إن عرسي قد آذنتني أخيرا — Kaab Bin Zuhair

إِنَّ عِرسي قَد آذَنَتني أَخيراً

لَم تُعَرِّج وَلَم تُؤامِر أَميرا

My wife has lately given me notice,

neither lingering nor consulting an adviser.

أَجِهاراً جاهَرتِ لا عَتبَ فيهِ

أَم أَرادَت خِيانَةً وَفُجورا

Did you declare it openly—with no reproach in that—

or did she intend betrayal and wantonness?

ما صَلاحُ الزَوجَينِ عاشا جَميعاً

بَعدَ أَن يَصرِمَ الكَبيرُ الكَبيرا

What good is there in spouses living together

once one aged partner has broken with the other?

فَاِصبِري مِثلَ ما صَبَرتُ فَإِنّي

لا إِخالُ الكَريمَ إِلّا صَبورا

So be patient as I have been patient, for I

think a noble person must be patient.

أَيَّ حينٍ وَقَد دَبَبتُ وَدَبَّت

وَلَبِسنا مِن بَعدِ دَهرٍ دُهورا

What a time—when I have come to hobble, and so has she,

and we have worn through age after age!

ما أَرانا نَقولُ إِلّا رَجيعاً

وَمُعاداً مِن قَولِنا مَكرورا

I see us saying nothing but old refrains,

our own words retold and repeated.

عَذَلَتني فَقُلتُ لا تَعذُليني

قَد أُغادي المُعَذَّل المَخمورا

She reproached me, and I said: Do not reproach me;

I sometimes visit the much-reproached drunkard at dawn.

ذا صَباحٍ فَلَم أُوافِ لَدَيهِ

غَيرَ عَذّالَةٍ تَهِرُّ هَريرا

One morning I found beside him

only a scolding woman, snarling fiercely.

عَذَلَتُهُ حَتّى إِذا قال إِنّي

فَذَريني سَأَعقِلُ التَفكيرا

She kept reproaching him until he said: As for me—

leave me; I shall think it through.

غَفَلَت غَفلَةً فَلَم تَرَ إِلّا

ذاتَ نَفسٍ مِنها تَكوسُ عَقيرا

She let her guard down, and saw nothing but

a beast of hers hobbling, hamstrung.

فَذَريني مِنَ المَلامَةِ حَسبي

رُبَّما أَنتَحي مَوارِدَ زورا

So spare me the reproaches—enough!

Often I seek crooked paths to water,

تَتَأَوّى إِلى الثَنايا كَما شَكَّ

ت صَناعٌ مِن العَسيبِ حَصيرا

winding toward mountain passes, as when

a skilled woman weaves a mat from palm stalks:

خُلُجاً مِن مُعَبَّدٍ مُسبَطِرٍّ

فَقَّرَ الأُكَم وَالصُوى تَفقيرا

branches from a long, well-trodden road

cutting notches through hills and cairns,

واضِحِ اللَونِ كَالمَجَرَّةِ لا يَع

دَمُ يَوماً مِنَ الأَهابِيِّ مورا

bright as the Milky Way, never

without a daily swirl of dust-clouds,

وَذِئاباً تَعوي وَأَصواتَ هامٍ

موفِياتٍ مَعَ الظَلامِ قُبورا

and wolves howling, and the cries of owls

perched over graves as darkness falls.

غَيرَ ذي صاحِبٍ زَجَرتُ عَلَيهِ

حُرَّةً رَسلَةَ اليَدَينِ سَعورا

Without a companion, I urged across it

a noble she-camel, easy-striding and fiery.

أَخرَجَ السَيرُ وَالهَواجِرُ مِنها

قَطِراناً وَلَونَ رُبٍّ عَصيرا

Travel and midday heats squeezed from her

sweat like tar, colored like thickened fruit juice,

يَومَ صَومٍ مِن الظَهيرَةِ أَو يَو

مَ حَرورٍ يُلَوِّحُ اليَعفورا

on a day of noontide stillness, or a day

of scorching heat that singes the young gazelle.

وَإِذا ما أَشاءُ أَبعَثُ مِنها

مَطلَعَ الشَمسِ ناشِطاً مَذعورا

And whenever I wish, I rouse from her,

at sunrise, a startled, solitary wild bull,

ذا وُشومٍ كَأَنَّ جِلدَ شَواهُ

في دَيابيجَ أَو كُسينَ نُمورا

bearing markings, as though the skin of his legs

were in brocades, or clothed in leopard hides.

أَخرَجَتهُ مِنَ اللَيالي رَجوسٌ

لَيلَةً هاجَها السِماكُ دَرورا

A thunderous night among the nights had driven him out,

a night al-Simāk had stirred to pour down rain.

غَسَلَتهُ حَتّى تَخالَ فَريداً

وَجُماناً عَن مَتنِهِ مَحدورا

It washed him until you would imagine choice pearls

and pearl-like beads cascading from his back,

في أُصولِ الأَرطي وَيُبدي عُروقاً

ثَئِداتٍ مِثلَ الأَعِنَّةِ خورا

among the roots of arṭā bushes; he laid bare roots,

wet and pliant, like slack reins,

واشِجاتٍ حُمراً كَأَنَّ بِأَظلافِ

يَدَيهِ مِن مائِهِنَّ عَبيرا

interlaced and red, as though on the cloven hooves

of his forelegs their sap had left saffron perfume.

كَمُطيفِ الدَوّارِ حَتّى إِذا ما

ساطِعُ الفَجرِ نَبَّهَ العُصفورا

Like one circling al-Dawwār, until, when

the radiance of dawn awakened the sparrow,

رابَهُ نَبأَةٌ وَأَضمَرَ مِنها

في الصَماخَينِ وَالفُؤادِ ضَميرا

a faint sound alarmed him, and he harbored from it

in both ear canals and his heart a hidden dread:

مِن خَفِيِّ الطِمرَينِ يَسعى بِغُضفٍ

لَم يُؤَيِّهِ بِهِنَّ إِلّا صَفيرا

from a ragged, furtive man running with lop-eared hounds,

calling them with nothing but a whistle,

مُقعِياتٍ إِذا عَلَونَ يَفاعاً

زَرِقاتٍ عُيونُها لِتُغيرا

crouching when they mounted high ground,

blue-eyed, ready to charge,

كالِحاتٍ مَعاً عَوارِضَ أَشداقٍ

تَرى في مَشَقِّها تَأخيرا

all baring the teeth along their jaws,

their gaping mouths slit far back,

طافِياتٍ كَأَنَّهُنَّ يَعاسيبُ

عَشِيٍّ بارَينَ ريحاً دَبورا

skimming along, as though they were dragonflies

at evening, racing the west wind.

ما أَرى ذائِداً يَزيدُ عَلَيهِ

غابَ عَنهُ أَنصارُهُ مَكثورا

I see no defender who could surpass him,

outnumbered, his helpers absent,

بِأَسيلٍ صَدقٍ يُثَقِّفُهُ

فيهِنَّ لا نابِياً وَلا مَأطَورا

with a smooth, sturdy horn he aims

among them, neither glancing aside nor bent.

فَكَأَنّي كَسَوتُ ذَلِكَ رَحلي

أَو مُمَرَّ السَراةِ جَأباً دَريرا

So it is as though I had clothed that beast in my saddle,

or a firm-backed, sturdy, swift wild ass,

أَو أَقَبّاً تَصَيَّفَ البَقلَ حَتّى

طارَ عَنهُ النَسيلُ يَرعى غَريرا

or a lean-bellied one that summered on herbage, until

his down flew off as he grazed, unwary,

يَرتَعي بِالقَنانِ يَقرو أَريضاً

فَاِنتَحى آتُناً جَدائِدَ نورا

grazing at al-Qanān, seeking rich pasture,

then making for shy, dry-uddered she-asses.

أَلصَقَ العَذمَ وَالعَذابَ بِقَبّاءَ

تَرى في سَراتِها تَحسيرا

He pressed his biting and torment upon a slender-bellied one,

whose back you could see growing bare,

سَمحَةٍ سَمحَجِ القَوائمِ حَقباءَ

مِنَ الجونِ طُمِّرَت تَطميرا

supple, long-limbed, white about the loins,

one of the dusky kind, tightly fashioned,

فَوقَ عوجٍ مُلسِ القَوائِمَ أُنعِلنَ

جَلاميدَ أَو حُذَينَ نُسورا

upon curved, smooth legs, shod

with boulders, or fitted with horny hoof-soles.

دَأَبَ شَهرَينِ ثُمَّ نِصفاً دَميكاً

بِأَريكَينِ يَكدُمانَ غَميرا

He persisted for two months, then another full half-month,

at Arīkayn, the two cropping shoots beneath dry grass.

فَهِيَ مَلساءُ كَالعَسيبِ وَقَد بانَ

نَسيلٌ عَن مَتنِها لِيَطيرا

She was sleek as a palm stalk, and already

down had parted from her back to fly away.

قَد نَحاها بِشَرِّهِ دونَ تِسعٍ

كانَ ما رامَ عِندَهُنَّ يَسيرا

He had singled her out for his violence, rather than nine

with whom his desires had been easy to fulfill:

كَالقِسِيِّ الأَعطالِ أَفرَدَ عَنها

آتُناً قُرَّحاً وَوَحشاً ذُكورا

like unstrung bows; he kept away from her

mature she-asses and male wild asses,

مُرتِجاتٍ عَلى دَعاميصَ غَرقى

شُمُسٌ قَد طَوَينَ عَنهُ الحُجورا

females closed over little tadpoles drowned within,

shying away, their wombs shut against him.

تَرَكَ الضَربُ بِالسَنابِكِ مِنهُنُّ

بِضاحي جَبينِهِ تَوقيرا

The blows of their hooves had left

deep scars on his exposed forehead.

عَلِقَت مُخلِفاً جَنيناً وَكانَت

مُنِحَت قَبلَهُ الحِيالَ نَزورا

She conceived a lingering fetus, though she had

before it been allotted barrenness, rarely bearing,

مِثلَ دَرصِ اليَربوعِ لَم يَربُ عَنهُ

غَرِقاً في صَوانِهِ مَغمورا

like a jerboa’s young, no larger than that,

submerged, enveloped in its protective covering.

فَإِذا ما دَنا لَها مَنَحَتهُ

مُضمَراً يَفرِصُ الصَفيحَ ذَكيرا

Whenever he drew near her, she dealt him

a lean, steel-hard hoof that gashed his side.

ذَكَرَ الوِردَ فَاِستَمَرَّ إِلَيهِ

بِعَشِيٍّ مُهَجِّراً تَهجيرا

He remembered the watering place and headed straight toward it,

in the afternoon, setting out well in advance.

جَعَلَ السَعدَ وَالقَنانَ يَميناً

وَالموارةَ شَأمَةً وَحَفيرا

He kept al-Saʿd and al-Qanān to his right,

and al-Mawārah and Ḥafīr to his left,

عامِداً لِلقَنانِ يَنضو رِياضاً

وَطِراداً مِنَ الذِنابِ وَدورا

heading for al-Qanān, leaving meadows behind,

and long tracts of al-Dhināb, and encampments.

وَيَخافانِ عامِراً عامِرَ الخُض

رِ وَكانَ الذِنابُ مِنهُ مَصيرا

Both feared ʿĀmir—ʿĀmir of al-Khuḍr—

for al-Dhināb was a place he frequented:

رامِياً أَخشَنَ المَناكِبِ لا يُش

خِصُ قَد هرَّهُ الهَوادي هَريرا

an archer, rough-shouldered, who never shot

high, whom the foremost beasts had come to loathe,

ثاوِياً ماثِلاً يُقَلِّبُ زُرقاً

رَمَّها القَينُ بِالعُيونِ حُشورا

crouched and poised, turning over blue arrowheads,

socketed by the smith, keen and slender,

شَرِقاتٍ بِالسُمِّ مِن صُلَّبِيٍّ

وَرَكوضاً مِنَ السَراءِ طَحورا

saturated with poison from a ṣullabī viper,

and a recoiling bow of sarāʾ wood, hurling shafts far,

ذاتَ حِنوٍ مَلساءَ تَسمَعُ مِنها

تَحتَ ما تَنبِضُ الشِمالُ زَفيرا

smooth, with a curve, from which you hear

a sigh beneath the left hand as it twangs.

يَبعَثُ العَزفُ وَالتَرَنُّمُ مِنها

وَنَذيرٌ إِلى الخَميسِ نَذيرا

Its humming and its singing send forth

a warning to the army, as does a herald.

وَأَحَسّا فَأَجفَلا حِسَّ رامٍ

كانَ بِالمُمكناتِ قِدماً بَصيرا

The pair sensed an archer’s presence and bolted—

one long skilled in seizing chances to shoot,

لاصِقٌ يَكلَأُ الشَريعَةَ لا يُغ

في فُواقاً مُدَمِّراً تَدميرا

flattened low, watching the water-path, never

dozing an instant, thoroughly fumigating his blind.