Sol 6.1

  1. أأبا الحسينِ كُفيتَ ما بعد الرّدى

    فلقد قضيتَ ردىً برغم معاطِسِ

    O Abu al-Husayn, may you be spared what follows death.

    For you have met death, to the chagrin of many noses.

  2. ما دار في فكري فراقُك هكذا

    دون الأنام ولا جرى في هاجسي

    I never imagined parting from you like this,

    Rather than all others; nor did it enter my thoughts.

  3. وذخرتُ منك مودّةً فُسِلبْتُها

    والدّهرُ مشغولٌ بسلبِ نفائسي

    I treasured affection from you, only to be robbed of it,

    And Time is busy stealing my precious things.

  4. ما كنتَ من جِنسي ولا من أُسرَتِي

    وَلأَنتَ بالودّ الصّحيح مُجانسي

    You were neither of my kind nor of my family,

    Yet through true affection you are surely kindred to me.

  5. صانعتُ فيك معاشراً وكتمتُهمْ

    وَجْدِي عليك وصَبْوَتِي ووساوسي

    I humored groups of people concerning you and hid from them

    My grief for you, my yearning, and my anxious thoughts.

  6. وحبستُ دمعي أنْ يسيلَ تجمُّلاً

    لو كان دمعٌ لا يسيلُ لحابسِ

    And I held back my tears from flowing, to preserve my composure,

    If tears could be kept from flowing by one who restrains them.

  7. ولقد لبستَ من الزّمان جلالَه

    وجلستَ منه في أعزّ مجالسِ

    You clothed yourself in Time's majesty,

    And sat in its most honored seats.

  8. وَحَكمتَ في الملكِ الّذي ما حَكَّموا

    فيه سوى ماضي العزيمةِ سائسِ

    And you ruled in the realm where they entrusted power to none

    But a statesman of unwavering resolve.

  9. ورأيت دونك كلَّ ذي خيريّةٍ

    سامي البَنِيَّةِ في عُلاً متشاوسِ

    And you saw beneath you every man of merit,

    Lofty in stature and haughty in high station.

  10. وفرجتَ بالآراءِ ضِيقَ شديدةٍ

    ومحوت بالأضواء ضيقَ حنادسِ

    And with counsels you relieved the straits of calamity,

    And with lights erased the oppressive grip of darkness.

  11. وضربت بالأسيافِ كلَّ مسايفٍ

    ودعستَ بالأرماحِ كلَّ مُداعِسِ

    And with swords you struck every swordsman,

    And with spears you pierced every spearman.

  12. ورددتَ ذا لَجَبٍ يضيق به الفَلا

    ملآن من جُنَنٍ له وقوانسِ

    And you repelled a clamorous host that cramped the open desert,

    Brimming with its shields and helmet-crests.

  13. وأريتَ أنّ فوارساً في طيّهِ

    بالطّعنِ في اللَّبّات غيرُ فوارسِ

    And you showed that the horsemen within its ranks,

    By thrusts into their throat-hollows, were no true horsemen.

  14. وَإِذا أناسٌ نافسوك وقدّروا

    أن يلحقوك فضحت كلَّ منافِسِ

    And when men competed with you and supposed

    They could catch you, you shamed every rival.

  15. أو ناضلوك فَضَلْتَهُمْ بصوائبٍ

    أو زاحموك زَحَمْتَهمْ بقَدامِسِ

    Or they challenged you in archery, and you surpassed them with unerring shots,

    Or they crowded you, and you pushed them back with mighty force.

  16. وركبتَ كلّ مطاوعٍ متعطِّفٍ

    لَمّا اِبتُلُوا بروافسٍ وشوامسِ

    And you rode every obedient, pliant mount,

    While they were plagued by kicking, restive beasts.

  17. وَإِذا اِختبرت ففي الزّمان أكايسٌ

    حازوا الكمالَ وفيه غيرُ أكايسِ

    And if you look closely, this age has discerning men

    Who have attained perfection, and in it men without discernment.

  18. في كلِّ يومٍ لِي حميمُ مودّةٍ

    أعطيه من فَقْدٍ يمينَ الرّامِسِ

    Each day there is a friend bound to me in affection,

    To whom, through loss, I give a burier's right hand.

  19. وأصونُهُ بالتُّرب والتّرب الّذي

    فيه أكفُّ دوارسٍ وكوامسِ

    And I protect him with earth—the very earth

    In which lie the hands of effacing and burying forces.

  20. وأودُّ أنّي بعد ذاك لقيتُهُ

    لو يلتقي حيٌّ بمَيْتٍ دارسِ

    And I wish I could meet him after that,

    If a living man could meet one dead and decayed.

  21. وإذا رجعتُ رجعتُ صِفراً يائساً

    عن مُقفر من كلِّ شيءٍ يابسِ

    And when I return, I return empty-handed, despairing,

    From a desolate, dry place, empty of everything.

  22. وَهو الزّمانُ فعبرةٌ لمُغفَّلٍ

    أطوارُهُ أو ضُحكةٌ للعابِسِ

    Such is Time: a lesson for the heedless

    Are its vicissitudes—or a laughing matter for the grim-faced.

  23. أَيردُّ ما أعطاك غيرَ مُلبِّثٍ

    من بعد أن أعطاك غيرَ مماكِسِ

    Does it reclaim what it gave you, without delay,

    After giving it to you without haggling?

  24. وَإِذا نَجونا من خطوبِ مُلِمَّةٍ

    عرضت لنا تأتي نيوبُ نواهسِ

    And when we escape calamities that beset us,

    The fangs of biting beasts appear, coming at us.

  25. أين الأُلى حلّوا السّماءَ وعارضوا

    زُهْرُ النُّجومِ مقابساً بمقابسِ

    Where are those who dwelt in the sky and rivaled

    The shining stars, torch against torch?

  26. فَاِستَفرَشوا الكرمَ المُبِرَّ على الورى

    عفواً مكانَ نمارِقٍ وطَنافِسِ

    So they took as bedding generosity that outstripped all mankind,

    Effortlessly, in place of cushions and carpets.

  27. وَسَرى لَهُمْ ذِكرٌ ذكيٌّ عَرْفُهُ

    شَرقاً وَغَرباً في ظهورِ عرامِسِ

    And their fame traveled, rich in fragrance,

    East and west on the backs of sturdy she-camels.

  28. وَكأنَّ أَوجههمْ بحسنٍ صُقّلتْ

    قُضُبُ الوغى مصقولةٌ بمدواسِ

    And it was as if their faces, polished with beauty,

    Were battle-blades, burnished with a polishing tool.

  29. مِن كلّ مُمتَعضِ الحميّةِ آنفٍ

    ذي مارنٍ في الذُّلِّ ليس بعاطسِ

    Each one indignant in his honor, disdainful,

    With a nose-tip that would never sneeze in humiliation.

  30. أَخنَى الزّمان عليهمُ وسقاهُمُ

    كأسَ الحِمامِ فما ترى من نابِسِ

    Time brought ruin upon them and made them drink

    The cup of death, so you see none uttering a word.

  31. فَكأنَّهمْ عَصْفٌ تحكّمُ غُدْوَةً

    وعشيّةً فيه هبوبُ روامِسِ

    So they are like chaff, ruled over at dawn

    And dusk by the blowing of burying winds.

  32. كانَتْ دِيارهُمُ نهاراً مُشرقاً

    فالآن عُدْنَ كجُنحِ ليلٍ دامِسِ

    Their dwellings once were a radiant day,

    But now have become like the darkness of a pitch-black night.

  33. وَبِرَغمِهمْ مِن بعدِ أَن سَكنوا الذُّرا

    سكنوا بطونَ صفاصفٍ وبسابِسِ

    And against their will, after dwelling on the heights,

    They dwelt in the depths of level plains and barren wastes.

  34. لا زالَ قبرُك يا محمّدُ مُفهقاً

    من كلّ منهمِرِ السّحائبِ راجِسِ

    May your grave, O Muhammad, remain filled to overflowing

    With every rumbling downpour from the clouds,

  35. صَخْبِ الرّعودِ كأنّما أجراسُهُ

    صُبحاً وإمساءً زئيرُ عنابِسِ

    Clamorous with thunder, as though its peals,

    At dawn and evening, were the roaring of lions.

  36. وإذا القبورُ دُرِسْنَ يوماً فليكنْ

    قبرٌ به وسِّدْتَ ليس بدارسِ

    And if the graves are someday effaced, let

    The grave where you were pillowed remain uneffaced.