Sol 6.1

  1. أَجزاءُ دَهرٍ يَنقَضينَ وَلَم يَكُن

    بَيني وَبَينَ جَميعِهِنَّ جِوارُ

    Portions of time pass away, and there has been

    no neighborly bond between me and any of them.

  2. يَمضي كَإِيماضِ البُروقِ وَما لَها

    مُكثٌ فَيُسمَعَ أَو يُقالَ حِوارُ

    It passes like lightning flashes, which have

    no pause for dialogue to be heard or spoken.

  3. أَنوارُ مَهلاً كَم ثَوى مِن رَبرَبٍ

    نورٍ وَلاحَت في الدُجى أَنوارُ

    Anwār, gently! How many a herd has lain dead—

    white antelopes—while lights gleamed in the gloom.

  4. مَنَعَ الزِيارَةَ مِن لَميسَ وَزَينَبٍ

    حَتفٌ لِكُلِّ خَريدَةٍ زَوّارُ

    Visits from Lamīs and Zaynab have been barred

    by death, a frequent visitor to every secluded maiden.

  5. وَتَسيرُ عَن أَترابِها لِتُرابِها

    جُملٌ وَيورَثُ دُملُجٌ وَسِوارُ

    And from her companions toward her dust goes

    Juml, while armlet and bracelet pass to heirs.

  6. يَرمي فَلا يُشوي الزَمانُ إِذا رَمى

    سَهماً وَأَخطَأَ ذَلِكَ الأَسوارُ

    Time shoots, never missing the vital spot when it looses

    an arrow—yet that master archer has erred.

  7. وَنَسورُ لِلرُتبِ العُلا فَيَرُدُّنا

    لِلقَدرِ صَرفُ نَوائِبٍ سَوّارُ

    And we scale lofty ranks, but are driven back

    to our measure by calamities’ raging reversals.

  8. وَكَأَنَّما الصُبحُ الفَتيقُ مُهَنَّدٌ

    لِلقَهرِ ماءُ فِرِندِهِ مَوّارُ

    And the spreading dawn is like an Indian sword

    for conquest, the sheen of its watered blade surging.

  9. قَد ذَرَّ قَرنٌ ثُمَّ غابَ فَهَل لَهُ

    مَعنىً أَجَل هُوَ لِلنُفوسِ بَوارُ

    A horn has risen, then vanished—does it have

    a meaning? Yes: for souls it is ruin.

  10. إِن غارَ بَيتَ أُمَّنا في لَيلِهِ

    فَإِذا يَغورُ فَثائِرٌ مِغوارُ

    If it sets, it raids our mother in its night;

    and when it raids, it is an avenger, a daring marauder.

  11. صُوَرٌ تُبَدَّلُ غَيرَها فَمُعَوَّضٌ

    بِالخَيطِ خَيطٌ وَالصُوارِ صُوارُ

    Forms are replaced by others; thus one is exchanged

    for another: ostrich-flock for flock, wild-cattle herd for herd.

  12. إِنّي أُواري خَلَّتي فَأُريهِمُ

    رِيّاً وَفي سِرِّ الفُؤادِ أَوارُ

    I hide my want and show myself to them

    sated with water, though thirst blazes deep within my heart.

  13. يُخفي العُيوبَ وَفي الغُيوبِ حَديثُها

    وَغَداً يُبَيِّنُ أَمرَها المِشوارُ

    He hides faults, though their story lies in the unseen;

    tomorrow the trial will make their state plain.

  14. وَوَنى الرِجالُ العامِلونَ وَما وَنى

    فَلَكٌ بِخِدمَةِ رَبِّهِ دَوّارُ

    Working men have wearied; never has

    a sphere, spinning in its Lord’s service, wearied.

  15. وَيَكُرُّ مِن جَيشِ القَضاءِ مُسَلَّطٌ

    ثَورٌ وَشابَةُ تَحتَهُ خَوّارُ

    And from fate’s army charges one unleashed:

    a bull; beneath him Shābah lows.

  16. أَطوارُ دارِكَ بِعتَهُ مِن ظالِمٍ

    وَالناسُ مِثلُ زَمانِهِم أَطوارُ

    The ground around your house—did you buy it from an oppressor?

    And people, like their age, are of many kinds.

  17. مازالَ رَبُّكَ ثابِتاً في مُلكِهِ

    يَنمي إِلَيهِ لِلعِبادِ جُؤارُ

    Your Lord has ever stood firm in His dominion;

    to Him rise the servants’ cries for help.

  18. وَأَتَت عَلى الأَكوارِ جَمعِ الكَور وَال

    كَورِ المُسَرَّحِ هَذِهِ الأَكوارُ

    And the saddles and herds were swept away—the plurals of ‘saddle’ and

    ‘herd sent out to graze’—by these cycles of time,

  19. أَيّامَ سُنبُلَةُ السَماءِ زَريعَةٌ

    وَسُهَيلُها فَحلُ النُجومِ حُوارُ

    in days when heaven’s Ear of Grain was a seed,

    and its Suhayl, stud of the stars, was a suckling camel.