Sol 6.1

  1. عُجْ بالحِمَى حيثُ الغِيَاضُ الغِيْنُ

    فَعَسَى تَعِنَّ لنا مَهَاهُ العِيْنُ

    Turn aside to the protected grounds, where the groves are dense;

    perhaps wide-eyed oryx will appear to us.

  2. واستَقْبِلَنْ أَرَجَ النسيمِ فَدَارُهُمْ

    نَدِّيَّةُ الأرْجَاءِ لا دَارِيْنُ

    Welcome the fragrance of the breeze, for their abode

    is incense-scented throughout—not Darin.

  3. واسْلُكْ على آثارِ يومِ رِهانِهِمْ

    فهناك تُغْلَقُ للقلوب رُهُوْنُ

    Follow the tracks of the day of their race;

    there the hearts' pledges are forfeited.

  4. حيثُ القِبابُ الحُمْرُ سَامِيَةُ الذُرَى

    والأَعْوَجِيَّاتُ الجِيَادُ صُفُوْنُ

    Where the red pavilions have lofty summits,

    and fine A'waji mares stand with one hoof raised;

  5. والسَّمْهَرِيَّةُ كالنُّهُوْدِ نَوَاهِدُ

    والمَشْرَفِيَّةُ في الجُفُونِ جُفُوْنُ

    and Samhari spears rise like swelling breasts,

    and Mashrafi swords sleep within their sheaths.

  6. أُفُقٌ إذا ما رُمْتَ لَحْظَ شَمُوْسِهِ

    صَدَّتْكَ للنَقْعِ المُثارِ دُجُوْنُ

    A horizon: whenever you seek a glimpse of its suns,

    the darkness of stirred-up dust bars your way.

  7. يَغْشَاكَ من دُوْنِ الغَزَالِ ضُبَارِمٌ

    فيه ومِنْ قَبْلِ الكِنَاسِ عَرِيْنُ

    Mighty lions confront you before the gazelle;

    there, and before the gazelle's covert, stands a lion's den.

  8. أَنَّى أُرَاعُ لَهُمْ وبين جَوَانِحِي

    شَوْقٌ يُهَوِّنُ خَطْبَهُمْ فَيَهُوْنُ

    How could I fear them, when between my ribs

    longing lightens their menace, and it grows light?

  9. أَنَّى يَهَابُ ضِرابَهُمْ وطِعَانَهُمْ

    صَبٌّ بألحاظِ العُيُوْنِ طَعِيْنُ

    How could their blows and spear-thrusts frighten

    a lover pierced by the glances of eyes?

  10. فكَأَنَّمَا بِيْضُ الصِّفاحِ جَدَاوِلُ

    وكأنَّما سُمْرُ الرِّماحِ غُصُوْنُ

    It is as though the white blades were streams,

    and the dusky spears were branches.

  11. ذَرْنِي أَسِرْ بين الأسِنَّةِ والظُّبَى

    فالقلبُ في تلك القِبابِ رَهِيْنُ

    Leave me to walk among spearheads and blade-edges;

    the heart is captive in those pavilions.

  12. فَلَعَلَّهُ يُرْوِي صَدَايَ بِلَمْحِهِ

    وَجْهٌ به ماءُ الجَمالِ مَعِيْنُ

    Perhaps a glimpse of it will quench my thirst:

    a face upon which beauty's water flows freely.

  13. وَلَعِي بذاتِ القُلْبِ أَفْقَدَ أَضْلُعِي

    قَلْبَاً عليه ما يَرِيْمُ يَرِيْنُ

    My passion for the bracelet-wearer has robbed my ribs

    of a heart over which it never ceases to hold sway.

  14. تَلْهُو وأَحْزَنُ مثل ما حَكَمَ الهَوَى

    لا يَسْتَوِي المسرورُ والمَحْزُوْنُ

    She amuses herself while I grieve, as love has decreed:

    the joyful and the sorrowful are not alike.

  15. وتَذَلُّلِي لم يُجْدِ غَيْرَ تَذَلُّلٍ

    والحُسْنُ عِزٌّ للحِسانِ مَكِيْنُ

    My abasement has yielded nothing but abasement,

    while beauty grants fair women firmly rooted power.

  16. لا غَرْوَ أنْ أَصِلَ الغَرَامَ بِمُعْرِضٍ

    غَيْرُ المُحِبِّ بما يُدَانُ يَدِيْنُ

    No wonder I sustain my passion for one who turns away;

    one who does not love repays as he is repaid.

  17. يا رَبَّةَ القُرْطِ المُعِيْرِ خُفُوْقَهُ

    قَلْبِي أَمَا لِحِرَاكِهِ تَسْكِيْنُ

    O mistress of the earring that lends its flutter

    to my heart—is there no stilling its motion?

  18. تَوْرِيْدُ خَدِّكِ للصِّبَابَةِ مَوْرِدٌ

    وَفُتُوْرُ طَرْفِكِ للنُّفُوْس فُتُوْنُ

    Your cheek's rosy hue is a watering place for longing;

    and your languid gaze enchants souls.

  19. فإذا رَمَقْتِ فَوَحْيُ حُبِّكِ مُنْزَلٌ

    وإذا نَطَقْتِ فإنَّهُ تَلْقِينُ

    When you glance, the revelation of your love descends;

    and when you speak, it is a lesson imparted.

  20. لولاكِ ما أَوْدَى الجَوَى بِتَجَلُّدِي

    وكَفَاكِ أنَّكِ لِي مُنَىً ومَنُوْنُ

    But for you, burning sorrow would not have destroyed my fortitude;

    and enough for you that you are my hopes and my death.

  21. أنتِ الهَوَى لكنَّ سُلْوَانَ الهَوَى

    قَصْرُ ابنِ مَعْنٍ والحديثُ شُجُوْنُ

    You are love; yet the solace for love

    is Ibn Ma'n's palace—and talk has many branches.

  22. فالحُسْنُ أَجْمَعُ ما يُرِيْكَ عِيَانُهُ

    لا ما أَرَتْهُ سَوَالِفٌ وعُيُوْنُ

    All beauty is what seeing it reveals to you,

    not what necks and eyes have shown.

  23. والرَّوْضُ ما اشتَمَلَتْ عليه شَمُوْلُهُ

    لا ما حَوَتْهُ أباطِحٌ وحُزُوْنُ

    And the garden is what its expanse encompasses,

    not what gravelly valleys and rugged uplands contain.

  24. قد عَطَّلَ الأزهارَ زاهِرُ حُسْنِهِ

    لا الوَرْدُ مُلْتَفِتٌ ولا النِّسْرِيْنُ

    Its radiant beauty has stripped the flowers of their adornment;

    neither rose nor eglantine now draws a glance.

  25. فاجعَلْ جُفُوْنَكَ تَجْنِ منه فُتُوْرَهُ

    نَوْرُ الخُدُوْدِ له الأَكُفُّ جُفُوْنُ

    So let your eyelids gather its languor;

    cheek-blossoms have palms for their sheaths.

  26. فَنُجُوْمُهُ زُهْرٌ ثَوَابِتُ لم يَرِمْ

    تَعْدِيْلَها زِيْجٌ ولا قانونُ

    Its stars are bright and fixed; none has sought

    to adjust them—neither astronomical table nor canon.

  27. والمجلسانِ النَّيِّرانِ تآلفَا

    هَذَا في البَهَاءِ قَرِيْنُ

    The two radiant halls have come into harmony;

    this one is a peer in splendor.

  28. كالمُقْلَتَيْنِ أو اليَدَيْنِ تَأَيَّدَا

    والحُسْنُ يَعْضِدُ أَمْرَهُ التَّحْسِيْنُ

    Like two eyes or two hands, they strengthen one another;

    and embellishment supports beauty's cause.

  29. عُطِفَتْ حَنَايَاهُ وضُمِّنَ بَعْضُها

    بَعْضَاً وسِحْرٌ ذلك التَّضْمِيْنُ

    Its arches curve, some interwoven

    with others; that interweaving is magic.

  30. كتقاطعِ الأفلاكِ إلاَّ أنَّه

    مُتَبَايِنَانِ تَحَرُّكٌ وسُكُوْنُ

    Like the intersection of the spheres, except that

    the two differ: motion and stillness.

  31. فَلَكِيَّةٌ لَوْ أنَّها حَرَكِيَّةٌ

    لاعتدَّ منها الرأسُ والتِّنِّيْنُ

    Celestial in form—if they were in motion,

    the Head and the Dragon would be counted among them.

  32. تَتَعاقَبُ الأَعْصارُ فيه وَجوُّهُ

    أبداً به آذارُ أو تَشْرِيْنُ

    The ages succeed one another there, yet its air

    is always Adhar or Tishrin.

  33. وكأنَّ هِرْمِسَ بَثَّ حِكْمَتَهُ به

    وأَدارَ فيه الفِكْرَ أَفْلاطُوْنُ

    As though Hermes had spread his wisdom through it,

    and Plato had turned his thoughts within it.

  34. وكأنَّ راسِمَ خَطِّهِ إقْلِيْدِسٌ

    فَمَوَاثِلُ الأَشْكالِ فيه فُنُوْنُ

    As though Euclid had traced its linework,

    so varied are the figures displayed within it:

  35. مِنْ دَائرٍ ومُكَعَّبٍ ومُعَيَّنٍ

    ومُحَجَّنٍ تَقْوِيْسُهُ التَّحْجِيْنُ

    circles, cubes, and rhombi,

    and hooked forms whose curves are bent into crooks.

  36. شَمَخَتْ فلا تُحْنَى سَوارِيْها لها

    كلاً ولا تُرْمَى بها فَتَبِيْنُ

    They tower; their pillars do not bow beneath them

    from weariness, nor are they cast aside to break apart.

  37. فهنالك التَّضْعِيفُ والتليثُ والت

    تَرْبِيْعُ والتَّسْدِيْسُ والتَّثْمِيْنُ

    There are doubling, tripling, and

    quadrupling, sextupling, and octupling.

  38. نِسَبٌ حَلَتْ نِسَبُ الغِناء لبعثها

    طَرَبَ النفوسِ وسَمْعُها تَعْيينُ

    Proportions sweet as the proportions of song, for awakening

    delight in souls; hearing them is seeing.

  39. وكأنَّ طَرْفِي مِسْمَعِي وكأنَّه

    صَوْتٌ وشَكْلُ خُطُوْطِهِ تلحيْنُ

    As though my eye were my ear, and as though it

    were sound, the shape of its lines a melody.

  40. مُتَلأْلِئٌ فكأنَّما سَالَ المَهَا

    فيه وذابَ اللؤلؤُ المَكْنُوْنُ

    Glittering, as though white crystal had flowed

    within it, and hidden pearls had melted.

  41. وكأنَّ مُبْيَضَّ الخُدودِ وَضَاءَةً

    صَحْنٌ له لا المَرْمَرُ المَسْنُوْنُ

    As though the radiant whiteness of cheeks

    were its courtyard, not polished marble.

  42. تُغْشَى بِمُذْهَبِ لَمْعِهِ فكأنَّما

    أَبْدَى لَدَيْهِ كُنُوْزَهُ قارُوْنُ

    You are dazzled by its gilded gleam, as though

    Qarun had displayed his treasures before it.

  43. هو ثالُثُ القَمَرَيْنِ في ضَوْءَيْهما

    فيه تُضِيْءُ لنا الليالي الجُوْنُ

    It is a third beside the sun and moon in their brightness;

    within it, dark nights shine for us.

  44. لو أَبْصَرَتْهُ الفُرْسُ قَدَّسَ نُوْرَهُ

    كِسْرَى وأَخْبَتْ نارَها شِيْرِيْنُ

    Had the Persians seen it, its light would have been hallowed

    by Kisra, and Shirin would have quenched her fire.

  45. أَوْ لَوْ بَدَا للرُّوْمِ مَعْجَزُ صُنْعِهِ

    أَبْدَى السُّجُوْدَ إليه قُسْطَنْطِيْنُ

    Or had its wondrous workmanship appeared to the Romans,

    Constantine would have prostrated himself toward it.

  46. رَأْسٌ بِظَهْرِ النُّونِ إلاَّ أنَّهُ

    سَامٍ فَقُبَّتُهُ بحيْثُ النُّوْنُ

    A head upon the fish's back, except that it

    towers, its dome where the celestial Fish lies.

  47. في رَأْسِهِ سَبَقَ النَّعامَ سماؤه

    مِنْ دونه دَمْعٌ الغَمَامِ هَتُوْنُ

    At its summit, its sky has surpassed the Ostriches;

    beneath it, the clouds' tears pour down.

  48. قَصْرٌ تَبَيَّنَتِ القُصُوْرُ قُصُوْرَها

    عنه وفَضْلُ الأفضلين يَبِيْنُ

    A palace: other palaces have recognized their shortfall

    beside it; the excellence of the best is plain.

  49. فَمَنِ ابنُ ذي يَزَنٍ وما غُمْدَانُهُ

    النَّقْلُ شَكٌّ والعِيَانُ يَقِيْنُ

    Who, then, is Ibn Dhi Yazan, and what is his Ghumdan?

    Report is doubt; direct sight is certainty.

  50. هو جَنَّةُ الدّنْيَا تَبَوَّأَ نُزْلَها

    مَلِكٌ تَمَلَّكَهُ التُّقَى والدِّيْنُ

    It is the paradise of this world, whose lodging is occupied

    by a king whom piety and faith possess.

  51. فكأنَّما الرحمنُ عَجَّلَها له

    لِيَرَى بما قد كان ما سيكونُ

    As though the Merciful had granted it to him in advance,

    so that through what has been he might see what will be.

  52. وكأنَّ بانِيَهُ سِنِمَّارٌ فما

    يَعْدُوْهُ تَحْسِيْنٌ ولا تَحْصِيْنُ

    As though its builder were Sinimmar, for no

    embellishment or fortification eludes him.

  53. وجَزَاؤُهُ فيه نقيضُ جَزَائِهِ

    شَتَّانَ ما الإِحياءُ والتَّحْيِيْنُ

    His reward here is the opposite of that man's reward;

    how far apart are granting life and bringing death!

  54. عَفٌّ فلا مالٌ يُبَاحُ ولا دَمٌ

    بل آمنانِ ذَخيرةٌ وَوَتِيْنُ

    Scrupulous, he makes neither wealth nor blood lawful prey;

    rather, treasure and the vital artery are both secure.

  55. وإذا دَعَا داعٍ بِطُوْلِ بَقَائِهِ

    خَرَقَتْ له سَمْعَ السَمَا آمِيْنُ

    When a supplicant prays for his long life,

    an 'Amen' for him pierces heaven's hearing.

  56. مَلَكَ القلوبَ بِسِيْرَةٍ عُمَرِيَّةٍ

    يَحْيَا بها المَفْرُوضُ والمَسْنُوْنُ

    He has won hearts with a conduct like Umar's,

    through which obligatory and recommended observances live.

  57. لا تَأْلَفُ الأحكامُ حَيْفاً عنده

    فكأنَّها الأفعالُ والتَّنْوِيْنُ

    His judgments never harbor injustice,

    as though they were verbs, and it nunation.

  58. لَوْ كانَ أَدْنَى بِشْرِهِ وَذَكَائِهِ

    لِلنَّصْلِ ما شَحَذَتْ ظُبَاهُ قُيُوْنُ

    Had the least of his cheerfulness and brilliance belonged

    to a blade, no smiths would have sharpened its edges.

  59. لَوْ كانَ لُجُّ البَحْرِ مِثْلَ نَوَالِهِ

    غَمَرَ الرُّبَى مَسْجُورُهُ المَشْحُوْنُ

    Had the ocean's depths been like his bounty,

    its full, laden waters would have submerged the hills.

  60. وبَدَا هِلالُ الأُفْقِ أَحْنَى نَاسِخاً

    عَهْدَ الصِّيامِ كأنَّه العُرْجُوْنُ

    The horizon's crescent appeared, bent, annulling

    the season of fasting, like a date-cluster's stalk.

  61. فكأنَّ بين الصّوْمِ خَطَّطَ نَحْوَهُ

    خَطّاً خَفِيّاً بَانَ منه النُّوْنُ

    As though fasting's departure had traced toward it

    a faint line, from which the letter Nun appeared.