1. أعنْ أرضِ الغميمِ لمحتُ نارا

    بدتْ وهناً فهمتُ بها ادَّكارا

    Was it from the land of al-Ghamim that I glimpsed a fire?

    It appeared in the night, so at its sight I was lost in remembrance.

  2. ذكرتُ بها المباسمَ وهي تُهدي

    الى قلبي مع القُبَلِ الشَّرارا

    Through it I recalled smiling mouths, as they offered

    Sparks to my heart along with kisses.

  3. زماناً كنتُ أهوى فيه لمّا

    تبدَّتْ كالمهاةِ لنا نَوارا

    A time when I was in love, when

    She appeared to us like an oryx, shy and elusive.

  4. رأيتُ البدرَ يحمِلُهُ قضيبٌ

    وليلَ الشَّعْرِ قد أبدَى النهارا

    I saw the full moon borne by a slender bough,

    And the night of her hair had revealed the day.

  5. فلما حالَ عهدُ الودَّ منهما

    وأمستْ تمنعُ الكَلِفَ المزارا

    But when the bond of affection between the two changed,

    And she came to deny the love-stricken lover a visit,

  6. تَحَدَّرَ دمعُه كَلَفاً ووجداً

    وقد ضنَّتْ عليه بأنْ يُزارا

    His tears streamed down in infatuation and longing,

    And she begrudged him a visit.

  7. فيا للهِ مِن دمعٍ غزيرٍ

    يُخَجَّلُ فيضُه السُّحُبَ الغِزارا

    O God, what copious tears,

    Whose flood puts rain-laden clouds to shame!

  8. اِذا ما غاضَ دمعٌ فاضَ دمعٌ

    يَسُحُّ على مرابِعها انهمارا

    Whenever tears ebb, more tears overflow,

    Pouring in torrents over her spring encampments.

  9. لقد أبقتْ بقلبي يومَ بانتْ

    وحُمَّلَ حيُّها سَحَراً فسارا

    She left within my heart, the day she departed,

    And her tribe was loaded up before dawn and set out,

  10. ندوباً كيفما أبدتْ لِعيني

    مودَّعةً اشارتُها السَّوارا

    Scars, as she revealed to my eyes,

    Her bracelet with a gesture of farewell.

  11. ولكنْ هذه شِيَمُ الغواي

    طَوالَ الدهرِ لم يحفظنَ جارا

    But such are the ways of temptresses:

    Through all time, they have never kept faith with a neighbor.

  12. كأنَّ رعايةَ الميثاقِ ممّا

    يُحَمَّلُهُنَّ بينَ الناسِ عارا

    As though honoring the covenant were something

    Laid upon them as a disgrace among people.

  13. اِذا ما رمتُ طيبَ الاِلفِ منها

    يَزيدُ نفارُها منَي نِفارا

    Whenever I seek the sweetness of intimacy from her,

    Her recoil from me only grows stronger.

  14. كأنّي ما كشفتُ وقد أتتني

    تَثنَّى عن محاسِنها الخِمارا

    As though I had never drawn aside, when she came to me,

    Swaying gracefully, the veil from her lovely features.

  15. أتنسى حينَ زارتْني مساءً

    تلوثُ على معاطِفها الاِزارا

    Does she forget when she visited me one evening,

    Winding her wrap around her curves?

  16. تباعدْنا فَصَدَّتْ بعد وصلٍ

    ألا حيَّ الوِصالَ المستعارا

    We drew apart, and she turned away after union.

    Ah, hail that borrowed union!

  17. اِذا ما طالَ بالحسناءِ عهدي

    أعادتْ ذلك الودَّ ازورارا

    Whenever my time away from the beauty grows long,

    She turns that affection into aversion.

  18. لقد غدرتْ بمَنْ لم ينوِ غدراً

    ولم يَذُقِ الكرى إلا غِرارا

    She has betrayed one who never intended betrayal,

    And never tasted sleep except in brief snatches.

  19. اِذا آنستُ مِن أعلامِ رضوَى

    بريقاً في مطالعِه أنارا

    Whenever I discern among the peaks of Radwa

    A flash lighting up the horizons of its rising,

  20. تعرَّضَ فوقَهنَّ فطارَ قلبي

    اليه وقد تألَّقَ واستطارا

    It appears above them, and my heart flies

    Toward it as it glitters and flares abroad.

  21. فبِتُّ كأنَّني منه نزيفٌ

    أُعاطَى في معادِنها العُقارا

    Then I pass the night as though drunk from it,

    Being served wine at its sources.

  22. ذكرتُ بها الهوى العذرىَّ لمّا

    تعلَّقْتُ الكواعبَ والعَذارى

    Through it I recalled chaste 'Udhri love, when

    I fell in love with budding-breasted maidens and virgins.

  23. وما في الناسِ أشقى مِن مُحِبًّ

    تكلَّفَ عن أحبتِه اصطبارا

    And none among people is more wretched than a lover

    Who forces himself to endure being parted from his loved ones.

  24. فشرطُ الوجد أن يبكي نجيعاً

    على النأي الأحبَّةَ والديارا

    For longing demands that he weep fresh blood

    In separation, for loved ones and their dwellings.

  25. فقد ملأَ الحنينُ عِراصَ قلبي

    غداةَ تَغدَتْ ديارُهمُ قِفارا

    For yearning has filled the courtyards of my heart,

    The morning their dwellings became barren wastes.

  26. أكفكِفُ أدمعي فيها مِراراً

    مِنَ الواشي وأُطلِقُها مِرارا

    I hold back my tears there, time and again,

    From the tale-bearer, and time and again I let them flow.

  27. وقد أحدثتَ لي يا بينُ شوقاً

    الى الأحبابِ يمنعُني القرارا

    And you have stirred in me, O parting, a longing

    For loved ones that denies me repose.

  28. أُسكَّنُ بالدموعِ لهيبَ نارٍ

    أبتْ بعدَ النوى إلا استعارا

    I soothe with tears the blaze of a fire

    That, after parting, insists on flaring up.

  29. اِذا لم أبكِ مَنْ قد بانَ عنها

    رَواحاً بالمدامعِ وابتِكارا

    If I do not weep for those who have departed from them,

    In the evening with tears, and at daybreak,

  30. وأياماً بكاظمةٍ تولَّتْ

    حميداتٍ سَعِدْتُ بها قِصارا

    And for days at Kazima that have passed,

    Blessed, brief days in which I was happy,

  31. فلا حملتنيَ الجُرْدُ المذاكي

    يُثيرُ طِرادُها النقعَ المثارا

    Then may the sleek, seasoned steeds never carry me,

    Their charging stirring up billowing dust,

  32. أَشُنُّ بها وقد علمَ الأعادي

    بأنّي سوفَ أطرُقُهمْ مُغارا

    As I launch raids with them—and my enemies know

    That I shall fall upon them by night in a raid.