Sol 6.1

  1. أَيا شَجَرَ العُرا أوسِعتِ رِيّاً

    فَقَد جَفَّ العِضاهُ وَلَم تَجُفّي

    O trees of the open land, may you be amply watered!

    For the thorn-trees have dried up, but you have not.

  2. وَما يَبقى إِذا فَتَّشتَ حَيٌّ

    تَخَيُّرُهُ الحَوادِثُ أَو تُنَفّي

    No living being survives, if you search,

    That calamities single out or cast away.

  3. لِكافورٍ غَدا الكافورُ زاداً

    وَجَفَّت أَبحُرٌ مِن آلِ جُفِّ

    For Kafur, camphor became his provision,

    And seas from the house of Juff ran dry.

  4. وَهَل فاتَ الحتوفَ أَخو هُذَيلٍ

    كَأَنَّ مُلاءَتَيهِ عَلى هِجفِّ

    And did the man of Hudhayl elude death,

    As though his two cloaks lay upon a huge ostrich?

  5. أَو العادي السُلَيكُ وَصاحِباهُ

    أَو الأَسَدِيُّ كَالصَعلِ الهِزَفِّ

    Or the swift runner al-Sulayk and his two companions,

    Or the man of Asad, like a small-headed, fleet ostrich?

  6. تَجُمُّ جُيوشُها فَيَضِلُّ فيها

    فَتىً يَجتابُ صَفّاً بَعدَ صَفِ

    Its armies mass, and among them loses his way

    A young man who passes through rank after rank.

  7. تَكَلَّفتَ الوَفاءَ وَحُمَّ يَومٌ

    أَراحَ مِنَ التَوافي بِالتَوَفّي

    You undertook fidelity, and a day was decreed

    That spared you further meetings by taking your life.

  8. وَدَهري بِالمُغارِ أَغارَ صَبري

    وَعَلَّمَني التَعَفُّفَ بِالتَعَفّي

    And my age, by its raids, twisted my patience taut,

    And taught me self-restraint through effacement.

  9. أَما شُغِلَ الأَنامُ عَنِ التَقافي

    بِما وَعَدَ الزَمانُ مِنَ التَقَفّي

    Have people not been distracted from pursuing one another

    By the pursuit that time has promised?

  10. وَقَد صَدَقَت ظُنونٌ مِن رِجالٍ

    تَخَفّوا ما تَوارى بِالتَخَفّي

    And conjectures held by men have proved true:

    They uncovered what had hidden itself in concealment.

  11. رَأوا مُتَسَتِّراً عَنهُم بِسُدٍّ

    لِيَأجوجَ كَمُستَتِرٍ بِشَفِّ

    They saw what lay concealed from them behind a barrier

    For Gog, as though hidden behind a gauzy veil.

  12. لَقَد عَجَبَ القَضاءُ لِرَكبِ مَوجٍ

    يُقابِلُهُ بِمِزمارٍ وَدُفِّ

    Fate indeed marveled at a company riding waves,

    That meets the waves with a flute and a tambourine.

  13. وَلَو نالَت عُقابُ اللوحِ لُبّاً

    عَداها عَن تَكَفُّئِها التَكَفّي

    Had the eagle of the board gained understanding,

    Contentment would have kept it from swaying.

  14. وَقَد يُغني المُسِفَّ إِلى الدَنايا

    تَعَيُّشُهُ مِنَ الخوصِ المُسَفِّ

    One who stoops to baseness may be made self-sufficient

    By making his living from plaited palm leaves.

  15. وَوَطءُ السُفِّ يَحمي الرِجلَ مِنهُ

    بَكورُ يَدٍ عَلى ذُرَةٍ بِسَفِّ

    And from treading the snake, the foot is protected

    By a hand reaching early to swallow some sorghum.

  16. وَكَم بُسِطَ البَنانُ فَعادَ صِفراً

    وَزارَ الجودُ كَفّاً ذاتَ كَفِّ

    How often fingers were outstretched, only to return empty,

    While generosity visited a hand that refrained from begging.

  17. وَما رَفُّ الكِعابِ سِوى عَناءٍ

    وَإِن عُنِيَت لِمَسواكٍ بِرَفِّ

    Kissing maidens is nothing but toil,

    Even if they take care to polish their teeth with a tooth-stick.

  18. وَكَم زُفَّت إِلى جَدَثٍ عَروسٌ

    وَقَد هَمَّت إِلى عُرُسٍ بِزَفِّ

    How many a bride was escorted to a grave,

    Though she had meant to go in procession to a wedding.

  19. أَرى دُنياكَ خالَطَها قَذاها

    وَأَعيَت أَن يُهَذِّبَها مُصَفّي

    I see your world mixed with its own impurities,

    And it has defied every purifier's effort to refine it.

  20. بَنوها مِثلُها فَحَلِلتَ مِنها

    بِوَهدٍ أَو بِهَضبٍ أَو بِقُفِّ

    Its children are like it; so you have settled within it

    In a hollow, among hills, or on a rocky ridge.

  21. تَهيجُ صَغائِرُ الأَشياءِ خَطباً

    جَليلاً ما سَناهُ بِمُستَشَفِّ

    The smallest things stir up a calamity

    Immense, whose blaze cannot be discerned.

  22. وَإِنَّ القَتلَ في أُحُدٍ وَبَدرٍ

    جَنى القَتلَينِ في نَهرٍ وَطَفِّ

    And the killing at Uhud and Badr

    Begot the two slaughters at Nahr and Taff.

  23. وَإِن لَذَّ القَبيحَ غُواةُ قَومٍ

    فَإِنَّ الفَضلَ يُعرَفُ لِلأَعَفِّ

    And though a people's misguided ones relish ugliness,

    Merit is still acknowledged in the more restrained.

  24. وَلَيسَ عَلَيَّ غَيرُ بُلوغُ جُهدي

    وَضَيفي قانِعٌ مِنّي بِضَفِّ

    Nothing is required of me beyond doing my utmost;

    And my guest is content with scant fare from me.

  25. إِذا اِستَثقَلتُ أَثوابي وَنَعلي

    فَثِقلي في التَجَرُّدِ وَالتَحَفّي

    When I find my clothes and sandal burdensome,

    My burden lies in stripping bare and going barefoot.

  26. لَعَلَّ مَطيَّةً مِنّي قَريبٌ

    فَيَحمِلُ سَيرُها قَدَماً بِخُفِّ

    Perhaps a mount is near me,

    So its gait will bear a foot by means of a padded hoof.

  27. وَما سَلُّ المُهَنَّدِ لِلتَوَقّي

    كَسَلِّ المَشرِفيَّةِ لِلتَشَفّي

    Drawing an Indian blade for protection is not

    Like drawing a Mashrafi sword to gratify revenge.

  28. وَلَيسَ الخَمسُ ضارِبَةً بِسَيفٍ

    نَظيرَ الخِمسِ ضارِبَةً بِدُفِّ

    The five fingers striking with a sword are not

    The equal of the five striking a tambourine.

  29. أَباغي حَظِّهِ بِقَناً وَخَيلٍ

    كَباغيهِ بِمُنوالٍ وَحَفِّ

    Is one who seeks his fortune with spears and horses

    Like one who seeks it with a loom and a weaving rod?

  30. وَما الجَبَلُ الوَقورُ لِجاذِبيهِ

    عَلى العِلّاتِ كَالجُزءِ الأَخَفِّ

    Nor is the weighty mountain, to those who pull it,

    Whatever the conditions, like the lighter fragment.

  31. وَجِسمي شَمعَةٌ وَالنَفسُ نارٌ

    إِذا حانَ الرَدى خَمَدَت بِأُفِّ

    My body is a candle, and the soul a fire;

    When death is due, a puff puts it out.

  32. أَعَيَّرتِ النِعامَ أولاتُ فَرعٍ

    خُلُوَّ الهامِ مِن ريشٍ وَزِفِّ

    Have those with long hair mocked the ostriches

    For heads bare of feathers and down?

  33. لَعَلَّ النَبعَ تَثنيهِ اللَيالي

    أَخا وَرَقٍ وَنَورٍ مُستَكِفِّ

    Perhaps the nights will bend the nabʿ tree,

    Bearer of leaves and clustered blossoms.

  34. إِذا ما القائِلُ الكِنديُّ ذَلَّت

    لَهُ الأَوزانُ فَاِعتَرِفي بِشِفِّ

    If the Kindi poet wins obedience

    From the meters, then acknowledge his superiority.

  35. فَإِنَّ عُطارِداً في الجَوِّ أَولى

    بِأَن يَزِنَ الكَلامَ وَأَن يُقَفّي

    For Mercury in the sky is more worthy

    To weigh speech and give it rhyme.

  36. وَأَقصي عَن مَآرِبِكَ البَرايا

    وَلا يَغرُركَ خِلٌّ بِالتَحَفّي

    Keep people far from your purposes,

    And let no friend deceive you with solicitous attention.

  37. وَفَذٌّ في مَقاصِدِهِ بَليغٌ

    أَحَبُّ إِلَيَّ مِن إِلفٍ أَلَفِّ

    And a solitary man, eloquent in his purposes,

    Is dearer to me than a tongue-tied companion.

  38. لَعَمرُ أَبيكَ ما خالي بِخالٍ

    لِشائِمِهِ وَلا شُهدي بِهَفِّ

    By your father's life, my cloud is not barren

    To its lightning-watcher, nor is my honey thin.

  39. فَإِن أُعطِ القَليلَ يَكُن هَنيئاً

    يَجيءُ المُستَميحَ بِغَيرِ شَفِّ

    If I give a little, let it be wholesome,

    Reaching the seeker of gifts without harm.

  40. إِذا وَرَدَ الفَقيرُ عَلى اِحتِياجي

    أَغَثتُ لَهيفَهُ بِالمُستَدَفِّ

    When a poor man comes despite my own need,

    I help him in his anguish with whatever is at hand.

  41. وَلَو كانَ الكَثيرُ لَقَلَّ عِندي

    وَأَهوَنَ بِالطَفيفِ المُستَطَفِّ

    Even if it were much, I would count it little;

    And how insignificant is the scant amount at hand!