هاتيكَ جُملٌ بأرضٍ لا يُقَرِّبُها

إلّا هِبَلٌّ مِنَ العيدِيِّ مُعتَقَدُ

There is Juml, in a land nothing can bring near—

except a massive, firmly knit camel of the ʿĪdī breed.

وَدونُها مَعشَرٌ خُزرٌ عيونُهُمُ

لو تَخمُدُ النارُ من حرٍّ لما خَمَدوا

Before her stand a people with narrow, sidelong eyes;

if fire itself were quenched by heat, still they would not cool.

عَدّوا عَلَينا ذُنوباً في زيارَتِها

لِيَحجبوها وَفي أخلاقِهم نَكَدُ

They counted our visits to her as sins against us,

that they might hide her away—crabbedness is in their nature.

وَحالَ من دونها شَكسٌ خلائِقُه

كأَنَّهُ نَمِرٌ في جِلدِهِ الرُبَدُ

And barring the way to her is one harsh in disposition,

as though he were a leopard with dusky mottlings on his hide.

فَلَيسَ إلّا عويلٌ كلَّما ذُكِرَت

أو زَفرَةٌ طالما أنَّت بها الكَبِد

There is nothing but wailing whenever she is mentioned,

or a sigh—the liver has so often groaned because of her.

وَتَيَّمَتنِيَ جُملٌ فاستَمَرَّ بها

شحطٌ مِنَ الدارِ لا أمٌّ ولا صَدَدُ

Juml has enthralled me, and because of her there persists

a far remove from home—no route toward her, no approach.

قالوا غَداةَ استقلَّت ما لمقلَتِهِ

أمِن قَذىً هَمَلَت أم عارها رَمَدُ

On the morning she set out, they said, “What ails his eye?

Has a mote made it stream, or has inflammation assailed it?”

فَقُلتُ لا بَل غَدَت سلمى لِطيَّتِها

فليتَهُم مثلَ وجدي بُكرَةً وُجِدوا

I said, “No; rather, Salma has gone upon her journey.”

Would that, one morning, they were stricken with longing like mine.

إن كانَ وَصلُكِ أَبلى الدهرُ جدَّته

وكلُّ شيءٍ جَديدٍ هالِكٌ نَفَدُ

If time has worn the newness from union with you,

every new thing is doomed to perish and pass.

فقد أُراني وَوَجدي إذ تفارِقُني

يوماً كوجدِ عجوزٍ دِرعُها قِدَدُ

I see myself and my longing, when you part from me,

one day like the grief of an old woman, her shift torn into strips,

تبكي على بَطَلٍ حُمَّت مَنِيَّتُهُ

وكانَ واتِرَ أَعداءٍ بهِ ابتُرُدوا

weeping for a hero whose appointed death came due,

who had left foes craving blood, until through him their vengeance cooled.

وَقَد خَلا زَمَنٌ لو تَصرِمينَ لَهُ

وَصلي لأَيقَنتُ أَنّي مَيِّتٌ كَمِدُ

There passed a time when, had you broken then

my bond with you, I would have known for certain I must die of grief—

أَزمانَ تُعجِبُني جُملٌ وأكتُمُه

جُملاً حياءً وما وَجدٌ كما أَجِدُ

the times when Juml delighted me and I concealed it

from Juml out of modesty; no longing matches what I feel.

فَقَد بَرِئتُ على أَنّي إذا ذُكرت

ينهَلُّ دَمعي وَتَحيا غُصَّةٌ تَلِدُ

I have recovered—except that, whenever she is mentioned,

my tears stream down, and a choking pang comes alive, giving birth anew—

من عَهدِ سلمى التي هامَ الفؤادُ بها

أزمانَ أَزمان سَلمى طَفَلةٌ رُؤدُ

ever since the days of Salma, she with whom the heart was enthralled,

those times, those times when Salma was a tender, graceful girl.

قَد قلتُ للكاشِحِ المُبدي عَداوته

قَد طالما كانَ مِنكَ الغِشُّ والحَسَدُ

I said to the spiteful detractor who displays his enmity,

“Long have deceit and envy come from you.

ألا تُبَيِّنُ لي لازِلتَ تَبغُضُني

حتّامَ أَنتَ إذا ما ساعَقَت ضَمِدُ

Will you not make it clear to me—you who have never ceased to hate me—

how long, whenever you quarrel, will you remain rancorous?

وَقَد ترى غيرَ ذي شكٍّ وتَعلَمُهُ

أن ليسَ لي إذ نأت صبرٌ ولا جَلَدُ

You see it beyond all doubt, and you know it:

since she went far away, I have neither patience nor endurance.”