Sol 6.1

  1. طَرقَت جَنوبُ رحالَنا من مُطرِقِ

    ما كنتُ أَحسَبُها قريبَ المعنقِ

    Junub came by night to our saddles from Mutriq.

    I had not thought her within a swift rider's reach.

  2. قَطَعَت اليكَ بمثلِ جيدِ جدايةٍ

    حَسنَ المعلَّقِ ترتجيه مُطَوِّقِ

    She crossed to you with a neck like a young gazelle's,

    lovely for a pendant, a neck you long to garland.

  3. هَلاَّ طَرَقتَ اذ الحياةُ لذيذةٌ

    واذ الشَّبابُ قميصُهُ لم يخلُقِ

    Why did you not come by night when life was sweet,

    and when youth's shirt had not yet grown threadbare?

  4. طَرَقت نواحِلَ حللت بمضَرَّسٍ

    ونُسوعُها برحالِها لم تُطلَقِ

    You came by night to lean camels, encamped at Mudarras,

    and their girth-straps had not been unfastened from their saddles;

  5. ومُصَرَّعينَ من الكَلالِ كأنَّما

    شَربوا الغَبوقَ من الطُّلاءِ المُعتَقِ

    and to men laid low by exhaustion, as though

    they had drunk an evening draught of aged, thickened wine,

  6. متوَسَّدينَ ذراعَ كُلِّ شِمِلّةٍ

    ومفرجٍ عرقِ المقدِّ منوَّقِ

    pillowing their heads on each swift she-camel's foreleg,

    and on a broad-chested, lean-built, well-tended camel.

  7. وَجَثَت على رَكبٍ تهدُّ بها الصفا

    وعلى الكلاكِلِ بالنَّقِيلِ المُطرِقِ

    They knelt on knees with which they shatter hard stone,

    and on their breastbones, along the beaten mountain pass.

  8. فاقرِ الهُمومَ قلائصاً عيديَّةً

    تطوي الفيافي بالوجيفِ المُعنِقِ

    So entertain your cares with young 'Idiyya she-camels,

    that fold up the deserts with a swift, long-striding trot.

  9. واذا سَمِعنَ هماهماً من رِفقَةٍ

    واذا النجومُ غوابِراً لم تخفِقِ

    And when they hear murmuring from a traveling company,

    while the stars still linger, not yet set,

  10. جَعَلَت تُميلُ خدودَها آذانُها

    أَنَفاً بهنَّ الى حُداء السُّوَّقِ

    their ears begin to tilt their cheeks

    proudly toward the camel-drivers' chant,

  11. كالمصغيات الى الغِناءِ سَمعنَه

    من رائعٍ لقلوبِهنَّ مُشَوَقِ

    like listeners attending to singing they have heard

    from a yearning singer who thrills their hearts.

  12. وترى بِجَيضَتِهِنَّ عندَ رحيلِنا

    وَهَلاَّ كأنَّ بهنَّ جِنَّةَ أولقِ

    In their shying at our departure you see

    panic, as though wild madness possessed them.

  13. واذا لَحَظنَ الى الطريقِ رأينَهُ

    لهِقاً كشاكلةِ الحصانِ الأَبلَقِ

    And when they glance toward the road, they see it

    white as the flank of a piebald stallion.

  14. واذا تَخَلَّفَ بَعدَهُنَّ لحاجةٍ

    حادٍ يُشَسِّعُ نَعلَهُ لم يلحقِ

    And if, for some need, there falls behind them

    a driver threading his sandal-thong, he cannot catch up.

  15. لعنَ الكواعبَ بعد يومِ صريمتي

    بشرى الفراتِ وبعد يَوم الجَوسَقِ

    Cursed be the full-breasted maidens, after the day of my parting

    at Shara al-Furat, and after the day at al-Jawsaq.

  16. عَدَّينَ كُلَّ وديعةٍ يعلَمنَها

    وذَعَرنَ من شَيبٍ تَجلَّلَ مفرقي

    They cast aside every pledge they knew,

    and recoiled from grey hair that covered my hair-parting.

  17. وأَبَينَ شِيمَتَهنَّ أولَ مرةٍ

    وأبى تقلُّبَ دَهرِكَ المتصفقِ

    They renounced the ways they showed at first,

    and the vicissitudes of your restless age refused as well.

  18. ولقد يَروعُ قلوبَهُنَّ تكلُّمي

    ويروعني مُقَلُ الغَزالِ المرشقِ

    Indeed, my speech thrills their hearts,

    and the eyes of a slender-necked gazelle thrill me.

  19. لئنِ الهمومُ عن الفؤاد تفرَّجَت

    وحلا التكلمُ للّسان المُطلَقِ

    If cares should lift from the heart,

    and speech grow sweet to the unfettered tongue,

  20. لأعلِقَنَّ على المطيِّ قصائداً

    أذَرُ الرواةَ بها طويلي المَنطِقِ

    I shall surely hang poems upon the riding-camels,

    leaving their reciters with much to say.

  21. إني حَلًفتُ بِربِّ مَن عَمِلَت له

    خوصُ المطيِّ بكلِّ خَبتَِ سملقِ

    I have sworn by the Lord of the one for whom

    narrow-eyed riding-camels labored across every bare, low-lying plain:

  22. أُدمٌ تُصانُ وكانَ اصلُ نجارِها

    من شدقميةِ منذرٍ ومحرّقِ

    white camels, carefully kept, whose original stock

    came from the Shadqamiyya camels of Mundhir and Muharriq.

  23. لئنِ الجزيرَةُ أصبَحَت ممنوعةً

    لوَدِدتُ أنَّ بريةً لم لم تخلقِ

    If al-Jazira has become inaccessible,

    I would wish that no wilderness had ever been created.

  24. وبنو أميةَ مَن أرادوا نفعَهُ

    نَفَعوا وَمن نصَبوا له لَم يسبقِ

    The sons of Umayya—whoever they wish to benefit,

    they benefit; whoever they oppose cannot escape.

  25. حَلَّت جنوبُ قُميقماً بُرهانها

    فمتى الخلاصُ لذا الرِّهانِ المغلقِ

    Junub has settled at Qumayqim with her pledge;

    when will this locked-up pledge be released?

  26. وَنأت بِحاجَتِها ورُبَّتَ عَنوَةٍ

    لك من مواعِدِها التي لَم تَصدُقِ

    She has gone far away with her desire; how much hardship

    you have from promises of hers that did not prove true,

  27. كعناءِ لَيلَتِنا التي جعَلَت لنا

    بالقريتينِ وليلةٍ بالخندقِ

    like the suffering of the night she appointed us

    at al-Qaryatayn, and a night at al-Khandaq,

  28. أو قَبلَ ذاك اذ الحياةُ لذيذةٌ

    واذ الزمانُ بصفوِهِ لم يَرنُقِ

    or before then, when life was sweet,

    and time's serenity had not yet grown troubled.

  29. بَخِلَت عليكَ فما تجودُ بنائِلٍ

    إِلا اختلاسَ حديثِها المُتَسَرّقِ

    She begrudged you, granting no gift

    except snatches of her conversation, stolen in secret.

  30. طَرَقَت بأطيبَ ما يَحِلّ لمسلمٍ

    بالقريتينِ وليلةٍ بالمشرقِ

    She came by night with the sweetest thing lawful to a Muslim,

    at al-Qaryatayn, and one night at al-Mashriq,

  31. مما تَفَرَّعَ بالأباطحِ سيلُه

    أو بالقلاتِ من الصَّفا لم يطرقِ

    from waters whose flood branched across gravelly streambeds,

    or from rock-pools in smooth stone, untouched.

  32. تعطي الضجيعَ اذا تَنَبَّهَ مَوهِناً

    منها وقد أَمِنَت له مَن يَتّقي

    She gives her bedfellow, when he wakes late at night,

    from herself, once assured he is safe from those he fears,

  33. عَذبَ المذاقِ مُفلَّجاً اطرافُهُ

    كالاقحوانِ من الرَّشاشِ المُستقي

    a sweet-tasting mouth, its front teeth spaced apart,

    like a daisy drinking the spray.

  34. نفضت أعاليَهُ الشّمالُ تهزُّهُ

    وغَدَت عليه غداةَ يَومٍ مشرقِ

    The north wind shook its tops, setting it trembling,

    and came upon it on the morning of a radiant day.

  35. وكأنما جَادَت بماءِ غمامَةٍ

    خَصرٍ تَنَزَّلُ من مُتونِ العشرقِ

    And it was as though she bestowed cloud-water,

    cool, dripping from the stems of 'ishriq shrubs.

  36. وأرى المعيشةَ انما هي ساعَةٌ

    فَرَجٌ وساعةُ كُربَةٍ وتَضَيُّقِ

    I see that life is only an hour

    of relief, and an hour of anguish and constraint.

  37. وأرى المنيَّةَ للرِّجالِ حبائِلاً

    شرَكاً يُصادُ به لِمَن لَم يَعلقِ

    And I see death as snares for men,

    a net in which those not yet caught are hunted.

  38. وإذا أصابَكَ والحوادثُ جَمّةٌ

    حَدَثٌ حَداكَ الى أخيكَ الأوثَقِ

    And if—since mishaps are many—you are struck

    by a mishap, it drives you to your surest brother.

  39. وهُمُ الرِّجالُ وكلٌّ ذلك فيهِمُ

    يجدون في رَحبٍ وفي متضيّقِ

    They are the men, and all this is found in them;

    they strive in ease and in straitened circumstances.

  40. إنَّ الرِّجالَ اذا طلبتَ نوالَهم

    منهُم خليلُ مَوَدَّةٍ وتملُّقِ

    When you ask men for their bounty,

    some are companions of affection and flattery,

  41. واخو مكارَمَةٍ على علاَّتِهِ

    فَوَجَدتَ خيرَهُمُ خليلُ المصدقِ

    and some brothers in generosity, despite their faults;

    you find the best of them a friend of proven sincerity.

  42. ولما رُزِقتَ ليأتينَّك سَيبُه

    جَلَباً وليس اليك ما لَم ترزقِ

    And whatever is allotted you—its bounty will surely come,

    brought to you; what is not allotted you is not in your power.