Sol 6.1

  1. وشامِخِ العِرْنِينِ جاثلِيقِ

    مُرَوَّعٍ بمِثلِنَا مَطروقِ

    And a catholicos, with proudly lifted nose,

    alarmed by our kind's nocturnal visit,

  2. باتَ بلَيْلِ الكالىءِ الفَرُوقِ

    في أُخْرَيَاتِ الأُطُمِ السَّحوق

    had passed a fearful watchman's night

    in the farthest recesses of the soaring fortress.

  3. نبّهْتُهُ فهَبَّ كالفَنِيقِ

    يسحَبُ ذيلَ الأصْيَدِ البِطريق

    I roused him; he sprang up like a pampered camel-stallion,

    dragging the train of a haughty patrician,

  4. إلى دِنَانٍ صافِناتِ السُّوقِ

    فَاسْتَلّهَا بمِبْزَلٍ رَقيق

    toward wine jars standing firm upon their shanks.

    Then he drew it out with a slender tapping-spike,

  5. مثلِ لسَانِ الحَيّةِ الدَّقِيقِ

    كأنّهُ من صِبغَةِ العَقيق

    like a snake's fine tongue,

    as though, from the carnelian's stain,

  6. مُضَمَّخُ الكَفَّينِ بالخَلُوقِ

    فزَفَّ لاهوتِيّةَ الشُّرُوق

    his hands were daubed with saffron perfume.

    Then he led forth, bride-like, a wine of divine dawning;

  7. لم يُبْقِ منها الدَّنُّ للرّاوُوقِ

    إلاّ كِياناً ليسَ بالحقيق

    the jar had left the strainer nothing of it

    but an essence without reality,

  8. مثلَ يقينِ المُلحِدِ الزِّنْدِيقِ

    كَأنّهُ حُشاشَةُ المَشُوق

    like the godless heretic's certainty—

    as though it were the last breath of a yearning lover,

  9. قد رِيعَ بعدَ الهَجْرِ بالتّفْريقِ

    وقامَ مثلَ الغُصُنِ المَمْشُوق

    frightened, after estrangement, by separation.

    And he stood like a tall, slender bough,

  10. أشْبَهُ شيءٍ قَدَحاً بريقِ

    يَسْعى بجَيْبٍ في الهوى مشقوق

    his cup's wine and his saliva almost indistinguishable,

    hurrying about with his collar torn for love,

  11. يَحُثُّهَا بدَلّهِ المَومُوقِ

    أرَقَّ من أديمهِ الرّقيق

    urging it on with his cherished coquetry,

    more delicate than his delicate skin.

  12. وباتَ سُلطَاناً عَلى الرّحيقِ

    يُسلِّطُ الماءَ على الحَريق

    And all night he was sovereign over the pure wine,

    unleashing water upon the blaze

  13. ويَغْرِسُ اللّؤلُؤ في العَقيقِ

    كأنّ دُرَّ ثَغْرِهِ الأنِيقِ

    and planting pearls in carnelian.

    It was as though the pearls of his lovely mouth

  14. أُلّفَ مِنْ حَبابِهَا الفَريقِ

    أو زَلّ عن فيهِ إلى الإبريق

    had been assembled from its scattered bubbles,

    or had slipped from his mouth into the ewer.

  15. ما زلتُ أُسقَى غيرَ مستفيقِ

    حتى رأيْتُ النّجْمَ كالغَريق

    I kept being given wine, never sobering,

    until I saw the star like a drowning man,

  16. والصُّبْحُ في سِرْبَالِهِ الفتيقِ

    يرمي الدُّجى بلَحْظِ سَوذنيق

    and dawn, in its ample robe,

    shot at the darkness with a falcon's gaze.

  17. هذا ومَا يَسبِقُ سَهْمي فُوقي

    في ساعةِ الفَوْتِ ولا اللُّحوق

    All this, yet my arrow never outruns my nock,

    in the hour of escape or of overtaking.

  18. ما نَفْعُ رأيٍ ليسَ بالوَثيقِ

    أو خيرُ عَقْلٍ ليس بالرّشيق

    What use is judgment that is not sound,

    or what good is a mind that is not nimble?

  19. ولستُ أرضى بالأخِ المذوقِ

    ولا اللّسانِ العَذْبِ ذي التزويق

    And I am not content with an insincere brother,

    nor a sweet tongue adorned with artifice.

  20. وقد أذِلُّ للأخِ الشّفِيقِ

    كذِلّةِ العاشِقِ للمعشوق

    Yet I humble myself before a loving brother,

    as a lover submits to the beloved.

  21. لا تَجْزِيَنَّ البِرّ بالعُقُوقِ

    واغْنَ عنِ العَدُوِّ بالصّديقِ

    Never repay kindness with ingratitude,

    and let a friend spare you dependence on a foe,

  22. وواصلِ الصَّبوحَ بالغَبوقِ

    and join the morning draught to the evening draught.