ذهبت من الهجران في غير مذهب — Alqama

ذَهَبتَ مِنَ الهِجرانِ في غَيرِ مَذهَبٍ

وَلَم يَكُ حَقّاً كُلُّ هَذا التَجَنُّبُ

You have pursued estrangement along an unfitting path;

all this avoidance was not deserved.

لَيالِيَ لا تَبلى نَصيحَةُ بَينِنا

لَيالِيَ حَلّوا بِالسِتارِ فَغُرَّبِ

Those nights when sincere affection between us never faded,

those nights when they camped at al-Sitar, then Ghurrab.

مُبَتَّلَةٌ كَأَنَّ أَنضاءَ حَليِها

عَلى شادِنٍ مِن صاحَةٍ مُتَرَبَّبِ

A shapely woman, whose slender ornaments seemed

to hang upon a hand-reared young gazelle from Sahah:

مَحالٌ كَأَجوازِ الجَرادِ وَلُؤلُؤٌ

مِنَ القَلَقِيِّ وَالكَبيسِ المُلَوَّبِ

rings like the middle segments of locusts, and pearls

of the qalqi and perfume-anointed kabis kinds.

إِذا أَلحَمَ الواشونَ لِلشَرِّ بَينَنا

تَبَلَّغَ رَسُّ الحُبِّ غَيرُ المُكَذَّبِ

When slanderers entangled us in mischief,

the root of love endured, never proved false.

وَما أَنتَ أَم ما ذِكرُها رَبَعِيَّةً

تَحُلُّ بِإيرٍ أَو بِأَكنافِ شُربُبِ

What are you to her—or why recall her, a woman of Rabi'a,

who camps at Ir or in the environs of Shurbub?

أَطَعتَ الوُشاةَ وَالمُشاةَ بِصُرمِها

فَقَد أَنهَجَت حِبالُها لِلتَقَضُّبِ

You obeyed the slanderers and tale-bearers by breaking with her;

now her cords have frayed, ready to snap.

وَقَد وَعَدَتكَ مَوعِداً لَو وَفَت بِهِ

كَمَوعودِ عُرقوبٍ أَخاهُ بِيَثرِبِ

She gave you a promise—if only she would fulfill it—

like Urqub's promise to his brother at Yathrib.

وَقالَت وَإِن يُبخَل عَلَيكَ وَيُعتَلَل

تَشَكَّ وَإِن يَكشِف غَرامَكَ تَدرِبِ

She said, 'If you are denied and met with excuses,

complain; if it dispels your torment, you will learn by experience.'

فَقُلتُ لَها فيئي فَما تَستَفِزُّني

ذو فَيئَةٍ مِن نَوى قُرّانَ مَعجومُ

I told her, 'Turn back; you cannot shake me—

a bite-tested Qurran date-stone that springs back.'

فَفاءَت كَما فاءَت مِنَ الأُدمِ مُغزِلٌ

بِبيشَةَ تَرعى في أَراكٍ وَحُلَّبِ

Then she turned back, like a fawn-tending doe among pale gazelles,

at Bishah, grazing among arak trees and hullab shrubs.

فَعِشنا بِها مِنَ الشَبابِ مُلاوَةً

فَأَنجَحَ آياتُ الرَسولِ المُخَبِّبِ

So we passed a long span of youth in her company;

then the scheming messenger's hints succeeded.

فَإِنَّكَ لَم تَقطَع لُبانَةَ عاشِقٍ

بِمِثلِ بُكورٍ أَو رَواحٍ مُؤَوِّبِ

For nothing ends a lover's longing

like a dawn departure or a homeward evening ride,

بِمُجفَرةِ الجَنبَينِ حَرفٍ شِمِلَّةٍ

كَهَمِّكَ مِرقالٍ عَلى الأَينِ ذِعلِبِ

on a broad-flanked, blade-lean, nimble she-camel,

swift as your resolve, fast-trotting and fleet despite fatigue.

إِذا ما ضَرَبتُ الدَفَّ أَو صُلتُ صَولَةً

تَرَقَّبُ مِنّي غَيرَ أَدنى تَرَقُّبِ

Whenever I strike her flank or make a sudden lunge,

she keeps no casual watch upon me,

بِعَينٍ كَمِرآةِ الصَناعِ تُديرُها

لِمَحجَرِها مِنَ النَصيفِ المُنَقَّبِ

with an eye like the mirror a skilled woman turns

toward her eye-socket through her pierced veil.

كَأَنَّ بِحاذَيها إِذا ما تَشَذَّرَت

عَثاكيلَ عِذقٍ مِن سُمَيحَةَ مُرطِبِ

As though at her haunches, when she prances,

were sprays of a ripening date-cluster from Sumayhah.

تَذُبُّ بِهِ طَوراً وَطَوراً تُمِرُّهُ

كَذَبِّ البَشيرِ بِالرِداءِ المُهَدَّبِ

Now she swats with it, now she sweeps it past,

like a bearer of good news waving a fringed cloak.

وَقَد أَغتَدي وَالطَيرُ في وُكُناتِها

وَماءُ النَدى يَجري عَلى كُلِّ مِذنَبِ

Often I set out at dawn while birds are still in their nests,

and dew-water runs along every runnel,

بِمُنجَرِدٍ قَيدِ الأَوابِدِ لاحَهُ

طِرادُ الهَوادي كُلَّ شَأوٍ مُغَرِّبِ

on a sleek horse, a shackle for wild game, made lean

by chasing the herd-leaders on every far-reaching course.

بغَوجٍ لَبانُهُ يُتَمُّ بَريمُهُ

عَلى نَفثِ راقٍ خَشيَةَ العَينِ مُجلِبِ

Broad of breast, his braided charm-cord made complete

with a loud-chanting healer's breath, for fear of the evil eye.

كُمَيتٍ كَلَونِ الأُرجُوان نَشَرتَهُ

لِبَيع الرِداءِ في الصُوانِ المُكَعَّبِ

A bay, like the purple-red cloth you spread

as a cloak for sale in a square cloth-case.

مُمَرٍّ كَعَقدِ الأَندَرِيِّ يَزينُهُ

مَعَ العِتقِ خَلقٌ مُفعَمٌ غَيرُ جَأنَبِ

Firm-knit as al-Andari's arch, adorned

with noble breeding and a full, unstunted frame.

لَهُ حُرَّتانِ تَعرِفُ العِتقَ فيهِما

كَسامِعَتي مَذعورَةٍ وَسطَ رَبربِ

He has two fine ears in which you recognize his breeding,

like the ears of a startled doe amid a herd.

وَجَوفٌ هَواءٌ تَحتَ مَتنٍ كَأَنَّهُ

مِنَ الهَضَبَةِ الخَلقاءِ زُحلوقُ مَلعَبِ

A roomy belly beneath a back that seems

a playground slide on a smooth, rocky hill.

قَطاةٌ كَكُردوسِ المَحالَةِ أَشرَفَت

إلى سَنَدٍ مِثلِ الغَبيطِ المُذَأَّبِ

His croup, like the hub of a great pulley, rises

to a slope like a high-ended camel-litter.

وَغُلبٌ كَأَعناقِ الضِباعِ مَضيغُها

سِلامُ الشَظى يَغشى بِها كُل مَركَبِ

And stout legs, their muscle like the necks of hyenas,

sound in their splint-bones, bearing him over every course.

وَسُمرٌ يُفَلِّقنَ الظِراب كَأَنَّها

حِجارَةُ غَيلٍ وارِساتٌ بِطُحلُبِ

And dark hooves that split the knolls, as though

they were streambed stones yellowed with moss.

إِذا ما اِقتَنَصنا لَم نُخاتِل بِجُنَّةٍ

وَلَكِن نُنادي مِن بَعيدٍ أَلا اِركَبِ

When we hunt, we do not stalk under cover;

instead we call from afar, 'Come, mount

أَخا ثِقَةٍ لا يَلعَنُ الحَيُّ شَخصَهُ

صَبوراً عَلى العِلّاتِ غَيرَ مُسَبَّبِ

a trusty fellow whose presence the clan never curses,

patient through hardships, never reviled.'

إِذا أَنفَدوا زاداً فَإِنَّ عِنانَهُ

وَأَكرُعَهُ مُستَعمَلاً خَيرُ مَكسَبِ

When their provisions are spent, his reins

and his legs, put to work, are the best means of gain.

رَأَينا شِياهاً يَرتَعينَ خَميلَةً

كَمَشيِ العَذارى في المُلاءِ المُهَدِّبِ

We saw wild does grazing in a lush thicket,

walking like maidens in fringed cloaks.

فَبَينا تَمارينا وَعَقدُ عِذارهِ

خَرَجنَ عَلَينا كَالجُمانِ المُثَقَّبِ

As we debated and tied his cheek-strap,

they came out toward us like pierced pearls.

فَأَتبِع آثارَ الشِياهِ بِصادِقٍ

حَثيثٍ كَغَيثِ الرائِحِ المُتَحَلِّبِ

Then follow the does' tracks on a trusty steed,

swift as rain pouring from an evening cloud.

تَرى الفَأرَ عَن مُستَرغَبِ القِدرِ لائِحاً

عَلى جَدَدِ الصَحراءِ مِن شَدِّ مُلهَبِ

You see mice coming into view, clear of that imposing bulk,

on the desert's hard ground, at a fiery steed's gallop.

خَفى الفَأرَ مِن أَنفاقِهِ فَكَأَنَّما

تَخَلَّلَهُ شُؤبوبُ غَيثٍ مُنقِّبِ

He flushes the mice from their tunnels, as though

a ground-piercing rain-squall had swept through the soil.

فَظَلَّ لِثيرانِ الصَريمِ غَماغِمٌ

يُداعِسُهُنَّ بِالنَضِيِّ المُعَلَّبِ

The thicket's bulls kept up their muffled bellowing,

as he thrust at them with his sinew-bound spear.

فَهاوٍ عَلى حُرِّ الجَبينِ وَمُتَّقٍ

بِمِدراتِهِ كَأَنَّها ذَلقُ مِشعَبِ

One falls on its bare brow, another fends him off

with a horn like the sharpened point of a forked staff.

وَعادى عِداءً بَينَ ثَورٍ وَنَعجَةٍ

وَتَيسٍ شَبوبٍ كَالهَشيمَةِ قَرهَبِ

He ran down, one after another, a bull and a doe,

and a full-grown, massive buck like a withered tree.

فَقُلنا أَلا قَد كانَ صَيدٌ لِقانِصٍ

فَخَبّوا عَلَينا فَضلَ بُردٍ مُطَنَّبِ

We said, 'Indeed, a hunter has had his game;

now spread over us a cloak's spare length, guyed out.'

فَظَلَّ الأَكُفُّ يَختَلِفنَ بِحانِذٍ

إِلى جُؤجُؤٍ مِثلِ المَداكِ المُخَضَّبِ

Hands kept passing back and forth over roasted meat

toward a breast like a dye-stained grinding-stone.

كَأَنَّ عُيوبَ الوَحشِ حَولِ خِبائِنا

وَأَرحُلِنا الجَزعُ الَّذي لَم يُثَقَّبِ

As though the blemishes of the game around our tent

and our saddles were onyx beads not yet pierced.

وَرُحنا كَأَنّا مِن جُواثى عَشِيَّةً

نُعالي النِعاج بَينَ عِدلٍ وَمُحقَبِ

We returned at evening, as though from Juwatha,

piling the does between panniers and rear-slung packs.

وَراحَ كَشاةِ الرَبل يَنفُضُ رَأسَهُ

أَذاةً بِهِ مِن صائِكٍ مُتَحَلِّبِ

He returned like a doe on fresh regrowth, shaking his head

at the discomfort of clinging, streaming sweat.

وَراحَ يُباري في الجِنابِ قَلوصَنا

عَزيزاً عَلَينا كَالحُبابِ المُسَيَّبِ

He returned, racing our young she-camel at our side,

hard for us to rein in, like a serpent let loose.