Sol 6.1

  1. لَعَلَّ فِراقَ الحَيِّ لِلبَينِ عامِدي

    عَشِيَّةَ قاراتِ الرُحَيلِ الفَوارِدِ

    Perhaps the tribe's departure is bent on parting from me,

    at dusk beside Ruhayl's solitary hills.

  2. لَعَمرُ الغَواني ما جَزَينَ صَبابَتي

    بِهِنَّ وَلا تَحبيرَ نَسجِ القَصائِدِ

    By the lives of the beauties, they have not repaid my yearning

    for them, nor the artful weaving of poems.

  3. وَكَم مِن صَديقٍ واصِلٍ قَد قَطَعنَهُ

    وَفَتَّنَّ مِن مُستَحكِمِ الدينِ عابِدِ

    How many a faithful friend they have cut off,

    and tempted many a worshipper firmly grounded in faith.

  4. فَإِنَّ الَّتي يَومَ الحَمامَةِ قَد صَبا

    لَها قَلبُ تَوّابٍ إِلى اللَهِ ساجِدِ

    For that woman, on the day at al-Hamamah, stirred desire

    in a penitent's heart, bowing down to God.

  5. رَأَيتُ الغَواني مولِعاتٍ لِذي الهَوى

    بِحُسنِ المُنى وَالبُخلِ عِندَ المَواعِدِ

    I have seen the beauties beguile a lover

    with lovely hopes, yet prove stingy at their trysts.

  6. لَقَد طالَ ما صِدنَ القُلوبَ بِأَعيُنٍ

    إِلى قَصَبٍ زَينِ البُرى وَالمَعاضِدِ

    Long indeed have they captured hearts with eyes,

    and slender limbs that grace their anklets and armlets.

  7. أَتُعذَرُ إِن أَبدَيتَ بَعدَ تَجَلُّدٍ

    شَواكِلَ مِن حُبٍّ طَريفٍ وَتالِدِ

    Are you excused if you reveal, after steadfast endurance,

    signs of love both new and long-held?

  8. وَنَطلُبُ وُدّاً مِنكِ لَو نَستَفيدُهُ

    لَكانَ إِلَينا مِن أَحَبِّ الفَوائِدِ

    We seek affection from you; if we could gain it,

    it would be among our dearest gains.

  9. فَلا تَجمَعي ذِكرَ الذُنوبِ لِتَبخَلي

    عَلَينا وَهِجرانَ المُدِلِّ المُباعِدِ

    So do not couple talk of faults, to withhold your favor

    from us, with the estrangement of the haughty and aloof.

  10. إِذا أَنتَ زُرتَ الغانِياتِ عَلى العَصا

    تَمَنَّينَ أَن تُسقى دِماءَ الأَساوِدِ

    When you visit the beauties leaning on a staff,

    they wish you black serpents' blood to drink.

  11. أَعِفُّ عَنِ الجارِ القَريبِ مَزارُهُ

    وَأَطلُبُ أَشطانَ الهُمومِ الأَباعِدِ

    I refrain from the neighbor whose dwelling is near,

    and seek the long cords of far-off ambitions.

  12. لَقَد كانَ داءٌ بِالعِراقِ فَما لَقوا

    طَبيباً شَفى أَدوائَهُم مِثلَ خالِدِ

    Indeed, there was an ailment in Iraq; they found no

    physician who healed their ills like Khalid.

  13. شَفاهُم بِرِفقٍ خالَطَ الحِلمَ وَالتُقى

    وَسيرَةِ مَهدِيٍّ إِلى الحَقِّ قاسِدِ

    He healed them with gentleness mingled with forbearance and piety,

    and the conduct of a rightly guided man intent on truth.

  14. فَإِنَّ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ حَباكُمُ

    بِمُستَبصِرٍ في الدينِ زَينِ المَساجِدِ

    For the Commander of the Faithful has endowed you

    with one discerning in religion, an ornament of the mosques.

  15. وَإِنّا لَنَرجو أَن تُرافِقَ رُفقَةً

    يَكونونَ لِلفِردَوسِ أَوَّلَ وارِدِ

    And we truly hope you will join a company

    who will be the first to enter Paradise.

  16. فَإِنَّ اِبنَ عَبدِ اللَهِ قَد عُرِفَت لَهُ

    مَواطِنُ لا تُخزيهِ عِندا المَشاهِدِ

    For Ibn Abd Allah is known for

    stands that bring him no shame at public assemblies.

  17. فَأَبلى أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ أَمانَةً

    وَأَبلاهُ صِدقاً في الأُمورِ الشَدائِدِ

    So he proved his trustworthiness to the Commander of the Faithful,

    and proved to him his truthfulness in difficult affairs.

  18. إِذا ما أَرادَ الناسُ مِنهُ ظُلامَةً

    أَبى الضَيمَ فَاِستَعصى عَلى كُلِّ قائِدِ

    When people sought to wrong him,

    he rejected oppression and defied every leader.

  19. وَكَيفَ يَرومُ الناسُ شَيئاً مَنَعتَهُ

    هَوى بَينَ أَنيابِ اللُيوثِ الحَوارِدِ

    And how can anyone seek something you have forbidden?

    He would fall between the fangs of enraged lions.

  20. إِذا جَمَعَ الأَعداءُ أَمرَ مَكيدَةٍ

    لِغَدرٍ كَفاكَ اللَهُ كَيدَ المُكايِدِ

    If the enemies combine their plans in a plot

    for treachery, God shields you from the schemer's plotting.

  21. تُعِدُّ سَرابيلَ الحَديدِ مَعَ القَنا

    وَشُعثَ النَواصي كَالضِراءِ الطَوارِدِ

    You prepare coats of iron together with lances,

    and shaggy-forelocked steeds, like hunting hounds in pursuit.

  22. إِذا ما لَقيتَ القِرنَ في حارَةِ الوَغى

    تَنَفَّسَ مِن جَيّاشَةٍ ذاتِ عانِدِ

    When you meet your adversary in the arena of battle,

    he breathes through a gushing wound, its blood flowing unstaunched.

  23. وَإِن فَتَنَ الشَيطانُ أَهلَ ضَلالَةٍ

    لَقوا مِنكَ حَرباً حَميُها غَيرُ بارِدِ

    And if Satan beguiles those who stray,

    they meet from you a war whose heat never cools.

  24. إِذا كانَ أَمنٌ كانَ قَلبُكَ مُؤمِناً

    وَإِن كانَ خَوفٌ كُنتَ أَحكَمَ ذائِدِ

    When there is safety, your heart is faithful,

    and when there is fear, you are the wisest defender.

  25. وَما زِلتَ تَسمو لِلمَكارِمِ وَالعُلى

    وَتَعمُرُ عِزّاً مُستَنيرَ المَوارِدِ

    You have never ceased aspiring to noble deeds and eminence,

    and building glory whose wellsprings shine brightly.

  26. إِذا عُدَّ أَيّامُ المَكارِمِ فَاِفتَخِر

    بِآبائِكَ الشُمِّ الطِوالِ السَواعِدِ

    When the days of noble deeds are counted, take pride

    in your lofty forefathers, long of arm.

  27. فَكَم لَكَ مِن بانٍ طَويلٍ بِناؤُهُ

    وَفي آلِ صَعبٍ مِن خَطيبٍ وَوافِدِ

    So how many a builder you have whose building stands tall,

    and how many an orator and envoy in the house of Sa'b.

  28. يَسُرُّكَ أَيّامَ المُحَصَّبِ ذِكرُهُم

    وَعِندَ مَقامِ الهَديِ ذاتِ القَلائِدِ

    Their remembrance delights you in the days at al-Muhassab,

    and at the station of the garlanded sacrificial animals.

  29. تَمَكَّنتَ في حَيِّي مَعَدٍّ مِنَ الذُرى

    وَفي يَمَنٍ أَعلى كَريمِ المَوالِدِ

    You hold a place on the summits among Ma'add's two tribes,

    and in Yemen, highest in noble birth.

  30. فُروعٍ وَأَصلٍ مِن بَجيلَةَ في الذُرى

    إِلى اِبنِ نِزارٍ كانَ عَمّاً وَوالِدِ

    With branches and a root from Bajilah upon the heights,

    back to the son of Nizar, who was an uncle and a father.

  31. حَمَيتَ ثُغورَ المُسلِمينَ فَلَم تُضِع

    وَما زِلتَ رَأساً قاَئِداً وَاِبنَ قائِدِ

    You guarded the Muslims' frontiers and did not neglect them,

    and have always been a chief, a leader, and a leader's son.

  32. فَإِنَّكَ قَد أُعطيتَ نَصراً عَلى العِدى

    فَأَصبَحتَ نوراً ضَوءُهُ غَيرُ خامِدِ

    For you have been granted victory over the foes,

    and become a light whose radiance never dies.

  33. بَنَيتَ بِناءً ما بَنى الناسُ مِثلَهُ

    يَكادُ يُساوى سورُهُ بِالفَراقِدِ

    You built a structure whose like no one has built,

    its wall almost rivals the Farqad stars.

  34. وَأُعطيتَ ما أَعيا القُرونَ الَّتي مَضَت

    فَنَحمَدُ مِفضالاً وَلِيَّ المَحامِدِ

    And you have been granted what eluded generations past,

    so we praise a generous giver, master of praiseworthy deeds.

  35. إِنَّ الَّذي أَنفَقتَ حَزمٌ وَقُوَّةٌ

    فَأَبشِر بِأَضعافٍ مِنَ الرِبحِ زائِدِ

    Surely what you have spent shows resolve and strength,

    so rejoice in manyfold and growing profit.

  36. لَقَد كانَ في أَنهارِ دِجلَةَ نِعمَةٌ

    وَحُظوَةُ جَدٍّ لِلخَليفَةِ صاعِدِ

    Indeed, there was a blessing in the Tigris's channels,

    and the favor of rising fortune for the caliph—

  37. عَطاءَ الَّذي أَعطى الخَليفَةَ مُلكَهُ

    وَيَكفيهِ تَزفارُ النُفوسِ الحَواسِدِ

    a gift from Him who gave the caliph his dominion,

    and shields him from the sighs of envious souls.

  38. جَرَت لَكَ أَنهارٌ بِيُمنٍ وَأَسعُدٍ

    إِلى جَنَّةٍ في صَحصَحانِ الأَجالِدِ

    Rivers have flowed for you with blessing and good fortune,

    to a garden amid broad plains of hard earth.

  39. يُنَبِّتنَ أَعناباً وَنَخلاً مُبارَكاً

    وَأَنقاءَ بُرٍّ في جُرونِ الحَصائِدِ

    They make grapes and blessed palms grow,

    and mounds of wheat on the harvest's threshing floors.

  40. إِذا ما بَعَثنا رائِداً يَبتَغي النَدى

    أَتانا بِحَمدِ اللَهِ أَحمَدَ رائِدِ

    Whenever we send a scout in search of bounty,

    he returns to us, praise be to God, the most praiseworthy scout.

  41. فَهَل لَكَ في عانٍ وَلَيسَ بِشاكِرٍ

    فَتُطلِقَهُ مِن طولِ عَضِّ الحَدائِدِ

    Would you favor a captive who is not grateful,

    and free him from the irons' prolonged biting?

  42. يَعودُ وَكانَ الخُبثُ مِنهُ سَجِيَّةً

    وَإِن قالَ إِنّي مُعتِبٌ غَيرُ عائِدِ

    He will relapse, for wickedness was his nature,

    even if he says, "I will make amends and never return."

  43. نَدِمتَ وَما تُغني النَدامَةُ بَعدَما

    تَطَوَّحتَ مِن صَكِّ البُزاةِ الصَوائِدِ

    You regretted it, but regret avails nothing once

    you have been flung headlong by the blows of hunting falcons.

  44. وَكَيفَ نَجاةٌ لِلفَرَزدَقِ بَعدَما

    ضَغا وَهوَ في أَشداقِ أَغلَبَ حارِدِ

    And how can al-Farazdaq escape after

    he yelped while in the jaws of a thick-necked, raging lion?

  45. أَلَم تَرَ كَفَّي خالِدٍ قَد أَفادَتا

    عَلى الناسِ رِفداً مِن كَثيرِ الرَوافِدِ

    Have you not seen Khalid's two hands bestow

    on the people a bounty among his many bounties?

  46. بَني مالِكٍ إِنَّ الفَرَزدَقَ لَم يَزَل

    كَسوباً لِعارِ المُخزِياتِ الخَوالِدِ

    O sons of Malik, al-Farazdaq has never ceased

    earning the shame of everlasting disgraces.

  47. فَلا تَقبَلوا ضَربَ الفَرَزدَقِ إِنَّهُ

    هُوَ الزيفُ يَنفي ضَربَهُ كُلُّ ناقِدِ

    So do not accept al-Farazdaq's coinage, for he

    is counterfeit; every assayer rejects his minting.

  48. وَإِنّا وَجَدنا إِذ وَفَدنا عَلَيكُمُ

    صُدورَ القَنا وَالخَيلَ أَنجَحَ وافِدِ

    And when we came to you as delegates, we found

    spearheads and cavalry to be the most successful envoys.

  49. أَلَم تَرَ يَربوعاً إِذا ما ذَكَرتُهُم

    وَأَيّامَهُم شَدّوا مُتونَ القَصائِدِ

    Have you not seen that Yarbu', when I recall them

    and their battle-days, strengthen the fabric of the poems?

  50. فَمَن لَكَ إِن عَدَّدتَ مِثلَ فَوارِسي

    حَوَوا حَكَماً وَالحَضرَمِيَّ بنَ خالِدِ

    Whom have you, if you count them, to match my horsemen,

    who captured Hakam and al-Hadrami ibn Khalid?

  51. أَسالَ لَهُ النَهرَ المُبارَكَ فَاِرتَمى

    بِمِثلِ الرَوابي المُزبِداتِ الحَواشِدِ

    He made the blessed river flow for him; it surged

    with foaming, massing waves like hills.

  52. فَزِد خالِداً مِثلَ الَّذي في يَمينِهِ

    تَجِدهُ عَنِ الإِسلامِ أَكرَمَ ذائِدِ

    So grant Khalid as much again as his right hand holds;

    you will find him Islam's noblest defender.

  53. كَأَنّي وَلا ظُلماً أَخافُ لِخالِدٍ

    مِنَ الخَوفِ أُسقى مِن سِمامِ الأَساوِدِ

    It is as if—though I fear no injustice from Khalid—

    in my fear I am given black serpents' venom to drink.

  54. وَإِنّي لَأَرجو خالِداً أَن يَفُكَّني

    وَيُطلِقَ عَنّي مُقفَلاتِ الحَدائِدِ

    And I truly hope Khalid will release me

    and remove from me the locked irons.

  55. تَكَشَّفَتِ الظَلماءُ عَن نورِ وَجهِهِ

    لِضَوءِ شِهابٍ ضَوءُهُ غَيرُ خامِدِ

    The darkness parted to reveal the light of his face,

    the radiance of a blazing star whose light never fades.

  56. أَلا تَذكُرونَ الرِحمَ أَو تُقرِضونَني

    لَكُم خُلُقاً مِن واسِعِ الخُلقِ ماجِدِ

    Will you not remember kinship, or lend me

    a virtue of yours, from a noble and generous character?

  57. لَكُم مِثلُ كَفَّي خالِدٍ حينَ يَشتَري

    بِكُلِّ طَريفٍ كُلَّ حَمدٍ وَتالِدِ

    You have the like of Khalid's two hands when he buys

    every kind of praise with all his newly gained and inherited wealth.

  58. فَإِن يَكُ قَيدي رَدَّ هَمّي فَرُبَّما

    تَناوَلتُ أَطرافَ الهُمومِ الأَباعِدِ

    If my fetters have checked my ambition, often

    I have reached the farthest ends of distant ambitions,

  59. مِنَ الحامِلاتِ الحَمدِ لَمّا تَكَشَّفَت

    ذَلاذِلُها وَاِستَوأَرَت لِلمُناشِدِ

    among the praise-bearing ones, when they bared

    their trailing hems and became forbidding to the supplicant.

  60. فَهَل لِاِبنِ عَبدِ اللَهِ في شاكِرٍ لَهُ

    بِمَعروفٍ أَن أَطلَقتَ قَيدَيهِ حامِدِ

    Would Ibn Abd Allah favor one grateful to him,

    praising your kindness in releasing both his fetters?

  61. وَما مِن بَلاءٍ غَيرَ كُلِّ عَشِيَّةٍ

    وَكُلِّ صَباحٍ زائِدٍ غَيرِ عائِدِ

    There is no affliction but, every evening

    and every morning, it grows, never receding.

  62. يَقولُ لِيَ الحَدّادُ هَل أَنتَ قائِمٌ

    وَما أَنا إِلّا مِثلُ آخَرَ قاعِدِ

    The smith says to me, "Are you standing?"

    Yet I am only like another man sitting.

  63. كَأَنّي حَروري ضَلَّهُ فَوقَ كَعبَةٍ

    ثَلاثونَ قَيناً مِن صَريمٍ وَكايِدِ

    As though I were a Haruri, over whose ankle loomed

    thirty smiths from Sarim and Ka'id.

  64. وَما إِن بِدينٍ ظاهَروا فَوقَ ساقِهِ

    وَقَد عَلِموا أَن لَيسَ ديني بِنافِدِ

    It was not on religious grounds that they piled irons on his leg,

    and they knew that my faith was not exhausted.

  65. وَيَروي عَلَيَّ الشِعرَ ما أَنا قُلتُهُ

    كَمُعتَرِضٍ لِلريحِ بَينَ الطَرائِدِ

    And he recites against me verses I never uttered,

    like one confronting the wind among the hunted beasts.