عُوجِي عَلَينا رَبَّةَ الهَودَجِ
إِنَّكِ إِن لا تَفعَلي تَحرُجي
The mistress of the howdah turned away from us
If you do not respond, you put me in an awkward position
أَيسَرُ ما نالَ مُحِبٌّ لَدى
بَينِ حَبيبٍ قَولُهُ عَرِّجِ
The easiest thing a lover obtains with
His beloved is to say: make a way out
تُقضَ إِلَيهِ حاجَةٌ أَو يَقُل
هَلأ لِيَ مِمّا بِيَ مِن مَخرَجِ
Either fulfill his need or say:
I have nothing I can do to help
مِن حَيِّكُم بِنتُم وَلَم يَنصَرِم
وَجدُ فُؤادِ الهائِمِ المُنضَجِ
You are from a people who did not defend me
When the heart of the passionate lover was baking
فَعاجَتِ الدَهماءُ بي خيفَةً
أَن تَسمَعَ القَولَ وَلَم تُعنِج
So the slim one was troubled for me, fearing
That she might hear my words and not be moved
فَما اِستَطاعَت غَيرَ أَن أَومَأَت
نَحوي بِعَيني شادِنٍ أَدعَجِ
But she could do no more than gesture
Toward me with her large black eyes
يَاوي إِلى أَدماءَ مِن حُبِّهِ
تَحنُو عَلَيهِ رائِمٌ عَوهَجِ
Oh for those I love who out of love for me
Yearn over me like she-camels bellowing
تُريكَ وَحفاً فوقَ جِيدٍ لَها
مِثلَ رُكامِ العِنَبِ المُدمَجِ
You appear with hair disheveled over your cheek
Like bunches of pressed grapes
كَأَنَّما الحَلىُ عَلى نَحرِها
نُجُومُ فَجرٍ ساطِعٍ أَبلَجِ
As if the pearls around your neck
Were stars of radiant dawn
تَحُوذُ بِالبُردِ لَها عَبرَةً
جادَت بِها العَينُ وَلم تَفشجِ
Shedding cold tears woefully
Your eyes overflowed but did not spill
مَخافَةَ الواشينَ أَن يَفطنُوا
لِشَأنِها وَالكاشِحِ المُزعِجِ
Fearing the slanderers might notice
Your condition and the shameless rebuker
كَأَنَّها رِيمٌ بِذي مَثوَبٍ
أَحورُ يَقرُو مُصَّعَ العَوسَجِ
You are like a gazelle in patterned cloth
More beautiful than the smooth stone of Al-Awsadj
كِناسُهُ الأَرطى وُمُصطافُهُ
مَعَ الغَضا المُورِسِ وَالعَرفَجِ
Your riding camel and your litter
Are with the tender green and Al-Arafaj
وَاِنطَلَقَت تَهوى بِها بَغلَةٌ
في بَغلاتٍ وُقُحٍ وَسَّجِ
And the mule went off with you
Among snorting mules with bells
يَحمِلنَ بِيضاً جُرداً بُدَّناً
مِثلَ غَمامِ البَرَدِ المُثلِجِ
Bearing white spotless eggs
Like clouds of freezing hail
قُمتُ طَويلاً بَعدَما أَدبَرُوا
أَنظُرُ فِعلَ المُفحَمِ المُرتَجِ
I stood long after they left
Watching the deeds of the confounder dispersed
أَقُولُ لَمّا فَاتَني مِنهُمُ
ما كُنتُ مِن وَصلِهِمِ أَرتَجي
Saying, because of what I missed with them
I had not hoped to associate with them
إِنّي أُتِيحَت لي يَمانِيَّةٌ
إِحدى بَني الحَرثِ مِن مُذحِجِ
I was granted a woman of Yamaniyyah
One of the daughters of Banu Murad from Mudhaj
نَلبَثُ حَولاً كامِلاً كُلَّهُ
لا نَلتَقي إِلّا عَلى مَنهَجِ
We would spend a whole year never meeting
Except on the Hajj road, if she made Hajj
في الحَجِّ إِن حَجَّت وَماذا مِنىً
وَأَهلُهُ إِن هِيَ لَم تَحجِجِ
And what's the purpose of Minā
If she does not make the Hajj
