Sol 6.1

  1. في مَدحِيَ الصّاحِب ماضٍ عَزمي

    حَسبي بِهِ وَذاكَ عَينُ الحَزمِ

    In praising the Sahib, my resolve is firm.

    He is enough for me, and that is prudence itself.

  2. خافِضُ ضِدٍّ رافِعٌ مَن وَدَّهُ

    ناصِبُ مَن عانَدَهُ لِلجَزمِ

    He abases an opponent and elevates whoever loves him,

    setting up whoever defies him to be cut off.

  3. لَم يُلفَ إِلّا لِلجَميلِ آلِفاً

    فاعِلَ خَيرٍ صافِحاً عَن جُرمِ

    He is found devoted only to noble deeds,

    doing good and pardoning wrongdoing.

  4. ذاكَ الَّذي هِمَّتُهُ عالِيَةٌ

    أَخمَصُها يُحذَى أَديمَ النَجمِ

    He is the one whose aspiration is so lofty

    that its arched sole is shod with the star's hide.

  5. وَهوَ الَّذي دانَت لَهُ أَعداؤُهُ

    بِكُلِّ سَهلٍ وَبِكُلِّ حَزمِ

    He is the one to whom his enemies submit,

    on every plain and every rugged height.

  6. أَقلامُهُ تُولي النَدى وَبِالرَدى

    تَرمي العِدا فَهُنَّ شُهبُ الرَجمِ

    His pens bestow bounty, and with death

    they pelt his foes: they are meteors hurled as stones.

  7. قَد أَصبَحَ الصاحِبُ أَولى الناس بال

    مَدحِ بِنَثرٍ مُطرِبٍ وَنَظمِ

    The Sahib has become the most deserving of all people of

    praise in stirring prose and verse.

  8. وَأَينَ مَن يُدرِكُ شَأوَ مَدحِهِ

    وَوَصفِهِ في عربٍ أَو عُجمِ

    And where is one who can reach the full extent of his praise

    and his description, among Arabs or non-Arabs?

  9. وَجَوهَرُ الشَمسِ عَزيزٌ وَصفُهُ

    كَذاكَ عَرفُ المِسكِ عِندَ الشَمِّ

    The sun's essence is hard to describe,

    as is musk's fragrance when smelled.

  10. عَبدُ الإِلَهِ مَن يَلُذ بِظِلِّهِ

    لَم يَكُ يَوماً خائِفاً مِن خَصمِ

    ʿAbd al-Ilāh—whoever seeks refuge in his shade

    has never feared an adversary, even for a day.

  11. لَكِنَّ لي خَصماً بَديعاً حُسنُهُ

    هَضيمَ كَشحٍ مولَعاً بِهَضمي

    But I have an adversary whose beauty is wondrous,

    slender of flank, intent on wronging me.

  12. إِن يَرنُ أَو يَرمِ بِسَهمِ لَحظِهِ

    لَم يُخطِ بِالسَهمِ فُؤادَ الشَهمِ

    If he gazes or shoots the arrow of his glance,

    he never misses a gallant man's heart with that arrow.

  13. صَبري ضَعيفٌ كَفُتورِ طَرفِهِ

    وَخَصرُهُ مُختَصَرٌ كَجِسمي

    My patience is weak, like the languor of his gaze,

    and his waist is slender, like my body.

  14. في ثَلمِ ثَغرِ سَلوَتي جَدَّ فَلَي

    تَ ثَغرَهُ يَجودُ لي بِلَثمِ

    He strives to breach my solace's defenses—would

    that his mouth would grant me a kiss.

  15. فَالقَدُّ غُصنٌ وَالمُحَيّا قَمَرٌ

    مِن هالَةِ العِذارِ وَسطَ تِمِّ

    His figure is a branch, and his face a moon,

    at its fullest, framed by the halo of his cheek-down.

  16. وَوَردُ خَدَّيهِ وَمِسكُ خَطِّهِ

    يَنِمُّ هَذا بي وَذاكَ يُنمي

    The roses of his cheeks and the musk of his down—

    this betrays me, and that spreads the tale.

  17. في الخَدِّ مِنهُ نُقطَةٌ مِن عَنبَرٍ

    أَكادُ أَن أَشرَبَها بِوَهمي

    On his cheek lies a speck of ambergris;

    I almost drink it in my imagination.

  18. لَو راقَبَ الخالِقُ في ظُلمي نَفى

    حَرارَةَ القَلبِ بِبَردِ الظَلمِ

    If he heeded the Creator when wronging me, he would dispel

    my heart's heat with the coolness of his mouth's moisture.

  19. يا اِبنَ الكِرامِ الغُرِّ بَرِّد كَبِدي

    مِن ريقِكَ العَذبِ بِبِنتِ الكَرمِ

    O son of noble, illustrious men, cool my liver

    with your sweet saliva and the vine's daughter.

  20. قَد كُنتُ قِدماً بِالغَواني مُغرَماً

    صَبّاً أَرى غَرمي بِهِنَّ غَنمي

    Long ago I was enamored of beautiful women,

    love-struck, seeing my loss through them as my gain.

  21. فَمُذ رَأَيتُ البيضَ قَد أَعرَضنَ عَن

    شَيبٍ بَدا بِرَأسِ شَيخٍ هِمِّ

    But since I saw the fair women turn away from

    gray hair appearing on a decrepit old man's head,

  22. هِمتُ بِذي خُلقٍ لِحَربي جامِحٍ

    وَذي قَوامٍ جانِحٍ لِسَلمي

    I have fallen for one whose temper is unbridled in war against me,

    and whose figure inclines toward peace with me.

  23. وَا ظَمَئي إِلى اِرتِشافِ ظَلمِهِ

    فَذاكَ يَروي ظَمَئي وَيَضمي

    Ah, my thirst to sip his mouth's moisture!

    For that quenches my thirst and makes me thirst.

  24. وَلَو أَباحَني وِصالاً لَم أَفُز

    مِنهُ بِغَيرِ ضَمِّهِ وَاللَثمِ

    Even if he granted me union, I would gain nothing

    from him except embracing and kissing him.

  25. وَما أَظُنُّ ذاكَ عِندَ رَبِّنا

    يا فُقَهاءُ مِن كَبيرِ الإِثمِ

    And I do not think that, in our Lord's sight,

    O jurists, counts as a grave sin.

  26. ما الإِثمُ إِلّا تَركُنا الدُعاءَ لِل

    صاحِبِ صاحِبِ العُلا وَالعِلمِ

    Sin is only our neglecting to pray for the

    Sahib, possessor of eminence and learning.

  27. الصاحِبُ الحَبرُ الَّذي مَخدومُهُ

    سَمِيُّ صاحِبِ النَبِيِّ الأُمّي

    The Sahib, the scholar, whose master

    is the namesake of the unlettered Prophet's companion.

  28. أَجرى بِشاذَروانَ جَيرونَ عَلى ال

    مَرمَرِ ماءً لا يَريمُ يَرمي

    At Jayrūn's fountain he set flowing, over the

    marble, water that never ceases to spout.

  29. مُسَبِّحاً خَريرُهُ يَدعو لَهُ ال

    لَهَ تَعالى بِالبَقاءِ الجَمِّ

    Its murmur chants praise and beseeches, for him,

    God Most High for abundant longevity.

  30. صيغَ لَهُ بابُ البَريدِ عَسجَداً

    مُصَعِّداً مِن كيمياء صَتمِ

    For him Bāb al-Barīd was fashioned in pure gold,

    sublimed from an alchemy of solid substance.

  31. أَحسَنُ ما تَلقى بِهِ ما كَتَبَ ال

    صانِعُ مِن أَلقابِهِ وَالاسمِ

    The finest thing you encounter there is what the

    artisan inscribed of his titles and name.

  32. هُوَ الَّذي بِجودِهِ وَبَأسِهِ

    فاضَ كَبَحرٍ مُزبِدٍ خِضَمِّ

    He is the one who, in his generosity and might,

    has overflowed like a vast, foaming sea.

  33. ذو الأَمرِ بِالمَعروفِ وَالنَهيِ عَنِ ال

    مُنكَرِ عَدلاً وَالتُقى وَالحِلمِ

    He enjoins right and forbids

    wrong with justice, piety, and forbearance.

  34. لا زالَتِ الدُنيا تُرى داراً لَهُ

    وَعُمرُهُ الدَهرُ البَعيدُ الهَدمِ

    May the world forever be seen as his dwelling,

    and his lifetime be all time, far removed from ruin.