Sol 6.1

  1. سَقاها الحَيا مِن مَغانٍ فساحِ

    فَكَم لي بِها مِن مَعانٍ فصاحِ

    May rain water those spacious haunts,

    For how many eloquent meanings I have there!

  2. وَحَلّى أَكاليلَ تِلكَ الرُبى

    وَوَشّى مَعاطِفَ تِلكَ البِطاحِ

    And adorn the garlands of those hills,

    And embroider the folds of those broad valleys.

  3. فَما أَنسَ لا أَنسَ عَهدي بِها

    وَجَرِّيَ فيها ذُيولَ المِراحِ

    So, whatever I forget, I shall not forget my days there,

    Nor how I trailed the hems of merriment there.

  4. فَكَم لِيَ في اللَهوِ مِن طَيرَةٍ

    عَلَيها بِأَجنِحَةِ الإِرتِياحِ

    For how many flights I took in revelry,

    Above them, on wings of delight!

  5. وَيَومٍ عَلى حَبِراتِ الرِياض

    تَجاذَب بُردي أَيدي الرِياحِ

    And many a day upon the gardens’ patterned cloths,

    The hands of the winds tugged my cloak to and fro.

  6. بِحَيثُ لَم أعطِ النُهى طاعَةً

    وَلَم ألقِ سَمعاً إِلى لَحيِ لاحِ

    Where I gave reason no obedience,

    Nor lent an ear to a reprover’s rebuke.

  7. وَلَيلٍ كَرَجعَةِ لَحظِ المُري

    بِ لَم أَدرِ لَهُ شَفَقاً مِن صَباحِ

    And a night as fleeting as the return of a wary man’s glance,

    I could not tell its twilight from its dawn.

  8. كَعمر عُفاتِكَ يَومَ النَدى

    وَعمر عداتِكَ يَومَ الكِفاحِ

    Like your petitioners’ lives on the day of bounty,

    And your enemies’ lives on the day of combat.

  9. إِلَيكَ رَمى أَمَلي بي وَلا

    هويَّ مصفّقةٍ بِالجَناحِ

    Toward you my hope has flung me—no

    Swoop of a wing-beating bird could match it.

  10. أَقولُ لِراجي الحَيا وَهوَ دان

    مَداهُ وَجَدواهُ مِن كُلِّ راحِ

    I say to one who hopes for rain, though near

    Are its reach and bounty to every palm:

  11. إِذا عمرٌ هَطَلَت كَفُّهُ

    فَلا حَمَلَت سُحُب مِن رِياحِ

    When Umar’s palm pours down rain,

    Then may no winds carry clouds.

  12. مِنَ النافِذي الطَعنِ تَحتَ العجاج

    بَينَ الدِّلاصِ وَبَينَ الرِماحِ

    Of those whose thrusts strike home beneath the battle dust,

    Between gleaming mail and spears.

  13. مِنَ القَومِ يُنزِلُهُم خَضدُهُم

    عَنِ المَوتِ شَوكَ القَنا في البَراحِ

    Of a people saved—by their breaking

    Of spear-thorns on the open plain—from death.

  14. وَعَنهُم تكوّن رَفعُ العُلا

    سَماءً عَلى عَمدٍ مِن صفاحِ

    And through them glory’s height took shape:

    A sky on pillars of broad sword-blades.

  15. وَقادوا الزَمانَ إِلى اليومِ وَهوَ

    رَقيقُ الحَواشي صَقيلُ النَواحِ

    And they have led Time to this day, while it is

    Soft at the edges, polished on its sides.