Sol 6

  1. Did it not grieve you the day the traveling litters departed

    for Azza, when the journey was set in motion?

  2. At the open pass, as they emerged from it,

    with the watercourse behind the backs of their mounts?

  3. I saw her camels climb the mountain passes,

    the crests of their litters like towers.

  4. They passed through Turban, urged onward;

    on the slope near Malal, their pace was swift.

  5. I saw her litters and remained lovesick;

    the litters stirred my sorrow anew.

  6. Whenever my eyes caught sight of them, they persisted

    in shedding tears as my gaze persisted.

  7. By the acacias of Waddan they traveled,

    their markings bright as patches on a piebald coat.

  8. They stirred my longing at the ridge of Ufariyyat;

    one already moved by passion is easily stirred.

  9. They rode on choice mounts, nurtured

    by fertile feeding grounds and meadows.

  10. A long-striding mount cuts through the crest of every rise with them,

    or one that keeps pace and presses steadily on.

  11. And in the litters, when they drew near Qasr

    at the ridge of Suwayqa, were graceful gazelles.

  12. They traveled beautifully, neither strung far apart

    nor swaying, with their litters rocking.

  13. I nearly—when the last of them disappeared,

    their heads lowered under the bridles, their necks bent—

  14. at Dhu Jadad, beneath the high-rising Jawza,

    whose mist seemed woven cotton,

  15. after they had passed the hills of Qutaydat

    and ravines from Rakak appeared before them—

  16. died of longing, while I was overwhelmed

    as they headed toward Tihama, heavy and slow.

  17. The tears in my eyes on the day they parted

    were like a bucket soaked by an eager water drawer.

  18. At the morning watering, a drawer jerks it up;

    he pulls swiftly, and its pulley rattles.

  19. If you revealed your affection, Umm Amr,

    among your companions, the intruder would trouble them.

  20. Your hidden love would have its due regard

    for a time, while we still spoke of it.

  21. You hope to meet Umm Amr

    in Mecca, where the pilgrims gather.

Sol 6