Sol 6.1

  1. أَحارِ بنُ عَمروٍ كَأَنّي خَمِر

    وَيَعدو عَلى المَرءِ ما يَأتَمِر

    O Harith son of Amr, I seem intoxicated,

    And what a man devises turns against him.

  2. لا وَأَبيكَ اِبنَةَ العامِرِيِّ

    لا يَدَّعي القَومُ أَنّي أَفِر

    No—by your father, daughter of al-Amiri—

    The people shall not claim that I flee.

  3. تَميمُ بنُ مُرٍّ وَأَشياعُها

    وَكِندَةُ حَولي جَميعاً صُبُر

    Tamim son of Murr and its allies,

    And Kindah, all around me, steadfast.

  4. إِذا رَكِبوا الخَيلَ وَاِستَلأَموا

    تَحَرَّقَتِ الأَرضُ وَاليَومُ قَر

    When they mount their horses and don armor,

    The earth blazes, though the day is cold.

  5. تَروحُ مِنَ الحَيِّ أَم تَبتَكِر

    وَماذا عَلَيكَ بِأَن تَنتَظِر

    Do you leave the clan at evening, or depart at dawn?

    And what would it cost you to wait?

  6. أَمَرخٌ خِيامُهُمُ أَم عُشَر

    أَمِ القَلبُ في إِثرِهِم مُنحَدِر

    Are their tents markh bushes or 'ushar shrubs?

    Or is my heart descending in their wake?

  7. وَفيمَن أَقامَ عَنِ الحَيِّ هِرّ

    أَمِ الظاعِنونَ بِها في الشُطُر

    And is Hirr among those who stayed behind the clan,

    Or are those departing taking her to distant parts?

  8. وَهِرٌّ تَصيدُ قُلوبَ الرِجالِ

    وَأَفلَتَ مِنها اِبنُ عَمروٍ حُجُر

    And Hirr hunts the hearts of men,

    Yet Hujr son of Amr escaped her.

  9. رَمَتني بِسَهمٍ أَصابَ الفُؤادَ

    غَداةَ الرَحيلِ فَلَم أَنتَصِر

    She shot me with an arrow that struck my heart

    On the morning of departure, and I could not defend myself.

  10. فَأَسبَلَ دَمعي كَفَضِّ الجُمانِ

    أَوِ الدُرِّ رَقراقِهِ المُنحَدِر

    So my tears streamed like scattered pearl-like beads,

    Or shimmering pearls cascading down.

  11. وَإِذ هِيَ تَمشي كَمَشيِ النَزيفِ

    يَصرَعُهُ بِالكَثيبِ البُهُر

    And when she walks with a drunkard's gait,

    Whom breathlessness fells upon the dune:

  12. بَرَهرَهَةٌ رَودَةٌ رَخصَةٌ

    كَخُرعوبَةِ البانَةِ المُنفَطِر

    Soft-skinned and youthful, graceful and tender,

    Like a slender ban-tree shoot, bursting into leaf.

  13. فُتورُ القِيامِ قَطيعُ الكَلامِ

    تَفتُرُ عَن ذي غُروبٍ خَصِر

    Languid when she rises, speaking in short phrases,

    Her parted lips reveal cool, sharp-edged teeth.

  14. كَأَنَّ المُدامَ وَصَوبَ الغُمامِ

    وَريحُ الخُزامى وَنَشرُ القُطُر

    As though aged wine and rain from the clouds,

    And lavender's fragrance and the scent of aloeswood,

  15. يُعِلُّ بِهِ بَردُ أَنيابِها

    إِذا طَرَّبَ الطائِرُ المُستَحِر

    Were poured again and again over her cool teeth,

    When the bird of dawn trills.

  16. فَبِتُّ أُكابِدُ لَيلَ التِمامِ

    وَالقَلبُ مِن خَشيَةٍ مُقشَعِر

    So I spent the longest night in anguish,

    My heart shuddering from fear.

  17. فَلَمّا دَنَوتُ تَسَدَّيتُها

    فَثَوباً نَسيتُ وَثَوباً أَجُر

    Then, when I drew close, I mounted her;

    One garment I forgot, and another I dragged.

  18. وَلَم يَرَنا كالِئٌ كاشِحٌ

    وَلَم يَفشُ مِنّا لَدى البَيتِ سِر

    And no hostile watcher saw us,

    And no secret of ours was divulged at the tent.

  19. وَقَد رابَني قَولُها يا هَناهُ

    وَيحَكَ أَلحَقتَ شَرّاً بِشَر

    Yet her words troubled me: 'You there!

    Woe to you! You have added evil to evil!'

  20. وَقَد أَغتَدي مَعِيَ القانِصانِ

    وَكُلٌّ بِمَربَأَةٍ مُقتَفِر

    And often I set out at dawn with the two hunters,

    And each, at a lookout, tracks the spoor.

  21. فَيُدرِكُنا فَغَمٌ داجِنٌ

    سَميعٌ بَصيرٌ طَلوبٌ نَكِر

    Then an eager, tame hound catches up with us,

    Keen-eared, keen-eyed, eager in pursuit, cunning,

  22. أَلَصُّ الضُروسِ حَنِيُّ الضُلوعِ

    تَبوعٌ طَلوعٌ نَشيطٌ أَشَر

    Close-set of teeth, curved of ribs,

    Persistent in pursuit, ready to climb, active and exuberant.

  23. فَأَنشَبَ أَظفارَهُ في النِسا

    فَقُلتُ هُبِلتَ أَلا تَنتَصِر

    Then he sank his claws into the thigh sinew,

    So I said, 'May your mother lose you! Will you not fight back?'

  24. فَكَرَّ إِلَيهِ بِمِبراتِهِ

    كَما خَلَّ ظَهرَ اللِسانِ المُجِر

    Then he charged back at him with his pointed horn,

    As one weaning a calf pierces the top of its tongue.

  25. فَظَلَّ يُرَنِّحُ في غَيطَلٍ

    كَما يَستَديرُ الحِمارُ النَعِر

    Then he kept reeling in a dense thicket,

    Like an ass turning in circles, plagued by a gadfly.

  26. وَأَركَبُ في الرَوعِ خَيفانَةً

    كَسى وَجهَها سَعَفٌ مُنتَشِر

    And in danger I ride a swift, locust-like mare,

    A spreading palm-frond forelock covering her face.

  27. لَها حافِرٌ مِثلُ قَعبِ الوَليــ

    ـدِ رُكِّبَ فيهِ وَظيفٌ عَجِز

    She has a hoof like a child's bowl,

    With a stout cannon bone fitted into it.

  28. لَها ثُنَنٌ كَخَوافي العُقا

    بِ سودٌ يَفينَ إِذا تَزبَئِر

    She has fetlock tufts like an eagle's secondary feathers,

    Black, showing their full length when she bristles.

  29. وَساقانِ كَعباهُما أَصمَعا

    نِ لَحمُ حِماتَيهِما مُنبَتِر

    And two shanks with small, firm hocks,

    The flesh of their calf muscles pared away.

  30. لَها عَجُزٌ كَصَفاةِ المَسيـ

    ـلِ أَبرَزَ عَنها جُحافٌ مُضِر

    She has a rump like a rock in a watercourse,

    Laid bare by a scouring, destructive flood.

  31. لَها ذَنَبٌ مِثلُ ذَيلِ العَروسِ

    تَسُدُّ بِهِ فَرجَها مِن دُبُر

    She has a tail like the train of a bride's gown,

    With it she covers her vulva from behind.

  32. لَها مَتنَتانِ خَظاتا كَما

    أَكَبَّ عَلى ساعِدَيهِ النَمِر

    She has two fleshy ridges along her back, as when

    A leopard crouches upon its forelegs.

  33. لَها عُذُرٌ كَقُرومِ النِسا

    ءِ رُكِّبنَ في يَومِ ريحٍ وَصَر

    She has a mane like women's draped coverings,

    When they are mounted on a day of wind and bitter cold.

  34. وَسالِفَةٌ كَسُحوقِ اللِيا

    نِ أَضرَمَ فيها الغَوِيُّ السُعُر

    And a neck like a tall liyan tree,

    In which a reckless man has kindled flames.

  35. لَها جَبهَةٌ كَسَراةِ المِجَنِّ

    حَذَّفَهُ الصانِعُ المُقتَدِر

    She has a forehead like the crown of a shield,

    Trimmed to shape by a skilled craftsman.

  36. لَها مِنخَرٌ كَوِجارِ الضِباعِ

    فَمِنهُ تُريحُ إِذا تَنبَهِر

    She has a nostril like the den of hyenas,

    Through which she breathes when she is winded.

  37. وَعَينٌ لَها حَدرَةٌ بَدرَةُ

    وَشُقَّت مَآقِيُّها مِن أُخَر

    And an eye of hers, rounded and full,

    With its corners slit open toward the rear.

  38. إِذا أَقبَلَت قُلتَ دُبّاءَةٌ

    مِنَ الحُضرِ مَغموسَةً في الغُدُر

    When she comes toward you, you would call her a gourd,

    From al-Hadr, dipped in pools.

  39. وَإِن أَدبَرَت قُلتَ أَثفِيَّةٌ

    مُلَملَمَةٌ لَيسَ فيها أُثُر

    And when she turns away, you would call her a hearthstone,

    Compact and rounded, with no mark upon it.

  40. وَإِن أَعرَضَت قُلتَ سَرعوفَةً

    لَها ذَنَبٌ خَلفَها مُسبَطِر

    And when she turns broadside, you would call her a long-legged locust,

    With a tail stretched straight out behind her.

  41. وَلِلسَوطِ فيها مَجالٌ كَما

    تَنَزَّلَ ذو بَرَدٍ مُنهَمِر

    And the whip has room to range over her, as when

    A hail-bearing cloud pours down.

  42. لَها وَثَباتٌ كَصَوبِ السِحابِ

    فَوادٍ خِطاءٌ وَوادٍ مُطِر

    Her leaps are like the rain pouring from clouds:

    One valley missed, another rained upon.

  43. وَتَعدو كَعَدوِ نَجاةِ الظِبا

    ءِ أَخطَأَها الحاذِفُ المُقتَدِر

    And she runs like a fleeing gazelle—

    —One the skilled stone-thrower has missed.