Sol 6.1

  1. شاقتكَ هند وَأمسى الحبل منصرما

    وأوقدت في الحشا في بينها ضرما

    Hind has stirred your longing, and the bond is now severed.

    And at her departure she kindled a blaze within the breast.

  2. بانَت ولا صافحت كفّي أناملها

    وَلا لَثمتُ لها عند الوداعِ فما

    She departed, and my palm had not clasped her fingertips,

    nor had I kissed her mouth at farewell.

  3. خود أرى في هواها شقوَتي فرحا

    والغيّ رشداً وبؤسي عندها نِعما

    A tender maiden: in loving her I see my misery as joy,

    and error as right guidance, and my wretchedness beside her as bliss.

  4. كأنّ ريقتَها بعد الكرى عسلٌ

    أو الرحيق الّذي بالمسكِ قد خُتِما

    Her saliva after sleep is as though it were honey,

    or pure wine that has been sealed with musk.

  5. قَد غصّ خلخالها في ساقِها ونبا

    في درعِها ردفُها الرجراجُ واِرتَكما

    Her anklet strains around her calf; and there protrudes

    beneath her gown her quivering rump, heaped high.

  6. لَقد بَراني هواها مذ كلفتُ بها

    كَما بَرى للكتابِ الكاتبُ القَلما

    Love for her has whittled me away since I became enamored of her,

    as the scribe trims the pen for writing.

  7. غيداء تستلبُ الألبابَ كم سلبت

    عَقلي وكَم سَفكت يوم الفراقِ دما

    A supple beauty who steals minds—how often she has stolen

    my reason, and how much blood she shed on the day of parting!

  8. ما خلتُ جاحم نيرانِ الغرام طغى

    إلّا تأجّج في أحشاءِ واِضطرما

    No sooner did I think the fierce blaze of passion's fires had run wild

    than it flared within my breast and blazed.

  9. فَكلّما طالَ بي سقمٌ حننت لها

    وقلتُ يا هند زيدي مُهجتي سقما

    Whenever sickness lingered with me, I yearned for her

    and said, “O Hind, deepen my soul's sickness.”

  10. فَطوبى لِمَن بات يجني شَهد مبسمها

    وَالورد والطلع والتفّاح والعنما

    Blessed is he who spends the night gathering honey from her smiling mouth,

    and roses, palm blossom, apples, and ‘anam.

  11. يا مُخبري عُد وكرّر في حديثك عن

    مَن حلّ وادي الغضا والسفح والعلما

    O my news-bearer, return, and speak again in your tale of

    those who dwelt in Wadi al-Ghada, al-Safh, and al-‘Alam.

  12. فَكيفَ أشجارُها بل كيفَ سَجسجها

    إِذا الرياح اِعتنقنَ البانَ والسلما

    How are its trees—rather, how is its mild air,

    when the winds embrace the moringa and acacia trees?

  13. منازل كَم بِها غازلت غزلتها

    وَكَم لثمتُ بهنّ الخرّد الوشما

    Abodes where so often I courted their gazelles,

    and so often kissed shy, tattooed maidens there.

  14. يا صاحبيَّ اِفقها لي ما نطقتُ به

    وَما رفضتُ وما صرحتهُ لَكُما

    O my two companions, understand what I have spoken,

    and what I have set aside, and what I have made plain to you both.

  15. لَولا المليك أبو المنصور ما رجعت

    بصيرة اللحظِ عينُ الدهرِ بعد عمى

    But for the king Abu al-Mansur, there would not have returned

    the eye of Time, keen-sighted after blindness.

  16. متوّج في أياديهِ ومفخره

    قد عقّب العرب في الميدانِ والعجما

    A crowned ruler: in his benefactions and his glory,

    he has left Arabs and non-Arabs behind in the arena.

  17. تَهمي سحائبُ كفّه لنا ديما

    وطفا ملثُّ حَياها يُخجلُ الديما

    The clouds of his palm pour down on us in steady rains,

    thick-laden; their unceasing rain puts steady showers to shame.

  18. يلقاهُ في شأنهِ في الحلم محتلماً

    بِالعزمِ مُعتزماً بالحزم محتزما

    One encounters him in his affairs, mature in forbearance,

    firm in resolve, girded with prudence.

  19. بدرٌ إِذا ما بدا بحرٌ إذا سمحت

    كفّاه للمجتدي ليثٌ إذا اِنتقما

    A full moon when he appears; a sea when generous

    are his hands to the supplicant; a lion when he takes revenge.

  20. قرمٌ سَما مجدهُ فوق السما وعلا

    حتّى تكوّن مِن فوقِ السماء سما

    A noble chief whose glory rose above the sky and soared,

    until it became a sky above the sky.

  21. فَما اِبن سعدى ولا القعقاع أسمح من

    ه للجليسِ وللعافي إذا قدما

    Neither Ibn Sa‘da nor al-Qa‘qa‘ is more generous than

    he is to a companion and to a supplicant on arrival.

  22. أَدهى وأحلم ممّن كان قد قرعت

    له العصى حين يحوي المجلس الحشما

    Shrewder and more forbearing than the man for whom was struck

    the staff, when the assembly gathered the retainers.

  23. يا مَن تَسربلَ سِربال الثنا وسَعى

    سعياً ينال به الإجلالَ والكرما

    O you who donned the robe of praise and strove

    with a striving that wins reverence and honor,

  24. اِسمَع مقالَ فصيحٍ حاذقٍ فطنٍ

    طبنٍ تأرّث عن لقمانهِ الحكما

    hear the words of an eloquent, skillful, perceptive man,

    discerning, who inherited wise sayings from his Luqman.

  25. يعاذر الدرَّ بالألفاظِ مختلباً

    وينثرُ الدرّ من ألفاظه الكلما

    He contends with pearls through his words, captivating,

    and scatters words as pearls from his diction.

  26. يُنسيكَ لفظَ المعرّي في عزايته

    ونظم جرول وماشا وما نظما

    He makes you forget al-Ma‘arri's diction in his lament,

    and Jarwal's verse—whatever he wished and whatever he composed.