Poems
- أ أن أمرعت معزى عطيقة وارتعتWas it because ʿAṭīqa's goats found lush pasture and grazed
- أجرير أقصر لا تحن بك شقوةO Jarir, desist; let not ill fortune bring you to ruin.
- إذا طرقت ليلى الرفاق بغمرةWhen Layla visited the companions by night at Ghamrah,
- إذا طلع العيوق أول كوكبWhen Capella rises as the first star,
- إذا كذبت عنا الظهيرة قربتHere, as the noonday heat relented from us, there drew near
- إذا ما زعانيف الرباب أشظهاWhen the rabble of al-Rabāb are vexed
- إذا ما لقيت الباهلي وجدتهWhenever you meet the Bāhilī, you find him
- إذا هي زارت بعد شحط من النوىWhen she visited after separation had carried her far away,
- أشاركني في ثعلب قد أكلتهDid he share with me a fox I had already eaten?
- أطافت بشعث كالأسنة هجدOver fields of withered grass wandered
- أكد إذا لاقيت قوما بخطةStand firm when you encounter a people in distress—
- إلا أن ليلى رد حبل وصالهاBut Layla’s cord of union was turned back
- ألا إنما أزرى بحارك عامداBehold, none deliberately brought low your withers but
- ألا حييا الربع القواء وسلماCome, you two, greet the desolate campsite and salute it,
- ألا يا لقوم كل ما حم واقعHear me, O people: all that is decreed will come to pass.
- الأراح بالرهن الخليط فهجراHome is mortgaged by separation's pledge
- إلى ظعن بالصلب صلب قصيدةToward a caravan of women at al-Sulb—Sulb Qasida—
- أمق رقيق الأسكيتن كأنهLong and slender, with thin labia, as though it were
- أناجي أني لا أخالك ناجياO Naji, I do not think you will escape,
- أهاج عليك الشوق أطلال دمنةHave the ruins of an abandoned campsite stirred longing in you,
- أوغى يد الدهر من أحداثه شرفاTime's hand has [weakened] a lofty eminence through its calamities.
- بأطيب من فيها ولا طعم قرقفNor is the taste of wine sweeter than her mouth—
- بجون رعت سلمان حتى كأنهاWith dark camels that grazed at Salman until they seemed
- بعيد الندى جالت بأنسان عينهFar-reaching in generosity—around the pupil of his eye stirred
- بني زياد لذكر الله مصنعةBani Ziyad built for God's remembrance
- تبعث مني ما تبعث بعدماYou stir in me what you stir, after
- تخونتها بالنص حتى كأنهاI wore her down with hard driving until she seemed
- ترى منبر العبد اللئيم كأنماYou see the vile slave’s pulpit, as though
- تطاول هذا الليل حتى كأنهThis night has dragged on so long that it is as though
- تعز بنجد كل من لقط الحصىIn Najd, all who gather pebbles rise in honor,
- تناومتم لأعين إذ دعاكمYou feigned sleep when Aʿyan summoned you,
- سائل سليطا إذ ما الحرب أفزعهاAsk Sulayt, when war has terrified them:
- سلافة اسفنط بماء غمامةThe choicest isfanṭ wine, mixed with water from a raincloud,
- سماوية كدر كأن عيونهاDusky-grey sandgrouse of Samāwah, as though their eyes
- سيتركها أن سلم الله أمرهاThey will leave her—if God keeps her affairs safe—
- شددت له أزري بمرة حازمI strengthened my back for him with a resolute man's firmness,
- شددت لها حبلا إلى أوثق العراI fastened a rope for her to the firmest of loops.
- ضبطن بفيف من بسيطة بعدماSoftly swaying in the gentle breeze
- على متن عادي أرومهUpon a ridge whose roots are ancient,
- فأرسل سهوا كاظميا كأنهThen he let loose a Kāẓimī stream, as though it were
- فإن تك ليلى حملتني لبانةSo if Layla has entrusted me with a wish,
- فصبحه والشمس حمراء بشرةSo, while the sun was red-skinned, there came upon him at dawn
- فطأ معرضا إن الحتوف كثيرةSo tread where you will, for deaths are many;
- فلا تكثرن في أثر شيء ندامةSo do not feel excessive regret over a thing
- قد اختاره الله لعباد لدينهGod has indeed chosen him for servants, for His religion,
- قد استوى بشر على العراقBishr has indeed assumed rule over Iraq,
- كأن قتودي فوق طاو خلالهAs though my saddle’s wooden supports were upon a hungry beast whose companions
- لعمرك ما تدري الطوارق بالحصىBy your life, the women who divine with pebbles do not know,
- لعمري لئن ألهى الفرزدق قيدهBy my life, if his fetter has distracted al-Farazdaq,
- لمن طلل بالسدرتين كأنهWhose ruined dwelling is this at al-Sidratayn—the Two Lote Trees—as though it were
- محرجة خص كأن عيونهاA closely gathered pack, [short-haired?], whose eyes seem—
- من الدوفا لصمان حتى تنبهتFrom al-Daww, then al-Ṣammān, until there awoke
- نجحت بطولات كأن نجاءهاI advanced on tall she-camels [reading uncertain], as though their swift passage were
- وأرسل بكرا مالك يستحثناAnd Malik sent Bakr to urge us on.
- وأطراف أطراف الشجاع وقد جرىAnd the tips of the serpent’s extremities, while there flowed
- وأنا لنعطي المشرفية حقهاAnd we surely give the Mashrafi swords their due;
- وأنت بذات السدر من أم سالمAnd you, at Dhat al-Sidr, at the hands of Umm Salim,
- وإني لأرجو الله حتى كأنماIndeed, I pray to God until it is as though
- وإني لأستبقيكم ولقد أرىAnd I do spare you, though I see full well
- وإني لأعطي النصف من لو ظلمتهAnd I surely give fair treatment to one who, were I to wrong him,
- وخالك رد القوم يوم بزاخةAnd your maternal uncle drove the men back on the day of Buzakha,
- ودافعت عن ذود الخصاف بن ضممAnd I defended al-Khassaf ibn Ḍamam’s small herd of camels,
- وذاك الفراق لا فراق طعائنAnd that is parting—not the departure of women in camel litters,
- وذاك الفراق لا نراق ظعائنAnd that is parting—not [perhaps: the parting] of women in howdahs—
- وذي أشر كالأقحوان نشوقهAnd a mouth with finely serrated teeth, like daisies whose drink
- ورحنا بها عن ماء ثجر كأنماAnd we set off with them from the water of Thajr, as though
- ورشق من النشاب يحدون وردهAnd a volley of arrows whose onrush they urge onward,
- وركب كأطراف الأسنة هجدAnd a band of riders, like the tips of spearheads, asleep.
- وسفع ثوين العام والعام قبلهAnd blackened hearthstones that remained this year and the year before,
- وشتان ما بيتي وبين ابن خالدAnd what a difference between my house and Ibn Khalid—
- وصهباء من طول الكلال زجرتهاAnd a tawny she-camel, worn by long fatigue, I urged onward,
- وقد أعرضت دون الأشاهب وارتمىEnglish translation available
- وقد خلفت أسراب جون من القطاAnd I have left behind flocks of dusky sandgrouse,
- وكيف طلابي العامرية بعدماAnd how can I seek the ʿĀmirī woman, now that
- ولست بمفراح إذا الدهر سرنيI am not overjoyed when fortune pleases me,
- ولما رأيت الهم ضاف كأنهAnd when I saw sorrow come as a guest, as though it were
- ولو أنها عصفورة لحسبتهاAnd even if she were a sparrow, I would deem her
- ولو ترمى بلؤم بني كليبIf branded with the baseness of Banū Kulayb—
- وما المال والأهلون إلا ودائعAnd wealth and family are nothing but trusts,
- وماذا غير أنك ذو سبالAnd what have you but whiskers
- ومر عراقيب الوحوش أمامهمAnd the hocks of wild beasts passed before them,
- ومولى كبيت النمل لا خير عندهAnd a kinsman, like an ants’ nest, has no good to offer
- ونحن وقعنا في مزينة دفعةAnd we fell upon Muzaynah in a single charge,
- ويتيه مروراة تخال شخاصهAnd a vast, barren wilderness, whose distant shapes you imagine
- يقولون ليلى بالمغيب أمينةThey say Layla is faithful in his absence,
No poems found.