أَقُولُ بِأَعلى نَخلَتَينِ وَقَد مَضى
مِنَ اللَيلِ شَطرُ اللَيلِ وَالرَكبُ هاجِعُ
I say at the top of two palm trees as the night
Has passed its midpoint and the caravan slept
لِذي لَطَفٍ مِن صُحبَتي وَهوَ دُونَهُم
أَقاتِلتي إِني إِلى اللَهِ راجِعُ
To the graceful one whose company I miss
Though below them I fight, to God I shall return
يَمانِيَةٌ مِن أَهلِ فَوزٍ تَشُوقُني
وَتَأتي بِرَيّاها الرِياحُ الزَعازِعُ
A Yemeni girl from a victorious people has me yearning
And the blowing winds bring the scent of her perfume
وِمِمّا يَهيجُ القَلبَ يا صاحِ نَحوَها
إِذا باكَرَ الأَيكَ الحَمامُ السَواجِعُ
And what stirs the heart, my friend, is her voice
When the doves at dawn mourn in lament
كَأَنّي لِذِكراها إِذا اللَيلُ جَنَّني
أَسيرُ عَدُوٍّ أَسهرَتهُ الجَوامِعُ
As if when the night maddens me with thoughts of her
I’m a captive and the mosques have kept him awake
يَرى المَوتَ غُنماً راحَةً وَالَّذي بِهِ
عَلَيهِ عَناءٌ فَهُوَ بِالمَوتِ طامِعُ
He sees death as gain, as rest, and what troubles him
Is hardship, so he longs for death
فَكَيفَ بِذِكراها وَبِالعَرجِ مَسكَني
وَمِن دُونِها الشُمُّ الجِبالُ الفَوارِعُ
So how when she is recalled and my walking stick as home
And without her are high impassable mountains
بَلى في المطيٍّ القُودِ لِلمَرءِ في الهَوى
إِذا ضافَهُ هَمٌ شَديدٌ مَنافِعُ
Rather, in the riding camel is bondage for a man in love
When a great anxiety comes to him as gain
وَنِعمَ دَواءُ النَأي وَالكَرب جَسرَةٌ
وَأَبيَضُ مَصقُولُ الغَرارَينِ قاطِعُ
And excellent is the cure of distance and worry is a bridge
My white smooth sword a cutting blade
أَجُولُ بِها عَرمَ السُرى بِتَنُوفَةٍ
بِها لِلقَطا قَد فارَقَتهُ مَواقِعُ
I roam the elevated path to Tanuf
On it, from the hunter, the gazelle has departed
كَمُفتَحَصِ المَقرُورِ بِاللَيلِ شَفَّهُ
ضَرَيبٌ فَلِلِّحيَينِ مِنهُ قَعاقِعُ
Like one carefully opening the sealed wine at night
The drinking companions have cups of it
فَإِنّي وَإِيعاد العِدى فِيكِ نَحوَكُم
أَنُوفَ العِدى حَتّى أَزُرَكِ جادِعُ
So I, though the foe lies in wait for us, head towards you
My spearhead reaches your roots cleaving
وَوَرّادُ حَوضٍ أَنتِ حَضرَةُ مائِهِ
وَإِن ذادَني الذُوّاد عَنهُ فَشارِعُ
And a drawer of water you are, though guards try
To bar me from you, still I’ll contend
أَلَم تَعلَمي أَن رُبَّ باذِلَةٍ لَنا
هَواها فَلا أَدنُو لَها فَتُصانِعُ
Don't you know whenever we show a spurner our love
I won't approach so she can pretend
عَلَيَّ وَإِنّي بِالقَليلِ مِن الَّذي
لَدَيكِ وَلَو صَرَّدتِهِ لِيَ قانِعُ
I’d be content with little of what’s with you
Had you given it to me, even morsels
مِنَ الحُورِ لَو تَبدُو لِأَشمَطَ راهِبٍ
تَعَبَّدَ مِمّا أَحرَزَتهُ الصَوامِعُ
If houries appeared to an ascetic hermit
Who’d cloistered himself from what seminaries contain
ثَمانينَ عاماً رامَها إِن دَنَت لَهُ
وَضاقَ بِهِ مِحرابُهُ وَهوَ واسِعُ
For eighty years he’d desire them if they approached
Though his prayer niche would be too narrow
إِذا اللَيلُ آواها إِلى السِترِ بَعدَما
تَضَمَّنَ سُمّارَ النَدِيِّ المَضاجِعُ
When the night hides her in the veil, after
The bedouin's perfumed cloak gathers them in
تَفُوحُ خُزامى طَلِّهِ مِن ثِيابِها
تُخالِطُ مِسكاً أَنبَتَتها الأَجارِعُ
The scent of his garment's folds mingles with musk
Grown on the trees watered down in the valley
يَشُبُّ مُتُونُ الجَمرِ بِالند نارَهُ
وَبِالعَنبَرِ الهِندِيِّ فَالعَرفُ ساطِعُ
The embers glow with the kindling, the fire
With Indian amber so the tent pole gleams
كَأَنَّ عُقاراً قَهوَةً مَقدِيَّةً
أَبى بَيعَها خبٌّ مِنَ التَجرِ خادِعُ
As if a peddler refused to sell his exquisite
Yemeni coffee, though a shrewd tradesman feigns
ثَلاثَةَ أَحوالٍ يُحاوِلُ فُرصَةً
مِنَ السُوقِ لا يَدري مَتى السُوقُ نازِعُ
In three states he tries for a chance
From the market, not knowing when it may be gone
يُعَلُّ بِها أَنيابُها بَعدَ هَجعَةٍ
وَقَد مالَ لِلغورِ النُجُومُ الطَوالِعُ
She bares her teeth after slumber
And the stars incline towards the valley
