Sol 6.1

  1. ما لِلغَواني مَنْ رَأَينَ بِرَأسِهِ

    يَقَقاً مَلَلنَ وِصالَهُ وَشَنَينَهُ

    What ails the beauties? Any man on whose head they see

    gleaming whiteness, they weary of his love and loathe him.

  2. وَإِذا عِذارُ المَرءُ قَلَّ قَتيرُهُ

    لاحَظنَهُ بِبَشاشَةٍ وَهَوينَهُ

    But when the gray in a man's cheek-whiskers is scant,

    they gaze at him with smiles and love him.

  3. صَدَفَت خُناسُكَ عَنكَ بَعدَ مَوَدَّةٍ

    وَرَأَت شَبابَكَ بالِياً وَغُضونَهُ

    Your Khunas turned away from you after affection,

    seeing your youth worn out, and its wrinkles.

  4. إِنَّ الخَليفَةَ خَيرُ مَن وَطِىءَ الحَصا

    لِلَّهِ يَمحَصُ دينَهُ وَيَقينَهُ

    The caliph is the best of all who tread the pebbled earth;

    for God's sake he purifies his faith and certainty.

  5. سارَت حُكومَتُهُ بِأَعدَلَ سيرَةٍ

    قُصوى البِلاد وَفي الذينَ يَلونَهُ

    His rule has followed the most just course

    in the farthest lands and among those near him.

  6. فَالحَقُّ أَوضَح مُبصِر آياتُهُ

    وَالجورُ يَطمِسُ شَخصَهُ وَعُيونَهُ

    Truth is clear, its signs enlightening;

    and he effaces injustice's form and eyes.

  7. وَرَأى البَرِيَّةُ عَفوَهُ وَعَفافَهُ

    فَالنَّاسُ حَذو طَريقه يَحذونَهُ

    Humankind saw his pardon and his integrity,

    so people follow him, treading in his path.

  8. طَلَبوا رِضاهُ بِنِيَّةٍ وَتَيَقَّنوا

    أَن لَيسَ يَرضى اللَّهُ أَو يُرضونَهُ

    They sought his approval with sincere intent and became certain

    that God would not be pleased until they pleased him.

  9. يَخشَونَ صَولَتَهُ فَهُم في طاعَةٍ

    وَكَمِثلِ ما يَخشَونَهُ يَرجونَهُ

    They fear his might, and so remain obedient,

    and as much as they fear him, they place their hopes in him.

  10. إِنَّ الخَليفَةَ رَحمَةٌ مِن رَبِّنا

    وَبِهِ أَنارَ لَنا وَأَوضَحَ دينَهُ

    The caliph is a mercy from our Lord;

    through him He has illumined and clarified His religion for us.

  11. وَعَلى أَبي إِسحاقَ طاعَةُ رَبِّهِ

    حَقّاً لِيَنصُرَهُ بِها وَيُعينَهُ

    Obedience to his Lord is incumbent upon Abu Ishaq,

    truly, so that He may grant him victory through it and help him.

  12. ملكٌ بأَرضِ الرومِ أَنزَلَ نِقمَةً

    وَأَبادَ مالاً أَهلُها يُحصُونَهُ

    A king who brought vengeance upon the land of the Romans,

    and destroyed wealth its people used to count.

  13. وَأَبادَ مالِكها وَفَلَّ جُنودَهُ

    طَعناً وَزَلزَلَ مُلكَهُ وَحُصُونَهُ

    He destroyed its ruler and broke his troops

    with spear-thrusts, shaking his kingdom and fortresses.

  14. وَالزَّطُّ أَيُّ خَليفَة دانوا لَهُ

    أَو كانَ قَبلَكَ طاعَةً يُعطونَهُ

    And the Zutt—to which caliph did they submit,

    or, before you, to whom did they offer obedience?

  15. حَتّى مَلَكتَ وَظَلَّ سَيفُكَ مِنهُمُ

    تَكسو الدِّماءُ شِفارَهُ وَمُتونَهُ

    Until you ruled, and your sword remained among them,

    blood clothing its edges and flats.

  16. فَأَتوا لِحُكمِكَ وَالَّذي كانوا بِهِ

    يَعصونَ جَدَّعَتِ الظُّبى عِرنينَهُ

    They came under your judgment; the one through whom they had

    rebelled had his nose lopped off by the blades.

  17. فَعَفَوتَ إِنَّكَ لَم تَزَل ذا رَأفَةٍ

    حَسَنَ الفَعالِ مُباركاً مَيمونَهُ

    Then you pardoned them; you have always been merciful,

    fair in your deeds, blessed and auspicious in them.

  18. وَسَقَيتَ بابَكَ كَأسَ حَتف مُرَّةً

    بِفَوارِس سَحَبوا القنا يَتلونَهُ

    You made Babak drink a bitter cup of death

    through horsemen who trailed their lances, pursuing him.

  19. فَتَجالَدَ الزَّحفانِ يَوماً كامِلاً

    وَالقَوسُ يُخضَبُ بِالَّذي يَبرونَهُ

    The two armies fought one another for a whole day,

    while the bow was stained with what they cut away.

  20. حَتّى رَأَيتَ الخُرَّمِيَّةَ رَيضَةً

    وَالبَذَّ أَنكَرَتِ الفِجاجُ رَنينَهُ

    Until you saw the Khurramiyya subdued,

    and al-Badhdh, whose lament the mountain passes found strange,

  21. يَبكي الَّذينَ تُخرِّموا مِن أَهلِهِ

    وَنِساءُ بابِكَ حُسَّراً يَبكينَهُ

    weeping for those of its people whom death had taken,

    while Babak's women, bareheaded, wept for him.

  22. وَإِلى عموريةٍ سَمَا في جَحفَلٍ

    مَلَأَ الفجاج سُهولَهُ وَحُزونَهُ

    And toward Amorium he advanced with a vast army

    that filled the passes, their level and rugged ground.

  23. فَأَبادَ ساكِنَها وَحَجَّلَ باطِساً

    حلقاً أَذَلَّ اللَّهُ مَن يحوينَهُ

    He destroyed its inhabitants and put Batis in fetters,

    rings—God humbled the man they enclosed.

  24. قَتلى يُنَضِّدهُم بِكُلِّ طَريقَةٍ

    نَضَداً تَخالُ مَراقِباً موضونَهُ

    Slain men he heaped along every road,

    in piles you would take for tightly built watchtowers.

  25. فَهُمُ بوادي الجونِ قَتلى فِرقَة

    وَقَبائِلٌ فِرَقٌ مَلَأنَ سُجونَهُ

    So one band of them lay slain in Wadi al-Jawn,

    while tribes in separate bands filled his prisons.

  26. وَأَبانَ بِالصَّفصافِ خالِصَة لَهُ

    كَيد العَدُوِّ وَسوءَ ما يَطوونَهُ

    And at al-Safsaf He revealed, as a favor reserved for him,

    the enemy's plotting and the evil they concealed.

  27. فَهَوى اللَّعينُ وَنَجمُهُ وَاللَّهُ لا

    يرضَى الضَّلالَ وَلا يُعِزُّ قَرينَهُ

    Then the accursed man fell, and his star with him; God does not

    approve of error, nor give honor to its companion.

  28. وَالمُنفِسونَ قَصَدتَ خَيلَكَ قَصدَهُ

    فَوَطئنه وَفَتَكتَ حينَ لَقَينَهُ

    And the jealous rivals—you directed your steeds toward him,

    and they trampled him; you struck fiercely when they met him.

  29. وَقَطَعت دابِرَهُ فَجاءَكَ خاضِعاً

    حَذر الرَّدى وَجِلَ الفُؤادِ مَهينَهُ

    You cut off his following, and he came to you submissive,

    fearing death, trembling and abased at heart.

  30. وَالمازِيارُ وَقَد تَقَلَّدَ غَدرَةً

    قَطَعَت نِياطَ فُؤادِهِ وَوَتينَهُ

    And Mazyar, who had clothed himself in treachery

    that severed his heartstrings and his aorta,

  31. مِن بَعدِ ما جَعَلَ الشَّواهِقَ عِصمَةً

    وَصَياصِياً بِضَلالِهِ يُغرينَهُ

    after making the lofty peaks his protection

    and fortresses that lured him on in his error,

  32. ظَنّاً بِأَنَّ الغَدرَ يَمنَعُ أَهلَهُ

    كَذِباً فَكَذَّبَتِ الحُتوفُ ظُنونَهُ

    thinking that treachery would protect its practitioners,

    vainly—the strokes of death belied his expectations.

  33. فَأَفضتهُ لِلنَّكثِ يَشرَحُ صَدرَهُ

    لِيُذِلَّهُ رَبّي بِهِ وَيُهينَهُ

    You drove him into oath-breaking, which he gladly embraced,

    so that my Lord might abase and humiliate him through it.

  34. وَشَحَنتَ بِالأُسدِ الخَوادِر بِالقنا

    وَالمُرهفاتِ شِعابَهُ وَرعونَهُ

    You packed with den-dwelling lions, armed with lances

    and sharpened blades, his ravines and mountain spurs.

  35. أَنِسَت جِيادُكَ صَعبَ مَرقى حصنَهُ

    وَجِبالَها فَرقَينَها وَرَقَينَهُ

    Your steeds took readily to his fortress's steep ascent

    and its mountains; they climbed them and climbed it,

  36. كَلَباً عَلَيهِ فما برحنِ عراصَهُ

    وَقَلالُهُ بِكُمانه يُشجينَهُ

    in ravenous fury at him, never leaving his courts,

    while its peaks, with their ambushers, brought him grief.

  37. حَتّى إِذا رزى النِّساءُ نِساءَهُ

    لَمّا اُستبيحَ حَريمُهُ وَرَزينَهُ

    Until, when women had bereaved his women,

    as his household was violated and they bereaved him,

  38. ثُمَّ اِستَكانَ وَأَسلَمتَهُ حُماتُهُ

    وَرَأى شَتاتاً بِالصَّغار عَرينَهُ

    he then submitted, and his defenders abandoned him,

    and he saw his lair dispersed in humiliation.

  39. وَغَدَت جِيادُكَ حينَ أَسلَمَ عُنوَةً

    تَحتازُ ظاهِرَ مالِهِ وَدَفينِهِ

    Your steeds went forth, when he surrendered by force,

    seizing his wealth, both exposed and buried.

  40. ضُمَّت يَداهُ إِلى التَّليلِ مُكَبَّلاً

    تَدمى وَساوَرَتِ الدُّموعُ جُفونَهُ

    His hands were bound to his neck, in shackles,

    bleeding, while tears assailed his eyelids.

  41. حَتّى إِذا اِختَلَجَت سِياطُكَ نَفسَهُ

    وَتَخَرَّمَت حَرَكاتهُ وَسُكونَهُ

    Until, when your whips snatched away his soul

    and destroyed his movements and his stillness,

  42. نيطَت عَوامِلُهُ بِرَأسِ عُذافِر

    جَعل الشَّريطُ عِرانهُ وَبُرينَهُ

    his limbs were hung upon the head of a massive beast,

    the cord serving as its nose-peg and nose-rings.

  43. من بَعد ما بِالكُفرِ بكَّت حَيدَراً

    وَأَبانَ يوضِحُ مُفصحاً مَكنونَهُ

    After you had reproached Haydar for unbelief,

    and he revealed what he had hidden, speaking clearly and openly.

  44. وَجَمَعتَ كُلَّ مُعَدَّلٍ وَسَأَلتَهُ

    نصّاً لِيوضِحَ كُفرَهُ وَيُبينَهُ

    You gathered everyone attested upright and questioned him

    explicitly, so that he might clarify and disclose his unbelief.

  45. فَأَقَرَّ بِالكُفرِ المُبينِ وَلَم تُرِد

    إِلَّا الإِلهُ وَلَم تُرِد تَهجينَهُ

    He confessed to manifest unbelief, and you desired

    only God; you did not intend to disgrace him.

  46. أَنّى وَقَد أَنطَقتَ كُلَّ مُفَوَّهٍ

    في مدحَةٍ طَلَبا بِها تَزيينَهُ

    How could you, when you had made every eloquent man speak

    in praise, seeking through it to adorn him?

  47. لِتشيعَ مدحَتهُ وَتشهرَ ذِكرَهُ

    بِحِبالِ شاعِرِكَ الرَّصينِ رَصينَهُ

    So his praise might spread and make his name renowned,

    through your steadfast poet's cords—his firmly wrought verse.

  48. وَجَزَيتَ مادِحَهُ فَأَبصَرَ شعرَهُ

    وَأَحَبَّ كُلُّ مُدَوِّن تَدوينَهُ

    You rewarded his panegyrist, and he saw his verse,

    and every compiler loved to record it.

  49. وَرَفَعتهُ فَوقَ النُّجومِ وَلَم تَدَع

    في المُلكِ مُصطَفِياً لَهُ تمكينَهُ

    You raised him above the stars and left no

    favorite in the realm with his degree of power.

  50. وَعَصبتهُ بِالتَّاجِ عَصبَ جَلالَةٍ

    وَجَعَلتَ خَلقَ اللَّهِ يَستَرعونَهُ

    You bound a crown upon him, a binding of majesty,

    and made God's creatures ask him to shepherd them.