Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا حَبَّذا البَيتُ الَّذي أَنتَ هايِبُه

    تَزورُ بُيوتاً حَولَهُ وَتُجانِبُه

    Ah, how lovely the house you fear to approach!

    You visit houses around it, yet avoid it.

  2. تُجانِبُهُ مِن غَيرِ هَجرٍ لِأَهلِهِ

    وَلَكِنَّ عَيناً مِن عَدُوٍّ تُراقِبُه

    You avoid it without forsaking its people,

    but an enemy's eye keeps watch on it.

  3. أَرى الدَهرَ أَيّامُ المَشيبِ أَمَرُّهُ

    عَلَينا وَأَيّامُ الشَبابِ أَطايِبُه

    I see that time's bitterest days are those of gray hair

    for us, and its choicest are the days of youth.

  4. وَفي الشَيبِ لَذّاتٍ وَقُرَّةُ أَعيُنٍ

    وَمِن قَبلِهِ عَيشٌ تَعَلَّلَ جادِبُه

    Yet gray hair holds pleasures and comfort for the eyes,

    and before it was a life even its critic found solace in.

  5. إِذا نازَلَ الشَيبُ الشَبابَ فَأَصلَتا

    بِسَيفِهِما فَالشَيبُ لا بُدَّ غالِبُه

    When gray hair meets youth in combat and both draw

    their swords, gray hair will inevitably defeat it.

  6. فَيا خَيرَ مَهزومٍ وَيا شَرَّ هازِمٍ

    إِذا الشَيبُ راقَت لِلشَبابِ كَتايِبُه

    Then, O best of the vanquished, and O worst of victors,

    when gray hair's battalions appear splendid to youth!

  7. وَلَيسَ شَبابٌ بَعدَ شَيبٍ بِراجِعٍ

    يَدَ الدَهرِ حَتّى يَرجَعَ الدَرَّ حالِبُه

    Youth will not return after gray hair,

    for all time—until the milker puts the milk back into the udder.

  8. وَمَن يَتَخَمَّط بِالمَظالِمِ قَومَهُ

    وَلَو كَرُمَت فيهِم وَعَزَّت مَضارِبُه

    And whoever tyrannizes over his people with injustices,

    even if his roots among them are noble and mighty,

  9. يُخَدَّش بِأَظفارِ العَشيرَةِ خَدُّهُ

    وَتُجرَح رُكوباً صَفحَتاهُ وَغارِبُه

    will have his cheek scratched by the clan's nails,

    and his flanks and withers wounded from being ridden.

  10. وَإِنَّ اِبنُ عَمِّ المَرءِ عِزُّ اِبنِ عَمِّهِ

    مَتى ما يَهِج لا يَحلُ لِلقَومِ جانِبُه

    And a man's cousin is indeed his cousin's strength:

    whenever he is roused, his flank is no sweet morsel for the people.

  11. وَرُبَّ اِبنِ عَمٍّ حاضِرِ الشَرِّ خَيرُهُ

    مَعَ النَجمِ مِن حَيثُ اِستَقَلَّت كَواكِبُه

    And many a cousin's harm is close at hand, while his goodness

    is with the constellation, where its stars rise high.

  12. فَلا ما نَأى مِنهُ مِنَ الشَرِّ نازِحٌ

    وَلا ما دَنا مِنهُ مِنَ الخَيرِ جالِبُه

    So no evil, however far from him, is truly distant,

    and no good, however near him, does he bring.

  13. فَما المَرءُ مَنفوعاً بِتَجريبِ واعِظٍ

    إِذا لَم تَعِظهُ نَفسُهُ وَتَجارِبُه

    So a man gains nothing from a counselor's experience

    if his own soul and experiences do not admonish him.

  14. وَلا خَيرَ ما لَم يَنفَعِ الغُصنُ أَصلَهُ

    وَإِن ماتَ لَم تَحزَن عَلَيهِ أَقارِبُه

    And there is no good unless the branch benefits its root;

    and if he dies, his kin do not mourn him.