ما بعد موقفنا بذات الضال

الا العُلالة بادّكار خيال

Nothing remains after our halt at Dhat al-Dal

save the scant solace of recalling a phantom.

ضربوا بها حمر القباب كأنها

حمر الجمال على رؤوس جبال

There they pitched red domed tents, as though they were

red camels upon the mountain peaks.

متبطحين على الرمال كأنهم

بظلال سمرهم صلال رمال

Sprawled upon the sands, as though they were

in their spears' shade, vipers of the sand.

من كل ذي طمرين اشعث مصحر

خرق القميص ممزق السربال

Men of every sort: one in two worn garments, unkempt, desert-roaming,

his shirt tattered, his robe torn;

ومسربل قطع الحديد مشمر

عن ساق ارعن مشبل رئبال

and one clad in pieces of iron, his garments tucked up

to bare his leg—a headstrong lion with cubs;

ومدرب عند الهزاهز ملتق

رهج العجاج بلا حب متلال

and a seasoned fighter, amid the tumults, confronting

the billowing dust on a broad, hill-strewn road.

وضاح وجهٍ يستهلُّ كأنما

قد رحت انظر منه ضوء هلال

Bright of face, he beams, as though

I had begun to see a crescent moon's light shining from him.

يهوي بجائلة النسوع شملِّة

هوجاء مهدمة الذرى مرقال

He speeds on a nimble she-camel, her girth-straps shifting,

headlong, her hump-tops worn down, swift-trotting.

يا هل ترى لي فيهم من اوبةٍ

اولا فمالك يا زمان ومالي

Ah, do you think I may ever return to them,

or not? Then what have you to do with me, O Time?

ولقد وقفت على الديار مسائلا

عن اهلها بطوامس الاطلال

And indeed I stood by the dwellings, asking

about their inhabitants amid the effaced ruins.

اخفي السؤال بها ويعجم ربعها

ومن الضلال سؤال ربع خالي

I hush my question there, while their campsite remains mute;

and it is folly to question a deserted campsite.