أي ليل علىالمحب أطاله

سائق الظعن يوم زمّ جماله

What a night was drawn out for the lover

by the caravan-driver, the day he haltered his camels!

يزجر العيس طاوياً يقطع المه

مه عسفاً سهوله ورماله

He urges on the pale camels, swiftly crossing the wilderness,

forcing his way over its plains and sands.

أيها السائق المجد ترفق

بالمطايا فقد سئمن الرحاله

O hurrying driver, be gentle

with the mounts; they have grown weary of the saddle.

وأنخها هنيهة وارحها

قد براها فرط السرى والكلاله

And make them kneel a little while, and give them rest;

excessive night travel and exhaustion have worn them thin.

لا تطل سيرها العنيف فقد برّ

ح بالصب في سراها الإطاله

Do not prolong their punishing march; sorely has it tormented

the lovesick one, this lengthening of their night journey.

قد تركتم وراءكم حلف وجد

نادباً في محلكم اطلاله

You have left behind you a sworn companion of longing,

lamenting the ruins of your dwelling-place.

يسال الربع عن ظباء المصلى

ما على الربع لو أجاب سؤاله

He asks the encampment about the gazelles of al-Musalla;

what would it cost the encampment to answer his question?

ومحالٌّ من المحيل جواب

غير ان الوقوف فيها غلاله

But an answer from the desolate dwelling is impossible;

yet lingering there is a thin veil.

هذه سنة المحبين يبكو

ن على كل منزل لا محاله

This is the custom of lovers: they weep

over every dwelling, without fail.

يا ديار الأحباب لا زالت الأد

مع في توب ساحتيك مُذاله

O dwellings of loved ones, may tears forever

trail down the robe of your two courtyards.

وتمشي النسيم وهو غليلٌ

في مغانيك ساحباً أذياله

And may the breeze walk, parched,

through your haunts, trailing its skirts.

أين عيش لنا مضى فيك ما أس

رع عنا ذهابه وزواله

Where is the life we once lived in you? How swiftly

it departed from us and passed away!

حيث وجه الشباب طلق نضير

والتصابي غصونه مياله

When the face of youth was radiant and fresh,

and the boughs of youthful dalliance swayed.

ولنا فيك طيب اوقات أنس

ليتنا في المنام نلقى مثاله

We knew in you the sweetness of companionable hours;

would that in sleep we might find its like!

وبأرجاء جوِّك الرحب سرب

كل عين تراه تهوى جماله

And in your wide, open spaces was a herd,

whose beauty every eye that sees it loves:

من فتاة بديعة الحسن ترنو

من جفون لحاظها مغتاله

a maiden of wondrous beauty, gazing

from eyelids whose glances slay,

ورخيم الدلال حلو المعاني

تتثنى أعطافه مختاله

and one of tender coquetry and sweet graces,

his flanks swaying in proud grace.

ذو قوام تود كل غصون الب

ان لو أنها تحاكي اعتداله

His stature makes every bough of the bān tree wish

that it could match his upright grace.

وجهه في الظلام بدر تمام

وعذاراه حوله كالهاله

His face in darkness is a full moon,

and the down on both his cheeks surrounds it like a halo.

ظبية تبهر العيون جمالاً

وغزال تغار منه الغزاله

A doe who dazzles eyes with beauty,

and a gazelle of whom the sun is jealous.

يا خليلي إذا أتيت ربى الجذ

ع وعانيت روضه وظلاله

O my friend, if you come to the hills of al-Jidhʿ

and experience its garden and shade,

قف به ناشداً فؤادي فلي ثمَّ

فؤاد أخشى عليه ضلاله

stop there, seeking my heart, for I have there

a heart I fear may lose its way.

وبأعلى الكثيب بيت أغض الط

رف عنه مهابة وجلاله

And atop the dune is a house: I lower my gaze

from it, in awe and reverence.

كل من جئته لأسأل عنه

أظهر العي غيرة وتباله

Everyone I approached to ask about it

showed himself tongue-tied out of jealousy and feigned foolishness.

أنا أدرى به ولكن صونا

أتعامى عنه وأبدي جهاله

I know it best; yet, to protect it,

I feign blindness to it and make a show of ignorance.

منزلٌ حقَّه علي قديم

في زمان الصبا وعصر البطاله

A dwelling whose claim upon me is long-standing,

from the days of youth and the age of idleness.

يا عريب الحمى اعذروني فإني

ما تجنيت أرضكم عن ملاله

O dear Arabs of the sanctuary, forgive me, for I

have not slighted your land out of boredom.

حاش للَّه غير أنّي أخشى

من عدوٍّ يسيء فينا المقاله

God forbid! It is only that I fear

an enemy who speaks ill of us.

فتأخرت عنكم قانعاً من

طيفكم في المنام يهدي خياله

So I kept away from you, content with

your apparition, offering its image in sleep.

أتمنى في النوم زور خيالٍ

والأماني أطماعها قتَّاله

I long in sleep for a phantom's visit,

and wishes have deadly cravings.

يا أهيل النقا وحق ليالي

الوصل ما صبوتي عليكم ضلاله

O dear folk of al-Naqa, by the sanctity of nights

of union, my longing for you is no error.

لي مذ غبتم عن العين نارٌ

ليس تخبو وادمع هطَّاله

Since you vanished from sight, mine is a fire

that never dies down, and tears that pour.

فصلونا ان شئتمُ أو فصُدّوا

لا عدمناكم على كل حاله

So grant us union if you wish, or turn away;

may we never lose you, whatever happens.