Sol 6.1

  1. غَشيتُ دِيارَ الحَيِّ بِالبَكَراتِ

    فَعارِمَةٍ فَبَرقَةِ العِيَراتِ

    I visited the clan's dwellings at al-Bakarāt,

    then ʿĀrimah, then Barqat al-ʿIyārāt,

  2. فَغَولٍ فَحِلّيتٍ بِأَكنافِ مُنعَجٍ

    إِلى عاقِلٍ فَالجُبِّ ذي الأَمَراتِ

    then Ghawl and Ḥillīt, on the outskirts of Munʿaj,

    as far as ʿĀqil, then al-Jubb with its stone markers.

  3. ظَلَلتُ رِدائي فَوقَ رَأسِيَ قاعِداً

    أَعُدُّ الحَصى ما تَنقَضي عَبَراتي

    I remained seated, my cloak over my head,

    counting pebbles, my tears unending.

  4. أَعِنّي عَلى التَهمامِ وَالذِكَراتِ

    يَبِتنَ عَلى ذي الهَمِّ مُعتَكِراتِ

    Help me with my brooding and memories:

    they spend the night repeatedly besetting the sorrow-laden man,

  5. بِلَيلِ التَمامِ أَو وَصَلنَ بِمِثلِهِ

    مُقايَسَةً أَيّامُها نَكِراتِ

    through the longest night, or linking it to another like it;

    their days are grim by comparison.

  6. كَأَنّي وَرِدفي وَالقِرابَ وَنُمرُقي

    عَلى ظَهرِ عيرٍ وارِدِ الخَبِراتِ

    It is as though I, my pillion-rider, my sword-case and my cushion

    were on the back of a wild ass approaching the rainwater pools.

  7. أَرَنَّ عَلى حُقبٍ حَيالٍ طَروقَةٍ

    كَذَودِ الأَجيرِ الأَربَعِ الأَشَراتِ

    He brayed at white-flanked, unpregnant females, his breeding mates,

    like the hireling's four restive she-camels.

  8. عَنيفٍ بِتَجميعِ الضَرائِرِ فاحِشٍ

    شَتيمٍ كَذِلقِ الزُجِّ ذي ذَمَراتِ

    Harsh in herding his rival wives together, savage,

    ugly-faced, like a spear-butt's point, full of angry urgings.

  9. وَيَأكُلنَ بُهمى جَعدَةً حَبَشِيَّةً

    وَيَشرَبنَ بَردَ الماءِ في السَبَراتِ

    They graze on curly, Abyssinian-dark buhma grass,

    and drink the water's coolness on chilly mornings.

  10. فَأَورَدَها ماءً قَليلاً أَنيسُهُ

    يُحاذِرنَ عَمراً صاحِبَ القُتُراتِ

    He led them to a watering place with few visitors,

    wary of ʿAmr, master of the hunting blinds.

  11. تَلِثُّ الحَصى لَثّاً بِسُمرٍ رَزينَةٍ

    مَوازِنَ لا كُزمٍ وَلا مَعِراتِ

    They pound the pebbles hard with heavy, brown hooves,

    hard, neither stubby nor hairless.

  12. وَيُرخينَ أَذناباً كَأَنَّ فُروعَها

    عُرا خِلَلٍ مَشهورَةٍ ضَفِراتِ

    They let their tails hang, as though their tufts were

    the conspicuous, braided loops of sword-sheath covers.

  13. وَعَنسٍ كَأَلواحِ الإِرانِ نَسَأتُها

    عَلى لاحِبٍ كَالبُردِ ذي الحَبَراتِ

    And a sturdy she-camel, like coffin planks, I drove

    along a beaten road like a mantle with patterned bands.

  14. فَغادَرتُها مِن بَعدِ بُدنِ رَذِيَّةٍ

    تُغالي عَلى عوجٍ لَها كَدِناتِ

    Then I left her worn out, after her former stoutness,

    straining upward on her bowed, flesh-heavy legs.

  15. وَأَبيَضَ كَالمِخراقِ بَلَّيتُ حَدَّهُ

    وَهَبَّتَهُ في الساقِ وَالقَصَراتِ

    And a gleaming sword, like a twisted cloth whip—I wore down its edge

    and its keenness on shanks and the bases of necks.