أتهجر أم لا اليوم من أنت عاشقه — Harith Al Hadrami

أَتَهجُرُ أَم لا اليَومَ مَن أَنتَ عاشَقُهْ

وَمَن أَنتَ مُشتاقٌ إِلَيهِ وَشائِقُهْ

Will you forsake today, or not, the one you love,

And the one you yearn for, whose yearning you awaken,

وَمَن أَنتَ طولَ الدَهرِ ذِكرُ فُؤادِهِ

وَمَن أَنتَ في صُرمِ الخَلائِقِ وامِقُهْ

And the one whose heart remembers you for all time,

And whom you cherish when all others sever their bonds?

وَرِئمٍ أَحَمِّ المُقلَتَينِ مُوَشَّحٌ

زَرابِيُّهُ مَبثوثَةٌ وَنَمارِقُهْ

And a white gazelle, black-eyed, sash-adorned,

His carpets spread out, and his cushions too;

أَغَنَّ غَضيضِ الطَرفِ عَذبٍ رُضابُهُ

تَعَلَّلُ بِالمِسكِ الذَكِيِّ مُفارِقُهْ

Soft-voiced, with lowered gaze and sweet saliva,

His hair-partings repeatedly perfumed with fragrant musk.

بَذَلتُ لِشَيخَيهِ التِلادَ فَنِلتُهُ

وَما كِدتُ حَتّى سافَ مالي أُوافِقُهْ

I gave his two elders my inherited wealth and won him,

And scarcely gained his consent until my wealth was gone.

وَغَيثٍ مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ اِسجَحَ فَاِرتَوى

مِنَ الماءِ حَتّى ضاقَ بِالماءِ طالِقُهْ

And a broad-spreading cloud of early autumn rain drank its fill

Of water, until its outspread reaches could hold no more;

أَجَشَّ دَجوجِيٍّ إِذا جادَ جَودَةً

عَلى البيدِ أَوفى وَاِتلِأَبَّت دَوافِقُهْ

Deep-roaring, pitch-dark, whenever it gave a downpour,

Over the wastes it rose, and its torrents ran straight on.

مُلِثٍّ فُوَيقَ الأَرضِ دانٍ كَأَنَّهُ

دُجى اللَيلِ أَرسى يَفحَصُ الأَرضَ وادِقُهْ

Lingering just above the earth, hanging low, as though it were

The settled darkness of night, its rain scouring the ground;

هَزيمٍ يَسُحُّ الماءَ عَن كُلِّ فِيقَةٍ

مُرِنٍّ كَثيرٍ رَعدُهُ وَبَوارِقُهْ

Roaring, pouring water at every fresh milking,

Resounding, with abundant thunder and lightning flashes.

إذا جَلَّلَت أَعجازَهُ الريحُ جَلجَلَت

تَواليهِ رَعداً فَاِستَهَلَّت رَواتِقُهْ

When the wind cloaked its rear, there rumbled

Thunder from its trailing masses, and its sealed folds poured rain.

إِذا ما بَكى شَجواً تَحَيَّرَ مُسمِحٌ

عَلى الجوفِ حَتّى تَتلَئِبَّ سَوابِقُهْ

Whenever it wept in sorrow, its ample rain pooled

Across al-Jawf, until its leading streams ran straight.

فأَقلَعَ عِن مِثلِ الرِحالِ تَرى بِهِ

خَناطيلَ أَهمالٍ تَجولُ حَزائِقُهْ

Then it cleared from saddle-like forms; there you could see

Scattered bands of untended beasts, their herds roaming.

إِذا أَنفَدَت بَقلَ الرَبيعِ وَماءَهُ

تَذَكَّرَ سَلسالَ الفُراتِ نَواهِقُهْ

When they exhaust spring's herbage and its water,

Its braying beasts remember the Euphrates' sweet waters.

وَسِربِ ظِباءٍ تَرتَعي ظاهِرَ الحِمى

إِلى الجَوِّ فَالخَبتَينِ بيضٌ عَقائِقُهْ

And a herd of gazelles grazing the outskirts of the preserve,

Toward al-Jaww, then al-Khabtayn, their first-grown coats white,

مُجَلجَلَةِ الأَصواتِ أُدمٍ كَأَنَّها

مَكاكيكُ كِسرى شُوِّفَت وَأَبارِقُهْ

Their voices ringing, tawny, as though they were

Kisra's polished goblets and his ewers;

حَماشِ الشَوى نُجلِ العُيونِ سَوانِقٍ

مِنَ البَقلِ حورٍ أَحسَنَ الخَلقَ خالِقُهْ

Slender-limbed, wide-eyed, sated

With herbage, their eyes dark against white; their Maker perfected their form.

ذَعَرتُ بِمُقوَرِّ اللِّياطِ مُصَنَّعٍ

مُمَرٍّ كَصَدرِ الرُمحِ عادٍ نَواهِقُهْ

I startled them with a lean-skinned, well-tended mount,

Taut as a spear's forepart, its cheekbones jutting.

أَقولُ لِفَتلاءِ المَرافِقِ سَمحَةٍ

وَلِلَّيلِ كِسرٌ يَصنَعُ البيدَ غاسِقُهْ

I say to a strong-elbowed, willing she-camel,

While a portion of night remained, its darkness shaping the wastes:

تَضَمَّنْتِ هَمّي فَاِستَقيمي وَشَمّري

عَى لاحِبٍ تُنضي المَطِيَّ أَسالِقُهْ

You have taken on my care: go straight and hasten

Along a clear track whose level stretches wear out riding camels.

وَسيري إِلى خَيرِ الأَنامِ وَرَوِّعي

بِلادَكِ إِنَّ الدَهرَ جَمٌّ بَوائِقُهْ

And travel to the best of humankind, and startle

Your homeland, for time's calamities are many.

إِلى الأَكرَمينَ الأمجَدينَ أُولي النُهى

بَني مالِكٍ ضَخمٍ عَظيمٍ سُرادِقُهْ

To the most generous, most glorious, possessed of understanding,

The sons of mighty Malik, whose pavilion is vast;

بَني الحارِثِ الخَيرِ بنِ عَمرِو بنِ آكِلِ ال

مَرارِ الَّذي لا يَرهَبُ البخلَ طارِقُهْ

The sons of al-Harith the Good, son of 'Amr, son of Akil al-

Murar, whose night visitor has no fear of stinginess.

لَهُم جَبَلٌ يَعلو الجِبالَ مُشَيَّدٌ

أَشَمٌّ رَفيعٌ يَحسِرُ الطَرفُ شائِقُهْ

They have a mountain, built high above all mountains,

Proud and lofty, its towering peak exhausting the gaze.

وَما عُلِمَت في الناسِ طُرّاً قَبيلَةٌ

لَها المَجدُ إِلّا مَجدُ كِندَةَ فائِقُهْ

No tribe has ever been known among all mankind

To possess glory that Kinda's glory does not surpass.

وَما مِن حِمىً في الناسِ إِلّا حِمىً لَنا

وَإِلّا لَنا غَربِيُّهُ وَمَشارِقُهْ

There is no protected pasture among men but one of ours,

And if not, its western and eastern reaches are ours.

أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ الصِدقَ في القَولِ واضِحٌ

أَما إِنَّ خَيرَ القَولِ في الناسِ صادِقُهْ

Have you not seen that truthfulness in speech is plain?

Surely the best speech among men is the truthful kind.

وَما مِن فَتىً في الناسِ إِلّا يَسوقُهُ

إِلى المَوتِ يَومٌ لا مَحالَةَ سائِقُهْ

No young man among men but is driven

To death by a day that must inevitably drive him.

لَهُ أَجَلٌ ساعٍ لَهُ لا مُؤَخَّراً

إِذا جاءَ مَحتوماً وَلا هُوَ سابِقُهْ

He has an appointed term hastening toward him, never delayed

When it comes, decreed; nor can he outpace it.

وَكُلُّ فَتىً يَوماً وَإِن ضَنَّ رَغبَةً

بِصاحِبِهِ لا بُدَّ يَوماً مُفارِقُهْ

And every youth one day, though he cling in longing

To his companion, must one day part from him.