تَرحَّلَ إخواني بعقلي إنني

تكلفَ قلبي كُلُّ جارٍ لجاوِرُه

My brethren journeyed in my mind, for every neighbor

My heart obliged itself to befriend.

وأرَّقَني ما لا يزالُ يروقني

غَزالُ اناسِ قاصِرُ الطَّرفِ فاتِرُهُ

And I was vexed by what still vexes me,

A gazelle with bashful, languid eyes.

له مستظلٌ بارِدٌ في مخدَّرِ

كنينٍ إذا شَعبانُ أحمَت هَواجِرُه

For him is a cool, shaded refuge in the protected

Depths, when the hot months come and bake its sands;

بعينيك تنظارٌ الى كُلِّ هَودَجِ

وكلِّ بَشيرِ الوَجهِ حُرٍّ مسافِرُه

With your eyes you glance at each lovely roe

And every free man with a radiant face journeying abroad,

تراه وما تَسطيعُهُ غير أنَّه

يكونُ على ذي الحلمِ داءً يُخامِرُه

You see him, though you cannot have him save that

He remains a sickness latent in a man of patience.

إذا تاقَ قَلبي أو تطرَّبَهُ الهوى

فليست له بُقيا ولا الحِلمُ زاجرُه

When my heart pines or passion disturbs it,

It has no restraining today nor patience holding it back.

عصى كُلَّ ناهٍ وآستَبَدَّ بأمرِهِ

فما هو الا كالعَشِيرِ تُؤامِرُه

It disobeyed each deterrent and insisted on its own way,

So it was like a kinswoman concocting intrigues.

وكَأسٍ تَمشّى في العِظامِ سبيئةٍ

من الرَّاحِ تعلو الماءَ حتى تكاثِره

It was a wine-cup, moving about bones whitened

By the winds, raising up water till it was troubled.

كميتٍ إذا ما شَجَّها الماء صَرَّحَت

ذخائِرَ حانيٍّ عليها يناذِرُه

Like a tent, when the water splits its seams,

Laying bare the stores of a vintner who reproves it:

فجاءَ بها بَعدَ الإباءِ وَبَعدَما

بذلنا له ما آستامَ في السَّومِ تاجِرُه

Then after refusing and holding back it brought us

Together after we had offered all we owned as her price.

شَرِبتُ وفتيان كجنَّةِ عَبقَرٍ

كرام اذا ما الأمرُ أَعيَت جرائرُهُ

I drank it down, and so did lads like houris in the pavilions of Eden,

Noble, when a matter tries men's endurance.

فَقُلتُ اشرَبوا حيّاكم اللهُ واسبقوا

عواذِلَنا منها بريّ نُباكِرُه

And I said, "Drink. God give you life. Outdo

Our girls today." And when we were happy and it had circled amongst us,

فلما انتَشينا واستدارَت بهامِنا

وقلنا اكتفينا بَعدًَ عَفقِ نُظاهِرُه

And we said, "We have had enough, the traces are apparent,"

And set off slowly leading our mounts by the halter,

وَرُحنا أُصَيلالاً نَجُرُّ ذُيُولَنا

بأنعمِ لَيلٍ قد تَطَاوَلَ آخِرُهُ

In the blessing of a night whose latter part stretched out,

And the riding-beasts were girded to the saddle-bags as though they were

وَشَدَّ المطايا بالرِّحالِ كأنها

قطاً قلَّ عنهُ الماءُ صفرٌ غَرائِرُه

Wildcats from which the water had been withheld, so that their offspring were yellow,

Polished the smooth pommels, striking the pebbles, what time their driving-camels rested,

يعارضُ بَرّاقَ المُتون موقِّعاً

رضيضَ الحصا ما إن تنامُ سوافِرُه

The open country twists, and the twisting is straight in every track,

When the guide betakes himself onwards and urges his beast to keep pace.

تَعوجُ البرى والجُدلُ في كل رسلَةٍ

إذا كمشَ الحادي استحثَّت تُبادِرُه

The saddle-cloths covered them; and the trailing distant one runs as though it were

The chemise of a girl whose waist-wrapper had slipped down from her breasts.

طَواها السُّرى فالنِسعُ يجري كأنّه

وِشاحُ فتاةٍ دق عَنه مخاصِرُه

She seeks increase of her trailing skirts with her breast,

When the day takes refuge in the shade and meets it.

تَزَيَّدُ في فَضلِ العنان بصَدرِها

إذا اليومَ عاذَت بالظلالِ يعافِرُه

So he kept challenging her, like pillar-traces of high-built arches

Whose stumps crumbled when their summits broke away.

فَظَلَّ يُباريها سَمامُ كأنها

عوالي عروشٍ قد حَنَتهُ أواسِرُه

And every warrior was a turban on the head, from that with which

His claws had clothed it when he was turbulent.

وُكلُّ صهابيٍّ كانَ عمامَةً

على الرَّأسِ مما قد كَسَتهُ مشافِرُه

For I am forgetful in my youth, and my journeying is not by

Any riding-beast, and my life will not be prolonged.

فإني نفيسٌ في الشَّبابِ ورحلةُ ال

مطيِّ وبعضُ العَيشِ تعدى مياسِرُه

And verily the backs of excellent horses are our vehicles every day over the land,

Displaying our deserts to each man of past days and present.

وفي صالحاتِ الخَيل إنَّ ظهورَها

مراكبُنا في كلِّ يومٍ نغاوِرُهُ

There is none left of the living, but some heavily-laden

Arab of Rabī'ah, and their migrant kinsmen.

تُكَشِّرُ بادينا على كلِّ من بدا

قديماً واغنى مثلَ ذلك حاضِرة

And we are a people; you will not see the people resort

More quickly to our abodes than their thoughts come to them.

فليس من الأحياءِ إِلا مُسوِّدٌ

ربيعةَ أعرابيُّهُ ومهاجِرُه

When the tic sets moving the diseased part of its body,

And its salient fangs gape, it is bereft of milk.

ونحن أُناسٌ لا ترى الناسَ اقرموا

إِلى قَرمِنا قَرماً يجيءُ بِخاطِرُه

When war was stirred up for the ascent, they did not find

For us a side to climb by save the side that endured us.

اذا ما سما بَذَّ القورمَ جرانُه

ومها تصب انيابُه فهوَ عاقِرُه

We obey and rebel, according to whether that is

Our commander, though we are not always agreeing with him,

اذا الحربُ شالت للتسَّلقُح لم تجد

لنا جانبا إِلا بهِ مَن يُصابرُه

And man does not know the unseen before he sees

It, nor the matter before its consequences reveal it.

نُطيعُ وَنعصي كلَّ ذاك أميرَنا

وما كلَّ حين لا نزالُ نشاورُه

وما يَعلمُ الغيبَ امرؤٌ قبلَ أن يَرى

ولا الأمر حتى تُستبانَ دوابِرُه