معاهدها والعهد ينسى ويذكر — Alabywrdy

مَعاهِدُها والعَهْدُ يُنْسى ويُذْكَرُ

على عَذَباتِ الجِزْعِ تَخْفى وتَظْهَرُ

Her old haunts—memory fades and returns—

along the valley bend's edges vanish and appear.

وأشْلاءِ دارٍ بالمُحَصِّبِ منْ مِنىً

وَقَفْتُ بِها والأرْحَبيّ تَهْدِرُ

And the remnants of a dwelling at al-Muhassab in Mina—

I stood there while the Arhabi camels rumbled.

أُسائِلُها والعَيْنُ شَكْرى منَ البُكا

وهُنَّ نَحيلاتُ المَعالِمِ دُثَّرُ

I question them, my eye brimming from weeping,

while they stand effaced, their outlines faint.

وأسْتَخْبِرُ الأطْلالَ عنْ ساكِني الحِمى

فلا الدّمْعُ يَشْفيني ولا الرّبْعُ يُخْبِرُ

And I ask the ruins about the dwellers of the preserve;

but neither do tears heal me, nor does the encampment answer.

كأنّ دِيارَ العامريّةِ باللِّوى

صَحائِفُ تَطويها اللّيالي وتَنْشُرُ

As though the Amiri woman's dwellings at al-Liwa

were pages that the nights fold up and unfold.

فهَلْ عَبْرَةٌ تَقْضي المَعاهِدَ حَقّها

كما يَسْتهِلُّ اللّؤلُؤُ المُتَحدِّرُ

Can a tear give the old haunts their due,

as tumbling pearls come pouring down?

ولي مُقْلةٌ ما تَسْتَريحُ إِلى البُكا

بحُزْوى فقد ألْوى بدَمْعي مُحَجَّرُ

My eye finds no relief in weeping

at Huzwa, for Muhajjar has carried off my tears.

فهَلْ عَلِمَ الغَيْرانُ أني على النّوى

وإنْ ساءَهُ مِنْ حُبّ سَمْراءَ أسْهَرُ

Does the jealous one know that, even far away,

though it displease him, I lie awake for love of Samra?

وأُغْضي على حُكْمِ الهَوى وهْوَ جائِرٌ

فما لسُلَيْمَى واعُهَيْداهُ تَغْدِرُ

And I submit to love's rule, though it is unjust;

why does Sulayma—alas for that dear pledge!—break faith?

أتُنْصِفُني أُخْتُ العُرَيْبِ وقد أرى

مُوَشَّحَها يَعْدو علَيْهِ المُؤَزَّرُ

Will the Arab maiden treat me fairly, when I see

her skirt-girt hips encroaching on her sash-bound waist?

هِلاليّةٌ تَرْنو إليّ بمُقْلةٍ

على خَفَرٍ تَصْحو مِراراً وتَسْكَرُ

A Hilali woman, she gazes at me with an eye

that shyly sobers time and again, and grows drunk.

وتَكْسِرُ جَفْنَيْها علي نَجَلٍ بِها

كما أطْبَقَ العَيْنَ الكَحيلَةَ جُؤْذَرُ

And she half-closes her eyelids over her wide eyes,

as an oryx calf closes its kohl-dark eye.

أسَمْراءُ كَمْ منْ نَظْرَةٍ فُلَّ غَرْبُها

بوَطْفاءَ يَطْغى دَمْعُها المُتَحيِّرُ

O Samra, how many a glance has had its edge blunted

by a long-lashed eye whose pooled tears overflow!

وألْوي إليكِ الجِيدَ حتى كأنني

لفَرْطِ التِفاتي نَحو يَبْرينَ أَصْوَرُ

And I twist my neck toward you, till I seem,

from turning so often toward Yabrin, crooked-necked.

ذَكَرْتُكِ والوَجْناءُ يَدْمى أظَلُّها

وتَشْكو الحَفى والأرْحَبيّاتُ تَزْفِرُ

I remembered you while the stout she-camel's sole bled,

and she bewailed footsoreness, while the Arhabi camels panted.

كأني وإيّاها منَ السَّيْرِ والسُّرى

جَديلٌ كَجِرْمِ الأفعُوانِ مُخَصَّرُ

As though she and I, from journeying and night travel,

were a slender plaited rope, like a great serpent's body.

ولَولاكِ لمْ أقْطَعْ نِياطَ تَنوفَةٍ

كصَدْرِ أبي المِغْوارِ والعِيسُ حُسَّرُ

But for you, I would not have crossed the expanse of a wilderness

like Abu al-Mighwar's breast, the pale camels exhausted.

وإني إذا ما انْسابَ في الأعْيُنِ الكَرى

يَخُبُّ ببَزّي أعْوَجيٌّ مُضَمَّرُ

And when drowsiness steals into eyes,

a lean A'waji steed trots bearing my gear.

وأسْري بعيسٍ كالأهِلّةِ فوقَها

وُجوهٌ منَ الأقْمارِ أبْهى وأنْوَرُ

And I travel by night with pale camels like crescents; above them

are faces more splendid and radiant than moons.

ويُعْجِبُني نَفْحُ العَرارِ وربّما

شَمَخْتُ بعِرْنيني وقد فاحَ عَنْبَرُ

I delight in the wafted scent of arar, and sometimes

turn up my nose though ambergris gives off its fragrance.

ويَخْدِشُ غِمدي بالحِمي صَفحةَ الثّرى

إذا جرَّ مِن أذْيالِهِ المُتحضِّرُ

And in the preserve my scabbard scratches the earth's surface,

while the townsman trails his hems.

فما العَيْشُ إلا الضّبُّ يَحرِشُهُ الفَتى

ووِرْدٌ بمُسْتَنِّ اليَرابيعِ أكْدَرُ

For life is nothing but a spiny-tailed lizard a youth lures out,

and a draught of muddy water where the jerboas run.

بحَيثُ يلُف المَرْءُ أطْنابَ بَيْتِهِ

على العِزِّ والكُومُ المَراسيلُ تُنْحَرُ

Where a man wraps the guy-ropes of his tent

around honor, while tall-humped, fleet she-camels are slaughtered.

ويُغْشى ذَراهُ حينَ يُسْتَعْتَمُ القِرى

ويَسْمو إليهِ الطّارِقُ المُتَنوِّرُ

And his shelter is sought when guest-meals are delayed,

and the nightfarer seeking firelight climbs toward him.

كأني بهِ جارُ الأميرِ مفَرِّجٍ

فلا عَيْشَ إلا وهْوَ ريّانُ أخْضَرُ

There I seem a neighbor of the emir Mufarrij,

so life is nothing but lush and green.

ضَرَبْتُ إليهِ صَدْرَ كلِّ نَجيبةٍ

لها نَظَرٌ شَطرَ النّوائِبِ أخْزَرُ

I turned the breast of every noble she-camel toward him,

each looking askance toward calamities.

فحَطّتْ بهِ رَحْلَ المُكِلِّ وظَهْرُها

منَ الشُّكْرِ والشِّعْرِ المُحَبَّرِ مُوقَرُ

So she set down the weary rider's saddle by him, her back

laden with gratitude and finely crafted poetry.

ونِيرانُهُ حَيثُ العِشارُ دِماؤها

تُراقُ ويُذْكيها الوَشيجُ المُكَسَّرُ

And his fires, where the blood of pregnant she-camels

is spilled, are stoked with shattered spear-shafts.

وزُرْنا فِناءً لمْ تَزَلْ في عِراصِهِ

مِدائِحُ تُروَى أو جِباهٌ تُعَفَّرُ

And we visited a court whose precincts have always held

praises recited, or foreheads pressed into dust.

وحاطَ حِمى المُلْكِ الذي دونَ نَيْلِهِ

يُقَدُّ بأطْرافِ الرِّماحِ السّنَوَّرُ

And he guarded kingship's preserve; before it can be won,

armor is split by the points of spears.

ويُفْلى لَبانُ الأعوَجيّ ويَرْتَدى

إذا اشْتَجرَتْ زُرْقُ الأسِنّةِ عِثْيَرُ

And the A'waji steed's breast is gashed, and men are robed,

when the blue spearheads interlock, in dust.

تَواضَعَ إذا ألْفى مُعرَّسَ مَجْدِهِ

مَناطَ السُّها يشْأَى المُلوكَ ويَبْهَرُ

He remained humble when he found his glory's resting-place

where al-Suha hangs; he outstrips and dazzles kings.

وما هَزّهُ تِيهُ الإمارَةِ والذي

يُصادِفُها في ثِنْيِ عِطْفَيْهِ يَنْظُرُ

The arrogance of rule has not swayed him; whoever

chances upon it gazes proudly along his own sides.

فكُلُّ حَديثٍ بالخَصاصَةِ عَهْدُهُ

إذا رَفَعَتْهُ ثَرْوَةٌ يتكبَّرُ

For every man whose acquaintance with poverty is recent

grows arrogant when wealth raises him.

دَعاني إليكَ الفَضْلُ والمجْدُ والعُلا

وبَذْلُ الندىً والمَنْصِبُ المُتَخيَّرُ

Excellence, glory, and eminence called me to you,

and the giving of bounty, and your distinguished lineage.

وقد شَمَلَتْني نِعْمَةٌ أنتَ ربُّها

هيَ الرّوضُ غاداهُ الحَيا وهْوَ مُغْزِرُ

And a favor has enfolded me, of which you are the master:

it is a meadow visited at dawn by rain that falls in abundance.

وكم ماجِدٍ يَبْغي ثَناءً أصوغُهُ

ولكنني عنْ مَدْحِ غَيرِكَ أزْوَرُ

And many a nobleman seeks praise for me to fashion,

but I turn aside from praising anyone but you.

فكُلُّ كِنانيٍّ بعِزِّكَ يَحْتَمي

وسَيْبِكَ يَستغْني وسيْفِكَ يُنصَرُ

For every Kinani takes shelter in your might,

and grows rich through your bounty and gains victory through your sword.