Sol 6.1

  1. غشيتُ بِعُفرى أَو بِرَجلَتِها رَبعا

    رَماداً وَأَحجاراً بَقينَ بِها سَفعا

    I visited a campsite at ʿUfrā, or by its watercourse—

    ashes and stones that remained there blackened.

  2. فَما رُمتُها حَتّى غَدا اليَومُ نِصفَهُ

    وَحَتّى اِمتَرَت عَينايَ كِلتاهُما دَمعا

    I did not leave it until the day was half gone,

    and until both my eyes had drawn forth tears.

  3. أُسِرُّ هُموماً لَو تَغَلغَلَ بَعضُها

    إِلى حَجَرٍ صَلدٍ تَرَكنَ بِهِ صَدعا

    I conceal sorrows that, if some of them sank deep

    into solid stone, would leave a crack in it.

  4. أُميدُ كَأَنّي شارِبٌ لَعِبَت بِهِ

    عُقارٌ ثَوَت في دَنِّها حِجَجاً تِسعا

    I reel like a drinker toyed with

    by wine that rested in its jar for nine years—

  5. مَقَدِّيَّةٌ صَهباءُ تَثخَنُ شُربَها

    إِذا ما أَرادوا أَن يُراحوا بِها صَرعى

    tawny wine from Maqadd, laying its drinkers low

    when they wished to be taken home, struck down by it;

  6. عُصارَةُ كَرمٍ مِن حُدَيجاءَ لَم تَكُن

    مِنابِتُها مُستَحدَثاتٍ وَلا قَرعا

    the pressed juice of vines from Ḥudayjāʾ, whose

    growing grounds were neither newly established nor bare.

  7. فَدَع ذا وَلَكِن هَل تَرى ضوءَ بارِقٍ

    وَميضاً تَرى مِنهُ عَلى بُعدِهِ لَمعا

    Leave that, then—but do you see the light of lightning,

    a flicker whose gleam you see despite its distance?

  8. تَصَعَّدَ في ذاتِ الأَرانِبِ مَوهِناً

    إِذا هَزَّ رَعداً خِلتَ في وَدقِهِ شَفعا

    It rose over Dhāt al-Arānib after nightfall;

    whenever it shook out thunder, you thought its rain fell double.

  9. فَما تَرَكَت أَركانُهُ مِن سَوادِهِ

    وَلا مِن بَياضٍ مُستَزاداً وَلا وَفعا

    Its pillars left none of its blackness,

    nor any whiteness, to be added—not even a stray cloud-patch.

  10. سَما في الصِبا حَتّى إِذا ما تَنَصَّبَت

    شَماريخُهُ وَاِجتابَ مِن لَيلِهِ دِرعا

    It towered in the east wind until, when

    its peaks stood upright and it donned a coat of mail from its night,

  11. تَبَعَّجَ مَجّاجاً مِنَ الغَيثِ لَم يَذَر

    أَباطِحَ إِلّا يَطَّرِدنَ وَلا تَلعا

    it burst open, spewing rain, and left no

    gravelly valley-beds or gullies without streaming water.

  12. مَدحتُ أَميرَ المُؤمِنينَ الَّذي دَعَوا

    إِلَيهِ وَخَيرُ الناسِ عَن دينِهِم دَفعا

    I praised the Commander of the Faithful, whom they called men

    to follow, and the best of men at defending their faith.

  13. فَما زِلتَ مُذ وَلّاكَ رَبُّكَ أَمرَهُم

    كَأَخيرِ راعٍ في رَعِيَّتِهِ صُنعا

    You have remained, since your Lord entrusted you with their affairs,

    like the finest shepherd in tending his flock.

  14. دَفَعتَ بِأَمرِ اللَهِ عَنهُم عَدُوَّهُم

    وَجَرداءَ لَم تَترُك نِتاجاً وَلا ضَرعا

    By God's command, you repelled their enemy from them,

    and a barren year that spared neither offspring nor udder—

  15. جَماداً تَخَطّاها الشِتاءُ فَلَم تَكَد

    تَعقي بِتَنضاحٍ هَبيراً وَلا نَتعا

    a rainless year that winter passed by, scarcely

    sprinkling lowland or high ground with a little rain.

  16. فَأَنتَ الَّذي لِلمَجدِ عِندَكَ قيمَةٌ

    تَضيقُ مَساميحُ الرِجالِ بِها ذَرعا

    You are the one for whom glory has a price

    beyond the reach of even open-handed men.

  17. إِذا ما غَلا غالَيتَهُ غَيرَ ظالِمٍ

    وَلَم تَستَطِع لِلمَجدِ ظُلماً وَلا بَتعا

    When it grew dear, you bid higher for it, without wrongdoing,

    nor could you commit injustice or excess for glory.

  18. وَأَمّا بَنو فَضلٍ فَإِن تَمامَهُم

    يَزيدُ بِهِ الرَحمَنُ مَن وَلَدوا رَفعا

    As for the sons of Faḍl, their perfection

    is how the Merciful further exalts those they begot.

  19. بَنو الحَربِ عَضّوها عَلى كُلِّ حالِها

    فَما وَجدوا فيها لِياماً وَلا جزعا

    Sons of war, they bit into it whatever its state,

    and found in it neither baseness nor panic.

  20. وَما ضَرَبوا أَوتادَهُم بِحِمايَةٍ

    فَيَسطيعُ قَومٌ كاشِحونَ لَها نَزعا

    They did not drive their tent-stakes into a refuge

    where hostile men could wrench them out.

  21. وَما نابَهُم حَيُّ فَيَرجِعُ سالِماً

    وَلَم يَستَطِع قَومٌ لَما فَتَقوا رَقعا

    No tribe assailed them and returned unharmed,

    nor could any people patch what they had torn.

  22. فَطارَ ذُبابُ الجاهِلَيَّةِ عَنهُمُ

    وَلَم يَهضِموا لِلناسِ مِن جَنبِهِم ضَلعا

    So the sting of the Age of Ignorance flew away from them,

    and they did not bow a rib in their side before others.

  23. وَأَنتَ أَتَمُّ الناسِ مالاً وَوالِداً

    وَأَعظَمُهُم مُلكاً وَآجَدُهُم سَمعا

    And you are the most richly endowed of men in wealth and parentage,

    the greatest in dominion and the keenest in hearing.

  24. وَما مِن أُناسٍ مُسلِمينَ عَلَيهمُ

    بِهِم ضَرَّةٌ إِلّا ضَمَنتَ لَهُم نَفعا

    No people who greeted them,

    while suffering hardship, went without your pledge of help.

  25. فَزادكَ رَبُّ الناسِ عَداً لِفَضلِهِ

    وَفي كُلِّ ما أَعطاكَ مِن سيمَةٍ وُسعا

    May the Lord of mankind add yet more to His bounty toward you,

    and greater scope in every quality He has given you.