Sol 6.1

  1. على هذهِ كانتْ تَدورُ النّوائِّبُ

    وفي كُلِّ جَمْعٍ للذَّهَابِ مَذَاهِبُ

    Around this calamities had been circling,

    and in every gathering lie paths to departure.

  2. نَزَلْنَا على حُكْمِ الزَّمانِ وأَمرِهِ

    وهل يَقْبَلُ النَّصْفَ الألَدُّ المُشَاغِبُ

    We submitted to Time's judgment and decree;

    but does the obstinate troublemaker accept fairness?

  3. وتَضحكُ سِنُّ المرْءِ والقلبُ مُوجَعٌ

    ويرضى الفَتَى عن دَهْرِهِ وهوَ عاتِبُ

    And a man's teeth laugh while his heart aches;

    and a man is content with his times, though full of reproach.

  4. أَلاَ أَيُّها الرُّكْبانُ والرَّدُ واجبٌ

    قِفُوا حَدِّثُونا ما تَقُولُ النّوادِبُ

    Ho, you riders—an answer is due—

    stop and tell us what the mourning women say.

  5. إلى أَيِّ فِتْيانِ النّدى قَصَدَ الرَّدى

    وأَيُّهُمُ نابَتْ حِمَاهُ النّوائِبُ

    Which of generosity's young men has Death sought out,

    and whose sanctuary have calamities assailed?

  6. فيَا لأَبي العَبّاسِ كَمْ رُدَّ راغبٌ

    لِفَقْدِكَ مَلهوفاً وكَمْ جُبَّ غَارِبُ

    Alas for Abu al-Abbas! How many a suppliant was turned away

    at your loss, grief-stricken—and how many a camel's withers were severed!

  7. ويا لأَبي العَبّاسِ إِنَّ مَنَاكِباً

    تَنُوءُ بِمَا حَمّلْتَها لَنَواكِبُ

    And alas for Abu al-Abbas! Indeed, shoulders

    that strain beneath what you laid on them are surely stricken.

  8. فَيَا قَبْرَهُ جُدْ كُلَّ قَبْرٍ بِجُودِهِ

    فَفيكَ سَمَاءٌ ثَرَّةٌ وسَحَائِبُ

    So, O grave of his, bestow his bounty on every grave,

    for within you lie a rain-rich sky and clouds.

  9. فإنّكَ لَوْ تَدْرِي بِما فِيكَ مِنْ عُلاً

    عَلَوْتَ وباتَتْ في ذُرَاكَ الكَواكِبُ

    For if you knew what heights of glory you contain,

    you would rise high, and the stars would spend the night upon your peaks.

  10. أَخاً كُنتُ أَبكيهِ دَماً وهوَ نائمٌ

    حَذَاراً وتَعْمَى مُقْلَتي وهوَ غائِبُ

    A brother for whom I would weep blood while he slept,

    in fear; and my eye would grow blind when he was away.

  11. فَماتَ ولا صَبْري على الأَجْرِ واقِفٌ

    ولا أنا في عُمْرٍ إلى اللّهِ راغِبُ

    Then he died, and my patience does not rest on reward,

    nor do I ask God for life.

  12. أَأَسعى لأَحْظَى فيكَ بالأَجْرِ إنّهُ

    لَسَعْيٌ إِذَنْ مِنِّيْ لَدَى اللّهِ خَائِبُ

    Should I strive to gain reward through you? It would

    then indeed be a fruitless striving of mine before God.

  13. ومَا الإِثْمُ إِلاَّ الصَّبْرُ عَنْكَ وإنّما

    عَواقِبُ حَمْدٍ أَنْ تُذَمَّ العَواقِبُ

    And sin is nothing but patience without you; the only

    praiseworthy outcomes lie in having outcomes condemned.

  14. يقولونَ مِقْدَارٌ على المَرْءِ وَاجِبٌ

    فقلتُ وإِعْوالٌ على المرءِ واجِبُ

    They say, 'A man's allotted fate is inevitable.'

    So I said, 'And wailing is a man's duty.'

  15. هُوَ القَلْبُ لَمّا حُمَّ يَوْمُ ابنِ أُمِّهِ

    وَهَى جانِبٌ مِنْهُ وأُسْقِمَ جانِبُ

    It is the heart: when the day of its mother's son was decreed,

    one side of it gave way, and another was stricken.

  16. تَرَشّفْتُ أَيّامِيْ وَهُنَّ كَوالِحٌ

    عليك وغَالبْتُ الرَّدى وهوَ غالِب

    I sipped my days while they scowled

    at you, and fought against Death, though Death prevailed.

  17. ودَافَعْتُ في صَدْرِ الزَّمَانِ ونَحْرِهِ

    وأَيُّ يَدٍ لي والزَّمانُ مُحَارِبُ

    And I pushed against Time's breast and throat;

    yet what power have I when Time wages war?

  18. وقلتُ لهُ خَلِّ الجَوادَ لِقَومِهِ

    وهَا أَنَذا فَازْدَدْ فإنّا عَصَائِبُ

    And I said to it, 'Leave the generous man to his people,

    and here I am—take more, for we are multitudes.'

  19. فَوَاللّهِ إِخْلاصاً مِنَ القَولِ صَادقاً

    وإلاَّ فَحُبِّي آلَ أَحْمَدَ كاذِبُ

    So by God, with sincere and truthful words—

    or else my love for the House of Ahmad is false—

  20. لَوَ انَّ يَدِي كانَتْ شِفَاءَكَ أَوْ دَمِي

    دَمَ القَلْبِ حتى يَقْضِبَ القَلْبَ قاضِبُ

    if my hand had been your cure, or my blood,

    my heart's blood, until a blade severed the heart,

  21. لَسَلّمْتُ تَسْليمَ الرِّضَا وتَخِذْتُها

    يَداً للرَّدَى ما حَجَّ لِلّهِ راكِبُ

    I would have yielded willingly, and counted it

    a favor from Death, as long as any rider makes pilgrimage for God.

  22. فَتىً كانَ مِثْلَ السّيْفِ مِنْ حَيْثُ جئتَهُ

    لنائبةٍ نابَتْكَ فهوَ مُضَارِبُ

    A young man who was like a sword: however you approached him

    over a calamity that befell you, he would fight.

  23. فَتىً هَمُّهُ حَمْدٌ على الدَّهْرِ رابِحٌ

    وإِنْ غابَ عنهُ مالُهُ فهَوَ عازِبُ

    A young man whose aim was praise, profitable through all time,

    even if his wealth left him, wandering far away.

  24. شَمَائِلُ إِنْ يَشْهَدْ فَهُنَّ مَشَاهِدٌ

    عِظَامٌ وإِنْ يَرْحَلْ فَهُنَّ كَتَائِبُ

    Virtues that, when he was present, were spectacles

    of grandeur; and when he journeyed, they were battalions.

  25. بَكَاكَ أَخٌ لَمْ تَحْوِهِ بَقَرابَةٍ

    بَلى إِنَّ إِخْوانَ الصَّفاءِ أَقاربُ

    A brother wept for you, bound to you by no blood tie;

    yes indeed, brothers in pure affection are kin.

  26. وأَظْلَمَتِ الدُّنْيا التي كُنْتَ جَارَهَا

    كَأنّكَ للِدُّنْيا أَخٌ ومُنَاسِبُ

    And the world, whose neighbor you were, grew dark,

    as though you were the world's brother and kinsman.

  27. يُبَرِّدُ نِيرانَ المَصَائِبِ أَنّني

    أَرى زَمَناً لَمْ تَبْقَ فيهِ مَصَائِبُ

    What cools the fires of calamity is that I

    see a time in which no calamities remain.