Sol 6.1

  1. من ذا يؤمّلُ بعدك الأيّاما

    ويروم في الدّنيا الغداة مراما

    Who can look with hope upon the days after you,

    and seek tomorrow some aim in this world?

  2. خلطت مصيبتك الولاةَ ونظّرَتْ

    بين الرّجال وسوّتِ الأقداما

    The calamity of your loss has mingled rulers and made peers

    of men, setting their feet on equal ground.

  3. فاليومَ لا حرمٌ يُصان ولا شباً

    يُخشى ولا عِزٌّ عليه يحامى

    Today no sanctuary is protected, no sharp edge

    is feared, nor any honor defended.

  4. الملكُ زالَ دعامُهُ وقد اِلتوى

    والجيشُ ضلّ دليلُهُ فأقاما

    The kingdom's pillar is gone, and it has buckled;

    the army's guide is lost, so it has halted.

  5. والرّأي مشتَرَكٌ بأيدي معشرٍ

    لا يحسنون النّقضَ والإبراما

    And counsel is held in common by a company

    unskilled in undoing or binding fast.

  6. كانَت حَياتُك للزّمان حياتَه

    وغدا زمانُك للزّمان حِماما

    Your life was the life of time itself,

    and your time became time's own death.

  7. فَبُكاؤنا حِلٌّ عليك وطالما

    كان البكاء على سواك حراما

    Our weeping for you is lawful, though for so long

    weeping for anyone but you was forbidden.

  8. ماذا الّذي صَنع الحِمام فإنّه

    ما جَبَّ إلّا ذُرْوَهً وسناما

    What is it death has done? For it

    has lopped off nothing but a summit and a pinnacle.

  9. وهوى إلى مَطْوى الشّجاعِ فحازه

    واِستلَّ مِن أَخياسه الضّرغاما

    It swooped into the serpent's lair and seized it,

    and drew the lion from its thickets.

  10. ما ضرّه لو كان قدّم غيره

    لكنّه يتخيّر الأقواما

    What harm would it have suffered, had it taken another first?

    But it picks the best of men.

  11. ومعوَّدٍ جَذْبَ الأزمّةِ في الورى

    جذَب الرّدى منه إليه زماما

    And one accustomed to drawing the reins among men—

    death drew a rein from him toward itself.

  12. بلغ المُنى ويزلّ مَن بلغ المُنى

    وَكَما اِعتبرتَ النّقصَ كان تماما

    He attained his wishes; whoever attains his wishes stumbles.

    And, as you contemplate decline, it was once fullness.

  13. يجني الحِمامُ ونحن نُلحِي غيره

    فاِذهبْ حِمامُ فقد كُفيتَ مَلاما

    Death does the wrong, while we reproach another;

    so go, O Death—you have been spared reproach.

  14. تَعدو على مَن شئتَ غيرَ مدافَعٍ

    تَلِجُ البيوت وتدخل الآطاما

    You assail whomever you choose, unopposed;

    you enter houses and penetrate fortresses.

  15. قُل للّذين بنَوْا عليه ضريحَه

    وطَوَوْا عليه صفائحاً وسِلاما

    Tell those who built his tomb over him

    and laid slabs and stones over him:

  16. لَم تدفنوه وإنّما واريتُمُ

    في التُّربِ منه يَذْبُلاً وشَماما

    You did not bury him; you merely concealed

    in the dust, in his person, Yadhbul and Shamam.

  17. وَكأنّما الجَدَثُ الّذي وُسِّدْتَه

    جَفْنٌ تناول من يديَّ حساما

    And it is as though the grave in which you were laid

    were a sheath that took a sword from my hands.

  18. أرِجُ الجوانبِ لم أُصِبْهُ بمنْدَلٍ

    لَدِنٍ ولم أشنُنْ عليه مُداما

    Fragrant on every side, though I touched it with no aloeswood

    soft and supple, nor sprinkled wine upon it.

  19. ما زال والأوتارُ تحقر غيظَه

    يُضوِي الحقودَ ويُسمنُ الأحلاما

    He never ceased, while blood-feuds belittled his wrath,

    to make rancors waste away and fatten forbearance.

  20. وتراه يدّخر المكارمَ والعُلا

    وسواه يذخر عسجداً أوْساما

    You would see him storing up noble deeds and eminence,

    while others hoarded gold or silver.

  21. إنّ الجيوش بلا عميدٍ بعده

    فَوْضى كسِيد الدَّوِّ راع سَواما

    The armies, without a commander after him,

    are in chaos, as when a desert wolf startles grazing herds.

  22. يُغضون من غير العَوارِ عيونَهمْ

    جوعاً له ويطأطئون الهاما

    They lower their eyes, though no eye disease afflicts them,

    hungering for him, and bow their heads.

  23. فضعوا السّيوفَ عن الكواهل خُشَّعاً

    فحسامكمْ قد شامه مَن شاما

    So lay the swords down from your shoulders, humbled,

    for your sword has been sheathed by the one who sheathed it.

  24. وإذا أرادكُمُ العدوّ فأَحجِموا

    ذَهب الّذي يعطيكُمُ الإقداما

    And when the enemy comes for you, hold back:

    gone is the one who gave you courage to advance.

  25. وإذا عقرتمْ فالجيادُ فلا فتىً

    يبغيكُمُ الإسراجَ والإلجاما

    And if you hamstring beasts, let them be steeds: no champion

    remains to ask you for saddling and bridling.

  26. كُبّوا الجِفانَ فليسَ تُملأ بعدهُ

    للنّازلين من الضّيوفِ طعاما

    Overturn the great bowls; after him they will not be filled

    with food for arriving guests.

  27. وتعوّضوا عنه القُطوبَ فلن تَرَوْا

    من بعده متبلِّجاً بَسّاما

    And take a frown in his place, for you will not see

    after him anyone radiant and smiling.

  28. والثَّغْرَ خافوه فقد أخذ الرّدى

    مَن كان للثَّغرِ المخوفِ كِعاما

    And fear the frontier, for death has taken

    him who was a muzzle on that dreaded frontier.

  29. واِنسَوا نظامَ الأمر بعد وفاتهِ

    بَطَلَ النّظامُ فما نحسّ نظاما

    And forget the ordering of affairs after his death;

    order has collapsed, so we sense no order.

  30. قد بصّرتنا الحادثاتُ وأيقظتْ

    منّا العقولَ وإنّما نَتَعامى

    Calamities have opened our eyes and awakened

    the minds within us, yet we only feign blindness.

  31. وأرَتْ مصارعَنا مصارعُ غيرنا

    لكننّا نَتَقَوَّتُ الأوهاما

    Others' downfalls have shown us our own,

    but we feed ourselves on illusions.

  32. يُفنِي البنينَ اليومَ مَن أفنى لهمْ

    من قبله الآباءَ والأعماما

    The sons today are destroyed by him who destroyed

    their fathers and paternal uncles before today.

  33. أين الّذين على التِّلاعِ قصورُهمْ

    قطعوا السّنينَ وصرّموا الأعواما

    Where are those whose palaces stood upon the heights,

    who passed the years and wore the years away?

  34. من كلّ معتصبِ المفارقِ لم يزلْ

    تعنو له قِممُ الرّجالِ غلاما

    Each crowned about the temples, before whom always

    the heads of men bowed, even in his youth;

  35. ومحكّمين على النّفوسِ كرامةً

    حَكم الزّمانُ عليهمُ فأَلاما

    and those honored with authority over lives—

    time passed judgment upon them and earned reproach.

  36. لمّا بَنَوْا خُططَ العَلاءِ وشيّدوا

    قَعدَ الرّدى فيما اِبتَنَوْهُ وقاما

    When they built glory's precincts and raised them high,

    death sat and stood within what they had built.

  37. سكنوا الوِهادَ من القبور كأنّهمْ

    لم يسكنوا الأطوادَ والأعلاما

    They dwelt in the low hollows of graves, as though

    they had never dwelt upon mountains and lofty peaks.

  38. أَأَبا عليٍّ دعوةً مردودةً

    هيهات يُسمعك الأنيس كلاما

    O Abu Ali! A call that comes back unanswered—

    alas, no companion can make you hear a word.

  39. ما لي أراك حللتَ دارَ إقامةٍ

    من حيث لا تهوَى الرّجالُ مقاما

    Why do I see you settled in a lasting abode,

    where men have no wish to stay?

  40. هبّ النّيامُ وفارقوا سِنَةَ الكَرى

    وأراك مُلْقىً لا تهبّ مَناما

    The sleepers have risen and left the drowsiness of sleep,

    yet I see you lying down, not stirring from slumber.

  41. شِبْهَ السّقيمِ وليت ما بك من ردىً

    نزلتْ به الأقدارُ كان سقاما

    Like an ailing man—would that the death upon you,

    brought down by the fates, had been only sickness.

  42. جادتْك كلُّ سحابةٍ هطّالةٍ

    وحدا الغمامُ إلى ثراك غماما

    May every pouring cloud rain generously upon you,

    and may clouds lead clouds toward your dust.

  43. وعداك ما كان الجَهامُ فلم تكنْ

    لمُريغِ ما تحوي يداك جَهاما

    May every rainless cloud pass you by, for you were never

    a rainless cloud to one seeking what your hands held.

  44. وعليك من ماضٍ سلامُ مودِّعٍ

    ويقلّ إهدائي إليك سلاما

    And upon you, from one departing, a farewell greeting;

    yet too little is my gift of a greeting to you.