Sol 6.1

  1. تعالَ سل القبيلة والجمالا

    لأية غاية شدوا الرحالا

    Come, ask the tribe and the camels

    For what purpose they fastened their saddles,

  2. وكيف تبدلوا أرضاً بأرض

    وكيف تغيروا حالا وحالا

    And how they exchanged one land for another,

    And how they changed from one condition to another.

  3. تطلعت العيون لعل ماء

    يتاح على الهواجر أو ظلالا

    The eyes looked out, hoping that water

    Might be found in the midday heat—or shade.

  4. ومدّ الشيخ في الصحراء لحظاً

    كلحظ الصقر في الآفاق جالا

    And the old man cast a glance across the desert,

    Like a falcon's gaze roaming the horizons.

  5. كأن بنيه سقما أو هزالا

    خيال جر هيكله خيالا

    As though his sons, through sickness or wasting,

    Were a phantom dragging its phantom frame.

  6. أقافلة الحياة أريتنيها

    فلم تر مثلها عيني مثالا

    Is it the caravan of life you have shown me?

    For my eye has never seen an image like it.

  7. أجل هي نحن في الدنيا حيارى

    وما ندري لقافلة مآلا

    Yes—it is we, bewildered in this world,

    And we know not where any caravan will end.

  8. رأيت حياتنا كم من غريب

    على جنبيه بالإِعياء مالا

    You have seen our life—how many a stranger

    Swayed from side to side with exhaustion.

  9. وكم من سائل لم يلق ردا

    وقد سأل الهواجر والرمالا

    And how many a questioner received no reply,

    Though he had questioned the scorching noons and the sands.

  10. فإن تجب القفار عليه يوماً

    تردُّ له سوافيها السؤالا

    So if the wastelands answer him one day,

    Their sand-laden winds return the question to him.

  11. أقافلة الحياة أريتنيها

    خيالا أو ضلالا أو محالا

    Is it the caravan of life you have shown me—

    As a phantom, or a delusion, or an impossibility?