رماك بشوق فالمدامع ذرف — Alabywrdy

رَماكَ بشَوْقٍ فالمَدامِعُ ذُرَّفُ

حَنينُ المَطايا أو حَمائِمُ هُتَّفُ

You have been struck with longing, and your eyes stream with tears,

by the camels' yearning cries, or loudly calling doves.

أجَلْ عاوَدَ القَلْبَ المُعَنّى خَبالُهُ

عشيّةَ صَحْبي عنْدَ يَبْرينَ وُقَّفُ

Yes, its madness has returned to the tormented heart,

on the evening my companions stood halted at Yabrin.

فللهِ ما يَطْوي عليهِ ضُلوعَهُ

رَمِيٌّ بِذِكْرِ الغانِياتِ مُكَلَّفُ

How wondrous, by God, what he enfolds within his ribs—

a love-struck man, consumed by remembrance of lovely women.

يُهَيّجُهُ نَوحُ الحَمامِ وناسِمٌ

تَرِقُّ حَواشيه منَ الرّيحِ مُدْنَفُ

The doves' lament stirs him, and a wafting breeze

whose edges grow delicate—a languishing breath of wind.

ويُذْكي لهُ الغَيْرانُ عَيناً إذا رأى

أَجارِعَ منْ حُزْوى بسَمْراءَ تُسْعِفُ

And the jealous watcher keeps a keen eye on him when he sees

the sandy tracts of Huzwa, with a dusky maiden granting favors.

أيُوعِدُني الحَيُّ اليَماني وصارِمي

كهَمِّكَ مَفْتوقُ الغِرارَيْنِ مُرْهَفُ

Does the Yemeni clan threaten me, while my keen sword

is like your resolve, honed on both edges and razor-sharp?

وأفْرِشُ سَمْعي للوَعيدِ فحُبُّها

إذا جَمَحَتْ بي نَخوَةٌ يتلطَّفُ

And I lay my ear open to threats, for love of her

gently soothes me whenever pride carries me headlong.

وحَوليَ منْ عُلْيا خُزَيْمَةَ عُصْبَةٌ

إذا غَضِبَتْ ظلّتْ لها الأرضُ تَرجُفُ

Around me is a band from the noblest ranks of Khuzayma;

when they rage, the earth keeps trembling before them.

يجُرّونَ أذيالَ الدُّروعِ إِلى الوَغى

فأقْوَى ويَعْروني هَواها فأضْعُفُ

They drag the skirts of their coats of mail toward battle,

and I grow strong; then passion for her overtakes me, and I weaken.

أما وجَلالِ اللهِ لولا اتّقاؤُهُ

لَباتَ يُوارينا الرِّداءُ المُقَوَّفُ

Indeed, by God's majesty, were it not for fear of Him,

the bordered cloak would have concealed us through the night.

وفضَّ خِتامَ السِّرّ بَيني وبينَها

كَلامٌ يؤَدّيهِ البَنانُ المُطَرَّفُ

And the seal of secrecy between her and me was broken

by words conveyed by dyed fingertips.

ونازَعَني شَكْوى الصّبابَةِ شادِنٌ

منَ الغيدِ مَجْدولُ الموَشَّحِ أهْيَفُ

And a young gazelle shared with me complaints of longing,

one of the graceful beauties, firm of girdled waist and slender,

بِرابِيَةٍ مَيْثاءَ أضْحَكَ رَوْضَها

غَمامٌ بَكى منْ آخِرِ الليلِ أوْطَفُ

on a soft-soiled rise, whose meadow was made to smile

by a heavy-fringed cloud that wept in the last hours of night.

ورَكْبٍ على الأكْوارِ غيدٍ منَ الكَرى

تَداوَلَهُمْ سَيْرٌ حَثيثٌ ونَفْنَفُ

And many riders on camel saddles, drooping with sleep,

were claimed in turn by swift travel and wide wilderness.

تَرى العِتْقَ منهُمْ في وُجوهٍ شَواحِبٍ

يُرَدِّدُ فيها لحظَهُ المُتقَوِّفُ

You see their noble breeding in pale faces,

over which the reader of lineage keeps casting his gaze.

وتَخْدي بهِمْ خُوصٌ تَخايَلُ في البُرى

إذا اقْتادَهُنّ المَهْمَهُ المُتعَسَّفُ

And narrow-eyed she-camels stride swiftly with them, swaying proudly in their nose-rings,

when the trackless desert draws them along its unmarked course.

ويَثْني هَواديها إذا طَمِحَتْ بِها

منَ القِدِّ مَلْوِيُّ المَرائِرِ مُحْصَفُ

And their necks, when they thrust them high, are bent back

by a rawhide rein, firmly braided with twisted strands.

سَرَوْا وفُضولُ الرَّيْطِ تَضْرِبُها الصَّبا

إِلى أنْ يَمَسَّ الأرضَ منهُنَّ رَفْرَفُ

They traveled by night, the east wind beating the loose ends of their wraps,

until a fluttering hem of theirs touched the ground.

وعاتَبَني عَمْرٌو على السّيرِ والسُّرى

ولمْ يَدْرِ أنّي للمَعالي أُطَوِّفُ

Amr reproached me for journeying and traveling by night,

not knowing that I roam in pursuit of lofty honors.

وما الصَّقْرُ يَسْتَذْكي الطّوى لحَظاتِهِ

بأصْدَقَ منّي نَظْرَةً حينَ يَخْطِفُ

Nor is the falcon, whose glances hunger sharpens,

more unerring in its gaze than I when it snatches.

أُخادِعُ ظنّي عنْ أمورٍ خفيَّةٍ

إِلى أن أرى تلكَ العَمايَةِ تُكْشَفُ

I beguile my conjecture about hidden matters,

until I see that obscurity laid bare.

وأهْزَأُ بالأنْوارِ والصُّبْحُ طالِعٌ

ولا أهْتَدي بالنّجْمِ والليلُ مُسْدِفُ

And I scoff at lights when dawn is breaking,

and take no guidance from the star when night is dark.

وقَولٍ أتاني والحوادِثُ جمّةٌ

ودونيَ منْ ذاتِ الأراكَةِ صَفْصَفُ

And a saying reached me, while calamities were many,

with a level plain of Dhat al-Araka lying before me.

أغُضُّ لهُ طَرْفي حَياءً منَ العُلا

وعَطفاً عليكُمْ والأواصِرُ تُعْطِفُ

I lower my gaze at it, out of modesty before high honor,

and tenderness toward you, for kinship's ties incline the heart.

أعَتْباً وقد سَيَّرْتُ فيكُمْ مَدائِحاً

كَما خالَطَتْ ماءَ الغَمامَةِ قَرْقَفُ

Reproach, when I have sent praises abroad about you,

like wine mingling with a raincloud's water?

بَني عمِّنا لا تَنْسِبونا إِلى الخَنى

فلَم يترَدَّدْ في كِنانَةَ مُقْرِفُ

Sons of our uncle, do not ascribe obscenity to us,

for no man of base stock has ever moved among Kinana.

أأشْتُمُ شَيْخاً لفّ عِرْقي بعِرْقِهِ

مَناسِبُ تَزْكو في قُرَيشٍ وتَشْرُفُ

Would I insult an elder whose bloodline is bound to mine

by kinship ties that flourish in Quraysh and rise in honor?

وأهْجو رِجالاً في العَشيرةِ سادةً

وبي من بَقايا الجاهِليّةِ عَجْرَفُ

And lampoon men who are masters within the clan,

while a remnant of pre-Islamic arrogance remains in me?

وإنّي إذا ما لَجْلَجَ القوْلَ فاخِرٌ

يؤنِّبُ في أقوالِهِ ويُعَنِّفُ

Indeed, whenever a boaster stammers over his words,

rebuking and railing in his speech,

أُدافِعُ عن أحْسابِكُمْ بقَصائِدٍ

غَدا المَجْدُ في أثْنائِها يتصرَّفُ

I defend your ancestral honors with poems,

through whose folds glory moves freely.

ولم أختَرِعْها رَغْبَةً في نَوالِكُمْ

وإنْ كانَ مَشْمولاً بهِ المُتَضَيِّفُ

I did not compose them out of desire for your bounty,

though the guest seeking hospitality shares in it.

ولكنْ عُرَيْقٌ فيَّ مِنْ عَرَبيّةٍ

يُحامي وراءَ ابنَيْ نِزارٍ ويأْنَفُ

But a little vein of Arab ancestry within me

stands in defense of Nizar's two sons and scorns dishonor.

فنحنُ بني دودانَ فَرْعَ خُزَيْمَةٍ

يَذِلُّ لنا ذو السَّوْرَةِ المُتَغَطْرِفُ

For we are the sons of Dudan, a branch of Khuzayma;

the fierce, haughty man is humbled before us.

وأنتمْ ذَوو المَجْدِ القَديمِ يضُمُّنا

أبٌ خِندِفيُّ فيه للفَخْرِ مأْلَفُ

And you possess ancient glory; we are united

by a forefather of Khindif's line, in whom pride finds a home.

وتَقْرونَ والآفاقُ يَمْري نَجيعَها

شَآميّةٌ تَستَجْمِعُ الشَّوْلَ حَرْجَفُ

You feed your guests while the horizons' lifeblood is milked

by a fierce Syrian wind that huddles the milkless she-camels together.

فِناؤُكُمُ مأوى الصّريخِ إذا انْثَنى

بأيدي الكُماةِ السّمْهَريُّ المُثَقَّفُ

Your courtyard shelters those crying for help when

the well-straightened Samhari spear bends in warriors' hands.

وواديكُمُ للمَكْرُماتِ مُعَرَّسٌ

رَحيبٌ بطُلاّبِ الندىً مُتَكَنَّفُ

And your valley is a resting-place for noble deeds,

spacious, surrounded by seekers of bounty.

بأرجائِهِ مما اقْتَنَيْتُمْ نَزائِعٌ

يُباحُ عليهنّ الحِمى المُتَخَوَّفُ

At its edges stand mares you have acquired from afar,

for which even the feared protected pasture is opened.

تَرودُ بأبوابِ القِبابِ وأهلُها

عليها بألْبانِ القَلائِصِ عُكَّفُ

They roam by the doors of the domed tents, while their owners

devote themselves to tending them with young she-camels' milk.

وأمّاتُها أوْدَتْ بحُجْرٍ وأدْرَكَتْ

عُتَيْبَةَ والأبْطالُ بالبِيضِ تَدْلِفُ

Their dams brought Hujr to his death and overtook

Utayba as champions advanced with gleaming swords.

وكمْ مَلِكٍ أدْمَيْنَ بالقَيْدِ ساقَهُ

فظلَّ يُداني مِنْ خُطاهُ ويَرْسُفُ

And many a king's leg they bloodied with a fetter,

so he kept shortening his steps, shuffling in chains.

فَيا لَنِزارٍ دعْوَةً مُضَريَّةً

بحيثُ الرُّدَيْنِيّاتُ بالدّمِ تَرْعُفُ

So, ho, Nizar! A rallying cry of Mudar,

where Rudayni spears bleed from their noses.

لنا في المعالي غايةٌ لا يَرومُها

سِوى أسَديٍّ عرَّقَتْ فيهِ خِنْدِفُ

We have a summit of honor that none seeks

except an Asadi in whom Khindif has taken root.