أوصلت صرم الحبل من — Al Asha

أَوصَلتَ صُرمَ الحَبلِ مِن

سَلمى لِطولِ جِنابِها

Have you persisted in severing the bond with

Salma, because her dwelling is so distant?

وَرَجَعتَ بَعدَ الشَيبِ تَب

غي وُدُّها بِطِلابِها

And returned, after your hair turned gray, to seek

her love by pursuing her?

أَقصِر فَإِنَّكَ طالَما

أوضِعتَ في إِعجابِها

Desist, for you have long

hastened in admiration of her.

أَوَلَن يُلاحَمَ في الزُجا

جَةِ صَدعُها بِعِصابِها

And will the glass never have

its crack mended by its binding?

أَوَلَن تَرى في الزُبرِ بَيِّ

نَةً بِحُسنِ كِتابِها

And will you not see in the scriptures clear proof,

in the beauty of their writing?

إِنَّ القُرى يَوماً سَتَه

لِكُ قَبلَ حَقِّ عَذابِها

Surely the towns will one day perish,

before their punishment falls due,

وَتَصيرُ بَعدَ عَمارَةٍ

يَوماً لِأَمرِ خَرابِها

and, after flourishing, will pass

one day into a state of ruin.

أَوَلَم تَرَي حِجراً وَأَن

تِ حَكيمَةٌ وَلِما بِها

Have you not looked on Hijr—you

who are wise—and on its plight?

إِنَّ الثَعالِبَ بِالضُحى

يَلعَبنَ في مِحرابِها

Indeed, the foxes in the forenoon

play within its hall,

وَالجِنُّ تَعزِفُ حَولَها

كَالحُبشِ في مِحرابِها

and the jinn make music around it,

like Abyssinians in its hall.

فَخَلا لِذَلِكَ ما خَلا

مِن وَقتِها وَحِسابِها

Thus, since then, what has passed has passed

of its time and its reckoned span.

وَلَقَد غَبَنتُ الكاعِبا

تِ أَحَظُّ مِن تَخبابِها

I have indeed outwitted the full-breasted maidens,

more successful than her guile.

وَأَخونُ غَفلَةَ قَومِها

يَمشونَ حَولَ قِبابِها

And I exploit her people's inattention,

as they walk around her domed tents,

حَذَراً عَلَيها أَن تُرى

أَو أَن يُطافَ بِبابِها

anxiously guarding her lest she be seen,

or anyone approach her door.

فَبَعَثتُ جِنّيّاً لَنا

يَأتي بِرَجعِ جَوابِها

So I sent a jinni on our behalf,

to bring back her answer.

فَمَشى وَلَم يَخشَ الأَني

سَ فَزارَها وَخَلا بِها

He went, unafraid of human company,

visited her, and was alone with her.

فَتَنازَعا سِرَّ الحَدي

ثِ فَأَنكَرَت فَنَزا بِها

The two exchanged confidential words;

she demurred, and he sprang upon her.

عَضبُ اللِسانِ مُتَقِّنٌ

فَطِنٌ لِما يُعنى بِها

Sharp of tongue, skillful,

alert to what was intended for her,

صَنَعٌ بِلينِ حَديثِها

فَدَنَت عُرى أَسبابِها

adept in gentle speech with her,

till the loops of her bonds drew near.

قالَت قَضَيتَ قَضِيَّةً

عَدلاً لَنا يُرضى بِها

She said, "You have delivered a judgment—

a just one for us, to our satisfaction."

فَأَرادَها كَيفَ الدُخو

لُ وَكَيفَ ما يُؤتى لَها

Then he asked her how to enter,

and how an approach to her might be made,

في قُبَّةٍ حَمراءَ زَيَّ

نَها اِئتِلاقُ طِبابِها

in a red domed tent, adorned

by the gleam of its stitched panels.

وَدَنا تَسَمُّعُهُ إِلى

ما قالَ إِذ أَوصى بِها

And he listened closely to

what was said in counsel about her:

إِنَّ الفَتاةَ صَغيرَةٌ

غِرٌّ فَلا يُسدى بِها

"The girl is young,

inexperienced, so she must not be trifled with.

وَاِعلَم بِأَنّي لَم أُكَل

لِم مِثلَها بِصِعابِها

And know that I have never spoken

to one like her, with all her difficult ways.

إِنّي أَخافُ الصُرمَ مِن

ها أَو شَحيجَ غُرابِها

I fear estrangement from

her, or the harsh cry of her raven."

فَدَخَلتُ إِذ نامَ الرَقي

بُ فَبِتُّ دونَ ثيابِها

Then I entered when the watcher slept,

and spent the night beneath her clothes.

حَتّى إِذا ما اِستَرسَلَت

مِن شِدَّةٍ لِلِعابِها

Until, when she had relaxed

from her tension, ready for play,

قَسَّمتُها قِسمَينِ كُل

لَ مُوَجَّهٍ يُرمى بِها

I divided her in two, in every

direction in which she might be cast.

فَثَنَيتُ جيدَ غَريرَةٍ

وَلَمَستُ بَطنَ حِقابِها

Then I bent the innocent girl's neck,

and touched beneath her girdle.

كَالحُقَّةِ الصَفراءِ صا

كَ عَبيرُها بِمَلابِها

Like a yellow casket, whose

blended perfume clung to its malab scent.

وَإِذا لَنا نامورَةٌ

مَرفوعَةٌ لِشَرابِها

And there we had a wine goblet,

raised for drinking from.

وَنَظَلُّ تَجري بَينَنا

وَمُفَدَّمٌ يَسقي بِها

All day it passed among us,

while a muffled cupbearer poured with it,

هَزِجٌ عَلَيهِ التَومَتا

نِ إِذا نَشاءُ عَدا بِها

singing, wearing a pair of pearl earrings;

whenever we wished, he ran with it.

وَوَديقَةٍ شَهباءَ رُدِّ

يَ أَكمُها بِسَرابِها

And many a gray-white, scorching noon—

its hillocks mantled in its mirage.

رَكَدَت عَلَيها يَومَها

شَمسٌ بِحَرِّ شِهابِها

All day there stood motionless above it

a sun with the heat of its blaze,

حَتّى إِذا ما أوقِدَت

فَالجَمرُ مِثلُ تُرابِها

until, when it was set ablaze,

live embers were like its dust.

كَلَّفتُ عانِسَةً أَمو

ناً في نَشاطِ هِبابِها

I put a mature she-camel to the task—

trusty in her lively, bounding stride.

أَكلَلتُها بَعدَ المِرا

حِ فَآلَ مِن أَصلابِها

I exhausted her after her friskiness,

till flesh dwindled from her loins.

فَشَكَت إِلَيَّ كَلالَها

وَالجَهدَ مِن أَتعابِها

Then she complained to me of her weariness,

and the hardship of her labors.

وَكَأَنَّها مَحمومُ خَي

بَرَ بَلَّ مِن أَوصابِها

She seemed a fever-stricken man of Khaybar,

recovered from its afflictions.

لَعِبَت بِهِ الحُمّى سِني

نَ وَكانَ مِن أَصحابِها

Fever had toyed with him for years,

and he had been among its companions.

وَرَدَت عَلى سَعدِ بنِ قَي

سٍ ناقَتي وَلِما بِها

She came to Sa'd ibn Qays—

my she-camel, for all her affliction.

فَإِذا عَبيدٌ عُكَّفٌ

مُسَكٌ عَلى أَنصابِها

And there were slaves gathered in devotion,

clinging to their idols,

وَجَميعُ ثَعلَبَةَ بنِ سَع

دٍ بَعدُ حَولَ قِبابِها

and all Tha'laba ibn Sa'd's folk

still around their domed tents.

مِن شُربِها المُزّاءَ ما اِس

تَبطَنتُ مِن إِشرابِها

From their drinking strong wine, I

fathomed how they were plied with drink;

وَعَلِمتُ أَنَّ اللَهَ عَم

داً حَسَّها وَأَرى بِها

and knew that God had deliberately

destroyed them and made an example of them.