Sol 6.1

  1. أوَميضُ البرقِ في الليل البهيمْ

    أم أياةُ الشمس في كأس النديم

    Is it lightning's flash in the pitch-black night,

    or the sun's radiance in the drinking companion's cup?

  2. فَتَلَقّ الرَّوْحَ من ريحانةٍ

    حَيّتِ الشَّربَ بها راحةُ ريم

    Then take refreshment from a fragrant basil sprig,

    with which a gazelle's palm has greeted the drinkers.

  3. عُصِرَتْ والدهرُ يومٌ مُفْرَدٌ

    كقسيمٍ لم تُجِزْهُ بقسيم

    It was pressed when time was but a single day,

    like one half you have not completed with another.

  4. جُنِيَتْ أعْنابُها مِنْ جَنّةٍ

    نُقِلتْ منها إلى حرّ الجحيم

    Its grapes were picked from a garden,

    and carried from it into the heat of Hell.

  5. فَلَبُوسُ النارِ فيها سكةٌ

    حَكَمَتْ للشَّرْبِ منها بالنّعيم

    So fire's raiment in it is a seal

    that has decreed bliss for those who drink it.

  6. كفَّ حكمُ الماءِ منها سورةً

    تُسْكِرُ الصّاحيَ منها بالشّميم

    Water's sway has curbed its fierce potency,

    which intoxicates the sober with its scent.

  7. وكأنّ الكأسَ تاجٌ كُلّلَتْ

    جَنَباتٌ منه بالدّرّ النّظيم

    And the cup seems a crown, garlanded

    along its sides with pearls neatly strung.

  8. وقواريرُ حَبابٍ سَبَحَتْ

    من سُلافِ الكرم في ماءٍ كريم

    And glass vials of bubbles floated

    from the vine's free-run wine in fine water.

  9. فَهِيَ الدّرْياقُ مِنْ سَمّ الأسى

    حيثُ لا يَشْفيكَ درياق الحكيم

    It is the antidote to sorrow's poison,

    when the physician's antidote cannot heal you.

  10. أقبَلَتْ تَسْعى بها خُمْصَانَةٌ

    عمّ منها حُسْنُها خلقاً عميم

    A slender-waisted woman came hurrying with it;

    her beauty spread from her to a vast multitude.

  11. كلما قامت تثَنّى خَلَعَتْ

    مَيَلَ التيه على خُوطٍ قويم

    Whenever she rose and swayed, she draped

    the sway of pride upon a straight, supple branch.

  12. سِحْرُ هاروتٍ وماروتٍ بها

    في فتُورِ اللحظِ واللفظِ الرّخيم

    The magic of Harut and Marut dwells in her,

    in the languor of her glance and her mellow speech.

  13. تودعُ الكفّ شهاباً محرقاً

    كلّ شيطانٍ من الهمّ رجيم

    She places in the palm a meteor that scorches

    every accursed demon of care.

  14. في ظلامٍ بَرَقَ الصبحُ له

    فتولى عنه إجفالَ الظليم

    In darkness upon which dawn flashed,

    so it fled before it like a startled male ostrich.

  15. وحَكَتْ جَوْزاؤهُ ساقيةً

    بنطاقٍ شُدّ في خَصْرٍ هضيم

    And its Orion resembled a cupbearer,

    with a belt drawn tight around a slender waist.

  16. وكأنّ الشُّهْبَ كاساتٌ لها

    شاربٌ في الغرب للشُّرْبِ مديم

    And the bright stars seemed goblets with

    a drinker in the west who drank continually.

  17. وكأنّ الصبحَ كفّ أُخْرِجَتْ

    لك من جَيْبِ ابنِ عمرانَ الكليم

    And dawn seemed a hand brought forth

    for you from the bosom of Imran's son, who spoke with God.

  18. وكأنّ الشرقَ فيه رافعٌ

    حُجُباً عن وجه يحيى بن تميم

    And the east seems in it to be lifting

    veils from the face of Yahya ibn Tamim.

  19. مَلِكٌ في الملكِ يُبْدي فَخْرُهُ

    جَوْهَراً في حَسَبِ المجد الصّميم

    A king whose glory reveals, in kingship,

    a jewel in glory's true lineage.

  20. ذائدٌ بالسيف عَنْ دينِ الهدى

    سالكٌ فيه سراطاً مستقيم

    Defending with the sword the faith of guidance,

    treading within it a straight path.

  21. أحْلَمُ الأملاكِ عن ذي زَلّةٍ

    سَبَقَ السيفَ له عَذْلُ الحليم

    The most forbearing of kings toward one who errs:

    the forbearing man's rebuke preceded the sword for him.

  22. وسليمُ العِرْضِ تَلْقى مَالَهُ

    أبداً من بذلِهِ غَيْرَ سليم

    His honor is unscathed, but you find his wealth

    always, through his giving, far from unscathed.

  23. ذو إباءٍ من عِداهُ ناقمٌ

    ورؤوفٌ برعاياهُ رَحيم

    Proudly unyielding, taking vengeance on his foes,

    and compassionate and merciful to his subjects.

  24. من أزاحَ الفقْرَ إذْ أسْدَى الغنى

    وأباحَ الوَفْرَ إذ صانَ الحريم

    He who banished poverty when he bestowed riches,

    and made abundance freely available while guarding his sacred domain.

  25. من له طيبُ ثناءٍ أرِجٌ

    راحلٌ في مِقْوَلِ الدّهْرِ مقيم

    He whose sweet praise is fragrant,

    traveling yet abiding on the tongue of time.

  26. مَنْ له القِدحُ المُعَلّى في العلى

    فائزٌ في الملكِ بالحظّ العظيم

    He who holds the highest-winning lot-arrow in eminence,

    winning in kingship the mighty share.

  27. مُنْعِمٌ نبْتُ مغانيه الغنى

    أفَلا يعدم فِيهنّ العديم

    A benefactor: wealth is the crop of his abodes.

    Will the destitute not then vanish from them?

  28. لم تَزَلْ تُرْضِعُ أخلافَ الندى

    يَدُهُ العافينَ مُذْ كان فطيم

    Never ceasing to nurse from generosity's teats,

    his hand has fed supplicants since he was weaned.

  29. ماءُ نعماهُ نميرٌ لا صَرىً

    وَمُنَدّاهُ خصيبٌ لا وخيم

    His bounty's water is sweet and wholesome, not stagnant,

    and the ground he waters is fertile, not unwholesome.

  30. لا جمودُ القَطْرِ في المحل ولا

    خُلّبُ البرق بعيْنَيْ مَنْ يَشيم

    No withholding of rain in drought, nor

    deceptive lightning before the eyes of one watching for rain.

  31. كم له من حُجّةٍ بالغةٍ

    في لسانِ السيْفِ تُوْدي بالخصيم

    How many a decisive argument he has

    on the sword's tongue, bringing death to the adversary!

  32. يَعْمُرُ الحربَ بجيشٍ أرضُهُ

    من دمِ الأعداءِ حمراءُ الأديم

    He fills the battlefield with an army whose earth

    is red of skin with the blood of enemies.

  33. يقتضي الذِّمْرُ من الذِّمْرِ بها

    روحَهُ فالذِّمرُ للذِّمرِ غريم

    In it, one champion exacts from another

    his life; each champion is the other's creditor.

  34. وكأنّ الشمسَ من قَسْطَلِهِ

    فَوْقَهُ تنظرُ من طَرْفٍ سقيم

    And the sun, through its dust-cloud, seems

    to look down from above it with an ailing eye.

  35. دقّ فيه السّمْرَ طعناً وَثَنى

    وَرَقَ الفولاذِ بالضربِ هشيم

    There he shattered the brown lances by thrusting, and turned

    steel's leaves into splinters with blows.

  36. كيفَ لا يُفْني عِدَاهُ في الوغى

    مَلِكٌ يغدو له الموتُ خديم

    How could he not annihilate his enemies in battle—

    a king to whom death becomes a servant?

  37. كم فلاةٍ دونه يَدْفَعُها

    سُنْبُكُ العدو إلى خفّ الرسيم

    How many a wasteland before him is passed on

    by the galloping hoof to the swiftly pacing camel's foot!

  38. لابن آوى وَسْطَها وَعْوَعةٌ

    تُوحِشُ الإنسَ وللبومِ نئيم

    In its midst the jackal has a howling cry

    that terrifies humankind, and the owls a mournful hoot.

  39. وعظيم الهولِ لولا آيةٌ

    لم يكُنْ راكبُهُ إلّا أثيمْ

    And so immense is its terror that, but for a sign,

    its rider would be nothing but a sinner.

  40. لم تزلْ عينيَ أو أذني به

    تُؤذنُ القلب بخوْفٍ لا يُنيم

    There, my eye or my ear never ceased

    warning my heart of fear that would not let it sleep.

  41. قد جَمَمْتُ العزمَ ما بينهما

    بالسّرى والنجم بالليلِ البهيم

    I had gathered my resolve between the two,

    through night travel and the star in the pitch-black night.

  42. ووردتُ النّيلَ من نَيْلِ يدٍ

    تَرْتَوي الآمالُ منها وهي هيم

    And I came to the Nile of a hand's bounty,

    from which hopes drink their fill while thirst-maddened.

  43. يا أبا الطاهر جَدَّدْتَ على

    ثني أزمانِ العلى المُلْكَ القديم

    O Abu al-Tahir, you have renewed, through

    the folds of glory's ages, the ancient kingship.

  44. لستَ كالبحرِ فَمِلْحٌ ماؤهُ

    لا ولا كالليثِ فالليثُ شتيم

    You are not like the sea, for its water is salty;

    no, nor like the lion, for the lion is grim-faced.

  45. بل حباكَ اللَّه بأساً وندىً

    خُلُقاً منك على أكْرم خِيمْ

    Rather, God has bestowed on you might and generosity,

    as traits in you, rooted in the noblest nature.