Sol 6.1

  1. أظلماً ورمحي ناصري وحُسامي

    وذلاًّ وعزمي قائدي وزمامي

    Shall I suffer injustice, with my spear and sword to champion me,

    and humiliation, with my resolve my guide and reins?

  2. ولي بأس مشبوح الذراعين مغضب

    يصاول عن أشباله ويُحامي

    My valor, arms outspread and wrathful,

    fights for its cubs and defends them.

  3. كذبت لقد استسهل الوعر في العلى

    وأكرمُ نفسي أن يهونَ مَقامي

    False! I find the rugged road to eminence easy,

    and prize myself too highly to let my standing fall.

  4. هجرت الثغور اللامعات وشاقني

    بريقُ المواضي تحت كل قتامِ

    I forsook gleaming smiles, and longed instead for

    the flash of keen blades beneath every cloud of dust.

  5. وساروني كأسُ النديم فم يُهج

    سوى لوعةٍ بالعز ذاتِ ضِرام

    The boon companion's cup stirred in me [text unclear]

    only a burning passion for honor.

  6. سجيَّةُ طلاع الثنايا مشمِّرٍ

    على الهول خوَّاضِ لكل ظلام

    Such is the nature of a climber of passes, girded

    against terror, plunging into every darkness.

  7. ولما التقينا بالكثيب وأُسبلتْ

    غزارُ دموعٍ للفراقِ هُوامِ

    When we met beside the dune, and there poured

    copious tears, streaming at parting,

  8. ولاذتْ بخداع الصبا عامريَّةٌ

    ترومُ اغتراراً من شباب غُلامِ

    an Amiri woman took refuge in youth's guile,

    hoping to beguile a young man in his youth.

  9. تفاوضني نظم الهوى ودموعُها

    على الخد منها غيرُ ذاتِ نظامِ

    She exchanged love-verses with me, while her tears

    lay unstrung upon her cheek.

  10. وأعدى الدجى نوم الوشاة وقد مضى

    هزيعٌ فألقى كَلْكلاً باكِام

    The slanderers' sleep infected the darkness; there had passed

    a watch of night, and it laid its breast upon the hills.

  11. وفاح النقا من ردعها فكأنما

    أصابَ من الدَّاريِّ فضَّ خِتامِ

    The dune breathed fragrance from her perfume, as though

    it had caught the scent of a perfumer's newly broken seal.

  12. بكيت فقالت خامر الحب قلبه

    فقلتُ بغير الغانيات غَرامي

    I wept; she said, 'Love has possessed his heart.'

    I answered, 'My passion is for other than fair women.'

  13. منعت القرى أن لم أُقدها عوابساً

    تشبُّ على الأعداء نارَ حِمامِ

    May I be denied hospitality if I do not lead them, grim-faced,

    to kindle against the enemy the fire of death.

  14. طوارح أيدٍ في الرؤوس كأنما

    يبارينَ هبَّات الظُّبى بلطامِ

    They fling their forehooves at heads, as though

    vying with the blades' sweeping strokes through their blows.

  15. تجانف عن رعي الجميم وتختلي

    شكيرَ رؤوس طُوحت ولمِامِ

    They shun grazing on fresh grass, and crop instead

    the young growth of felled heads and their tresses.

  16. إذا ظمئت أغنى الدلاصُ بلمعه

    فكل كميٍّ مُنْقعٌ لأُوامِ

    When they thirst, burnished armor suffices with its gleam;

    each armored warrior is a draught against burning thirst.

  17. عليهن فتيانٌ نماهُمْ مجاشعٌ

    وكانَ إلى العلياء أكرمَ نامِ

    Upon them ride young men sprung from Mujashiʿ,

    the noblest progenitor on the path to eminence.

  18. تُهزُّ بأيديهم رماحٌ كأنما

    سقوها من الأيمان صرفَ مُدامِ

    Spears are brandished in their hands, as though

    their right hands had given them unmixed wine to drink.

  19. إذا شرعوها للطعان حسبتها

    كواكَب تهديها بدور تمام

    When they level them for thrusting, you would think them

    stars guided by full moons.

  20. بريق سيوف في سحاب عجاجة

    وقطرُ دماءٍ في رعودِ كلامِ

    Swords flash within a cloud of dust,

    and blood rains amid the thunder of voices.

  21. فأدرك مجداً أو تَجلَّى عجاجتي

    من الطَّرد عن ثاوٍ بغير رجامِ

    So I win glory—or my dust-cloud clears

    from the chase, revealing one lying without a cairn.

  22. وكم صَوْن جسم بعد موت أذلَّه

    كما ذلَّ بالتَّصْبير جسمُ هِشام

    How often preserving a body after death has abased it,

    as Hisham's body was abased through embalming.

  23. فإن تنكري حلمي وبأسي مصاحبي

    وضرب الخفاف البيض دون خصامي

    If you question my forbearance, with my valor as companion,

    and strokes of light, white blades instead of my arguing,

  24. فسيفي وحلمي سائسان كلاهما

    إذا اسُتنْجدا في موقفٍ ومقامٍ

    my sword and my forbearance are both governors

    when summoned to aid in any stand or station.

  25. فللخامل الغاوي تجاوز آنفٍ

    وللملك الطَّاغي صِيالُ حسامِ

    For the obscure, misguided man, a proud man's pardon;

    for the tyrannous king, a sword's onslaught.

  26. ألا غنياني بالصهيل فإنه

    سَماعي ورقْراق الدماء مُدامي

    Come, you two, sing to me with neighing, for it is

    my music, and shimmering blood is my wine.

  27. وحطَّا على الرمضاء رحلي فإنها

    مَقيلي وخفَّاقُ البنود خيامي

    Set down my saddle on the burning sand, you two, for it is

    my noonday resting place; fluttering banners are my tents.

  28. ولا تذكرا لي خفض عيش فإنما

    بلوغُ المعالي صحَّتي وقِوامي

    Speak not to me, you two, of a life of ease, for only

    attaining high honors is my health and mainstay.

  29. وفي العز يلفى عيش كل مُغامرٍ

    على المجد لا في مَشْربٍ وطعام

    In honor lies the life of every man who ventures

    for glory—not in drink and food.

  30. عداني أن أرضى المذلَّة صارمٌ

    جَريٌّ على الأعناق غيرُ كَهام

    A keen sword keeps me from consenting to abasement,

    bold against necks, never blunt;

  31. وطِرف نُضاريٌّ إذا ما امتطيتُه

    فأقربُ شيءٍ منه بُعْدُ مَرامِ

    and a purebred steed: whenever I mount it,

    a far-off goal is the nearest thing to it.

  32. حبيكُ القَرا رحْبُ اللِّبان مُؤ

    مَّنُ العِثارِ إذا يجري صليبُ حَوامِ

    Well-knit of back, broad of chest, secure

    against stumbling when it runs, hard of hoof.

  33. مجيبُ إشارات الضَّمير سلاسُهُ

    فيغنيك عن سوطٍ لها ولجامِ

    Its docility answers the mind's signals,

    sparing you any need of whip or bridle.

  34. ودينٌ وإسلامٌ شددتُ عُراها

    بصدرٍ رحيبٍ صدره وقَوامٍ

    And faith and Islam, whose bonds I have strengthened

    through a broad-hearted leader, a mainstay.

  35. هو المرءُ لا عرضٌ له بمحلِّلٍ

    مباحٍ ولا معروفُهُ بحرامِ

    He is the man whose honor is never lawful

    or free to assail, whose kindness is never withheld.

  36. قطارٌ ونارٌ لا حين تَبْلو خِلالَهُ

    يسرك في يومَيْ ندىً وخصامِ

    Rain and fire, when you test his character [text unclear],

    he delights you on both days: bounty and contention.

  37. مكارمُهُ في المُعتفي غيرُ فذَّةٍ

    وضربتهُ في القِرْن غيرُ تُؤامِ

    His generous deeds for the supplicant never come singly,

    and his blow against a rival needs no second.

  38. ركوبٌ لأثباج الحتوفِ كأنما

    يجولُ بها في غاربٍ وسَنامِ

    He rides the broad backs of deaths, as though

    he were roaming on their withers and hump.

  39. إذا ما احْتبى يومَ السَّلام كأنما

    يحدثنا عن يذْبلٍ وشَمامِ

    When he sits with knees drawn up on a day of peace, it is as though

    he were telling us of Yadhbul and Shamam.

  40. كأن رباطَ الخيل خولَ قِبابهِ

    عَذارى خُدروٍ في مُلاءِ شآم

    The tethered horses, attendants of his pavilions, seem

    like secluded maidens in Syrian mantles.

  41. يُغيرُ بها مُلس المتون جسيمةُ

    ويُرجعها بالكرِّ غيرَ جِسام

    He takes them raiding, smooth-backed and full-bodied,

    and brings them back from the charge no longer stout.

  42. إذا طرقَ اليوم العصيب ولثَّم ال

    غبارُ مُحيَّا شمسِه بلثام

    When the grievous day strikes, and the

    dust covers its sun's face with a veil,

  43. وخام الزميع الشهم من سورة الردى

    وقلَّ نصيرٌ ذو يدٍ ومُحام

    and the resolute, valiant man recoils from death's onrush,

    and helpers with strength and defenders grow few,

  44. فرأي الوزير الصدر يُغني عن القنا

    بشلِّ طَريدٍ أو بفلّ لُهام

    the chief minister's judgment dispenses with spears

    in pursuing a fugitive or routing a vast host.