Sol 6.1

  1. غالى بِها الزائِدُ حَتّى اِبتاعَها

    بادِنَةً قَد مَلَأَت أَنساعَها

    The bidder raised her price until he bought her,

    a stout she-camel, filling out her girth-straps.

  2. سَوَّغَها الراعي رَبيعَ ضارِجٍ

    وَالأَرضُ قَد عَمَّ النَدى بِقاعَها

    The herdsman let her enjoy Darij's spring pasture,

    while dew had spread across the earth's tracts.

  3. يورِدُها بَينَ نِطاعٍ فَالنَقا

    زُرقَ جِمامٍ لَبِسَت يراعَها

    He brings her, between Nita‘ and al-Naqa, to water—

    blue pools that have donned their reeds.

  4. طاعَ لَها حَمضُ اللَوى وَنَشَّرَت

    لَها رُبى قَباقِبٍ أَقطاعَها

    Al-Liwa's saltbush yielded to her; spreading out

    their patches for her were Qabaqib's hills.

  5. رَعَت حُلِيَّ رامَةٍ وَشاطَرَت

    جَوازِيَ الرَملِ بِها لَعاعَها

    She grazed Rama's needlegrass and shared

    its tender shoots there with the water-shunning sand-gazelles.

  6. تَلُسَّ آثارَ دَرورٍ جَونَةٍ

    أَلقَت عَلى ذي بَقَرٍ بَعاعَها

    She licks up the traces of a dark, rain-rich cloud

    that cast its heavy rain on Dhu Baqar,

  7. مُسيلَةً بَينَ العَقيقِ وَالحِمى

    أَضواجَ بَطنِ الأَرضِ أَو أَجزاعَها

    setting flowing, between al-‘Aqiq and al-Hima,

    the winding channels of the earth's belly, or its valley-bends.

  8. تُطلِقُ عَقلَ النَبتِ إِمّا رَجَّعَت

    جَلجالَها بِالرَعدِ أَو قَعقاعَها

    It frees the plants from their fetters whenever it echoes

    its rumbling in thunder, or its rattling crash.

  9. يَستَنفِضُ العُشبُ لَها رُؤوسَهُ

    إِذا البُروقُ اِعتَصَرَت دُفّاعَها

    The grass shakes out its heads before it

    when lightning wrings out its surging torrents,

  10. حَتّى بَنى النَيُّ عَلى سَنامِها

    مَبانِياً ما بَطَنَت سِياعَها

    until fat builds upon her hump

    edifices with no lining of plaster.

  11. شاغَبَهُ الهَمُّ فَأَرضاهُ بِها

    تَشرَعُ عَن دارِ الأَذى نِزاعَها

    Care harried him; he appeased it with her,

    as she begins her departure from the abode of harm.

  12. إِن قَطَعَ الراعي عَليها لَم تُبَل

    أَشبَعَها الخِذرافُ أَم أَجاعَها

    Should the herdsman stint her, she does not care

    whether the fleet-footed one feeds her or starves her.

  13. مَخيلَةٌ مَبرَكُها مِن شَخصِها

    إِذا المَطايا عَمَرَت رِباعَها

    Her kneeling-place is guessed from her outline

    when riding-camels throng their quarters.

  14. تَضبَعُ عَن غِبِّ الوَنى كَأَنَّها

    عائِمَةٌ قَد رَفَعَت شِراعَها

    After weariness she stretches into stride, as though

    a swimmer who has raised her sail.

  15. تَحسَبُها الوَرهاءَ ريعَت فَنَجَت

    مِنَ الأَذى طارِحَةً قِناعَها

    You would think her a foolish woman, startled into fleeing

    from harm, throwing off her veil.

  16. وَقَّرَها السَيرُ وَكانَت حِقبَةً

    لَو سَمِعَت حِسُّ القُرادِ راعَها

    Travel has made her sedate; once, for a time,

    if she had heard a tick stir, it would have frightened her.

  17. كَأَنَّها طاوي المَصيرِ هاجَهُ

    عَضُّ ضِراعِ قَد بَلا مِصاعَها

    She is like a lean-bellied beast, roused by

    the bite of gaunt hounds whose fighting he has tested.

  18. إِذا رَأى اِفتِراقَها زاوَلَها

    ثُمَّ يَني إِذا رَأى اِجتِماعَها

    When he sees them scattered, he grapples with them,

    then slackens when he sees them gathered.

  19. أَو أَحقَبٌ أَعجَلَهُ قِناصُها

    مُشاوِراتِ النَفسِ أَو أَزماعَها

    Or a white-flanked wild ass, hurried by its hunters beyond

    the soul's deliberations or its resolutions,

  20. في عانَةٍ تُطيعُهُ مُحامِياً

    فَإِن رَآها شُرَّداً أَطاعَها

    among a herd that obeys him as its defender;

    but when he sees them fleeing, he obeys them.

  21. تَنتَصِبُ اِنتِصابَهُ لِنَبأَةٍ

    ذُعراً وَيَنصاعُ لَها اِنصِياعَها

    At a faint sound they stand upright as he does,

    in terror, and he swerves as they swerve.

  22. يَحفَظُها مَشايِحاً عَن سِربِها

    فَإِن رَأى جِدَّ الرَدى أَضاعَها

    He guards them, fiercely defending their herd;

    but when he sees death in earnest, he abandons them.

  23. أَقضى عَليها أَرَباً مِن هِمَّةٍ

    لَو عَدَلَ الدَهرُ ثَنى زِماعَها

    Upon her I fulfill a purpose born of an ambition

    whose resolve Time would have turned back, had it been just.

  24. مَطبوعَةٌ عَلى العُلى لَو رَضِيَت

    بِالذُلِّ يَوماً أَنكَرَت طِباعَها

    A spirit fashioned for the heights: if it accepted

    humiliation one day, it would disown its nature.

  25. يا حِفظَها إِن بَلَغَت مَرامَها

    وَإِن أَبى الدَهرُ فَيا ضَياعَها

    Oh, its salvation, should it reach its aim!

    But if Time refuses—alas for its loss!

  26. أَستَعجِلُ الأَمرَ وَحَظّي رايِثٌ

    نَفسٌ أُرَجّي أَبَداً خِداعَها

    I hurry the matter, while my fortune lags:

    a soul I forever hope to beguile.

  27. وَلَو قَنِعَت بِالحُظوظِ لَم أُبَل

    إِبطاءَها بِالرِزقِ أَم إِسراعَها

    If it were content with allotted shares, I would not care

    whether they brought sustenance slowly or swiftly.

  28. أُصارِعُ الأَقدارِ عَن وُقوعِها

    بِمَنكِبٍ مُعَوَّدٍ صِراعَها

    I wrestle with fate's decrees to ward off their fall,

    with a shoulder accustomed to wrestling them.

  29. تُصادِفُ الخَرقاءُ مِن زَمانِها

    سِجالَ رِزقٍ أَخطَأَت صَناعَها

    The clumsy woman receives from her times

    buckets of bounty that miss her skilled counterpart.

  30. قَومي الأُولى إِمّا جَرَوا لِغايَةٍ

    بَذّوا بِطاءَ الغايِ أَو سِراعَها

    My people are those who, whenever they race toward a goal,

    outstrip its slow runners or its swift.

  31. هُمُ المَلاجي وَالمَناجي وَالحِمى

    إِذا المَنايا وَقَعَت وِقاعَها

    They are the refuges, the havens, and the sanctuary

    when deaths strike their blows.

  32. هُمُ المَعاذُ وَالمَلاذُ وَالذُرى

    إِذا السُيولُ رَكِبَت تِلاعَها

    They are shelter, refuge, and the heights

    when torrents overrun their gullies.

  33. هُمُ المُقيلونَ المُنيلونَ إِذا

    ما اللَزبَةُ اللَزباءُ أَلقَت باعَها

    They are the rescuers, the givers, whenever

    dire, relentless famine stretches out its arm.

  34. أَزوالُ أَيّامِ الطِعانِ إِن طَغَت

    يَدُ الزَمانِ أَحسَنوا دِفاعَها

    Wonders on days of spear-fighting; should it overreach—

    the hand of Time—they skillfully repel it.

  35. في حَيثُ لا تَنظُرُ تَحتَ نَقعِها

    إِلّا عَصيَّ المَوتِ أَو قِراعَها

    Where, beneath its dust, you see nothing

    but death's staves or their clashing.

  36. لَم يَغنَموا الأَموالَ إِلّا أَخَذوا

    صَفيِّها وَقَبَضوا مِرباعَها

    Whenever they win wealth as spoils, they take

    its choicest portion and receive its quarter-share.

  37. تَلقى بِهِم مَرسى الوَقارِ وَالحِجى

    وَضِئضِئَ العَلياءِ أَو جُمّاعَها

    In them you find the anchorage of dignity and reason,

    the very stock of loftiness, or its gathered sum.

  38. إِن نَزَلوا الجَوَّ أَماتوا شَمسَهُ

    وَالأَرضُ كانوا أَبَداً طِلاعَها

    If they alight in a tract, they extinguish its sun;

    as for the earth, they ever fill its expanse.

  39. بُيوتُهُم مَرهوبَةٌ تَخالُها

    أَولاجَ غيلٍ رَشَّحَت سِباعَها

    Their houses inspire dread; you would think them

    the lairs of a thicket that has reared its beasts of prey.

  40. المانِعونَ الضَيمَ بِاللُدنِ تَرى

    هِبابَها لِلطَعنِ أَو زَعزاعَها

    They ward off oppression with supple shafts; you see

    their spring into the thrust, or their quivering.

  41. كَأَنَّ في الأَيمانِ حَيّاتِ النَقا

    أَرقَمَها النَضناضَ أَو شُجاعَها

    As though in their right hands were snakes of the dunes:

    their tongue-flicking speckled snake, or their mighty serpent.

  42. مِن كُلِّ سَوّارٍ إِذا رامَ العُلى

    حازَ عُقابَ الجَوِّ أَو مَلاعَها

    Each is an assailant who, when he seeks the heights,

    wins the sky's eagle, or its lofty haunts,

  43. مُحَلِّقاً يَبلُغُ مِنها غايَةً

    لَو رامَها العَيّوقُ ما اِستَطاعَها

    soaring to attain among those heights a summit

    that even al-‘Ayyuq could not reach, were it to try.

  44. حاصوا خَصاصاتِ قُرَيشٍ بِالقَنا

    شَوارِعاً وَجَمَّعوا شَعاعَها

    They stitched Quraysh's breaches with spears

    held level, and gathered its scattered ranks.

  45. رَدّوا عَلى ساداتِها إِحضارَها

    وَضَمَّنوا بيضَ الطُلى اِرتِجاعَها

    They restored its swift advance to its lords,

    and pledged white throats to its recovery.

  46. وَتَوَّجوا بِمَجدِهِم مَفرَقَها

    عَن عَطَلٍ وَسَوَّروا ذِراعَها

    They crowned its parted hair with their glory,

    relieving its bareness, and braceleted its arm.

  47. كانوا صَياصيها وَكانوا دونَها

    فُرّاطَها في المَجدِ أَو نُزّاعَها

    They were its strongholds, and before it they were

    its pioneers in glory, or its strenuous seekers.

  48. وَالزاحِمينَ بِالقَنا أَعداءَها

    عَلى الثَنايا مَنَعوا طَلّاعَها

    And those who pressed its enemies hard with spears

    at the mountain passes barred those who would ascend.

  49. أَيّامَ حَطّوا بِالظُبى أَغمادَها

    عَنِ العُلى وَغَمَزوا نِباعَها

    When, with sword-edges, they stripped the sheaths

    off the heights, and flexed their nab‘-wood bows,

  50. بِالخَيلِ لا تُعلَفُ إِلّا شَدَّها

    أَو مَلقَها بِالبيدِ وَاِندَراعَها

    with horses fed on nothing but their racing,

    their coursing through wastes, and their hurtling on.

  51. مِثلِ الرِماحِ هُزهِزَت كُعوبُها

    أَو كَالذُبابِ اِتَّبَعَت أَطماعَها

    Like lances with their joints shaken,

    or like flies following their cravings.

  52. كَأَنَّ عِقبانَ الشُرَيفِ فَوقَها

    تَعلو قِنانَ الأَرضِ أَو جِزاعَها

    As though the eagles of al-Shurayf, above them,

    were mounting the earth's peaks or its valley-bends,

  53. تَلمَحُ ما عارَضَها بِأَعيُنٍ

    مِثلِ الجُذى طارِحَةً شُعاعَها

    glimpsing whatever crossed them with eyes

    like firebrands casting out their rays.

  54. هُم رَفَعوا بِمَجدِهِم قِبابَها

    وَضَوَّأوا مِن نارِهِم يَفاعَها

    They raised its domes through their glory,

    and lit its high ground with their fire.

  55. حَموا بِأَطرافِ القَنا سَوامَها

    مِنَ العِدى وَآمَنوا رِتاعَها

    With spear-points they guarded its grazing herds

    from enemies, and made its pasturing flocks secure.

  56. وَأَلصَقوا بِالرَغمِ دونَ نَيلِها

    مَوارِناً قَد أَوعَبوا اِجتِداعَها

    They rubbed in the dust, barring access to it,

    noses they had utterly lopped off.

  57. إِن كانَ رَوعٌ عاقَدوا شُجاعَها

    عَلى الرَدى وَأَمَّنوا مِجزاعَها

    In times of terror, they pledged its brave

    to face death, and gave its fearful safety.

  58. كَبّوا عَلى أَذقانِها أَصنامَها

    لا وَدَّها أَبقوا وَلا سُواعَها

    They toppled its idols upon their chins,

    sparing neither its Wadd nor its Suwa‘.

  59. تَدارَكَ اللَهُ بِجَدّي عِزَّها

    وَقَد شَراها ذُلُّها وَباعَها

    Through my grandfather, God rescued its honor,

    when humiliation had bought it and sold it.

  60. جازَت بِهِ حَدَّ العُلى وَقَد رَأَت

    تَقارُعَ الجُدودِ وَاِطِراعَها

    Through him it passed beyond the limit of the heights, having seen

    the clash of fortunes and their mutual toppling.

  61. بِمَجدِهِ وَالعِزِّ مِن أَيّامِهِ

    مَدَّت إِلى نَيلِ العُلى أَضباعَها

    Through his glory and the might born of his days,

    it stretched its arms to attain the heights.

  62. وا عَجَبا لِعُصبَةٍ مَغرورَةٍ

    تُريدُ أَن تُلصِقَ بي قِذاعَها

    Ah, wonder at a deluded band

    that wishes to fasten its foul abuse upon me!

  63. أَذهَلَني اِستِواؤُها في غَيِّها

    مُطيعَها أَعذُلُ أَو مُطاعَها

    Their uniformity in error has bewildered me:

    am I to blame their followers or their leaders?

  64. تَقودُني إِلى الهَوانِ ضِلَّةً

    وَقَد أَبى العِزُّ لِيَ اِتِباعَها

    It leads me, in error, toward humiliation,

    though honor has forbidden me to follow it.

  65. تَسومُني وِردَ القَذى وَقَد رَأَت

    عِزَّةَ هَذي النَفسِ وَاِمتِناعَها

    It bids me drink polluted water, though it has seen

    this soul's pride and its refusal to yield.

  66. تُريدُ أَن أَلقى الخَنا لِقاءَها

    وَأَن أُنيخَ لِلأَذى جَعجاعَها

    It wants me to meet obscenity as it does,

    and kneel for harm upon its harsh ground,

  67. وَأَلبَسَ العارَ الطَويلَ لِبسَها

    وَأَرضَعَ الذُلَّ لَها رَضاعَها

    and wear enduring disgrace as it wears it,

    and suck at humiliation, for its sake, as it does.

  68. قَبيلَةٌ أَغلَطَها نَهجَ العُلى

    لُؤمُ عُروقٍ جَرَّتِ اِتَّضاعَها

    A tribe misled on the road to the heights

    by base roots that brought its downfall.

  69. قَومٌ هَوَت أَنفُسُهُم مِن دِلَّةٍ

    وَأَشرَفَت حُظوظُهُم أَيفاعَها

    A people whose souls have fallen through conceit,

    while their fortunes have climbed to their peaks.

  70. يالَيتَهُم غَطّوا اِنحِطاطَ قَدرِهِم

    أَو رَفَعَتني هِمَّتي اِرتِفاعَها

    Would that they had concealed their lowly worth,

    or that my ambition had raised me as high as their fortunes.

  71. أَمّا المَعالي فَأَخَذنا أَوَّلاً

    طولَ سِنيها وَأَخَذتُم ساعَها

    As for high honors, we took them first

    for all their long years; you have taken but their hour.

  72. أَسمَحَتِ الدُنيا لَكُم وَأَعرَضَت

    صَنائِعٌ لَم تُحسِنوا اِصطِناعَها

    The world has yielded to you, and within reach lay

    good works you did not know how to undertake.

  73. رُدَّت عَليكُم نِعَمٌ مَظلومَة

    لَم تَشكُروها فَاِنظُروا اِنقِطاعَها

    Blessings were restored to you, wronged blessings;

    you gave no thanks for them—now watch them cease.

  74. يا بِئسَ ما جَرَّت عَليكَ عامِداً

    مِن رائِعاتٍ تُكثِرُ اِرتِياعَها

    Ah, how wretched what was deliberately brought upon you—

    terrors whose fright you only multiply!

  75. نَفحَةُ عارٍ لَذَّعَت أَعراضَها

    لَذعَ اللَظى وَوَقَّرَت أَسماعَها

    A blast of shame has scorched their honor,

    as flame scorches, and deafened their ears,

  76. وَغادَرَت صِفاحَها دامِيَةً

    عَقرَ المَطايا أَلَّمَت إيضاعَها

    and left their flanks bleeding,

    like riding-camels galled by their fast trotting.

  77. وَأَمِنَت مِنها نِزارٌ أَنَّها

    سَوءَةُ قَولِ كُفِيَت سَماعَها

    And Nizar felt safe from it, knowing it was

    a shameful utterance they were spared from hearing.