Sol 6.1

  1. كُلُّ صَعْبٍ سِوَى الْمَذَلَّةِ سَهْلُ

    وَحَيَاةُ الْكَرِيمِ فِي الضَّيْمِ قَتْلُ

    Every hardship except humiliation is easy;

    and a noble man's life under oppression is death.

  2. لَيْسَ يَقْوَى امْرُؤٌ عَلَى الذُّلِّ مَا لَمْ

    يَكُ فِيهِ مِنْ صِبْغَةِ اللُّؤْمِ دَخْلُ

    No man can bear abasement unless

    some taint of baseness's dye lies within him.

  3. إِنَّ مُرَّ الْحِمَامِ أَعْذَبُ وِرْدَاً

    مِنْ حَيَاةٍ فِيهَا شَقَاءٌ وَذُلُّ

    Indeed, bitter death is a sweeter draught

    than a life filled with misery and humiliation.

  4. أَنَا رَاضٍ بِتَرْكِ مَالِي وَأَهْلِي

    فَالْعَفَافُ الثَّرَاءُ وَالنَّاسُ أَهْلُ

    I am content to leave my wealth and family;

    for integrity is wealth, and people are kin.

  5. لا يَلُمْنِي عَلَى الْحَفِيظَةِ قَوْمٌ

    غَرَّهُمْ مَنْظَرُ الْحَيَاةِ فَضَلُّوا

    Let not those men blame me for my sense of honor

    whom life's outward show deceived and led astray.

  6. أَلِفُوا الضَّيْمَ خَشْيَةَ الْمَوْتِ وَالضَّيْـ

    ـمُ لَعَمْرِي فَجْعٌ خَسِيسٌ وَثُكْلُ

    They grew used to oppression for fear of death; yet

    oppression, by my life, is a vile calamity and bereavement.

  7. كَيْفَ لا أَنْصُرُ الرَّشَادَ عَلَى الْغَيْـ

    ـيِ وَعَقْلِي مَعِي وَفِي النَّفْسِ فَضْلُ

    How should I not champion right guidance over

    error, with my reason beside me and virtue in my soul?

  8. إِنَّمَا الْمَرْءُ بِاللِّسَانِ وَبِالْقَلْـ

    ـبِ فَإِنْ خَابَ مِنْهُمَا فَهْوَ فَسْلُ

    A man is measured only by his tongue and

    heart; if he fails in both, he is worthless.

  9. قَدكِ يَا نَفْسُ فَالتَّصَبُّرُ إِلَّا

    فِي لِقَاءِ الْحُرُوبِ غَبْنٌ وَجَهْلُ

    Enough, my soul! For patient endurance, except

    in the face of war, is loss and folly.

  10. فَابْعَثِيهَا شَعْوَاءَ يَحْكُمُ فِيهَا

    مُنْصُلٌ صَارِمٌ وَرُمْحٌ مِتَلُّ

    So unleash a raging war, in which

    a keen sword and a man-felling spear shall rule.

  11. هو إِمَّا الْحِمَامُ أَوْ عِيشَةٌ خَضْـ

    ـرَاءُ فِيهَا لِمَنْ تَفَيَّأَ ظِلُّ

    It is either death, or a life

    green, with shade for whoever seeks shelter.

  12. إِنَّ مُلْكَاً فِيهِ فُلانٌ وَزِيراً

    لَمُبَاح لِلْخَائِنِينَ وَبِلُّ

    Indeed, a kingdom where so-and-so is minister

    is surely open to traitors, theirs for the taking.

  13. أَهْوَجٌ أَحْمَقٌ شَتِيمٌ لَئِيمٌ

    أَغْتَمٌ أَبْلَهٌ زَنيمٌ عُتُلُّ

    Reckless, foolish, ugly, and base,

    thick-tongued, witless, baseborn, and brutish.

  14. صَغُرَتْ رَأْسُهُ وَأَفْرَطَ فِي الطُّولِ

    شَوَاهُ وَعُنْقُهُ فَهْوَ صَعْلُ

    His head is small, while excessively long

    are his limbs and neck: a lanky pinhead.

  15. أَبْرَزَتْ قُدْرَةُ الطَّبِيعَةِ مِنْهُ

    شَكْلَ لُؤْمٍ إِنْ كَان لِلُّؤمِ شَكْلُ

    Nature's power has brought forth in him

    the form of baseness, if baseness has a form.

  16. هَدَفٌ لِلْعُيُوبِ فِي كُلِّ عُضْوٍ

    مِنْهُ سَهْمٌ لِلطَّاعِنِينَ وَنَصْلُ

    A target for faults: in every limb

    of his is an arrow and a blade for detractors.

  17. نَسَلَتْهُ مِنِ استِهَا أُمُّ سُوءٍ

    مَا لَهَا غَيْرَ طَائِفِ اللَّيْلِ بَعْلُ

    A vile mother bore him from her arse;

    she has no husband but a prowler of the night.

  18. كُنْ كَمَا شِئْتَ يَا فُلانُ وَمَا شَا

    ءَتْ رِجَالٌ فَأَنْتَ لِلُّؤْمِ أَهْلُ

    Be as you wish, so-and-so, and as

    men have wished; you are fit for baseness.

  19. لَيْسَ تُغْنِي الأَلْقَابُ عَنْ كَرَمِ الأَصْ

    لِ فَمَجْدُ الْفَتَى عَفَافٌ وَعَقْلُ

    Titles cannot replace nobility of

    lineage; a young man's glory is integrity and reason.

  20. أَنْتَ مِنْ عُنْصُرٍ لَوِ اتَّكَأَ الذَّرْ

    رُ عَلَيْهِ لآدَهُ مِنْهُ حِمْلُ

    You come from stock that, were tiny ants to lean

    upon it, their weight would overburden it.

  21. نَازَعَتْكَ الْيَهُودُ وَاخْتَلَفَتْ فِيـ

    ـكَ النَّصَارَى فَأَنْتَ لا شَكَّ بَغْلُ

    The Jews have laid claim to you, and

    the Christians dispute over you; no doubt you are a mule.

  22. إِنَّ بَيْتَ الْوَزَّانِ لَمْ يَزِنُوا شَيْـ

    ـئاً وَلَكِنَّ فِيهِمْ عَلَى ذَاكَ ثِقْلُ

    Indeed, the house of al-Wazzan weighs not

    a thing, yet for all that they are ponderous.

  23. كَثُرُوا عِدَّةً وَلَوْ أَحْصَنَ الْبَا

    بَ أَبُوهُمْ عَنِ الزُّنَاةِ لَقَلُّوا

    They grew numerous; had the door been barred

    by their father against adulterers, they would have been few.

  24. لَوْ عَزَوْنَا كُلَّ امْرِئٍ لأَبِيهِ

    مِنْ فرَاخِ الْوَزَّانِ لَمْ يَبْقَ نَسْلُ

    If we traced each man back to his father

    among al-Wazzan's brood, no offspring would remain.

  25. كُلُّ وَغْدٍ أَهْدَى إِلَى اللُّؤْمِ مِنْ بَا

    زِ وَلَكِنْ مِنَ الْحِمَارِ أَضَلُّ

    Every knave is better guided toward baseness than a

    falcon, yet more astray than a donkey.

  26. قَدْ تَغَذَّى بِاللُّؤْمِ إِذْ هُوَ طِفْلٌ

    وَتَمَادَى فِي الْغَيِّ إِذْ هُوَ كَهْلُ

    He was nourished on baseness when still a child,

    and persisted in error in his middle age.

  27. لَيْسَ فِيهِمْ مَنْ تَحْمَدُ الْعَيْنُ رُؤْيَا

    هُ وَلا مِنْهُمْ إِلَى النَّفْسِ خِلُّ

    There is none among them whose sight the eye would praise,

    nor any among them who is a friend to the soul.

  28. أَدْرَكُوا فِي الْعُيُوبِ أَبْعَدَ خَصْلٍ

    كُلُّ حَيٍّ لَهُ بِمَا شَاءَ خَصْلُ

    They have hit the farthest mark in faults;

    every living being scores in what it chooses.

  29. كَيْفَ لا تَشْمَلُ الدَّنَاءَةُ قَوْمَاً

    نَشَأُوا فِي الصَّغَارِ حِينَ اسْتَهَلُّوا

    How should baseness not encompass a people

    who grew up in abasement from their first cry?

  30. هُمْ لَعَمْرِي أَذَلُّ مِنْ قَدَمِ الْنَّعْـ

    ـلِ نُفُوساً وَالنَّعْلُ مِنْهُمْ أَجَلُّ

    They are, by my life, more abject than a sandal's

    sole in spirit; the sandal is nobler than they.

  31. كُنْتُ لا أُحْسِنُ الْهِجَاءَ وَلَكِنْ

    عَلَّمَتْنِي صِفَاتُهُمْ كَيْفَ أَتْلُو

    I used not to be skilled in satire, but

    their traits taught me how to recite.

  32. كُلُّ شَيءٍ يَفْنَى وَلَكِنْ هِجَائِي

    فِيكَ بَاقٍ مَا عَاقَبَ السَّيْفَ صَقْلُ

    Everything perishes, yet my satire

    against you will endure as long as swords are polished.