أنى ومن أين آبك الطرب — Kumait Bin Zaid

أنَّى وَمِن أينَ آبَكَ الطَّرَبُ

مِن حَيثُ لا صَبوَةٌ ولا رِيَبٌ

How, and from where, has rapture returned to you?

From where there is neither youthful infatuation nor misgiving.

لا مِن طِلابِ المُحَجَّبَاتِ إذا

ألقى دُونَ المَعَاصِر الحُجبُ

Not from pursuing secluded women when

screens are cast before the young maidens;

ولاحُمولٍ غَدَت ولا دِمَنٍ

مَرَّ لها من بَعدِ حِقبَةٍ حِقَبُ

nor departing camel-loads, nor abandoned camps

over which ages have passed after an age.

ولم تَهِجنِي الظُؤارُ في المَنزِل

القَفرِ بُرُوكاً وما لَهَا رُكَبُ

Nor did the nursing she-camels stir me in the dwelling,

desolate, kneeling though they have no knees:

جُردٌ جِلادٌ مُعَطَّفَاتٌ على ال

أقرنِ لا رِجعَةٌ ولا جَلَبُ

bare, hardy hearthstones curved around the

horned pot, neither returning herd nor driven herd;

ولا مَخَاضٌ ولا عِشارُ مَطَا

فيلُ ولا قُرَّحٌ ولا سُلُبُ

neither pregnant camels, nor ten-month bearers, nor mothers

with calves, nor sore-backed ones, nor bereaved ones.

أُنِخنَ أُدمَاً فَصِرنَ دُهماً وما

غَيَّرَهُنَّ الهِنَاءُ والجَرَبُ

They were settled tawny and became black, though

neither tar nor mange had changed them.

كانت مَطَايَا المُضَمَّناتِ من ال

جُوعِ دواءَ العِيَال أن سَغِبُوا

They were mounts for vessels containing

the household's remedy for hunger when they went hungry.

ولا شَجِيجٌ أقَامَ في دِمنَةِ ال

مَنزِلِ لا نَاكِحٌ ولا عَزَبٌ

Nor a split-headed stake remaining in the traces of the

dwelling, neither married nor unmarried:

أشعَثُ ذو لِمَّةٍ تخطّأه ال

الدُهن غَنياً وَمَا له نَشَبُ

shaggy, with a tuft of hair untouched by

oil, rich though possessing no property.

قَلَّدُه كالوِشاحِ جَالَ على ال

كَاعِبِ من مُنهِجَاتِه الطُنُبُ

Tent-ropes from its frayed cords encircled it like a sash passing around a

full-breasted maiden.

ولا كَمِدرى الصَنَاع أُلقِي ف

ي الدِمنَة لا مُصفَح ولا خَشِبُ

Nor something like a skilled woman's hairpin, cast

into the camp's remains, neither flattened nor rough-hewn;

ولا دَوَادٍ أُذِلَّ منهن لل

وِلدَة ما جَرَّروا وما سَحَبوا

nor dangling playthings, of which were surrendered to the

children whatever they dragged and pulled.

مَا لِيَ في الدَّارِ بعدَ ساكِنها

ولو تَذَكّرتُ أهلَها أرَبُ

I have no desire for the dwelling after its inhabitants,

even if I remember its people.

لاَ الدَّارُ رَدّت جَوابَ سَائِلَها

ولا بَكَت أهلَها إذا اغتَرَبُوا

The dwelling neither answered its questioner

nor wept for its people when they departed.

أهلاَنِ للدَّارِ مِنهُم الأَنَسُ الظَّا

عِنُ مِنهُم باكٍ ومُكتَئِبُ

The dwelling has two kinds of inhabitants: its human company departs,

among them the weeping and the sorrowful;

والوَحشُ بَعدَ الأنِيسِ قَاطِنَةٌ

لِكُلِّ دَارٍ من أهلِهَا عُقَبُ

and wild beasts settle after the human companions.

Every dwelling has successors to its inhabitants.

لا هَؤلاءِ اجتَوَت ولا نَكِرت

ولاَ عَلَى هؤُلاكَ تَنتَحِبُ

It neither dislikes these nor finds them strange,

nor does it lament those others.

يَا بَاكِيَ التَلعَةِ القِفَارِ وَلَم

تَبكِ عَلَيكَ التِلاَعُ والرَحَبُ

O mourner for the deserted valley, although

the valleys and open spaces have not wept for you!

أبرِح بِمَن كُلِّفَ الديارَ وما

تَزعُمُ فِيهِ الشَّواحِجُ النُعُبُ

How astonishing is one enamored of dwellings and of what

croaking, cawing ravens claim about them,

والأظبِيَ البَارِحَاتِ هَل كَانَ في ال

أقرُنِ مِنها أم لَم يَكُن عَضَبُ

and gazelles passing to the left—whether among their

horns there was a broken one or not.

هذا ثَنَائي على الدِيارِ وقد

تأخذُ مني الدِيارُ والنَّسَبُ

Such is my praise of dwellings, though

dwellings and ancestral ties once captivated me.

واطلُبُ الشَّأوَ من نوازعِ اللَّ

هوِ وألقى الصِبا فَنَصطَحِبُ

I would pursue the utmost reach of pleasure's impulses

and meet youthful passion, and we would keep company.

وأستَبِي الكَاعِبَ العَقِيلةَ إذ

أسهُمي الصائِباتُ والصُيُبُ

I would captivate the noble, full-breasted maiden when

my arrows were accurate, striking their marks.

وأشغَلُ الفارغاتِ من أعيُنِ ال

بِيضِ وَيَسلُبنني وأستلِبُ

I would occupy the idle eyes of

fair women; they would steal my heart, and I theirs.

إذ لِمَّتي جَثلَةٌ أُكَفِّئُها

يَضحَكُ مني الغَوانِيُ العَجَبُ

When my hair was thick and I tossed it about,

admiring beauties smiled at me.

فاستَبدَلَت بالسوادِ أبيضَ لا

يَكتُمه بالخِضاب مُختَضِبُ

Then it exchanged its blackness for a whiteness that

no user of dye can conceal.

وَصِرتُ عَمَّ الفَتاةِ تَتئِبُ ال

كَاعِبُ من رُؤيتي وأتَئِبُ

I became the young woman's uncle; the

full-breasted maiden is embarrassed to see me, and I am embarrassed.

يَحسُبنَ لي في السنين خمسينَ تَك

بِيرِي والأربعينَ أحتَسِبُ

They reckon me fifty years old,

calling me elderly, while I count forty.

مُنطوياتٍ عني كما انقبضتُ وقد يُقبِض

بعد انبساطه السَّبَبُ أي الحَبل

They shrink away as I have withdrawn; and it may be tightened,

after being stretched, the cord—that is, the rope.

فَاعتَتَبَ الشوُُ من فؤادي وال

شِعرُ إلى من إليهِ مُعتَتَبُ

So longing in my heart turned, and

poetry, toward one to whom they rightly turn:

إلى السِراجِ المنيرِ أحمدض لا

تَعدِلُني رَغبَةٌ ولا رَهَبُ

toward the shining lamp, Ahmad; neither

desire nor fear diverts me

عَنهُ إلى غَيرِهِ وَلَو رَفَعَ ال

نَّاسُ إليَّ العيونَ وارتَقَبُوا

from him toward another, even if the

people raise their eyes toward me and watch,

وَقِيلَ أفرَطَّتَ بل قَصَدتُ ولو

عَنَّفَنِي القَائِلونَ أو ثَلَبُوا

and I am told, 'You have gone too far!' Rather, I have kept the proper course, even if

those who speak rebuke or revile me.

إليكَ يا خيرَ مَن تَضَمَّنَت ال

أرضُ وإن عابَ قوليَ العَيَبُ

To you, O best of those whom the

earth contains, even if faultfinders criticize my words.

لجَّ بتفضِيلِكَ اللسانُ ولو

أكثِرَ فيك الضَجاجُ واللَّجَبُ

My tongue persists in proclaiming your excellence, even if

clamor and uproar about you grow loud.

أنتَ المُصَفَّى المُهَذَّبُ المَحضُ في ال

نِّسبَةِ أن نَصَّ قَومَك النَّسَبُ

You are the refined, the purified, the unmixed in

lineage, when ancestry brings your people to prominence.

أكرَمُ عِيدَانِنَا وأطيَبُها

عُودُكَ عُودُ النُضارِ لا الغَرَبُ

The noblest and finest of our timbers

is yours: noble golden wood, not willow.

ما بَينَ حَوَّاءَ أن نُسِبتض إلى

آمنةَ اعتَمَّ نَبتُكَ الهَدَبُ

Between Eve, when your descent is traced, and

Aminah, your drooping growth flourished luxuriantly.

قَرناً فَقَرناً تَنَاسَخُوك لكَ ال

فِضَّةُ منها بَيضَاءُ والذَّهَبُ

Generation after generation they passed you onward; yours are the

white silver among them and the gold,

حتى عَلا بَيتُك المُهَذَّبُ من

خِندِفَ عَليَاءَ تَحتَها العَرَبُ

until your purified house rose from

Khindif to a height beneath which stand the Arabs.

يَنشَقُّ عن حَدِّها الأتِيُّ كَمَا

شُقَّت مَآلِي المَآتِمِ القُشُبُ

The oncoming torrent splits against its edge, as

fresh mourning cloths are torn.

والسَّابِقُ الصَّادِقُ المُوَفَّقُ وال

خاتِمُ للأنبياءِ إذ ذَهَبُوا

And the foremost, truthful, rightly guided one, and the

seal of the prophets when they had passed away;

والحَاشِرُ الآخِرُ المُصَدِّقُ لل

أولِ فِيمَا تَنَاسُخُ الكُتُبِ

and the final gatherer, confirming the

first in the succession of scriptures;

والرَاكِبُ الطَالِبُ المُسَخَّرةُ ال

رِّيحُ له ناصِرَينِ والرُعُبُ

and the riding pursuer, for whom were subjected the

wind and terror, two helpers;

والطَّيِبُونَ المُسَوَّمُونَ أُولو ال

أجنِحَةِ المُدرِكُونَ ما طَلَبُوا

and the pure, marked ones, possessors of

wings, who attain whatever they seek.

مُبَشِّرَاً مُنذِرَاً ضياءَ به

أُنكَرَ فينا الدُّوار والنُّصُبُ

A bearer of good news, a warner, a light through whom

Duwwar and the idol-stones were repudiated among us,

مِن بَعدِ إِذ نَحنُ عَاكِفُونَ لَهَا

بالعَترِ تِلكَ المَناسِكُ الخَيَبُ

after we had devoted ourselves to them

with sacrifices—those fruitless rites;

وَمِلَّةُ الزاعمينَ عيسى ابنِم اللّ

ه وما صَوَّروا وما صَلَبُوا

and the creed of those claiming Jesus is the son of

God, and what they fashioned and what they crucified.

مُهَاجِراً سَائِراً وقد شَالَتش الحَربُ

لِقَاحَاً لغُبرِها الكُثَبُ

Migrating, journeying, while war had lifted herself

to conceive, her dust heaped in mounds:

مَبسُورَةً شَارِفاً مُصَرَّمَةً

مَحلُوبُها الصَّابُ حِينَ تُحتَلَبُ

mated untimely, an old she-camel with dried-up udders,

whose milk is bitter sap when she is milked.

في مَرِنٍ ينتهي إلى مَرِنٍ

عنه انصِرَافاً والحَالُ يَنقَلِبُ

In one course that ends in another course,

leaving the former behind as circumstances change;

في طَلَقٍ مِيحَ للأَوسِ والخَزرَجِ

ما لا تَضَمَّنُ القُلُبُ

in freedom, there was drawn for the Aws and Khazraj

what wells cannot contain:

مَجدُ حَيَاةٍ وَمَجدُ آخرةٍ

سَجلانِ لا يَنزَحَان ما شَرِبُوا

glory in life and glory in the hereafter,

two great buckets never drained, however much they drink;

واسمٌ هو المستفادُ لا النَبَزُ ال

كاذبُ مَن قَالَهُ ولا اللَّقَبُ

and a name truly earned, not an insulting epithet whose

speaker lies, nor a mere nickname.

لا من تِلادٍ ولا تُراثِ أبٍ

إلا عطاءَ الذي له غَضِبُوا

Not from ancient possessions or a father's inheritance,

but only the gift of Him for whom they grew angry.

يا صاحبَ الحَوضِ يَومَ لا شِربَ للض

وَارِدِ إلا ما كان يَضطَرِبُ

O master of the Pool, on the day when there is no drink for the

one who comes except the water that ripples!

نَفسِي فَدَت أعظُماً تَضَمَّنَها

قَبرُكَ فيه العَفَافُ والحَسَبُ

May my soul ransom the bones enclosed by

your grave, wherein are chastity and nobility.

أجرُك عندي من الأوُدِّ لقُرباك

سَجِيّاتُ نَفسِيَ الوُظبُ

Your recompense from me, in affection for your kin, is

the unceasing dispositions of my soul,

في عُقَدٍ من هَواي مُحكَمَةٍ

ظُوهِرَ منها العِنَاجُ والكَرَبُ

in firmly tied knots of my love,

their securing cords and bindings reinforced,

واصلةٍ آخِرَاً بأوَّلِها

تَنَخَّلُوا صَفوَها وما خَشَبُوا

joining their end to their beginning.

They sifted its purest part and did not leave it crude.

قَومٌ إذا املَولَحَ الرِجالُ على

أفواهِ من ذاقَ طَعمَهُم عَذُبوا

A people who, when other men become salty,

are sweet upon the lips of those who taste them.

إن نَزَلُوا فالغُيُوثُ بَاكِرَةٌ

والأُسدُ أُسدُ العَرِينِ إن رَكِبُوا

If they settle, they are early-coming rains;

and lions, lions of the thicket, if they ride.

لاَ هُم مَفَارِيحُ عند نَوبَتِهم

ولا مَجَازِيعُ إِن هُمُ نُكِبُوا

They are not excessively jubilant when their turn comes,

nor excessively distraught when misfortune strikes them.

هَينُونَ لَينُونَ في بِيُوتهم

سِنخُ التُّقى والفَضَائِلُ الرُتُبُ

Gentle and easygoing in their homes,

the root of piety and firmly established virtues;

والطَّيِبُونَ المُبَرَّؤون من ال

آفَةِ والمُنجِبُونَ والنُجُبُ

and the pure, absolved of

affliction, producers of noble offspring, and themselves noble;

والسَّالِمُونَ المُطَهَّرُونَ من ال

عَيبِ ورأسُ الرُؤوسِ ال الذَنَبُ

and the sound, purified of

fault, the foremost of leaders, not the tail.

زُهرٌ أصِحَّاءُ لا حَدِيثُهم

واهٍ ولا في قَدِيمِهم عَطَبُ

Radiant and sound: neither is their recent history

frail, nor is there corruption in their ancient past.

والعَأرِفو الحَقَّ للمُدّلِ به

والمُستَقِلّو كثيرِ ما وَهَبُوا

And those who recognize the rightful claim of whoever asserts it,

and deem the abundance of their gifts little;

والمُحرِزو السَّبقَ في مَوَاطِنَ لا نَج

عَلُ غاياتِ أهلِها القَصَبُ

and winners of precedence in fields where we do not

make reeds the finish-markers of their contestants;

والكَاشِفُو المُفظِعِ المُهِمِّ إذا ال

تَفَّ بِتَصدِيرِ أهلِهَا الحَقَبُ

and dispellers of terrible, grievous calamity, when

the girths become tangled as its people turn back,

واستَثقَبَ الشَرُّ من مَقَادِحِه

وكانَ في ظَهرِ آلةٍ حَدَبُ

and evil strikes fire from its fire-sticks,

and a bend appears in the back of an implement,

وكان كالأروَقِ الأَكَسُّ من ال

نَّجدَةِ والكَربُ بَعدَهُ الكَرَبُ

and the short-horned one is like the long-horned in

valor, and distress follows distress.

فَهُم هُنَاكَ الأُسَاةُ للدَّاءِ ذِي الرِ

ريبَةِ والرائِبُونَ ما شَعَبُوا

There they are physicians for the disease that gives

cause for concern, and menders of what they have severed.

لا شُهَدٌ للخَنَا وَمَنطِقِه

ولا عنِ الحِلمِ والنُّهَى غَيَبُ

Not witnesses to obscenity and its speech,

nor absent from forbearance and understanding.

بَرُّون سَرُّون في خلائِقِهم

حِلفُ التُّقى والثَّناءُ والرَغَبُ

Righteous and gracious in their characters,

allied with piety, praise, and eager generosity.

لَم يَأخُذوا الأمرَ مِن مَجَاهَلَةٍ

ولا انتِحَالاً من حَيثُ يُجتَلبُ

They did not take up authority in ignorance,

nor claim it falsely from wherever it might be procured.

خَيَارَ ما يَجتَوُن فيهِ إِذ ال

جَانُونَ في ذِي أكُفِّهم أَرِبُوا

They choose the best of what they gather, while the

gatherers grow greedy for what their hands contain.

وَلَم يُقَل بَعدَ زَلَّةٍ لَهُمُ

كُرُّوا المَعَاذِيرَ إنما حَسِبُوا

Nor were they told after a slip,

'Repeat your excuses'; they had already reckoned.

والوَازِعُونَ المُقرِبُونَ من ال

أمرِ وأهلُ الشِغَابِ أن شُغِبُوا

And those who restrain and bring affairs

near to resolution, and men of contention if challenged.

لا يُصدِرُون الأُمُورَ مُبهَلَةً

ولا يُضِيعُون دَرَّ ما حَلَبُوا

They do not send affairs away untended,

nor waste the milk of what they have milked.

إن أصدَرُوا الأمرَ أصدَرُوه مَعَاً

أَو أَورَدُوا أَبلَغُوُه ما قَرَبُوا

If they send an affair forth, they send it forth together;

or, if they bring it in, they carry it to the goal they approach.

نَبعَتُهم في النُّضارِ وَاسِطَةٌ

أحرَزَها العِيصُ عِيصُها الأَشِبُ

Their bow-tree stands at the heart of the noble timber;

the grove protects it, their densely entwined grove.

أخرَجَ قِدحَيهم المُفيضُونَ للمَجدِ

أمَامَ القِداحِ إن ضَرَبُوا

Those drawing lots for glory bring out their two shafts

ahead of the other shafts whenever they cast them.

فَازُوا بهِ لا مُشَارَكِينَ كَمَا

أحرَزَ صَفوَ النِّهَابِ مُنتَهِبُ

They win it without partners, as

a plunderer secures the choicest spoils,

إِذ دُونَه للمُرَشَّحِين ذوي ال

غُلَّةِ مِمَّن يَرُومُه لَغَبُ

while, short of it, the aspirants, those with

thirst who seek it, find exhaustion.

صَعَّدَهم في كَؤُودِهِ الرَبوَ تَو

هِينُ قُوَىً والسُّعَاةُ لا الوَثَبُ

Panting sends them up its steep ascent, with

strength weakened—the strivers, not the leapers.

وأدرَكُوادُونَه أَحَاظِيَ في

حيثُ مَدَى الوابطينَ إِذ لَغَبُوا

And they attain lesser portions of good fortune,

where exhausted laggards reach their limit.

يا خيرَ من ذَلَّتِ المَطِيُّ لهُ

أنتُم فُروعُ العِضَاهِ لا الشَّذَبُ

O best of those for whom riding camels submit!

You are the branches of the thorn-trees, not the lopped fragments.

أنتُم من الحَربَِ في كَرَائِمِها

بحيثُ يُلفَى من الرَحَى القُطُبُ

You stand in war's noblest places,

where the millstone's pivot is found,

إذا بَدَت بَعدَ كَاعِبٍ رَؤُدٍ

شَمطَاءَ منها اللِّحَاءُ والصَخَبُ

when, after being a tender, full-breasted maiden, she appears

gray-haired, bringing quarrelling and uproar,

مَحلُوقَةَ الرأسِ لا تَجَرَّدُ بال

حُسنِ ولا بالحَياء تأتَتِبُ

her head shaven, not displaying herself in

beauty, nor restrained by modesty.

واحتَضَرَ المُوقِدُونَ إذ عَزَل ال

وَاغِلُ منها النِفَارُ والزَّبَبُ

And the fire-lighters gather, while from it the

intruder is barred by timidity and bristling fear:

قِدرَينِ لم يَقتَدِح وَقُودَهما

بالمَرخِ تَحتَ العَفَارِ مُنتَصِبُ

two cauldrons, whose fuel no standing man kindled

with markh wood beneath afar wood.

لا بالجِعَالَينِ يُنزِلانِ ولا

بالشِّيحِ يُذكِي سَنَاهما اللَّهَبُ

They are not lowered with two pot-cloths, nor

does flame kindle their radiance with wormwood;

في إِرَتَي فَيلَقضينِ بَينَهُما

من غَيرِ نَارش القَوَابِسِ الشُّهُبُ

in the two hearths of two armies, between them

bright sparks drawn from no ordinary fire.

وفي السِّنينَ الغُيُوثُ بَاكِرَةً

إذ لا يُدِرُّ العَصُوبَ مُعتَصِبُ

And in drought years they are early-coming rains,

when no binder can make the bound she-camel give milk.

أبرَقَ للمُسنِتِينَ عِندكُمُ

بالجَودِ فيها النِّهاءُ والعُشُبُ

For the famine-stricken, through your generosity,

pools and herbage flashed into brightness in those years.

هَل تُبَلِّغَنِيكُم المُذَّكَرةُ الوَجنَاءُ

والسَّيرُ مني الدَأبُ

Will the sturdy, strong-cheeked she-camel bring me to you,

while my journeying is unremitting?

هَوجَاءُ كالفَحلِ هَوجَلٌ سُرُحٌ

تَنشَقُّ عَنها الهواجِرُ الذُّؤُبُ

Headlong as a stallion, huge and swift,

the wolf-like midday heats part around her,

إذا الإِكَامُ إكتَسَت مآلِيَها

وكان زَعمَ اللوامعِ الكَذِبُ

when the hills put on their mourning cloths,

and the shimmering lights make lying claims

بِمُضمَحِّلٍ مُؤَمِلٍ خَادِعٍ

لأَركُبٍ عَمَّا تَضَمَّنَ القِرَبُ

with a vanishing, hope-raising deception

that distracts riders from what their waterskins contain.

لَم يَقتَعِدها المُعَجِّلونَ ولم

يَمسَح مَطَاها الوُسُوقُ والقَتَبُ

Hasty riders have not mounted her, nor

have loads or a pack-saddle rubbed her back.

كأنَّها النَّاشِطُ المُولَّعَ ذُو ال

عِينة من وحشِ لِينَةَ الشَّيَبُ

She is like a wandering, mottled bull with the

eye-mark, among Linah's white wild beasts.

هاجَت له الحَرجَفُ البَلِيلُ بِصُرَّ

ادٍ جَهَامٍ والحاصِبُ الحَصِبُ

For him the damp, fierce wind arose with thin

rainless clouds, and a gritty, stone-lashing gust.

ثَوبَاه منه الصَّقِيعُ تَلحَفُه

والتُربُ من سَافِيَائِه التَرِبُ

His two garments: frost from it that wrapped him,

and dusty earth from its blowing drifts.

في كِنِّ أَرطَاتِه يَلُوذُ بِها

ضَيفاً قِرَاهُ السُّهضادُ والوَصَبُ

In the shelter of his arta shrubs he takes refuge,

a guest whose hospitality is sleeplessness and suffering.

لَيلَك ذا لَيلَك الطَّوِيلَ كَمَا

عالجَ تَبرِيحَ غُلِّهِ الشَّجِبُ

Your night—this long night of yours—was like

the sorrowful man's struggle with tormenting thirst,

حتى بَدَا حَاجِبٌ من الشَّمسِ وال

حَاجِبِ منها الشَّرقِّي مُحتَجِبُ

until an edge of the sun appeared, while its

eastern edge remained concealed.

ثُمَّ غَدَا يَنفُضُ الجَلِيدَ كَمَا

ساقَط عنه الهَشِيمَ مُحتَطِبُ

Then he went out, shaking off the ice, as

a wood-gatherer shakes dry brush from himself.

فاستَلحَمَتهُ الضِرَاءُ في هَبوَةِ النّ

قعِ بِجِدٍّ كأنَّهُ اللَّعِبُ

Then the hunting dogs pursued his flesh in a cloud of

dust, in earnest that looked like play.

فَجَالَ في رَوعَةِ الفًجَاءَةِ مُث

نَونَي عِطفٍ والقَلبُ مُنتَخَبُ

He wheeled in sudden terror, with both

flanks bent, his heart seized with fear.

ثم ارعَوَى حين أفرَخَ الرَّوعُ فا

ستَخرَجَ منه الحَفِيظَةَ الغَضَبُ

Then he recovered as the terror subsided, and

anger drew protective fury out of him.

فَرَدَّها بالصَّرِيعِ ذي الرَّمَقِ ال

كَارِبِ يَدمَى حَشَاه والقُرُبُ

He drove them back with one fallen, retaining the last

failing breath, its entrails and flanks bleeding.

وَنَالَ منها الشَّوى نَوَافِذُ كال

خَاصِفِ أوهَى نِعَالَهُ النَقَبُ

Piercing points reached their extremities, like the

cobbler whose soles holes have weakened.

فَتِلكَ لا ذَاكَ وهي بالمُحرِمِ الشَّ

حِبِ في مُحرِمِينَ قد شَحَبُوا

That she-camel, not that bull, bears the pilgrim,

gaunt among pilgrims who have grown gaunt.

تَحمِلُ كِيرَانَهم على الأَينِ وال

فَترَةِ منها الأَيانِقُ الشُّزُبُ

They carry their saddles despite weariness and

exhaustion—those lean she-camels.

إن قِيلَ قِيلُوا فَفَوقَ أرحُلِها

أو عَرِّسُوا فالذَّمِيلُ والخَبَبُ

If told, 'Rest at noon,' it is upon their saddles;

or, 'Halt at night,' their answer is trotting and running.

لا يَتَدَاوَى بِنَزلَةٍ منهمُ ال

مُدنَفُ من هَيضَةِ الكَرَى الوَصِبُ

None of them treats himself by dismounting, the

sick man afflicted by an overwhelming need for sleep,

الا لِخَمسٍ هي المُنِيخَةُ بال

أركُبِ حَيثُ تُتكَأُ الجُلَبُ

except at the fifth-day watering, which makes the

riders halt where the water-buckets are tipped.

كأنَّهُنَّ المُعَجِّلاتِ الى ال

أفرُخِ بالمُدلَهِمَّةش العُصَبُ

As though they were hurrying to their

chicks, flocks through the deep darkness,

يَحمِلنَ فَوقَ الصُّدُورِ أسقِيَةً

لغَيرِهُنَّ العِصَامُ والخُرَبُ

carrying waterskins above their breasts—

straps and loops belong to others, not these.

لم يَجشَمِ الخالِقاتُ فِريَتَها

ولم يَغِض مِن نِطَافِها السَرِبُ

No leather-cutters labored to fashion them,

nor did leakage diminish their water.

الى تَوأمٍ كأنَّها قَرَدَ العِهنِ

بِبَيدَاءَ لأُمِّها الزَّغَبُ

Toward twins, as though they were clumps of wool

in a desert, their mother's downy brood.

لم يَطعَنِ الرِّيشُ في مَطَاعنِهِ

مِنها ولم يَنتَعِش بها القًصَبُ

Feathers have not pierced their growing places

on them, nor have quills risen upon them;

مُتَخِذَاتٍ من الخَراشِيِّ كال

حِليَةِ منها السُّمُوطُ والحُقُبُ

wearing scraps of eggshell like

ornaments—necklaces and girdles made of them.

مِثلُ الكُلا غير أنَّ أرؤُسَها

تَهتَزُّ فيها السُّمُومُ والشُّعَبُ

Like kidneys, except that their little heads

tremble upon them, with openings and branching limbs.

لا شَاكِرَاتٍ اذا غَنِينَ ولا

في فَقرِهِنَّ الجَفَاءُ مُرتأَبُ

Not grateful when they have plenty, nor

is harshness feared when they are needy.

أولاكَ لا هؤلا اذا انتُحِضَ النَّ

يُّ وشُدَّ السِنَافُ واللَّبَبُ

Those, not these, when worn away is the

fat, and the girth and breastband are tightened,

يُوغِلنَ بالأركُبِ العِجَال وَيُع

تِبنَ بِدُونِ السِّياطِ ان عُتِبُوا

press on with the hurried riders, and

satisfy them without whips if they complain:

شُعثٌ مَدَاليجُ قد تَغَوَّلت ال

ارضُ بهم فالقِفَافُ فالكُثُبُ

disheveled night-travelers, bewitched by the

earth, its stony ridges and then its dunes.

تَرفَعهُم تارة وتَخفِضُهم

إذا طَفَوا فَوقَ آلِها رَسَبُوا

It raises them at times and lowers them;

when they float above its mirage, they sink.

إلى مَزُوِرينَ في زِيارتِهم

نَيلُ التُّقَى واستُتِمَّتِ الحِسَبُ

Toward those they visit, in visiting whom

piety is attained and merits fulfilled.