Sol 6.1

  1. يُؤرَّقُني حنينٌ وادكارُ

    وقد خلتِ المرابعُ والديارُ

    Longing and remembrance keep me sleepless,

    While the spring encampments and dwellings lie deserted.

  2. تناءى الظاعنونَ ولي فؤادٌ

    يسيرُ مع الهوادجِ حيث ساروا

    The departing travelers have gone far away, and I have a heart

    That journeys with the howdahs wherever they went.

  3. حنينٌ مثلَما شاءَ التنائي

    وشوقٌ كلَّما بَعُدَ المزارُ

    A yearning just as separation willed,

    And longing whenever the meeting-place grows more distant.

  4. وليلٌ بعدَ بينهمُ طويلٌ

    فأين مضتْ لياليَّ القِصارُ

    And a long night after their parting—

    Where, then, have my short nights gone?

  5. ومذ حكمَ السهادُ على جفوني

    تساوى الليلُ عندي والنهارُ

    And since sleeplessness took command of my eyelids,

    Night and day have become the same to me.

  6. فمَنْ ذا يستعيرُ لنا عيوناً

    تنامُ ومَنْ رأى عيناً تعارُ

    Who, then, will borrow for us eyes

    That sleep? And who has ever seen an eye lent out?

  7. سهادي بعدَ نأيهمُ كثيرٌ

    ونومي بعدما رحلوا غِرارُ

    Since they went far away, my sleeplessness is great,

    And since they departed, my sleep comes only in snatches.

  8. فكيف أرومُ بعدهمُ اصطباراً

    وقد عُدِمَ التصبرُ بالقرارُ

    How, then, can I seek patient endurance after their departure,

    When patient endurance has been lost in repose?

  9. فلا ليلي له صبحٌ منيرٌ

    ولا وجدي يُقالُ له عِثارُ

    So my night has no luminous dawn,

    Nor are my passion's stumbles pardoned.

  10. وكم من قائلٍ والحيُّ غادٍ

    يُحَجِّبُ طعنَهُ النفعُ المثارُ

    And many a speaker, while the tribe set out at dawn,

    His thrust concealed by stirred-up dust [text reads 'benefit']:

  11. وقوفُكَ في الديارِ وأنتَ حيٌّ

    وقد بَعُدَ الخليطُ عليكَ عارُ

    “Your standing in the dwellings, while you are still alive,

    When the companions have gone far away, is a disgrace to you.”

  12. ولمّا لاحَ برقُ الكأسِ ليلاً

    ومِن سُدَفِ الظلامِ له صِدارُ

    And when the cup's lightning flashed at night,

    With a bodice of the darkness's murk,

  13. وقد جُلِيَتْ عروسُ الراحِ فيه

    بليلٍ والنجومُ لها نِثارُ

    And wine's bride had been unveiled within it,

    At night, the stars her shower of bridal gifts,

  14. وأعملَتِ الكؤوسُ فقالَ قومٌ

    بدا لالأؤها لهم فحاروا

    And the cups did their work, some people said—

    Their brilliance appeared to them, and they were bewildered:

  15. أخمرُ في الزجاجِ تدارُ وَهْناً

    على النُّدماءِ أم في الكأْس نارُ

    “Is it wine in glass, passed round late at night

    Among the drinking companions, or fire in the cup?”

  16. مُدامٌ نستطيرُ بها سروراً

    متى طَفِقَتْ زجاجتُها تدارُ

    Wine by which we soar for joy,

    Whenever its bottle begins to be passed around.

  17. عُقارٌ مثلُ ذوبِ التبرِ صرفٌ

    يهانُ لعزِّ نشوتِها العِقارُ

    Pure wine, like molten raw gold,

    For whose precious intoxication estates are held cheap.

  18. اِذا برزتْ تَرقرَقُ في الأواني

    خشينا أن يطيرَ لها شرارُ

    When it appears, shimmering in the vessels,

    We fear that sparks will fly from it.

  19. لها حَبَبٌ علاها مِن لُجينٍ

    وتحت شِباكهِ منها نُضارُ

    It has bubbles of silver rising over it,

    And beneath their mesh lies its gold.

  20. كأنَّ لطائماً في الشَّرْبِ باتتْ

    تُذبِّحُ فارَهُنَّ لنا التِّجارُ

    As though perfume-laden caravans had spent the night among the drinkers,

    The merchants slitting open their musk-pods for us.

  21. فباكِرْها على زَهَراتِ روضٍ

    يُغَنِّي في جوانبهِ الهَزارُ

    So take it at dawn among a garden's blossoms,

    Where the nightingale sings along its borders.

  22. فأيامُ الشبيبةِ والتصابي

    على الانسانِ ثوبٌ مستعارُ

    For the days of youth and youthful dalliance

    Are a borrowed garment upon a human being.

  23. سقى أهلَ العقيقِ واِنْ تناءوا

    دموعي فَهْيَ بعدَهمُ غِزارُ

    May the people of al-'Aqiq be watered, though they are far away,

    By my tears—for they are abundant since their departure.

  24. واِنْ بَخِلَتْ غوادي السُّحبِ يوماً

    فسحبُ الدمعِ مُثْقَلَةٌ عِثارُ

    And if the morning clouds grow stingy one day,

    Then the clouds of tears are heavily laden, stumbling.

  25. واِنْ نصبَ القِطارُ فِانَّ دمعي

    له في كلِّ ناحيةٍ قِطارُ

    And if the rain grows weary, then my tears

    Have rain in every quarter.

  26. وربَّ هلالِ ليلٍ بتُّ وهناً

    أسايرُه كما انعطفَ السِّوارُ

    And many a night's crescent—I spent the late hours

    Keeping pace with it, curved like a bracelet,

  27. على هوجاءَ ناحلةٍ برتني

    وِايّاها المهامِهُ والقفارُ

    Upon a swift, lean she-camel; I had been worn down,

    And she too, by the trackless wastes and barren deserts.

  28. لها في كلِّ مُضطرَبٍ ذميلٌ

    ولي في كلِّ داجيةٍ منارُ

    She has a brisk trot over every stretch of ground,

    And I have a beacon in every dark night.

  29. أُعلِّلهُا إذا لغبتْ بشعرٍ

    عليه للهوى أبداً شِعارُ

    I soothe her, when she tires, with verse

    On which love's emblem is always borne.

  30. قريضٌ ما تدفَّقَ بحرُ فكرى

    به إلا تضاءلتِ البحارُ

    Verse: whenever the sea of my thought surges

    With it, the seas dwindle into insignificance.

  31. اِذا أنشدتُه خفَّتْ حلومٌ

    يُرجِّحُها السكينةُ والوقَارُ

    When I recite it, minds grow light,

    Though serenity and dignity give them weight.

  32. يُذَرِّبُهُ كما أهوى لسانٌ

    تُسَنُّ على مضاريهِ الشِّفارُ

    A tongue sharpens it just as I desire,

    On whose keen points blades are sharpened.

  33. له نسبٌ إلى العَرَبِ البوادي

    يُصدِّقُه اختبارٌ واختيارُ

    It traces its lineage to the Arabs of the desert,

    Attested by testing and selection.

  34. يفوحُ الشيحُ منه كلَّ وقتٍ

    ويَنفَحُ مِن جوانبهِ العَرارُ

    The scent of wormwood rises from it at every moment,

    And 'arar blossoms breathe fragrance from its sides.

  35. ففكري تقصرُ الأفكارُ عنه

    وشِعري لايُشَقُّ له غبارُ

    So other thoughts fall short of mine,

    And none can cleave the dust of my poetry.