حي ظباء بالعقيق غيدا — Abn Alsaati

حيِّ ظباء بالعقيقِ غيدا

تفضحُ أغصان النقا قدودا

Greet the supple-necked gazelles at al-ʿAqīq,

whose figures put the boughs of the dunes to shame;

الفاتراتِ الفاتكاتِ أعيناً

القانياتِ بالحيا خدودا

languid-eyed, yet deadly in their glances,

with cheeks made crimson by modesty.

بيض الطُّلى سود الجفون سميتْ

سوداً غداةَ وثبت أسودا

White-necked and black-lidded, they were called

'black ones' the morning they pounced like lions.

قيا لها من لحظاتٍ سحرها

تصيبُ في الحرب الرجال الصّيدا

Ah, what glances are theirs! Their magic

strikes proud men in battle.

ومن خصور سقمي من سقمها

ومن غصونِ أطلعتْ نهودا

And what waists—my sickness comes from their frailty—

and what boughs that have brought forth breasts!

وساحر الألحاظ ما سألتهُ الـ

ـوصالَ إلاَّ منحَ الصُّدودا

And that enchanter of glances: never did I ask him for

union without his granting me rejection.

يبعد نيلاً حين يدنو عزَّةً

فهل رأيت دانياً بعيدا

He is beyond reach, though near in my esteem;

have you ever seen one so near, yet so far?

أسأله العطف فيثني عطفهُ

وأطلبُ الجود فيلوي الجيدا

I ask him for kindness; he turns his side away,

and I seek generosity; he twists his neck aside.

يخاف حدُّ لحظهِ في جفنهِ

والسيف يخشى حدُّهُ مغمودا

His glance's edge is feared within his eyelid,

and a sword's edge is feared even sheathed.

أعادَ ما أبدى من التّيه فلا

عدمتُ ذاك المبدئ المعيدا

He repeated the haughtiness he had shown; may I never

lose that one who begins and repeats!

يفضح موج ردفهِ بقدّهِ اللَّدنِ

كثيبَ الرمل والأملودا

The swell of his hips, with his supple figure, puts to shame

the sand dune and the tender bough.

ما نظمت عقودهُ في جيدهِ

إلاَّ وظلَّ مدمعي بديداً

Never were his necklaces strung about his neck

but my tears remained scattered.

أنستُ بالوجد على حكم الهوى

وبات عنّي نافراً شرودا

I grew accustomed to longing beneath love's sway,

while he spent the night shunning me, fleeing far.

يفوحُ نشرُ الندّ من أردانه

من لا ترى لحسنهِ نديدا

The fragrance of nadd perfume wafts from his sleeves—

one whose beauty you will find without rival.

فارق صبري يوم زمَّت عيسهم

وودَّعتْ مقلتيَ الهجودا

My patience departed the day their pale camels were bridled,

and my eye bade farewell to sleep.

يا هل لُيَيلاتُ الحمة رواجعٌ

وسالفُ الأيَّام أن يعودا

Ah, will those little nights at al-Ḥamma return,

and will the days of old come back?

وفتْ عهادُ أدمعي بعهدها

ونقضتْ آرامه العهودا

The recurring showers of my tears kept their pledge,

but its gazelles broke their covenants.

لا برحتْ سواكنُ المزن على

أطلالها تضاجع الصَّغيدا

May the lingering rainclouds ever remain over

their ruins, lying beside the earth,

فلا ترى إلاَّ سحاباً باكي الـ

ـعين وإلاَّ طائراً غريّدا

so you see only a cloud with a weeping

eye, and only a sweetly singing bird.

ما راقبوا إلاَّ ولكن هجروا

عمداً وصدُّوا مدنفاً عميدا

They heeded no covenant, but deserted

deliberately, and spurned one wasted and love-stricken.

يا زمن التفريق إمض راشداً

ويا زمانَ الوصل عد حميدا

O time of separation, go your way aright;

and O time of union, return, worthy of praise!

ويا حداةَ العيس كم من لوعةٍ

في القلب باتت تدمن الوخيدا

And O drivers of the pale camels, how many a burning pang

within the heart has kept their swift pace going all night,

وأنَّةٍ تشمل أظعانكم

وزفرةٍ تفتّت الجلمودا

and how many a moan that envelops your caravans,

and a sigh that shatters the boulder!

تأوي لها قود المطيِّ رقة

حيَّا حيا دمعي المطيّ القودا

The long-necked camels feel tender pity for it;

the rain of my tears saluted those long-necked camels.

لا تحسبوا أنَّ لترجيعكمُ

تطوي الفيافي وتبيد البيدا

Do not suppose that because of your repeated chants

they fold up the wilderness and consume the deserts.

وإنما هامت وقد أثبتها

وجدي لتستدني المدى البعيدا

Rather, they roamed love-maddened, though held fast by

my longing, to bring the far-off distance near.