زارت وثوبُ الدُّجَى قد كانَ مسدولا

وأنجمُ الليل تحمي الأعينَ الحولا

She visited when the robe of darkness had already been drawn down,

while the stars of night kept watch over wandering eyes.

وللثريَّا ترى في الجوِّ ثجثجةً

تظنُّها في أقاصي الجوِّ قنديلا

The Pleiades could be seen in the sky, a trembling glitter;

you would think it a lamp in the farthest reaches of heaven.

فكان لي طبعُها في مضجعي قدراً

ينهاجُ بالحتفِ مَقدوراً ومرسولا

Her imprint upon my bed became my fate—

rushing on with death, a doom decreed and dispatched.

مَن لي بسعدى وقد حثّ الحداةُ بها

للبينِ في سيرِها العيسَ المراسيلا

Who can bring me Sa‘da, now the camel-drivers have urged her onward,

driving the swift pale camels on their journey of separation?

بانَت ولا عنق مالت إلى عنقٍ

ولا يدٌ صافحت لثماً وتقبيلا

She departed: no neck had leaned toward another neck,

nor had a hand met hers in kissing and embrace.

آها وآها وكم لي صار من أسفٍ

لو كنت منها لثمتَ الثغرَ معسولا

Ah, ah—how much sorrow has become mine!

Had I been near her, I would have kissed that honeyed mouth.

كحلاء قد نجلتها كلّ جادلةٍ

طرفاً غضيضاً بسحر الحسن مكحولا

Dark-eyed and wide-eyed, the very sum of every shapely beauty,

her lowered gaze kohled by the sorcery of loveliness.

يُجاذبُ الخصرَ تحت الدِّرعِ دعص نقاً

منها على رأس أنبوبينِ محمولا

Beneath her shift, a dune of pure sand vies with her waist,

borne high upon two reed-like stems.

تَشكو سواعدها منها أساورها

ضيقاً وقد ملأ الساق الخلاخيلا

Her forearms complain of the bracelets upon them,

so tight they are, while her calves have filled her anklets.

تَفترُّ عن مبسمٍ عذبِ الرضاب حكى

أقاحَ روضٍ بصوبِ المزن مهطولا

Her lips part in a smile, sweet with saliva, recalling

daisies in a garden drenched by the pouring clouds.

ثغر تعلَّل بالمسواكِ تحسبهُ

مِن بعد رقدتها بالمسكِ معلولا

A mouth that toys with the tooth-stick—you would think it,

after her sleep, had been steeped in musk.

ما كان منها أمانيها وموعدها

بالوصلِ إلّا أباطيلاً وتضليلا

The hopes she stirred and the meeting she promised

were, as for union, nothing but falsehood and delusion.

يا آل نبهان ما لي لا أرى لكمُ

ندّاً ويا سادة الأملاكِ تعويلا

O house of Nabhan, how could I see for you

any peer? O lords of kings, on you I rely.

هل سرَّكم أنّني مِن بينكم رجلٌ

لا أَرتجي أملاً منكم ولا سولا

Does it please you that, though among you, I should be a man

who hopes for nothing from you and seeks no boon;

وأن أخيب ونهج النجح متَّسع

من كلِّ ما كان منكم قبل مأمولا

that I should be disappointed while the road to success lies broad,

despite all that I had once hoped to receive from you?

إِن كان يصلحُ تأخيري لكم فلقد

رضيته فاِنظروا ما كان مجهولا

If keeping me waiting serves your purpose, then indeed

I accept it; now look into what had remained unknown.

أَلا خشيتم عليَّ الآن من حسدٍ

لو تعقلون الّذي لي كان معقولا

Do you not now fear that I may be struck by envy?

Had you understood, what was mine would have seemed reasonable.

تَحاسدت قبلُ للصِّدِّيق إخوتُه

أخاً لم يحتمل قابيلُ هابيلا

The brothers of the Truthful One envied him before;

Cain could not bear Abel as a brother.

إن كنتم لي على ما كنت أعهده

لا تسمعوا فيّ هذا القال والقيلا

If you stand by me as I have always known you to,

do not heed all this idle gossip about me.