كأنَّ المغاني حين أعجمها الشحطُ

كأنَّ المغاني حين أعجمها الشحطُ

بقايا زبورٍ والأثافي لها نقطُ

بقايا زبورٍ والأثافي لها نقطُ

It was as though the dwellings, when distance made them unreadable,

As if the songs, when obscured by nightfall,

Were remnants of a scripture, their hearthstones its dots.

Were remnants of psalms and hymns punctuated.

عرفتُ بها آثار دمعي عشيةً

عرفتُ بها آثار دمعي عشيةً

ولو أنني أنكرتها شهد السقط

ولو أنني أنكرتها شهد السقط

I recognized there the traces of my tears one evening;

I recognized in them the traces of my tears at dusk,

Had I denied them, the fallen drops would have testified.

Even if I denied it, the drizzle would testify.

يضوع إلى اسلارين طيب صعيدها

يضوع إلى اسلارين طيب صعيدها

كأنّ سحيق المندليّ له خلط

كأنّ سحيق المندليّ له خلط

The fragrance of their soil wafts as far as Aslarin,

Yearning for the fragrant meadows of Sullam,

As though powdered Mandali aloeswood were blended into it.

As if the flowing silk has been mixed.

فلو أنني مكّنت يوم سويقةٍ

فلو أنني مكّنت يوم سويقةٍ

أمرتُ فلم تسحب لغانيةٍ مرط

أمرتُ فلم تسحب لغانيةٍ مرط

Had I been given power on the day of Suwayqa,

So if one day in Suwaqah I had been enabled,

I would have decreed that no beauty's cloak be trailed.

I would have ordered but no singing girl drew her train.

فقدت شموس الظاعنين مع الضحى

فقدت شموس الظاعنين مع الضحى

فلا حبّذا عندي ذوائبها الشّمط

فلا حبّذا عندي ذوائبها الشّمط

I lost the suns of the departing travelers with the morning light,

I lost the suns of the visiting ones at dawn,

So its gray forelocks are no welcome sight to me.

So neither their crescent shapes appeal to me.

وما قطع الطيفُ الزيارة عن قلى

وما قطع الطيفُ الزيارة عن قلى

ولكنَّ دمعي لا يخاض له شطُّ

ولكنَّ دمعي لا يخاض له شطُّ

The dream-phantom did not cease its visits out of aversion,

The phantom did not cease its visitations to my heart,

But no shore of my tears can be waded through.

But my tears have no shoreline to cross.

خلا وعفا سقط اللّوى وكناسهُ

خلا وعفا سقط اللّوى وكناسهُ

فلا غصنٌ يثنى ولا جوذرٌ يعطو

فلا غصنٌ يثنى ولا جوذرٌ يعطو

Siqt al-Liwa and its antelope's lair lie deserted and effaced;

Solitude and time have caused the anguish and sorrows to pass,

No bough is bent, nor does an antelope calf reach up to browse.

So neither a branch sways nor a root revives.

فلا تعذلاني في البكاء فلم يزل

فلا تعذلاني في البكاء فلم يزل

لكلِّ هضيم الكشح من أدمعي قسط

لكلِّ هضيم الكشح من أدمعي قسط

So you two, do not reproach me for weeping: there has always been

Do not blame me for weeping, for never

For every slender-waisted one, a share of my tears.

Has the oppression of my soul been allotted any shares.

فما شاقني حسن التسلّي وقد دنوا

فما شاقني حسن التسلّي وقد دنوا

ولا راقني طيب الحياة وقد شطّوا

ولا راقني طيب الحياة وقد شطّوا

Pleasant consolation did not entice me when they drew near,

Neither the charm of consolation attracted me when they came near,

Nor did life's sweetness please me when they went far away.

Nor the sweetness of life appealed when they departed.

ألمّت بنا لمياءُ والنجم هاجعٌ

ألمّت بنا لمياءُ والنجم هاجعٌ

وفودُ الدجى ما للصبح به وخط

وفودُ الدجى ما للصبح به وخط

Dark-lipped Lamya visited us while the star lay sleeping,

Dew has harmed us and the star is slumbering,

And night's temple-lock bore no gray streak of dawn.

And the hosts of darkness have no covenant or pact.

وما انحلَّ خيط الفجر حتى كأنما

وما انحلَّ خيط الفجر حتى كأنما

لقادمتي نسر السماء به ربط

لقادمتي نسر السماء به ربط

And dawn's thread would not unravel, as though

No sooner had the thread of dawn unraveled

It bound the sky-eagle's two leading wing-feathers.

Than the eagle of the sky seemed to have tied it fast.

مهاة إذا سلّ الرضا سيف لحظها

مهاة إذا سلّ الرضا سيف لحظها

ويا عجباً صدَّت فاغمده السخط

ويا عجباً صدَّت فاغمده السخط

A white antelope—when favor drew the sword of her glance,

A doe, when the pleasure of consent unsheathes its glance,

And—how strange!—she turned away, and anger sheathed it.

Strangely, it sheathes it, vexed.

ينمُّ وشاحاها ويصمت فلبها

ينمُّ وشاحاها ويصمت فلبها

ويسكن حجلاها ويضطرب القرط

ويسكن حجلاها ويضطرب القرط

Her two sashes tell tales, while her bracelet stays silent,

It nods its bridle, and its heart falls silent,

And her two anklets rest, while the earring trembles.

Its ankle bells still, but its ear-rings turbulent.

ولما رأت أن النوى يحدث الجوى

ولما رأت أن النوى يحدث الجوى

ويحكم في الحيِ الجميع فيشتطُّ

ويحكم في الحيِ الجميع فيشتطُّ

And when she saw that separation breeds burning sorrow,

And when she saw vows stirring up calamities

And rules the entire clan, exceeding all bounds,

And governing all life tyrannically,

بكت لوعةً ثم اتّقت فتبسّمت

بكت لوعةً ثم اتّقت فتبسّمت

وماء جفوني فوق خدي دمٌ عبط

وماء جفوني فوق خدي دمٌ عبط

She wept in anguish, then grew wary and smiled,

She wept in agony, then feared and smiled,

While the tears from my eyelids were fresh blood upon my cheek.

And the water of my eyelids flows bloody over my cheek.

تشابه جفني والجفون وخصرها

تشابه جفني والجفون وخصرها

ومبسمها الوضّاح والدمع والسمط

ومبسمها الوضّاح والدمع والسمط

My eyelid, the sword-sheaths, and her waist were alike;

My eyelids resemble her eyelids, her waist,

So were her radiant smiling mouth, the tears, and the necklace.

Her radiant smile, the tears and kohl.

وعيسِ كأمثال اليراع نحافةً

وعيسِ كأمثال اليراع نحافةً

ومشقاً لها في كل طامسة خطّ

ومشقاً لها في كل طامسة خطّ

And pale camels, like reed-pens in slenderness

And her form is like the gazelle’s in slimness

And length, trace a line through every trackless waste.

And difficult for her in every long robe.

إذا أعملت فهي السهام وإنها

إذا أعملت فهي السهام وإنها

قسيٌّ إذا ما حلّ انساعها الحطّ

قسيٌّ إذا ما حلّ انساعها الحطّ

When driven on, they are arrows; yet they are

When roused, she is arrows, and moreover

Bows when unloading loosens their girth-straps.

Callous when her unleashing of calamities intensifies.

تحنّ ولكن لا أقول صبابةً

تحنّ ولكن لا أقول صبابةً

ولو حملت ثقل الصبابة لم تخطو

ولو حملت ثقل الصبابة لم تخطو

They moan, but I do not call it ardent longing;

She whines but I do not say like a wanton,

Had they borne longing's weight, they could not take a step.

Had she assumed the burden of wantonness, she would not have lasted.

صحبنا بها الأرواح معتلّة الصّبا

صحبنا بها الأرواح معتلّة الصّبا

من البهر حتى ما يحنّ لها وقط

من البهر حتى ما يحنّ لها وقط

On them we kept company with the winds, the east wind ailing

We were companions with her by the enchanted soul

From breathlessness, until no flock called to it,

From bewilderment until none pined for her, even for a moment.

الى أن أنحناها بعيد كلالة

الى أن أنحناها بعيد كلالة

بحيث الآباء الجعد والنائل البسط

بحيث الآباء الجعد والنائل البسط

Until we made them kneel after weariness,

Until we bent her far, exhausted,

Where curly-haired forefathers and open-handed bounty dwell,

Where the ancestors with matted hair and hanging forelocks reside.

لدى ملكٍ من جنده الفقر والغنى

لدى ملكٍ من جنده الفقر والغنى

مهيب السطا في كفه القبض والبسط

مهيب السطا في كفه القبض والبسط

Beside a king whose troops include poverty and wealth,

In the presence of a King whose troops are poverty and wealth,

Dreaded in his assaults, with withholding and giving in his hand.

August is His threshold, in His grasp contraction and release.