Sol 6.1

  1. رَنا وَاْنَثنى كالسَّيفِ وَالصَّعْدَةِ السَّمْرا

    فَما أَكْثَرَ الْقَتْلَى وَما أَرْخَصَ الأسْرى

    He gazed and swayed like a sword and a dusky lance;

    so how numerous the slain, and how cheap the captives!

  2. خُذُوا حِذْرَكُمْ مِنْ خارِجِيِّ عِذارِهِ

    فَقَدْ جاءَ زَحْفاً فِي كَتِيبَتِهِ الْخَضْرا

    Take your precautions against his rebel cheek-down,

    for he has come advancing in his green battalion.

  3. غلامٌ أرادَ اللَّهُ إِطْفاءَ فِتْنَةٍ

    بِعارِضِهِ فَاسْتَأنَفَتْ فِتْنَةً أُخْرى

    A youth—God sought to extinguish one temptation

    with his cheek-beard, yet it kindled another temptation.

  4. فَزَرْفَنَ بِالأصْداغِ جَنَّةَ خَدِّهِ

    وَأرْخَى عَلَيْها مِنْ عَوارِضِهِ سِتْرَا

    So he fitted his cheek's garden with ring-handles of temple-locks,

    and lowered over it a curtain of his cheek-beard.

  5. أغَرُّ يُناجي شَعْرُهُ حَلْيَ خُصْرِهِ

    كَما يُعْتِبُ الْمَعشوقُ عاشِقَهُ سِرَّا

    A bright-browed youth, whose hair whispers to his waist's ornaments,

    as the beloved secretly appeases his lover.

  6. وَصَلْتُ بِداجِي شَعْرِهِ لَيْلَ وَصْلِهِ

    فَلَمْ أَخْشَ صُبْحاً غَيْرَ غُرَّتِهِ الْغَرَّا

    I joined our night of union to his hair's darkness,

    and feared no dawn except his radiant brow.

  7. أُخوضُ عُبابَ الْمَوْتِ مِنْ دونِ ثَغْرِهِ

    كَذاكَ بَغوصُ الْبَحْرَ مَن طَلَبَ الدُّرَّا

    I plunge through death's surging depths to reach his mouth;

    thus whoever seeks pearls dives into the sea.

  8. غَزالٌ رَخيمُ الدَّلِّ فِي يَومِ سَلْمِهِ

    وَلَيثٌ لَهُ فِي حَرْبِهِ البَطْشَةُ الكُبْرى

    A gazelle of gentle coquetry on his day of peace,

    and a lion whose onslaught in war is supreme.

  9. دَرِيُّ بَحَمْلِ الكأْسِ فِي يَوْمِ لَذَّةٍ

    وَلكنْ بِحَمْلِ السَّيْفِ يَوْمَ الوَغى أَدْرى

    Skilled at bearing the cup on a day of pleasure,

    but more skilled at bearing the sword on battle's day.

  10. أَهِيمُ بِهِ فِي عَقْدِهِ أَوْ نِجادِهِ

    فَلا بُدَّ فِي السَّرَّاءِ مِنْهُ وَفِي الضَّرَّا

    I am love-mad for him, in his necklace or his sword-belt;

    for I cannot do without him, in prosperity and adversity.

  11. وصَامِتَةِ الخُلْخالِ أَنَّ وْشاحُها

    فَهذا قَدِ اسْتَغْنَى وَذا يَشْتَكي الفَقْرا

    And a woman whose anklet was silent, while her sash groaned:

    this one had grown rich, while that one complained of poverty.

  12. تَلأَلأَ دُرُّ العِقْدِ تِيهاً بِجيدِها

    وَساكِنُ ذاكَ النَّحْرِ لا يَذْكُرُ البَحْرا

    The necklace's pearls glittered proudly upon her neck;

    and the dweller on that breast forgets the sea.

  13. لَها مِعْصَمٌ لَوْلاَ السِّوارُ يَصُدُّهُ

    إِذْا حَسَرَتْ أَكْمامَها لَجَرَى نَهْرا

    She has a wrist that, were its bracelet not restraining it,

    would flow as a river when she drew back her sleeves.

  14. دَعَتْنِي إِلَى السُّلْوانِ عَنُه بِحُبِّها

    وَما كُنتُ أَرضَى بَعْدَ إِيْمِانيَ الكُفْرا

    She called me to forget him through love of her,

    but after my faith I would not consent to unbelief.

  15. بِأَيِّ اعْتِذارٍ أَلْتَقِي حُسْنَ وَجْهِهِ

    إِذْا خَدَعَتْني عَنْهُ غانِيَةٌ عَذْرا

    With what excuse could I face the beauty of his face,

    if a virgin beauty beguiled me away from him?

  16. تَقولُ وَقَد أَزْرَى بِها حُسْنُ وَصْفِهِ

    لَحَى اللَّهُ رَبَّ الشِّعْرِ لَوْ نَظَمَ الشِّعْرا

    She says, belittled by the beauty of his portrayal:

    “God curse the master of verse, should he compose verse!”

  17. أَلَمْ تَرَنِي بَيْنَ السِّماطَيْنِ مُنْشِداً

    كَأَنَّي عَلى شاهَ ارْمَنٍ أَنْثُرُ الدُّرَّا

    Did you not see me reciting between the two ranks,

    as though I were scattering pearls upon Shah Arman?

  18. مَليكٌ كَريمٌ باسِلٌ عَمَّ عَدْلُهُ

    فَمَن حاتمٌ وَابْنُ الوَليدِ وَمَن كِسْرى

    A king, generous and valiant, whose justice embraces all:

    who then are Hatim and Ibn al-Walid, and who is Kisra?

  19. أَبِيٌّ سَخِيٌّ تَحْتَ سَطْوَتِهِ الغِنَى

    فَخَفْ وَتَيَقَّنْ أَنَّ مَعْ عُسْرِهِ يُسْرا

    Proud and generous; beneath his power lies wealth,

    so fear him, and know for certain: with his hardship comes ease.

  20. هُوَ البَحْرُ بَلْ أَسْتَغْفِرُ اللَّهَ إِنَّ فِي

    بَنانِ يَدَيْهِ لِلنَّدَى أَبْحُراً عَشْرا

    He is the sea—rather, I ask God's forgiveness: indeed, in

    the fingers of his two hands are ten seas of generosity.

  21. إِذْا قامَ يُسْمِيهِ الخَطيبُ بِمنْبَرٍ

    تَأَوَّدَ تيهاً وَاكْتَسِى وَرَقاً خُضْرا

    When the preacher rises to name him upon a pulpit,

    it sways with pride and clothes itself in green leaves.

  22. لَحَى اللَّهُ حَرْبَاً لَم يَكُنْ قَلْبَ جَيْشِها

    وَمَجْلِسَ عَدْلٍ لا يَكُونُ بِهِ صَدْرا

    God curse a war whose army does not have him at its heart,

    and a court of justice where he does not preside!

  23. أَطَلَّ عَلى أَخْلاطَ يَوْمَ قُدومِهِ

    بِلُجَّةِ جَيْشٍ تَمْلأَ السَّهْلَ وَالوَعْرا

    He loomed over Akhlat on the day of his arrival,

    with the surging sea of an army filling plain and rugged ground.

  24. وَقَدْ بَرَزَتْ فِي شَكَّةٍ مِن سِلاحِها

    فَلَو أُمِرَتْ بِالزَّحْفِ ما خالَفَتْ أَمْرا

    And it had come forth in a panoply of its own weapons;

    had it been ordered to advance, it would not have disobeyed a command.

  25. تَلَقَّاهُ مِن بُعْدِ المَسافِةِ أَهْلُها

    فَذا رافِعٌ كَفّاً وَذا ساجِدٌ شُكْرا

    Its people met him from afar,

    one raising a palm, another prostrating in thanks.

  26. فَشَكَكْتُ أَنَّ النَّاَس قَد حُشِروا ضُحىً

    أَمِ النَّاسُ يَسْتَسْقونَ رَبَّهُمُ القَطْرا

    I wondered whether the people had been gathered at midmorning,

    or were the people begging their Lord for rain?

  27. تَسِيرُ مُلوكُ الأرضِ تَحْتَ رِكَابِهِ

    وَأَعْناقُهُمْ مِن هَوْلِ هَيْبَتِهِ صُعْرا

    The kings of the earth march beneath his stirrups,

    and their necks bend awry in dread of his majesty.

  28. إِذْا انْفَرَجَتْ عَنْهُ بُروقُ سُيوفِهِمْ

    رَأَيْتَ النُّجومَ الزُّهْرَ قَد قارَنَتْ بَدْرا

    When the lightning-flashes of their swords part from around him,

    you see the bright stars joined with a full moon.

  29. فَلَلَّهِ يَوْمٌ عَمَّ تَفْلِيسَ حَرْبُهُ

    وَسارَتْ إِلَى أَرْضِ العِراقِ بِهِ البُشْرى

    By God, what a day, when his warfare engulfed Tiflis,

    and glad tidings of it traveled to the land of Iraq!

  30. تَهَنَّ أَميرَ المُؤْمِنينَ بِمِثْلِهِ

    نَصيراً يَسُدُّ الثَّغْرَ أَوْ يَفْتَحُ الثَّغْرا

    Rejoice, Commander of the Faithful, in one like him,

    a champion who secures the frontier or conquers a frontier town.

  31. حُسامٌ إِذْا هَزَّتْهُ يُمْناكَ هَزَّةً

    تَرَقْرَقَ ماءً وَالْتَظَى خَدُّهُ جَمْرا

    A keen sword: when your right hand gives it a shake,

    it ripples like water, and its cheek blazes like embers.

  32. طِرازٌ عَلى كُمِّ الخِلافَةِ مُذْهَبٌ

    وَجَوْهَرَةٌ فِي تاجِهَا تَكْسِفُ الدُّرَّا

    A gilded embroidered band on the caliphate's sleeve,

    and a jewel in its crown outshining pearls.

  33. أَبا الفَتْحِ شُكراً لاِخْتِصاصِ صَنيعَةٍ

    فَحَسْبُكَ فِي الدُّنْيا جَمالاً وَفِي الأُخْرى

    Abu al-Fath, my thanks for the favor you singled me out for;

    it is adornment enough for you in this world and the next.