Sol 6.1

  1. إِلَيكَ سَبَقتُ اِبنَي فَزارَةَ بَعدَما

    أَرادَ ثَوايَ في حِلاقِ الأَداهِمِ

    Toward you I outstripped Fazarah's two sons, after

    they sought my confinement in rings of iron fetters.

  2. فَقُلتُ أَلَيسَ اللَهُ قَبلَكُما الَّذي

    كَفاني زِياداً ذا العُرى وَالشَكائِمِ

    So I said: "Was it not God who, before you two,

    shielded me from Ziyad, master of bonds and bridle-bits?"

  3. سَبَقتُ إِلى مَروانَ حَتّى أَتَيتُهُ

    بِساقَيَّ سَعياً مِن حِذارِ الجَرائِمِ

    I hastened ahead to Marwan until I reached him,

    running on my own two legs, fearing criminal punishment.

  4. فَكُنتُ كَأَنّي إِذ أَنَختُ فِنائَهُ

    عَلى الهَضبَةِ الخَلقاءِ ذاتِ المَخازِمِ

    When I alighted in his courtyard, it was as though I stood

    upon a smooth-sided height, cleft with ravines.

  5. تَزَلُّ مِنَ الأَروى إِذا ما تَصَعَّدَت

    إِلَيها لِتَلقاها ظُلوفُ القَوائِمِ

    Even the mountain goats slip when they climb

    toward it, seeking purchase with their cloven hooves.

  6. بِها تَمنَعُ البيضَ الأُنوقَ وَدونَها

    نَفانِفُ لَيسَ تُرتَقى بِالسَلالِمِ

    There the vulture protects her eggs, while below it lie

    chasms that cannot be scaled with ladders.

  7. وَجَدتُ لَكَ البَطحاءُ لَمّا تَوارَثَت

    قُرَيشٌ تُراثَ الأَطيَبينَ الأَكارِمِ

    I found al-Batha yours, when

    Quraysh inherited the legacy of the finest and noblest.

  8. وَإِنَّ لَكُم عيصاً أَلَفَّ غُصونُهُ

    لَهُ ظِلُّ بَيتي عَبدِ شَمسٍ وَهاشِمِ

    And yours is a thicket with densely tangled branches,

    having the shade of the two houses, Abd Shams and Hashim.

  9. فَكَم لَكَ مِن ساقٍ وَدَلوٍ سَجيلَةٍ

    إِلَيكَ لَها الحَوماتُ ذاتُ القَماقِمِ

    How many a water-drawer and brimming bucket are yours,

    for which throngs with their mighty chiefs come to you.

  10. فَلَو كانَ مِن أَولادِ دارِمَ مَلأَكٌ

    حَمَلتَ جَناحَي مَأَكٍ غَيرَ سائِمِ

    If there were an angel among Darim's sons,

    you would bear an angel's two wings, never weary

  11. مِنَ الحَمدِ وَالتَسبيحِ لِلَّهِ ما جَرَت

    إِلى الغَورِ أَدراجَ النُجومِ التَوائِمِ

    of praising and glorifying God, as long as there run

    toward the lowlands the courses of the paired stars.

  12. وَلَو كانَ بَعدَ المُصطَفى مِن عِبادِهِ

    نَبِيٌّ لَهُم مِنهُم لِأَمرِ العَزائِمِ

    And if, after the Chosen One, among His servants there were

    a prophet for them, from among them, charged with binding commands,

  13. لَكُنتَ الَّذي يَختارُهُ اللَهُ بَعدَهُ

    لِحَملِ الأَماناتِ الثِقالِ العَظائِمِ

    you would have been the one God chose after him

    to bear the heavy, momentous trusts.

  14. لَكُم أَبطَحاها الأَعظَمانِ وَسَيلُها

    لَكُم حينَ يَرمي مَوجُها بِالعَلاجِمِ

    Its two greatest valley floors are yours, and its torrent

    is yours when its waves fling up great frogs:

  15. تُراثُ أَبي العاصي لُؤَيِّ اِبنِ غالِبٍ

    عَلى أَنفِ راضٍ مِن مَعَدٍّ وَراغِمِ

    the heritage of Abu al-As, of Lu'ayy son of Ghalib,

    whether Ma'add's men approve or yield unwillingly.

  16. وَرِثتُم خَليلَ اللَهِ كُلَّ خِزانَةً

    وَكُلَّ كِتابٍ بِالنُبُوَّةِ قائِمِ

    You inherited from God's intimate Friend every treasury

    and every scripture bearing witness to prophethood,

  17. بِحُكمِ الَّذي فَوقَ السَمَواتِ عَرشُهُ

    بِما في ثَرى سَبعٍ مِنَ الأَرضِ عالِمِ

    by the decree of Him whose throne is above the heavens,

    who knows what lies in the soil of the seven earths.

  18. أَرى كُلَّ حَيٍّ حَيُّكُم فاضِلٌ لَهُ

    وَأَمواتُكُم خَيرُ الشُعوبِ الأَقادِمِ

    I see your clan surpassing every clan,

    and your dead are the finest of the ancient peoples.

  19. إِلَيكَ وَطِئنا الثَلجَ يَنثُرُ فَوقَنا

    وَنَكباءُ تَلقانا بُرودَ الشَبائِمِ

    Toward you we trod the snow as it scattered above us,

    and a crosswind met us with cloaks of icy cold,

  20. مُشَمِّرَةً بَينَ الصَبا وَشِمالِها

    تَجُرُّ نَواحيها رُؤوسَ المَخارِمِ

    its skirts tucked up between the east wind and the north,

    dragging its hems over the crests of the mountain passes.

  21. لَنَلقاكَ وَاللاقيكَ يَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

    سَيَأخُذُ إِن أَعطَيتَهُ حَبلَ عاصِمِ

    We came to meet you; whoever meets you knows that he

    will grasp, if you grant him one, a protector's rope.

  22. وَحَبلُكَ حَبلُ اللَهِ مَن يَعتَصِم بِهِ

    إِذا نالَهُ يَأخُذ بِهِ حَبلَ سالِمِ

    Your rope is God's rope: whoever clings to it

    on reaching it, grasps through it a rope of safety.

  23. أَبوكَ أَبو العاصي وَحَربٌ كِلاهُما

    أَبو الخُلَفاءِ المُصطَفَينَ الأَكارِمِ

    Your forefather Abu al-As, and Harb—both

    are forefathers of the chosen, noble caliphs.

  24. إِذا هُنَّ بَلَّغنَ الرِجالَ فَقُيِّدَت

    إِذا حُلَّ عَنها بِالسُيوفِ الصَوارِمِ

    Once they have carried the men there, let them be tethered,

    to be released only by keen-edged swords,

  25. إِلى مُنتَهى الحاجاتِ لَيسَ وَرائَهُ

    وَلا دونَهُ لِلراقِصاتِ الرَواثِمِ

    at the ultimate goal of wishes, beyond which

    or short of which the prancing, swift-stepping camels

  26. مُناخٌ لِأَهلِ الأَرضِ يَجمَعُ بَينَهُم

    لِمُطَّلِبي الحاجاتِ غُبرُ المَخارِمِ

    have no resting-place for earth's folk, brought together

    as seekers of their needs by the dusty mountain passes.

  27. أُنِخنَ إِلى خَيرِ البَرِيَّةِ ضُمَّراً

    دَوامِيَ مِن أَصلابِها وَالمَناسِمِ

    They were made to kneel, gaunt, beside the best of creation,

    bleeding from their backs and foot-pads.

  28. سَيُدنيكُمُ التَأويبُ مِن خَيرِ مَن مَشى

    إِلَيهِ وَجَرّى بِالسُرى كُلَّ نائِمِ

    Travel by day will bring you near the best man ever sought

    on foot, who sets every sleeper hurrying through the night.

  29. وَشَهباءُ مِهيافٌ شَديدٌ ضَريرُها

    تَحُلُّ بِراميها عُقودَ التَمائِمِ

    And a grey, thirst-bringing host, fierce in its onslaught,

    loosens the amulet-knots of whoever assails it.