Sol 6.1

  1. ألا في سبيلِ المَجْدِ ما أنا فاعل

    عَفافٌ وإقْدامٌ وحَزْمٌ ونائِل

    Indeed, all I do is in pursuit of glory:

    Self-restraint, daring, resolve, and bounty.

  2. أعندي وقد مارسْتُ كلَّ خَفِيّةٍ

    يُصَدّقُ واشٍ أو يُخَيّبُ سائِل

    In my presence—when I have probed every secret—

    Can a slanderer be believed, or a petitioner disappointed?

  3. أقَلُّ صُدودي أنّني لكَ مُبْغِضٌ

    وأيْسَرُ هَجْري أنني عنكَ راحل

    My slightest rejection is that I hate you;

    And my mildest desertion is that I leave you.

  4. إذا هَبّتِ النكْباءُ بيْني وبينَكُمْ

    فأهْوَنُ شيْءٍ ما تَقولُ العَواذِل

    When the crosswind blows between me and you,

    Then the least concern is what the reproaching women say.

  5. تُعَدّ ذُنوبي عندَ قَوْمٍ كثيرَةً

    ولا ذَنْبَ لي إلاّ العُلى والفواضِل

    My sins are reckoned many by some people,

    Yet I have no sin except loftiness and virtues.

  6. كأنّي إذا طُلْتُ الزمانَ وأهْلَهُ

    رَجَعْتُ وعِنْدي للأنامِ طَوائل

    As though, whenever I surpass time and its people,

    I had returned owing humankind blood debts.

  7. وقد سارَ ذكْري في البلادِ فمَن لهمْ

    بإِخفاءِ شمسٍ ضَوْؤها مُتكامل

    And my renown has spread through the lands; who could, for them,

    Conceal a sun whose light is complete?

  8. يُهِمّ الليالي بعضُ ما أنا مُضْمِرٌ

    ويُثْقِلُ رَضْوَى دونَ ما أنا حامِل

    Some of what I harbor troubles the nights,

    And less than what I bear would burden Radwa.

  9. وإني وإن كنتُ الأخيرَ زمانُهُ

    لآتٍ بما لم تَسْتَطِعْهُ الأوائل

    And though I am the last in time,

    I shall surely bring what the ancients could not achieve.

  10. وأغدو ولو أنّ الصّباحَ صوارِمٌ

    وأسْرِي ولو أنّ الظّلامَ جَحافل

    And I set out at dawn, even if morning were keen swords,

    And I travel by night, even if darkness were armies.

  11. وإني جَوادٌ لم يُحَلّ لِجامُهُ

    ونِضْوٌ يَمانٍ أغْفَلتْهُ الصّياقل

    And I am a noble steed whose bridle has not been loosed,

    And a slender Yemeni blade neglected by the polishers.

  12. وإنْ كان في لُبسِ الفتى شرَفٌ له

    فما السّيفُ إلاّ غِمْدُه والحمائل

    And if a young man's honor lies in his clothing,

    Then the sword is nothing but its sheath and carrying-straps.

  13. ولي مَنطقٌ لم يرْضَ لي كُنْهَ مَنزلي

    على أنّني بين السّماكينِ نازِل

    My eloquence is not content with my station's full height,

    Though I dwell between the two Simak stars,

  14. لَدى موْطِنٍ يَشتاقُه كلُّ سيّدٍ

    ويَقْصُرُ عن إدراكه المُتناوِل

    At an abode that every lord longs for,

    Yet whoever reaches for it falls short of attaining it.

  15. ولما رأيتُ الجهلَ في الناسِ فاشياً

    تجاهلْتُ حتى ظُنَّ أنّيَ جاهل

    And when I saw ignorance spreading among people,

    I feigned ignorance until I was thought ignorant.

  16. فوا عَجَبا كم يدّعي الفضْل ناقصٌ

    ووا أسَفا كم يُظْهِرُ النّقصَ فاضل

    Oh, what wonder! How many deficient men claim excellence!

    And oh, what sorrow! How many worthy men display deficiency!

  17. وكيف تَنامُ الطيرُ في وُكُناتِها

    وقد نُصِبَتْ للفَرْقَدَيْنِ الحَبائل

    And how can birds sleep in their nests,

    When snares have been set for the two Farqad stars?

  18. يُنافسُ يوْمي فيّ أمسي تَشرّفاً

    وتَحسدُ أسْحاري عليّ الأصائل

    My today vies with my yesterday for honor through me,

    And the late afternoons envy my predawn hours on my account.

  19. وطال اعتِرافي بالزمانِ وصَرفِه

    فلَستُ أُبالي مًنْ تَغُولُ الغَوائل

    Long have I known time and its vicissitudes,

    So I care not whom calamities destroy.

  20. فلو بانَ عَضْدي ما تأسّفَ مَنْكِبي

    ولو ماتَ زَنْدي ما بَكَتْه الأنامل

    If my upper arm were severed, my shoulder would not grieve;

    And if my forearm died, my fingertips would not weep for it.

  21. إذا وَصَفَ الطائيَّ بالبُخْلِ مادِرٌ

    وعَيّرَ قُسّاًً بالفَهاهةِ باقِل

    When Madir describes al-Ta'i as miserly,

    And Baqil taunts Quss for inarticulacy,

  22. وقال السُّهى للشمس أنْتِ خَفِيّةٌ

    وقال الدّجى يا صُبْحُ لونُكَ حائل

    And al-Suha says to the sun, 'You are hidden,'

    And darkness says, 'O dawn, your color has faded,'

  23. وطاوَلَتِ الأرضُ السّماءَ سَفاهَةً

    وفاخَرَتِ الشُّهْبُ الحَصَى والجَنادل

    And earth foolishly vies with heaven in height,

    And pebbles and boulders vie in pride with the bright stars,

  24. فيا موْتُ زُرْ إنّ الحياةَ ذَميمَةٌ

    ويا نَفْسُ جِدّي إنّ دهرَكِ هازِل

    Then, O Death, visit: life is blameworthy;

    And, O soul, be earnest: your age is frivolous.

  25. وقد أغْتَدي والليلُ يَبكي تأسُّفاً

    على نفْسِهِ والنَّجْمُ في الغرْبِ مائل

    And sometimes I set out at dawn while night weeps in regret

    For itself, and the star inclines in the west,

  26. بِريحٍ أُعيرَتْ حافِراً من زَبَرْجَدٍ

    لها التّبرُ جِسْمٌ واللُّجَيْنُ خَلاخل

    Upon a wind lent a hoof of chrysolite,

    With gold for its body and silver for its anklets.

  27. كأنّ الصَّبا ألقَتْ إليَّ عِنانَها

    تَخُبّ بسَرْجي مَرّةً وتُناقِل

    As though the east wind had cast me its reins,

    Trotting beneath my saddle at times, then quickening its stride.

  28. إذا اشتاقَتِ الخيلُ المَناهلَ أعرَضَتْ

    عنِ الماء فاشتاقتْ إليها المناهل

    When horses long for the watering places, it turns away

    From the water, and the watering places long for it.

  29. وليْلان حالٍ بالكواكبِ جَوْزُهُ

    وآخرُ من حَلْيِ الكواكبِ عاطل

    And two nights: one whose middle is adorned with stars,

    And another bare of the stars' adornment.

  30. كأنَّ دُجاهُ الهجْرُ والصّبْحُ موْعِدٌ

    بوَصْلٍ وضَوْءُ الفجرِ حِبٌّ مُماطل

    As though its darkness were estrangement, and morning a promise

    Of reunion, and dawn's light a beloved who delays.

  31. قَطَعْتُ به بحْراً يَعُبّ عُبابُه

    وليس له إلا التَبَلّجَ ساحل

    With it I crossed a sea whose billows surged,

    And whose only shore was daybreak.

  32. ويُؤنِسُني في قلْبِ كلّ مَخوفَةٍ

    حلِيفُ سُرىً لم تَصْحُ منه الشمائل

    And in the heart of every fearful place, I am cheered by

    A companion of night travel whose ways have never sobered:

  33. من الزّنْجِ كَهلٌ شابَ مفرِقُ رأسِه

    وأُوثِقَ حتى نَهْضُهُ مُتثاقِل

    A middle-aged man of the Zanj, gray at the parting of his hair,

    And bound, so that even his rising is sluggish.

  34. كأنّ الثرَيّا والصّباحُ يرُوعُها

    أخُو سَقْطَةٍ أو ظالعٌ مُتحامل

    As though the Pleiades, frightened by morning,

    Were a man who had fallen, or a limping man straining onward.

  35. إذا أنْتَ أُعْطِيتَ السعادة لم تُبَلْ

    وإنْ نظرَتْ شَزْراً إليكَ القبائل

    If you are granted good fortune, you need not care,

    Even if the tribes look askance at you.

  36. تَقَتْكَ على أكتافِ أبطالها القَنا

    وهابَتْكَ في أغمادهِنَّ المَناصِل

    The spears on their champions' shoulders would shun you,

    And blades would fear you within their sheaths.

  37. وإنْ سدّدَ الأعداءُ نحوَكَ أسْهُماً

    نكَصْنَ على أفْواقِهِنَّ المَعابل

    And if enemies aimed arrows at you,

    The broad-headed arrows would recoil nock-first.

  38. تَحامى الرّزايا كلَّ خُفّ ومَنْسِم

    وتَلْقى رَداهُنَّ الذُّرَى والكواهِل

    Calamities avoid every camel's foot and toe,

    While humps and shoulders meet the doom they bring.

  39. وتَرْجِعُ أعقابُ الرّماحِ سَليمَةً

    وقد حُطِمتْ في الدارعينَ العَوامل

    The butt-ends of spears return unharmed,

    Though their spearheads have shattered against armored men.

  40. فإن كنْتَ تَبْغي العِزّ فابْغِ تَوَسّطاً

    فعندَ التّناهي يَقْصُرُ المُتطاوِل

    So if you seek honor, seek moderation,

    For at the utmost limit, the one reaching high falls short.

  41. تَوَقّى البُدورٌ النقصَ وهْيَ أهِلَّةٌ

    ويُدْرِكُها النّقْصانُ وهْيَ كوامل

    Moons escape waning while they are crescents,

    But waning overtakes them when they are full.