خليليَّ من قيس بن عيلان حليا

خليليَّ من قيس بن عيلان حليا

ركابي تُعرّج نحو مُنعرَجاتِها

ركابي تُعرّج نحو مُنعرَجاتِها

My two friends of Qays ibn Aylan, urge on

My companion, from Qays ibn Al-Aylān a greeting

my mounts to turn toward its winding paths—

My steed turns toward its winding paths

بعيشكما ذات اليمين فإنني

بعيشكما ذات اليمين فإنني

أُراحُ لشمِّ الريحِ من عَقَدَاتِها

أُراحُ لشمِّ الريحِ من عَقَدَاتِها

by your lives, to the right, for I

By your life, for I find rest in the scent of the breeze from its knots

am cheered by the scent of wind from its clustered dunes.

The scent of the ostriches has become fragrant, as if

فقد عبقت ريحُ النعامي كأنما

فقد عبقت ريحُ النعامي كأنما

سلام سُلَيمَى راحَ في نَفَحَاتِها

سلام سُلَيمَى راحَ في نَفَحَاتِها

For the south wind has grown fragrant, as though

The greetings of Sulaymā had traveled in its breaths

Sulayma's greeting drifted upon its wafts.

And Tīmā’ is a dwelling for the heartsick heart

وتيماءُ للقلب المتيم منزلٌ

وتيماءُ للقلب المتيم منزلٌ

فَعُوجَا بتسليم على سَلَماتِها

فَعُوجَا بتسليم على سَلَماتِها

And Tayma is a halting-place for the love-enslaved heart;

So it leaned to greet its stairways

so turn aside, you two, with greetings for its salam acacias.

And if you both find bliss from the ladder of patience, his heart

وإن تُسعدا من سلم الصبر قلبه

وإن تُسعدا من سلم الصبر قلبه

يُعرِّس بدوح البان من عَرَصَاتِها

يُعرِّس بدوح البان من عَرَصَاتِها

And if you two aid one whose heart patience has surrendered,

Becomes a groom in the abode of separation from its threshing floors

he will halt for the night beneath the spreading moringas in its open grounds.

Its wilderness became inhabited by a friendly inhabitant

فبانتُها الغيناءُ مألفُ بانة

فبانتُها الغيناءُ مألفُ بانة

جنيتُ الغَرامَ البرح من ثمراتِها

جنيتُ الغَرامَ البرح من ثمراتِها

For its leafy moringa is the haunt of a moringa-slender maiden;

I harvested the tender love from its fruits

I gathered agonizing passion from her fruits.

And its meadow hosted a melodious meadow

وروضتُها الغنَّاءُ مسرحُ روضةٍ

وروضتُها الغنَّاءُ مسرحُ روضةٍ

تبختر في الموشيّ من حبراتِها

تبختر في الموشيّ من حبراتِها

And its lush meadow is the roaming-ground of a maiden like a garden,

Prideful in its embroidered clothes from its needles

who struts in the patterned fabric of her striped robes.

There, threads in the roots of dignity

هنالِك خُوطٌ في منابت عزَة

هنالِك خُوطٌ في منابت عزَة

تخال القنا الخطيَ بعض نباتِها

تخال القنا الخطيَ بعض نباتِها

There stands a tender shoot in the soil of honor;

Resembling the slender line some of its plants

you would think al-Khatt's lances part of its growth.

Feelings of infatuation and the Ka’bah of charm

مشاعرُ تهيامٍ وكعبةُ فتنةٍ

مشاعرُ تهيامٍ وكعبةُ فتنةٍ

فؤادي من حُجَّابها ودعاتِها

فؤادي من حُجَّابها ودعاتِها

Sacred sites of love's rapture, and a Kaaba of enchantment—

My heart from its veils and supplications

my heart is among its gatekeepers and heralds.

So how it shook my hand in its bedouins, the hand of wishes

فكم صافَحَتني في مُناها يدُ المُنى

فكم صافَحَتني في مُناها يدُ المُنى

وكم هَبَّ عَرفُ اللهو من عَرَفاتِها

وكم هَبَّ عَرفُ اللهو من عَرَفاتِها

How often in its Mina of wishes the hand of wishes clasped mine,

And how the recognized passion blew from its known places

and how often the scent of dalliance wafted from its Arafat!

I promised them idols when I promised her

عهدتُ بها أصنام حين عهدتني

عهدتُ بها أصنام حين عهدتني

هَوَى عَبدِ عُزَّاها وعبد مَنَاتِها

هَوَى عَبدِ عُزَّاها وعبد مَنَاتِها

I knew idols there, when they knew me

The love of a slave of her pride and a slave of her temples

with a worshipper's love for its Uzza and its Manat.

I came with my longings to her and was virtuous

أهل بأشواقي إليها وأتقى

أهل بأشواقي إليها وأتقى

شرائعها في الحُبِّ حقَ تُقاتِها

شرائعها في الحُبِّ حقَ تُقاتِها

I raise the pilgrim's cry with my longings toward it, and revere

In its laws of love, truly pious

its laws of love with all the reverence they are due.

Love like the courage of Ibn Ma’n and a lover

غرام كإقدام ابن معنٍ ومغرمٌ

غرام كإقدام ابن معنٍ ومغرمٌ

كإنعامه والأرضُ في أزماتِها

كإنعامه والأرضُ في أزماتِها

A passion like Ibn Ma'n's daring, and a love-debt

Like his generosity, and the land in its crises

like his largesse while the earth is in its straits.

And how many a group has seen the view of the dissenters

وكم قد رأت رأي الخوارج فرقةٌ

وكم قد رأت رأي الخوارج فرقةٌ

فكنت علياً في حُروب شُراتِها

فكنت علياً في حُروب شُراتِها

And how many a faction has embraced the Kharijites' creed,

So I was Ali in the wars of its evils

so you were Ali in the wars against its Shurat,

With the resolve of a father whose radiance does not fade

بعزمِ أبيٍّ لا يرد مضاؤه

بعزمِ أبيٍّ لا يرد مضاؤه

وهل تُملكُ الأفلاك عن حَرَكاتها

وهل تُملكُ الأفلاك عن حَرَكاتها

with unyielding resolve whose force cannot be checked—

And can the cosmos possess power over its motions?

and can the spheres be restrained from their motions?

He who makes the excited one weak and his teeth

هو الجاعلُ الهَيجا هشاً وسنانهُ

هو الجاعلُ الهَيجا هشاً وسنانهُ

هوىً فَهوَ لا يَعدُو قُلُوب كماتِها

هوىً فَهوَ لا يَعدُو قُلُوب كماتِها

He makes battle light and easy, and his spearhead

Passion so he does not exceed the hearts in its burials

passion, so it never passes beyond the hearts of its champions.

And how often Egypt courted me in the Nile of its Nile

وكم خطبتني مصرُ في نيل نِيلها

وكم خطبتني مصرُ في نيل نِيلها

ورامت بِنَا بَغدادُ وردَ فُراتِها

ورامت بِنَا بَغدادُ وردَ فُراتِها

And how often Egypt wooed me with the bounty of its Nile,

And Baghdad intended for us its Euphrates

and Baghdad wished us to drink from its Euphrates.

And I was not pleased by any land but the place of my upbringing

ولم أرضَ أرضا غير مبدإ نشأتي

ولم أرضَ أرضا غير مبدإ نشأتي

ولو لُحتُ شمساً في سَمَاء ولاتِها

ولو لُحتُ شمساً في سَمَاء ولاتِها

Yet I would accept no land but where my life began,

Even if I were a sun in the sky of its heights

even were I to shine as a sun in its rulers' sky.

And I have hope that if luck makes its attainment successful

ولي أملٌ إن يُسعدَ السعدُ نيلُهُ

ولي أملٌ إن يُسعدَ السعدُ نيلُهُ

يُفهمُ سرُّ النفس في زَمَرَاتِها

يُفهمُ سرُّ النفس في زَمَرَاتِها

And I have a hope: if good fortune favors its attainment,

The secret of the soul will be understood in its groups

the soul's secret will be understood in its piping strains.

And the sweetest wishes are what is attained in the bloom of youth

وأسنى المنى ما نِيلَ في مَيعَةِ الصِّبَا

وأسنى المنى ما نِيلَ في مَيعَةِ الصِّبَا

وهل تُحسنُ الأشياء بعدُ فَواتِها

وهل تُحسنُ الأشياء بعدُ فَواتِها

And the finest wishes are those fulfilled in the bloom of youth;

And can things be good after their loss?

and can things still be beautiful once their moment has passed?