Sol 6.1

  1. أيا خُلُجَ المدامعِ لا تغيضي

    وَذُوبي غَيْرَ جامدةٍ وَفيضي

    O streams of tears, do not run dry,

    And melt without congealing, and overflow.

  2. فقد قُلِبَ التّأسِّي بالرّزايا

    أسىً ملأ التراقِيَ بالجريضِ

    For solace amid calamities has been turned

    Into grief that fills the throat with choking.

  3. أراكَ على الرّحيلِ بأرْضِ مَحْلٍ

    فقيرَ الرّحْلِ من زادٍ عريضِ

    I see you, about to depart, in a barren land,

    Your baggage lacking ample provisions.

  4. فَدَعْ أشَرَ الجَموحِ وكُنْ ذليلاً

    لعِزِّ اللَّه كالعَوْدِ المروضِ

    So forsake the unruly beast's pride and be submissive

    Before God's might, like a tamed old camel.

  5. فلستَ مُنَعَّماً بيَدَيْ حبيبٍ

    ولا بِمُعَذَّبٍ بيدي بغيضِ

    For you are not granted ease by a loved one's hands,

    Nor tormented by a hated one's hands.

  6. وأشقى الناس في الأُخرى ابن دنيا

    يقول لِنَفسِهِ في الغيِّ خُوضي

    And the most wretched in the hereafter is a child of this world

    Who tells his soul, “Wade into error.”

  7. أَما شَرَحَتْ له عِبَرُ اللَّيالي

    معانِيَ بَعْدَ مُلْتَبِسِ الغموضِ

    Have not the lessons of the nights made plain to him

    Meanings once tangled in obscurity?

  8. وناحتْ هَذِهِ الدُّنْيا عَلَيه

    فظنَّ نياحَها شَدْوَ القريضِ

    And this world has wailed over him,

    But he mistook its wailing for the singing of verse.

  9. فلا يَغتَرَّ بالحدثانِ غَمْرٌ

    لذيذُ النوم في طَرْفٍ غضيضِ

    So let no novice be deceived by time's vicissitudes,

    Sleeping sweetly beneath a lowered eyelid.

  10. فقَد يُصْمي الرَّدى في الوكدِ فَرخاً

    فَيَرْتَعُ منه في لحمٍ غريضِ

    For death may strike a fledgling dead in its nest,

    And feast upon its fresh flesh,

  11. وَيُبلْي غَيْرَ مُستَبقٍ حيَاةً

    لِقَشْعَمِ شاهِقٍ مَيْتِ النهوضِ

    And bring decay, not sparing the life

    Of an old vulture on high, too weak to rise,

  12. ويُلْحِمُهُ ابنُهُ ما اختار نهساً

    بِمِنْسَرِهِ المُدَمّى من أنيضِ

    While its son feeds it whatever it chooses to tear

    With its bloodied beak from raw flesh.

  13. وساعاتُ الفَتى سُودٌ وَبِيضٌ

    تُرَحِّلُ سُودَ لِمّتِهِ ببيضِ

    And a young man's hours are black and white,

    Replacing the black of his locks with white.

  14. يذوقُ المرءُ في مَحْياهُ موتاً

    جفُوفَ الزّهْرِ في الروضِ الأَريضِ

    A man tastes death within his lifetime—

    The withering of flowers in a fertile meadow.

  15. وأشراكُ الرّدى في الغيب تخفى

    كما يَخْفَيْنَ في تُرْبِ الحضيضِ

    And death's snares lie hidden in the unseen,

    As they lie hidden in the dust of low ground.

  16. عجبتُ لجَمْعِهِ فيهنّ صَيداً

    بها بينَ القشاعِمِ والبَعوضِ

    I marvel how it gathers prey within them,

    Snaring aged vultures and mosquitoes alike.

  17. رأيتُ الخلقَ مرْضى لا يُداوَى

    لهم كَلَبٌ مِنَ الزّمَنِ العضوضِ

    I saw mankind sick, with no cure

    For the rabies that biting Time has given them.

  18. وَلا آسٍ لهم إِلّا مريضٌ

    فهل يُجْدي المريضُ على المريضِ

    They have no healer except another sick person;

    So can one sick person help another?

  19. يواصلُ فيهمُ فتكُ ابن آوى

    وهم في غَفْلَةِ البَهَمِ الرّبيضِ

    The jackal's ravaging among them never ceases,

    While they are as heedless as resting lambs.

  20. وما ينجو امرُؤٌ من قَبضَتَيهِ

    يُدِلّ بِسَبق مُنْجَرِدٍ قبيضِ

    And no one escapes its two clutches,

    Though he trusts the speed of a sleek, swift steed.

  21. وقالوا الزكرَمِيُّ أُذيقَ كأساً

    يحولُ بها الجريضُ عن القريضِ

    And they said, “Al-Zakrami was made to taste a cup

    Whose choking agony bars him from verse.”

  22. فقدتمْ في المُعَلّى كِبْرَ حَظٍّ

    له بالفائزين ندَىَ مُفِيضِ

    In the highest lot, you have lost the greatest share—

    His bounty, a dealer's largesse to the winners.

  23. يطيرُ به جَنَاح الطّبْع سَبقاً

    مِنَ الإحسانِ في جوٍّ عَريضِ

    The wing of innate talent bears him ahead

    Through a vast sky of excellence.

  24. ولو مُزِجَتْ حلاوَتُهُ بنفطٍ

    لسَاغَ وَجَلّ عن خَصرِ الفَضيضِ

    Even if his sweetness were mixed with naphtha,

    It would go down smoothly, surpassing fresh water's coolness.

  25. لقد عَدِمَ المُعَمّى منه فكّاً

    ومات لِمَوتِهِ عِلْمُ العَروضِ

    Indeed, the riddle is bereft of his solution,

    And the science of prosody died with his death.

  26. أبا حَفصٍ تَرَكتَ بِكُلِّ حَزْنٍ

    عَليكَ الفضلَ ذا قلبٍ مهيضِ

    O Abu Hafs, you have left in utter sorrow

    Excellence, its heart broken over you.

  27. يُرَوّي اللَّهُ ترباً نِمْتَ فيه

    فباكي المُزْنِ مُبْتَسِمُ الوميضِ

    May God water the dust in which you sleep;

    For the weeping raincloud smiles with lightning.

  28. فَقد أبقَيتَ ألِسنَةَ البرايا

    بفخرِكَ في حديثٍ مستفيضِ

    For you have left the tongues of mankind

    Speaking far and wide of your glory.