Sol 6.1

  1. تَحِيدُ الردينياتُ يومَ الوغى عنَّا

    كأَنَّ الردينياتِ لا تعرفُ الطَّعنَا

    The Rudayni spears swerve away from us on battle day,

    as though the Rudayni spears knew nothing of thrusting.

  2. لعبنا بها لِعبَ الأجادلِ بالقَطا

    نُوكّل بالاقصى وانْ أَمكن الأَدنىَ

    We played with them as falcons play with sandgrouse,

    bent on the farthest even when the nearest was within reach.

  3. وعُطلنَ حتى لو شَرِبنا دماءَنا

    وصِرنَ الى الأرواحِ ما رَويتْ منَّا

    And they were left idle—even had we drunk our own blood,

    and they reached our souls, they would not have been sated with us.

  4. طلبنا مقيلَ الضّغنِ حتى تناذرتْ

    قلوبُ الأعادي أَنْ تُسر لنا الضِّغْنَا

    We sought rancor's noonday resting-place, until they warned one another—

    our enemies' hearts—against concealing rancor toward us.

  5. وقَدَّمَنَا جَدٌّ تُهابُ شَذَاتُه

    وصدْقٌ اذا ما أَخلفَ البارقُ الظنَّا

    And good fortune brought us foremost, its sting held in dread,

    and truthfulness, when lightning disappoints expectation,

  6. وصبرٌ على وقع السيوفِ مُدرَّبٌ

    جديرٌ بأَن تَفنَى السيوفُ ولا يفنَى

    and patience, well tried under the impact of swords,

    fit for swords to perish while it never does.

  7. وشتانَ ما بيني وبين مشمِّرٍ

    يعد النّدى ربحاً ويعتدُّه غُبنَا

    How great the gulf between me and a zealous striver:

    generosity is counted gain, yet he counts it loss.

  8. برأتُ ولكن لا يزالُ يعودني

    خَيالٌ عليه العينُ لا تأمنُ الجَفنَا

    I have recovered, yet there still visits me

    an apparition for whose sake my eye mistrusts its lid.

  9. يلُفُّ مع الظلماءِ عِطفى بِعِطفِهِ

    كما لفَّ لذمُ الريحِ بالغُصُنِ الغُصْنَا

    He entwines my side with his side amid the darkness,

    as the wind's buffeting entwines branch with branch.

  10. وأَعرضتُ حتى ما أُسائلُ راكباً

    عن القارةِ الغيظاءِ هل سأَلتْ عنَّا

    I turned away, until I no longer question a rider

    about al-Qarah al-Ghayza': has she asked after us?

  11. وما أَنا من روادِ فلجٍ وحائلٍ

    ولا نجعُ الصَّمَانِ مِنّي ولا الدّهْنَا

    I am no seeker of pasture in Falj and Ha'il,

    nor are al-Samman's pastures mine, nor al-Dahna'.

  12. سِوى أَنَّ علوي الرياحِ تشوقُني

    ويطربني نوحُ الحَمَامِ اذا غَنَّى

    Except that the upland winds stir my longing,

    and the doves' lament delights me when they sing.

  13. وَرَمَّانٌ لولا أنْ يُقال بدا له

    لقلتُ سَقى الرحمُ هضبتَه اليُمنَا

    And Ramman—were it not that someone might say, 'He has reconsidered,'

    I would say, 'May mercy water its right-hand hill.'

  14. ولم أَعنِ رُمَّان الحبيبِ بمأرب

    وما كل من يُسمَى بصاحبه يُعنَى

    I did not mean the beloved's Rumman at Ma'rib;

    not every namesake is intended when a name is spoken.

  15. ويا نجدُ لو لاموا حبالكِ كلَّها

    لما كان الاَّ من حبالكِ مستثنَى

    O Najd, were they to blame all your sandy ridges,

    any exception would still be among your ridges.

  16. تعرضَ دونَ الوِردِ وردٌ مصدرٌ

    وأَوفى على مِيانِه اللحم الأَقنَا

    A broad-chested bay interposed before the watering-place,

    and rounded flesh rose high over his midsection.

  17. فودعَ وصلَ الغانياتِ مشمرٌ

    أَخو ثقةٍ داءُ الحروبِ له مَغْنَى

    So a girded warrior bade farewell to union with beautiful women,

    a man of firm confidence, for whom war's affliction is home.

  18. يشد على الرمحِ المثقفِ كعبه

    ويضربُ حد السيفِ يحسِبه قِرنَا

    He braces his heel against the straightened spear,

    and strikes the sword's edge, taking it for a rival.

  19. فلّلهِ وخط الفجرِ في لُمة الدُّجى

    ومسترقٌ يَنعَى السرورُ به الحُزنَا

    Glory to God for dawn's flecking in darkness's locks,

    and a stolen moment in which joy announces sorrow's death.

  20. الى طَفَلٍ ما غيرَ الليلُ لونَه

    اِليَّ بَدا الاصباحُ أَصبحَ مغتنَى

    Toward a twilight whose color night had not changed,

    dawn appeared to me and became a treasure.

  21. وزائرةٍ تسري كأَنَّ نسيمها

    نسيمُ الخُزامى في صَبا طرقتْ وَهْنَا

    And a woman visiting by night, whose fragrance seemed

    lavender's scent on an east wind—she came late at night.

  22. كأَن اِلهَ الناسِ صورَ خلقَه

    وخيرها فاختارت البخلَ والحُسنَا

    As though the God of humankind had fashioned His creation,

    then given her a choice, and she chose miserliness and beauty.

  23. ومرتجزٌ بالرعدِ يقصِفُ هدرُهُ

    اذا مرَّ بالاطلالِ مِنْ دَارِنا حَنَّا

    And a thunder-chanting cloud, its rumbling crashing,

    moaning with longing when it passes our dwelling's ruins.

  24. أَصاب البوادي والحواضنَ صوبُه

    وجنَّ به نبتُ البلادِ كما جُنَّا

    Its downpour reached the deserts and the sheltering hills,

    and the land's growth ran wild with it, as we ran wild.

  25. وذو نَفَلٍ جَعدٍ يضاحك وهدَه

    رُباه اذا ما يَومه لبس الدجنَا

    And a meadow of luxuriant clover, its hollows trading smiles

    with its hillocks when its day robes itself in dark cloud.

  26. ومرُّ المَهَارى بين رِفدٍ وضالةٍ

    تراجمُ من أركان ناصفِ ركنَا

    And the passage of Mahri camels between Rifd and Dalah,

    pelting one ridge of Nasif after another.

  27. ومنهمرٌ يشأَى الطريدةَ وقعُه

    اذا مَارَ في فنٍّ سلكتُ به فَنَّا

    And a torrent-like steed whose footfall outstrips the quarry,

    when he veers along one course, I take him along another.

  28. يَعَضُّ على النابينِ فأْس لجامهِ

    ويقطَعُ من آرائِهِ الشَّطِنَ المُثْنَى

    His bridle's axe-bit bites upon his two fangs,

    and the doubled rein cuts short his designs.

  29. وقرعُ الحديدِ الفارسي بمثلهِ

    اذا بعضُهُ للضربِ في بعضِهِ طَنَّا

    And Persian iron striking its like,

    when, under the blows, one part rings against another.

  30. وسافرةٌ تدعو الضيوفَ وموثرٌ

    على نفسِهِ ما نِيلَ من زاده الاهنَا

    And an unveiled flame calling guests, and one who puts others

    before himself: what is taken from his provisions is sweetest.

  31. طويتُ على الاقواءِ بَطني وانَّما

    لكل امريءٍ من بُلغةِ العيشِ ما أَغنَى

    I folded my belly over want; for

    each man needs only enough sustenance to suffice.

  32. ولم أمدح الفهريَّ حتى بلوتُه

    فطبقَ لفظي من ضريبتهِ المعنَى

    I did not praise al-Fihri until I had tested him,

    so the meaning drawn from his character matched my words.

  33. وعولتُ من نصرِ الغُطيفِ وباسلٍ

    على الأُذُنِ الصماءِ والمقلةِ الوَسنَى

    And for aid from al-Ghutayf and Basil I relied

    on a deaf ear and a drowsy eye.

  34. وهافَتْ لَبُوني بالبليخِ فخيلتْ

    كما لقيتْ يومَ الغدير على دُرْنَا

    My milk-camels thirsted at the Balikh, and were deluded,

    as they had fared on the day of al-Ghadir at Durna.

  35. فلا حَجَبَاتُ الكلبِ آل مُقلدٍ

    سَقَوها ولا البُرصُ الفِقاح بنو اللخنَا

    Neither the dog's hipbones—the house of Muqallad—

    gave them water, nor the white-anused sons of the stinking woman.

  36. ولو أَنها السمرُ الطوالُ تغمرتْ

    وما وَرَدَتْ لَبَاتُهُم تطلبُ الاذنَا

    Had they been the long brown spears, they would have drunk,

    nor would they have entered their upper chests asking leave.

  37. وما زلتُ في حدِّ الظهيرةِ واقفاً

    أُمارسُ من أَخلاقها الشّيم الحُجْنَا

    I kept standing in the fiercest heat of noon,

    grappling with the crooked traits of their character.

  38. منعتُم جوار الماءِ أن يردِ اللهَا

    ولا تمنعونَ القولَ أَنْ يَرِدَ الاذنَا

    You kept the water at hand from reaching throats,

    but you cannot keep speech from reaching ears.

  39. ولا تمنعونَ السائراتِ كأَنَّها

    كتائبُ خيلٍ تَحمِل الاسلَ اللدْنَا

    Nor can you bar the traveling verses, which are like

    squadrons of cavalry bearing supple spears.

  40. اذاً لكسوتُ العارَ أَعراضَ عامرٍ

    صُراحاً ولهم ألحنْ لجهلهُم لَحنَا

    Then I would clothe Amir's honor in disgrace,

    openly, and speak to them in hints because of their ignorance.

  41. أَرى أَملي يبغي الخلودَ وسائقي

    الى الأمد المبلوغ يزبُنُني زَبنَا

    I see my hope seeking immortality, while my driver

    toward the end that must be reached pushes me forcefully.

  42. أضعتُ الشبابَ الغَضَّ في طاعةِ النهى

    ولم استَعِضْ الا المشيبَ به خِدنَا

    I squandered tender youth in obedience to reason,

    and gained in exchange only gray hair as a companion.

  43. وكم فُرصةٍ فاتَتْ وأَصبحَ ربُّها

    يَعَضُّ عليها الكفَّ أَو يقرعُ السنَّا

    How many an opportunity has passed, leaving its possessor

    biting his hand over it, or gnashing his teeth.

  44. وشَرُّ حياةِ المرء آخرُ ظمئهِ

    وانْ نالَ أَسبابَ الغِنىَ وَرَعى الأَمنَا

    The worst of a man's life is his final stretch of thirst,

    even if he gains the means to wealth and grazes in safety.