Sol 6

  1. جَرى المَينُ فيهِم كابِراً بَعدَ كابِرٍ

    عَنِ الخُبرِ يَحكي لا عَنِ السَلَفِ الحَبرُ

    Falsehood passed among them, elder after elder.

    The learned man tells it from experience, not from his predecessors.

  2. خَبَرتُ بني الدُنيا وَأَصبَحتُ راغِباً

    إِلَيهِم كَأَنّي ما شَفاني بِهِم خُبرُ

    I have tested the people of this world and come to long

    for them, as though experience with them had never cured me.

  3. جِبِلَّةُ ظُلمٍ لا قَوامَ بِحَربِها

    وَصيغَةُ سَوءٍ ما لِمَكسورِها جَبرُ

    A nature of injustice, against which war cannot set things right,

    and a form of evil whose broken parts cannot be mended.

  4. تِلاوَتُكُم لَيسَت لِرُشدٍ وَلا هُدى

    بِعِشرَينِ ما فيها اِدِّغامٌ وَلا نَبرُ

    Your recitation serves neither sound judgment nor guidance;

    in twenty parts, it has neither assimilation nor emphasis.

  5. وَما العَيشُ إِلّا عُبرَ أَسفارِ ظاعِنٍ

    لِمُقلَتِهِ مِمّا يُمارِسُهُ العَبرُ

    Life is only lessons along a departing traveler’s journeys,

    and his eye sheds tears over what he undergoes.

  6. تَغَبَّرتُها بِالسَيرِ حَتّى تَرَكتُها

    طَليحَ رِكابٍ ما لِأَخلافِها غُبرُ

    I covered it with travel’s dust until I left it

    an exhausted mount, with nothing left in its udders.

  7. وَقَد ماتَ مِن بَعدِ التَغَشمُرُ جَهلُها

    فَغُيَّبَ إِلّا أَنَّ هامَتَها القَبرُ

    After rashness, its ignorance died

    and was buried, though its skull is the grave.

  8. حَديثُ أَتانا عَن يَمانٍ وَمُشإِمٍ

    وَأَولى البَرايا بِالَّذي فُرِيَ الكُبرُ

    A tale reached us from a Yemeni and a northerner;

    of all creatures, pride best deserves what was fabricated.

  9. خَفِ اللَهَ حَتّى في جِنى النَحلِ ذُقتَهُ

    فَما جَمَعَت إِلّا لِأَنفُسِها الدَبرُ

    Fear God even over the honey you have tasted from bees,

    for the bees gathered it only for themselves.

  10. إِذا أَنتَ زَوَّجتَ العَجوزَ عَلى الصَبا

    فَأَيّامُها صِنٌّ عَلَيكَ وَصِنَّبرُ

    If you marry an old woman while you are young,

    her days will bring you frost and bitter cold.

  11. وَتَحطيمُ أَرماحِ الوَغى أَبَرٌ صَغا

    بِها القَولُ كَم طَعنٍ يُهَيّجُهُ أَبرُ

    The breaking of battle spears is a prick that speech inclines toward;

    how many a thrust is stirred by a needle’s prick!

  12. وَصَبرُكَ فَضلٌ فيكَ إِن كُنتَ قادِراً

    وَإِلّا فَعَجزٌ مِن خَلائِقِكَ الصَبرُ

    Your patience is a virtue if you are capable;

    otherwise, patience is a weakness in your nature.

  13. لِقاؤُكَ مافيهِ لِمِثلِيَ خيرَةٌ

    وَلا لَكَ فَاِنظُر أَينَ يُلتَمَسُ الشَبرُ

    There is no good for someone like me in meeting you,

    nor for you; so see where a handspan may be found.