Sol 6.1

  1. أًحسنتُم إِن تُحسنوا في الفِعْلِ

    بقطعِ قَطْعِي وبَوَصْلِ وَصْلي

    You would do well, if you showed kindness in deed,

    by cutting off my estrangement and renewing my union.

  2. أَنعمتمُ من قبلِ أَنْ أَسأَلكم

    ما نالَ هذا عاشقٌ مِنْ قَبْلي

    You bestowed favors before I asked you;

    no lover before me ever attained this.

  3. أَسرتُمُ سرِّي بإِنعامِكم

    كما عقَلْتم بالنَّعيم عقلي

    You captured my inner self with your favors,

    just as you bound my mind with bliss.

  4. للناس أَشغالٌ ولكنكم

    وحقِّكم دونَ الأَنامِ شُغْلي

    People have their occupations, but you—

    and by your honor, you alone among mankind occupy me.

  5. قد كنتُ أَخشَى القتلَ من صدِّكم

    فكان منكُم بالوصالِ قَتْلي

    I had feared death from your rejection,

    and from you, through union, came my death.

  6. فوصلُكم ولا عدمتُ وصلَكم

    إِن شئتَ يغْري أَو أَردت يسلي

    Your union—may I never lose your union—

    inflames, if you wish, or consoles, if you choose.

  7. في كُلِّ حال أَنا مقتولُ الهوى

    ما أَنتَ مِنِّي يا هوىً في حِلِّ

    In every state I am slain by love;

    you are not absolved by me, O love.

  8. وكُلَّ يومٍ لفُؤادِي فتنةٌ

    بفاتِن الحسنِ نحيفٍ عبْلِ

    And every day my heart is tempted

    by one of bewitching beauty, slender yet full-fleshed.

  9. فخِصْرُه أَنحفُ من عاشِقِه

    وردفُه مثلُ كثيبِ الرَّمْل

    His waist is thinner than his lover,

    and his hips are like a dune of sand.

  10. بل رِدْفُه كالجدِّ تحت خِصْرِه

    وخِصْرُه من فوقِه كالهزل

    Rather, his hips are like earnestness beneath his waist,

    and his waist above them is like a jest.

  11. يقول للأَنجمِ في سمائِها

    أَهلاً وسهلاً بكُمُ يا أَهْلي

    He says to the stars in their sky,

    “Welcome to you, O my kin!”

  12. كالبدر في سَنَائِه وسِنِّه

    بل هو أَبهى منه للمُسْتَجْلي

    Like the full moon in radiance and age,

    nay, he is lovelier than it to the beholder.

  13. فيا طفيليَّ عِذَارِ خدِّه

    لقد تطفلتَ على ذا الطِّفل

    O intruder upon the down of his cheek,

    you have indeed intruded upon this child.

  14. يريكَ قدَّ الرُّمحِ من قامَتِه

    وطرفُه يريكَ قدَّ النَّصل

    He shows you a spear's stature in his height,

    and his gaze shows you how a blade cuts.

  15. فطرفُه كُوِّنَ من مضائه

    والخدُّ من فِرِنْدِهِ والصَّقْل

    His gaze was fashioned from its sharpness,

    and his cheek from its watered pattern and polish.

  16. كم قال لي من تِيهه وعجْبِه

    مثلُك لا يَعْشَقُ إِلاَّ مِثْلي

    How often, in his pride and self-admiration, he told me,

    “One like you loves only one like me.

  17. فمَنْ إِلى سُوقِكَ ساقَ فِتْنَتي

    ومَن عَلى قتلِك دلَّ دَلِّي

    Who, then, drove my allure into your market?

    And who directed my coquetry toward killing you?”

  18. وحسنُه المقبل في شَبَابه

    يعجب من شبابِي المولِّي

    His beauty, advancing in his youth,

    marvels at my youth as it retreats.

  19. يا غُلةً لي في الحَشا على الصِّبا

    ما أَنت إِلاَّ للحشا كالغلِّ

    O burning thirst in my heart for youth,

    you are to my heart nothing but a shackle!

  20. ولايةُ الشباب كانت عزَّتي

    فذقت طعمَ الذُّلِّ يوم عزلي

    The office of youth was my glory;

    I tasted humiliation on the day of my dismissal.

  21. وسوف أَسلوهُ ويَبْلَى ذِكْرُه

    فالدَّهر يُسْلِي والزمانُ يُبْلي

    I shall yet forget it, and its memory will fade,

    for time consoles, and time wears away.

  22. وربما أَشكره مُوَلِّياً

    كراحتِي من استماعِ العَذْل

    Perhaps I shall even thank it as it departs,

    as when I am spared the hearing of reproach.

  23. فقل لعذَّالي عني إِنَّني

    أَنَخْتُ إِبْلِي وحَطَطْتُ رَحْلي

    Tell my reproachers on my behalf that I

    have made my camels kneel and set down my saddle.

  24. ومذ رماني الشَّيْبُ عن قوسِ النهى

    رميتُ قَوْسِي وكَسَرْت نَبْلِي

    And since grey hair shot at me from reason's bow,

    I cast away my bow and broke my arrows.

  25. وإِن يكن بالحبِّ حقّاً للورَى

    نَقْصِي فبالأَفضل بان فَضْلِي

    If love truly diminishes me in people's eyes,

    through al-Afdal my merit has become plain.

  26. وسار ذكْرى وارتقت منزلتي

    وطال فَرْعي واسْتقَرَّ أَصلي

    My renown spread, and my station rose;

    my branch grew tall, and my root stood firm.

  27. وجلَّ قدري بكتابٍ جاءَني

    منهُ دَعانِي فيه بالأَجَلِّ

    My worth grew great through a letter that reached me

    from him, in which he called me “Most Illustrious.”

  28. عَلَتْ به مَرْتَبتي ولم يَزَلْ

    يعلو عَليٌّ في الورى ويُعلي

    My rank rose through it, and ever

    Ali rises among mankind and raises others.

  29. أَيُّ كتابٍ قد حوت سطُوره

    جوداً جزيلاً بكلام جزل

    What a letter, whose lines contain

    lavish bounty in weighty words!

  30. فكل طول قد أتى في طيه

    وكل فَضْلٍ قد أَتى في فَصْلِ

    All bounty has come within its folds,

    and every grace has come within a section.

  31. كأَنه من عند ربِّي جاءَني

    بأَنَّ في جنَّةِ عَدْنٍ نُزْلي

    It was as though it came to me from my Lord,

    announcing that my lodging is in the Garden of Eden.

  32. فكان في رفْعي له كملْكِي

    وكان من لثمي له كخِلِّي

    When I raised it, it was like my king,

    and when I kissed it, it was like my beloved.

  33. أَقلُّ هذا البر حازَ أَكثري

    وبعضُ هذا الفضْلِ حَاز كُلِّي

    The least of this kindness won most of me,

    and a portion of this bounty won all of me.

  34. للهِ ما أَعجزَنِي عن شُكْرِه

    والعَجْزُ لا أَعهدُه من فِعْلي

    By God, how helpless I am to thank him!

    Helplessness is unknown to me in my deeds.

  35. وكيف لي بشكر من أَذْهلَنِي

    حتى غَدا علمِيَ مثل جَهلي

    How can I thank one who has bewildered me

    until my knowledge has become like my ignorance?

  36. وكم لنورِ الدِّين عِنْدي مِنْ يَدٍ

    قد نَوَّرَتْ إِلى العَلاءِ سُبْلِي

    How many favors Nur al-Din has bestowed on me,

    lighting my paths toward eminence!

  37. متى أَراني قاصِداً جنابَهُ

    أَحثُّ خيلي وأَحُثُّ رجلي

    When shall I see myself heading for his court,

    urging on my horses and urging on my footmen?

  38. متى أَراني ساكناً في ظله

    يا حرَّ أَشواقي لذاك الظِّل

    When shall I see myself dwelling in his shade?

    O the heat of my longings for that shade!

  39. متى أَرَاني داخلاً من بابه

    وقد وَضَعْتُ خَلْفَ ظَهْرِي ثِقْلي

    When shall I see myself entering through his door,

    having laid my burden behind my back?

  40. متى أَراني وَاطِئاً بِساطَه

    أَسْعى برأْسِي فوقَه لاَ رِجْلِي

    When shall I see myself treading his carpet,

    hastening across it on my head, not my feet?

  41. متى أَراني كاتِباً لدَسْتِه

    أَكتبُ فيه مُعْجِزِي وأُمْلِي

    When shall I see myself a scribe for his throne,

    writing my inimitable words there and dictating them?

  42. أَكتب عنه ما يُحلِّي ملكَه

    ومِثْلُ ما أَكتبُه يُحلِّي

    I write on his behalf what adorns his kingdom,

    and writing such as mine is an adornment.

  43. أَكتب ما يُدْني له مَرامَه

    ويجعلُ الصَّعْبَ له كالسَّهل

    I write what brings his goal within his reach

    and makes the difficult easy for him.

  44. أَكتب ما يُغْنِيه عن كتائبٍ

    مراجلُ الحروبِ فيها تغلي

    I write what spares him the need for armies

    in which the cauldrons of war boil.

  45. والأَمر في أَمري إِليه راجعٌ

    إِليه عَقْدِي وإِليه حَلِّي

    The decision in my affairs rests with him:

    with him lies my binding, and with him my release.

  46. وإِنَّما عيبي زماني عاجزٌ

    إِني الحُسام في يَدِ الأَشل

    My only flaw is that my times are powerless:

    I am the keen sword in a palsied man's hand.

  47. لابدَّ أَن يرفعَ شَأْنِي مَلِكٌ

    يَعرفُ لي نَباهَتي ونُبْلي

    A king must surely raise my standing,

    one who recognizes my eminence and nobility.

  48. ملِكٌ ملوكُ الأَرضِ تَروِي فضلَه

    حُبّاً ومن أَفْعالِه تَسْتَملي

    A king whose merit the kings of earth recount

    out of love, taking dictation from his deeds.

  49. مُحيي الهُدى ببأْسه على العدى

    وقاتلُ الجَوْرِ بسيفِ العدل

    Reviver of guidance through his might against his foes,

    and slayer of injustice with the sword of justice.

  50. فعدلُه ودام فينا عدْلُهُ

    طهَّر أَخلاقَ الزمانِ الرَّذْل

    His justice—may his justice endure among us—

    has cleansed the morals of this base age.

  51. يفخرُ من يقتلُه بسيفِه

    إِذ كَان يحيا ذِكْرُهُ بالقَتْل

    Whoever he kills with his sword takes pride,

    for his memory lives on through being slain.

  52. هذا عَليٌّ كعليٍّ في الوغى

    هذا الأَميرُ كأَميرِ النحل

    This is Ali, like Ali in the battle-fray;

    this prince is like the prince of bees.

  53. جمعتُ شملَ الشِّعرِ فيك مادحاً

    لمَّا جمعتَ بالنَوال شَمْلي

    I gathered poetry's scattered parts in praise of you,

    when through your bounty you gathered my scattered affairs.

  54. ولم أَزل على نداك والجاً

    إِنِّي على نَدَاك كالمُدْلِ

    I have never ceased coming to your bounty;

    indeed, I approach your bounty with familiar confidence.

  55. وقلَّ قَوْليَ في كثيرٍ نِلْتُه

    يا رحمةَ المكثِر لِلْمُقِلِّ

    And my words are few beside the much I have received,

    O mercy of the wealthy toward the needy!