Sol 6.1

  1. بدت تَتَهادى بين سرب كَواعِب

    فَلاحَت كَشَمس الافق بين الكَواكِب

    She appeared, swaying gracefully among a bevy of budding-breasted maidens,

    and shone like the sun on the horizon among the stars.

  2. بَديعَة حسن في حنادِس شعرها

    تريني ضيآء الصبح تحت الغَياهِب

    Wondrous in beauty, amid the deep darkness of her hair,

    she shows me dawn's radiance beneath the gloom.

  3. بهية خدّ عطرة الريق غادة

    رَشيقة قد تَزدَري بالقَواضِب

    A tender maiden, radiant of cheek, whose saliva is fragrant,

    slender of figure, she scorns keen-edged swords.

  4. بذلَت لَها روحي وَمالي بخلوة

    وَذاكَ غِنائي منها عَن كل ذاهِب

    I offered her my soul and my wealth for a private meeting,

    and that, from her, suffices me in place of all that is lost.

  5. بسطت لها كف الرجآء فاعرضت

    وَصَدَّت وَلَم تبدلنا لين جانِب

    I stretched out to her the palm of hope, but she turned away,

    and kept aloof, offering us no gentleness in return.

  6. بدا قرطها الخفاق يحميه لحظها

    فانعم بمسنون حما بعض واجِب

    Her swaying earring appeared, guarded by her glance;

    how fine a sharpened blade, guarding part of what is due!

  7. بعثت لَها طيفي رَسولا كَخاطِب

    فاصبحت مَسلوب الفؤاد كَحاطِب

    I sent her my phantom as a messenger, like a suitor,

    and became robbed of my heart, like a wood-gatherer.

  8. برت اعظمى قسراً باسياف جفنها

    وَثَنَت بسهم من قسى الحواجِب

    She pared my bones by force with the swords of her eyelid,

    and struck again with an arrow from the bows of her eyebrows.

  9. بليت بها حتّى رثت لي عواذلي

    وَرقَّ لما أَلقاه قَلب المناصب

    I was so afflicted by her that my reproachers pitied me,

    and my adversary's heart softened at what I suffered.

  10. بَعيدة فهوى القرط معسولة اللمى

    عَلى تربها فاقَت بصقل التَرائِب

    Long is her earring's drop; honey-sweet are her dusky lips;

    she surpassed her peer in the lustre of her upper chest.

  11. بِما تَشتَهي بعت السَلامة بالرَدى

    وَما عَدّ من يهوى الجمال بخائِب

    For what she desires, I sold safety for death,

    and no one who loves beauty is reckoned disappointed.

  12. بَسيمة ثغر تفضح الشمس بهجة

    وَتزري بغزلان الفلا بالتَلاعب

    With a smiling mouth, she puts the sun to shame in splendour,

    and outdoes the desert gazelles in playfulness.

  13. بروق سناها أَجرَت الدمع عندما

    وَقَد كانَ قدماً ماؤه غير ذائِب

    Flashes of her radiance made my tears flow like crimson dye,

    though formerly their water had not melted.

  14. بحور من الأهوال قد خضت غورها

    اذا ما اِنقضَت أَردفتها بسباسب

    Seas of terror—I have waded into their depths;

    when they ended, I went on to desert wastes,

  15. بحرف كنون تحت صاد مدله

    سَليلة نجب أَلحقَت بنجائِب

    on a lean she-camel, like a nūn beneath a lovesick ṣād,

    offspring of noble camels, ranked among noble mounts.

  16. بذا أَبتَغي سعد الوصول لباسل

    وَزير جَليل القدر زاكى المَناقِب

    By this I seek the good fortune of reaching a valiant man,

    a minister of great standing and pure virtues,

  17. بَديع المَعالي أَحمد الجود وَالسخا

    كَريم السَجايا من كِرام أَطايب

    wondrous in high attainments—Ahmad of bounty and generosity,

    noble of character, from noble, virtuous stock.

  18. بيوم الندا تَلفاه في الدست جالساً

    وَيوم الردى تَلقاه صدر المواكِب

    On the day of bounty, you find him seated in the place of honour,

    and on the day of death, you find him at the head of the cavalcades.

  19. بجد حوى كلَّ المَفاخِر وَالعلا

    وَكَم رتبة قد نالها غير طالِب

    Through good fortune he gathered every glory and eminence,

    and how many a rank he has attained without seeking it!

  20. بحسن التَواني نال عزاً مكملا

    وَما كلَّ ماض في الامور بصائب

    Through well-judged delay he gained honour in full,

    and not everyone who presses ahead in affairs hits the mark.

  21. بَلى هذبته جودة الرأي وَالنهى

    اذا هذبت شخصاً صروف التجارب

    Indeed, sound judgment and reason have refined him,

    when the vicissitudes of experience refine a person.

  22. بدا من نداه للوفود رغائب

    ومن حزمة تَبدو صنوف غَرائِب

    From his bounty, coveted gifts appeared for the delegations,

    and from his resolve appear all manner of marvels.

  23. به من دَقيق الفكر وَالفهم خصلة

    يَرى فيها ما يَبدو وَرآء العَواقِب

    He has a gift for subtle thought and understanding;

    through it he sees what appears beyond the outcomes.

  24. بصمصامه كَم فل جَيشاً عرمرما

    وَبالكتب طور الا بحمل الكَتائِب

    With his keen sword, how many a vast army he has routed!

    And at times through letters, not by the assault of battalions.

  25. براهينه في المكرمات حَقيقة

    وَفي غيره تلغى أَحاديث كاذِب

    His proofs in noble deeds are real,

    while a liar's tales about others are dismissed.

  26. بغير عيوب الجار ما عدَّ جاهِلا

    وَغير الوفا ما عدّ يوماً بِغاصِب

    He is deemed ignorant of nothing but his neighbour's faults,

    and never deemed a usurper of anything but fidelity.

  27. بنى كفه بيت النوال لسائِل

    فَلَم يَختَشِ راج لَه منع حاجِب

    His palm built a house of bounty for the petitioner,

    so none who placed their hope in him feared a doorkeeper's refusal.

  28. بنظمى وَنثرى أَبتَغي شكر فضله

    عَلىّ لأن الشكر أَسى المَكاسِب

    With my verse and my prose I seek to give thanks for his kindness

    to me, for gratitude is the noblest of gains.

  29. بعز واقبال بقى ما تَرَنمت

    طيور وَما غَنَّت حداة الرَكائِب

    May he remain in glory and prosperity as long as song is trilled

    by birds, and as long as the drivers of riding camels sing.