Sol 6.1

  1. بانَ الخَليطُ فَهالَتكَ التَهاويلُ

    وَالشَوقُ مُحتَضَرٌ وَالقَلبُ مَتبولُ

    The company departed, and fearful visions appalled you,

    while longing was present and the heart love-stricken.

  2. يُهدى السَلامَ لَنا مِن أَهلِ ناعِمَةٍ

    إِنَّ السَلامَ لِأَهلِ الوُدِّ مَبذولُ

    Greetings are sent to us from the people of Nāʿima;

    indeed, greetings are freely offered to loving friends.

  3. إِنّي اِهتَدَيتُ بِمَوماةٍ لِأَرحُلِنا

    وَدونَ أَهلِكِ بادي الهَولِ مَجهولُ

    Indeed, in a trackless waste I found my way to our saddles,

    with an unknown, openly dreadful wilderness between us and your people,

  4. لِمُطرِقينَ عَلى مَثنى أَيا مِنِهِم

    راموا النُزولَ وَقَد غارَ الأَكاليلُ

    to men resting bowed heads upon their folded right hands.

    They sought to alight, the Crown stars already set.

  5. طالَت سُراهُم فَذاقوا مَسَّ مَنزِلَةٍ

    فيها وُقوعُهُمُ وَالنَومُ تَحليلُ

    Their night journey was long; they tasted a mere touch of a halt,

    where their resting and sleep were scarcely more than a token.

  6. وَالعيسُ مَقرونَةٌ لا ثوا أَزِمَّتِها

    وَكُلُّهُنَّ بِأَيدي القَومِ مَوصولُ

    The pale camels were coupled; they had wrapped their reins,

    and every one was held fast in the men's hands.

  7. سَقياً لَزَورِكَ مِن زَورٍ أَتاكَ بِهِ

    حَديثُ نَفسِكَ عَنهُ وَهوَ مَشغولُ

    Rain bless your visitor—a visitor brought to you

    by your own thoughts of him, though he was preoccupied.

  8. يَختَصُّني دونَ أَصحابي وَقَد هَجَعوا

    وَاللَيلُ مُجفِلَةٌ أَجازُهُ ميلُ

    He singles me out, passing over my companions, already asleep,

    while the night's reaches hurry past, slanting away.

  9. أَهالِكٌ أَنتَ إِن مَكتومَةُ اِغتَرَبَت

    أَم أَنتَ مِن مُستَسَرِّ الحُبِّ مَخبولُ

    Will you perish if Maktūma has gone far away,

    or has concealed love bereft you of your senses?

  10. بِالنَفسِ مَن هُوَ يَأتينا وَنَذكُرُهُ

    فَلا هَواهُ وَلا ذو الذِكرِ مَملولُ

    My life as ransom for the one who visits us and whom we remember:

    neither love for him nor the one remembered grows wearisome.

  11. وَمَن مُوَدَّتُهُ داءٌ وَنائِلُهُ

    وَعدُ المُغَيَّبِ إِخلافٌ وَتَأميلُ

    And for one whose affection is an illness, whose gift

    is an absent one's promise—broken pledges and hopes held out.

  12. ما أَنسَ لا أَنسَ مِنها إِذ تُوَدِّعُنا

    وَقَولَها لا تَزُرنا أَنتَ مَقتولُ

    Whatever I forget, I cannot forget her bidding us farewell,

    and her saying, 'Do not visit us—you will be killed.'

  13. مِلءُ السِوارَينِ وَالحِجلَينِ مِئزَرُها

    بِمَتنِ أَعفَرَ ذي دِعصَينِ مَكفولُ

    She fills both bracelets and both anklets; her waistcloth

    rests on a sand-pale back, twin-mounded and full-rumped.

  14. كَأَنَّما ناطَ سَلسَيها إِذا اِنصَرَفَت

    مُطَوَّقٌ مِن ظِباءِ الأُدمِ مَكحولُ

    As if, when she turns away, there hung on her two neck-cords

    a collared, kohl-eyed gazelle of the pale kind.

  15. تُجزى السِواكَ عَلى عَذبٍ مُقَبَّلُهُ

    كَأَنَّهُ مُنهَلٌ بِالراحِ مَعلولُ

    She plies the toothstick over a mouth sweet to kiss,

    as though watered with wine, once and then again.

  16. وَلِلهُمومِ قِرىً عِندي أُعَجِّلهُ

    إِذا تَوَرَّطَ في النَومِ المَكاسيلُ

    For cares I have hospitality, which I hasten to offer,

    when the sluggards sink deep into sleep.

  17. تَفريجُهُنَّ بِإِذنِ اللَهِ يَحفِزُهُ

    حَذفُ الزِماعِ وَجَسراتٌ مَراقيلُ

    Relief from them, by God's leave, is hastened

    by swift resolve and sturdy, fast-striding she-camels.

  18. يَحدوا أَوئِلَها رُحٌّ يَمانِيَةٌ

    قَد شاعَ فيهِنَّ تَخذيمٌ وَتَنعيلُ

    Broad Yemeni feet drive their foreparts onward,

    with splitting and shoeing widespread among them.

  19. بينُ المَرافِقِ عَن أَجوازِ مُلتَئِمٍ

    مِن طَيِّ لُقمانَ لَم تُظلَم بِهِ الجولُ

    Their elbows stand wide of closely built midriffs,

    like Luqmān's well-lining, its sides laid without fault.

  20. كَأَنَّما شَكُّ أَلحيها إِذا رَجَفَت

    هاماتُهُنَّ وَشَمَّرنَ البَراطيلُ

    As though their jaws were pierced, whenever

    their heads quivered as they raced, by long stone wedges.

  21. حُمُّ المَآقي عَلى تَهجيجِ أَعيُنِها

    إِذا سَمونَ وَفي الآذانِ تَأَليلُ

    Black at the eye-corners, with eyes deeply sunken,

    when they rise high, their ears sharply tapering.

  22. حَتّى إِذا مَتَعَت وَالشَمسُ حامِيَةٌ

    مَدَّت سَوالِفَها الصُهبُ الهَراجيلُ

    Until, when the day rose high and the sun was blazing,

    the tawny, long-striding she-camels stretched their necks.

  23. وَالآلُ يَعصِبُ أَطرافَ الصُوى فَلَها

    مِنهُ إِذا لَم تَسِر فيهِ سَرابيلُ

    The heat-mirage wrapped the waymarks' tips; they had

    tunics of it when they were not walking through it.

  24. وَاِعصَوصَبَت فَتَدانى مِن مَناكِبِها

    كَما تَقاذَفَتِ الخُرجُ المَجافيلُ

    They bunched together, their shoulders drawing close,

    like skittish pied ostriches bounding about.

  25. إِذا الفَلاةُ تَلَقَّتها جَواشِنُها

    وَفي الأَداوى عَنِ الأَخرابِ تَشويلُ

    When their chests confronted the wilderness,

    and the waterskins hung nearly empty from their loops,

  26. قاسَتِ بِأَذرُعِها الغولَ الَّذي طَلَبَت

    وَالماءُ في سُدُفاتِ اللَيلِ مَنهولُ

    they measured with their forelegs the far reach they sought,

    and water was drunk in the night's dark stretches.

  27. فَناشِحونَ قَليلاً مِن مُسَوَّمَةٍ

    مِن آجِنٍ رَكَضَت فيهِ العَداميلُ

    So we sipped a little from a marked watering-place,

    from stagnant water in which frogs had paddled.