Sol 6.1

  1. لقد آنَ أنْ يَثْني الجَموحَ لِجامُ

    وأنْ يَمْلِكَ الصّعْبَ الأبيَّ زِمامُ

    The time has come for a bridle to curb the unruly steed,

    and for a rein to master the intractable, defiant one.

  2. أيُوعِدُنا بالرّوم ناسٌ وإنّما

    همُ النّبْتُ والبِيضُ الرّقاقُ سَوامُ

    Do people threaten us with the Byzantines, when all

    they are is herbage, and slender, gleaming swords are grazing herds?

  3. كأنْ لم يكُن بينَ المَخاضِ وحارِمٍ

    كتائِبُ يُشجِينَ الفَلا وخِيامُ

    As if between al-Makhad and Harim there had never been

    battalions that made the wilderness grieve, and tents,

  4. ولم يَجْلِبُوهَا من وَرَاءِ مَلَطْيَةٍ

    تَصَدَّعُ أجْبَالٌ بها وإكامُ

    nor had they brought them from beyond Malatya,

    with mountains and hills splitting before them.

  5. كتائِبُ من شَرْقٍ وغرْبٍ تألّبَتْ

    فُرادَى أتاها الموتُ وهْيَ تُؤامُ

    Battalions from east and west had rallied together;

    death came upon them one by one, though they were twins.

  6. غَرائبُ دُرّ جُمّعَتْ ثُمّ ضُيّعَتْ

    وقد ضَمّ سِلْكٌ شَمْلَها ونِظامُ

    Rare pearls, gathered and then squandered,

    though a thread and a string had bound them together.

  7. بيوْمٍ كأنّ الشمسَ فيه خَريدَةٌ

    عليها من النّقْعِ الأحَمّ لِثامُ

    On a day when the sun was like a shy maiden,

    a veil of black dust lay upon her.

  8. كأنّهُمُ سَكْرَى أُريقَ عليهِمُ

    بَقايا كُؤوسٍ مِلؤهُنّ مُدَامُ

    As though they were drunkards over whom had been poured

    the remnants of cups whose contents were wine.

  9. فأضْحَوا حديثاً كالمَنامِ وما انقَضَى

    فسِيّانِ منه يَقْظَةٌ ومَنامُ

    So they became a tale, like a dream; and all that has passed—

    whether waking or dream, it is all the same.

  10. مَحَلٌّ بأرضِ الشامِ يطْرُدُ أهْلَه

    ولكنّهمْ عمّا يقولُ نِيامُ

    A place in the land of al-Sham drives away its people,

    yet they sleep through what it says.

  11. وقد تَنْطِقُ الأشياءُ وهْيَ صَوَامِتٌ

    وما كُلّ نُطْقِ المُخْبِرينَ كلامُ

    Things may speak even when they are silent,

    and not every expression of those who bring news is speech.

  12. كفَى بخِضَابِ المَشْرَفيّةِ مُخْبِراً

    بأنّ رُؤوساً قد شَقِينَ وهامُ

    The stain on the Mashrafi swords suffices to report

    that heads and skulls have suffered.

  13. فإنْ قَعَدَتْ عنه الحوادثُ حِقْبةً

    فها هيَ فيما لا تشاء قِيامُ

    If calamities held back from it for an age,

    behold them now standing, bringing what you do not wish.

  14. مَضَى زَمنٌ والعِزّ بانٍ رِواقَه

    عليه وسيْفُ الدّهْرِ عنه كَهامُ

    Gone is the time when glory raised its canopy

    over it, and the sword of Time was blunt against it.

  15. وما الدّهرُ إلاّ دولةٌ ثُمّ صَوْلةٌ

    وما العَيْشُ إلا صِحّةٌ وسَقامُ

    And time is but a turn of fortune, then an onslaught;

    and life is but health and sickness.

  16. زَمَانَ قَرَوْا بالمَشْرَفيّ ضُيوفَهُمْ

    مَآلِكَ قَوْمٍ والكُماةُ صِيامُ

    Back when they feasted their guests on the Mashrafi blade—

    a people's messages—while the warriors fasted.

  17. ولو دامَتِ الدُّولاتُ كانوا كغَيرِهمُ

    رَعايا ولكِنْ ما لَهُنّ دَوَامُ

    Had reigns endured, they would have been, like others,

    subjects; but reigns do not endure.

  18. وردّوا إليكَ الرُّسْلَ والصّلحُ مُمْكنٌ

    وقالوا على غيرِ القِتالِ سلامُ

    And they sent the envoys back to you, though peace was possible,

    and said: Farewell to everything but fighting!

  19. فلا قوْلَ إلا الضّرْبُ والطّعْنُ عندنا

    وَلا رُسْلَ إلا ذابِلٌ وحُسامُ

    For us there is no speech but blows and spear-thrusts,

    and no envoys but a slender spear and a keen sword.

  20. فإنْ عُدتَ فالمجرُوحُ تُؤسَى جراحُه

    وإنْ لم تَعُدْ مُتْنا ونحنُ كِرامُ

    If you return, the wounded one's wounds will be tended;

    and if you do not return, we shall die with honor.

  21. فلَسْنا وإن كان البَقاءُ مُحبَبَّاً

    بأوّلِ مَن أخْنى عليه حِمامُ

    For we are not, though survival is dear,

    the first whom death has laid low.

  22. وحُبُّ الفتى طولَ الحياةِ يُذِلّه

    وإنْ كان فيه نَخْوَةٌ وعُرامُ

    A young man's love of long life debases him,

    even if he has pride and fierceness.

  23. وكُلٌّ يُريدُ العَيْشَ والعيشُ حَتفُه

    ويَسْتَعْذِبُ اللذّاتِ وَهْيَ سِمامُ

    Everyone desires life, though life is his doom,

    and finds pleasures sweet, though they are poisons.

  24. فلمّا تجلّى الأمرُ قالوا تمَنّياً

    ألا لَيْتَ أنّا في التّرابِ رِمامُ

    Then, when the matter became clear, they said wistfully:

    Oh, would that we were mouldering remains in the dust!

  25. وراموا التي كانت لهُمْ وإليهِمُ

    وقد صَعُبَتْ حالٌ وعَزّ مَرامُ

    And they sought what had once been theirs and in their keeping,

    though conditions had grown harsh and their goal elusive.

  26. وظنّوكَ ممَنْ يُطفئُ البرْدُ نارَهُ

    إذا طَلَعَتْ عند الغُرُوبِ جَهامُ

    They thought you one whose fire the cold extinguishes

    when rainless clouds appear at sunset,

  27. وأنّك تَثْنِيها قُبالَةَ جِلّقٍ

    مَتى لاحَ بَرْقٌ واستَقَلّ غَمامُ

    and that you would turn them back before Jilliq,

    whenever lightning flashed and clouds rose.

  28. وقالوا شُهُورٌ يَنْقَضِينَ بغَزْوَةٍ

    وما عَلِموا أن القُفولَ حَرامُ

    They said: Months will pass on a campaign,

    but they did not know that returning home was forbidden.

  29. لقد حكَموا حُكمَ الجَهول لنفْسِه

    روَيْدَهُمُ حتى يَطولَ مَقامُ

    Indeed, they judged as an ignorant man judges for himself.

    Give them time, until the stay grows long,

  30. وحتى يَزولَ الحَوْلُ عنهمْ ومِثْلُه

    ويَذْهَبَ عامٌ بعْد ذاكَ وعامُ

    and until a year passes over them, and another like it,

    and a year passes after that, and another year.

  31. فلولاكَ بعْدَ اللّهِ ما عُرِفَ الندى

    ولا ثارَ بينَ الخافِقَينِ قَتامُ

    But for you, after God, generosity would not be known,

    nor would dark dust rise between the two horizons,

  32. ولا سُلّ في نَصْرِ المكارِمِ صارِمٌ

    ولا شُدّ في غَزْوِ العدُوّ حِزامُ

    nor would a keen sword be drawn in support of noble virtues,

    nor would a girth be tightened for a raid upon the enemy.