Sol 6.1

  1. سَلْ بسلعٍ شجَنا كان وكُنّا

    ليتَ شعري ما الذي ألهاك عنّا

    Ask at Salʿ of a sorrow that once was, and of us who once were.

    Would that I knew what distracted you from us.

  2. أهوىً أَحدثتَه أم كاشحٌ

    دبَّ أم ذنب سِوى أن تتجنَّى

    Is it a love you have newly formed, or a spiteful foe

    who crept in—or a fault, other than one you falsely allege?

  3. لا ولكن خُنتَ فاستخونتنا

    واحتملناك على العزّ فهُنَّا

    No: you betrayed us, then suspected us of betrayal.

    We bore with you despite our pride, and were humbled.

  4. لو أُجيبتْ لمحبٍّ دعوةٌ

    لسألتُ اللهَ في الظالمِ منَّا

    If a lover's prayer were answered,

    I would pray to God against the wrongdoer among us.

  5. غضبَ الغيثُ على وادي الغضا

    وعسَتْ باناتُهُ أن تتثَنَّى

    Rain grew angry with the valley of al-Ghaḍā,

    and its bān trees grew too stiff to bend.

  6. فلكم طاحَ على غزلانه

    من دمٍ تَنهبُه جيداً وجفنَا

    For how much blood has been lost to its gazelles,

    blood they plunder with neck and eyelid!

  7. رامياتٌ عن قوىً مضعوفةٍ

    لا ترى المطلولَ إلا من قتَلْنا

    Female archers, shooting from doubled bowstrings,

    you find no one slain unavenged but those they killed.

  8. ومضتْ أحكامُه في مبدعٍ

    شرعَ القتل عل الخَيفِ وسنَّا

    And its decrees took effect against an innovator

    who ordained killing at al-Khayf and made it custom.

  9. جعلَ الكعبة خوفا فتكُهُ

    بعد أن كان بناها الله أمنا

    His deadly violence made the Kaaba a place of fear,

    after God had built it as a sanctuary.

  10. طافَ في غيدٍ تكنفَّن به

    كيفما دار جَنوبَ الدار دُرنا

    He circled among graceful maidens who gathered around him;

    however he circled south of the House, we circled too.

  11. يتحفَّفْنَ به يُعطينَه

    دعوةَ الإعظامِ من هنَّا وهنَّا

    They cluster around him, giving him

    calls of reverence from here and there.

  12. ما إخال الحجَّ يقضِي فرضَه

    مسلمٌ يوم رآهن سنحنا

    I do not think the duty of pilgrimage is fulfilled

    by a Muslim on the day he sees them appear.

  13. هل من الذكرة يا أهلَ مِنىً

    غيرَ أن أَوجعَهُ الشوقُ فأنَّا

    Is there any remembrance, O people of Minā,

    save that longing pained him and made him groan?

  14. ليتَ جسمي معَ قلبي عندكم

    إنّه فارقني يومَ افترقنا

    Would that my body were with my heart, there with you;

    it left me on the day we parted.

  15. أتمنَّاكم على اليأس ومَنْ

    تركوهُ ومُنَى النفسِ تمنَّى

    I long for you despite despair; and whoever

    they leave with his soul's desires goes on wishing.

  16. وهَنَا رملةَ أنِّي قانعٌ

    بخيالٍ كاذبٍ يطرُقُ وَهْنا

    It pleased Ramlah that I am content

    with a false phantom visiting late at night.

  17. منعْتنا الحقَّ يقظَى أسَفاً

    وشكرناها على التسويف وسْنَى

    Awake, she denied us our due—alas;

    and we thanked her for putting us off when she was asleep.

  18. أيها الراكبُ تستنُّ بهِ

    شطبةٌ مخطفَةٌ فتلاءُ وَجْنَا

    O rider, borne at a gallop

    by a tall, slender-waisted, broad-elbowed, stout-cheeked she-camel,

  19. تخبِط الأرضَ خِلاطاً سيرُها

    وَهدةً تخبِطُ أو تُشْرِفُ رَعْنا

    she pounds the earth, her gait a mingling of paces,

    whether she strikes a hollow or surmounts a mountain spur.

  20. ذاتُ لَوثٍ لستَ تدري شِرَّةً

    إِبلاً تنسِب أو تنسِب جِنَّا

    Strong of frame—in her wild vigor, you cannot tell

    whether you trace her to camels or to jinn.

  21. إنْ دَجا الليلُ فعمَّى طُرْقَها

    نصبَتْ حَرْسا مكانَ العين أُذْنا

    If night darkens and obscures her paths,

    she sets an ear as sentry in place of an eye.

  22. لا تبالي إن نجت ما خلَّفَتْ

    غَيْرُهَا مَنْ غُرَّ بالبوِّ فحَنّا

    Once she speeds away, she cares nothing for what she leaves;

    it is others who are fooled by a stuffed calfskin and yearn.

  23. تطلبُ الحظَّ على غاربها

    قَلِقاً تُتبِعُها سَهلا وحَزنا

    You seek fortune upon her hump,

    restless, driving her across smooth ground and rough.

  24. ربَّما تسعَى لأمرٍ نازح

    وهو تحت الخفض من كفّك أدنَى

    You may strive for something far away,

    though, in easy repose, it lies nearer than your palm.

  25. اِلتمسْ عندَ ابن أيوبَ الغنى

    يأتِك الحظُّ به أحلى وأسنَى

    Seek prosperity with Ibn Ayyūb;

    fortune will come to you through him, sweeter and more splendid.

  26. تُخلِفُ السُّحْبُ مواعيدَ الحيا

    وأبو طالبَ لا يُخلِفُ ظنَّا

    Clouds may break their promises of rain,

    but Abū Ṭālib never disappoints an expectation.

  27. حبَّبَ الفقرَ إليه أنه

    سؤددٌ وهو بذاك الفقر يَغنَى

    What made poverty dear to him was that it

    is nobility—and through that poverty he grows rich.

  28. وشريفُ القوم من بقَّى لهم

    شرفَ الذكرِ وخلَّى المالَ يَفنَى

    A people's nobleman is he who preserves for them

    honorable renown, and lets wealth perish.

  29. ما اطمأنَّ الوفرُ في بُحبُوحَةٍ

    فرأيتَ المجدَ منها مطمئنّا

    Never has wealth settled at ease in a spacious abode

    so that you could find glory settled there as well.

  30. يهدمُ الأموالَ في آساسِها

    أبدا ما دامتِ العلياءُ تُبنَى

    He tears wealth down to its foundations,

    forever, so long as loftiness is being built.

  31. والمُعَنَّى بأحاديثِ غدٍ

    وبطيب الذكر مكدودٌ معنَّى

    And he who is intent on tomorrow's tales

    and fair renown is worn out and burdened.

  32. بعميد الرؤساء انتشرتْ

    سُننُ المَجد وقد كُنَّ دُفِنَّا

    Through the Chief of Leaders spread

    the ways of glory, though they had lain buried.

  33. ردَّ ماء الفضل في عِيدانه

    والظما لم يُبقِ في الأيكة غصنا

    He restored excellence's sap to its branches,

    when thirst had left not one branch in the thicket.

  34. فغدا المصفرُّ منها مُورِقا

    وانثنى العاسي على الغامزِ لَدْنَا

    Its yellowed growth became leafy,

    and the stiff growth bent supple to the one pressing it.

  35. فهي في السابغ من أذياله

    غيضةٌ تَنضُرُ خضراءُ وتُجنَى

    Thus, within the ample sweep of his hems, it is

    a green grove, flourishing, whose fruit is gathered.

  36. دخل الأوحدُ في ألقابهِ

    لفظةً واقعةً جاءت لمعنَى

    "The Unique" entered among his titles

    as a fitting word that conveys a true meaning.

  37. وسواه غاضبٌ منتحِلٌ

    ما تسمَّى بالمعاني أوتكَنَّى

    And anyone else is resentful, a pretender,

    whenever he adopts a name or byname invoking those qualities.

  38. ملأَ الدَّستَ وقارا ونفاذا

    وبيانا حيثُ تُلفَى الناسُ لُكْنا

    He filled the seat of office with dignity and effective command,

    and eloquence, where other men are found tongue-tied.

  39. ووفى عند الإمامين وأوفى

    وكفى من جانِبِ النصحِ وأغنَى

    He fulfilled his duty to both imams, and more;

    in loyal counsel he sufficed and left nothing wanting.

  40. كان سيفا قاطعا دونهما

    فإذا ما استظهرا كان مِجَنّا

    He was a cutting sword in their defense,

    and when they sought backing, he was a shield.

  41. ومضى يُرهفُ خطّاً وخِطاباً

    كان في دفع العدا ضربا وطعنا

    He went on sharpening writing and speech,

    which were blows and thrusts in repelling foes.

  42. همّةٌ لم تتثقَّفْ بمشيرٍ

    واعتزامٌ أوّلٌ لا يتثنَّى

    An aspiration no adviser had shaped,

    and an initial resolve that never wavers.

  43. يَبْدَهُ الرأيَ فلا يُتبعُه

    ندما يقرَع بالأصبعِ سِنَّا

    He forms his judgment at once, never following it

    with regret that sets his finger tapping a tooth.

  44. زيَّنَ القصرَ الخِلافيَّ عريقٌ

    جلَّ بالهُجنةِ يوما أن يُزَنَّا

    An heir of ancient nobility adorned the caliphal palace,

    too exalted ever to be suspected of base birth.

  45. نُقِلَ الصدرُإليه عن رجالٍ

    لم يزل يُسندهم متنا فمتنا

    The foremost seat was transferred to him from men

    whose backs it had long supported, one after another.

  46. واسدوهُ كابرا عن كابرٍ

    كلَّما مات أبٌ ورّثَه ابْنا

    They bestowed it on him, great forefather after great forefather;

    whenever a father died, he bequeathed it to a son.

  47. فمتى دِيسَ بقومٍ غيرِهم

    قاءهم يرميهُمُ رجما وزبْنا

    Whenever men other than they trod upon it,

    it spewed them out, hurling and kicking them away.

  48. أنتُمُ أَولى بأن يأمنَكم

    ويغالِي فيكُمُ شحّاً وضنَّا

    You are worthiest of its trust,

    and of its valuing you dearly, jealously and possessively.

  49. وإذا اختصت وفودا منكُمُ

    عمَّت العالَمَ إفضالا ومَنَّا

    When it singles out delegations from among you,

    it embraces the whole world with bounty and favors.

  50. ذاك من أنَّ العلا في بيتكم

    نطفةٌ قبلَ حدوثِ الأرضِ تُمنَى

    That is because loftiness in your house

    is a drop of seed emitted before the earth came into being.

  51. وتَرَون الحمدَ غُنْما يُقتنَى

    بالأيادي ويراه الناسُ غَبنا

    You regard praise as a profit to be gained

    by generous deeds, while others regard it as a loss.

  52. وإذا الدهرُ قَسا أدّبتُمُ

    بالندى أخلاقَه الخُشنَ فَلِنَّا

    When time grows harsh, you school

    its rough manners with generosity, and they soften.

  53. فمتى ما نظرت أحداثُهُ

    نحوكم غُطّين عنكم وسُمِلْنا

    Whenever its calamities look

    toward you, they are screened from you and have their eyes put out.

  54. أَرْعنِي سَمعك تَسمَعْ فِقَرا

    لو طَلبن العُصْمَ بالإذن أَذِنّا

    Lend me your ear; you will hear poetic passages

    for which mountain goats would grant leave, if asked.

  55. قاطعاتٌ أبدا ما قَطعَتْ

    أنجمُ الأفقِ سَوارٍ حيثُ سِرْنا

    Ever journeying, as long as there journey

    the horizon's stars—night travelers wherever they go.

  56. تحملُ العِرضَ خفيفا طائشا

    وتؤدّيه يفوت الطودَ وزنا

    They carry honor, light and fluttering,

    and deliver it outweighing a mountain.

  57. وإذا كرّ كلامٌ شائِهٌ

    مللا زدن على التكرير حُسنا

    While repeated ugly speech

    grows wearisome, they grow lovelier with repetition.

  58. أحيتِ الحيَّيْنِ بكراً وتميماً

    محدثَاتٍ يُتَخَيَّلْنَ قَدُمْنا

    They revived the two tribes, Bakr and Tamīm,

    new compositions imagined to be ancient.

  59. لك منها أبدا ريحانةٌ

    تُعبِقُ الضوعةَ أذيالا ورُدْنا

    For you, from them, there is always a fragrant sprig,

    its scent perfuming hems and sleeves.

  60. غضَّة أنت بها مبتدئاً

    في نَداماك تُحيَّا وتُهنَّا

    Fresh and tender; with it, you, before the others,

    are greeted and congratulated among your boon companions.

  61. وإذا أنطقها يوماً فتىً

    طفِقتْ تُذكرك الودَّ المسنَّى

    And if someday a young man gives it voice,

    it begins reminding you of that noble affection.

  62. وأواخيُّ لنا إن حُفظتْ

    أو أُضِيعت فاشهدوا أنا حفِظنا

    And they are tethering bonds between us, whether preserved

    or neglected: bear witness that we have preserved them.

  63. لا رسومَ المهرجان اعتاقها

    حابسٌ عنكم ولا العيدَ أضعْنا

    The customary observances of Mihragān were not held back

    from you by any hindrance, nor did we neglect the feast.