Sol 6.1

  1. أذوت سَمُومُ النَّوى ريحَانَة الأمَلِ

    فَاسكُبب حَيَا الدَّمعِ في أجفانِها الذُّبُلِ

    Separation's scorching wind has withered the basil of hope;

    so pour the life-giving rain of tears into its withered eyelids.

  2. وفي الرَّكَائِبِ مَن قَد طال مَا انفَردت

    بِِهِ حَشَاك عَنِ الأحداجِ والكِلَلِ

    Among the riding camels is one whom, for so long,

    your heart kept all to itself, away from howdahs and curtains.

  3. ظَبيٌ يَصِيدُ بِألحَاظٍ بِهَا مَرضٌ

    قَلب الكَمِيّ ولا يُصطَادُ بِالحِيَلِ

    A gazelle who hunts, with languid glances,

    the armored warrior's heart, yet cannot be caught by tricks.

  4. يَقُولُ أشرِب حَشَاك اليَأس وارض بهِ

    فَاليَأسُ أشفَى مِن السَّلسَالِ لِلغُلَلِ

    He says: “Make your heart drink despair, and accept it;

    for despair heals burning thirst better than sweet flowing water.

  5. لا نلت قربي والهِجران فِي قَرنٍ

    ضِدٌّ بِضِدّ كَجَمعِ القُطنِ بِالشُّعَلِ

    You cannot have my nearness and estrangement yoked together:

    opposite joined to opposite, like cotton joined to flames.”

  6. فَقُلتُ كَفُّ أبِي عثمان قد جَمَعَت

    بَينَ الرَّدى والنَّدا والصَّابِ والعَسَلِ

    I replied: “The hand of Abu Uthman has united

    death and bounty, bitter sap and honey.”

  7. إن شِمتَ بَارِقَهُ أو شِمت صارِمَهُ

    فَاقدُم عَلَى الغَيثِ أو فَاقدُم على الأجَلِ

    If you watch his lightning or behold his keen sword,

    advance toward rain, or advance toward death.

  8. أغرّيَكتُمُ مِن جُودِ عَوارِفَهُ

    ويُشهِرُ الِيض بأساً شُهرة المَثَلِ

    A radiant man who hides his favors out of generosity,

    and brandishes bright swords in valor, with a proverb's renown.

  9. فَيُشهِرُ الحَمدُ مَا أخفَاهُ من مِنَنٍ

    ويَكتُمُ الضَّربُ بِيض الهِندِ في القُلَلِ

    Thus praise reveals the favors he has hidden,

    while his blows conceal India's bright blades in skulls.

  10. يأوِي لِعَليَاهُ مَحمِيٌّ ومُضطَهَدٌ

    كَالماء فِيهِ وُرُودُ اللَّيثِ والحَمَلِ

    The protected and oppressed seek refuge in his eminence,

    like water where lion and lamb both come to drink.

  11. ويَشتَهِي نَيلَهُ مُثرٍ وَذُو عَدَمٍ

    كَالرَّاحِ تَحسُنُ للِصَّاحِي وَللِثَّمِلِ

    Rich man and pauper alike desire his bounty,

    like wine, pleasing to both the sober and the drunk.

  12. ذُ عَزمَةٍ كَالتِمَاعِ البَرقِ واَقِدَةٍ

    تَجِيءُ مِن نَصرِهِ بِالعَارِضِ الهَطِلِ

    His resolve blazes like lightning's flash,

    bringing from his victory a cloud pouring rain.

  13. أمنٌ لِذِي حَذَرٍ بُرءٌ لِذِي سَقَمٍ

    بِشرٌ لِمُكتَئِبٍ سَلوَى لِمُهتَبِلِ

    Security for the fearful, healing for the sick,

    cheer for the dejected, solace for the grief-stricken.

  14. يَخِفُّ بِشراً إذا انهَلَّت أنامِلُهُ

    وَالسُّحبُ تُوصَفُ إذ تَنهَلّ بِالثِّقَلِ

    He grows light with joy when his fingertips pour forth,

    while clouds, when they pour, are described as heavy.

  15. لِجَدّهِ أثَرٌ فِي كُلّ مُبتَعِدٍ

    لَو كَانَ يَدرِي بِهِ الخَطِّيُّ لَم يَطُلِ

    His good fortune has an effect on everything far away;

    if the Khatti spear knew of it, it would not grow long.

  16. لَولاَ السُّعُودُ الَّتِي نِيطَت بِهِمَّتِهِ

    لَكُنتُ أنسُبُهَا بُعداً إلَى زُحلٍ

    Were it not for the auspicious stars bound to his ambition,

    I would, for its remoteness, ascribe it to Saturn.

  17. ألمِم بهِ تُلفِ رُوحَ البِشرِ في أحُدٍ

    وَالعَدلَ فِي أسَدٍ وَالنَّاسَ فِي رَجُلِ

    Visit him: you will find the spirit of cheerfulness in Mount Uhud,

    justice in a lion, and all humanity in one man.

  18. زَيَّنتَ مُلكَكَ إذ زَانَتكَ بَهجَتُهُ

    وَبَعضُ حُليِ الوَرَى شَاكٍ مِنَ العَطَلِ

    You adorned your realm as its splendor adorned you,

    yet some ornaments of humankind lament being unadorned.

  19. أنشَأتَ مِن ذَابِلِ العِيدَانِ ذَا ثَمَرٍ

    بِعَاجلِ النَّصرِ لاَ زَهرَ الرُّبَى الخَضِل

    You made a withered shaft bear fruit—

    swift victory, not the flowers of lush hills.

  20. يُزهَى بِهِ المَاءُ نَجلاً مُنجباً وَلَهُ

    إلَى الغَوَادِي انتسابٌ غَيرُ مُنتَحلِ

    Water boasts of it, a son that begets noble offspring, and it has

    a genuine lineage tracing back to the morning rains.

  21. وَعَى عَنِ الطَّيرِ لمّا كَانَ يَألَفُهُ

    غَضَّا فَطَارَ حَدِيثاً فِعلَ مُمتَثِلِ

    It learned from the birds when it kept company with them,

    while green; now it has flown, like an obedient follower.

  22. تَصُوغُهُ الرّيح سهماً لا يطيش إذا

    صَاغَت مِنَ المَاءِ سَردا محكم العَمَلِ

    The wind shapes it into an arrow that does not stray, even when

    it fashions water into chain mail of flawless workmanship.

  23. إذا جَرَت خَلفَهُ الأروَاحُ تفهم من

    تَرجِيعِهَا أنَّهَا أنفَاسُ ذِي كَلَلِ

    When the winds run behind it, you understand from

    their reverberation that they are the breaths of someone weary.

  24. خَدّ تَردَّى احمِرَارَ الصَّبغِ عَن خَفَرٍ

    جَفن تَحَلَّى سَوادَ القَارِ عَن كَحَلِ

    A cheek draped in crimson dye, as though from modesty;

    an eyelid adorned with pitch-blackness, as though naturally kohl-rimmed.

  25. سَوَادُهُ إثمِدٌ يَشفِي العُيُونَ إذَا

    أعشَى سَنَا الهِندِ فِيهِ رَانِيَ المُقَلِ

    Its blackness is antimony that heals the eyes when

    the gleam of Indian steel within it dazzles the gazing eyes.

  26. لَم أدر لَولاَهُ زِنجِيَّا قَد اتَّضَحَت

    عَلى دُجَى وَجنَتَيهِ خَمرَةُ الخَجَلِ

    But for it, I would not have known a Zanj man clearly displaying

    the wine-red blush of shyness upon his cheeks' darkness.

  27. وَألحَفُوهُ بَيَاضَ الشَّحمِ فَوقَهُمَا

    فَجَاء كَالخَمرِ تَلوِيناً وَلَم يَحُلِ

    They cloaked it in fat's whiteness over both cheeks,

    so it resembled wine in color, though it was not sweet.

  28. احمَرَّ مَوقِدُهُ وَابيَضَّ خَامِدُهُ

    وَاسوَدَّ مَا كَانَ مِنهُ غَيرَ مُشتَعِلِ

    Its kindled part turned red, its quenched part white,

    while whatever in it was not burning turned black.

  29. يَبغِي الأعَادِي غُرَاباً بِالحمَامِ وَقَد

    يَنقَضُّ صَقراً بِحَيثُ الرُّومُ كَالحَجَلِ

    It seeks enemies as a raven bearing death, and indeed

    swoops as a falcon where the Romans are like partridges.

  30. كأنَّمَا خَصرُهُ إثرَ الطَّرِيدِ بِهِ

    رَقصٌ عَلَى نَغَماتِ الِيضِ وَالأسَلِ

    As though its waist, following the fugitive pursued with it,

    were dancing to the music of bright swords and spears.

  31. أفعَالَ مُعتَمَدٍ سَوَّى النَّجَاحُ لَهُ

    فِي حَالَةِ الرَّأيِ بَينَ الرَّيثِ وَالعَجَلِ

    Deeds of a trusted man, for whom success makes no distinction

    in matters of judgment between delay and haste.

  32. يَا مَن تُتَيِّمُنِي أوصَافُهُ فَلِذَا

    يُرَى لمَدحِيَ فِيهش رِقَّةُ الغَزَلِ

    O you whose qualities enthrall me—that is why

    my praise of you displays the tenderness of love poetry.

  33. لَكَ الثَّنَاءُ فَإن يُذكَر سِوَاكَ بِهِ

    يَوماً فَكَالرَّابعِ المَعدُودِ فِي البَدَلِ

    Praise is yours; if another is named in it

    one day, it is like the fourth kind of grammatical substitution: a slip.

  34. أريدُ إذنَكَ في وُشكِ الرَّحِيلِ وَإن

    لَم يَرضَ جُودُكَ عَن تَشيِيعِ مُرتَحِلِ

    I seek your permission for an imminent departure, even if

    your generosity disapproves of seeing a traveler off.

  35. فَإن أفَارِقكَ دَوحاً فِيهِ قَد سَجَعَت

    وَرقَاءُ حَمدِيَ بِالأبكَأرِ وَالأصُلِ

    If I leave you, a great tree in which has cooed

    the gray dove of my praise, in the mornings and late afternoons,

  36. فَفَوقَ عِطفِي وَفي أنفِي لَهُ وَيَدِي

    جَنيٌ وَعَرف وَظِلُّ غَيرُ مُنتَقِلِ

    then above my shoulder, in my nostrils, and in my hand remain

    its fruit, fragrance, and shade, never departing.

  37. أو ذُقتُ بَعدَكَ مُرَّا كَالعِتَابِ وَقَد

    جَنَيتُ مِنكَ لَهُ أحلَى مِنَ القُبَلُ

    Or if, after you, I taste bitterness like reproach, I have already

    gathered from you, against it, something sweeter than kisses.

  38. أحلّ قَيدَ عَن جَنَابِكُمُ

    لَكِن رَجَائِي بهِ فِي أوثَقِ العُقُل

    I loosen a tether from your court,

    but my hope is held there in the strongest hobbles.

  39. وَمًا أقُولُ أغُضُّ الطَّرفَ بَعدَكُمُ

    حَتَّى أرَاكُم بِهِ كالشَّمسِ في الحَمَلِ

    Nor do I say, “I shall lower my gaze after leaving you,

    until I see you with it, like the sun in Aries.”

  40. فَمُذ أفَارِقُ شَمسَ الفَضلِ كَيفَ أرى

    وَنَاظِرِي فِي ظَلاَمٍ غَيرَ مُنفَصِلِ

    For once I leave the sun of excellence, how can I see,

    while my eye is in unbroken darkness?

  41. نَفسِي لَدَيك إذا ودَّعتُ زَاهِقَةٌ

    فَهَب لِيَ اليومَ نَفساً فِي هِبَاتِكَ لِي

    My soul expires before you when I bid farewell;

    so grant me a soul today among your gifts to me.