Sol 6.1

  1. شتَّ شعبُ الحيِّ بعدَ التئامْ

    وشجاكَ الرَّبعُ ربعُ المقامْ

    The clan's company scattered after its reunion.

    And the campsite grieved you—the place where they had stayed.

  2. حَسَرَتْ عَنْهُ الرِّيَاحُ، فَأَبْدَتْ

    منتأى ً كالقرورهنَ انثلامْ

    The winds swept it bare, exposing

    an outlying hollow, like [unclear text], with broken edges,

  3. وخصيفَ اللَّونِ جادَتْ بهِ

    مَرْخَة ٌ مِنْ مُخْدَجٍ أَوْ تَمَامْ

    and mingled-colored ash, yielded by

    a marakh tree, stunted or full-grown,

  4. بَيْنَ أظْآرٍ بِمَظْلُومَة ٍ

    كَسَرَاة ِ السَّاقِ سَاقِ الحَمَامْ

    among hearthstones in a freshly dug hollow,

    like the crest of Sāq—Sāq al-Ḥamām.

  5. مَنْزِلاً كَانَ لَنَا مَرَّة ً

    وطناً نحتلُّهُ كلَّ عامْ

    A dwelling that once was ours,

    a home we occupied every year.

  6. كمْ بهِ منْ مكِ وحشيَّة ٍ

    قيضَ في منتثلٍ أوْ شيامْ

    How many wild creatures' eggs were there,

    shells in a scraped hollow or sandy ground!

  7. إنَّما ذكركَ ما قدْ مضَى

    ضلَّة ٌ مثلُ حديثِ المنامْ

    Your remembering what has passed

    is only delusion, like recounting a dream.

  8. حبَّذا الزَّورُ الَّذي لا يرَى

    مِنْهُ إلاَّ لَمْحَة ٌ عَنْ لِمَامْ

    How welcome the visitor of whom one sees

    only a fleeting glimpse!

  9. مثلَ ما عاينتَ قبلَ الشَّفَا

    وَاضِحَ العُصْمَة ِ، أَحْوَى الخِدَامْ

    Like what you saw facing al-Shafā:

    white in its leg-markings, dark at its anklets.

  10. بادَرَ السَّءَ، ولمْ ينتظرْ

    نُبْهَ فِيقَاتِ العُرُوقِ النِّيامْ

    It hastened ahead of [an unclear word], not waiting

    for the sleeping veins' replenishing flow to awaken,

  11. في شَنَاظِي أُقَنٍ بَيْنَهَا

    عرَّة ُ الطَّيرِ كصومِ النِّعامْ

    among the sharp projections of peaks, where

    bird droppings lay like ostrich dung.

  12. ثُمَّ وَلَّى بَيْنَ عِيطٍ، بِهَا

    تلحسُ الأروى زمارَ البهامْ

    Then it turned away among lofty heights, where

    the mountain goats lick their scanty kids.

  13. نَظْرَة ً، مَا أَنْتِ مِنْ نَظْرَة ٍ

    أوغلتْ منْ بينِ سجفيْ قرامْ

    A glance—what a glance you were!

    It pierced deeply from between a figured curtain's two panels.

  14. مثلَ ما كافحتَ مخروفة ً

    نصَّها ذاعرُ روعٍ مؤامْ

    Like a doe you met face-to-face, one that had fawned in autumn,

    driven out by a frightener bringing repeated alarm,

  15. مغزلاً تحنُو لمستوسنٍ

    مَاثِلٍ لَوْنَ القَضِيمِ التَّهَامْ

    a mother bending over her drowsy fawn,

    still, the color of Tihāmah parchment,

  16. أوْ كأسبادِ النَّصيَّة ِ لمْ

    تجتذلْ في حاجرِ مستنامْ

    or like tufts of naṣiyy grass, not

    uprooted, in a low-lying resting place,

  17. مُطْرِقٍ، تَعْتَادُهُ عَوْهَجٌ

    بَيْنَ أَحْجَارٍ كَضِغْثِ الثُّمَامْ

    lying low, visited by a long-necked doe,

    among stones, like a bundle of thumām grass.

  18. تجتني ثامرَ جدَّادِهِ

    منْ فرادَى برمٍ أوْ تؤامْ

    She gathers the blossoms of its fresh growth,

    from single acacia flower-heads or paired ones,

  19. وتنمَّى كلَّما آنسَتْ

    نَبْأَة ً، والمُؤْنِسُ الرَّوْعَ نَامْ

    and stretches upward whenever she detects

    a sound, though the bringer of alarm sleeps,

  20. حَذَراً، والسِّرْبُ أَكْنَافَهَا

    مُسْتَظِلٌّ في أَصُولِ السَّلاَمْ

    being wary, while the herd around her

    rests shaded at the roots of the salām trees.

  21. تَتَّقِي الشَّمْسَ بِمَدْرِيَّة ٍ

    كالحَمَالِيجِ بِأَيْدِي التِّلامْ

    She shields herself from the sun with pointed horns,

    like blowpipes in goldsmiths' hands.

  22. آذَنَ النَّاوِي بِبَيْنُونة ٍ

    ظلتُ منهَا كصريعِ المدامْ

    The departing one announced a separation

    that left me like one struck down by wine,

  23. إذْ أشالَ الحيُّ أيليَّة ً

    ذَأبَتْها نِسْوَة ٌ مِنْ جُذَامْ

    when the clan hoisted Aylah-made litters,

    worked by women of Judhām:

  24. كلَّ مشكوكٍ عصافيرُهُ،

    قانىء ِ اللَّونِ، حديثِ الدِّمامْ

    each with its little wooden fittings pinned together,

    deep crimson, freshly painted,

  25. يمنحُ الجلسَ عكاظيَّة ً

    ركَّبتْ في ظلفاتٍ جسامْ

    offering the seated an ʿUkāẓ-made covering,

    mounted upon massive wooden supports.

  26. فَرَشَتْ كُلَّ مُنِيفِ القَرَى

    فوقَ متنيْ كلِّ خاظي الفئامْ

    It carpeted every lofty back,

    above the two ridges of every stout litter-frame,

  27. ذَاتَ أَوْضَانٍ حَجَازِيَّة ٍ

    زَانَ أَلْحِيها احْمِرَارُ العِظَامْ

    with broad, Ḥijāz-made girths;

    redness of the framework adorned their jawlike sides.

  28. قنِّعَ الأنصافُ منْها العلَى ،

    فهيَ غرٌّ، بالخنيفِ الشَّآمْ

    Their upper halves were veiled,

    white-faced beneath Syrian coarse cloth.

  29. وأديرتْ حففٌ تحتَها

    مِثْلُ قُسْطَانِيِّ دَجْنِ الغَمَامْ

    Borders were wound around beneath them,

    like a rainbow against the clouds' darkness.

  30. وعَلَى الأَحْدَاجِ أَغْزِلَة ٌ

    كُنَّسٌ، سَدَّتْ خَصَاصَ الخِيَامْ

    And upon the camel-litters were gazelles,

    sheltered, filling the tents' openings

  31. بخدودٍ كالوذائلِ، لمْ

    يختزنْ عنَها وريُّ السَّنامْ

    with cheeks like polished silver bars; no

    rich hump-fat had been withheld from them.

  32. كلُّ مكسالٍ، رقودِ الضُّحَى ،

    وعثة ٍ، ميسانِ ليلِ التَّمامْ

    Each was languid, sleeping through the forenoon,

    soft-bodied, drowsy through the longest night,

  33. حُرَة ٍ، شَبَّهْتُ عِرْنِينَها

    حِينَ تَرْنُو سَافِراً، عِرْقَ سَامْ

    noble: I likened her nose,

    when she gazed unveiled, to a vein of gold.

  34. وفلاة ٍ يستفزُّ الحشا

    مِنْ صُوَاهَا ضَبْحُ بُومٍ وهَامْ

    And many a wilderness, where the heart is startled

    by the cries of owls from its landmarks,

  35. نَفْجَأُ الذِّئْبَ بهَا قَائِماً

    أَبْرَقَ اللَّوْنِ، أَحَمَّ اللِّثَامْ

    we enter, surprising a wolf standing there,

    mottled in color, black about the muzzle,

  36. كغريٍّ أجسدَتْ رأسَهُ

    فرعٌ بينَ رئاسٍ وحامْ

    like an idol whose head has been bloodied

    by a firstborn offering, among haltered beasts and a consecrated sire.

  37. قدْ تبطَّنتُ بهلواعة ٍ،

    عُبْرِ أَسْفَارٍ، كَتُومِ البُغَامْ

    I have crossed its interior on a swift she-camel,

    strong through journeys, restrained in her lowing,

  38. مخلفِ الطرَّاقِ، مجهولة ٍ،

    محدثٍ بعدَ طراقِ اللُّؤامْ

    renewing her sole-layers, of untested strength,

    forming fresh ones after the close-fitted layers.

  39. عنسلٍ تلوي، إذا أبشرَتْ،

    بخوافي أخدريّ سخامْ

    A swift one that, when she sights her way, twists

    dark tail-feathers like those of a black Akhdarī ass,

  40. أوْ بشمل شالَ منْ خصبة ٍ

    جرِّدَتْ للنَّاسِ بعدَ الكمامْ

    or a date-cluster lifted from a fruitful palm,

    stripped for people after its spathes,

  41. أَلْحَقَتْ مَا اسْتَلْعَبَتْ بِالَّذِي

    قدْ أنَى إذ حانَ حينُ الصِّرامْ

    which brought its late-set fruit abreast of that

    already ripe when harvest-time arrived.

  42. كَعَقِيلِ الحُرِّ، في لَوْنِهِ

    لُمَعٌ كَالشَّامِ مِنْ غَيْرِ شَامْ

    Like the noble beast's fellow, in whose coloring

    are patches like tattoos, though not tattooed,

  43. خِلْطُ وَشْيٍ، مِثْلَ مَا هَلْهَلَتْ

    ذَاتُ أَصْدَافٍ نَؤُورَ الوِشَامْ

    mingled ornament, like strokes lightly drawn

    with tattoo-soot by a woman wearing shells.

  44. يمسحُ الأرضَ بمعنونسٍ

    مثلِ مئلاة ِ النِّياحِ الفئامْ

    He sweeps the earth with a long, shaggy tail,

    like the mourning cloth of women gathered in lament.

  45. بيتتْهُ، وهوَ مسترسلٌ

    يبتني مأوى ً لأدنَى مقامْ

    It overtook him at night while he lay at ease,

    making a shelter for the briefest stay:

  46. لَيْلَة ٌ هَاجتْ جُمَادِيَّة ٌ

    ذَاتُ صَرّ جِرْبِيَاءُ النِّسَامْ

    a stormy night of Jumādā,

    bitterly cold, with northerly gusts,

  47. وردة ٌ إذ لجَّ صنَّبرُها

    تَحْتَ شَفَّانِ شَباً ذِي سِجَامْ

    ruddy, when its freezing blast persisted

    beneath sharp, rain-streaming cold.

  48. بَاتَ يَسْتَنُّ النَّدَى فَوْقَهُ

    ضيفَ أرطاة ٍ بحقفٍ هيامْ

    He passed the night as moisture streamed above him,

    a guest of an arṭā shrub on a drifting sand-curve,

  49. يَسْتَبِيثُ التُّرْبَ عَنْ مُنْحَنَى

    كلِّ عسلوجٍ كمتنِ الزِّمامْ

    scraping the soil away beneath the bend

    of each slender shoot, smooth as a rein.

  50. ثمَّ أضحَى يقتري حبَّة ً

    بَيْنَ أَكْنَافِ كَثِيبٍ رُكَامْ

    Then in the morning he sought seeds

    among the flanks of a heaped sandhill.

  51. بَيْنَما ذَلِكَ هَاجَتْ بِهِ

    أكلبٌ مثلُ حظاءِ الغلامْ

    While he was thus, there rushed upon him

    dogs like a boy's little arrows.

  52. فَتَوَلَّى وَهْوَ مُستَوهِلٌ

    تَرْتَمي أَزْلاَمُهُ بالرِّغَامْ

    He turned away, terrified,

    his arrow-like limbs flinging dust.

  53. فَتَلاَفَتْهُ، فَلاَثَتْ بِهِ

    لَعْوَة ٌ تَضْبَحُ ضَبْحَ النُّهَامْ

    But she overtook him and clung to him:

    a ravenous bitch, panting like a lion,

  54. شمهدٌ، أطرافُ أنيابهَا

    كَمَنَاشِيلِ طُهَاة ِ اللِّحَامْ

    long-bodied, the tips of her fangs

    like meat-cooks' hooks.

  55. عولقَ الحرصِ إذا أبشرتْ

    سَاوَرَتْ فِيهِ سُؤُورَ المُسَامْ

    Clinging in her eagerness, when she caught sight,

    she sprang at him with an unleashed beast's spring.

  56. ضَغَمَتْهُ، فَتَآيَا لَهَا

    بِقَوِيمِ المَتْنِ عَارٍ حُسَامْ

    She bit him, but he faced her

    with a straight-backed, naked, cutting blade.

  57. فهوَتْ للوجهِ مخذولة ً

    لَمْ يَصِفْ عَنْهَا قَضَاءُ الحِمامْ

    She fell face-down, abandoned;

    death's decree did not turn aside from her.

  58. ومضَى تشبهُ أقرابُهُ

    ثوبَ سحلِ بينَ أعوادِ قامْ

    He went on, his flanks resembling

    a white cloth between a loom's wooden bars.

  59. ذَاكَ أمْ جَيْدَاءُ بَيْدَانَة ٌ

    غَرْبَة ُ العَيْنِ جَهَادُ المَسَامْ

    Was it that one, or a long-necked, full-bodied she-ass,

    wide-eyed, broad across the body?

  60. أكلَ السَّبعُ طلاهَا، فما

    تسألُ الأشباحَ غيرَ انهزامْ

    A beast of prey had eaten her foal, and so

    from every shape she sought only escape.

  61. ضَمَّهَا الخَوْفُ إلى شُنَّعٍ

    أَبْدَتِ الأضْغَانَ بَعْدَ الكِتَامْ

    Fear drove her among fierce companions,

    who showed the rancor they had concealed.

  62. أَغْلَقَتْ مِنْ دُونِ أَغْرَاسِهَا

    حلقاً أرتجنَ بعدَ اعتقامْ

    They had closed around their fetuses

    openings sealed after barrenness.

  63. فَهْيَ مُلْسٌ كَعَجِيمِ النَّوى

    تَرَّ مِنْ عُرْضِ نَوَاحِي الجَرَامْ

    They were sleek as stripped date-stones

    that drop from among the harvesters' heaps.

  64. أَخْلَفَتْهُنَّ اللَّوَاتي الأُولَى

    بالمَقَانِي بَعْدَ حُسْنِ اعْتِمامْ

    Those earlier ones had failed them

    in their haunts, after fine, luxuriant growth.

  65. فَاجْتَرَتْ لِلْمَاءِ يَأْدُو بِهَا

    مسحلٌ مقلاءُ عونٍ قطامْ

    They turned toward water, driven along

    by a braying, fierce male, driving mature females.

  66. ذو مزاريرَ، بأعطافِهِ

    جدرٌ منها قديمٌ ودامْ

    He bore bite-marks along his flanks,

    their scars old in places, elsewhere bleeding.

  67. هبطَتْ شعباً، فظلَّتْ بهِ

    رُكَّداً تَبْحَثُ عَهْدَ المَصَامْ

    They descended a ravine and remained there,

    standing still, searching the former water-site,

  68. في مَحَانٍ حَفَرَتْها كَمَا

    حَفَرَ القَوْمُ رِكِيَّ اعْتِقَامْ

    in hollows they dug, as

    people dig wells in untouched ground.

  69. ثُمَّ رَاحَتْ كَالمَغَالِي، ولَمْ

    تَشْفِ سَوَّارَ غَلِيلِ الأوَامْ

    Then they departed like far-shot arrows, without

    quenching the mounting heat of burning thirst.

  70. يَعْسِفُ البِيدَ بِها سَمْحَجٌ

    مُكْرَبُ الرُّسْغِ، مُبِرُّ الكِدَامْ

    A long-backed male drives them across the wastes,

    strong in the fetlock, surpassing others in biting,

  71. يستمي بيضاءَ مسجورة ً

    في قِرَانٍ بَيْنَ صَوْحَيْ حَوَامْ

    seeking a clear, full pool

    in Qirān, between Ḥawām's two rocky sides.

  72. عانتِ الصَّيفَ بمستوكفٍ

    أكلَ الكيحَ إذ الجمُّ طامْ

    It had endured summer at a dripping source

    that ate into the bank when the deep water brimmed.

  73. فَعَلاَ الكِيحَ نِطَافٌ لَهَا

    منْ نقيّ كبريمِ الرَّهامْ

    Drops rose upon its bank,

    of clear water, like twisted strands of fine rain.

  74. ثمَّ آلتْ وهيَ معيونة ٌ،

    منْ بطيءِ الضَّهلِ نكزِ المهامْ

    Then it dwindled, though spring-fed,

    to a slow trickle, its channels running low,

  75. مثلَ ما دبَّتْ إلى ماجلٍ

    مترصِ الرَّصفِ عيونُ الكظامْ

    like the seepage into a cistern

    of underground channels through tight-set stones,

  76. أوْ كماءٍ ذي ثبى ً أتأقتْ

    غَرَباً أَيْدِي سُقَاة ِ الهِيَامْ

    or pooled water with which

    waterers' hands fill a great bucket for thirsty beasts.

  77. فَهْيَ تَهْدِيهَا وأى ً خَيْفَقٌ

    ذَاتُ شَغْبٍ لَمْ يَثُرْ مِنْ وِحَامْ

    She leads them onward, sturdy and fleet,

    quarrelsome, though not from pregnancy's cravings.

  78. ومشيحٌ عدوُهُ متأقٌ

    يرعمُ الإيجابُ قبلَ الظَّلامْ

    And a resolute male, his running overflowing,

    makes his braying thunder before dark.

  79. قَدْ نَحَاهَا، فَهْيَ مَسْعُورَة ٌ

    فوقَها مثلُ شواظِ الضِّرامْ

    He has driven her on, and she is aflame,

    with something above her like a blaze's tongue.

  80. صَادَفَتْ طِلْواً، طَويلَ الطَّوى

    حَافِظَ العَينْ، قَلِيلَ السَّآمْ

    She encountered a wretched hunter, hollow-bellied,

    watchful of eye, little given to weariness,

  81. يَلْحَسُ الرَّصْفَ، لَهُ قَصْبَة ٌ

    سمحجُ المتنِ، هتوفُ الخطامْ

    licking the stones; he had a bow,

    long-backed, its string resounding,

  82. منطوفي مستوَى رجبة ٍ

    كَانْطِوَاءِ، الحُرِّ بَيْنَ السِّلاَمْ

    curled within a level-built stone hide,

    like a snake coiled among smooth stones.

  83. إِنْ يُصِبْ صَيْداً يَكُنْ جُلُّهُ

    لِعَجَايَا قُوتُهُمْ بِاللِّحَامْ

    If he takes game, the greater part

    goes to motherless children, whose sustenance is meat.

  84. أوْ يصادفْ خفقاً يصفهمْ

    بعتيقِ الخشلِ دونَ الطَّعامْ

    Or, if he meets with failure, he serves them

    old date-refuse instead of food.

  85. فرماهَا واثقاً أنَّهُ

    صَائِدٌ إِنْ أُطْعِمَ الصَّيْدَ رَامْ

    He shot at her, confident that he,

    an archer, would take game if game were granted him.

  86. فأزلَّ السَّهمَ عنهَا، كما

    زلًّ بالسَّاقي وشيعُ المقامْ

    But he sent the arrow slipping past her, as

    a platform's wickerwork slips beneath a water-drawer.

  87. ومَضَتْ رَهْواً، تُطِيرُ الحَصَى

    بصحيحِ النَّسرِ، صلبِ الحوامْ

    She went on at an easy pace, scattering pebbles

    with a sound hoof-frog and a hard hoof-rim.

  88. أَخْلَقَتْ مِنْهُ الخُزُومُ، كَمَا

    أخْلَقَ القَهْقَرَ قَذْفُ المُرَامْ

    She wore down rough ridges with it, as

    flung stones wear down hard rock.