Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا يَغُرَّنَ اِمرَأً نَوفَلِيَّةٌ

    عَلى الرَأسِ بَعدي أَو تَرائِبُ وُضَّحُ

    Let no man be beguiled by a Nawfali headcloth

    upon a head, after me, or by gleaming white collarbones.

  2. وَلا فاحِمٌ يُسقى الدِهانَ كَأَنَّهُ

    أَساوِدُ يَزهاها لِعَينَيكَ أَبطَحُ

    Nor by oil-fed, raven-black hair, as though it were

    black snakes a pebbled wash raises into view before your eyes.

  3. وَأَذنابُ خَيلٍ عُلِّقَت في عَقيصَةٍ

    تَرى قُرطَها مِن تَحتِها يَتَطَوَّحُ

    Nor by horses' tails fastened into a braid,

    beneath which you see her earring swinging.

  4. فَإِنَّ الفَتى المَغرورَ يُعطي تِلادَهُ

    وَيُعطى الثَنا مِن مالِهِ ثُمَّ يُفضَحُ

    For the beguiled young man gives away his inherited wealth

    and is praised at his own expense, then put to shame.

  5. وَيَغدو بِمِسحاحٍ كَأَنَّ عِظامَها

    مَحاجِنُ أَعراها اللِحاءَ المُشَبِّحُ

    He goes forth with a long-boned woman whose bones resemble

    crooked sticks the woodworker has stripped of bark.

  6. إِذا اِبتُزَّ عَنها الدِرعُ قيلَ مُطَرَّدٌ

    أَحَصُّ الذُنابى وَالذِراعَينِ أَرسَحُ

    When her shift is stripped off, one says: 'A spear-shaft,

    bare at tail and forearms, flat-rumped!'

  7. فَتِلكَ الَّتي حَكَّمتُ في المالِ أَهلَها

    وَما كُلُّ مُبتاعٍ مِنَ الناسِ يَربَحُ

    That is she whose family I let rule over my wealth;

    not every buyer among men makes a profit.

  8. تَكونُ بِلَوذِ القِرنِ ثُمَّ شِمالُها

    أَحُثُّ كَثيراً مِن يَميني وَأَسرَحُ

    She draws close beside her opponent, and then her left hand

    is far quicker than my right, and reaches farther.

  9. جَرَت يَومَ رُحنا بِالرِكابِ نَزُفُّها

    عُقابٌ وَشَحّاجٌ مِنَ الطَيرِ مِتيَحُ

    Across our path, the day we departed with the mounts, escorting her as a bride, flew

    an eagle and a raucous, restlessly darting bird.

  10. فَأَمّا العُقابُ فَهيَ مِنها عُقوبَةٌ

    وَأَمّا الغُرابُ فَالغَريبُ المُطَوَّحُ

    As for the eagle, it meant punishment from her;

    as for the crow, a stranger cast far away.

  11. عُقابٌ عَقَنباةٌ تَرى مِن حِذارِها

    ثَعالِبٌ أَهوى أَو أَشاقِرَ تَضبَحُ

    A fierce eagle: for fear of her you see

    the foxes of Ahwa or Ashaqir yelping.

  12. عُقابٌ عَقَنباةٌ كَأَنَّ وَظيفَها

    وَخُرطومَها الأَعلى بِنارٍ مُلَوَّحُ

    A fierce eagle, as though her shank

    and upper beak had been scorched by fire.

  13. لَقَد كانَ لي عَن ضَرَّتَينِ عَدِمتُني

    وَعَمّا أُلاقي مِنهُما مُتَزَحزَحُ

    I surely could have kept clear of two wives—may I perish!—

    and of all that I suffer from the pair.

  14. هُما الغُولُ وَالسِعلاةُ حَلقي مِنهُما

    مُخَدَّشُ ما بَينَ التَراقي مُجَرَّحُ

    They are the ghoul and the she-ogre; because of them my throat

    is scratched, and the space between my collarbones is gashed.

  15. لَقَد عاجَلَتني بِالنِصاءِ وَبَيتُها

    جَديدٌ وَمِن أَثوابِها المِسكُ يَنفَحُ

    She was quick to seize me by the hair, while her home

    was still new and musk wafted from her clothes.

  16. إِذا ما اِنتَصَينا فَاِنتَزَعتُ خِمارَها

    بَدا كاهِلٌ مِنها وَرَأسٌ صَمَحمَحُ

    When we grappled by the hair and I tore away her veil,

    her upper back appeared, and a massive, thick head.

  17. تُداوِرُني في البَيتِ حَتّى تَكُبَّني

    وَعَينِيَ مِن نَحوِ الهِراوَةِ تَلمَحُ

    She wrestles me about the house until she throws me facedown,

    while my eye keeps glancing toward the cudgel.

  18. وَقَد عَلَّمَتني الوَقذَ ثُمَّ تَجُرُّني

    إِلى الماءِ مَغشِيّاً عَلَيَّ أُرَنَّحُ

    She has taught me what a stunning blow is, then drags me

    to the water, unconscious, rocked from side to side.

  19. وَلَم أَرَ كَالمَوقوذِ تُرجى حَياتُهُ

    إِذا لَم يَرُعهُ الماءُ ساعَةَ يَنضَحُ

    I have never seen one stunned by blows expected to survive

    if water did not rouse him the moment it was sprinkled.

  20. أَقولُ لِنَفسي أَينَ كُنتِ وَقَد أَرى

    رِجالاً قِياماً وَالنِساءُ تُسَبِّحُ

    I say to myself, 'Where were you?' as I see

    men standing around, and women glorifying God.

  21. أَبِالغَورِ أَم بِالجَلسِ أَم حَيثُ تَلتَقي

    أَماعِزُ مِن وادي بُرَيكٍ وَأَبطَحُ

    In the Ghawr lowlands, or the Jals uplands, or where there meet

    rocky stretches of Wadi Burayk and a pebbled wash?

  22. خُذا نِصفَ مالي وَاِترُكا ليَ نِصفَهُ

    وَبينا بِذَمٍّ فَالتَعَزُّبُ أَروَحُ

    Take half my wealth, you two, and leave me half;

    depart in disgrace: bachelorhood brings greater ease.

  23. فَيا رَبِّ قَد صانَعتُ عاماً مُجَرَّما

    وَخادَعتُ حَتّى كادَتِ العَينُ تُمصَحُ

    O Lord, I have humored them a whole year,

    and used guile until my ready money almost ran dry.

  24. وَراشَيتُ حَتّى لَو تَكَلَّفَ رِشوَتي

    خَليجٌ مِن المُرّانِ قَد كادَ يُنزَحُ

    And paid bribes until, had my bribery been borne by

    a channel from al-Murran, it would almost have been drained dry.

  25. أَقولُ لِأَصحابي أُسِرُّ إِلَيهِمُ

    لِيَ الوَيلُ إِن لَم تَجمَحا كَيفَ أَجمَحُ

    I say to my companions, confiding in them:

    'Woe is me! If those two will not bolt, how can I bolt?

  26. أَأَترُكُ صِبياني وَأَهلي وَأَبتَغي

    مَعاشاً سَواهِمُ أَم أَقِرُّ فَأُذبَحُ

    Shall I leave my children and my family, seeking

    a livelihood away from them, or stay and be slaughtered?'

  27. أُلاقي الخَنا وَالبَرحَ مِن أَمِّ حازِمٍ

    وَما كُنتُ أَلقى مِن رُزَينَةَ أَبرَحُ

    I suffer foul abuse and torment from Umm Hazim,

    but what I used to suffer from Ruzayna was worse.

  28. تُصَبِّرُ عَينَيها وَتَعصِبُ رَأسَها

    وَتَغدو غُدُوَّ الذِئبِ وَالبومُ يَضبَحُ

    She daubs her eyes with aloes and binds her head,

    and sets out like a wolf at dawn, while the owls screech.

  29. تَرى رَأسَها في كُلِّ مَبدىً وَمَحضَرٍ

    شَعاليلَ لَم يُمشَط وَلا هُوَ يُسرَحُ

    You see her head in every desert camp and settlement:

    straggling locks, neither combed nor dressed.

  30. وَإِن سَرَّحَتهُ كانَ مِثلَ عَقارِبٍ

    تَشولُ بِأَذنابٍ قِصارٍ وَتَرمَحُ

    And if she combs it, it becomes like scorpions

    lifting their short tails and kicking.

  31. تَخَطّى إِلَيَّ الحاجِزينَ مُدِلَّةً

    يِكادُ الحَصى مِن وَطئِها يَتَرَضَّحُ

    She strides past the men restraining her, boldly toward me;

    the pebbles almost shatter beneath her tread.

  32. كِنازٌ عِفِرناةٌ إِذا لَحِقَت بِهِ

    هَوى حَيثُ تُهويهِ العَصا يَتَطَوَّحُ

    Stout and mighty—when she catches him,

    he falls where the stick flings him, reeling.

  33. لَها مِثلُ أَظفارِالعُقابِ وَمَنسِمٌ

    أَزُجُّ كَظُنوبِ النَعامَةِ أَروَحُ

    She has nails like an eagle's talons, and a foot

    long and slender as an ostrich's shin, turned outward.

  34. إِذا اِنفَلَتَت مِن حاجِزٍ لَحِقَت بِهِ

    وَجَبهَتُها مِن شِدَّةِ الغَيظِ تَرشَحُ

    When she breaks free of a restrainer, she catches him,

    her forehead sweating from the intensity of her rage.

  35. وَقالَت تَبَصَّر بِالعَصا أَصلَ أُذنِهِ

    لَقَد كُنتُ أَعفو عَن جِرانٍ وَأَصفَحُ

    She spoke, aiming her stick at the base of his ear:

    'I used to pardon Jiran and let things pass.'

  36. فَخَرَّ وَقيذاً مُسلَحِبّاً كَأَنَّهُ

    عَلى الكِسرِ ضِبعانٌ تَقَعَّرَ أَملَحُ

    He fell stunned, stretched full length, like

    a grizzled male hyena crouched low beside the tent-flap.

  37. وَلَمّا اِلتَقَينا غُدوَةً طالَ بَينَنا

    سِبابٌ وَقَذفٌ بِالحِجارَةِ مِطرَحُ

    When we met one morning, there dragged on between us

    insults and a far-flung hail of stones.

  38. أَجَلّي إِلَيها مِن بَعيدٍ وَأَتَّقي

    حِجارَتَها حَقّاً وَلا أَتَمَزَّحُ

    I peer toward her from a distance, guarding against

    her stones in earnest, not in play.

  39. تَشُجُّ ظَنابيبي إِذا ما اِتَّقيتُها

    بِهِنَّ وَأُخرى في الذُؤابَةِ تَنفَحُ

    She gashes my shins when I fend her off

    with them, while another stone strikes my topknot.

  40. أَتانا اِبنُ رَوقٍ يَبتَغي اللَهوَ عِندَنا

    فَكادَ اِبنُ رَوقٍ بَينَ ثَوبَيهِ يَسلَحُ

    Ibn Rawq came to us looking for amusement,

    and Ibn Rawq nearly shat inside his two garments.

  41. وَأَنقَذَني مِنها اِبنُ رَوقٍ وَصَوتُها

    كَصَوتِ عَلاةِ القَينِ صُلبٌ صَمَيدَحُ

    Ibn Rawq saved me from her, while her voice

    was like the clang of a smith's anvil, harsh and ringing.

  42. وَوَلّى بِهِ رادُ اليَدَينِ عِظامُهُ

    عَلى دَفَقٍ مِنها مَوائِرُ جُنَّحُ

    The long-armed man went off with him, his bones

    swaying and slanting as he rushed away from her.

  43. وَلَسنَ بِأَسواءٍ فَمِنهُنَّ رَوضَةٌ

    تَهيجُ الرِياضُ غَيرَها لا تَصَوَّحُ

    Women are not all alike: among them is a meadow

    that never withers, though other meadows dry.

  44. جُمادِيَّةٌ أَحمى حَدائِقَها النَدى

    وَمُزنٌ تُدَلّيهِ الجَنائِبُ دُلَّحُ

    A Jumada meadow, its gardens protected by dew

    and heavy rainclouds that the south winds draw down.

  45. وَمِنهُنَّ غُلٌّ مٌقمِلٌ لا يَفُكُّهُ

    مِنَ القَومِ إِلّا الشَحشَحانُ الصَرَنقَحُ

    And among them is a lice-ridden shackle that none can loose

    among men but the vigorous, unflinching one.

  46. عَمَدتُ لِعَودٍ فَاِلتَحَيتُ جِرانَهُ

    وَلَلكَيسُ أَمضى في الأُمورِ وَأَنجَحُ

    I turned to an old camel and stripped off its throat-hide;

    shrewdness is more effective in affairs, and more successful.

  47. وَصَلتُ بِهِ مِن خَشيَةٍ أَن تَذَكَّلا

    يَميني سَريعاً كَرُّها حينَ تَمرَحُ

    With it I strengthened, for fear you two would grow insolent,

    my right hand, swift to strike again when it plays.

  48. خَذا حَذَراً يا خُلَّتَيَّ فَإِنَّني

    رَأَيتُ جِرانَ العَودِ قَد كانَ يَصلُحُ

    Take warning, my two beloveds, for I

    have found the throat-hide of an old camel serves well.