مرت عينه للشوق فالدمع منسكب — Abu Al Shees Al Khuzaie

مَرَت عَينَهُ للشوقِ فالدَمعُ مُنسَكِب

طُلولُ ديارِ الحَيِّ والحيُّ مُغتَرِب

They drew tears from his eye through longing; the tears pour down—

the ruins of the tribe's dwellings, the tribe now far from home.

كَسا الدَهرُ بُردَيها البِلى وَلَرُبَّما

لبِسنا جَديديها وأَعلامُنا قُشُب

Time clothed her two mantles in decay, though often

we wore them new, our banners fresh.

فَغَّيَرَ مَغناها وَمحَّت رسومَها

سَماءٌ وأَرواحٌ وَدَهرٌ لَها عَقَب

Her abode was changed and her traces erased

by rain, winds, and time with its successive turns.

تَربّعَ في أَطلالِها بَعدَ أَهلِها

زَمانٌ يُشِتُّ الشَملَ في صَرفهِ عجب

There settled in her ruins, after her people,

a time that scatters gatherings, wondrous in its reversals.

تَبدَّلَتِ الظُلمان بَعدَ أَنيسِها

وسوداً مِنَ الغِربانِ تَبكي وَتَنتَحِب

She took male ostriches in place of her familiar companions,

and black ravens that weep and wail.

وَعَهدي بِها غَنَّاء مُخضَرَّةُ الرُبى

يَطيبُ الهَوى فيها ويُستَحسنُ اللَعِب

Yet I remember her lush, her hills green,

where love was sweet and play was pleasing.

وَفي عَرصاتِ الحيِّ أَظبٍ كأَنَّها

مَوائِدُ أَغصانٍ تأَوّدُ في كُثُب

And in the tribe's open grounds were gazelles, as though

they were swaying boughs bending among dunes.

عَواتِقُ قَد صانَ النَعيمُ وجوهَها

وَخَفَّرَها خَفرُ الحَواضِنِ والحُجُب

Maidens whose faces luxury had preserved,

sheltered by the modest care of nursemaids and veils.

عَفائِفُ لَم يَكشِفنَ سِتراً لِغَدرَةٍ

وَلَم تَنتِحِ الأَطرافُ مِنهُنَّ بالرِيَب

Chaste women who never lifted a veil for betrayal,

nor did their limbs exude anything suspect.

فأَدرَجهم طيُّ الجَديدَينِ فانطَوَوا

كَذاكَ انصِداع الشَعبِ ينأى وَيَقتَرِب

Then the folding of day and night wrapped them away, and they vanished.

Thus the sundering of a company recedes and draws near.

وَكأَسٍ كَسا الساقي لَنا بَعدَ هَجعَةٍ

حَواشيَها ما مَجَّ مِن رِيقِهِ العِنَب

And many a cup: after a slumber, the cupbearer clothed for us

its sides with the saliva spat out by the grape.

كُميت أَجادَت جمرَةُ الصَيف طَبخَها

فآبَت بِلا نار تُحَشُّ وَلا حَطَب

Russet wine whose cooking summer's ember perfected,

so it came forth without a stoked fire or firewood.

لَطيمة مِسك فُتَّ عَنها خِتامُها

مُعتَّقَة صَهباءُ حيريَّة النَسَب

A musk casket, its seal broken away,

aged, tawny, of al-Hira's lineage.

رَبيبةُ أَحقابٍ جَلا الدَهرُ وَجهَها

فَليسَ بِها إِلا تلأَلؤَها نَدَب

A foster-child of ages, its face polished by time,

bearing no scar except its sparkle.

إِذا فُرُجاتُ الكأَسِ مِنها تُخيِّلَت

تأَمّلتَ في حافاتِها شُعَل اللَهب

When the cup's openings were glimpsed through it,

you saw tongues of flame along its rims.

كأَنَّ اطِّرادَ الماءِ في جَنباتِها

تتَّبعُ ماءُ الدُرّ في سُبُكِ الذَهَب

As though the water coursing along its sides

were pearl-lustre threading through cast gold.

سَقاني بِها واللَيلُ قَد شابَ رأَسه

غَزالٌ بِحناء الزُجاجةِ مُختَضَب

He served me from it, the night's head already gray—

a gazelle dyed with the bottle's henna.

يَكادُ إِذا ما ارتَجَّ ما في إزاره

ومالَت أَعاليهِ مِنَ اللِين يَنقَضِب

When what his waist-wrap held quivered, he would almost

snap as his upper body swayed from softness.

لَطيفُ الحَشى عبلُ الشَوى مُدمَجُ القَرى

مَريضُ جُفونِ العَينِ في طيِّهِ قبَب

Slender-waisted, full-limbed, well-knit in the back,

languid of eyelid, with a hollow in the fold of his waist.

أَميلُ إِذا ما قائدُ الجَهلِ قادني

إِليهِ وَتَلقاني الغَواني فتَصطَحِب

I would incline, whenever folly's guide led me,

toward him; fair women would meet me and join the company.

فَوَزَّعَني بَعدَ الجَهالةِ والصِبا

عَنِ الجَهلِ عَهدٌ بالشَبيبَةِ قَد ذَهَب

But after folly and youthful passion, I was restrained

from folly by a season of youth that had passed,

وأَحداثُ شَيبِ يَفتَرعنَ عَنِ البلى

وَدَهرٌ تهِرُّ النَاسُ أَيامُهُ كلِب

and new gray hairs that unveiled decay,

and a rabid time whose days snarled at people.

فأَصبَحتُ قَد نكَّبتُ عَن طُرُقِ الصِبا

وَجانَبت أَحداثَ الزُجاجةِ والطَرَب

So now I have turned from the paths of youthful passion,

and avoided the escapades of the bottle and merriment.

يَحِطانِ كأَساً للنَديمِ إِذا جَرت

عَليَّ وإِن كانَت حَلالاً لِمَن شَرِب

The two lower a cup for the drinking companion whenever it passes

to me, even if it is lawful for whoever drinks.

وَلَو شِئتُ عاطاني الزُجاجةَ أَحورٌ

طَويلُ قَناةِ الصُلب مُنخَزِلُ العَصَب

Yet, had I wished, a dark-eyed one would have passed me the bottle,

long in the shaft of his spine, slack of sinew,

لياليَنا بالطَفِّ إِذ نَحنُ جيرَةٌ

وإِذ لِلهَوى فينا وفي وَصلِنا أَرَب

in our nights at al-Taff, when we were neighbors,

and when love had a purpose in us and in our union.

لَياليَ تَسعى بالمدامَةِ بَينَنا

بَناتُ النَصارى في قلائِدِها الصُلُب

Nights when wine was carried among us

by Christian girls, crosses in their necklaces.

تُخالسُني الَّلذات أَيدي عَواطلٍ

وَجوفٍ مِنَ العيدانِ تَبكي وَتَصطَخِب

Bare-wristed women's hands furtively shared pleasures with me,

and hollow lutes that wept and clamored,

إِلى أَن رَمى بالأَربَعينَ مُشِبُّها

وَوقَّرَني قَرعُ الحوادثِ والنَكَب

until its kindler cast me to the age of forty,

and the pounding of events and calamities made me grave.

وَكفكَفَ مِن غَربي مَشيبٌ وَكَبرَةٌ

وأَحكَمَني طولُ التَجاربِ والأَدَب

Gray hair and old age curbed my sharp edge,

and long experience and learning made me wise.

وَبحر يَحارُ الطَرفُ فيهِ قَطعَتُهُ

بِمَهنوءة مِن غَيرِ عُرٍّ وَلا جَرب

And a sea that bewildered the gaze I crossed

in a tar-smeared craft, though she had neither mange nor scabies.

مُلاحَكةِ الأَضلاعِ مَحبوكة القَرى

مُداخِلةِ الرَاياتِ بالقارِ والخَشَب

Her ribs closely joined, her back tightly knit,

her banners interwoven with pitch and timber,

موثَّقة الأَلواح لَم يُدم متنَها

ولا صَفحتيها عَقدُ رَحلٍ وَلا قَتب

her planks fast-bound; her back was never bloodied,

nor her flanks, by the binding of a saddle or a packsaddle.

عَريَضةُ زَورَ الصَدرِ دَهماء رَسلة

سِنادٌ خَليعُ الرأَس مَزمومة الذَنَب

Broad across the front of her chest, dark and easy-paced,

tall-framed, her head unbridled, her tail reined.

جَموحُ الصَلا موَّارةُ الصَدرِ جَسرَةٌ

تَكادُ مِن الإِغراق في السير تَلتَهب

Unruly in the rump, surging in the breast, sturdy,

she almost bursts into flame from the fierceness of her pace.

مجفّرة الجَنبَين جَوفاء جَونة

نَبيلة مَجرى العَرض في ظَهرِها حَدَب

Broad on both flanks, hollow and dark,

ample in the sweep of her breadth, with a hump on her back.

معلَّمة لا تَشتَكي الأَينَ والوَجى

وَلا تَشتَكي عَضَّ النُسوع وَلا الدَأب

Marked, she complains of neither fatigue nor footsoreness,

nor of biting girth-straps or ceaseless toil.

وَلَم يدم مِن جَذب الخشاشة أَنفها

وَلا خانَها رسم المناسِبِ والنَقَب

Nor has tugging at the nose-peg bloodied her nose,

nor did the tracks of routes and passes fail her.

مُرَقَّقَةِ الأَخفافِ صُمٌّ عِظامُها

شَديدَة طيِّ الصُّلب مَعصوبَةُ العَصَب

With thin foot-pads and solid bones,

strongly knit along the backbone, firmly bound in the sinews.

يَشقُّ حُبابَ الماءِ حَدُّ جِرانِها

إِذا ما تَفرَّى عَن مناكِبها الحَبب

Her throat's edge cleaves the water's foam

when the bubbles split away from her shoulders.

إِذا اعتَلجَت والريحُ في بَطنِ لُجّة

رأَيتُ عَجاج الموتِ مِن حَولِها يَثِب

When she wrestled with the wind in the belly of the deep,

I saw death's dust-cloud leap up around her.

تَرامي بِها الخلجانُ مِن كُلِّ جانبٍ

إِلى متن مقتِّر المسافة مُنجَذب

The channels toss her from every side

toward an outstretched back that shortens the distance.

وَمَثقوبَة الأَخفاف تَدمي أَنوفها

معرَّقة الأَصلابِ مطويّة القُرُب

And others with pierced foot-pads, their noses bleeding,

lean in the spines, tucked in the flanks,

صَوادع للشّعب الشَديد التَيامُه

شَواعِب للصّدع الَذي لَيسَ يَنشعب

splitting the union whose bond is strong,

mending the rift that cannot be mended.