Sol 6.1

  1. بَكَت وَهيَ صَرعى مِن هُمومٍ تَحيقُها

    كَبائِسَةٍ في الناسِ ضاعَت حُقوقُها

    She wept, laid low by cares that beset her,

    like a wretched woman among people, her rights lost.

  2. وَصارَت تَوالي بِالشَهيقِ أَنينَها

    فَأَسمعني لحنَ الحَياةِ شَهيقُها

    And she began following her moans with gasping sobs,

    so her sobbing made me hear the melody of life.

  3. وَأَلقَت عَلى صَدري مِن الحُزنِ رَأسها

    غَريبَةُ دارٍ قَد نَآها صَديقُها

    And in sorrow she laid her head upon my breast,

    a woman far from home, her friend having forsaken her.

  4. وَأَدمعُها كانَت رَحيقاً مذوَّباً

    فَأَكسرَ قَلبي المُستَهامَ رَحيقُها

    And her tears were molten nectar,

    so her nectar broke my lovesick heart.

  5. وَلمّا اِستَتَبَّ النَومُ في غُلبِ عَينِها

    وَنامَ كَما نامَ الجَريحُ خفوقُها

    And when sleep had firmly overpowered her eyes,

    and her heartbeat slept as the wounded sleep,

  6. سكتُّ فَلَم أَلهَث حذار تَنهدّي

    يَمُرُّ عَلى أَجفانِها فَيفيقُها

    I fell silent, without a gasp, lest my sigh

    should pass over her eyelids and awaken her.

  7. وَكانَ ظَلامُ اللَيلِ يرخي سدولَه

    وَأَنجُمهُ يذوي النُفوسَ بَريقُها

    And the darkness of night was letting down its curtains,

    and the glitter of its stars made souls wither.

  8. كَأَنَّ شُعاعَ الزُهر في شاسِعِ الفَضا

    سِهامٌ عَلى قَلبِ الوُجودِ مروقُها

    As though the bright stars' radiance in the vastness of space

    were arrows whose flight pierced the heart of existence.

  9. فَقُلتُ وَفي صَدري مِن الدَمعِ بركَةٌ

    تحمَّلَ أَقذار الحَياةِ عَميقُها

    So I said, with a pool of tears in my breast,

    whose depths had borne the filth of life:

  10. إِذا كانَتِ الظَلماءُ فينا مُنيرَةً

    فَأَحرى بِها أَلّا يَزولَ غسوقُها

    If darkness is luminous among us,

    then all the more should its deep gloom never lift.

  11. أَحَقُّ بِنا الظَلماءُ من كُلِّ وجهَةٍ

    فَفينا وُجوهٌ يُستَبَدُّ صَفيقُها

    Darkness better befits us in every way,

    for among us are faces whose brazen ones rule as tyrants.

  12. وَفينا حَزازاتٌ إِلى البَغي تَنتَمي

    وَفينا شفاهٌ من طِلى الحِقدِ ريقُها

    And among us are rancors born of oppression,

    and among us are lips whose saliva is the wine of hatred.

  13. نَظَرتُ إِلى مَن خدَّدَ الدَمعُ خدَّها

    فَأَلفَيتُ شَمساً لا يَغيبُ شُروقُها

    I looked at the one whose cheek tears had furrowed,

    and found a sun whose dawning never fades.

  14. كَأَنَّ نثارَ الدَمعِ تبرٌ بِعَينِها

    يذوِّبهُ فَوق العَقيقِ مريقُها

    As though the scattered tears were gold dust in her eye,

    melted over carnelian by the one who sheds them.

  15. فَقُلتُ عَزيزٌ يا بَني الشَرق أَن نَرى

    الفَضيلَةَ يَمشي في المَكاسِدِ سوقُها

    So I said: It is hard, O sons of the East, to see

    virtue's trade moving through stagnant markets.

  16. تَهيم وَلا تَدري طَريقَ نَجاتِها

    كَأَنَّ ضلالَ العالَمينَ طَريقُها

    She wanders, not knowing the way to her deliverance,

    as though all humankind's straying were her path.

  17. هيَ الزهرةُ البَيضاءُ في عوسَجِ الوَرى

    يحفّ بِها شوكُ الخَنا وَيُحيقُها

    She is the white flower amid humanity's thornbushes,

    the thorns of lewdness surround and beset her.

  18. وَقَد عَصَفَت ريحٌ عَلَيها شَديدَةٌ

    فَنَثَّرها مِثل الدُموعِ خريقُها

    And a fierce wind had raged against her,

    so its violent blast scattered her like tears.

  19. هيَ النِجمَةُ الزَهراءُ في حَدَقِ الدُجى

    يُسامِرُها بَدرُ العَفافِ شَقيقُها

    She is the radiant star in the pupils of darkness,

    the full moon of chastity, her brother, keeps her company by night.

  20. وَلكِنَّ غيمَ الجَهلِ لاصِقَ نورَها

    فَحَجَّبَها عن كُلِّ عينٍ لَصيقُها

    But ignorance's cloud clung to her light,

    so what clung to her veiled her from every eye.

  21. هيَ اِبنَةُ آمالي وَلكِن سَجينَةٌ

    تناسى هَواها الكُلُّ حَتّى عَشيقُها

    She is the daughter of my hopes, yet a prisoner;

    everyone chose to forget her love, even her lover.

  22. يَشوق فُؤادي أَن يَراها طَليقَةً

    وَلكن قُيودُ الظُلمِ لَيس يشوقُها

    My heart longs to see her free,

    but the chains of injustice feel no such longing.

  23. غَفَت مِلءَ عَينَيها وَلكِنَّ روحَها

    تَرَدَّدَ في صَدرِ الحَياةِ زُهوقُها

    She slept her fill, yet her soul—

    its passing echoed within the breast of life.

  24. كَأَنَّ الَّذي أَخنى عَلَيها بِجورِه

    إِلى هوَّةِ الإِعدامِ جاءَ يَسوقُها

    As though he who had ruined her through his injustice

    had come to drive her into the abyss of annihilation.

  25. أَشاحَ خَيالُ الحُبِّ عَنها بِوَجهِهِ

    وَأَعرَضَ عَنها في الحَياةِ رَفيقُها

    The phantom of love turned its face away from her,

    and her companion in life turned away from her.

  26. فَما وَجَدَت إِلا المَدامِعَ مُؤنِساً

    لذلِكَ في كلِّ الظُروفِ تُريقُها

    So she found no companion except tears;

    therefore she sheds them in every circumstance.