أهاجها حادي المطي فمالَها

أهاجها حادي المطي فمالَها

ولم يَهجْ لمَّا حدا أمثالَها

ولم يَهجْ لمَّا حدا أمثالَها

Has the camel-driver stirred her? What ails her?

The camel-driver roused her—what ails her?

Yet when he urged her fellows onward, he did not stir them.

Yet when he chanted, he did not stir others like her.

فهل عرفت يا هذيمُ ما بها

فهل عرفت يا هذيمُ ما بها

وما الَّذي أورثها بلبالها

وما الَّذي أورثها بلبالها

Have you learned, Hudhaym, what afflicts her,

So have you understood, O Hudhaym, what ails her,

and what has bequeathed her all this turmoil?

and what has brought her this turmoil?

غنَّى لها برامةٍ والمنحنى

غنَّى لها برامةٍ والمنحنى

وبالديار ذاكراً أطلالها

وبالديار ذاكراً أطلالها

He sang to her of Rāma and the river-bend,

He sang to her of Ramah and the bend,

and of the dwellings, calling their deserted traces to mind.

and of the dwellings, recalling their ruins.

وما درى أيَّ جوىً أثاره

وما درى أيَّ جوىً أثاره

وعبرة بذكره أسالها

وعبرة بذكره أسالها

He never knew what anguish he had awakened,

And he did not know what burning anguish he had stirred,

nor what tears his mention made her shed.

or what tears his mention had made flow.

ذكّرها مناخها برامة

ذكّرها مناخها برامة

فكان ذكر رامة خيالها

فكان ذكر رامة خيالها

He reminded her of her camping ground at Rāma,

He reminded her of her halting-place at Ramah,

and the thought of Rāma became her haunting vision.

so the memory of Ramah became her vision.

ذكرها مراعياً من شيحها

ذكرها مراعياً من شيحها

ووردها من مائها زلالها

ووردها من مائها زلالها

He reminded her of pastures fragrant with wormwood,

He reminded her of its wormwood pastures,

and of her watering there, from its limpid water.

and her drinking of its clear, sweet water.

ذاقت نميراً في العُذَيب ماءه

ذاقت نميراً في العُذَيب ماءه

وقد أُذيقَتْ بعده وبالَها

وقد أُذيقَتْ بعده وبالَها

At al-ʿUdhayb she tasted its sweet, wholesome water,

She tasted its sweet, wholesome water at al-Udhayb,

but afterward was made to taste its bitter bane.

yet afterward she was made to taste her affliction.

لو كانَ غير وجدها عقالها

لو كانَ غير وجدها عقالها

بدار ميٍّ أطلقت عقالها

بدار ميٍّ أطلقت عقالها

Had any bond but longing been her hobble,

Had her tether been anything but her longing,

at Mayy's abode she would have cast her hobble off.

at Mayy’s dwelling she would have loosed her tether.

تسأل عن أحبابها دوارساً

تسأل عن أحبابها دوارساً

من الرسوم لم تجب سؤالها

من الرسوم لم تجب سؤالها

She asks the weathered traces about her loved ones,

She questions faded remnants about her loved ones—

but none among those vestiges answered her question.

traces that have not answered her question.

وكلَّما عاد لها عيد الهوى

وكلَّما عاد لها عيد الهوى

هيَّج منها عيده بلبالها

هيَّج منها عيده بلبالها

Whenever love's anniversary returned to her,

And whenever love’s festival returns to her,

its recurrence stirred all her turmoil anew.

its festival stirs the turmoil within her.

تالله تنفك وقد تظنّها

تالله تنفك وقد تظنّها

لما بها من الضَّنى خيالها

لما بها من الضَّنى خيالها

By God, she never ceases—though you might think her,

By God, she remains—though you may think her,

from the wasting that afflicts her, a mere phantom—

from her wasting sickness, a shadow of herself—

حريصة على لقاء أوجُهٍ

حريصة على لقاء أوجُهٍ

غالى بها صرف النوى واغتالها

غالى بها صرف النوى واغتالها

eager to encounter faces

eager to meet faces

that the turns of separation carried far off and stole away.

that separation’s vicissitudes bore far off and snatched away.

هي الظعون قوَّضت خيامها

هي الظعون قوَّضت خيامها

وأزعجت يوم النوى جمالها

وأزعجت يوم النوى جمالها

They were the departing women who struck their tents

They are the departing caravans; they have struck their tents,

and, on separation's day, drove their camels forth.

and driven their camels forth on the day of parting,

وأوقدت في قلب كل مغرمٍ

وأوقدت في قلب كل مغرمٍ

نيران وجد تضرم اشتعالها

نيران وجد تضرم اشتعالها

They kindled, in the heart of every enamored lover,

and kindled in every lover’s heart

fires of longing whose flames blaze fiercely.

fires of longing whose blaze they fan.