1. بانَ الخَليطُ بِسُحرَةٍ فَتَبَدَّدوا

    وَالدارُ تُسعِفُ بِالخَليطِ وَتُبعِدُ

    The companions departed at dawn and scattered.

    The dwelling brings companions near and sends them far away.

  2. هاجوا عَلَيك مِن الصَبابَةِ لَوعَةً

    بَرَدَ الغَليلُ وَحَرُّها لا يَبرُدُ

    They stirred in you an anguish born of yearning;

    Thirst is quenched, but that anguish's heat will not cool.

  3. لَمّا رَأَيتُهُمُ حَزائِقَ أَجهَشَت

    نَفسي وَقُلتُ لَهُم أَلا لا تَبعُدوا

    When I saw them in companies, sobbing seized

    My soul, and I told them, 'Oh, do not go far!'

  4. وَجَرى بِبَينِهِمُ غَداةَ تَحَمَّلوا

    مِن ذي الأَبارِقِ شاحِجٌ يَتَفَيَّدُ

    Their parting was heralded, on the morning they loaded to leave,

    From Dhu al-Abariq by a croaking raven that strutted about.

  5. شَنِجُ النَسا أَدفى الجَناحِ كَأَنَّهُ

    في الدارِ بَعدَ الظاعِنينَ مُقَيَّدُ

    Taut of leg-sinew, curved of wing, as though he were

    Bound in the dwelling after the travelers had gone.

  6. مَذِلٌ بِغائِبِ ما يُجِنُّ ضَميرُهُ

    غَرِدٌ يُعَسِّرُ بِالصِياحِ وَيَنكُدُ

    Blabbing the unseen secret his heart conceals,

    Clamorous, bringing hardship and misery with his cries,

  7. كَصِياحِ نوتِيٍّ يَظَلُّ عَلى ذُرى

    قَيدومِ قَرواءِ السَراةِ يُنَدِّدُ

    Like the shout of a sailor who stands upon the crest

    Of a long-backed vessel's prow, calling aloud.

  8. يا صاحِبي بِسَواءِ فَيفِ مُلَيحَةٍ

    ما بِالثَنِيَّةِ بَعدَ قَومِكَ مَقعَدُ

    O my companion in the midst of Mulayha's desert plain,

    There is no resting at the pass after your people have gone.

  9. فَاِطرَح بِطَرفِكَ هَل تَرى أَظعانَهُم

    وَالكامِسِيَّةُ دونَهُنَّ فَثَرمَدُ

    Cast your gaze: can you see their camel-borne litters,

    With al-Kamisiyya, then Tharmad, lying this side of them?

  10. ظُعُنٌ تَجاسَرُ بَينَ حَزمِ عُوارِضٍ

    وَعُنَيزَتينِ رَبيعُهُنَّ الأَغيَدُ

    Women in litters stride boldly between the heights of Awarid

    And Unayzatayn, their lush spring pasture,

  11. بِأَغَنَّ كَالحَولاءَ زانَ جِنانَهُ

    نَورُ الدَكادِكِ سوقُهُ تَتَخَضَّدُ

    In a humming, thick-grown meadow, caul-like, its gardens adorned

    With hillock blossoms, their stalks bending.

  12. حَتّى إِذا صُهبُ الجَنادِبِ وَدَّعَت

    نَورَ الرَبيعِ وَلاحَهُنَّ الجُدجُدُ

    Until, when the tawny grasshoppers bade farewell

    To spring's blossoms, and the hard ground scorched them,

  13. وَاِستَحمَلَ الشَبَحَ الضُحى بِزُهائِهِ

    وَأُميتَ دُعموصُ الغَديرِ المُثمِدُ

    And the forenoon at its height lifted distant forms,

    And the water-grub of the shallow pool was killed,

  14. وَتجَدَّلَ الأُسروعُ واطَّرَدَ السَفا

    وَجَرَت بِجائِلِها الحِدابُ القَردَدُ

    And the caterpillar lay fallen, and chaff streamed away,

    And the rugged ridges flowed in their shifting mirage,

  15. وَاِنسابَ حَيّاتُ الكَثيبِ وَأَقبَلَت

    أُرقُ الفَراشِ لِما يَشُبُّ الموقِدُ

    And the dune's snakes slithered forth, and there approached

    Mottled moths toward the fire the kindler lit,

  16. قَرَّبنَ كُلَّ نَجيبَةٍ وَعُذافِرٍ

    كَالوَقفِ صَفَّرَهُ خَطيرٌ مُلبِدُ

    They brought forward every noble she-camel and mighty male,

    Like an ivory bangle yellowed by a thick, clinging dye.

  17. غَوجِ اللَبانِ إِذا اِستَحَمَّ وَضينُهُ

    وَجَرى حَميمُ دُفوفِهِ المُتَفَصِّدُ

    Swaying of chest, when his girth grows hot

    And streaming sweat pours from his flanks,

  18. يَمطو مُحَملَجَةَ النُسوعِ بِجَهضَمٍ

    رَحبَ الأَضالِعِ فَهوَ مِنها أَكبَدُ

    He outstrides the round-girthed she-camel with his massive frame,

    Broad in the ribs, and thicker through the middle than she.

  19. مُتَقاذِفٍ سَبطِ المَحالِ إِذا غَدا

    تَبرِيَ لَهُ أُجُدُ الفَقارَةِ جَلعَدُ

    Far-reaching in stride, supple-backed; when he sets forth,

    A firm-spined, sturdy she-camel vies with him,

  20. مِن كُلِّ ذاقِنَةٍ يَقومُ زِمامُها

    عَومَ الخِشاشِ عَلى الصَفا يَتَرَأَّدُ

    Among the chin-thrusting camels whose rein rises,

    Swaying like a small snake gliding over smooth rock.

  21. فُتلٍ مَرافِقُها كَأَنَّ خَليفَها

    مَكوٌ أَبَنَّ بِهِ سِباعٌ مُلحَدُ

    Her elbows turned outward, their hollow as though

    A recessed burrow where wild beasts had lodged.

  22. حَرَجٍ كَمِجدَلِ هاجِرِيٍّ لَزَّهُ

    بِذَواتِ طَبخِ أَطيمَةٍ لاتَخمُدُ

    A saddle-frame like a tower a man of Hajar packed together

    With bricks fired in a kiln that never goes out:

  23. عُمِلَت عَلى مِثلٍ فَهُنَّ تَوائِمٌ

    شَتّى يُلاحِكُ بَينَهُنَّ القَرمَدُ

    Made in one mold, they are twins,

    Separate, yet joined together by mortar.

  24. كَم دونَ إِلفِكَ مِن نِياطِ تَنوفَةٍ

    قَذَفٍ تَظَلُّ بِها الفَرائِصُ تَرعَدُ

    How many stretches of desert lie between you and your beloved,

    Far-flung, where the flank-muscles tremble all day!

  25. فيها اِبنُ بَجدَتِها يَكادُ يُذيبُهُ

    وَقدُ النَهارِ إِذا اِستَذابَ الصَيخَدُ

    There even its native dweller is almost melted

    By the day's blaze when the fierce heat melts all.

  26. يوفي عَلى جِذمِ الجُذولِ كَأَنَّهُ

    خَصمٌ أَبَرَّ عَلى الخُصومِ يَلَندَدُ

    He towers over the stumps of tree-trunks, as though he were

    An obstinate disputant who has surpassed his opponents,

  27. أَو مُعزِبٌ وَحدٌ أَضَلَّ أَفائِلاً

    لَيلاً فَأَصبَحَ فَوقَ قَرنٍ يَنشُدُ

    Or a lone herdsman far afield who lost young camels

    At night, then at dawn calls from a hilltop.

  28. في تيهِ مَهمَهَةٍ كَأَنَّ صُوِيَّها

    أَيدي مُخالِعَةٍ تَكُفُّ وَتَنهَدُ

    In the trackless waste of a desert, whose waymarks seem

    Like gamblers' hands, drawing back and rising.

  29. لَزِمَت حَوالِسُها النُفوسَ فَثَوَّرَت

    عُصَباً تَقومُ مِنَ الحِذارِ وَتَقعُدُ

    Its abiding terrors cling to souls, stirring up

    Bands that rise and sit in apprehension.

  30. يُمسي بِعَقوَتِها الهِجَفُّ كَأَنَّهُ

    حَبَشِيُّ حازِقَةٍ غَدا يَتَهَبَّدُ

    In its open ground the huge male ostrich spends the evening, like

    An Abyssinian of a band, gone out gathering colocynth seeds.

  31. مُجتابُ شَملَةِ بُرجُدٍ لِسَراتِهِ

    قَدراً وَأَسلَمَ ما سِواها البُرجُدُ

    Wearing a striped cloak fitted to his back

    Exactly, while the cloak leaves all else uncovered.

  32. يَعتادُ أُدحِيَةً بُنينَ بَقَفرَةٍ

    مَيثاءَ يَسكُنُها اللَأى وَافَرقَدُ

    He frequents nesting-scrapes made in a barren tract,

    Soft-soiled, where the wild ox and the calf dwell.

  33. حَبَسَت مَناكِبُها السَفى فَكَأَنَّها

    رُفَةٌ بِناحِيَةِ المَداوِسِ مُسنَدُ

    Their raised rims have trapped the chaff, making them seem

    Like straw banked beside the threshing-floors.

  34. وَالقَيضَ أَجنُبُهُ كَأَنَّ حُطامَهُ

    فِلَقُ الحَواجِلِ شافَهُنَّ الموقِدُ

    And eggshells at his sides, their fragments like

    Shards of glass flasks scorched by the fire-kindler.

  35. يَدعو العِرارُ بِها الزِمارَ كَما اِشتَكى

    أَلِمٌ تُجاوِبُهُ النِساءُ العُوَّدُ

    There the male's cry calls the female's, like the groaning of

    A sufferer whom visiting women answer.

  36. هَل يُدنِيَنَّكَ مِنهُمُ دو مَصدَقٍ

    شَجِعٌ يَجِلُّ عَن الكَلالِ وَيحصَدُ

    Will a mount of proven pace bring you near them,

    Bold, above weariness, sweeping onward?

  37. كَمُخَفِّقِ الحَشيَينِ باتَ تَلُفُّهُ

    وَطفاءُ سارِيَةٌ وَهِفٌّ مُبرِدُ

    Like one with throbbing flanks, who spent the night wrapped in

    A dense night-cloud and a chilling gust.

  38. ضاحي المَراعي وَالطَياتِ كَأَنَّهُ

    بَلَقٌ تَعاوَرَهُ البُناةُ مُمَدَّدُ

    Exposed in his grazing grounds and haunts, as though he were

    A long pavilion on which builders worked in turn.

  39. يَقَقُ السَراةِ كَأَنَّ في سَفِلاتِهِ

    أَثَرَ النَؤورِ جَرى عَلَيهِ الإِثمِدُ

    Pure white along the back, as though on his lower parts

    Were traces of tattoo pigment overlaid with antimony.

  40. حُبِسَت صُهارَتُهُ فَظَلَّ عُثانُهُ

    في سَيطَلٍ كُفِئَت لَهُ يَتَرَدَّدُ

    Its rendered fat was contained, so its smoke kept

    Circling in a basin overturned above it.

  41. حَتّى إِذا هُوَ آلَ وَاِطَّرَدَت لَهُ

    شُعَبٌ كَأَنَّ وُحِيَّهُنَّ المُسنَدُ

    Until, when it had taken form, there extended from it

    Branches, their inscriptions like the Musnad script,

  42. أَجلَت يَدا بَلَوِيَّةٍ عَنها لَها

    إِبَرٌ تَرَكنَ قَرائِحاً لا تَبلُدُ

    Revealed by the hands of a Bali woman, whose

    Needles left wounds that never heal.

  43. يَبدو وَتُضمِرُهُ البِلادُ كَأَنَّهُ

    سَيفٌ عَلى شَرَفٍ يُسَلُّ وَيُغمَدُ

    He appears and the terrain conceals him, as though he were

    A sword on high ground, drawn and sheathed.

  44. وَكَأَنَّ قِهزَةَ تاجِرٍ جيبَت لَهُ

    لِفُضولِ أَسفَلِها كِفافٌ أَسوَدُ

    As though a merchant's silk-blend cloth had been slit for him,

    Its trailing lower edges bordered in black.

  45. هاجَت بِهِ كُسُبٌ تَلَعلَعُ لِلطَوى

    وَالحِرصِ يَدأَلُ خَلفَهُنَّ المُؤسِدُ

    Dark hounds were roused against him, yelping from hunger

    And eagerness, the hound-keeper trotting behind them.

  46. صُعرُ السَوالِفِ بِالجِراءِ كَأَنَّها

    خَلفَ الطَرائِدِ خَشرَمٌ مُتَبَدِّدُ

    Necks twisted aside as they run, they seem

    A scattered swarm of bees behind fleeing game.

  47. وَاِجتَبنَ حاصِبَهُ وَوَلّى يَقتَري

    فَيحانَ يُسجِحُ مَرَّةً وَيُعَرِّدُ

    They pierced his shower of gravel, and he turned to follow

    Fayhan, now running easily, now veering away.

  48. يُذري رَوائِسَها الأَوائِلَ مِثلَ ما

    يُذري فَراشَ شَبا الحَديدِ المِبرَدُ

    He sends their foremost attackers flying, just as

    A file scatters shavings from iron's cutting edge.

  49. تَترى وَيَخصِفُها بِحَرفَي رَوقِهِ

    شَزراً كَما اِختَصَفَ النِقالَ المِسرَدُ

    They come in succession; he stitches them with both edges of his horn,

    Sideways, as an awl stitches sandals.

  50. فَصَدَدنَ عَنهُ وَقَد عَصَفنَ بِنَعجَةٍ

    خَذَلَت وَأَفرَدَها فَريرٌ مُفرَدُ

    They turned away from him, having brought down a wild cow

    That had left the herd, kept apart by a solitary calf.

  51. فَالقَومُ أَجنُبَها شَرائِجُ مِنهُمُ

    طاهٍ يَحُشُّ وَهَبهَبِيٌّ يَفأَدُ

    The men at her sides were of many sorts; among them

    A cook fed the fire and a nimble butcher roasted.

  52. وَغَدا تَشُقُّ يَداهُ أَوساطَ الرُبى

    قَسمَ الفِئالِ تَقُدُّ أَوسَطَهُ اليَدُ

    He went on, his forelegs splitting the hearts of the hills,

    As a hand splits the middle of a fi'al mound.

  53. يَقرو الخَمائِلَ مِن جِواءِ عُوارِضٍ

    وَيَخوضُ أَسفَلَها خُزامى تَمأَدُ

    He follows the thickets from the broad valley of Awarid,

    And wades below them through tall, swaying lavender.

  54. فَبِذاكَ أَطَّلِعُ الهُمومَ إِذا دَجَت

    ظُلَمٌ خَوالِفُها تُخَلُّ وَتُؤصَدُ

    With such a mount I overcome cares, when there thicken

    Darknesses whose rear openings are unfastened and barred.

  55. قالَت أُمامَةُ وَالهُمومُ يَعُدنَني

    وِردَ الحَوائِمِ سُدَّ عَنها المَورِدُ

    Umama said, while cares kept visiting me

    Like thirsty camels approaching a watering-place denied them:

  56. أَنَبا بِحاجَتِكَ الأَميرُ وَمَدَّهُ

    في ذاكَ قَومٌ كاشِحونَ فَأَجهَدوا

    'Has the emir rejected your request, with men aiding him

    In this—spiteful men who did their utmost?

  57. فَاِقذِف بِنَفسِكَ في البِلادِ فَإِنَّما

    يَقضي وَيُقصِرُ هَمَّهُ المُتَبَلِّدُ

    Then cast yourself across the lands, for only

    The stay-at-home cuts off and curtails his ambition.

  58. وَأَخو الهُمومِ إِذا الهُمومُ تَحَضَّرَت

    جُنحَ الظَلامِ وِسادَهُ لا يَرقُدُ

    The man beset by cares, when those cares gather

    At his pillow in the dark of night, does not sleep.'

  59. فَلَبِستُ لِلحَربِ العَوانِ ثِيابَها

    وَشَبَبتُ نارَ الحَربِ فَهيَ تَوَقَّدُ

    So I donned the garments of renewed war,

    And kindled war's fire, so that it blazed.

  60. بالوا مَخافَتَهاعَلى نيرانِهِم

    وَاِستَسلَموا بَعدَ الخَطيرِ وَأَخمَدوا

    For fear of it, they urinated on their own fires,

    And surrendered after grave danger, quenching their fires.

  61. وَرَضو الَّذي كَرِهوا لِأَوَّلِ مَرَّةٍ

    وَرَأى سَبيلَ طَريقِهِ المُتَهَدِّدُ

    They accepted what they had disliked the first time,

    And he who had threatened recognized his path.

  62. وَرَجا مُوادَعَتي وَأَيقَنَ أَنَّني

    صِنعُ اليَدَينِ بِحَيثُ يُكوى الأَصيَدُ

    He hoped for a truce with me and became certain that I

    Was skilled with both hands where the stiff-necked is cauterized.

  63. وَرَمى مَدى غَرَضي فَقَصَّرَ دونَهُ

    هَيهات مِنكَ مَدى الكِرامِ الأَبعَدُ

    He shot for the range of my target, but fell short of it;

    Far beyond you lies the noble men's utmost reach!