Sol 6.1

  1. فَإِن يَكُ رَأسي كَالثَغامَةِ نَسلُهُ

    يُطيفُ بِيَ الوِلدانُ أَحدَبَ كَالقِردِ

    If my head's hair is now like the white thaghama plant,

    and children circle me while I am hunched like an ape,

  2. رَهينَةَ قَعرِ البَيتِ كُلَّ عَشِيَّةٍ

    كَأَنّي أُراوى أَن أُصَوَّبَ في مَهدِ

    a prisoner in the depths of the house every evening,

    as though I were being coaxed to be laid in a cradle,

  3. فَمِن بَعدِ فَضلٍ في شَبابٍ وَقُوَّةٍ

    وَرَأسٍ أَثيثٍ حالِكِ اللَونِ مُسوَدِّ

    after distinction in youth and strength,

    and a thick-haired head, dark in color, jet-black—

  4. فَقَد أَبعَثُ الوَجناءَ يَدمى أَظَلُّها

    عَلى ظَهرِ سَبسابٍ كَحاشِيَةِ البُردِ

    yet I have driven the stout-cheeked she-camel, her footpad bleeding,

    over a broad, level plain like the border of a striped cloak.

  5. فَأَورَدتُها ماءً قَليلاً أَنيسُهُ

    حَديثاً بِعَهدِ الناسِ أَو غَيرَ ذي عَهدِ

    Then I brought her to water with few people near it,

    recently visited by people, or never visited at all.

  6. فَأَعكِسُها في جُمَّةٍ وَنَصَأتُها

    فَآنَستُ ما أَبغي وَأَتعَبتُها تَردي

    I restrained her, neck bent, in a pool, then drove her on;

    then spotted what I sought, and exhausted her as she raced

  7. إِلى عَلَمٍ ناءٍ كَأَنَّ مَسافَهُ

    مُخَلَّلُ كِتّانٍ مِنَ النَأيِ وَالبُعدِ

    toward a distant landmark whose outline looked like

    a linen pin, so remote and distant.

  8. وَخَيلٍ كَأَسرابِ القَطا قَد وَزَعتُها

    عَلى هَيكَلٍ نَهدِ الجُزارَةِ مُرمَدِّ

    And horses, like flocks of sandgrouse, I have held in check,

    mounted on a towering steed, stout of limb and swift-running.

  9. سَوابِقُها يَخرُجنَ مِن مُتَنَصَّفٍ

    خُروجَ القَواري الخُضرِ مِن سَبَلِ الرَعدِ

    Their front-runners emerge from mid-course,

    as green qāriya birds emerge from thunder's rain-curtains.

  10. وَغَيثٍ مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ حُوٍّ تِلاعُهُ

    عَلَتهُ جُمادى بِالبَوارِقِ وَالرَعدِ

    And a pasture fed by the first autumn rains, its gullies dark green,

    which Jumada overspread with lightning flashes and thunder—

  11. تَبَطَّنتُهُ تَعدو بِبِزِّيَ نَهدَةٌ

    جُلالَةُ ما بَينَ الشَراسيفِ وَاللُبدِ

    I traversed its heart, a powerful mare galloping with my gear,

    massive in the span between her rib-tips and saddle-felt.

  12. وَتَخطو عَلى صُمٍّ كَأَنَّ نُسورَها

    نَوى القَسبِ يُستَوقَدنَ في الظَرِبِ الصِلدِ

    And she steps on solid hooves whose frogs seem

    dry date-stones kindled on the hard, rocky knoll.

  13. لَها حُضُرٌ كَيفَ الحَريقُ وَعَقبُها

    كَجَمِّ الخَسيفِ بَعدَ مَعمَعَةِ الوَردِ

    She has a gallop—what a blaze!—and her second wind

    is like a deep well's pooled water after the uproar of watering.

  14. قَليلَ البَتاتِ غَيرَ قَوسٍ وَأَسهُمٍ

    وَأَبيَضَ قَصّالِ الضَريبَةِ مُحتَدِّ

    Carrying little equipment except a bow and arrows,

    and a bright sword, cleaving what it strikes, keen-edged,

  15. وَأَسمَرَ مَربوعٍ مِتَلٍّ كُعوبُهُ

    تُصَرِّفُ فيهِ لَهذَماً وادِقَ الحَدِّ

    and a brown, medium-length spear, stout in its joints,

    on which you turn a keen spearhead with a piercing edge.