Sol 6.1

  1. خُذُوا حِذرَكم من طَرْفِهِ فَهْوَ قَتَّالُ

    ولا تَطمَعوا في عِطفِهِ فَهْوَ مَيَّالُ

    Take heed of his glance, for it is deadly;

    nor hope for his affection, for it is ever wavering.

  2. ولا تَعجَبُوا للنَدِّ في صَحْنِ خَدِّهِ

    فمِن فَوقِهِ نُونٌ ومن حَولِهِ دالُ

    Do not marvel at the nadd perfume on the expanse of his cheek:

    above it is a nūn, and around it a dāl.

  3. مَليحٌ تُباعُ الرُّوحُ في سُوقِ حُبِّهِ

    وليسَ سِوَى تِلكَ اللّواحظِ دَلاّلُ

    A beauty: in the marketplace of his love the soul is sold,

    and none but those sidelong glances serve as auctioneer.

  4. منَ الغِيدِ بَرْدٌ لا سَلامٌ بِثَغْرِهِ

    فأصبَحَ فيهِ يُجمَعُ الماءُ والآلُ

    He is among the willowy beauties; his mouth holds coolness, but no peace,

    so within it water and mirage are brought together.

  5. جَرَى عَرَقٌ في خَدِّهِ لالْتهابِهِ

    فذلكَ ماءُ الوَردِ في الخَدِّ سَيَّالُ

    Sweat ran down his cheek because of its burning:

    that is rosewater streaming over the cheek.

  6. وقد قَطَرَتْ إذ حَظَّتِ السِّحرَ عينُهُ

    منَ الحِبرِ فيهِ نُقطةٌ اسمُها الخالُ

    And when his eye received its share of magic, there dripped

    a dot of ink upon him, called the beauty spot.

  7. غَزالٌ تَغزَّلْنا بغازلِ طَرْفهِ

    فغازَلَنا منهُ غزَالٌ وغزَّالُ

    A gazelle—we sang of the flirt in his glance;

    so from him a gazelle and a spinner flirted with us.

  8. طمِعنا على جهلٍ بعسَّالِ ثغرِهِ

    وكم دُونَ عَسَّالِ المَراشِفِ عَسَّالُ

    In ignorance we craved the honey-sweetness of his mouth;

    yet how many a quivering spear bars those honeyed lips!

  9. يَقولونَ لي ما أنتَ والغَزَلَ الذي

    عليكَ بهِ أهلُ الشَهامةِ عُذَّالُ

    They say to me, 'What have you to do with love verse, for which

    men of noble spirit reproach you?

  10. عَليكَ حُقوقٌ للأميرِ فقُمْ بها

    ودَعْ عنكَ هذا اللَغْوَ يا نِعْمَ ما قالوا

    You owe duties to the emir, so attend to them,

    and leave this idle talk behind.' Ah, how well they spoke!

  11. سَلامٌ على وَجهِ الأميرِ مُحمَّدٍ

    يُحَيَّا بهِ من أجلِهِ الصَحْبُ والآلُ

    Peace upon the face of Emir Muhammad;

    with it, for his sake, companions and kin are greeted.

  12. عزيزٌ علينا كلُّ ما يَنتمِي إلى

    عزيزٍ فَدَتْهُ النَّفسُ والأهلُ والمالُ

    Dear to us is everything belonging to

    a cherished man—may life, family, and wealth be his ransom.

  13. أتُوقُ إلى تِلكَ الدِّيارِ كأنَّني

    غريبٌ عليهِ طالَ في الدَّهرِ تَرْحالُ

    I yearn for those abodes, as though I were

    a stranger whose wandering through the years has dragged on.

  14. وأطرَبُ لليومِ الذي نلتقي بهِ

    كمجهودِ شَهرِ الصَّومِ إذْ هَلَّ شَوَّالُ

    And I rejoice at the day on which we shall meet,

    like one exhausted by the fasting month when Shawwal dawns.

  15. تَغرَّبتُ عن غَرْبٍ هُوَ الشَّرقُ عِندَنا

    فما الشَّرقُ إلاّ حيثُ للصُبْحِ إقبالُ

    I am exiled from a West that is the East to us,

    for the East is only where the dawn comes forth.

  16. هُنالِكَ صُبحٌ لا ظَلامَ وراءَهُ

    يَلوحُ بهِ وجهُ وقَوْلٌ وأعمالُ

    There is a dawn with no darkness to follow;

    in it a face shines forth, and speech and deeds.

  17. فيا وَطني إنْ فاتَني بكَ سابقٌ

    مِن الدَّهرِ فليَنْعَمْ لساكِنِكَ البالُ

    O my homeland, if I have missed in you an earlier stretch

    of life, may your dweller's mind be at ease.

  18. ويا دارَهُ بالغَرْبِ إنَّ مَزارَها

    بعيدٌ ولكن دُونَهُ ليسَ أهوالُ

    And O his home in the West, the journey to visit it

    is long, yet no terrors bar the way.

  19. لنا من أبيهِ نِعمةٌ طالَ ذَيلُها

    فما بَرِحَتْ منهُ تُجرَّرُ أذيالُ

    We have from his father a bounty with a long train;

    and through him its hems have never ceased to trail.

  20. ظَنَنَّا الليالي لا تَجودُ بمثلِهِ

    فجادَتْ بمِثْلٍ لا تُدانيهِ أمثالُ

    We thought the nights would never bestow his like;

    yet they bestowed his like, whom no peers can approach.

  21. أصَحُّ كَلامٍ مَدحُهُ فَهْوَ مذهبٌ

    لنا فيهِ قولٌ واحدٌ ليسَ أقوالُ

    The truest speech is praise of him, for it is a creed

    on which we hold one view, not many.

  22. وأشهَرُ شيءٍ أنَّه فَرْدُ عَصرِهِ

    فذلكَ تَدريهِ شُيوخٌ وأطفالُ

    And nothing is better known than that he is unique in his age;

    elders and children know that.

  23. يُخبِّرُ عن أيَّامِ عادٍ وجُرهُمٍ

    كمَنْ مَرَّ أجيالٌ عليهِ وأجيالُ

    He tells of the days of ʿAd and Jurhum

    like one over whom generations upon generations have passed.

  24. ويحفَظُ ما يَبْقَى على لوحِ صَدرِهِ

    كحِبرٍ بهِ في اللوحِ يُرسَمُ تِمثالُ

    And he preserves what endures on the tablet of his breast,

    like ink with which a figure is drawn upon a tablet.

  25. لهُ في أفانينِ الكلامِ تَصَرُّفٌ

    وفي الشِّعرِ إحسانٌ وفي النَّثر إجمال

    He has mastery of the varied arts of speech,

    with excellence in poetry and elegance in prose.

  26. ونفعٌ وضَرٌّ عندهُ غيرَ أنَّهُ

    إلى النَّفعِ معجالٌ عنِ الضَّرِّ مِكسالُ

    Both benefit and harm are in his power, yet he

    is swift to benefit and slow to harm.

  27. نُهنيِّهِ بالعيدِ الخليقِ لهُ الهَنا

    به فعليهِ منهُ للزَّهوِ سِربالُ

    We congratulate him on the feast, for he deserves the joy

    it brings; from it he wears a robe of pride.

  28. ولو كانَ هذا العيدُ يَملِكُ أمرَهُ

    أتى كلَّ يومٍ زائراً وَهْوَ يخْتالُ

    And if this feast were master of its own affairs,

    it would come visiting every day, strutting proudly.

  29. قَسَمْنا جميلَ القولِ والفِعلِ بَينَنا

    فمِنّي لهُ قولٌ ولي منهُ أفعالُ

    We divided fine words and deeds between us:

    from me to him are words, and from him to me are deeds.

  30. ولكن تقَاسمْنا فجارَ فكُلَّما

    أتى دانَقٌ مِنِّي أتى منهُ مِثقالُ

    But when we shared, he was unfair: whenever

    a daniq came from me, a mithqal came from him.