شَجا أَظعانُ غاضِرَةَ الغوادي

بِغَيرِ مَشورَةٍ عَرَضًا فُؤادي

The green fields of Ghāḍira grieved

Without consulting me, my heart was exposed

أَغاضِرَ لَو شَهِدتِ غَداةَ بِنتُم

جنُوءَ العائِداتِ عَلى وِسادي

If only you had witnessed, O Ghāḍira, the morning

The doves returned to my pillow

أُوَيتِ لِعاشِقٍ لَم تَشكُميهِ

نَوَافِذُهُ تَلَذَّعُ بِالزَنَادِ

My abode became for a lover you did not fault

Its windows dripping with dew

وَيومَ الخَيلِ قَد سَفَرَت وَكَفَّت

رداءَ العَصبِ عَن رَتَلٍ بُرادِ

And the day the horses journeyed and stopped

Removing the veil of kin from a caravan of camels

وَعَن نَجلاءَ تَدمَعُ في بَيَاضٍ

إِذا دَمَعَت وَتَنظُرُ في سَوادِ

And Najlā’ weeps with white tears

When she weeps and looks into the darkness

وَعَن مُتَكغاوِسٍ في العَقصِ جَثلٍ

أَثيثِ النَّبتِ ذي عُذَرٍ جَعادِ

And Mutakkawis in the meadow, a graceful gazelle

Adorned with the finery of vegetation

وَغاضِرَةُ الغَداةَ وَإِن نَأَتنا

وأَصبَحَ دونَها قُطرُ البِلادِ

Ghāḍira of the dawn, though she visits us

And the regions of the land have dawned because of her

أَحَبُّ ظَعينَةٍ وَبَناتُ نَفسي

إِليها لَو بَلِلنَ بِها صَوادي

I love the place of Thu‘ayna and my own soul

Would be saturated with love for it

وَمِن دُونِ الَّذي أَمَّلتُ وُدًّا

ولَو طالبتُها خَرطُ القَتادِ

And without the one I hoped for affection

Even if I sought her till the bowstrings broke

وَقالَ الناصِحونَ تَحَلَّ مِنها

بِبَذلٍ قَبلَ شِيمَتِها الجَمادِ

The advisors said to refrain from her

With abandonment, before her nature solidified

فَإِنكَ موشِكٌ أَلّا تَراها

وَتَعدُوَ دونَ غاضِرَةَ العوادي

You are about to never see her again

And pass beyond Ghāḍira of the plains

فَقَد وَعَدتك لَو أَقَبلتَ وُدًّا

فَلَجَّ بِكَ التَّدَلُّلُ في تعادِ

She promised that if you returned with love

Tenderness would wrap around you during intimacy

فَأَسرَرتُ النَدامَةَ يَومَ نادى

بِرَدِّ جِمالِ غاضِرَةَ المُنادي

I lamented regret the day the caller called

Of the departure of Ghāḍira’s beauty

تَمادى البُعدُ دونَهُمُ فَأَمسَت

دُموعُ العَينِ لَجَّ بِها التَمادي

Distance from them persisted, so my tears

Became continuous with unending flow

لَقَد مُنِعَ الرُقادُ فَبِتُّ لَيلي

تُجافيني الهُمومُ عَنِ الوِسادِ

Sleep was indeed denied, so I spend my night

As worries keep me from pillows

عَداني أَن أَزورَكَ غَيرَ بُغضٍ

مُقامُك بَينَ مُصفَحَةٍ شِدادِ

They reproached me from visiting you with hatred

While you resided between armored warriors

وَإِنّي قائِلٌ إِن لَم أَزُرهُ

سَقَت دِيَمُ السَواري والغَوادي

And I say, if I do not visit him

The rain clouds and the meadows will quench my thirst

مَحَلَّ أَخي بَني أَسَدٍ قَنَونا

إِلى يَبَةٍ إِلى بَركِ الغِمادِ

My brother has made Qanūnā reside

In Yabah, in the cattle-grazing meadows

مُقِيمٌ بِالمَجازَةِ مِن قَنَونا

وَأَهلُكَ بِالأُجيفِرِ وَالثِمادِ

Staying in Mājazah, from Qanūnā

While your family is in Ujayfir and Thimād

فَلا تَبعَدن فَكُلُّ فَتى سَيَأتي

عَليهِ الموتُ يَطرُقُ أَو يُغادي

So do not be distant, for every young man

Will be visited by death, late or soon

وَكُلُّ ذَخيرَةٍ لا بُدَّ يَومًا

وَلَو بَقيت تَصيرُ إِلى النَفادِ

And every hoard will one day, no doubt

Be exhausted, even if it remains abundant

يَعِزُّ عَلَيَّ أَن نَغدو جَميعًا

وَتُصبِحَ ثاوِيًا رَهناً بِوادِ

It pains me that we will all come together

And you will become deserted in the valley

فَلو فودِيتَ مِن حَدَثِ المَنايا

وَقَيتُكَ بِالطَّريفِ وَبِالتِلادِ

If only you were saved from the approach of death

I would protect you with pleasure and hills

لَقَد أَسمَعتَ لَو نادَيتَ حيًّا

وَلكِن لا حَياةَ لِمَن تُنادي

You would have heard if you called out alive

But there is no life to the one you call