Sol 6.1

  1. عَرَفتُ بِأَجدُثٍ فِنعافِ عِرقٍ

    عَلاماتٍ كَتَحبيرِ النَماطِ

    I recognized at Ajduth, then on the slopes of ʿIrq,

    traces like the patterned weaving of rugs,

  2. كَوَشمِ المِعصَمِ المُغتالِ عُلَّت

    نَواشِرُهُ بِوَشمٍ مُستَشاطِ

    like tattoos on a flesh-rounded wrist, overlaid again

    along its tendons with deeply pricked designs.

  3. وَما أَنتَ الغُداةَ وَذِكرُ سَلمى

    وَأَضحى الرَأسُ مِنكَ إِلى اِشمِطاطِ

    What have you, this morning, to do with remembering Salma,

    when your head has begun to gray?

  4. كَأَنَّ عَلى مَفارِقِهِ نَسيلاً

    مِنَ الكَتّانِ يُنزَعُ بِالمِشاطِ

    As though upon its partings lay loose fibers

    of flax, drawn out with a comb.

  5. فَإِمّا تُعرِضينَ أُمَيمَ عَنّي

    وَيَنزِعُكِ الوُشاةُ أولو النِباطِ

    But if you turn away from me, Umaym,

    and talebearers, probers of secrets, draw you away,

  6. فُحورٍ قَد لَهَوتُ بِهِنَّ وَحدي

    نَواعِمَ في المُروطِ وَفي الرِياطِ

    then many fair, wide-eyed women have I dallied with alone,

    soft and delicate in woolen cloaks and fine wraps.

  7. لَهَوتُ بِهِنَّ إِذ مَلَقي مَليحٌ

    وَإِذ أَنا في المَخيلَةِ وَالشَطاطِ

    I dallied with them when my wooing was winning,

    and when I had proud bearing and tall stature.

  8. أَبيتُ عَلى مَعارِيَ فاخِراتٍ

    بِهِنَّ مُلَوَّبٌ كَدَمِ العِباطِ

    I would spend the night upon splendid bare limbs,

    bearing blended perfume like blood from freshly slaughtered beasts.

  9. يُقالُ لَهُنَّ مِن كَرَمٍ وَحُسنٍ

    ظِباءُ تَبالَةَ الأُدمُ العَواطي

    For their nobility and beauty they are called

    Tabalah's pale gazelles, reaching up to browse.

  10. يُمَشّى بَينَنا حانوتُ خَمرٍ

    مِنَ الخُرسِ الصَراصِرَةَ القَطاطِ

    A wineseller passes among us,

    one of the foreign-tongued, tight-curled Nabataeans.

  11. رَكودٍ في الإِناءِ لَها حُمَيّا

    تَلَذُّ بِأَخذِها الأَيدي السَواطي

    Wine resting in the vessel, with a fiery strength,

    which reaching hands delight to take.

  12. مُشَعشَعَةٌ كَعَينِ الديكِ لَيسَت

    إِذا ذيقَت مِنَ الخَلِّ الخِماطِ

    Mixed with water, like a rooster's eye, it is not,

    when tasted, sour, biting vinegar.

  13. فَلا وَاللَهِ نادى الحَيُّ ضَيفي

    هُدوءاً بِالمَساءَةِ وَالعِلاطِ

    No, by God, the clan has never hailed my guest

    in night's stillness with ill-treatment and abuse.

  14. سَأَبدَؤُهُم بِمَشمَعَةٍ وَأَثني

    بِجُهدي مِن طَعامٍ أَو بِساطِ

    I shall greet them first with merriment, then follow

    with all I can provide of food or bedding,

  15. إِذا ما الحَرجَفِ النَكباءُ تَرمي

    بُيوتَ الحَيِّ بِالوَرَقِ السِقاطِ

    when the bitter, veering wind hurls

    fallen leaves against the clan's tents.

  16. وَأُعطى غَيرَ مَنزورٍ تِلادى

    إِذا اِلتَطَّت لَدى بَخَلِ لَطاطِ

    I give my inherited wealth without stint

    when Laṭāṭ, calamity, clings close amid greed.

  17. وَأَحفَظُ مَنصِبي وَأَصونُ عِرضي

    وَبَعضُ القَومِ لَيسَ بِذي حِياطِ

    I guard my standing and preserve my honor,

    though some men have no care to guard theirs.

  18. وَأَكسو الحُلَّةَ الشَوكاءَ خِدني

    وَبَعضُ الخَيرِ في حُزَنٍ وَراطِ

    I clothe my companion in a crisp new robe,

    and some good lies in rugged, perilous places.

  19. فَهذا ثَمَّ قَد عَلِموا مَكاني

    إِذا قالَ الرَقيبُ أَلا يَعاطَ

    Thus, there they know full well where I stand,

    when the lookout cries, 'Ho! Beware!'

  20. وَوَجهٍ قَد طَرَقتُ أُمَيمَ صافٍ

    أَسيلٍ غَيرِ جَهمٍ ذي حَطاطِ

    Many a clear face, Umaym, have I visited by night,

    smooth, neither scowling nor pimple-marked.

  21. وَعادِيَةٍ وَزَعتُ لَها حَفيفٌ

    حَفيفَ مُزَبِّدِ الأَعرافِ غاطي

    Many a raiding host I checked, its rushing sound

    like the rush of a surging, foam-crested torrent.

  22. تَمُدُّ لَهُ حَوالِبُ مُشعَلاتٌ

    يُجَلِّلُهُنَّ أَقمَرُ ذو اِنعِطاطِ

    Scattered tributaries feed it;

    a moon-white, bursting surge engulfs them.

  23. لَفَقتُهُمُ بِمِثلِهِمُ فَآبوا

    بِهِم شَينٌ مِنَ الضَربِ الخِلاطِ

    I matched them with their equals, and they went back

    bearing the marks of blows in close combat—

  24. بِضَربٍ في الجَماجِمُ ذي فُروغٍ

    وَطَعنٍ مِثلِ تَعطيطِ الرِهاطِ

    blows upon skulls that left great gashes,

    and thrusts like the shredding of leather skirts.

  25. وَماءٍ قَد وَرَدتُ أُمَيمَ طامٍ

    عَلى أَرجائِهِ زَجَلُ الغَطاطِ

    Many a brimming waterhole, Umaym, have I reached,

    the calls of sandgrouse ringing round its edges,

  26. قَليلٍ وَردُهُ إِلّا سِباعا

    يَخِطنَ المَشيَ كَالنَبلِ المِراطِ

    visited by few save beasts of prey

    stitching their strides like featherless arrows.

  27. فَبِتُّ أُنَهِنهُ السِرحانَ عَنّي

    كِلانا وارِدٌ حَرّانَ ساطي

    So all night I kept the wolf away from me,

    both of us come to drink, thirst-scorched and fierce.

  28. كَأَنَّ وَغى الخَموشِ بِجانِبَيهِ

    وَغَى رَكبٍ أُمَيمَ ذَوي هِياطِ

    As though the mosquitoes' din along its banks

    were the clamor, Umaym, of a noisy band of riders.

  29. كَأَنَّ مَزاحِفَ الحَيّاتِ فيهِ

    قُبَيلَ الصُبحِ آثارُ السِياطِ

    As though the snakes' tracks across it,

    just before dawn, were whip marks.

  30. شَرِبتُ بِجُمِّهِ وَصَدَرتُ عَنهُ

    وَأَبيَضَ صارِمٍ ذَكَرٍ إِباطي

    I drank from its full pool and departed,

    with a white, keen, hard-tempered sword beneath my arm,

  31. كَلَونِ المِلحِ ضَربتُهُ هَبيرٌ

    يُتِرُّ العَظمَ سَقّاطٌ سُراطى

    salt-colored, its stroke clean-shearing;

    it severs bone, striking down and cutting through.

  32. بِهِ أَحمي المُضافَ إِذا دَعاني

    وَنَفسي ساعَةَ الفَزَعِ الفِلاطِ

    With it I guard the hard-pressed man when he calls me,

    and myself in the hour of sudden terror.

  33. وَصَفراءَ البُرايَةِ فَرعَ نَبعٍ

    كَوَقفِ العاجِ عاتِكَةِ اللِياطِ

    And a bow, yellow where shaved, a branch of nabʿ,

    like an ivory bracelet, its outer skin reddened:

  34. شَنَقتُ بِها مَعابِلَ مُرهَفاتٍ

    مُسالاتِ الأَغِرَّةِ كَالقِراطِ

    with it I drew back broad-headed, finely sharpened arrows,

    their gleaming tips tapered like lamp flames.

  35. كَأَوبِ الدَبرِ غامِضَةٍ وَلَيسَت

    بِمُرهفَةِ النِصالِ وَلا سِلاطِ

    Like bees in homing flight, deep-penetrating, yet not

    thin in the head or slender,

  36. خَواظٍ في الجَفيرِ مُخَوّياتٍ

    كُسينِ ظُهارَ أَصحَرَ كَالخِياطِ

    stout in the quiver, standing spaced apart,

    clad in a tawny bird's back-feathers, fine as needles.

  37. وَمَرقَبَةٍ نَمَيتُ إِلى ذُراها

    تُزِلَّ دَوارِجَ الحَجَلِ القَواطي

    And I climbed to the summits of many a lookout height

    that makes short-stepping partridges slip.

  38. وَخَرقٍ تَحسِرُ الرُكبانُ فيهِ

    بَعيدِ الغَولِ أَغبَرَ ذي نِياطِ

    And many a waste where riders grow weary,

    far in extent, dust-gray, with distant horizons,

  39. كَأَنَّ عَلى صَحاصِحِهِ مُلاءً

    مُنَشَّرَةً نُزِعنَ مِنَ الخِياطِ

    as though across its open flats lay sheets

    spread out, freshly drawn from the needle,

  40. أَجَزتُ بِفِتيَةٍ بيضٍ خِفافٍ

    كَأَنَّهُمُ تَمَلُّهُمُ سَباطِ

    I crossed with bright-faced, light-footed youths,

    as though Sabāṭ, the fever, were roasting them.