Sol 6.1

  1. وأَهْدِ بِهَا فِي الفَلا والسُّرى

    ويَوْمَ التَّلاقي وحِينَ الثَّوَاءِ

    And guide by it through the wilderness and night journeys,

    on the day of encounter and at the time of repose,

  2. وتحتَ العَجاجِ ووَسْطَ الهِياجِ

    وَفِي بحرِ آلٍ وَفِي بحرِ ماءِ

    beneath the dust-cloud and amid the tumult,

    in a sea of mirage and in a sea of water.

  3. وأَوْصِلْ بِهَا لأَصيلِ العَشِيِّ

    بقَرْنِ الضُّحى والضحى بالمساءِ

    And with it join the late hours of evening

    to the horn of forenoon, and forenoon to evening,

  4. وفاءً لنفسٍ أَمَدَّتْ سناها

    بنورِ النهى وبنارِ الذَّكاءِ

    in loyalty to a soul that nourished its radiance

    with reason's light and intelligence's fire,

  5. وهدِيٍ هَداها سبيلَ العَفَافِ

    ورأَيٍ أَراها هُدى كلِّ رَاءِ

    and guidance that led it along the path of chastity,

    and judgment that showed it every seer's guidance,

  6. كما قَدْ وَفَيْتُ لَهَا حِينَ عُجْتُ

    بِغُلَّتِها فِي عُبابِ الوفاءِ

    as I was true to it when I turned

    with its thirst into loyalty's surging sea.

  7. ينابِيعُ مجدٍ سَقَتْ نَبْعَةً

    من الفضلِ دانِيَةَ الإِجْتِناءِ

    Springs of glory watered a sapling

    of excellence, whose fruit lay within reach.

  8. زَكَا تُرْبُها فِي ثرى المَأْثُرَاتِ

    فأَيْنَعَ إِثمارُها بالزَّكاءِ

    Its soil flourished in the earth of glorious deeds,

    and its fruit ripened through flourishing growth.

  9. فأَضْحَتْ تَثَنَّى بِرُوحِ الثَّناءِ

    ويَنْمِي لَهَا عُنْصُرُ الإِنْتِماءِ

    It came to sway in the breath of praise,

    and its ancestral stock continues to grow.

  10. فكم أَفرَجَتْ عن نجومِ السُّعُودِ

    وكم أَغْمَضَتْ من نُجُومِ الشَّقاءِ

    How often it unveiled the stars of good fortune,

    and how many stars of misery it shut out!

  11. وكم ظَلَّلَتْ من حَريرِ الهجيرِ

    وكم أنْزَلَتْ من طريدِ العِشاءِ

    How many a victim of noonday heat it shaded,

    and how many an outcast of nightfall it lodged!

  12. رياضاً تفوحُ بِطيبِ الفَعَالِ

    وزَهْراً يلوحُ ببشْرِ اللِّقاءِ

    Gardens fragrant with the sweetness of deeds,

    and flowers shining with the cheer of welcome,

  13. ونادَيْنَني بِضَمانِ النَّدى

    وحَيَّيْنَني بحياةِ الرَّجاءِ

    called to me with bounty's promise,

    and greeted me with the life of hope,

  14. بما استُحْفِظَتْ من حفاظِ الجِوارِ

    وَمَا أُبْلِيَتْ من حَميدِ البَلاءِ

    through the neighborly fidelity it was charged to preserve,

    and the praiseworthy service in which it was tried,

  15. بجامِعها شَمْلَ حِلْمٍ وعِلْمٍ

    وهادٍ لَهَا شُكْرَ دانٍ وناءِ

    through him who unites for it forbearance and knowledge,

    and brings it the thanks of those near and far,

  16. ومن ولَدَتْ من كريمِ النِّجارِ

    ومن أرْضَعَتْ بِلِبانِ الدَّهاءِ

    and whom it bore of noble stock,

    and suckled with sagacity's milk.

  17. رعى حَقَّ مَا استودَعَتْهُ المساعي

    فأَوْدَعْنَهُ رَعْيَ خيرِ الرِّعاءِ

    He upheld the rights of what noble endeavors had entrusted to him,

    and they entrusted him to the care of the finest shepherds.

  18. ونادَتْ بِهِ دَوْلَةُ السَّبْقِ حَيَّ

    فأَعْدَتْهُ بالسَّبْقِ قَبْلَ النِّداءِ

    The dynasty of precedence called to him, 'Come!'

    so it had infected him with precedence before the summons.

  19. تُجِيبيَّةٌ جابَ عنها الرَّدَى

    كَجَوْبِ المُهَنَّدِ مَتْنَ الرِّداءِ

    A Tujibid dynasty, from which he cut death away,

    as an Indian-forged sword cleaves the back of a cloak.

  20. حقيقُ النَّصِيحَةِ أَنْ يَسْتَثِيرَ

    لَهَا الدُّرَّ من تَحْتِ رَدْمِ الغُثاءِ

    True loyalty required him to draw forth

    pearls for it from beneath the heaped-up dross,

  21. وأَلّا يُخَلِّيَ فِي ظِلِّها

    ذَلِيلَ الذِّمامِ عَزِيزَ العَزَاءِ

    and not to leave beneath its shade

    one slighted in his protection, yet proud in endurance.

  22. فَبَشَّرَ عنها بِبَذْلِ الغِنى

    وأَعذر فِيهَا ببذل الغناءِ

    He proclaimed for it the bestowal of wealth,

    and fulfilled his duty to it by bestowing service,

  23. لِمُنْزِلِهِ مَنْزِلَ الإِخْتِصاصِ

    ومُلْبِسِهِ شُرْطَةَ الإِعتِلاءِ

    for him who granted him a place of special favor,

    and invested him with the badge of exalted rank,

  24. ومُعْتَدِّ أَقلامِهِ للكِتابِ

    كتائِبَ مُشْتَرِفاتِ اللِّواءِ

    and reckoned his pens for writing

    as battalions with banners held high.

  25. مليكٌ تواضَعَ فِي عِزِّ مُلْكٍ

    كسا دَهْرَهُ حُلَّةَ الكِبْرِياءِ

    A king who humbled himself amid a realm's glory,

    which clothed his age in the robe of majesty,

  26. مُقَلَّدُ سَيْفِ الهُدى والهوادِي

    مُتَوَّجُ تاجِ السَّنا والسَّناءِ

    girded with the sword of guidance and the vanguards,

    crowned with the crown of radiance and grandeur.

  27. وأَغْزَى جيوشَ نداهُ القلوبَ

    فجاءَتْهُ مُذْعِنَةً بالسِّباءِ

    He sent the armies of his bounty to invade hearts,

    and they came to him submissively, bearing captives.

  28. وخاصَمَ فِي مُهَجَاتِ الأَعادِي

    فأُعْطِيَ بالسيفِ فصْلَ القضاءِ

    He pleaded his claim to the enemies' lifeblood,

    and was granted decisive judgment by the sword.

  29. كَأَنَّ الأَمانِيَ مَنٌّ عَلَيْهِ

    فلا آيِبٌ دونَ ضِعْفِ الجزاءِ

    As though hopes were a favor bestowed on him,

    none returns with less than double recompense.

  30. فَلَبَّيْكَ لا مِنْ بَعيدٍ ولكنْ

    عَذيرَكَ من مُعْذِراتِ الحَياءِ

    Here I am at your service—not from afar; yet

    grant me pardon for modesty's compelling excuses.

  31. حَمى فَاحْتَبَى بفناءِ اخْتِلالي

    فباعَدَ بَيْني وبَيْنَ الحِباءِ

    It stood guard, then sat knees clasped in the courtyard of my need,

    putting distance between me and gifts.

  32. وقَنَّعَ وَجْهِي قَناعَاتِ حُرٍّ

    فَقَنَّعَ دُوني وُجُوهَ العَطاءِ

    It veiled my face in a free man's contentment,

    and veiled from me the faces of generosity.

  33. وآزَرْتُهُ بالتَّجَمُّلِ حَتَّى

    طَوَيْتُ صدى ظَمَأٍ عَنْ سِقاءِ

    I aided it with dignified restraint until

    I hid my burning thirst from a waterskin.

  34. أَميرٌ عَلَى ماءِ وَجْهِي ولكِنْ

    فِدَاهُ بِعَيْنَيَّ ماءً بِماءِ

    A ruler over the water of my face; yet

    its ransom lay in my two eyes: water for water.

  35. فأُرْصِدَ هَذَا لِحُرٍّ كريمٍ

    وأُسْبِلَ ذا طَمَعاً فِي الشِّفاءِ

    So I reserve this for a noble, freeborn man,

    and shed that in hope of healing.

  36. فقد حانَ من بُرَحَاءِ الضُّلوعِ

    رَحيلٌ تَنادى بِبَرْحِ الخَفاءِ

    For out of the fierce anguish within my ribs, the time has come

    for a departure proclaiming concealment's end,

  37. عَلَى ذُلُلٍ من مطايا الشؤونِ

    قَطَعْنَ إِلَيْكَ عِقالَ الثَّواءِ

    upon docile mounts from the tear ducts,

    which broke the tether of lingering to reach you,

  38. عواسِفَ يَهْمَاءَ من غَوْلِ هَمي

    يُقَصِّرُ عَنْها ذَمِيلُ النِّجاءِ

    straying through a trackless waste of my grief's terror,

    beyond the reach of the swiftest trot.

  39. جَدَلْتُ أزِمَّتَها من جُفُونِي

    وصُغْت أَخِسَّتَها من ذَمَائِي

    I twisted their reins from my eyelids,

    and fashioned their nose-pins from my last vestige of life.

  40. وأُنْعِلُها قَرِحاتِ المآقي

    فأخْصِفُها بِنَجِيعِ الدِّماءِ

    I shoe them with sores from my eye-corners,

    and patch their soles with fresh blood.

  41. فَمُنْجِدَةٌ فِي مَجالِ النِّجادِ

    وغائِرَةٌ فِي غُرور الرِّداءِ

    Some climb through the expanse of uplands,

    and some descend into the folds of the cloak.

  42. فكَمْ قَدْ شَقَقْنَ سَلىً عن سَليلٍ

    وأَجْهَضْنَ عن مُسْتَسرِّ الوِعاءِ

    How often they split fetal membranes to reveal offspring,

    and caused the vessel's hidden burden to miscarry!

  43. وكم قَدْ رَدَدْنَ حياةَ نُفوسٍ

    ظِماءٍ بِمَوْتِ نفوسٍ ظِماءِ

    How often they restored life to souls

    thirsting, through the death of thirsting souls!

  44. كَأَنَّ مَدَاهُنَّ فِي صَحْنِ خَدِّي

    ركابيَ فِي صَحْصَحَانِ الفَضاءِ

    As though their course across the surface of my cheek

    were my riding-camels across the wide, level wastes,

  45. تجوبُ التَّنائِفَ خَرْقاً فَخَرْقاً

    وحاجاتُها فِي عُنُوِّ العَنَاءِ

    traversing deserts, waste after waste,

    their needs held captive to hardship,

  46. بكُلِّ حزينٍ بِعالِي الحُزُونِ

    ومُقْوٍ بكُلِّ بِلادٍ قَواءِ

    past every grieving man upon the lofty rugged heights,

    and every destitute man in every barren land,

  47. وَمُسْتَوْهَلٍ حُمَّ منهُ الحِمامُ

    لأَوَّلِ وَهْلَةِ ذَاكَ التَّنَائِي

    and every terrified man whose death was decreed

    at the first shock of that separation.

  48. كَأَنَّ تَجاوُبَ خُضْرِ الحَمَامِ

    نَشِيجُهُمُ لِتَغَنِّي الحُدَاءِ

    As though the answering calls of green pigeons

    were their sobbing to the melody of camel-chants.

  49. وَقَدْ أَوْطَنُوا أَرْبُعاً لِلْبِلَى

    وَقَدْ وَطَّنُوا أَنْفُساً لِلْبَلاءِ

    They have settled in dwellings destined for decay,

    and schooled their souls for affliction,

  50. وكُلِّ خَليٍّ عن الإِنْسِ رَهْنٍ

    لِجَنْبَيْ خَلِيَّةِ بَحْرٍ خَلاءِ

    and every man bereft of company, held captive

    between a ship's two sides upon an empty sea,

  51. قريبَةِ مَا بَيْنَ نِضْوٍ ونِضْوٍ

    بعيدَةِ مَا بَيْنَ مَرْأَىً وَرَاءِ

    with little distance between one worn traveler and another,

    but great distance between the seen and the seer.

  52. تمورُ بِضِعْفِ نُجُومِ الثُّرَيَّا

    لَوِ انْفَرَدَتْ بأَديمِ السَّمَاءِ

    It tosses with twice the stars of the Pleiades,

    were it alone upon the skin of the sky:

  53. ثمانٍ كأَسرارِ قَلَبِ الكَئِيبِ

    ورابِعةٌ كَقِدَاحِ السِّرَاءِ

    eight, like the secrets of a grieving heart,

    and a fourth, like arrows of sirā wood.

  54. مَطالِبُهُمْ لِمَطالِ الضِّمارِ

    وآجالُهُمْ لاقْتِضاءِ القضاءِ

    Their quests face the delay of wealth beyond reach,

    and their lifespans the exaction of fate.

  55. فهل آذَنَتْ هِجْرَتِي أَنْ ترِيني

    عواقِبَ تَجْلُو كُرُوبَ الجَلاءِ

    Has my exile now signaled that it will show me

    outcomes that dispel the anguish of banishment?

  56. وهل ظَفِرَتْ هِمَّتِي من هُمُومِي

    بِثَأْرٍ مُنيمٍ وَوِتْرٍ بَوَاءِ

    Has my resolve won from my sorrows

    vengeance that lays them low, and an equally requited blood-debt?

  57. أَلَمْ يَتنَاهَ غُرُوبُ الغَرِيبِ

    إِلَى مَطْلِعِ الشَّمْسِ فِي الانْتِهاءِ

    Did not the stranger's westering come at last

    to the sun's rising place at its end?

  58. ولم أَتَّخِذْ جُنْحَ لَيْلِ المحاقِ

    جَناحاً إِلَى نُورِ لَيْلِ السَّواءِ

    And did I not take the dusk of a moonless night

    as a wing toward the light of a full-moon night?

  59. ولَمْ أَتَزَوَّدْ هَبِيدَ القِفارِ

    إِلَى بَحْرِ أَرْيٍ جزيلِ العَطَاءِ

    And did I not take the desert's colocynth seeds as provisions

    for a sea of honey, lavish in gifts?

  60. فأَصبَحْتُ من ظُلَمِ الإِكْتِئَابِ

    عَلَى عَلَمٍ بَيْنَ قَرْنَيْ ذُكاءِ

    So from the darknesses of grief I came to stand

    upon a peak between the two horns of Dhuka, the sun.

  61. وأَلْقَتْ يَمِيني عَصا الإِغْتِرابِ

    من الأَمْنِ بَيْنَ العَصَا واللِّحاءِ

    My right hand cast down the staff of exile,

    in safety between the stick and its bark.

  62. وأَوْطَنْتُ فِي قُبَّةِ المُلْكِ رَحْلِ

    يَ بَيْنَ الرِّواقِ وبين الكِفاءِ

    And in the dome of kingship I settled a lodging—

    mine—between the awning and the rear curtain.

  63. وأَوْفَيْتُ سُوقَ النَّدى والمعالي

    بِدُرِّ المقالِ وحُرِّ الثَّناءِ

    I came to the market of bounty and high deeds,

    bearing pearls of speech and noble praise.

  64. وَقَدْ شَهِدَ البَرُّ والبَحْرُ أَنِّي

    بِقُرْبِ ابْنِ يَحْيى مُجَابُ الدُّعاءِ

    Land and sea have borne witness that I,

    near Ibn Yahya, have my prayers answered;

  65. وأَنَّكَ أَنْتَ الصَّريحُ السَّمِيعُ

    إِذَا صَمَّ مُسْتَمِعٌ عن نِدائِي

    and that you are the forthright, attentive one,

    when a listener turns deaf to my call;

  66. وأَنَّكَ دُونِيَ طَوْدٌ مَنيعٌ

    عَلَى الدَّهْرِ مُسْتَصْعَبُ الإِرْتِقاءِ

    and that before me you stand, an impregnable mountain,

    defying Time, hard to ascend;

  67. وأَنَّكَ أَنتَ الشَّفِيعُ الرَّفِيعُ

    بِدائي إِلَى مُسْعِفٍ بالدَّوَاءِ

    and that you are the exalted intercessor,

    for my illness, with one who brings healing.

  68. فكيف تخطّت إليَّ الرزايا

    ولم أُخطِ في مُستجاد الوِقاءِ

    How, then, did calamities cross over to me,

    when I had not erred in choosing the best protection?

  69. وكيْفَ اعْتَصَمْتُ بِصَدْرِ الزَّمَانِ

    وصَدْرِي قِرى كُلِّ داءٍ عَياءِ

    And how have I sought refuge in the breast of Time,

    while my breast is a feast for every incurable disease?

  70. وَقَدْ ضَرَّسَتْنِي حُرُوبُ الخُطُوبِ

    وأَبْطَأْتِ يَا نُصْرَةَ الأَوْلِياءِ

    The wars of calamity have ground me in their teeth,

    and you have delayed, O succor of friends!

  71. وعُرِّفْتُ فِي نَكَباتِ الزَّمانِ

    بِكُنْهِ الصَّديقِ ومَعْنى الإِخاءِ

    In the blows of Time I was made to know

    the true nature of a friend and the meaning of brotherhood.

  72. فوا قَدَمِي من سلامِ العِثارِ

    ويا أَلَمِي من سِهامِ الجَفَاءِ

    Alas for my foot, from the stones of stumbling,

    and alas for my pain, from arrows of estrangement!

  73. وَمَا أَبْعَدَ القَفْرَ عن عَيْنِ راءِ

    وَمَا أَقْرَبَ الوَقْرَ من سَمْعِ ناءِ

    How far the desert is from the eye of a beholder,

    and how near deafness is to the ear of one far away!

  74. ويا طُولَ ظِمْئِي لِخَمْسٍ وعَشْرٍ

    طريدَ الحياضِ بعيدَ الإِضاءِ

    How long my thirst—for five and ten—

    driven from watering pools, far from ponds!

  75. كَأَنِّيَ بِعْتُ التُّقى بالنِّفاقِ

    فلا هؤُلاءِ ولا هؤُلاءِ

    As though I had sold piety for hypocrisy,

    belonging neither to these nor to those.

  76. وكم عُقِرَتْ دونَ عُقْرِ الحياضِ

    سَوَامِي وأُزَّتْ أَمامَ الإِزاءِ

    How often, short of the heart of the watering pools, were hamstrung

    my grazing herds, and driven back before the watering-place!

  77. فَرُحْتُ بِهَا مُخْمِصاً فِي البِطانِ

    وأَصْدَرْتُها مُظْمِئاً فِي الرِّواءِ

    I went away with them, hungry among the full-bellied,

    and drove them away thirsty amid the well-watered.

  78. وأَرْعَيْتُ سعدانَ سَعْدِ السُّعُودِ

    نِواءَ المُنى وصَفايا الصَّفاءِ

    I pastured on the sa'dan of Sa'd al-Su'ud

    the fat camels of wishes and the choice milkers of serenity.

  79. وأَقْوى فأَنْحَرُ حَرْفاً سِناداً

    وأَرْعى فأَحْلُبُ شَطْرَ الإِناءِ

    When my stores fail, I slaughter a tall, sturdy she-camel,

    and when I pasture them, I milk half a vessel,

  80. بِسَبْعٍ كَسَبْعِ سَمامِ السَّمُومِ

    وأَرْبَعَةٍ كَرُبُوعِ العَفاءِ

    with seven, like seven poisons of the scorching wind,

    and four, like the dwellings of desolation.

  81. يُفَدُّونَ نَفْسِي من الحادِثَاتِ

    وَمَا لِي ولا لَهُمُ مِنْ فِداءِ

    They ransom my life from calamities,

    though neither I nor they have any ransom.

  82. وكَمْ ضَرَبُوا بِقِداحِ الحُنُوِّ

    عَلَيَّ ففازُوا بِقِسْمٍ سَوَاءِ

    How often they cast the arrows of affection

    over me, and won an equal share!

  83. وَقَدْ أَسلَمَتْهُمْ سمائي وأَرْضِي

    فلا مِنْ ثَرَايَ ولا مِن ثَرَائِي

    My heaven and earth have forsaken them:

    nothing from my soil, nothing from my wealth.

  84. فيا ضِيقَ ذَرْعِي لَهُمْ بالزَّفِيرِ

    عَلَى ضِيقِ ذَرْعِي بِضِيقِ الشِّتاءِ

    How helpless I am for them, amid sighs,

    on top of my helplessness in winter's hardships!

  85. وَقَدْ آذَنَتْهُمْ يَدِي واضْطِلاعي

    بِعُدْمِ الوِقاءِ لهمْ والصِّلاءِ

    My hand and my strength have warned them

    that they lack coverings and warmth.

  86. فما بسوى حرِّ تلك الصدورِ

    يُوَقَّونَ من بردِ هذا الهواءِ

    By nothing but the warmth of those breasts

    are they guarded against the cold of this air.

  87. وإِن راعتِ الأرضُ منهم جنوباً

    تسلَّوا برعيِ نجومِ السماءِ

    And if the earth affrights their flanks,

    they console themselves by watching the stars of heaven.