1. تَأَوَّبَني فَبِتُّ لَها كَنيعاً

    هَمومٌ لا تُفارِقُني حَواني

    They came back to me at night, and I lay subdued by them:

    cares that never leave me, bending me low.

  2. هِيَ العُوّادُ لا عُوّادُ قَومي

    أَطَلنَ عيادَتي في ذا المَكانِ

    They are my sickbed visitors, not visitors from my people;

    they have prolonged their visits to me in this place.

  3. إِذا ما قُلتُ قد أَجلَينَ عَنّي

    ثَنى ريعانَهُنَّ عَلَيَّ ثانِ

    Whenever I say, “They have gone away from me,”

    another brings their first force back upon me.

  4. فَإِنَّ مَقَرَّ مِنزِلِهِنَّ قَلبي

    فَقَد أَنفَهنَهُ فَالقَلبُ آنِ

    For the settled seat of their dwelling is my heart;

    they have worn it out, so the heart is weary.

  5. أَلَيسَ اللَهُ يَعلَمُ أَنَّ قَلبي

    يُحِبُّكَ أَيَّها البَرقُ اليَماني

    Does God not know that my heart

    loves you, O lightning of Yemen?

  6. وَأَهوى أَن أُعيدَ إِلَيكَ طَرفي

    عَلى عُدَواءَ مِن شُغلي وَشاني

    And I yearn to turn my gaze back toward you,

    despite the distractions of my work and affairs.

  7. نَظَرتُ وَناقَتايَ عَلى تَعادٍ

    مُطاوِعَتا الأَزِمَّةَ تُرحِلانِ

    I looked, with my two she-camels some distance apart,

    obedient to the reins, being saddled—

  8. إِلى ناريهِما وَهُما قَريبٌ

    تَشوقانِ المُحِبَّ وَتوقَدانِ

    toward their two fires, both nearby,

    stirring the lover's longing and kept alight.

  9. رَأَيتُ بِذي المُجازَةِ ضَوءَ نارٍ

    تَلَألَأُ وَهيَ نازِحِةُ المَكانِ

    I saw at Dhu al-Majaza the light of a fire,

    glittering, though its place was far away.

  10. فَشَبَّهَ صاحِبايَ بِها سُهَيلاً

    فَقُلتُ تَبَيَّنا ما تَنظُرانِ

    So my two companions likened Suhayl to it;

    so I said, “Look closely at what you two see:

  11. أَنارٌ أَوقِدَت لِتَنَوّارِها

    بِدَت لَكُما أَمِ البَرقُ اليَماني

    is it a fire kindled to be seen from afar

    that appeared to you both, or Yemeni lightning?

  12. وَكَيفَ وَدوَنَها هَضَباتُ سَلعٍ

    وَأَعلامُ الأَبارِقِ تَعلَمانِ

    But how, when the hills of Sal' lie before it,

    and the peaks of the rocky hills, as you both know?”

  13. كَأَنَّ الريحَ تَرفَعُ مِن سَناها

    بَنائِقَ حُلَّةٍ مِن أُرجُوانِ

    As though the wind were lifting from its radiance

    panels of a robe of crimson.

  14. وَمِمّا هاجَني فَاِزدَدتُ شَوقاً

    بُكاءُ حَمامَتَينِ تَجاوَبانِ

    And among what stirred me, increasing my longing,

    was the weeping of two doves answering one another.

  15. تَجاوَبَتا بِلَحنٍ أَعجَمِيٍّ

    عَلى غُصُنَينِ مِن غَرَبٍ وَبانِ

    They answered one another in an unintelligible song,

    on two branches of willow and ban trees.

  16. فَأَسبَلتُ الدُموعَ بِلا اِحتِشامٍ

    وَلَم أَكُ بِاللِئيمِ وَلا الجَبانِ

    So I let my tears flow without shame,

    and I was neither base nor a coward.

  17. فَقُلتُ لِصاحِبَيَّ وَكُنتُ أَحزو

    بِبَعضِ الطَيرِ ماذا تَحزُوانِ

    Then I said to my two companions—I used to read omens

    from certain birds—“What omen do you two read?”

  18. فَقالا الدارُ جامِعَةٌ قَريبٌ

    فَقُلتُ بَل أَنتُنما مُتَمَنِّيانِ

    They said, “Home will soon bring us together.”

    I said, “No; you two are merely wishing.”

  19. وَقُلتُ لِصاحِبَيَّ دَعا مَلامي

    وَكُفّا اللَومَ عَنّي وَاِعذُراني

    And I said to my two companions, “Leave off reproaching me,

    stop blaming me, and excuse me.”

  20. فَكانَ البانُ أَن بانَت سُلَيمى

    وَفي الغَرَبِ اِغتِرابُ غَيرُ داني

    Thus the ban tree meant that Sulayma had departed,

    and in the willow lay a distant exile.

  21. أَلَيسَ اللَيلُ يَجمَعُ أُمَّ عَمرُو

    وَإِيّانا فَذاكَ لَنا تَدانى

    Does not the night gather Umm Amr

    and us together? That is closeness for us.

  22. بَلى وَتَرى الهِلالَ كَما أَراهُ

    وَيَعلوها النَهارُ كَما عَلاني

    Yes; she sees the crescent just as I see it,

    and daylight rises over her as it has risen over me.

  23. فَما بَينَ التَفَرُّقِ غَيرُ سَبعٍ

    بَقينَ مِنَ المُحَرَّمِ أَو ثَمانِ

    So only seven nights lie between us and parting,

    remaining in Muharram—or eight.

  24. فَيا أَخَوَيَّ مِن جُشَمِ بنِ سَعدٍ

    أَقِلاَّ اللَومَ إِن لَم تَنفَعاني

    So, O my two brothers of Jusham ibn Sa'd,

    lessen your blame, if you do not help me.

  25. إِذا جاوَزتُما سَعَفاتِ حَجرٍ

    وَأَودِيَةَ اليَمامَةِ فَاِنعِياني

    When you pass the palm fronds of Hajr

    and the valleys of al-Yamama, announce my death

  26. إِلى قَومٍ إِذا سَمِعوا بِنَعيي

    بَكى شُبّانُهُم وَبَكى الغَواني

    to a people; when they hear the news of my death,

    their young men will weep, and their beautiful women will weep.

  27. وَقولا جُحدُرٌ أَمسى رَهيناً

    يُحاذِرُ وَقعَ مَصقولٍ يِماني

    And say, “Juhdur has become a captive,

    fearing the stroke of a polished Yemeni blade;

  28. يُحاذِرُ صَولَةَ الحَجّاجِ ظُلماً

    وَما الحَجّاج ظَلّاماً لِجانِ

    he fears al-Hajjaj's unjust onslaught,

    yet al-Hajjaj is no oppressor of an offender.”

  29. أَلَم تَرَني غُذيتُ أَخا حُروبٍ

    إِذا لَم أَجنِ كُنتُ مِجَنَّ جانِ

    Have you not seen that I was reared a warrior?

    When I committed no offense, I was an offender's shield.

  30. فَإِن أَهلِك فَرُبَّ فَتى سَيَبكي

    عَلَيَّ مُهَذَّبٍ رَخصِ البَنانِ

    So if I perish, many a young man will weep

    for me—well-bred, with tender fingers—

  31. وَكُلَّ فَتىً لَهُ أَدَبٌ وَحِلمٌ

    مَعدِيٍّ كَريمٍ غَيرِ وانِ

    and every youth endowed with courtesy and forbearance,

    a noble Ma'addite, never slack.

  32. وَلَم أَكُ قَد قَضَيتُ دُيونَ نَفسي

    وَلا حَقَّ المُهَنَّدِ وَالسِنانِ

    And I have not yet paid the debts of my soul,

    nor the due of the Indian-steel sword and the spearhead.

  33. كَذا المَغرورُ في الدُنيا سَيَردى

    وَتُهلِكُهُ المَطامِعُ وَالأَماني

    Thus the deluded man in this world will perish,

    and cravings and wishes will destroy him.