Sol 6.1

  1. حتى خيالك لا وَفَّى ولا وَافى

    بل خافَ منكَ ومعذورٌ إِذا خَافَا

    Even your phantom neither kept faith nor came.

    Rather, it feared you, and is excused for its fear.

  2. ما كان أَكرمَه طيفاً أَلِفْتُ به

    يأْتِي ويُؤتي مِن التَّقْبيلِ آلاَفا

    How generous it was, that phantom whose company I knew,

    coming and bestowing kisses by the thousand!

  3. وربَّما أَنْفق التقبيلَ مُقْتصداً

    وكنتُ أُنْفِقُ دمعَ الْعَينِ إِسْرَافاً

    And sometimes it spent its kisses sparingly,

    while I spent the tears of my eyes extravagantly.

  4. حسبُ المتيَّم فقراً بعد مَسكنةٍ

    أَن يسأَل الطيفَ إِلحاحاً وإِلْحافا

    It is poverty enough for the love-enslaved, after destitution,

    to beg the phantom insistently and importunately.

  5. يا حاجبيةُ مِنْ قوسٍ بحاجبها

    ارمي القلوب فقد أَصبحْن أَهْدَافاً

    O Hajibiyya, from the bow in your brow,

    shoot at hearts, for they have become targets.

  6. أطرقتِ عُجْباً فأَضرمتِ الحشا فلئِنْ

    أَغمدتِ سيْفاً لقد جَردْتِ أَسْيَافا

    You lowered your gaze in pride and kindled my heart; though

    you sheathed one sword, you have drawn many swords.

  7. والله أَغْرى بذاكَ الطَّرفِ فترتَه

    وأَنتِ أَغريْت بالعنَّابِ أَطْرَافاً

    God has fastened its languor to that gaze,

    and you have fastened fingertips to jujubes.

  8. والغصنُ يَحكي إِذا مال النسيمُ به

    منكِ انْعِطافاً وما يحكيكِ أَعْطافاً

    When the breeze bends it, the branch imitates

    your sway, but not the curves of your body.

  9. تلتفُّ قامتُها بالوشى إِن خطَرت

    في حَلْيها فأَرى الجنَّاتِ أَلْفَافا

    Her figure is wrapped in brocade; when she moves

    in her jewels, I see gardens thickly entwined.

  10. أَفْدِي لآلئَ ثغرٍ في مقَبَّلِها

    إِذا انْتَسَبْن عَدَدْن الدُّر أَسْلاَفا

    I would give my life for the pearls of her kissable mouth:

    when they trace their lineage, they count pearls as ancestors.

  11. يَكَادُ يَهوِي حصى الياقوتِ من يدها

    لردفها إِذ تظن الرِّدفَ أَحْقَافا

    The ruby pebbles almost tumble from her hand

    toward her rump, imagining it to be sand dunes.

  12. ولم تَدع لغزال المسك نكهتُها

    والريقُ ميماً ولا سيناً ولا كافا

    Her breath has not left the musk gazelle—

    nor has her saliva—a mīm, a sīn, or a kāf.

  13. لو وَاصلتني يوماً أَمُتْ كمداً

    إِذ كُنتُ أَدخلُ فِردوساً وأَعرافا

    Were she to grant me union for a day, I would die of anguish,

    for I would be entering Paradise and the Heights.

  14. ويْلِي عليها ومِنها إِذ تُعذِّبني

    بالوعد والصَّدِّ إِبقاءً وإِتْلافا

    Woe is me for her and because of her, as she torments me

    with promises and rejection, keeping me alive and destroying me.

  15. وقلتُ للقلب عفِّ عنها وقلت لها

    عافِي سقامي فلا عافَتْ ولا عَافا

    I told my heart, 'Refrain from her,' and told her,

    'Heal my sickness'; neither did she heal nor did it refrain.

  16. إِن لم تُطيعي فإِنَّ القلبَ طاوعَني

    أَوْلا تُطيفِي فإِنَّ الصَّبْر قَد طافا

    If you will not comply, my heart has complied with me;

    or if you will not visit, patience has already departed.

  17. شكوتُ نأَيَكِ بالمبيضِّ أَنديةً

    وعيشَ وصلِك بالمخضَرِّ أَكْنَافا

    I lamented your distance to him whose assemblies shine white,

    and life in union with you to him whose surroundings are green:

  18. بمن يرى الأَرضَ داراً والأَنامَ بها

    له عبيداً وبالمعروف أَضْيَافا

    to him who sees the earth as a dwelling, and its people

    as his slaves, and through his kindness, his guests.

  19. الفاضلُ المانحُ الأَوصافِ واصفَه

    فراح يطلب للأَوْصافِ أَوْصَافا

    Al-Fadil, who bestows qualities on his describer,

    so he sets out seeking descriptions for those qualities.

  20. تُبدِي السجايا ملوكاً من تَرفُّعِها

    عن الخلائِق والأَفعالُ أَشرافا

    His traits reveal themselves as kings, so far they rise

    above other natures; his deeds reveal themselves as nobles.

  21. تأَلَّقَتْ في معاليها خلائقُه

    فأَصبحت فيه إِخواناً وأُلاَّفا

    His qualities shone in their sublimity,

    and in him became brothers and intimate companions.

  22. منزَّه الفِعل عن عَيبٍ فلستَ ترى

    في المنِّ مَنّاً ولا في الوعدِ إِخْلافا

    His conduct is free of flaw; you cannot see

    reproach in his favors, nor breach in his promise.

  23. صاغَ القلائدَ للأَعناقِ نائلهُ

    وبالمدائِح صاغ النَّاسُ أَشْنَاقا

    His bounty fashioned necklaces for necks,

    while people fashioned nooses with their praises.

  24. عادتْ رءُوساً به قصَّادُه وبه

    عاد الملوكُ على الأَطرافِ أَطْرافا

    Through him his petitioners became heads, and through him

    kings upon the frontiers became mere extremities.

  25. ما كنتُ من قبل أَقلامٍ له قُطِعت

    أَظنُّ أَن من الأَقلامِ أَسْيافَا

    Before pens were cut for him, I had never

    imagined that some pens were swords.

  26. ولم أَخَلْ قبلَ أَنْ أَبْدى جواهرَه

    أَنَّ الجواهِر قَدْ أَصْبَحن أَصْدَافا

    Nor did I suppose, before he displayed his jewels,

    that jewels had become mere shells.

  27. وكنتُ أَحسَب قُسّاً في فصاحته

    فَرْداً فأَبصرْتُ قُسّاً عِنده فَافا

    I used to think Quss, in his eloquence,

    unrivaled; then I saw Quss beside him as a stammerer.

  28. يرى الخفيَّ بلا عينٍ وإِنَّ له

    على المغيَّب عن عينه إِشْرَافا

    He sees the hidden without an eye, and has

    insight into what is concealed from his sight.

  29. ما مال قَطُّ إِلى الدُّنْيا وزُخْرُفها

    ما زال لِلْعَطف ميَّالاً وعَطَّافا

    He has never inclined toward the world and its finery;

    he has always inclined to kindness, ever compassionate.

  30. وقد حَواها وأَعطَاها بجملتها

    برّاً وجوداً وإِنعاماً وإِسْعافا

    Yet he has possessed it all and given it all away,

    in goodness, generosity, beneficence, and relief.

  31. فصيِّر الشَّطر مبذولاً ومنتهَبا

    وصيَّر الشَّطْر أَحباساً وأَوْقَافا

    He made half freely given and open to plunder,

    and made the other half endowments and charitable trusts.

  32. أَقرضتَ ربَّك قرضاً سوف يُضْعِفه

    يوم القيامة أَضْعافاً وأَضْعَافا

    You have lent your Lord a loan He will multiply

    on Resurrection Day, many, many times over.

  33. كفاك فاشكره في الدُّنْيا وتَشكره

    في جَنَّةِ الخلد والمأْوى إِذَا كَافا

    He has provided for you; thank Him in this world, and you will thank Him

    in the Garden of Eternity and Refuge when He rewards you.

  34. إِني أُهَنِّي بما لم يأت موعُده

    كما أَهنيك بالعيد الَّذي وَافى

    I offer congratulations for what has not yet reached its appointed time,

    just as I congratulate you on the feast that has arrived.

  35. وافى فناءَك مشتاقاً ورغبتُه

    أَن لو أَقام ولو شَتَّى ولو صَافا

    It came to your courtyard in longing, its wish

    to remain, even through winter, even through summer.

  36. فاسعد بِه تُعْلِ لِلْخُدَّام أَرؤسَهم

    فيه وتُرغم للأَعداءِ آنافا

    Rejoice in it, lifting your servants' heads

    during it, and grinding your enemies' noses in the dust.

  37. واكفُف نوالَك قد أَضررتَ بي كرما

    من جاورَ البحر إِخْفَاءً فقد خَافا

    Withhold your bounty: your generosity has harmed me;

    whoever secretly lives beside the sea has known fear.

  38. جادت أَياديك حتَّى أَثقَلتْ عُنقي

    وأَنت أَكثر خلقِ الله إِنصافا

    Your favors poured forth until they weighed down my neck,

    yet you are the most just of all God's creatures.