Sol 6.1

  1. أَشاقَتكَ أَظعانٌ بِجَفنِ يَبَنبَمِ

    نَعَم بُكُراً مِثلَ الفَسيلِ المُكَمَّمِ

    Did departing litters at Jafn Yabanbam stir your longing?

    Yes, at dawn, like young palms wrapped in sheaths.

  2. غَدَوا فَتَأَمَّلتُ الحُدوجَ فَراعَني

    وَقَد رَفَعوا في السَيرِ إِبراقُ مِعصَمِ

    They departed at dawn; I studied the howdahs, and was startled—

    as they quickened their pace—by the flashing of a wrist.

  3. فَقُلتُ لِحَرّاضٍ وَقَد كِدتُ أَزدَهي

    مِنَ الشَوقِ في إِثرِ الخَليطِ المُئَمِّمِ

    So I said to Harrad, almost carried away

    by yearning in the wake of the journeying company:

  4. أَلَم تَرَ ما أَبصَرتُ أَم كُنتَ ساهِياً

    فَتَشجى بِشَجوِ المُستَهامِ المُتَيَّمِ

    'Did you not see what I saw—or were you heedless—

    and feel the sorrow of a love-distraught, enthralled lover?'

  5. فَقالَ أَلا لا لَم تَرَ اليَومَ شَبحَةً

    وَما شِمتَ إِلّا لَمحَ بَرقٍ مُغَيَّمِ

    He said, 'Listen—no! You saw no figure today;

    you only watched a flash of cloud-veiled lightning.'

  6. وَرَبِّ الَّتي أَشرَقنَ في كُلِّ مِذنَبٍ

    سَواهِمَ خوصاً في السَريحِ المُخَدَّمِ

    And by the Lord of those that met dawn in every valley-course,

    gaunt and hollow-eyed, in loop-fastened leather foot-straps,

  7. يَزُرنَ إِلالاً لا يُنَحِّبنَ غَيرَهُ

    بِكُلِّ مُلَبٍّ أَشعَثَ الرأسِ مُحرِمِ

    visiting Ilal, vowing to seek no other,

    bearing every pilgrim chanting the call, disheveled and consecrated—

  8. لَقَد بَيَّنَت لِلعَينِ أَحداجُها مَعاً

    عَلَيهِنَّ حوكِيُّ الِعراقِ المُرَقَّمِ

    indeed, their howdahs all stood clear before the eye,

    draped in Iraq's patterned woven cloth:

  9. عُقارٌ تَظَلُّ الطَيرُ تَخطَفُ زَهوَهُ

    وَعالَينَ أَعلاقاً عَلى كُلِّ مُفأَمِ

    red fabric whose bloom the birds keep snatching at;

    and they piled precious furnishings upon every spacious litter.

  10. وَفي الظاعِنينَ القَلبُ قَد ذَهَبَت بِهِ

    أَسيلَةُ مَجرى الدَمعِ رَيّا المُخَدَّمِ

    Among the departing is my heart, carried away by

    a woman smooth along the tear-track, full-fleshed at the anklet.

  11. عَروبٌ كَأَنَّ الشَمسَ تَحتَ قِناعِها

    إِذا اِبتَسَمَت أَو سافِراً لَم تَبَسَّمِ

    Affectionate, as though the sun lay beneath her veil

    when she smiles—or, unveiled, even when she does not.

  12. رَقودُ الضُحى ميسانُ لَيلٍ خَريدَةٌ

    قَدِ اِعتَدَلَت في حُسنِ خَلقٍ مُطَهَّمِ

    A late-morning sleeper, swaying by night, a bashful maiden,

    well-proportioned in the beauty of her rounded form.

  13. أَصاحِ تَرى بَرقاً أُريكَ وَميضَهُ

    يُضيءُ سَناهُ سوقَ أَثلٍ مُرَكَّمِ

    Friend, do you see lightning whose flash I show you?

    Its radiance lights the trunks of thickly clustered tamarisks.

  14. أَسَفَّ عَلى الأَفلاجِ أَيمَنُ صَوبِهِ

    وَأَيسَرُهُ يَعلو مَخارِمَ سَمسَمِ

    The right flank of its downpour hangs low over al-Aflaj,

    while its left rises over the passes of Samsam.

  15. لَهُ هَيدَبٌ دانٍ كَأَنَّ فُروجَهُ

    فُوَيقَ الحَصى وَالأَرضِ أَرفاضُ حَنتَمِ

    Its fringe of rain hangs near; its openings seem,

    just above the pebbles and earth, like scattered shards of dark jars.

  16. أَبَسَّت بِهِ ريحُ الجَنوبِ فَأَسعَدَت

    رَوايا لَهُ بِالماءِ لَمّا تَصَرَّمِ

    The south wind coaxed it onward; then came to its aid

    water-bearing clouds, their stores not yet exhausted.

  17. أَرى إِبِلي عافَت جَدودَ فَلَم تَذُق

    بِها قَطرَةً إِلّا تَحِلَّةَ مُقسِمِ

    I see my camels have shunned Jadud, and have not tasted

    a drop there, save an oath-fulfilling sip.

  18. وَبُنيانَ لَم تورِد وَقَد تَمَّ ظِمؤُها

    تَراحُ إِلى جَوِّ الحِياضِ وَتَنتَمي

    Nor have they watered at Bunyan, though their watering-time has come;

    they yearn for the hollow of al-Hiyad and press onward.

  19. أَهَلَّت شُهورَ المُحرِمينَ وَقَد تَقَت

    بِأَذنابِها رَوعاتِ أَكلَفَ مُكدَمِ

    They greeted the months of pilgrimage, having fended off

    with their tails the lunges of a dusky, bite-scarred stallion,

  20. أَسيلِ مُشَكِّ المَنخِرَينِ كَأَنَّهُ

    إِذا اِستَقبَلَتهُ الريحُ مُسعَطُ شُبرُمِ

    slender at the nostrils' juncture, as though he were,

    when the wind faces him, dosed through the nose with shubrum.

  21. تَسوفُ الأَوابي مَنكِبَيهِ كَأَنَّها

    عَذارى قُرَيشٍ غَيرَ أَن لَم تُوَشَّمِ

    The reluctant she-camels sniff his shoulders, as though they were

    maidens of Quraysh, except that they are not tattooed.

  22. عَوازِبُ لَم تَسمَع نُبوحَ مُقامَةٍ

    وَلَم تَرَ ناراً تِمَّ حَولٍ مُجَرَّمِ

    Ranging far afield, they have heard no barking from a camp,

    nor seen a fire for a whole, completed year,

  23. سِوى نارِ بَيضٍ أَو غَزالٍ بِقَفرَةٍ

    أَغَنَّ مِن الخُنِسِ المَناخِرِ تَوأَمِ

    save a fire for eggs or a gazelle in the wilderness,

    a nasal-voiced, snub-nosed twin.

  24. إِذا راعَياها أَنضَجاهُ تَرامَيا

    بِهِ خِلسَةً أَو شَهوَةَ المُتَقَرِّمِ

    When their two herdsmen have roasted it, they toss it

    between them furtively, or with a meat-starved man's craving.

  25. إِذا ما دَعاها اِستَسمَعَت وَتَأَنَّسَت

    بِسَحماءَ مِن دونِ الغَلاصِمِ شَدقَمِ

    When he calls them, they listen and take comfort

    in a dark lip before a wide-mouthed caller's throat.

  26. إِذا وَرَدَت ماءً بِلَيلٍ كَأَنَّها

    سَحابٌ أَطاعَ الريحَ مِن كُلِّ مَخرِمِ

    When they reach water at night, they seem

    clouds following the wind from every mountain pass.

  27. تَعارَفُ أَشباهاً عَلى الحَوضِ كُلُّها

    إِلى نَسَبٍ وَسطَ العَشيرَةِ مُعلَمِ

    They know each other as kindred at the trough, all belonging

    to a lineage distinguished within the tribe.

  28. غَنمِنا أَباها ثُمَّ أَحرَزَ نَسلَها

    ضِرابُ العِدى بِالمَشرَفِيِّ المُصَمِّمِ

    We took their sire as spoil; then their offspring were secured by

    striking the enemy with the cleaving Mashrafi blade,

  29. وَكُلُّ فَتىً يَردي إِلى الحَربِ مُعلَماً

    إِذا ثَوَّبَ الداعي وَأَجرَدَ صِلدِمِ

    and every young man hastening to war, marked for recognition,

    when the summoner sounds the rally, and every sleek, sturdy steed,

  30. وَسَلهَبَةٍ تَنضو الجِيادَ كَأَنَّها

    رَداةٌ تَدَلَّت مِن فُروعِ يَلَملَمِ

    and every long-limbed mare that wears out fine horses, as though she were

    a boulder plunging from the heights of Yalamlam.

  31. فَذَلِكَ أَحياها وَكُلُّ مُعَمَّمٍ

    أَريبٍ بِمَنعِ الضَيفِ غَيرِ مُضَيَّمِ

    That kept them alive, and every turbaned man,

    skilled in defending a guest, never humbled.

  32. وَما جاوَزَت إِلّا أَشَمَّ مُعاوِداً

    كِفايَةَ ما قيلَ اِكفِ غَيرَ مُذَمَّمِ

    They passed through no hands but a proud man's, ever returning

    to meet a need whenever told, 'Meet it,' never blamed.

  33. إِذا ما غَدا لَم يُسقِطِ الخَوفُ رُمحَهُ

    وَلَم يَشهَدِ الهَيجا بِأَلوَثَ مُعصِمِ

    When he goes forth, fear never makes him drop his spear,

    nor does he face battle sluggishly, clinging for support.