiliated man's wealth equals the destitute man's poverty.

  13. أقوى من العاديِّ عند كَرامتي

    والزَّعْزعِ الهوجاء إنْ لم أُكرمِ

    I am stronger than a man of ʿAd when accorded honor,

    and than the raging tempest when I am not honored.

  14. ولقد حلبتُ الدهر أشْطرهُ فما

    غادرتُ عِلْماً فيه لم أتَعَلَّمِ

    Indeed, I have milked Time's every teat, and have not

    left any knowledge in it that I have not learned.

  15. وعلمتُ عُقْباهُ فلم أحْفلْ بما

    يأتيهِ من بُؤسٍ ولا منْ أنْعُمِ

    I have learned its outcome, so I pay no heed to what

    comes in it, whether hardship or blessings.

  16. وعجبت من مُثرٍ إذا سئلَ النّدى

    لم يُعْطه لقادرٍ لم يحْلُمِ

    I marvel at a wealthy man who, when asked for bounty,

    withholds it from a powerful man who shows no forbearance.

  17. ووردتُ أنديةَ المُلوكِ فلم أكنْ

    بمعظِّمٍ إلا رَئِيَّ مُعظَّمِ

    I entered the gatherings of kings, but did not

    honor anything except an esteemed man's counsel.

  18. وعلوت فوق أولي الجحافل منهمُ

    وأقمتُ أقوالي مقامَ عرمْرمِ

    I rose above those among them who possessed mighty armies

    and made my words stand in place of a massed host.

  19. وطفقْتُ أُعلي بالبيان إلى مدىً

    جاري الفصيحُ إليه مثلُ الأعْجمِ

    I began rising through eloquence to a height

    where my eloquent rival was like a tongue-tied man.

  20. وولجْتُ منفوس السِّرارِ لديهم

    طَوْعاً بغيرِ تَطفُّلٍ وتَهجُّمِ

    I entered their jealously treasured private counsels

    by consent, without intrusion or forcing my way.

  21. ما زال يكشفُني حميدُ تجاربي

    حتى غدا المكتومُ غيرَ مُكتَّمِ

    The praiseworthy fruits of my trials kept revealing me,

    until what was concealed was no longer hidden.

  22. ولقد غَرِضْتُ من الزمانِ كأنما

    صَدَأٌ أقامَ على فِرِنْدِ المِخْذمِ

    Indeed, I grew weary of Time, as though

    rust had settled on a keen sword's patterned steel.

  23. فجلاهُ مِن عُلْيا زُهيرِ فارسٌ

    جمُّ الرمادِ بكل عامٍ مُصْرمِ

    A knight from Zuhayr's noble heights polished it away,

    rich in hearth-ash through every impoverishing year.

  24. فانجاب بالبطل الهُمامِ ولم يكنْ

    ينْجابُ إلا بالهُمام المُنْعِمِ

    It cleared before that high-hearted hero, and could not

    clear except before that generous, high-hearted hero:

  25. بمُهنَّدٍ طَبعَ الإلهُ حديدُه

    فإذا أطالَ الضَّرب لم يتثلَّمِ

    an Indian-forged blade whose steel God tempered,

    whose edge is never chipped when it strikes at length;

  26. بفتى الندى والبأس حيث دعوتهُ

    لهما تَبعَّقَ بالنوالِ وبالدَّمِ

    a youth of bounty and valor: wherever you call him

    to the two, he gushes with gifts and blood;

  27. بسرعرعٍ في العزْم رأسٍ حِلمهُ

    ناطَ النِّجادَ بزعْزعٍ ويلمْلمِ

    one swift in resolve, supreme in forbearance,

    who hung his sword-belt on a whirlwind and a mighty host.

  28. لا يستعدُّ العِزَّ إلا نَجْدَةً

    والمالَ إلا ثَرْوةً للمُصْرمِ

    He holds his might ready only for rescue,

    and his wealth only as riches for the destitute.

  29. كرمٌ وحِلمٌ حالفاهُ على العُلى

    طبعاً بغير تكرُّمٍ وتحلُّمِ

    Generosity and forbearance allied with him for greatness,

    naturally, without feigned generosity or feigned forbearance.

  30. تلقاهُ إذ تبلوهُ أو تَجْدو النَّدى

    فرْدَ العَلاءِ أخا نَوالٍ توْأمِ

    You find him, when you test him or seek bounty,

    unique in eminence, possessed of twofold bounty.

  31. لبق الشمائل بالنعيم كأنما

    أعْطافهُ محفوفةٌ بالأنجمِ

    Graceful in manner amid luxury, as though

    his sides were encircled by stars.

  32. نَدُسٌ لطيفُ نِدامهِ وإباؤهُ

    من سلْسلٍ في حالتيه وعلْقمِ

    Shrewd and gentle: his companionship and his refusal

    are, in his two states, sweet water and bitter colocynth.

  33. فإذا تُساكنهُ فعذْبٌ سائغٌ

    وإذا تُفاتنهُ فريقةُ أرْقمِ

    If you live peaceably with him, he is sweet and easy to drink;

    if you fight him, he is a spotted viper's venom.

  34. غنيَتْ بمعرفةِ السبيل إلى القرى

    ضِيفانُه عن موقدٍ أو مَضرمِ

    Knowledge of the road to hospitality has freed

    his guests from needing a kindled beacon or blazing fire.

  35. ومُسهَّدينَ على الرَّحالِ تخالهم

    ناموا لخَفْقتهم وليس بنُوَّمِ

    And sleepless travelers upon their saddles—you would think

    they slept, from their nodding, though they were not asleep.

  36. مِيلُ الرقاب على الركاب كأنما

    صُرعوا بمعركِ خمْرةٍ أو ملحمِ

    Their necks droop over their mounts, as though

    felled in the arena of wine or in a field of slaughter,

  37. في حينِ غَبْراءِ المطالعِ أزْمَةٍ

    تَذَرُ الخميلةَ تُرْبةَ المُتيمِ

    in a famine with dust-gray horizons

    that turns lush groves into a lovesick man's grave-dust.

  38. حتى إذا حبس القطارُ وأجحفتْ

    غُبرُ السنين وحالَ نوءُ المرْزَمِ

    Until, when rains were withheld and ravaging were

    the dust-gray years, and al-Mirzam's rain-season failed,

  39. وطوى الطَّوى أجْسامهم فجليلهمْ

    يُزُجي الأزِمَّةِ كالزمام المُبْرمِ

    and hunger shriveled their bodies, their stoutest man

    urged on the reins, thin as a tightly twisted rein.

  40. أمُّوا نوال أبي المُهنَّدِ فانثنى

    يهمي كمُنْهلِّ السَّحاب المُرزِمِ

    They sought Abu al-Muhannad's bounty, and it began

    to pour like the downpour of a thundering cloud,

  41. من كفِّ مأمول الرغائبِ شأنهُ

    غَفْرُ العظيمة واحتمالُ المَغْرَمِ

    from the hand of one sought to fulfill desires, whose way is

    to pardon great offenses and shoulder costly burdens.

  42. وإذا ذُكاء اليوم أضْمَر ضوءها

    نقْعٌ كأثْباجِ الظَّلامِ المُعْتِمِ

    And when the day's sun has its light hidden

    by dust like the dense masses of darkening night,

  43. وتكدَّست قُبْلٌ كأنَّ رعيلَها

    مُعْطٌ قَرَمْنَ إلى العبيط المُودمِ

    and close-set-eyed steeds mass together, their vanguard like

    hairless wolves craving freshly slaughtered, seasoned flesh,

  44. هجرت رياض الحزْن وهي أنيقةٌ

    فرعينَ عند مُقَصَّدٍ ومُحطَّمِ

    they abandon the upland meadows, though beautiful,

    to graze beside the felled and the shattered.

  45. وطوتْ نميراً كاللُجين بياضُهُ

    طَلَباً لقاني موردٍ كالعَنْدمِ

    They pass by sweet water, silver in its whiteness,

    seeking a deep-red watering place, like ʿandam dye.

  46. وهززن غُلْباً في السُّروج كأنما

    أغمادهمْ شُعَلُ الحريقِ المُضْرمِ

    They rock thick-necked warriors in the saddles, as though

    their scabbards were flames of a blazing fire.

  47. سنوا الدُّروع على الصخور وركبوا

    عزماتهم في راس كل مُقوَّمِ

    They poured mail over rocks and mounted

    their resolves upon the tip of every straightened lance,

  48. من كل محبوكِ القرى مُتَمطَّرٍ

    يجري بمشبوحِ الذراعِ غشمشمِ

    from every firmly knit-backed, rain-swift steed

    galloping with a broad-armed, fierce warrior.

  49. وجرى المسيح مع النّجيعِ فخلته

    بالقاعِ أعناقَ الأَتيِّ المُفْعم

    Sweat ran with fresh blood, and I imagined it

    across the plain, the necks of an overflowing torrent.

  50. عاينْتَ هندياً أشدَّ من الوغى

    صبراً وأقْدمَ من مُروقِ الأسهمِ

    You saw an Indian blade surpassing battle itself

    in endurance, and bolder than arrows in their flight.

  51. فجلا العجاج عنِ العراءِ بحملةٍ

    لولا صَدوقُ طِعانها لم يُنْجِمِ

    It swept the dust from the open ground with a charge;

    without its unerring thrusts, the dust would not have lifted.

  52. كانت شقيقةَ جودهِ فتكفَّلَتْ

    منه بأرزاق النسورِ الحُوَّمِ

    That charge was the twin of his generosity, and undertook

    on his behalf to feed the circling vultures.

  53. يقظٌ يُخافُ بديهةً ورويَّةً

    فطعانُه بالرأي قبلَ اللَّهْذَمِ

    Watchful, he is feared in sudden action and deliberation;

    his judgment strikes before his sharp spear does.

  54. لولا هواهُ للنزالِ وللوغى

    هَزمَ العِدى وسروجهُ لم تُحزمِ

    Were it not for his love of close combat and warfare,

    he would rout his foes with his saddles still uncinched.

  55. عمُرتْ بفخر الدين أدْراس العلى

    وتشيَّدتْ من بعد طولِ تهدُّمِ

    Through Fakhr al-Din, the faded remnants of glory were restored

    and rebuilt after long collapse.

  56. وأعادَ ما ضَمَّ الدفاترُ فعْلُه

    صدْقاً يقيناً بغير توهُّمِ

    His deeds restored what the books contain

    as certain truth, without conjecture.

  57. فأبو المُهنَّدِ حُجَّةٌ فيما روتْ

    عنه الرواةُ مُعدَّلٌ لم يكلمِ

    Thus Abu al-Muhannad is evidence for what

    the narrators relate of him—accredited and never impugned.

  58. فكأنَّ يحيى البرمكيَّ وجعفراً

    بعَثاهُ خصْم الجاحِد المُتهجِّمِ

    It is as though Yahya al-Barmaki and Jaʿfar

    sent him as an adversary to the insolent denier.

  59. أُشْكُرْ إلهكَ إذ حللتَ محلَّةً

    منْ مِدْحتي شمَّاءَ لم تُتَسنَّمِ

    Thank your God, for you have reached a station

    lofty within my praise, a height never scaled.

  60. حَرَّمْتُها إلا عليك فكلُّهمْ

    لك حاسدون على المقام المُكْرمِ

    I have forbidden it to all but you, so all of them

    envy you for that honored station.

  61. مدحي خُصصت به لكونك واحداً

    في العصر لا فرحاً بكسب الدرهمِ

    You were singled out for my praise because you are unique

    in this age—not from delight in earning a dirham.