Sol 6.1

  1. عَفا مُسحَلانُ مِن سُلَيمى فَحامِرُه

    تُمَشّي بِهِ ظِلمانُهُ وَجَآذِرُه

    Musḥalān, where Sulaymā dwelt, has faded, and its Ḥāmir too;

    Its male ostriches and wild-ox calves wander there,

  2. بِمُستَأسِدِ القُريانِ حُوٍّ نَباتُهُ

    فَنَوّارُهُ ميلٌ إِلى الشَمسِ زاهِرُه

    Amid luxuriant watercourses, their vegetation dark green;

    Its flowers, bright in bloom, lean toward the sun.

  3. كَأَنَّ يَهوداً نَشَّرَت فيهِ بَزَّها

    بُروداً وَرَقماً فاتَكَ البَيعَ تاجِرُه

    As though Jews had spread their fabrics there—

    Striped garments and patterned cloth—its merchant has outstripped you in trade.

  4. خَلا النُؤيَ بِالعَلياءِ لَم يَعفُهُ البِلى

    إِذا لَم تَأَوَّبهُ الجَنوبَ تُباكِرُه

    Except for the tent-trench on the high ground, not effaced by decay;

    When the south wind does not visit it by night, it visits it at dawn.

  5. رَأَت رائِحاً جَوناً فَقامَت غَريرَةٌ

    بِمِسحاتِها قَبلَ الظَلامِ تُبادِرُه

    A guileless young woman saw a dark evening cloud and rose,

    With her spade, racing it before darkness.

  6. فَما فَرَغَت حَتّى أَتى الماءُ دونَها

    وَسَدَّت نَواحيهِ وَرُفِّعَ دابِرُه

    She had not yet finished when the water came up before her,

    And she sealed its sides, and its rear bank was raised.

  7. فَهَل كُنتُ إِلّا نائِياً إِذ دَعَوتَني

    مُنادى عُبَيدانَ المُحَلَّإِ باقِرُه

    Was I not far away when you called me,

    As far as the call of ʿUbaydān, whose cattle are driven away,

  8. بِذي قَرقَرى إِذ شُهَّدُ الناسِ حَولَنا

    فَأَسدَيتَ ما أَعيا بِكَفَّيكَ نائِرُه

    At Dhū Qarqarā, with the people's witnesses around us?

    So you laid a warp whose weaver was baffled in your hands.

  9. فَلَمّا خَشيتُ الهونَ وَالعيرُ مُمسِكٌ

    عَلى رَغمِهِ ما أَثبَتَ الحَبلَ حافِرُه

    But when I feared humiliation, with the ass holding back,

    Against its will, as long as its hoof held the rope fast,

  10. وَلَّيتُ لا آسى عَلى نائِلِ اِمرِئٍ

    طَوى كَشحَهُ عَنّي وَقَلَّت أَواصِرُه

    I turned away, not grieving over the bounty of a man

    Who turned his flank from me, and whose ties had dwindled.

  11. وَأَكرَمتُ نَفسي اليَومَ مِن سوءِ طُعمَةٍ

    وَيَقنى الحَياءَ المَرءُ وَالرُمحُ شاجِرُه

    And today I preserved my dignity from a degrading livelihood;

    A man keeps his sense of shame even while a spear pierces him.

  12. وَكُنتُ كَذاتِ البَعلِ ذارَت بِأَنفِها

    فَمِن ذاكَ تَبغي غَيرَهُ أَو تُهاجِرُه

    I was like a wife who turned up her nose,

    And therefore seeks another husband, or shuns him.

  13. وَكَلَّفتَني مَجدَ اِمرِئٍ لَن تَنالَهُ

    وَما قَدَّمَت آباؤُهُ وَمَآثِرُه

    You burdened me with a man's glory that you will never attain,

    And what his forefathers and his noble deeds have built up.

  14. تَوانَيتَ حَتّى كُنتَ مِن غِبِّ أَمرِهِ

    عَلى مَفخَرٍ إِن قُمتَ يَوماً تُفاخِرُه

    You dallied until, in the wake of his deeds, you stood

    Before a source of pride, should you one day rise to rival him.

  15. فَدَع آلَ شَمّاسِ بنِ لَأيٍ فَإِنَّهُم

    عَلى مَرقَبٍ ما حَولَهُ هُوَ قاهِرُه

    So leave the house of Shammās ibn Laʾy alone, for they

    Stand upon a height that dominates everything around it.

  16. وَفاخِر بِهِم في آلِ سَعدٍ فَإِنَّهُم

    مَواليكَ أَو كاثِر بِهِم مَن تُكاثِرُه

    Boast of them among the house of Saʿd, for they are

    Your allies—or vie through them in numbers with anyone you challenge.

  17. فَإِنَّ الصَفا العادِيَّ لَن تَستَطيعَهُ

    فَأَقصِر وَلَم يَلحَق مِنَ الشَرِّ آخِرُه

    For you will never overcome the age-old rock;

    So desist, before the last of the harm catches up with you.

  18. أَتَحصُرُ قَوماً أَن يَجودوا بِمالِهِم

    فَهَلّا قَتيلَ الهُرمُزانِ تُحاصِرُه

    Would you restrain a people from giving freely of their wealth?

    Then why not besiege the man slain by al-Hurmuzān?

  19. فَلا المالُ إِن جادوا بِهِ أَنتَ مانِعٌ

    وَلا العِزُّ مِن بُنيانِهِم أَنتَ عاقِرُه

    You cannot withhold their wealth if they give it freely,

    Nor can you tear the glory from their edifice,

  20. وَلا هادِمٌ بُنيانَ مَن شُرِّفَت لَهُ

    قُرَيعُ بنُ عَوفٍ خَلفُهُ وَأَكابِرُه

    Nor raze the edifice of one through whom were exalted

    Qurayʿ ibn ʿAwf, its descendants and its elders.

  21. أَلَم أَكُ مِسكيناً إِلى اللَهِ مُسلِماً

    عَلى رَأسِهِ أَن يَظلِمَ الناسَ زاجِرُه

    Was I not a poor man, submitting myself to God,

    With his restrainer above his head, forbidding him to wrong people?

  22. فَإِن تَكُ ذا عِزٍّ حَديثٍ فَإِنَّهُم

    ذَوُو إِرثِ مَجدٍ لَم تَخُنهُم زَوافِرُه

    If you possess newly acquired honor, they are

    Heirs to glory whose supports have never failed them.

  23. وَإِن تَكُ ذا شاءٍ كَثيرٍ فَإِنَّهُم

    ذَوُو جامِلٍ لا يَهدَأُ اللَيلَ سامِرُه

    And if you own many sheep, they possess

    A camel herd whose watcher finds no rest at night.

  24. وَإِن تَكُ ذا قَرمٍ أَزَبَّ فَإِنَّهُم

    يُلاقى لَهُم قَرمٌ هِجانٌ أَباعِرُه

    And if you own a shaggy camel stallion, they

    Have a stallion whose camels are white and purebred.

  25. لَهُم سَورَةٌ في المَجدِ لَو تَرتَدي بِها

    بَراطيلُ جَوّابٍ نَبَت وَمَناقِرُه

    They have such lofty glory that, if struck by

    Jawwāb's long stones, they would rebound, and his picks too.

  26. قَرَوا جارَكَ العَيمانَ لَمّا تَرَكتَهُ

    وَقَلَّصَ عَن بَردِ الشَرابِ مَشافِرُه

    They fed your neighbor, thirsting for milk, when you abandoned him,

    His lips shriveled for want of cool drink—

  27. سَناماً وَمَحضاً أَنبَتا اللَحمَ فَاِكتَسَت

    عِظامُ اِمرِئٍ ما كانَ يَشبَعُ طائِرُه

    With hump-meat and pure milk, which grew flesh and clothed

    The bones of a man whose bird had never been sated.

  28. هُمُ لاحَموني بَعدَ جَهدٍ وَفاقَةٍ

    كَما لاحَمَ العَظمَ الكَسيرَ جَبائِرُه

    They knit me together after hardship and want,

    As a broken bone is knit together by its splints.