Sol 6.1

  1. أصبْ برأيي أصابَ الحظُّ أو غلِطا

    فانهض له كسلَ المقدار أو نَشِطا

    Strike true by my counsel, whether fortune hits or misses;

    rise to meet it, whether fate is sluggish or brisk.

  2. ولا تفرّط جلوساً في انتظار غدٍ

    فخير عزميك أمرٌ لم يكن فُرُطا

    Do not spend too long sitting in expectation of tomorrow;

    the better of your two resolves is a course not neglected.

  3. خاتلْ يدَ الدهر وانصُل غيلةً أبداً

    من حبله مارقَ الجنبين منخرطا

    Outwit time's hand, and always slip stealthily

    from its rope, sliding clear on either flank.

  4. ولا تشاورهْ في أمرٍ هممت به

    فربما لهوَجَ الآراءَ أو خبطا

    Do not consult it about a matter you intend;

    it may botch your counsels or blunder blindly.

  5. إن قلت خذ بيدي في الخوف أرسلها

    أو قلت في الأمر دعني مرسَلاً ضبطا

    If you say, “Take my hand in fear,” it releases it;

    if you say, “Leave me free in this affair,” it holds you fast.

  6. أبو العجائب أدوى أو شفا وكسا

    أو برَّ مرتجعاً أو حلَّ أو ربطا

    Father of wonders—whether it sickens, heals, or clothes,

    bestows then takes back, or loosens, or binds.

  7. جبْ هذه الأرض إمّا عشتَ محتشماً

    مؤمَّلاً فوقها أو متَّ معتبَطا

    Traverse this earth: either live honored,

    with hopes set upon you, or die untimely.

  8. إما ذُنابَى فلا تحفلْ بمنقصةٍ

    أو قمةَ الرأس واحذرْ أن تقعْ وسَطا

    Be either at the tail, and heed no diminished rank,

    or at the crown of the head; beware of falling midway.

  9. فما الحياة وإن طالت بصالحةٍ

    لمن يُعَدُّ متاعاً بائراً سقطا

    Life, however long, is of no worth

    to someone reckoned unsalable, worthless merchandise.

  10. ما خطة العجز والأرزاق معرِضةٌ

    إلا لمن نام تحت الذلّ أو قنطا

    What is a policy of helplessness, when livelihoods lie open,

    but for one who sleeps beneath abasement or despairs?

  11. يا أهل بابلَ لا طار الوفاء لكم

    بعدي إذا سرت في جوّ ولا هبَطا

    People of Babylon, may loyalty never fly to you

    after me, once I travel through open country, nor alight.

  12. لأتركنّ رحيلي عنكُمُ سمةً

    شنعاءَ يعلُطُ فيها العارُ من عَلَطا

    I shall surely leave my departure from you as a mark,

    a hideous one, where shame brands whoever has branded.

  13. كم يمضغ البين لحمي بين أظهركم

    وربما ملَّ طولَ المضغ فاسترطا

    How often separation chews my flesh in your very midst;

    sometimes it tires of chewing so long and swallows whole.

  14. كأنني صعبةٌ فيكم معبدّةٌ

    بدت من السرحِ في وادٍ وقد قُحِطا

    I am like a restive, mange-stricken she-camel among you,

    strayed from the herd into a valley struck by drought.

  15. لا فرجة الرائحات السائمات لها

    ولا ترى ممسكاً في اللّه مرتبطا

    She has no freedom like the grazing beasts returning home,

    nor finds a keeper to tether her for God's sake.

  16. وإن رأى ربها نِشدانها وقعت

    في جانبٍ لم يُعرِّف أهلَه اللُّقطا

    Should her owner think to seek her, she has landed

    in a region where no one announces found strays to its people.

  17. فهل لمثلي مقامٌ عند مثلكُمُ

    وعند سفن الفلا الإرقاصُ والملَطى

    Can one like me remain with people like you,

    while desert-ships offer their dancing trot and headlong pace?

  18. والأرض حاملةٌ ما شاء راكبها

    بزلاءَ ذات سنامٍ تامكٍ ومَطا

    And the earth bears whatever its rider desires,

    a mature she-camel, high-humped and strong-backed.

  19. فلتأتينَّكُمُ بالغيب هاجرةٌ

    يُضحي بها ورقُ الإعراض مختبطا

    A scathing utterance shall surely reach you from afar,

    beneath which the foliage of disdain is beaten down,

  20. صوائباً كسهام النزع معتمِداً

    وافى لمقصده أو عائراً مَرَطا

    striking true, like arrows drawn by an aiming archer

    who finds his mark—or like a stray, unfeathered shaft.

  21. تمضي فلا يملك الإعتابُ رجعتَها

    ومن يردّ عقيلاً بعد ما انتشطا

    It goes forth; making amends cannot bring it back.

    Who can bring Aqil back once he has slipped away?

  22. باتت تخوّفني الأخطارَ مشفقةً

    ترى الإقامةَ حزماً والنوى غَلطا

    She spent the night anxiously warning me of dangers,

    deeming it prudent to stay, and departure a mistake.

  23. هل تعلمين امرأً ردَّتْ محَالتُهُ

    على الحفيظين ما خطَّا وما نقطا

    Do you know a man whose stratagem has turned back

    upon the two guardians what they wrote and dotted?

  24. وهل رأيت الذي نَجَّاه مجثَمُه

    بعقوة الدار أو أرداه إن شحطا

    Have you seen a man saved by staying put

    within his home's precincts, or slain by going far away?

  25. ما نحن إلا قطينُ الموت يعسف بال

    واني ويُلحقُ بالسلَّاف من فرطا

    We are only death's dependents; it deals harshly with

    the laggard, and joins those gone ahead to their forebears.

  26. وطولُ أيامنا والدهر يطلبنا

    مراحلٌ تنتهي أعدادها وخُطا

    The span of our days, while time pursues us,

    is stages and steps whose numbers come to an end.

  27. قد كانت الدارُ داري والكرام بها

    حماةُ سرحي وجيراني معي خُلَطا

    The homeland once was mine, and its noble people

    guarded my herds; my neighbors mingled closely with me.

  28. يحرِّموني فلا عودي بمهتصَرٍ

    فيهم ولا خُضْرُ أوراقي لمن خرطا

    They held me inviolable: no bough of mine was broken

    among them, nor were my green leaves for anyone to strip.

  29. ويؤمنون بآياتي فيتبعهم

    مقلّداً من بغى فيها ومن غمطا

    They believed in my verses, and followed their example,

    in imitation, those who assailed or belittled them.

  30. صحبتهم وشبابي روضةٌ أُنُفٌ

    ألوثُ منه برأسي فاحماً قَطَطا

    I kept their company when my youth was an untouched meadow,

    winding its coal-black, tight curls about my head.

  31. مرفرفين على بِرّي وتكرمتي

    حتى غدا شعَري في لِمّتي شَمطا

    They hovered over my welfare and my honoring,

    until the hair among my locks grew streaked with gray.

  32. لا الظن أكدَى ولا أجدى بمدحهُمُ

    وحبهم حاس مثقالاً ولا حبطا

    No hope failed, nor did my rewards for praising them

    and loving them fall short in weight or come to nothing.

  33. أَجادلٌ من بني عبد الرحيم علتْ

    محلِّقات وخلَّتني ومن سقطا

    Falcons of the sons of Abd al-Rahim rose

    soaring high, and left me with those who fell.

  34. لما رأت قُلل الأطواد ساكنةً

    أولى بها عافت الأوطان والغُوَطا

    When they deemed the mountaintops a dwelling

    fitter for them, they spurned homelands and lowlands.

  35. لو لم تكن أنجماً للناس ما طلبت

    ذُرَى الشواهق فاختطت بها خططا

    Had they not been stars for humankind, they would not have sought

    the summits of lofty peaks and marked out dwellings there.

  36. ناطوا منازلهم بالهُضْب نازِحةً

    فقطّعوا وحشةً من قلبي النَّيَطا

    They hung their distant homes upon the rocky heights,

    and in loneliness tore the heartstrings from my heart.

  37. كأنهم يوم زمّوها مخيّسة

    كانت على كبدي أيدي المطيّ تطا

    It was as though, when they haltered the kneeling camels,

    the camels' forefeet were treading upon my liver.

  38. بانوا بغبطة أيامي وكان بهم

    عيشي كما اقترح المحبوب واشترطا

    They departed with the happiness of my days; through them,

    my life had been as the beloved wished and stipulated.

  39. فإن سألتُ زماني أن يعوّضَني

    بهم بديلاً فقد كلّفتُه شططا

    If I ask my time to compensate me

    with others in their place, I burden it with an excessive demand.

  40. سعى إلينا كمالُ الملك غاديةً

    وطفاءَ تُرضي من الإعراض ما سخطا

    Kamal al-Mulk sped a morning raincloud toward us,

    heavy with rain, appeasing the anger born of neglect.

  41. إذا سرت روَّضت بالأرض أو جعلت

    عَرضَ البسيطة فيما بيننا بُسُطا

    When it travels, it clothes the earth in meadows, or makes

    the breadth of earth between us into carpets.

  42. كأنها بمجاري ذيلها رقمت

    وشياً بنمنمةٍ أو فوّفت نَمَطا

    As though, along the trailing course of its skirt, it embroidered

    fine-patterned brocade, or striped a carpet.

  43. لها من الفكر إمداد بلا أمدٍ

    كأنما ماؤها من كفه انبسطا

    It has an endless supply from thought,

    as though its water flowed out from his palm.

  44. تردّ معرِضةَ الأسماعِ مقبلةً

    والجعدَ من كلّ فهمٍ ليّناً سَبطا

    It turns averted ears toward it,

    and makes each mind's tangled curls soft and straight.

  45. تميس فيها سجاياه فتحسبها

    كواعب الحي قامت تحمل الريَطا

    His virtues sway within it, so you would think them

    the tribe's full-breasted maidens, risen bearing fine robes.

  46. جزاء ما حاط لي من حرمة ورعَى

    عهداً وما مدّ من نُعمى وما بسطا

    In recompense for guarding my honor and keeping

    a covenant, and for the bounty he extended and spread.

  47. فتى يرى يديَ العليا على يده

    إذا سألتُ نوالاً أو قبلتُ عَطا

    A young man who regards my hand as uppermost over his

    when I request a gift or accept a present.

  48. أفادني العزَّ في الجدوى فصيّرني

    على انقباضي إلى جدواه منبسطا

    He gave me honor in his giving, and made me,

    despite my reserve, openhearted toward his gifts.

  49. ردّ الكمال حبيساً في حبائله

    عبداً فأطلق عن أيدي الندى الرُّبُطا

    He made perfection a captive in his snares,

    a slave, then freed generosity's hands from their bonds.

  50. لو كان خُلْق الندى مما يُجاد به

    حباك أخلاقَه جذلانَ مغتبطا

    If generosity's disposition were something one could give,

    he would grant you his virtues, joyful and delighted.

  51. خلائق تحبس الغادي لحاجته

    طيباً وتستنزل الأحداجَ والرُّبطا

    Virtues that detain the man who comes with a need

    by their sweetness, and bring down litters and bound loads.

  52. كأنّ خمَّار بُصرَى بات يسكبها

    أو فضَّ عطّار دارين بها سفَطا

    As though a vintner of Busra spent the night pouring them out,

    or a perfumer of Darin opened a casket of them.

  53. حلوٌ جناها إذا عاذ الصديق بها

    وحنظل من أعاديها لمن خبطا

    Their fruit is sweet when a friend takes refuge in them,

    but bitter colocynth to any enemy who beats their branches.

  54. سهولة الماء فيها رقّةً وندىً

    وقسوة النار فيها هيبة وسُطا

    In them is water's gentleness, in tenderness and bounty,

    and fire's severity, in awe and force.

  55. إذا حمى أقسطت أحكامُ صارمِهِ

    وإن همى قاسماً أمواله قسَطَا

    When he defends, his keen sword's judgments are just;

    when he showers out his wealth in portions, he shows partiality.

  56. إذا استجمّوه لم تضغطه جلسته

    توحشاً أو دعوه فرّج الضَّغَطا

    If they let him rest, sitting does not oppress him

    with loneliness; if they summon him, he relieves distress.

  57. كالسيف تلبس منه مغمداً شرفاً

    وشارةً ويقيك الشرّ مخترطا

    Like a sword, you wear him sheathed as an honor

    and distinction; drawn, he shields you from evil.

  58. كفى القبيل وحيد لا قرين له

    وساد أمردَ من بالشيب قد وُخِطا

    He alone sufficed for the tribe, without a peer,

    and, beardless, ruled men already flecked with gray.

  59. قد أرهقوه فلا جبناً ولا جزعاً

    واستخبطوه فلا عِيّاً ولا لَغطا

    They have pressed him: no cowardice, no panic;

    and sought his bounty: no faltering, no empty clamor.

  60. إذا استغشّوا فلولَ السيف واتهموا

    من الذوابل محطوماً ومنتحَطا

    If they mistrust their swords' notched edges and suspect

    their slender spears, broken and worn away,

  61. سَلَّتْ يداه وعينُ الحرب راقدةٌ

    لهم أساودَ يقسمن الردى رُقُطا

    his hands draw, while war's eye lies asleep,

    for them speckled black serpents that portion out death.

  62. ضموا إلى تالد العلياء طارفها

    تمازج الكسبُ والميراثُ واختلطا

    They added newly won glory to ancestral eminence;

    acquisition and inheritance mingled and blended.

  63. بنَتْ له فارسٌ بيتاً دعامته

    في الأفق لا بين ذي طَلْح وذي الأَرَطا

    Persia built him a house whose pillar stands

    on the horizon, not between Dhu Talh and Dhu al-Arta.

  64. قوم قِرى ضيفهم عقر البدور إذا

    غدا قرى المعتمين السمنَ والأقِطا

    A people who slaughter full moons to feast their guest, when

    the fare of late-night guests is butter and dried curds.

  65. إذا احتبت حلقة النادي بعزِّهِمُ

    نصُّوا الدسوت ومدّوا دونها السُّمُطا

    When the assembly's circle sits wrapped in their might,

    they erect thrones and lay banquet spreads before them.

  66. كنتم رضاي عن الدنيا فلو حفِظتَ

    من النوى شملَكم لم أعرف السخَطا

    You were my contentment with the world; had you preserved

    your unity from separation, I would never have known discontent.

  67. تركتم عيشتي بلهاءَ عاطشةً

    في مجهلٍ سبسبٍ يُنسي القطاةَ قَطا

    You left my life bewildered and thirsty

    in a trackless, level waste that makes a sandgrouse forget its flock.

  68. قد عَرَق الدهرُ عظمي بعد فرقتكم

    من بعد ما حزَّ في جلدي وما كشطا

    Time has stripped my bone bare since your departure,

    after cutting into my skin and scraping it away.

  69. فلاحظوني على بعد المزار بما

    يكون سِتراً على عوراته وغِطا

    So watch over me, despite the long distance, with something

    that may screen its shame and cover it.

  70. فليس بيني وبين الرزق غيرُكُمُ

    إن جل أو دقّ سُفَّارٌ ولا وُسطا

    For between me and sustenance, apart from you,

    be it much or little, there are no envoys or mediators.

  71. واسمع لها أنت خير السامعين لها

    عذراءَ ما طُرَّ معناها ولا لُقِطا

    Listen to her—you are the best of those who hear her—

    a virgin whose meaning was neither pilfered nor gleaned.

  72. مزفوفةً لم يضيِّعها حواضنُها

    زُوراً ولم تعرف المِدْرَى ولا المُشُطا

    Led forth as a bride, whom her nurses have not spoiled

    with falsehood, she has known neither hairpin nor comb.

  73. تَغنَى بشافعها من حسنها أبداً

    عن التحسن مستجلىً ومشترَطا

    Her beauty's intercession forever frees her

    from embellishment, whether sought for display or stipulated.

  74. كأنها لعلوق السامعين بها

    تُهدِي إلى كلّ سمع عاطلٍ قُرُطا

    As listeners cling to her, it is as though she

    offers an earring to every unadorned ear.

  75. للمهرجان بها والعيدِ ساريةٌ

    ظهراً ينقّلها رفعاً ومنهبطا

    For Mihrjan and Eid, she is a night-traveling cloud,

    borne at noon across heights and hollows.

  76. يومان إن خولفت جنساً هما فلقد

    تناسَبا في اجتماع السعد وارتبطا

    Two days: though different in kind, they have

    become kin, joined in shared good fortune.

  77. للفرس والعُرب من شأنيهما شرفٌ

    يردُّ خزياً على أعقابها النَّبطَا

    Persians and Arabs gain honor from their two occasions,

    which sends the Nabataeans back on their heels in shame.

  78. فطاول الدهرَ مغبوطاً بحظّهما

    في ظلّ نَعماءَ مَنْ دامت له غُبِطا

    So vie with time, envied for your share in both,

    beneath blessings whose lasting possessor is envied.