Sol 6.1

  1. جِهَادُ هَوىً لَكِنْ بِغَيْرِي ثَوَابي

    وَشَكْوَى جَوىً لَكِنْ بِغَيْرِي جَوَابِي

    A struggle in love, yet my reward lies with another;

    and a complaint of heartache, yet my answer lies with another.

  2. وَعُمْرٍ تولى في لَعَلَّ وَفي عَسى

    وَدَهْرٍ تَقَضَّى فِي نَوى وَعِتَابِ

    And a lifetime passed in “perhaps” and “maybe,”

    and an age spent in separation and reproach.

  3. أَمَا آنَ لِلْمُنْبَتِّ فِي سُبُلِ الْهَوَى

    بِأَنْ يَهْتَدِي يَوْماً سَبِيلَ صَوَابِ

    Is it not time for one stranded on the paths of love

    to find, one day, a right path?

  4. تَأَمَّلْتُهَا خَلْفِي مَرَاحِل جُبْتُهَا

    يُنَاهِزُ فِيهَا الأَرْبِعيِنَ حِسَابِي

    I contemplated them behind me—stages I had traversed,

    my tally of them approaching forty.

  5. جَرَى بِيَ طِرْفُ اللَّهْوِ حَتَّى شَكَا الْوَجَى

    وَأَقْفَرَ مِنْ زَادِ النَّشَاطِ جِرَابِي

    Pleasure's steed galloped with me until it complained of sore hooves,

    and my pouch lay empty of vigor's provisions.

  6. وَمَا حَصَلَتْ نَفْسي عَلَيْهَا بِطَائِلٍ

    وَلاَ ظَفِرَتْ كَفِّي ببَعْضِ طِلاَبِ

    And my soul gained nothing worthwhile from them,

    nor did my hand win any part of what I sought.

  7. نَصِيبِيَ مِنْهَا حَسَرةٌ كَوْنُهَا مَضَتْ

    بِغَيْرِ زَكَاةٍ وَهْيَ مِثْلُ نِصَابِ

    My share of them is regret that they passed

    without alms, though they were like wealth liable to almsgiving.

  8. وَمَا رَاعَنِي وَالدَّهْرُ رَبُّ وَقَائِعٍ

    سِجَالٍ عَلَى أَبْنَائِهِ وَغِلاَبِ

    And nothing startled me—though Time is master of battles

    with shifting fortunes against its children, and overpowering force—

  9. سِوَى شَعَرَاتٍ لُحْنَ مِنْ فَوْقِ مَفْرَقِي

    قَذَقْنَ لِشَيْطَانِ الصَّبَا بِشِهَابِ

    save a few hairs that gleamed above my parting,

    that pelted youth's devil with a shooting star.

  10. أبَحْنَ ذِمَاري وَانْتَهَبْنَ شَبِيبَتِي

    أَهْنَّ نُصُولٌ أَمْ فُصًولُ خِضابِ

    They made my honor fair game and plundered my youth.

    Are they blades, or breaks in the dye?

  11. وَقَدْ كُنْتُ يَهْوَى الرَّوْضُ نشر شَمَائِلي

    وَيَمْرَحُ غُصْنُ الْبَانِ طَيَّ ثِيَابِي

    And once the garden loved the fragrance of my qualities,

    and a bān-tree bough frolicked within the folds of my clothes.

  12. فَمُذْ كَتَبَ الْوَخْطُ المُلِمُّ بِعارِضي

    حروفاً أتى فيها بمحض عتاب

    So, since the scattered gray settling on my cheek inscribed

    letters conveying nothing but reproach,

  13. نسخت بما قد خطه سُنَّةَ الْهَوَى

    وَكَمْ سُنَّةٍ مَنْسُوخَةٍ بِكِتَابِ

    I abrogated love's custom with what it had written—

    and how many a custom is abrogated by a book!

  14. سَلاَمٌ عَلَى تِلْكَ الْمَعَاهِدِ إِنَّهَا

    مَرَابِعُ أُلاَّفِي وَعَهْدُ صِحَابِي

    Peace upon those familiar haunts, for they are

    the spring abodes of my intimates and the remembered days of my companions.

  15. وَيَا آسَةَ الْعَهْدِ انْعَمِي فَلَطَالَمَا

    سَكبْتُ عَلَى مَثْوَاكِ مَاءَ شَبَابِي

    And O myrtle of bygone days, flourish, for so often

    I poured upon your abode the water of my youth.

  16. كَأَنَّي بِذَاتِ الضَّالِ تَعْجَبُ مِنْ فَتَى

    تَذَكَّرَ فِيهَا اللَّهْوَ بَعْدَ ذَهَابِ

    I seem to see Dhāt al-Ḍāl marveling at a youth

    who recalled pleasure there after its passing.

  17. تَقُولُ أَذِكْرِى بَعْدَمَا بَانَ جِيرَتِي

    وَصَوَّحَ رَوْضِي وَاقْشَعَرَّ جَنَابِي

    She says, “Do you remember me after my neighbors have departed,

    and my garden has withered and my precinct grown bleak,

  18. وَأصْبَحْتُ مِنْ بَعْدِ الأَوَانِسِ كَالدُّمَى

    يَهُولُ حُدَاةَ الْعِيسِ جَوْبُ يَبَابِي

    and I have become, after the maidens fair as statues,

    a place whose wasteland the drivers of pale camels dread to cross?

  19. تَغَارُ الرِّيَاحُ السَّافِيَاتُ بطَارِفِي

    فَمَا إِنْ تَرِيمُ الرَّكْضَ حَولَ هِضَابِي

    The sand-scattering winds are jealous over my new visitor,

    so they never cease racing around my hills.

  20. فَإِنْ سَجَعَ الرُّكْبَانُ فِيَّ بِمِدْحَةٍ

    حَثَتْ في وُجُوهِ الْمَادِحِينَ تُرَابِي

    And if the riders chant a song in my praise,

    they fling my dust into the faces of those who praise me.”

  21. أَلَمْ تَعْلَمُوا أَنَّ الْوَفَاءَ سَجَّيتِي

    إِذَا شَحَطتْ دَارِي وَشَطَّ رِكَابِي

    Do you not know that faithfulness is my nature,

    when my home is distant and my mounts have gone afar?

  22. سَقَاكَ كَدَمْعِي أَو كَجُودِكَ وَابِلٌ

    يُقَلِّدُ نَحْرَ الْحَوْضِ دُرَّ حَبَابِ

    May a downpour, like my tears or your generosity, water you,

    adorning the pool's neck with pearls of bubbles.

  23. وَلاَ بَرِحَتْ تَهْفُو لِمَعْهَدِكَ الصَّبَا

    وَيَسْحَبُ فِيهِ الْمُزْنُ فَضْلَ سَحَابِ

    And may the east wind never cease fluttering toward your haunt,

    and may the rain-clouds trail their skirts of cloud within it.

  24. سِوَايَ يَرُوعُ الدَّهْرُ أَوْ يَسْتَفِزُّهُ

    بِيَوْمِ فِرَاقٍ أَوْ بِيوْمِ إِيَابِ

    Time frightens or stirs someone other than me

    with a day of parting or a day of return.

  25. وَغَيْرِيَ يَثْنِي الْحْرِصُ ثِنْيَ عِنَانِهِ

    إِلَى نَيْلِ رِفْدٍ وَالتِمَاسِ ثَوَابِ

    And greed turns another's bridle

    toward gaining a gift and seeking a reward.

  26. تَمَلَّأتُ بالدُّنْيَا الدَّنِيَّةِ خِبْرَةً

    فَأَعْظَمُ مَا بِالنَّاسِ أَيْسَرُ مَا بِي

    I have filled myself with experience of this base world;

    so what weighs heaviest upon people weighs lightest upon me.

  27. وَأَيْقَنْتُ أنَّ اللهَ يَمْنَحُ جَاهِداً

    وَيَرْزُقُ أَقْوَاماً بِغَيْرِ حِسَابِ

    And I have become certain that God grants to one who strives,

    and provides for some people without reckoning.

  28. فَيَاذُلَّ أّذْنٍ همُّهَا إِذْنَ حَاجِبٍ

    وَيَا هُونَ وَجْهٍ خَلْفَ سُدَّةِ بَابِ

    So, how abject an ear whose concern is a chamberlain's leave,

    and how humbled a face behind a doorway's threshold!

  29. وَقَدْ كَانَ هَمِّي أَنْ تُعَانِي مطيّتي

    بِبَعْضِ نَبَاتِ النّيلِ خَوْضَ عُبَابَ

    And once I hoped that my mount would undertake

    a crossing of surging waters with some of the Nile's plants;

  30. وَأُضْحِي وَمِحْرَابُ الدُّجَى مُتَهَجَّدِي

    وَأَمْسِي وَمَاءُ الرَّافِديْنِ شَرَابِي

    and that I would greet the morning, night's prayer-niche my place of vigil,

    and greet the evening, the water of the Two Rivers my drink;

  31. وَتَضْحَكُ مِنْ بَغْدَادَ بيضُ قِبَابها

    إِذَا مَا تَرَاءَتْ بِالسَّوَادِ قِبَابِي

    and from Baghdad her white domes would smile,

    when my domed tents came into view in al-Sawād.

  32. وَلَكِنْ قَضَاءٌ يَغْلِبُ الْعَزْمَ حُكْمُهُ

    وَيَضْرِبُ مِنْ دُونِ الْحِجَا بِحجَابِ

    Yet fate's ruling overpowers resolve

    and draws a veil before reason.

  33. يَقُولُونَ لِي حَتَّامَ تَنْدُبُ فَائِتاً

    فَقُلْتُ وَحُسْنُ الْعَهْدِ لَيْسَ بِعَابِ

    They say to me, “How long will you mourn what is gone?”

    So I replied—and keeping faith is no fault—

  34. إِذَا أَنَا لَمْ آسفْ عَلَى زَمَنٍ مَضَى

    وَعَهْدٍ تَقَضَى فِي صِباً وَتَصَابِي

    “If I do not grieve for a time gone by,

    and an age passed in youth and youthful play,

  35. فَلاَ نَظمَتْ دُرَّ الْقِريضِ قَرِيحَتي

    وَلاَ كَانَتِ الآدَابُ أَكْبَرَ دَابِي

    then may my gift never string the pearls of verse,

    nor literature ever be my foremost pursuit.”