Sol 6.1

  1. تفيض نفوسٌ بأوصابها

    وتكتم عوَّادُها ما بِها

    Souls expire from their afflictions,

    yet conceal what ails them from their visitors.

  2. وما أنصفتْ مهجةٌ تشتِكى

    هواها إلى غير أحبابها

    And no heart acts fairly that complains

    of its love to anyone but those it loves.

  3. ألا أرِنى لوعةً في الحشا

    وليس الهوى بعضَ أسبابها

    Come, show me a burning anguish in the breast

    without love being one of its causes.

  4. ومن شرفِ الحبِّ أن الرجا

    لَ تشرِى أذاه بألبابها

    Among love's honors is that men

    purchase its torment with their reason.

  5. وفي السِّرب مُثْرِيةٌ بالجمالِ

    تُقسِّمه بين أترابها

    Within the flock is one rich in beauty,

    which she portions out among her peers.

  6. فللبدر ما فوق أزرارها

    وللغصن ما تحت جِلبابها

    To the full moon belongs what is above her buttons,

    and to the bough what is beneath her robe.

  7. كأنّى ذَعرتُ بها في الخِبا

    ءِ وحشيَّةً عند مِحرابها

    In her, within the tent, I seemed to startle

    a wild doe beside her prayer niche.

  8. أتبِّعها نظرا معجَلا

    يعثِّر عينى بهُدّابها

    I follow her with a hurried gaze

    that trips my eye over her lashes.

  9. متى شاء يقطِف وردَ الخدود

    وقَتْهُ الأكفُّ بعُنّابها

    Whenever it would pluck the roses of cheeks,

    the hands shield them with their jujube berries.

  10. كفانىَ من وصلها ذكرةٌ

    تمرُّ على بَرْد أنيابها

    A mention suffices me for union with her,

    passing over the coolness of her teeth.

  11. وأن تتلألأ بروقُ الحمى

    وإن أضرمتنى بإلهابها

    And that the sanctuary's lightning flashes should gleam,

    even if they set me ablaze with their fire.

  12. وكم ناحلٍ بين تلك الخيا

    م تحسَبه بعضَ أطنابها

    And many a wasted man among those tents

    you would take for one of their guy ropes.

  13. فمن مخبرٌ حاسدى أننى

    وهبتُ الأمانى لطُلاّبها

    Who will tell my envier that I

    have given wishes away to those who seek them?

  14. فإن عرَضتْ نفسَها لم تجد

    فؤادىَ من بعض خُطّابها

    Should it offer itself, it would not find

    my heart among its suitors.

  15. يُسرُّ الغطارفةَ الأكرمي

    ن قَرعُ مديحى لأبوابها

    The most noble lords are delighted

    by my praise knocking at their doors.

  16. فها هي من قبل رفع الحجاب

    يضاحكنى بشرُ حُجّابها

    And here it is, before the veil is raised:

    its doorkeepers' cheerfulness smiles back at me.

  17. أنزِّه قَعْبىَ عن خَلِّها

    وآنَفُ من مخِض أوطابها

    I keep my wooden bowl free of its vinegar,

    and disdain churning its milk-skins.

  18. وأعلم أن ثيابَ العفا

    ف أجملُ زِىٍّ لمجُتابها

    And I know that the garments of chastity

    are the finest garb for whoever dons them.

  19. عدلتُ السرابَ بأوراقها

    ولمعَ البروق بأذهابها

    I have equated the mirage with its silver,

    and lightning's gleam with its gold.

  20. ولو شئتُ أرسلتُها غارةً

    تعود إلىَّ بأسلابها

    Were I to wish, I would send it on a raid,

    to return to me with its spoils.

  21. ولكننى عائفٌ شهدَها

    فكيف أنافسُ في صابها

    But I disdain its honey,

    so how should I compete for its bitter sap?

  22. تذِلُّ الرجالُ لأطماعها

    كذلِّ العبيد لأربابها

    Men abase themselves before their cravings,

    as slaves abase themselves before their masters.

  23. فلا تقطِفنّ ثمارَ المُنى

    فبئسَ عُصارةُ أعنابها

    So never pluck the fruits of wishes,

    for wretched is the juice of their grapes.

  24. وعُجْ بالأجلِّ أبي قاسمٍ

    لتأتى المكارمَ من بابها

    Turn aside to the most august Abu Qasim,

    to approach noble virtues through their own gate.

  25. فنعمَ الرياضُ لمرتادِها

    ونعمَ الديارُ لمنتابها

    How excellent are the gardens for their seeker,

    and how excellent the dwellings for their visitor!

  26. وأوديةٌ من يَرِدْ ماءَ ها

    يرَ السُّحبَ من بعض شُرّابها

    And valleys—whoever comes to their water

    will see the clouds among their drinkers.

  27. إلى كعبة الجود من راحتيه

    تُشدّ الرحالُ بأقتابها

    To the Kaaba of generosity formed by his two palms,

    the traveling saddles are fastened with their pack-frames.

  28. مناقبُ مثلُ عِدادِ الرمالِ

    تكُدُّ أناملَ حُسّابها

    Virtues as numerous as the grains of sand

    weary the fingers of those who count them,

  29. وتُتعبُ ألسنَ دُرَّاسِها

    وتُفنِى قراطيسَ كُتَّابها

    and exhaust the tongues of those who study them,

    and consume the pages of those who record them.

  30. تجاوزتَ حدّ صفاتِ البليغ

    فمادُحها مثلُ مُغتابها

    You have surpassed the bounds of the eloquent speaker's descriptions;

    so whoever praises them is like one who maligns them.

  31. يذُمُّ البضائعَ ما لم يُعِ

    دَّ من الشكر أوفرَ أكسابِها

    He disparages the wares unless he provides

    the richest of their returns in gratitude.

  32. تظُنُّ بأفواه مُدّاحهِ

    عُقارا تدارُ بأكوابها

    You would imagine, in the mouths of his eulogists,

    wine being passed around in its goblets.

  33. تُصافَحُ منه أكفُّ الرجاء

    برطبِ الأنامل وَهَّابها

    The hands of hope are clasped by him,

    whose fingers are moist and lavish in giving.

  34. كأنّ الشؤالَ على رِفده

    قِداحٌ تفوذ بأنصابها

    As though those petitioning for his bounty

    were gaming arrows winning their allotted shares.

  35. إذا اشتكت الأرضُ داءَ المحو

    لِ داوَى رُباها بإخصابها

    When the earth complains of the sickness of drought,

    he cures its hills by making them fertile.

  36. من العصبة المدركين العُلا

    بأحسابها وبأنسابها

    He is of the company who attain eminence

    through their ancestral merits and their lineages.

  37. أجاروا على الدهر من صَرفِه

    وجاروا على الأُسْد في غابها

    They sheltered others from Time's reversals,

    and tyrannized over lions in their thickets.

  38. وساسوا ولاءَ قلوبِ الرجال

    بإرغابها ثم إرهابها

    They governed the allegiance of men's hearts

    by enticing them, then frightening them.

  39. كنوزُ محامِدها والثناءِ

    عليها ذخائرُ أعقابها

    The treasures of their virtues, and the praise

    bestowed on them, are stores for their descendants.

  40. ولم تَلبَس الرَّيْطَ إلا رأيتَ

    محاسنَها نقشَ أثوابها

    They never don fine wraps without your seeing

    their beauties as the pattern of their robes.

  41. تعجَّبُ من حُسن بهجاتها

    إلى أن ترى حسنَ آدابها

    You marvel at the beauty of their splendor

    until you see the beauty of their manners.

  42. وإنَّ مكارمَ أخلاقها

    تقوم مقاماتِ ألقابها

    And indeed the noble qualities of their character

    stand in place of their titles.

  43. تمَلَّ بأيّام هذا الزمان

    تجرُّ ذلاذلَ جِلبابها

    Enjoy the days of this age,

    trailing the hems of their robe,

  44. مقامَ السواد لأربصارها

    ومثلَ النُّخاع لأصلابها

    holding the place of the pupil in their eyes,

    and of the marrow in their spines.

  45. إذا أنت أفنيتَ أيّامَها

    توالت عليك بأحقابها

    When you have spent their days,

    they will come to you in successive ages.