Sol 6.1

  1. مَا أَحْسَنَ الصَّبْرَ فيما يَحْسُنُ الجَزَعُ

    وأَوْجَدَ اليَأْسَ مَا قَدْ أَعْدَمَ الطَّمَعُ

    How beautiful patience is where anguish would be fitting!

    And how enriching despair is where craving has left us poor!

  2. وللمنايا سِهامٌ غيرُ طائِشةٍ

    وذو النُّهى بجميلِ الصَّبْرِ مُدَّرِعُ

    Death has arrows that never stray,

    and the man of reason is armored in noble patience.

  3. فإِن خَلَتْ للأَسى فِي شجوها سُنَنٌ

    فطالَما أُحْمِدَتْ فِي كَظْمِها البِدَعُ

    Though sorrow has established ways of lamentation,

    new ways of restraining it have often earned praise.

  4. وللفجائِعِ أَقدارٌ وأَفْجَعُها

    للنَّفْسِ حَيْثُ ترى أَظفارَها تَقَعُ

    Calamities have degrees, and their most grievous

    to the soul is where it sees their claws strike.

  5. كَأَنَّ للموتِ فينا ثأْرَ مُحْتَكِمٍ

    فما بغيرِ الكريمِ الحُرِّ يَقْتَنِعُ

    As though Death held a blood-debt against us, ruling at will,

    and would settle for none but the noble and freeborn.

  6. قَدْ خَبَّرَتْ نفسُ إِسماعِيلَ فِي يدِهِ

    أَنْ لَيْسَ عن حُرُماتِ المَجْدِ يرتَدِعُ

    Isma'il's soul in its hand has shown

    that it will not hold back from glory's sanctities.

  7. فاحْتَسِبُوا آلَ إِسماعِيلَ مَا احْتَسَبَتْ

    شُمُّ الرُّبى من غَمامِ الغَيْثِ يَنْقَشِعُ

    So bear your loss for God's reward, house of Isma'il, as

    lofty hilltops bear the loss of rainclouds dispersing.

  8. واحْتَسِبُوا آلَ إِسماعِيلَ مَا احْتَسَبَتْ

    خيلُ الوغى من لواءِ الجَيْشِ يَنْصَرِعُ

    And bear your loss, house of Isma'il, as

    warhorses bear the loss of the army's standard when it falls.

  9. مَاذَا إِلَى مِصْرَ من بِرٍّ ومن كَرَمٍ

    بعَثْتُمُ مَعَ وَفْدِ اللهِ إِذْ رَجَعُوا

    What goodness and generosity to Egypt

    you sent with God's pilgrims when they returned!

  10. حَجُّوا بِهِ بِهِلالِ الفِطْرِ وانْقَلَبُوا

    فاسْتَوْدَعُوهُ ثَرى مِصْرٍ وَمَا رَبَعُوا

    They went with him on pilgrimage at the crescent of the Fast-breaking Feast, and returned;

    then entrusted him to Egypt's soil, and did not linger.

  11. فأيُّ قَدْرٍ رفيع حانَ مَحْمِلُهُ

    فِي النَّعْشِ يوماً عَلَى أَكتافِهِمْ رَفَعُوا

    What lofty worth, whose hour for being borne had come,

    did they raise one day in a bier upon their shoulders!

  12. وأَيُّ مُخْتَشِعٍ للهِ مُتَّضِعٍ

    حُرِّ الشمائِلِ فِي حَرِّ الثَّرى وَضَعُوا

    And what a man, reverent before God and humble,

    noble of character, they laid in the heat of the earth!

  13. وغادَرُوهُ ولا غَدْرٌ بما فَعَلُوا

    وَوَدَّعُوهُ ولا بَاكٍ لِمَنْ وَدَعُوا

    They left him, yet there was no betrayal in what they did;

    and bade him farewell, with no one weeping for the one they left.

  14. تغدُو عَلَيْهِ حَمامُ الأَيْكِ باكِيَةً

    وتَسْتَهِلُّ عَلَى أَكْنافِهِ القَلَعُ

    The doves of the thicket come to him at dawn, weeping,

    and cloudbanks pour rain around him.

  15. والرِّيحُ تُهْدِي لَهُ من كُلِّ عارِفَةٍ

    عَرْفاً وتحمِلُ عنه فَوْقَ مَا تَدَعُ

    The wind brings him, from every kindly deed,

    fragrance, and carries away from him more than it leaves.

  16. فاسْتَشعِرُوا آلَ إِسماعِيلَ تَغْزِيَةً

    يُهْدى لَهَا واعِظٌ منكُمْ ومُسْتَمِعُ

    So take consolation to heart, house of Isma'il,

    to which both counselor and listener among you are guided.

  17. فإِنْ غَدَا شَعْبُكُمْ فِي اللهِ مُفْتَرِقاً

    فإِنَّ شَعْبَكُمُ فِي المَجْدِ مُجْتَمِعُ

    Though your kin are now parted in God's cause,

    your kin are united in glory.

  18. وإِنْ يُصَدِّعْ قُلُوباً صَدْعُ شَمْلِكُمُ

    فالصَّبْرُ كالشَّمْسِ حَيْثُ الفَجْرُ يَنْصَدِعُ

    And if the sundering of your union shatters hearts,

    patience is like the sun where dawn breaks.

  19. وإِنْ جَزِعْتُمْ فَرُزْءٌ لا يقومُ لَهُ

    فيضُ الدُّموعِ ولا يُشْفَى لَهُ وَجَعُ

    And if you grieve, this is a loss that cannot be met by

    a flood of tears, nor can its pain be healed.

  20. وإِنْ صَبَرْتُمْ فمِنْ قومٍ إذَا بُعِثُوا

    لَمْ يُوهِ عَزْمَهُمُ ذُعْرٌ ولا فَزَعُ

    And if you endure, you come of men who, when called forth,

    have their resolve weakened by neither terror nor alarm.

  21. قَدْ وَطَّنُوا أَنْفُساً للدَّهْرِ لَيْسَ لَهَا

    إِلّا مِنَ الذَّمِّ أَنْ يَدْنُو لَهَا جَزَعُ

    They have steeled their souls against Time; for them there is

    no anguish except that blame might draw near.

  22. كَأَنَّهُمْ فِي نَعيمِ العَيْشِ مَا نَعِمُوا

    وَفِي الفجائِعِ بالأَحْبابِ مَا فُجِعُوا

    As though, amid life's delights, they had known no delight,

    and, in the loss of loved ones, had suffered no bereavement.

  23. للهِ من حُرَمِ الأَموالِ مَا بَذَلُوا

    جُوداً ومن حُرَمِ الجِيرانِ مَا مَنَعُوا

    God be praised for the treasured wealth they gave

    in generosity, and the neighbors' rights they defended,

  24. وَمَا كَسَوْكُمْ مِنَ المَجْدِ الَّذِي لَبسُوا

    واسْتَحْفَظُوكُمْ من الصَّبْرِ الَّذِي شَرَعُوا

    and the glory they clothed you in, which they themselves wore,

    and the patience they entrusted you to preserve, whose way they established.

  25. فارْبِطْ لَهَا يَا أَبا مَرْوانَ جأْشَ فتىً

    سَما فَأَتْبَعَ حَتَّى عادَ يُتَّبَعُ

    So brace for this, Abu Marwan, the heart of a youth

    who rose high and followed until he himself was followed.

  26. وَقَدْ عَضَضْتَ عَلَى نابِ البَزُولِ فَلا

    يغبنك حُسْنَ العزاءِ الأَزْلَمُ الجذَعُ

    You have bitten on the mature camel's fang, so let not

    ever-young, relentless Time rob you of noble consolation.

  27. دَهْرٌ شَجَاكَ وَقَدْ وَفَّاكَ تَعْزِيَةً

    جَلَّتْ فَلَيْسَتْ بِغَيْرِ القلبِ تُسْتَمَعُ

    Time has grieved you, yet given you consolation in full,

    so sublime that only the heart can hear it.

  28. بُشْرى لِمَنْ زُوِّدَ التَّقْوى لِمُنْقَلَبٍ

    حَيَّاهُ مُدَّخَرٌ فِيهِ ومُطَّلَعُ

    Glad tidings to one provisioned with piety for a return

    where stored treasure and a lofty prospect welcomed him.

  29. بِمِيتَةٍ فِي سبيلِ اللهِ أَسْلَمَهُ

    فِيهَا إِلَى رَبِّهِ الأَبناءُ والشِّيَعُ

    Through a death in God's cause, they surrendered him—

    his sons and followers—to his Lord,

  30. فِي حجَّةٍ بِرُّها فِي اللهِ مُتَّصِلٌ

    بالمُحْرِمِينَ عنِ الأَوْطَانِ مُنْقَطِعُ

    on a pilgrimage whose goodness was joined in God

    to the consecrated pilgrims, cut off from their homelands.

  31. لَبَّى من الغايَةِ القُصْوى فجاوَبَهُ

    حُورُ الخِيامِ إِلَى لُقْيَاهُ تَطَّلِعُ

    He cried 'Here I am' from the farthest bound, and was answered by

    the fair-eyed maidens of the tents, eager to meet him.

  32. واسْتَفْتَحَ الكَعْبَةَ العَلْياءَ فافْتُتِحَتْ

    لَهُ إِلَى الجَنَّةِ الأَبوابُ والشِّرَعُ

    He sought entry to the lofty Kaaba, and there opened

    for him the gates and pathways to Paradise.

  33. فكَيْفَ تُوحِشُكَ الدُّنيا إِلَى شِيَمٍ

    لِذِكْرِها فِي الوَرى مَرْأَىً ومُسْتَمَعُ

    How, then, can the world leave you bereft of virtues

    whose remembrance among humankind is both seen and heard?

  34. تُتْلى فَيَعْبُقُ منها كُلُّ ذِي تَفَلٍ

    طيباً ويَعْذُبُ منها الصَّابُ والسَّلَعُ

    They are recited, and all who smell foul become fragrant through them,

    with perfume; through them bitter ṣāb and salaʿ grow sweet.

  35. قَدْ حَمَّلَتْ أَلسُنَ المُثْنِينَ مَا حَمَلَتْ

    وَأَوْسَعَتْ أَيْدِيَ العافِينَ مَا تَسَعُ

    They have laden praising tongues with all they could bear,

    and filled the hands of petitioners with all they could hold.

  36. كالغَيْثِ يَنْأَى وَمَا يَخْفى لَهُ أَثَرٌ

    والمِسكُ يُوعى وَمَا يُوعى لَهُ فَنَعُ

    Like rain that recedes, though its traces never disappear,

    and musk that is contained, though its fragrance cannot be contained.

  37. لِطَيِّبِ الذِّكْرِ من حِلْمٍ ومن ورَعٍ

    لَوْ كَانَ للموتِ حِلْمٌ عنهُ أَوْ وَرَعُ

    For one sweetly remembered for forbearance and piety—

    if only Death had forbearance toward him, or piety!

  38. ومانِعِ الجارِ من ضَيْمٍ ومن عَدَمٍ

    لَوْ أَنَّهُ من حِمامِ الحَيْنِ يَمْتَنِعُ

    And one who shielded his neighbor from oppression and want—

    if only he could shield himself from death's fatal doom!

  39. ووَازِعِ الخطبِ عن قُرْبٍ وعَنْ بُعُدٍ

    لَوْ أَنَّ صَرْفَ الرَّدى من بَعْضِ مَا يَزَعُ

    And one who repelled calamity from near and far—

    if only death's assault were among the things he could repel!

  40. وإِنْ أَقمْتَ أبا مَرْوَانَ سُنَّتَها

    شَجْواً فَذُو اللُّبِّ فِي السُّلْوانِ يَبْتَدِعُ

    And if, Abu Marwan, you uphold its customary way

    in lament, the wise man devises new ways of consolation.

  41. فارْدُدْ زَفِيرَكَ عَمَّا لا مَرَدَّ لَهُ

    وارْجِعْ دُمُوعَكَ عَمَّنْ لَيْسَ يُرْتَجَعُ

    So turn your sighing from what cannot be turned back,

    and recall your tears from one who cannot be recalled.

  42. واسْتَخْلِفِ العَارِضَ المُنْهَلَّ يَخْلُفُهُ

    رَوْضٌ تَصِيفُ بِهِ مِصْرٌ وتَرْتَبِعُ

    And appoint the pouring cloud your deputy; after it comes

    a meadow where Egypt spends summer and spring,

  43. من كُلِّ بَحْرِيَّةٍ شامٍ يُشامُ بِهَا

    حادِي الجَنُوبِ فلا رَيْثٌ ولا سَرَعُ

    from every sea-born cloud of Sham, in which is watched

    the South Wind's herald, neither delayed nor hurried.

  44. يَنُوبُ عن ضَرَمِ الأَحشاءِ بارِقُها

    وعن دُمُوعِكَ فِيهَا الوَابِلُ الهَمِعُ

    Its lightning stands in for the burning of your inward parts,

    and its streaming downpour, for your tears.

  45. تزورُ فِي مِصْرَ قَبْراً قَلَّ زائِرُهُ

    لكِنَّهُ لِلْعُلا والمَجْدِ مُضْطَجَعُ

    It visits, in Egypt, a grave with few visitors,

    yet it is the resting-place of eminence and glory.

  46. وأَكرَمُ الغَيْثِ غَيْثٌ عادَ مُنتَجِعاً

    من لَمْ يزَلْ لِلنَّدى والجُودِ يُنْتَجَعُ

    And the noblest rain is rain that turns to seek bounty

    from one who was ever sought for liberality and generosity.