Sol 6.1

  1. في مِثلِ حَضرَتِكُم لا يَزأَرُ الأَسدُ

    فَكَيفَ يَسجَعُ فيها الطائِرُ الغَرِدُ

    In a presence such as yours, the lion does not roar;

    How, then, can the melodious bird sing there?

  2. لِذاكَ أُحجِمُ عَن مَدحي فَيَبعَثُني

    صِدقُ الوَلاءِ وَإِنّي فيكَ مُعتَقِدُ

    For that I hold back my praise, yet I am impelled

    By sincere allegiance; indeed, I believe in you.

  3. وَكَيفَ أُفصِحُ أَشعاري لَدى مَلِكٍ

    يَغدو لَهُ التِبرُ زَيفاً حينَ يَنتَقِدُ

    How can I voice my poems before a king

    For whom raw gold proves counterfeit when he assays it?

  4. يَقظانُ يَقرَأُ مِن عِنوانِ فِكرَتِهِ

    في يَومِهِ ما طَواهُ في الضَميرِ غَدُ

    Alert, he reads from the heading of his thought

    Today, what tomorrow has folded in its heart.

  5. بَحرٌ وَلَكِنَّهُ بِالدُرِّ مُنفَرِدٌ

    وَالبَحرُ يَجمَعُ فيهِ الدُرُّ وَالرَبَدُ

    An ocean, yet he holds pearls alone,

    While the sea holds both pearls and mud.

  6. مِن مَعشَرٍ إِن دُعوا جادوا لِآمِلِهِم

    قَبلَ السُؤالِ وَأَعطوا فَوقَ ما وَجَدوا

    Of a people who, when called upon, give freely to whoever hopes in them

    Before the asking, and bestow more than they possess.

  7. تُضاعِفُ الرِفدَ لِلوُفّادِ راحَتُهُ

    فَكُلَّما وَفَدوا مِن جودِهِ رُفِدوا

    His palm multiplies gifts for visiting petitioners;

    Whenever they arrive, they receive gifts from his bounty.

  8. عادوا وَفي كُلِّ عُضوٍ بِالثَناءِ فَمٌ

    وَقَد أَتوهُ وَكُلٌّ بِالسُؤالِ يَدُ

    They return with a mouth in every limb proclaiming praise,

    Though they had come to him each a hand extended in petition.

  9. وَلَو رَأوا ما أَرى مِن فَرطِ لَذَّتِهِ

    بِالجودِ ما شَكَروا يَوماً وَلا حَمِدوا

    Had they seen what I see of his immense delight

    In giving, they would never have thanked or praised him.

  10. يَأَيُّها المَلِكُ المَنصورُ طائِرُهُ

    وَمَن بِآرائِهِ الأَملاكُ تَعتَضِدُ

    O king whose bird of fortune is victorious,

    And you whose counsels kings rely on for strength,

  11. وَمَن يُسابِقُ بِالإِنعامِ مُبتَدِياً

    نُطقَ العُفاةِ وَيُعطي قَبلَ ما يَعِدُ

    And who, offering bounty unprompted, outstrips

    The speech of suppliants, and gives before he promises,

  12. أَنتَ الفَريدُ الَّذي حازَت خَلائِقُهُ

    ما لا يُحيطُ بِهِ الإِحصاءُ وَالعَدَدُ

    You are the peerless one whose virtues have embraced

    What reckoning and number cannot encompass.

  13. وَواحِدُ العَصرِ حَتّى لَو حَلَفتُ بِهِ

    يَوماً لَما شَكَّ خَلقٌ أَنُّهُ الأَحَدُ

    And the age's one and only—were I to swear by him

    One day, no soul would doubt that he is the One.

  14. لَكَ اليَراعُ الَّذي إِن هُزَّ عامِلُهُ

    لَم تُغنِ عَنهُ صِلابُ البيضِ وَالزَرَدُ

    Yours is the reed pen: if its shaft is brandished,

    Hard, gleaming swords and mail are powerless against it.

  15. المُستَطيلَ وفي حَدَّ الظُبى قِصرٌ

    وَالمُستَقيمُ وَفي قَدَّ القَنا أَوَدُ

    Far-reaching, while sword-edges fall short,

    And straight, while spear-shafts are bent.

  16. إِذا اِغتَدى نافِئاً بِالسِحرِ في عُقَدٍ

    حُلَّت بِنَجواهُ مِن آمالِنا العُقَدُ

    When it sets out in the morning, casting magic into knots,

    The knots in our hopes are untied by its whispered counsel.

  17. يَقظانُ مِنهُ عُيونُ الناسِ راقِدَةٌ

    وَلَو تَوَعَّدَ أَهلَ الكَهفِ ما رَقَدوا

    It is wakeful; through it, people's eyes sleep;

    Had it threatened the People of the Cave, they would not have slept.

  18. رَبيبُ سُمرِ المَعالي وَهوَ يُحطِمُها

    وَرُبَّما جَرَّ حَتفَ الوالِدِ الوَلَدُ

    A nursling of glory's tawny lances, yet it shatters them;

    And sometimes a child brings about its father's death.

  19. بِالأَمسِ كانَ بَوَطءِ الأُسدِ مُرتَعِداً

    وَاليَومَ مِنهُ فَريضُ الأُسدِ تَرتَعِدُ

    Yesterday, it trembled beneath the tread of lions;

    Today, the lions' flanks tremble before it.

  20. ضَمَّ الأُسودَ فَما زالَ الزَمانُ لَهُ

    يَنوي المُكافاةَ حَتّى ضَمَّهُ الأَسَدُ

    It sheltered lions, and Time, on its behalf, went on

    Planning repayment, until the Lion embraced it.

  21. إِذا اِنثَنى ساجِداً قامَ المُلوكُ لَهُ

    طَوعاً وَإِن قامَ في أَمرٍ لَهُم سَجَدوا

    When it bends in prostration, kings rise before it

    Willingly; if it rises to act on their affairs, they bow down.

  22. يا بانِيَ المَجدِ مِن قَبلِ الدِيارِ وَمَن

    لَهُ المَعالي الَّتي لَم يَرقَها أَحَدُ

    O builder of glory before dwellings, and you

    Whose heights of honor no one has climbed,

  23. بَنَيتَ بَعدَ بِناءِ المَجدِ مُبتَدِئاً

    داراً لَها العِزُّ أُسٌّ وَالعُلى عَمَدُ

    After building glory, you began to build

    A house with honor for its foundation and loftiness for pillars.

  24. أَسَّستَ بِالدينِ وَالتَقوى قَواعِدَها

    فَكانَ عُقباكَ مِنها عيشَةٌ رَغَدُ

    You laid its foundations upon faith and piety,

    So its outcome for you was a life of ease.

  25. داراً تَوَهَّمتُها الدُنيا لِزينَتِها

    وَما سَمِعتُ بِدُنيا ضَمَّها بَلَدُ

    A house I mistook for the world in its splendor,

    Yet I have never heard of a world enclosed within a town.

  26. بِها صَنائِعُ أَبدَتها صَنائِعُكُم

    يَفنى المَدى وَبِها آثارُكُم جُدُدُ

    Within it are works of art your benefactions brought to light;

    Time will perish, while your works within it stay fresh.

  27. تَدَفَّقَ الماءُ في سَلسالِها فَحَكى

    سَماحَ كَفِّكَ فينا حينَ يَطَّرِدُ

    Water gushed through its clear stream, mirroring

    Your palm's generosity toward us as it flows unceasingly.

  28. تَجَمَّعَ الأُسدُ فيها وَالظِباءُ كَما

    مِن فَرطِ عَدلِكَ يَرعى الذِئبُ وَالنَقَدُ

    Lions and gazelles gathered there, just as

    Your abundant justice lets wolf and sheep graze together.

  29. مَولايَ دَعوَةَ عَبدٍ غَيرِ مُفتَتِنٍ

    بِشِعرِهِ وَلَهُ الحُسادُ قَد شَهِدوا

    My lord, hear the plea of a servant not infatuated

    With his own poetry, though even the envious have testified for him.

  30. قَد صُنتَ شِعري وَجُلُّ الناسِ تَخطُبُهُ

    وَذاكَ لَولاكَ لَم يَعبَأ بِهِ أَحَدُ

    You have safeguarded my verse, and most people court it;

    Yet without you, no one would have cared for it.

  31. وَالشِعرُ كَالتِبرِ يُخفى حَينَ تَنظُرُهُ

    عَينُ الغَبيّ وَيَغلو حينَ يُنتَقَدُ

    Poetry, like raw gold, goes unrecognized when viewed

    By a fool's eye, but rises in value when assayed.

  32. فَكَيفَ يَذهَبُ ما نَفعُ الأَنامِ بِهِ

    مِنهُ جُفاءِ وَيَرسو عِندَكَ الزَبَدُ

    How, then, can what brings mankind benefit

    Be swept from it as refuse, while froth settles with you?

  33. إِن شَبَّهوني بِمَن دوني فَلا عَجَبٌ

    فَالدُرُّ يُشبِهُهُ في المَنظَرِ البَرَدُ

    If they liken me to those beneath me, it is no wonder;

    For hail resembles pearls in appearance.

  34. بِكَ اِنتَصَرتُ عَلى الأَيّامِ مُنتَصِفاً

    وَصارَ لي فَوقَ أَيدي الحادِثاتِ يَدُ

    Through you I triumphed over the days, winning redress,

    And gained a hand above the hands of calamities.

  35. وَكَيفَ تَعجَزُ كَفّي أَن أَنالَ بِها

    هامَ السِماكِ وَأَنتَ الباعُ وَالعَضُدُ

    How can my palm be powerless to reach with it

    The heights of al-Simāk, when you are my reach and upper arm?