Sol 6.1

  1. يا فَرخَ نِهيا بِإِفكٍ قُلتَ أَو زورِ

    إِذ لا تَزالُ تَعَبّا لي بِتَعبيرِ

    O fledgling of Nihya, you spoke with falsehood or lies,

    since you keep marshalling yourself against me with interpretations.

  2. قَد كُنتُ قَصَّرتُ بُقيا أَو مُحافَظَةً

    فَالآنَ حينَ اِنجَلى هَمّي بِتَقصيري

    I had held back, to spare you or out of regard,

    but now, when my worry over holding back has cleared—

  3. نُبِّئتُ أَنَّكَ يا حَمّادُ تَنبَحُني

    وَالكَلبُ يَنبَحُ مَربوطاً بِساجورِ

    I was told that you, Hammad, bark at me;

    and the dog barks, bound with a wooden neck-yoke.

  4. أَحينَ هَرَّت كِلابُ الحَيِّ مِن حَرَسي

    وَاِحمَرَّ مِن مُهَجِ الأَجوافِ تَصديري

    Is it when the camp's dogs growled because of my guards,

    and my breast-girth reddened with lifeblood from within bodies,

  5. وَذَبَّ عَنّي غُواةَ الناسِ مُعتَدِياً

    بابٌ حَديدٌ وَصَوتٌ غَيرُ مَنزورِ

    and the people's miscreants were forcefully driven from me

    by an iron gate and a voice far from faint—

  6. تَفشو إِلَيَّ بِأَشعارٍ مُلَصَّقَةٍ

    مَهلاً أَبا عُمَرٍ ما أَنتَ في العيرِ

    that you come at me with patched-together poems?

    Easy, Abu Umar—you are no part of the caravan.

  7. حَلَفتُ بِالقِبلَةِ البَيضاءِ مُجتَهِداً

    وَبِالمَقامِ وَرُكنِ البَيتِ وَالسورِ

    I swore earnestly by the white qibla,

    and by the Station, the corner of the House, and the wall:

  8. لَقَد عَقَقتَ عَجوزاً جِئتَ مِن هَنِها

    ما الشَيخُ والِدُكَ الأَدنى بِمَبرورِ

    you have indeed wronged an old woman from whose vulva you came;

    nor is the old man, your own father, honored.

  9. غَنَّيتَ في الشَربِ مَندوباً وَمُبتَدِئاً

    فَهَل كَفاكَ التَغَنّي في المَواخيرِ

    You sang among the drinkers, when summoned and unprompted;

    so, has singing in brothels been enough for you?

  10. غُرُّ القَصائِدِ أُسديها وَأُلحِمُها

    كَأَنَّ رَأسَكَ مِنها في أَعاصيرِ

    Radiant odes—I lay their warp and weave their weft,

    as though your head were in whirlwinds because of them.

  11. اِذكُر سَواءَةَ ثُمَّ اِفخَر بِظِئرِهِمُ

    وَما اِفتِخارُ بُنَيِّ الظِئرِ بِالظيرِ

    Remember Sawa'a, then boast of their foster-parent;

    and what pride can the foster-parent's little son take in the foster-parent?

  12. صَه لا تَكَلَّم جِهاراً في مَجالِسِنا

    وَسَل عَجوزَكَ عَن بَكرِ بِنِ مَذعورِ

    Hush! Do not speak aloud in our gatherings,

    and ask your old woman about Bakr ibn Madh'ur.

  13. قَد كُنتُ أَعرِفُ حَمّاداً فَأَستُرُهُ

    وَما اِمرُؤٌ مِن بَني نِهيا بِمَستورِ

    I knew Hammad and would cover for him,

    yet no man of Nihya's sons has his shame concealed.

  14. وَأَنتَ أَعقَدُ مِثلُ اللَوزِ مُعتَرِضٌ

    بِالدُرِّ تَغدو بِوَجهٍ غَيرِ مَنصورِ

    And you are knotted like an almond, thrusting yourself forward

    with pearls; you go forth with a face that knows no victory.

  15. تُعطي وَتَأخُذُ مِن قُبلٍ وَمِن دُبُرٍ

    وَذاكَ شُغلٌ عَنِ المَعروفِ وَالخيرِ

    You give and take, from the front and from the rear,

    and that is a distraction from kindness and goodness.

  16. وَعَجرَدٌ كانَ وَشّاءً وَكانَ لَهُ

    عِلمُ المُباهي بِوَضعِ الوَشي وَالنيرِ

    And Ajrad was a brocade-weaver, and he had

    the boaster's skill in setting brocade and the loom-bar.

  17. قَد عالجَ الغُرلَ حيناً قَبلَ لِحيَتِهِ

    حَتّى عَلا رَأسَهُ شَيبٌ بِتَقتيرِ

    He had handled the uncircumcised for a time, before his beard grew,

    until gray hair spread sparsely over his head.

  18. وَأَنتُمُ أَهلُ بَيتٍ عَمَّكُم سَتَهٌ

    فَكُلُّكُم بِاِستِهِ داءُ السَنانيرِ

    And you are a household all afflicted with oversized buttocks,

    for each of you has the disease of cats in his arse.

  19. في مِنصِبٍ مِن بَني نِهيا تُطيفُ بِهِ

    شُمطُ النَبيطِ بِإِكبارٍ وَتَوقيرِ

    In a lineage from Nihya's sons, around which circle

    grizzled Nabataeans, with veneration and respect.