غَشيتُ لِلَيلى رَسمَ دارٍ وَمَنزِلا
أَبى بِاللِوى فَالتِبرِ أَن يَتَحَوَّلا
I passed by the abode of Layla though it was in ruins,
Refusing with determination to change and transform.
تَكادُ مَغانيها تَقولُ مِنَ البِلى
لِسائِلِها عَن أَهلِها لا تَغَيَّلا
Its love songs almost speak out of lamentation
To its questioner about its people, “Do not pretend!”
وَقَفتُ بِها لا قاضِياً لِيَ حاجَةً
وَلا أَن تُبينَ الدارُ شَيئَاً فَأَسأَلا
I stood there, not as a judge, for I had no need,
Nor for the house to reveal anything, that I might ask.
سِوى أَنَّني قَد قُلتُ يا لَيتَ أَهلَها
بِها وَالمُنى كانَت أَضَلَّ وَأَجهَلا
Except that I said, “Would that its people might be
With it while Fortune was more erring and confused!”
بَكَيتَ وَما يُبكيكَ مِن رَسمِ دِمنَةٍ
مُبِنّاً حَمامٌ بَينَها مُتَظَلِّلا
You cried, though no half-razed abode should make you weep
With a sheltering pigeon tower between its shadowed side apartments.
عَهَدتُ بِها الحَيَّ الجَميعَ فَأَصبَحوا
أَتَوا داعِياً لِلَّهِ عَمَّ وَخَلَّلا
I commended it in its entirety to the Ever-Living who maintains,
They came, supplicating God who envelops and pervades.
عَهِدتُ بَها فِتيانَ حَربٍ وَشَتوَةٍ
كَراماً يَفُكّونَ الأَسيرَ المُكَبَّلا
I commended it to youths of war and vigor
As noble ransomers releasing the enchained captive.
وَكَم دونَ لَيلى مِن فَلاةٍ كَأَنَّما
تَجَلَّلَ أَعلاها مُلاءً مُعَضَّلا
How many desolate sands are below Layla’s abode, as though
The pleats of its upper wraps were clad in intertwisted coatings!
مَهامِهَ تِيهٍ مِن عُنَيزَةَ أَصبَحَت
تَخالُ بِها القَعقاعَ غارِبَ أَجزَلا
The confused, mazy sands of ‘Unayzah in the morning
Are delusion wherein the mirage glistens as the most prolific of all.
مُخَفِّقَةٌ لا يَهتَدي لِفَلاتِها
مِنَ القَومِ إِلّا مَن مَضى وَتَوَكَّلا
Fluttering about, none attains deliverance from its wastes
Save those who have passed away or those who trust in God.
يُهالُ بِها رَكبُ الفَلاةِ مِنَ الرَدى
وَمِن خَوفِ هاديهِم وَما قَد تَحَمَّلا
The travelers in its barren wastes stagger along
Fearing for their guide, bearing what he has borne.
إِذا جالَ فيها الثَورُ شَبَّهتَ شَخصَهُ
بَجَوزِ الفَلاةِ بَربَرِيّاً مُجَلَّلا
When the bull wanders in confusion, you liken its figure
To a wild ox of the wastes, shaggy and disheveled.
تَقَطَّعَ جونِيُّ القَطا دونَ مائِها
إِذا الآلُ بِالبيدِ البَسابِسِ هَروَلا
The canal of Junayy splits before its waters.
When the vessels strive with poles, the beasts stampede.
إِذا حانَ فيها وَقعَةُ الرَكبِ لَم تَجِد
بِها العيسُ إِلّا جِلدَها مُتَعَلَّلا
When the caravan is waylaid therein, you find
No trace save its lower stones disjointed and scattered about.
قَطَعتُ إِلى مَعروفِها مُنكَراتِها
إِذا البيدُ هَمَّت بِالضُحى أَن تَغَوَّلا
I crossed its known parts and the parts unknown,
When the beasts ceased their prowling at dawn to advance.
بِأَدماءَ حُرجوجٍ كَأَنَّ بِدَفِّها
تَهاويلَ هِرٍّ أَو تَهاويلَ أَخيلا
With the blood of Zamzam’s valiant defenders, as though
The gurgling of hawks or the gurgling of sandgrouse flocks.
تَدافَعُ في ثِنيِ الجَديلِ وَتَنتَحي
إإِذا ما غَدَت دَفواءَ في المَشيِ عَيهَلا
Crowding together in the folds of little dunes, advancing
When the trackers went searching at dawn for lost camels.
تَدافُعَ غَسّانِيَّةٍ وَسطَ لُجَّةٍ
إِذا هِيَ هَمَّت يَومَ ريحٍ لِتُرسِلا
Jostling dead centre within mirk, launching forth
When the wind on a day of storm gave the command to set out.
كَأَنَّ بِها شَيطانَةً مِن نَجائِها
إِذا واكِفُ الذِّفرى عَلى اللَيتِ شُلشِلا
As if she were a demon of the waste belong to it
When the bamboo rods creaked “Alas” with their bending.
وَتُصبِحُ عَن غِبِّ السُرى وَكَأَنَّها
فَنيقٌ تَناهى عَن رِحالٍ فَأَرقَلا
And with the dawn she turned away from haunts of beasts, appearing
A Nabataean dog too tired to raise its chained foreleg.
وَتَنجو إِذا زالَ النَهارُ كَما نَجا
هِجَفٍّ أَبورَ أَلَينِ ريعَ فَأَجفَلا
She escaped when the day departed as a terrified
Oryx had escaped, grazing freely then turning to flee.
كَأَنّي كَسَوتُ الرَحلَ أَخنَسَ ناشِطاً
أَحَمَّ الشَوى فَرداً بِأَجمادِ حَومَلا
As though I had clothed a departing groom, gathering provisions,
Bearing the fiery heat, alone with shaggy camels.
رَعى مِن دَخولَيها لُعاعاً فَراقَهُ
لَدُن غُدوَةً حَتّى تَرَوَّحَ موصِلا
He pastured amid its steep tracks from early morning
Till late afternoon, then climbed its mountain passes.
فَصَعَّدَ في وَعسائِها ثُمَّتَ اِنتَمى
إِلى أَحبُلٍ مِنها وَجاوَزَ أَحبُلا
He clung to one of its cables and got beyond
Other cables, lodging on the high crag of a cliff notched by time.
فَباتَ إِلى أَرطاةِ حِقفٍ تَلُفُّهُ
شَآمِيَّةٌ تُذري الجُمانَ المُفَصَّلا
Bathed by a north wind, never in his life had he known
A night more painful and longer than it in suffering.
يُوائِلُ مِن وَطفاءَ لَم يَرَ لَيلَةً
أَشَدَّ أَذىً مِنها عَلَيهِ وَأَطوَلا
Throughout the night, the Pleiades immersed him
Into a flock of sheep from a shepherd's cooked bones.
وَباتَ وَباتَ السارِياتُ يُضِفنَهُ
إِلى نَعِجٍ مِن ضائِنِ الرَملِ أَهيَلا
Dark of eyebrow, as if a glowing coal
In the evening had been his night fire and morning collyrium.
شَديدَ سَوادِ الحاجِبَينِ كَأَنَّما
أُسِفَّ صَلى نارٍ فَأَصبَحَ أَكحَلا
At dawn the north wind greeted him,
A brother of the bow who bends twigs of wild plum for arrows.
فَصَبَّحَهُ عِندَ الشُروقِ غُدَيَّةً
أَخو قَنَصٍ يُشلي عِطافاً وَأَجبُلا
When he saw he could do naught but endure,
He intended to confront them with evil first.
فَلَمّا رَأى أَن لا يُحاوِلنَ غَيرَهُ
أَرادَ لِيَلقاهُنَّ بِالشَرِّ أَوَّلا
He attacked his hardy mount as if it were
Wild game that had dallied behind while he halted.
فَجالَ عَلى وَحشِيَّهِ وَكَأَنَّها
يَعاسيبُ صَيفٍ إِثرَهُ إِذ تَمَهَّلا
He wheeled about as the monk wheeled about, hoping
Through God to gain proximity though he were slain.
فَكَرَّ كَما كَرَّ الحَوارِيُّ يَبتَغي
إِلى اللَهِ زُلفى أَن يَكُرَّ فَيُقتَلا
He wheeled about, but they did not catch him, for
He was too proud; instead he drew near and confronted them.
وَكَرَّ وَما أَدرَكنَهُ غَيرَ أَنَّهُ
كَريمٌ عَلَيهِ كِبرياءُ فَأَقبَلا
Brandishing a weapon the like of which none had seen—
The weapon of his brother Hayja, the keenest and most just.
يَهُزُّ سِلاحاً لَم يَرَ الناسُ مِثلَهُ
سِلاحَ أَخي هَيجا أَدَقَّ وَأَعدَلا
He fenced with them until his throat grew crimson,
And he had filled his inner depths with their blood and quenched his thirst.
فَمارَسَها حَتّى إِذا اِحمَرَّ رَوقُهُ
وَقَد عُلَّ مِن أَجوافِهِنَّ وَأُنهِلا
His throat cast off their throats, undulating,
The casting off of the smooth file that reciprocates movement.
يُساقِطُ عَنهُ رَوقُهُ ضارِياتِها
سِقاطَ حَديدِ القَينِ أَخوَلَ أَخوَلا
He remained the day long, his shadow pierced
By the tips of their swords, until he was all atremble.
فَظَلَّ سَراةَ اليَومِ يَطعُنُ ظِلَّهُ
بِأَطرافِ مَدرِيَّينِ حَتّى تَفَلَّلا
His palm went forth, as the Yemeni sword in its sheath
Pure and bare, and he gave it a smooth polish.
وَراحَ كَسَيفِ الحِميَرِيِّ بِكَفِّهِ
نَضا غِمدَهُ عَنهُ وَأَعطاهُ صَيقَلا
The proud man of noble soul, defending his flesh,
When he wished to distance himself from it, took his time.
وَآبَ عَزيزَ النَفسِ مانِعَ لَحمِهِ
إِذا ما أَرادَ البُعدَ مِنها تَمَهَّلا
