Sol 6.1

  1. ماذا يَعيبُ رجالُ الحىِّ في النادي

    سوى جنوني على أُدمانةِ الوادي

    What do the tribesmen find fault with in the assembly,

    except my madness for the valley's white doe?

  2. نعَمْ هي الزادُ مشغوفٌ بهِ سَغِبٌ

    والماءُ حامت عليه غُلَّة الصادي

    Yes, she is the sustenance a famished man adores,

    and the water around which a thirsty man's burning thirst hovers.

  3. يا صاحبى أنتَ يومَ الرَّوع تُنجدْنى

    فكيف يوم النوى حرَّمتَ إنجادي

    My companion, you help me on the day of terror;

    why, then, on the day of separation, have you denied me help?

  4. وما سلكتُ فجِاج الحبِّ معتزما

    حتى ضمِنتُ ولو بالنفس إسعادي

    I did not resolutely tread love's mountain paths

    until I had secured help for myself, even at the cost of life.

  5. من أين تعلَمُ أنّ البينَ وخزَتُه

    في القلبِ أسلمُ منها ضربةُ الهادي

    How can you know that parting's stab

    in the heart is deadlier than a blow to the neck?

  6. لا دَرَّ دَرُّك إن ورَّيتَ عن خبري

    إذا وصلتَ وإن أشمتَّ حُسّادي

    May no blessing come to you if you conceal my plight

    when you arrive, even if you make my enviers gloat.

  7. قُلْ للمقيمين بالبطحاءِ إنَّ لكم

    بالرقمَّتين أسيرا ماله فادي

    Tell those dwelling in al-Batha that they have

    at al-Raqmatayn a captive with no one to ransom him,

  8. بين العواذل تطويه وتنشُره

    مثلَ المريِض طريحا بين عُوَّادِ

    amid reproachful women who fold him up and unfold him,

    like a sick man lying among his visitors.

  9. ليتَ الملامةَ سدَّت كلَّ سامعةٍ

    فلم تجد مسلَكا أُرجوزةُ الحادي

    Would that reproach had stopped every listening ear,

    so the camel-driver's chant could find no passage.

  10. أكلِّف القلبَ أن يهوَى وأُلزمه

    صبرا وذلك جمعٌ بين أضدادِ

    I require my heart to love, and oblige it

    to endure patiently: that is joining opposites.

  11. وأكتُم الركبَ أسرارى وأسألهم

    حاجاتِ نفسي لقد أتعبتُ رُوّادي

    I hide my secrets from the caravan, yet ask its people

    for my soul's needs; I have indeed exhausted my scouts.

  12. هل مدلجٌ عنده من مُبكرٍ خبرٌ

    وكيف يعلم حالَ الرايح الغادي

    Does a night traveler have news from one who starts early?

    How can the morning traveler know the evening traveler's state?

  13. وإن رويتُ أحاديثَ الذين نأَوا

    فعَنْ نسيم الصَّبا والبرقِ إسنادي

    And if I relate accounts of those who have gone far away,

    my chain of transmission comes from the east wind's breeze and the lightning.

  14. قالوا تعَوّضْ بغِزلان النقا بدلا

    أمقنعى شِبْهُ أجيادٍ لأجياد

    They said, 'Take the sand dune's gazelles as substitutes.'

    Can necks resembling other necks satisfy me?

  15. إن الظباءَ التي هام الفؤادُ بها

    يَرعَينَ ما بين أحشاءٍ وأكبادِ

    The gazelles with whom my heart is infatuated

    graze amid innards and livers.

  16. سَكَنَّ من أنفس العُشّاق في حَرَمٍ

    فليس يطمع فيها حبلُ صيَّادِ

    They dwell within the lovers' souls in a sanctuary,

    where no hunter's snare can hope to reach them.

  17. هيهات لا ذقتُ حُلوا من كلامكمُ

    قد بان غدركُمُ في وجه ميعادي

    Far from it! May I taste no sweetness in your words;

    your treachery is plain on the face of my promised meeting.

  18. ولا جعلتُ اللَّمى وِرْدي وقد ضمِنتْ

    غمامةُ الجود إصداري وإيرادي

    Nor would I make dark lips my watering place, when

    the cloud of generosity guarantees my departure and arrival.

  19. في شَرف الدّين عن معروفكم عِوضٌ

    كرامةُ الجارِ والإيثارُ بالزادِ

    In Sharaf al-Din there is a substitute for your kindness:

    honoring the neighbor and putting others first with provisions.

  20. للطارقِ الحكمُ في أعناقِ هَجمِته

    ولو تقراَّه ذئبُ الرَّدهةِ العادي

    The night visitor commands the necks of his camel herd,

    even if the marauding wolf of the hollow seeks his hospitality.

  21. نادتْ هلَّم إلى الشِّيَزى مكارمُهُ

    فنُبنَ في الليلِ عن نارٍ ووقَّادِ

    His generous deeds call, 'Come to the wooden bowls!'

    At night they take the place of a beacon fire and its lighter.

  22. يَشفِين من قَرِم الضِّيفانِ عند فتىً

    لا يزجرُ السيفَ من عُرقوبِ مِقحادِ

    They cure the guests' craving for meat, beside a gallant

    who does not hold his sword back from a great-humped she-camel's hock.

  23. مباحُ أفنيةِ المعروفِ ليس له

    بابٌ يعالجه العافى بمِقلادِ

    His courtyards of kindness are open to all; he has

    no door a supplicant must struggle to open with a key.

  24. فلا وكاء على عينٍ ولا ورقٍ

    ولا رِعاء لأزرابٍ وأذوادِ

    No purse-string guards his gold or silver,

    nor shepherds his sheepfolds and camel herds.

  25. أجدَى فلم يَرذُجرا في خزائنه

    إلا قناطيرَ من شكرٍ وإحمادِ

    He gave generously, and found no treasure in his vaults

    except great heaps of gratitude and praise.

  26. في كلِّ يومٍ يُرينا من مواهبه

    بِرًّا غَريبا وفضلا غيرَ مُعتادِ

    Every day he shows us, among his gifts,

    novel kindness and bounty beyond the customary.

  27. شريعةٌ في النّدَى ضلوا فدلّهُمُ

    على مناهجها خِرّيتُها الهادي

    A watering path through bounty: they strayed, and he led them

    to its routes—its expert pathfinder and guide.

  28. قاضي اللُّبانةِ لم يفطِن لها أملٌ

    كأنّه لهوى العافى بمِرصادِ

    He fulfills a need before hope has even perceived it,

    as though lying in wait for the supplicant's desire.

  29. له قِبابٌ بطيب الذكرِ شيَّدها

    فما دُعِمنَ بأطنابٍ وأوتادٍ

    He has domes he built from sweet remembrance,

    not propped up by tent ropes and pegs.

  30. يا بحرُ إن شئتَ أن تحِكى مواهَبهُ

    فدع مَخُوفَيْكَ من هَيْج وإزبادِ

    O sea, if you wish to imitate his gifts,

    abandon your two terrors: surging and foaming.

  31. قد ساجمَ العارضَ الهامي وزايدَه

    حتى استغاث بإبراق وأرعادِ

    He competed in pouring with the streaming raincloud and outdid it,

    until it cried for help with lightning and thunder.

  32. لله أىّ زلالٍ في مَزَداتِهِ

    والظِّمءُ يَخلِطُ فُرَّاطا بُورّادِ

    What wondrously sweet water his waterskins hold,

    while thirst mingles advance water-seekers with those arriving to drink!

  33. اُنظر إليه ترى من شأنِهِ عجبا

    زِىَّ الملوك على أخلاقِ زُهّادِ

    Look at him: you will see a marvel in his character—

    the attire of kings upon the character of ascetics.

  34. إن قال قومٌ له مِثلٌ يقلْ لهُمُ

    من ماثلوه به جئتم بإلحادِ

    If some say he has an equal, they will be told

    by the one they liken him to, 'You have spoken heresy.'

  35. لا تكذُبنَّ فهذا الشخصُ من نفرٍ

    لم يخلُق اللهُ منهم غيرَ آحادِ

    Do not lie: this man belongs to a handful

    of whom God has created only rare individuals.

  36. شرائطُ المجد كلٌّ فيه قد جُمِعتْ

    جمعَ حروِف التهجِّى في أبي جادِ

    All the conditions of glory have been gathered in him,

    as the alphabet's letters are gathered in Abi Jad.

  37. أرِحْ بنانَك من حُسبانِ سؤدده

    إن الكواكبَ لا تُحصَى بأعدادِ

    Rest your fingertips from counting his nobility:

    the stars cannot be reckoned by numbers.

  38. وهل يفوت المعالي من أحاط بها

    بنفسه وبآباءٍ وأجدادِ

    Can high honors elude one who has encompassed them

    in himself, his fathers, and his forefathers?

  39. إذا الفخارُ رمَى الفُتيَا إلى حَكَمٍ

    وافَى ينافر أمجادا بأمجادِ

    When boasting refers its judgment to an arbiter,

    he comes, matching glories against glories.

  40. على المهابةِ قد زُرَّت بَنائقُه

    كأنّه لابسٌ لِبداتِ آسادِ

    His garment's gussets are buttoned over majesty,

    as though he wore the manes of lions.

  41. لذاك صُعِّر خدٌّ غيرُ منعفرٍ

    له وخرَّ جبينٌ غيرُ سَجَّادِ

    For that, a cheek never rubbed in dust bends

    before him, and a brow unused to prostration falls.

  42. تطأطأ المجدُ حتى صار فارسَه

    ثم اشمخرّ فلم يلطأ لصعَّادِ

    Glory stooped until he became its rider,

    then towered, no longer bending for climbers.

  43. فكيف لا ترهبُ ألأعداء نقمتَه

    وبطشُها كصنيع الريح في عادِ

    How, then, could enemies not fear his vengeance,

    whose violence is like the wind's work upon Ad?

  44. صوارمٌ من صواب الرأى يطبعها

    وصانعُ المكرِ يكسوها بأغمادِ

    He forges keen swords from sound judgment,

    and the craftsman of guile clothes them in scabbards.

  45. إذا انتْتُضِينَ وما يَظهرنَ من لَطَفٍ

    فرّقن ما بين أرواح وأجسادِ

    When drawn—so subtle that they cannot be seen—

    they sever souls from bodies.

  46. وللمكايد سيفٌ غيرُ منثلمٍ

    وللخدائع رمحٌ غيرُ منادِ

    For plots, an unnotched sword;

    and for stratagems, an unbending spear.

  47. في أيِّما جانبٍ من حزمهِ نظروا

    لم يجدوا مطلعا فيه لأَفنادِ

    Whatever aspect of his prudence they examine,

    they find in it no opening for errors.

  48. تخافُ عزمتَه الإبْلُ التي خُلقتْ

    أخفافُهنَّ لتهجيرٍ وإسآدِ

    His resolve frightens the camels, whose

    footpads were made for midday travel and night marches.

  49. وتتقيه العِتاق القُبُّ سائمةً

    تطويحَها بين أتهامٍ وأنجادِ

    Even grazing, the lean thoroughbreds dread him—

    his sending them far across lowlands and uplands.

  50. أليس ناظمها عِقدا له طَرَفٌ

    بالرىّ والطرفُ ألأقصى ببغدادِ

    Has he not strung them in a necklace with one end

    at Rayy and the farthest end at Baghdad?

  51. مكَّلفات بساطَ الدوّ امسَحه

    بأسؤقٍ وبأعناقٍ وأعضادِ

    Charged with the desert's carpet: 'Sweep it

    with shanks, with necks, and with upper forelimbs!'

  52. كأنَّ آثارَ ما داست حوافرُها

    دراهمٌ بَدَدٌ في كفِّ نقَّادِ

    The marks left where their hooves have trodden seem

    like scattered dirhams in a money-changer's palm.

  53. طورا تَسامَى على يافوخِ شاهقةٍ

    بها السمواتُ ظُنَّتْ ذاتَ أعمادِ

    At times they rise over the crown of a lofty peak,

    which makes the heavens seem to stand on pillars;

  54. وتارةً ترتمى في صفصفٍ قُذُفٍ

    للآلِ يُكذَب فيه كلُّ مُرتادِ

    and at times they plunge into a vast, far-flung plain,

    where the mirage deceives every scout.

  55. حتّى شَتَيْنَ بنيسابورَ باليةً

    إلا عِظاما مُواراةً بأجلادِ

    At last they wintered at Nishapur, worn away

    to nothing but bones covered with skins,

  56. في شَتوةٍ شَمِطَ الليلُ البهيمُ بها

    تُضاحِك الريحَ ما هبَّتْ بصَرَّادِ

    in a winter that turned the pitch-dark night gray,

    laughing back at each gust of wind with biting cold.

  57. كأنَّ في أرضها أنْسَاجَ قِبْطِيَةٍ

    أو السماءَ استعارت بَرْسَ نَجَّادِ

    Its ground seems spread with Coptic fabrics,

    or the sky has borrowed an upholsterer's cotton.

  58. يا من يشاوَرُ في قُرب وفي بُعُدٍ

    ومن يُعَدُّ لإصلاحٍ وإفسادِ

    O you who are consulted in matters near and far,

    and held ready for setting right and overthrowing,

  59. إن الإمامَ مذ استرعاك دولتَهُ

    غَنِى برأيك عن تجهيز أجنادِ

    since the Imam entrusted you with his state,

    your judgment has spared him the equipping of armies.

  60. إن مرِضَتْ ليلةٌ عُمىٌ كواكُبها

    قدحتَ فيها بزنَدٍ غيرِ صَلاَّدِ

    If a night falls ill, its stars gone blind,

    you strike sparks within it with a fire-stick that never fails.

  61. فهذه ألأرضُ قد عَجَّت بدعوتهِ

    في كلِّ قُطرٍ خطيبٌ فوق أعوادِ

    Now this earth resounds with his call;

    in every region a preacher stands upon pulpit boards.

  62. عونٌ من الله لم يضشهد وقيعتَه

    إلا كتائبُ توفيقٍ وإرشادِ

    Help from God, whose battle none witnessed

    but battalions of success and guidance,

  63. وحسنُ تدبيرك المُردِى أعاديَهُ

    مقرَّنين بأغلالٍ وأصفادِ

    and your fine planning, which destroys his enemies,

    bound together in fetters and shackles.

  64. فأىُّ فظٍّ عليها غيرُ منعطفٍ

    وأي صعبٍ حرون غيرُ منقادِ

    What harsh man, then, does not incline toward it?

    What stubborn, restive one does not submit?

  65. وفي خراسانَ قد شِيدتْ مآثره

    أرَّخَها صيتُها تاريخَ ميلادِ

    In Khurasan his glorious deeds have been raised high;

    their renown has marked their date like the date of a birth.

  66. بين الخليفةِ والمَلْكِ المطيعِ له

    أبرمتَ وصلةَ أولادٍ لأولادِ

    Between the caliph and the king obedient to him,

    you secured a union of children with children.

  67. شمسٌ وبدرٌ لويتَ العَقدَ بينهما

    لولا الشريعةُ لم يوثَق بإشهادِ

    A sun and a full moon: you tied the knot between them;

    but for sacred law, no attestation would have been needed.

  68. فليس كالصِّهر في سهلٍ ولا جبل

    وليس كالحمو في حَضْرٍ ولا بادِ

    None is like the son-in-law in plain or mountain,

    nor like the father-in-law in town or desert.

  69. فيا له شرفا أحرزتَ غايتَه

    فلم تدع فضلةً فيه لمرتادِ

    What honor, whose utmost limit you have attained!

    You have left nothing in it for another seeker.

  70. وما بلوغُك في العلياء آخَرها

    بمانعٍ كَرَّةَ المستأنِف البادي

    Nor does your reaching the furthest point of the heights

    prevent a fresh charge like that of one just beginning.

  71. تسومني أن أُنير القولَ فيك وما

    يُغني المرقَّشُ من تفويفِ أبرادِ

    You ask me to brighten my words about you, yet what

    can an embellisher add to the striping of patterned cloaks?

  72. بل كلُّ مدحِك أمرٌ ليس من حِيلى

    وكنْهُ وصفك ثِقلٌ ليس في آدى

    Rather, praising you fully is a task beyond my powers,

    and describing your essence is a burden beyond my strength.

  73. إنَّ القوافى وإن جاشت غواربُها

    لا يُستطاه بها تحويلُ أطوادِ

    Rhymes, though their crests surge high,

    cannot move mountains.

  74. فإن رضيتَ بميسورى فهاءِ حُلىً

    مَصُوغة بين أفكاري وإنشادي

    If you are content with what I can offer, take these jewels,

    fashioned between my thoughts and my recitation.

  75. فلن تعوزَيدَ الغوَّاص من صدفى

    فريدةٌ وُسِّطتْ في سِلك عقَّادِ

    The diver's hand shall never lack, from my shells,

    a peerless pearl set in a necklace-stringer's thread.

  76. أُعابُ بالشعر لا أبغى به عِوضا

    ولا يُعاب أناسٌ غيرُ أجوادِ

    I am faulted for poetry, though I seek no recompense through it,

    while ungenerous people go unblamed.

  77. لكنّني في أناسٍ إن سألتُهُمُ

    لم يعرفوا الفرق بين الظاء والضادِ

    But I am among people who, if I ask them,

    cannot tell the difference between ẓāʾ and ḍād.

  78. ما دمتَ سمعا وعينا في الزمان لنا

    فكلُّ أيامِه أيامُ أعياد

    As long as you remain our ear and eye in this age,

    all its days are days of festival.