Sol 6.1

  1. مرت حياتي دون أمنيَة

    وتقلَّبت مَللا على ملل

    My life passed without a wish,

    And turned from weariness to weariness,

  2. حتى لقيتك ذات أمسية

    فعرفت فيك مطالع الأمل

    Until I met you one evening,

    And in you recognized the dawns of hope.

  3. طافت بي الأيام واحدة

    لم تلقني فرحاً ولا جزعا

    The days circled around me, all alike,

    Finding me neither joyful nor anguished;

  4. وتمرّ فارغة وحاشدة

    وقد استوت ضيقاً ومتّسعا

    And passed, whether empty or crowded,

    With narrowness and breadth grown equal.

  5. والعمر سارَ كأنه العدم

    سقمي به عندي كعافيتي

    And life went on as though it were nothingness;

    My sickness in it was, to me, the same as my health.

  6. فأذقتني ما لم يذقه فمٌ

    من أي كاس كنت ساقيتي

    Then you made me taste what no mouth had tasted.

    From what cup did you serve me, my cupbearer?

  7. ما هذه الدنيا التي اقتربت

    فيها المنى والظلّ والثمر

    What is this world, in which have drawn near

    Wishes, shade, and fruit?

  8. تجتاز وامضة فمذ وثبت

    وثب الهوى وتمهّل القدر

    It passes, flashing; from the moment it leapt,

    Love leapt, and fate slowed its pace.

  9. قدماك ما انتقلا على درج

    حاشاك بل خطرا على ثبج

    Your feet did not move upon steps;

    Far be it from you! Rather, they swayed upon a swell,

  10. كسفينة خفّت على اللجج

    نَشوى بما حملت من الفرَج

    Like a ship that skimmed upon the deep,

    Drunk with the relief it carried.

  11. في مظلم متعرج كابِ

    والليل تغزوني جحافله

    In a dark place, winding and gloomy,

    While night's legions assailed me,

  12. دقّت يد النعمى على بابي

    والعيش خابى النجم آفله

    The hand of bliss knocked at my door,

    While life's star was dim and setting.

  13. يا للمقادير الجسام ولي

    من ظلمها صرخات مجنون

    Oh, the mighty fates! And I have,

    From their injustice, a madman's screams,

  14. باكي الفؤاد مشرّد الأمل

    وقف الزمان وبابه دوني

    Weeping-hearted, with hope cast adrift;

    Time stood still, its door barring my way.

  15. مزّقتِ ظلمة كل ديجور

    وألنت ما قد كان منه عصَى

    You tore apart the darkness of every pitch-black night,

    And softened what in it had been unyielding,

  16. وفتحتِ مصراعيه للنور

    ما كنت إلا ساحراً وعصا

    And opened its two door-leaves to the light.

    You were nothing but a sorcerer and a staff.

  17. ماء ضربت الصخر فانبجسا

    وجرى الغداة زلاله العذب

    Water! You struck the rock, and it gushed forth,

    And in the morning its sweet, clear water flowed.

  18. أيقول دهري إن ما يبسا

    هيهات يرجع عوده الرطب

    Does my time say that what has dried

    Can never regain its fresh stem?

  19. صيّرت دعواه لتفنيدِ

    وحطمته وهزمت حجّته

    You refuted its claim,

    And shattered it, and defeated its argument,

  20. وأعدت ما قد جفّ من عودي

    مخضوضراً وأقمت صعدته

    And restored what had dried of my stem

    To greenness, and set its shaft upright.

  21. يا من رأت طللاً كتمثالِ

    يستعرض العمر الذي مرَّا

    O you who saw a ruin like a statue,

    Surveying the life that had passed,

  22. وكأنه في رسمه البالي

    ندم الأسيف ودمعة حرَّى

    And as though, in its faded outline, it were

    A sorrowful man's regret and a burning tear,

  23. ورد ذوى أو طائر صمتا

    العمر مثل الظلّ منتقل

    A rose that withered, or a bird fallen silent.

    Life, like a shadow, moves on.

  24. الناس لا يدرون من ومتى

    والناس إن علموا فقد جهلوا

    People know neither who nor when,

    And even if people know, they remain ignorant.

  25. ما خطبهم في روضة حالت

    أو صوّحت أفنانها الخُضُل

    What concern have they with a garden that has changed,

    Or whose lush branches have withered?

  26. نزل الربيع بها فنضّرها

    وأحالها بشبابه لحنا

    Spring descended upon it and refreshed it,

    And with its youth transformed it into a melody.

  27. ومشى الشتاء لها فغيّرها

    وأحالها لفظاً بلا معنى

    And winter walked to it and changed it,

    And turned it into a word without meaning.

  28. هذا حديث يشبه السِّحرا

    هيهات أفرغ من روايته

    This is a tale that resembles magic;

    I shall never finish telling it.

  29. شفق المغيب جعلته فجرا

    وبدأت عمري من نهايته

    You turned sunset's glow into dawn,

    And began my life from its end.

  30. إني لطيرٌ حائر باكِ

    قد كانت الأحزان فلسفتي

    I am indeed a bewildered, weeping bird;

    Sorrows had been my philosophy.

  31. ذابت حناناً يوم لقياك

    وجرت أغاريداً على شفتي

    They melted into tenderness the day I met you,

    And flowed as birdsong upon my lips.

  32. يا من طويت عليه جارحتي

    وسألت عنه الأنجم الزّهرا

    O you over whom I folded my wing,

    And about whom I asked the shining stars,

  33. وضربت في الصحراء أجنحتي

    أستلهم الكثبان والقفرا

    And I beat my wings in the desert,

    Seeking inspiration from the dunes and the wilderness.

  34. والماء أنهَل حيثما كانا

    والبرق أتبَع حيثما لمعا

    And I drink my fill of water wherever it is,

    And follow lightning wherever it flashes,

  35. فأرى صفاء الود غيمانا

    والمطلق المجهول ممتنعا

    So I see love's clarity clouded,

    And the unknown absolute beyond reach.