Sol 6.1

  1. رَأى قَصَبَ السِّباقِ بَنُو الزَّمانِ

    فَجدُّوا مثلَ أفرَاسِ الرِّهانِ

    The sons of the age beheld the race's prize-reed,

    So they strove like horses in a race.

  2. ولكن قلَّ سابِقُهم إليها

    كما قَلَّتْ صَناديدُ الطِّعانِ

    Yet few of them were first to reach it,

    Just as champions of spear-combat were few.

  3. تَناوَلَ رُتبةَ الفُضَلاءِ بعضٌ

    بِراحتِهِ وبَعضٌ باللسانِ

    Some attained the rank of the worthy,

    With their hands, and others with their tongues.

  4. ولو كانَ الكَلامُ يُقيِمُ شأناً

    لَكانتْ كُلُّ نَفسِ ذاتَ شانِ

    And if speech could confer distinction,

    Then every soul would have distinction.

  5. تَفَانى اليومَ أهلُ النَقْدِ حَتَّى

    رأينا الزُجَّ قُدَّامَ السِنانِ

    Today the critics have dwindled away, so that

    We saw the butt-spike ahead of the spearhead.

  6. فهم لا يَنظرونَ إلى كَلامٍ

    ولكن ينظُرونَ إلى فُلانِ

    For they do not look at words,

    But look instead at so-and-so.

  7. رِجالُ الدَّهرِ مثلَ الدَّهرِ تَمضي

    ويُخلَفُ أوَّلٌ منها بِثانِ

    The men of time pass away like time itself,

    And the first of them is succeeded by a second.

  8. فلا يَخلو زَمانٌ من رِجالٍ

    ولا تَفنى الرِّجالُ من الزَّمانِ

    So no age is without men,

    Nor do men vanish from time.

  9. أصابَ الشِّعرُ نَوْبةَ آلِ عيسى

    فأعطاهُمْ نَصيباً في المعاني

    Poetry came in turn to the house of Isa,

    And granted them a share in poetic thought.

  10. لَئِنْ لم يَشرَبوا بِدِنانِ قومٍ

    فقد يُرْوى الظَما رَشْحُ الدِّنانِ

    Even if they have not drunk from others' wine jars,

    Yet thirst may be quenched by the wine jars' seepage.

  11. وفي بيروتَ غُصنٌ ليسَ يُدعى

    بغُصنِ البانِ بل غُصنِ البَيانِ

    And in Beirut is a branch that is not called

    A branch of the bān tree, but a branch of eloquence.

  12. إذا أُعطي النُموَّ فعن قليلٍ

    نَراهُ دَوحةً تُعطِي المَجاني

    If granted growth, then before long

    We shall see it a spreading tree that yields fruit.

  13. أتاني بالقريضِ فَتىً شُجاعٌ

    يُرنِّحُ مَعْطِفَ الشيخِ الجَبان

    A valiant youth came to me with verse,

    Swaying the timid old man's frame.

  14. تكلَّفَ لي مديحاً لَستُ منهُ

    فكانَ كأنهُ خَصمٌ هجاني

    He labored to offer me praise I do not deserve,

    So he was like an enemy who had lampooned me.

  15. فتىً في الصَّدرِ منهُ فُؤادُ كَهْلٍ

    وفي بُرْدَيهِ غُصنُ الخَيْزُرانِ

    A youth whose breast holds a mature man's heart,

    And within his two cloaks, a bamboo branch.

  16. رأينا عِندَهُ خَطَّ القَوافي

    وخَطَّ عِذارِهِ يَتَسابقانِ

    We saw in him the writing of rhymes

    And the line of his cheek-down racing each other.

  17. إذا الآدابُ لم تكُ بالسَّجايا

    فلَيسَتْ بالزَّمانِ ولا المَكانِ

    If literary refinement does not spring from innate traits,

    Then it comes neither from time nor from place.

  18. وإن أعطَى المُؤَدِّبُ فضلَ علمٍ

    فلا يُعطي الحَذاقةَ في الجَنانِ

    And even if a tutor bestows the boon of knowledge,

    Still, he cannot impart acumen to the heart.

  19. ولا يُعطِي الفَخارَ أبٌ كريمٌ

    إذا طَرَحتْكَ نَفسُكَ في الهَوانِ

    Nor can a noble father bestow glory,

    If your own soul casts you into disgrace.

  20. فكُنْ من رَهْطِ باهلةٍ أديباً

    ولا تَكُ من بني عبدِ المَدانِ

    So be a man of letters from the clan of Bahila,

    And do not be of the sons of Abd al-Madan.