سَقَت عُهُودُ الدَيَمِ
عَهداً عَلى ذي سَلَمِ
The ties of blood shed
A covenant over the submissive
قَضيتُ فيهِ لَيلَةً
مَرَّت لَنا كَالحُلُمِ
I spent therein a night
That passed as a dream
في جَبهَةِ الدَهرِ غَدَت
كَغُرَّةٍ في أَدهَمِ
At daybreak it turned
As a bud in the gloomiest dark
وَصُحبتي عِصابَةٌ
قَد نُظِّمَت كَأَنجُمِ
And my company, a band
Organized like stars
كَأَنَّما أَخلاقُها
زَهرُ الرُبى وَالأَكَمِ
As if their manners
Were the blossoms of meadows and valleys
أَو رَوضَةٍ أَريضَةٍ
جِيدَت بِنَوءِ المِرزَمِ
Or a gentle garden
Fenced with spear-wood
وَهَكَذا أَلفاظُها
كَاللؤلؤِ المُنتَظمِ
And so their words
Were symmetrical pearls
مِن كُلِّ مُنقادِ الهَوى
لِحُكمِهِ مُستَسلِمِ
From every love-struck
Submissive to its rule
لَكِنَّهُ يَومَ الوَغى
لَيثُ عَرينٍ ضَيغَمِ
But on the day of battle
A lion in its fearsome den
وَحَولَنا قَد رَتَعَت
أَسرابُ عَينٍ جُثَّمِ
And around us had grazed
Herds of a sleepy eye
مَهما اِنثَنَت بِعطفِها
تيهاً عَلى المُتَيَّمِ
However much they wink their lids
In distraction over the orphan
تُريكَ كُلَّ ذابِلٍ
يَعلُوه كُلُّ لِهذَمِ
You see every withered one
Towered by every dwarf
طارَحتُها نَجوى غَرا
مٍ مِن مُحِبٍّ مُغرَمِ
Their whispered secrets
Of a passionate lover
وَلَم أَذُد سَرح اللِحا
ظِ عَن حِماها المُرهَمِ
And I did not prevent the glances
From their talkative gatherings
حَتّى إِذا جالَ الكَرى
بِجَفنِها ذي السَقَمِ
Until when fate glanced
At their sick eye
نامَت وَلَمّا أَنَم
عَلى جَوىً مُخَيّمِ
They slept and when I slept
On burning embers
وَعِبرة مُراقةٍ
كَهاطِلاتِ الدِيَمِ
And tears of agony
Like blood shedders
حَتّى إِذا الصُبحُ أَتى
في جَحفلٍ عَرَمرَمِ
Until when dawn came
In overwhelming influx
وَاللَيلُ وَلّى هارِباً
بِجَيشِهِ المُنهَزِمِ
And night escaped
With its defeated troops
وَمالَتِ الجَوزاءُ إِث
رَ غَفرِها بِالفَدَمِ
And the Pleiades inclined
Their forgiveness in the horizon
فارَقتُها وَفي الحَشا
رسُّ هَوىً مُحكّمِ
I left them, and in my mind love
Firmly embedded
وَفي العُيون لا بَكَت
صَوبُ دُموعٍ وَدَمِ
And in the eyes – no crying –
Over tears and blood
مِن مُشرِقاتِ المَبسَمِ
وَقاصِرات الخِيَمِ
From the blossoms
Of forenoon
وَكُلُّ رُودٍ أُلبِسَت
بُردَ الشَبابِ المُعلَمِ
And young women wearing
The attire of youth
تَختالُ في وَشيِ صِبا
بُرداه لَم ينمنَمِ
Strutting in the glory of youth
Unwrinkled
أَوّاهُ إِن لَم تَجمَع ال
أَيّامُ شَملي بِهمِ
Oh would that the days
Reunite me with them
في رَوضَةٍ مَطلولَةٍ
بِعارِضٍ مُنسَجِمِ
In a wide garden
With consistent branches
غَنّت بِها وُرقُ الحِمى
بِمُفصحاتِ النَغمِ
Wherein the song of passion sang
In the eloquent tunes
قَضَيتُ وَجداً بِهم
وَحَسرَةً عَلَيهمِ
I have spent passion over them
And sorrow for them
إِنّي لَأَرجوها وَما
بِعهدنا مِن قدَمِ
Yet I hope for it – and between us
No old covenant
وَهاكِها بَهنانَةً
ذاتَ بَنانٍ عَندَمِ
And here she is, a gorgeous one
Of elegant build
نيطَت بِمَهوى قُرطِها
لَآلئ مِن كَلمي
Tied to the pendant of her earring
My words as pearls
عَن فِكرَة شاردةٍ
وِخاطر مُقسَّمِ
Of a wandering thought
And a preoccupied mind
تَبغى قَبُولاً في ظِلا
ل الأَكرَم بِن الأَكرمِ
Seeking acceptance in the shade
Of the most generous son of the generous
فَتى العَجَميّ مَن رَقَى
بِالفَضل هامَ الأَنجُمِ
The Persian knight has ascended
The stars with his superiority
وَتَنتَحي مِن فَيضِهِ
وَجُودِهِ المُلتَطمِ
And from his abundance
And flooding generosity
إِرسالَ ما أَلزَم مِن
لُزوم ما لَم يَلزَم
Sending what necessity demanded
Of sticking to the unnecessary
لا زالَ يَسمو بِالعُلا
في نِعمةٍ وَأَنعُمِ
He still rises with nobility
In bounty and blessing
ما غَرَّدت مُفتنّةٌ
أَرَق الحَمام الريمِ
No beautiful bird twittered
More gentle than the turtledove
وَيَمّمت مُستَنّة
لَهُ مَطايا الكَلمِ
Or glanced with temptation
At his eloquent words
