Sol 6.1

  1. قِفا حَيِّيا الأطلالَ من مَسقِطِ اللِّوى

    وهلْ في تحيّاتِ الرسومِ جَداءُ

    Stop, you two, and greet the ruins at the foot of al-Liwa.

    And is there any benefit in greeting the traces?

  2. وماذا تُحيِّي من رسومٍ تَبدَّلتْ

    شعوبُ النَّوى عنها وهنَّ قَواءُ

    And what is there to greet among traces from which

    the branching paths of separation have shifted away, leaving them desolate?

  3. علاهُنَّ بعدَ الحيِّ كلُّ مُجَلجلٍ

    مَحاهُنَّ تيّارٌ لهُ وغُثاءُ

    After the tribe, every rumbling raincloud passed over them;

    its torrent and floating debris erased them.

  4. وأقفرَ وادِيهِنَّ واحتفَرَتْ بهِ

    ماكنسُ عِينٍ باقرٌ وظِباءُ

    And their valley lay deserted; dug into it were

    lairs for wide-eyed wild cattle and gazelles.

  5. فشاقَكَ ممّا أحْرثَ الحيَّ منزلٌ

    رُكامُ الحصى والمجْنَحاتُ خلاءُ

    Then a dwelling stirred your longing, among things that wear down the living:

    Rukam al-Hasa and al-Mujnahat lie empty.

  6. ورَبعٌ بأعلى ذي الجِذاةِ كأنّما

    على مَتنِهِ منْ حضرَمَوتَ رداءُ

    And a camp at the upper reaches of Dhu al-Jidhah, as though

    on its back lay a mantle from Hadramawt.

  7. إذا انغمستْ أولى النجومِ تلعَّبتْ

    بهِ قصَباتٌ مُزنُهُنَّ رَواءُ

    When the first stars sank, there played

    over it shafts of rain, their clouds laden with water.

  8. كأنَّ لم يُرى فيهِ الجميعُ ولم تَصِحْ

    بهمْ نيّةٌ تُغري الديارَ جَلاءُ

    As though the whole company had never been seen there, nor had cried out

    among them a resolve to depart, urging the dwellings into desolation.

  9. بلى ثمَّ أجْلَتْ نيّةٌ ليسَ بعدَها

    لرَيّا ولا أمِّ البنينَ لقاءُ

    Yes—then a resolve drove them away, after which

    there is no meeting with Rayya or Umm al-Banin.

  10. تذكَّرتُ عصراً قد مضى وصِحابةً

    ولم تكُ عمّا قدْ ذكرتُ عَداءُ

    I remembered an age gone by, and companions,

    and there was no turning away from what I had recalled:

  11. لياليَ تنْآها ولو شئتَ زُرتَها

    وكيفَ معَ الواشي المُطِلِّ تشاءُ

    nights when you kept away from her, though, had you wished, you could have visited her.

    And how could you wish, with the slanderer looking on?

  12. إليكَ ابنَ عَتابٍ رحَلْنا وساقَنا

    منَ الغَورِ جدْبٌ مُوصَدٌ وعِداءُ

    To you, son of Attab, we journeyed, driven

    from al-Ghawr by an inescapable drought and hostility,

  13. وعامٌ كحدِّ السيفِ أمّا ربيعُهُ

    فنحْرٌ وأمّا قَيظُهُ ففناءُ

    and a year like a sword's edge: as for its spring,

    it was slaughter; as for its scorching summer, annihilation.

  14. بمُعْصَوْصِياتِ السَّبْرِ صُعْرٍ من البُرى

    خواضعُ أدنى سيرِهنَّ نَجاءُ

    On stout-framed camels, their necks bent by nose-rings,

    their heads lowered, their slowest gait a swift run.

  15. إذا ما فلاةُ الخِمسِ أضحتْ كأنَّها

    مُنَطَّقةٌ أعلامُهنَّ مُلاءُ

    When, by morning, the five-day desert stage seemed

    girdled, its landmarks like broad cloaks,

  16. قطعْنَ فلاةَ الخِمسِ لمّا لقِينَها

    غِشاشاً ولم يُرقَبْ أنىً وَضَحاءُ

    they crossed that five-day wilderness as soon as they reached it,

    in haste, awaiting neither the proper hour nor daylight.

  17. مُضَبّرةَ الأصلابِ في ثَفِناتِها

    زُلوجٌ وفي أعضادِهنَّ عَداءُ

    Stoutly built along the spine, their calloused pads

    were smooth, and their upper forelegs set wide apart.

  18. وكمْ قدْ تركْنا من مُعَرِّسِ ساعةٍ

    بهِ لحديدِ المِرفقَيْنِ عُواءُ

    And how many a brief halting-place we left behind,

    where a sharp-elbowed beast howled!

  19. أصابَ طَلىً من حشْرَةٍ جاءَ فوقَهُ

    منَ الماءِ والغِرْسِ والفَضيضِ غطاءُ

    It found a newborn calf of a lean she-camel, over which had come

    a covering of water, birth-membrane, and birth-fluid.

  20. جرى بينَ حاذَيْ عَنْتَرِيسٍ تَراغبَتْ

    على الرَّحْلِ منها جُفْرةٌ وبناءُ

    The calf had slipped between the thighs of a mighty she-camel, whose

    girth and frame rose huge about the saddle.

  21. يزُرنَ ابنَ عَتّابٍ ويرجونَ فِعلَهُ

    إذا حانَ من حاجاتِهنَّ قضاءُ

    They visit the son of Attab and hope for his kindness,

    when the time comes for their needs to be fulfilled.

  22. يزَرْنَ جَنابيّاً أغَرَّ كأنّهُ

    سَنا البدرِ فيهِ للظلامِ جِلاءُ

    They visit a bright-browed Janabi, as though he were

    the full moon's radiance, in which darkness is dispelled.

  23. وجدْنا قِراكُمْ في حِياضٍ رَغيبةٍ

    وهنَّ على رَغْبٍ بهنَّ مِلاءُ

    We found your hospitality in capacious pools,

    which, despite the eager craving for them, were full.

  24. بَناهُنَّ عَتّابٌ وأوصاكَ بعدَهُ

    بهنَّ فلمْ يُهدمْ لهنَّ بناءُ

    Attab built them and charged you after him

    with their care; none of their structure has been demolished.

  25. عَلالِيُّ مِنْ سعيِ الأصمِّ بن مالكٍ

    وكلُّ الذي أسدى الأصمُّ سَناءُ

    Lofty halls, from the endeavors of al-Asamm ibn Malik,

    and all that al-Asamm bestowed was splendor.

  26. إذا ضِيمَ قومٌ أو أقرُّوا ظَلامةً

    نفى الضيمَ عنكمْ عزّةٌ وإباءُ

    When a people was oppressed or accepted an injustice,

    might and proud refusal warded oppression away from you.

  27. وقمتُمْ بأسيافٍ حِدادٍ وألسُنٍ

    طِوالٍ وأرماحٍ بهنَّ دماءُ

    And you stood with sharp swords and tongues

    long-reaching, and spears with blood upon them.

  28. وما قادَكمْ يوماً منَ الناسِ معشَرٌ

    وما زالَ فيكمْ قائدٌ ولِواءُ

    And no company of men ever led you,

    and among you there have always been a leader and a banner.

  29. إذا سارَ قومٌ للعُلى سرْتَ فوقَهمْ

    إلى شُرُفاتٍ ما بهنَّ خَفاءُ

    When people march toward the heights, you march above them,

    to lofty summits where there is no obscurity.

  30. بلغْتٌمْ نجومَ الليلِ فضلاً وعزّةً

    ومجداً فأنتمْ والنجومُ سَواءُ

    You have reached the stars of night in excellence and might,

    and glory—so you and the stars are equals.