Sol 6.1

  1. أرَيّاكِ أمْ رَدعٌ من المسك صائكُ

    ولحظُكِ أم حَدٌّ من السيْفِ باتِكُ

    Is it your fragrance, or a clinging trace of musk?

    And your glance, or a severing edge of the sword?

  2. وأعطافُ نَشوَى أم قَوامٌ مُهَفْهَفٌ

    تأوَّدَ غصْنٌ فيهِ وارتَجَّ عانِك

    And a tipsy woman's curves, or a slender form,

    where a branch bends and a dense sand-dune quivers?

  3. وما شقّ جيْبَ الحُسنِ إلاّ شقائقٌ

    بخدّيكِ مفتوكٌ بهِنّ فواتِك

    Nothing tore beauty's neckline but anemones

    on your cheeks—slayers by whom one is slain.

  4. أرى بينَها للعاشقين مَصارعاً

    فقد ضرّجَتْهُنَّ الدّماءُ السّوافك

    I see among them places where lovers fall,

    for flowing blood has stained them crimson.

  5. ألم يُبْدِ سِرَّ الحُبّ أنّ منَ الضّنى

    رقيباً وإنْ لم يهتِكِ السترَ هاتِك

    Has it not revealed love's secret that wasting sickness provides

    a watcher, though no violator has torn the veil?

  6. وليلٍ عليهِ رَقْمُ وَشْيٍ كأنّما

    تُمَدُّ عليه بالنّجومِ الدَّرانك

    And a night patterned with embroidery, as though

    carpets were spread over it, woven with stars.

  7. سَرَيْنا فطفُنَا بالحِجالِ وأهِلها

    كما طافَ بالبيتِ المُحجَّبِ ناسك

    We traveled by night, then circled the curtained chambers and their dwellers,

    as a devotee circles the veiled House.

  8. وكُنّا إذا ما أعيُنُ العِينِ رُقْنَنَا

    أدَرْنَ عُيوناً حَشْوُهُنَّ المَهالِك

    And whenever the eyes of wide-eyed beauties delighted us,

    they turned eyes whose depths were filled with death.

  9. فتَكْنَا بمُحْمَرِّ الخُدودِ وإنّهَا

    بما اصفرَّ من ألوانِنا لَفَواتِك

    We struck at rosy cheeks, though they

    are surely slayers, as our yellowing complexions show.

  10. تكونُ لنَا عندَ اللّقاءِ مَواقِفٌ

    ولكنّها فوقَ الحَشايا مَعارك

    At our meetings we take up our positions,

    but on the mattresses they are battles.

  11. نُنازِلُ من دون النّحورِ أسِنّةً

    إذا انتصَبَتْ فيها الثُّدِيُّ الفَوالك

    We duel with spearpoints before the bosoms,

    when rounded breasts stand erect there.

  12. نَشاوَى قُدودٍ لا الخدودُ أسِنّةٌ

    ولا طُرَرٌ من فَوقهِنَّ حَوالِك

    Drunk with slender forms—the cheeks are not spearpoints,

    nor are the forelocks above them pitch-dark.

  13. سَرَينَ وقد شَقّ الدُّجى عن صَباحِهِ

    كواكب عِيسٍ بالشموسِ رواتك

    They traveled by night, while darkness was split to reveal its dawn by

    stars of pale camels, trotting with suns.

  14. وكائِنْ لها فوقَ الصّعيدِ مناسمٌ

    يَطأنَ وفي سِرِّ الضّميرِ مَبارك

    And how many have footpads upon the earth,

    treading it, yet kneeling-places in the heart's hidden depths!

  15. أقيموا صُدورَ النّاعِجاتِ فإنّهَا

    سبيلَ الهوى بينَ الضُّلوع سَوالك

    Direct the breasts of the swift white camels ahead, for they

    follow love's path between the ribs.

  16. ألم تَرَيا الرّوْضَ الأريضَ كأنّمَا

    أسِرّةُ نورِ الشمسِ فيها سبائك

    Have you two not seen the luxuriant meadow, as though

    the streaks of sunlight within it were ingots?

  17. كأنّ كُؤوساً فيه تسري براحِها

    إذا علّلَتْها السّارياتُ الحواشك

    As though cups within it went round with their wine,

    whenever rain-laden night clouds gave them drink upon drink.

  18. كأنّ الشّقيقَ الغَضَّ يُكحَلُ أعيُناً

    ويَسْفِكُ في لبّاتِهِ الدّمَ سافك

    As though fresh anemones were eyes being lined with kohl,

    and a blood-shedder spilled blood into their throat-hollows.

  19. وما تُطلِعُ الدّنيا شُموساً تُريكَها

    ولا للرّياضِ الزُّهْرِ أيدٍ حَوائك

    The world does not bring forth the suns it shows you,

    nor do the bright gardens have weaving hands;

  20. ولكنما ضاحَكنَنَا عن محاسِنٍ

    جَلَتْهُنّ أيّامُ المُعِزِّ الضّواحك

    rather, they smiled upon us, revealing beauties

    unveiled by al-Mu'izz's smiling days.

  21. سقَى الكوْثَرُ الخُلديُّ دَوحةَ هاشمٍ

    وحَيّتْ معِزَّ الدّينِ عنّا الملائك

    May eternal al-Kawthar water Hashim's great tree,

    and may the angels greet Mu'izz al-Din on our behalf.

  22. شَهِدتُ لأهْلِ البيْتِ أن لا مَشاعِرٌ

    إذا لم تكن منهم وأن لا مناسك

    I testify for the People of the House that there are no sacred stations

    unless they derive from them, nor any pilgrimage rites.

  23. وأن لا إمامٌ غيرُ ذي التاجِ تلتقي

    عليه هَوادي مجدِه والحَوارك

    And no imam exists but the crowned one, upon whom converge

    the necks and withers of his glory.

  24. لَهُ نَسَبُ الزَّهْراءِ دِنْياً يَخُصُّهُ

    وسالفُ ما ضَمّتْ عليه العَواتك

    His close descent from al-Zahra distinguishes him,

    and the ancient lineage embraced by the 'Atikas.

  25. إمامٌ رأى الدنيا بمؤخِرِ عيْنِهِ

    فمن كان منها آخذاً فهو تارك

    An imam who glanced at the world from the corner of his eye:

    while others take from it, he forsakes it.

  26. إذا شاءَ لم تَمْلِكْ عليه أناتُه

    بَوادِرَ عَزْمٍ للقَضاءِ مَوالِك

    When he wills, his forbearance cannot restrain

    sudden impulses of resolve that master destiny.

  27. لألْقَتْ إليه الأبحُرُ الصُّمُّ أمرَهَا

    وهبّتْ بما شاءَ الرّياحُ السَّواهك

    The deaf seas would surely surrender their command to him,

    and fierce winds would blow as he wished.

  28. وما سارَ في الأرض العريضَةِ ذكرُهُ

    ولكنّهُ في مسلَكِ الشمسِ سالِك

    His fame has not traveled merely through the broad earth,

    but journeys along the course of the sun.

  29. وما كُنْهُ هذا النّورِ نورُ جَبِينِهِ

    ولكنّ نورَ اللّهِ فيه مُشارِك

    This radiance's true essence is not his brow's light alone;

    rather, God's light shares in it.

  30. لهُ المُقْرَباتُ الجُرْدُ يُنعِلُها دَماً

    إذا قَرَعَتْ هامَ الكُماة السنابك

    His are the cherished, sleek steeds, which he shoes with blood

    when their hooves strike the heads of armored warriors.

  31. يُريقُ عليْها اللؤلؤُ الرَّطْبُ ماءَهُ

    ويَسْبِكُ فيها ذائِبَ التّبر سابك

    Fresh pearls pour their luster over them,

    and a caster casts molten gold into them.

  32. صقيلاتُ أبْشارِ البُرُوقِ كأنّمَا

    أُمِرّتْ عليها بالسَّحابِ المَداوك

    Polished skins of lightning, as though

    pestles had been passed over them with clouds.

  33. يُباعِدْنَ ما بَينَ الجَماجمِ والطُّلى

    فتَدنو مَرَورَاتٌ بها ودكادِك

    They widen the distance between skulls and necks,

    and through them barren plains and hillocks draw near.

  34. لك الخيرُ قَلِّدْهَا أعِنّةَ جَرْيها

    فهُنّ الصُّفُونُ المُلجَماتُ العوالك

    May good be yours! Fit them with the reins of their gallop,

    for they are poised, bridled steeds, champing their bits.

  35. ووالِ فُتوحاتِ البِلادِ كأنّها

    مَباسِمُ ثَغْرٍ تُجْتَلاى ومضاحك

    Keep conquering lands, as though they were

    the smiles of a mouth unveiled, and laughing lips.

  36. يُمِدُّكَ عزْمٌ في شَبا السيف قاطعٌ

    وبُرثُنُ سَطْوٍ في طُلى الليثِ شابك

    A resolve sustains you, cutting at the sword's edge,

    and a claw of assault clutching the lion's neck.

  37. أمَتَّ بل استحيَيتَ والموتُ راغمٌ

    كأنّكَ للآجَالِ خَصْمٌ مُماحِك

    You slew—no, spared lives, while Death was humbled,

    as though you were a stubborn foe of life's appointed ends.

  38. لك العَرَصَاتُ الخُضرُ يَعبَقُ تُربُها

    وتَحيا برَيّاها النفوسُ الهوالك

    Yours are green expanses whose soil exhales fragrance,

    and perishing souls revive through their scent.

  39. يَدٌ لأيادي اللّهِ في نَفَحَاتِها

    غِنىً لِعَزالي المُزنِ وهي ضرائك

    A hand of God's bounties, in whose breaths lies

    wealth for the rainclouds' spouts, though they are needy.

  40. لكم دولَةُ الصّدْقِ التي لم يَقُمْ بها

    نُتَيْلَةُ والأيّامُ هُوجٌ ركائك

    Yours is the reign of truth, which was not upheld by

    Nutayla, while the days were wild and weak.

  41. إمامِيّةٌ لم يُخْزِ هارونُ سعيَها

    ولا أشْركَتْ باللّهِ فيها البَرامك

    A realm of the imamate, whose striving Harun has not disgraced,

    nor one in which the Barmakids set partners beside God.

  42. تُرَدُّ إلى الفِرْدَوس منكم أرومَةٌ

    يصلّي عليكم ربُّها والملائك

    Your ancestral root is traced back to Paradise,

    whose Lord and the angels bless you.

  43. ثَنائي على وحيِ الكِتابِ عليكُمُ

    فلا الوَحْيُ مأفوكٌ ولا أنا آفك

    My praise of you rests on the Book's revelation;

    the revelation is not fabricated, nor am I a liar.

  44. دعاني لكمْ ودٌّ فلبّت عَزائِمي

    وعَنْسي وليلي والنجومُ الشّوابك

    Love called me to you, and my resolves answered,

    along with my sturdy she-camel, my night, and the interlaced stars.

  45. ومستكبِرٌ لم يُشْعِرِ الذُلَّ نفسَهُ

    أبيٌّ بأبْكارِ المَهَاوِلِ فاتِك

    And a proud man, who never clothed his soul in humiliation,

    unyielding, a slayer of virgin terrors.

  46. ولو عَلِقَتْهُ من أُميّةَ أحْبُلٌ

    لَجُبَّ سَنامٌ من بني الشعر تامك

    Had cords from Umayya ensnared him,

    a towering hump among poetry's sons would have been severed.

  47. ولمّا التَقَتْ أسيافها ورماحها

    شراعاً وقد سدت علي المسالك

    When their swords and spears met,

    leveled, and the paths had been barred to me,

  48. أجَزْتُ عليها عابراً وتركْتُهَا

    كأنّ المَنَايا تحتَ جنبي أرائِك

    I crossed over them and passed on, leaving them

    as though deaths beneath my side were couches.

  49. وما نَقَمُوا إلاّ قديمَ تَشَيُّعي

    فنَجّى هِزَبْراً شَدُّهُ المُتَدارك

    They resented nothing but my longstanding Shi'i allegiance,

    so his unbroken dash saved a mighty lion.

  50. وما عَرَفَتْ كَرَّ الجِيادِ أُمَيّةٌ

    ولا حملَتْ بَزَّ القَنا وهو شابك

    Umayya never knew the charge of noble steeds,

    nor bore battle-gear while the spears interlocked.

  51. ولا جَرّدُوا نَصْلاً تُخَافُ شَباتُه

    ولكِنّ فُولاذاً غَدا وهو آنُك

    Nor did they draw a blade whose edges were feared,

    but steel that had become lead.

  52. ولم تَدْمَ في حربٍ دروعُ أُمَيّةٍ

    ولكنّهم فيها الإماءُ العَوارك

    Umayya's armor never bled in battle,

    but in battle they were menstruating slave women.

  53. إذا حَضَروا المدّاحَ أُخْجِلَ مادِحٌ

    وأظلَمَ دَيْجورٌ من الكُفْرِ حالك

    When they appeared before panegyrists, the praiser was shamed,

    and a pitch-black night of unbelief darkened.

  54. ستُبْدي لك التثريبَ عن آل هاشِمٍ

    ظُباتُ سيوفٍ حَشْوُهُنَّ المهالك

    The rebuke on behalf of Hashim's House will be shown to you by

    sword-edges whose depths are filled with deadly perils.

  55. أأللّه تَتْلوُ كتبكم وشيوخُهَا

    ببدرٍ رميمٌ والدّماءُ صَوائك

    Is it God your books proclaim, while their elders

    are moldering bones at Badr, and the blood is clotted?

  56. هُمُ لحظوكم والنّبُوّةُ فيكُمُ

    كما لحَظَ الشِّيبَ النّساءُ الفوارك

    They regarded you, though prophethood was among you,

    as husband-loathing women regard gray-haired men.

  57. وقد أبهجَ الإيمانَ أن ثُلَّ عرشُها

    وأنْ خَزَرَتْ لحظاً إليهْا المَهالك

    Faith rejoiced that her throne was shattered,

    and that deadly perils cast sidelong looks at her.

  58. بني هاشمٍ قد أنجزَ اللّهُ وعدَهُ

    وأطلعَ فيكم شَمْسَهُ وهي دالك

    Sons of Hashim, God has fulfilled His promise,

    and raised His sun among you as it was declining.

  59. ونادَتْ بثاراتِ الحُسَينِ كتائِبٌ

    تُمَطّي شِراعاً في قَناها المعارِك

    Battalions cried out for vengeance for Husayn,

    stretching battles along their leveled spears.

  60. تَؤمُّ وصيَّ الأوصياءِ ودونَهُ

    صُدُورُ القَنا والمُرهَفاتُ البواتك

    They seek the legatee of legatees, and before him stand

    spearheads and sharpened, severing blades,

  61. وضَرْبٌ مُبينٌ للشّؤونِ كأنّما

    هَوَتْ بفَراشِ الهامِ عنه النّيازك

    and a stroke that splits the skull's sutures, as though

    short spears had sent skull fragments tumbling away from it.

  62. فَدُسْ بهمُ تلك الوُكونَ فإنّني

    أرى رَخَماً والبَيضَ بَيضٌ تَرائك

    Trample those nests with them, for I

    see vultures, and the eggs are abandoned eggs.

  63. لقد آنَ أن تُجْزَى قُرَيشٌ بسعيها

    فإمّا حَياةٌ أو حِمامٌ مُواشِك

    The time has come for Quraysh to be repaid for its deeds:

    either life, or death close at hand.

  64. أرى شعراءَ المُلكِ تَنْحِتُ جانبي

    وتَنبو عن اللّيْثِ المخاضُ الأوارك

    I see the realm's poets chipping at my side,

    yet pregnant camels browsing arak recoil from the lion.

  65. تَخُبُّ إلى مَيْدان سَبقي بطاؤهَا

    وتلك الظّنونُ الكاذباتُ الأوافك

    Their laggards trot toward the course where I lead,

    but those are false, lying expectations.

  66. رأتْني حِماماً فاقشَعَرّتْ جُلُودُهَا

    وإني زعيمٌ أنْ تَلينَ العَرائك

    They saw me as death, and their skins shuddered;

    I guarantee that stubborn tempers will soften.

  67. تُسيءُ قَوافيها وَجُودُكَ مْحِسنٌ

    وتُنْشِدُ إرْنَاناً ومجْدُكَ ضاحك

    Their rhymes do ill, while your generosity does good,

    and they recite laments, while your glory laughs.

  68. وتُجدى وأُكْدى والمناديحُ جَمّةٌ

    فما لي غنيَّ البَالِ وهي الصّعالك

    They receive gifts while I go unrewarded, though opportunities abound;

    why am I rich of spirit, while they are paupers?

  69. أبَتْ لي سبيلَ القوم في الشعر هِمّةٌ

    طَمُوحٌ ونفْسٌ للدنِيَّة فارك

    An ambition denies me the others' path in poetry—

    a soaring one—and a soul that loathes baseness.

  70. وما اقتادت الدنيا رجائي ودونها

    أكُفُّ الرّجالِ اللاوياتُ المواعك

    The world has not led my hopes captive; before it stand

    the twisting, wringing hands of men.

  71. وما سَرّني تأمِيلُ غيرِ خليفَةٍ

    وأنّيَ للأرضِ العَريضَةِ مالك

    Nor would hoping in anyone but a caliph please me,

    even if I owned the whole broad earth.

  72. فحمِّلْ وريدي منكَ ثِقْلَ صَنيعةٍ

    فإنّي لمَضْبورُ القَرا مُتلاحِك

    Load my neck-vein with the weight of a favor from you,

    for I am strong of back, firmly knit.

  73. أبَعْدَ التماحي التّاجَ مِلء محاجري

    يَلوكُ أديمي من فم الدهر لائك

    After I have glimpsed the crown, filling my eye-sockets,

    does a gnawer from Time's mouth chew my hide?

  74. خُمولٌ وإقتارٌ وفي يدِكَ الغِنى

    فمَحْياً فإنّي بين هاتينِ هالك

    Obscurity and poverty, though wealth is in your hand!

    Grant me life, for between these two I am dying.

  75. لآيَةِ ما تَسْري إليَّ نَوائبٌ

    مُشَذِّبَةٌ عن جانبيَّ سَوادِك

    For some sign, calamities come to me by night,

    shearing away at both my flanks, clinging fast.

  76. فهُنَّ كما هُزَّتْ قَناً سمهرِيّةٌ

    لِسِرْبالِ داودٍ عليَّ هواتِك

    They are like stout spears when brandished,

    tearing through David's coat of mail upon me.

  77. لديَّ لها الحَربُ العَوانُ أشُبُّهَا

    فإلاّ تُؤيّدْني فإنّي مُتارك

    Against them I kindle a seasoned war,

    but unless you support me, I will abandon the fight.

  78. وأيُّ لسانٍ ناطِقٌ وهو مُفحَمٌ

    وأيُّ قَعُودٍ ناهِضٌ وهو بارك

    And what tongue speaks when it is struck dumb?

    And what young camel rises while kneeling?