وَقَفتُ عَلى دارٍ لِميَّةَ غَيَّرَت

مَعالِمَها هوجُ الرياحِ النَواسِف

I stood at the abode of Layla which strong winds

I stood at Mayya's abode, whose traces were effaced

Had changed, erasing its familiar features.

By the violent, sweeping gusts of the wind.

فَأَسبَلَتِ العَينانِ دَمعاً كأنهُ

جُمانٌ وَهى من سلكِهِ مُتَرادِف

My eyes poured tears like scrolling lines

My eyes then poured forth tears, streaming like

Of poetry, so copious and successive.

Pearls scattering from a broken string, falling one after another.

أُسائِلُها عَن فَرطِ ما بي وَإِنَّني

بِعُجمَةِ أَحجارِ الدِيارِ لَعارِف

I asked about the cause of our separation, though

I question the ruins out of my overwhelming grief, though indeed I

I knew the muteness of its walls and stones.

Am well aware that the stones of the dwelling cannot speak.

لِعَهدي بِها بيضٌ أَوانِسُ كَالدُمى

غَرائِرُ عَمّا لا يحلُّ صَوادِفُ

For our past days were white, intimate, like the gatherings

I remember when white-skinned, sociable maidens like statues dwelt there,

Of friends, concealing what is indecent to disclose.

Innocent souls, turning away from all that is forbidden.

إِذا ما سَحَبنَ الأَتحمِيَّ تَمايَلَت

غُصونُ النَقا مالَت بِهنَّ الرَوادِف

When the fox cried out, the branches of the withered lotus

When they trailed their striped robes, they swayed

Swayed, and they swayed with it the singing doves.

Like branches on a sand dune, weighed down by heavy hips.

وَفيهِنَّ مِقلاقُ الوِشاحِ كَأنَّها

قَضيبٌ إِذا ماسَت من البانِ وارِفُ

Among them the scarves flutter as if they were

Among them is one whose sash hangs loose, as though she were

A rod, bending to the ground from the weight.

A leafy willow branch, trembling as she walks with pride.

أَلا لَيتَ شِعري أَينَ مِنّي مَزارُها

وَقد حالَتِ الصُمّانُ دوني وَواصِف

Oh would that I knew where his tomb was,

Oh, how I wish I knew where her dwelling place lies now,

Though distance and description stood between us.

When the lands of Summan and Wasif stand between us.

أَظَلُّ نَهاري أَنكُتُ الأَرضَ واجِماً

وَفي كَبدي بِاللَيلِ تُحمى المَراصِفُ

By day I walk the land silent and brooding

I spend my day striking the earth in silent desolation,

At night, my heart burns with embers in my chest.

While at night, burning coals are stoked within my heart.

وَأَجهدُ يومَ البَينِ أَن يَظهَرَ الهَوى

وَقد أَعلَنَتهُ الساجِماتُ الذَوارِفُ

I struggle throughout the pain of absence trying

On the day of parting, I strove to keep my passion hidden,

To restrain my passion, though windswept plains reveal it.

Yet the streaming, shedding tears proclaimed it to all.

وَإِنّي وَإِن كانَت إِلى الغَورِ نِيَّتي

لَفي الرَبرَبِ النَجدِيِّ لِلقَلبِ شاغِفُ

And if my intention is to visit his grave,

And though my journey is bound for the lowlands of Ghaur,

My heart flutters anxiously in anticipation.

My heart remains captivated by the gazelles of Najd.

أَقولُ لِرَكبٍ يَمَّموا قُلَّةَ الحِمى

عَلى شَدقَميّاتٍ طَوَتها التَنائِف

I say to a caravan determined to cross the deserted land

I say to a caravan aiming for the peaks of the sanctuary,

On she-camels whose curves sway with their walk:

Mounted on strong camels, worn thin by the endless deserts:

قِفوا حَدِّثوني عَن أَجارِعِ رامَةٍ

عَسى أَنبَجَسَت فيها السَحاب العَواطِفُ

Stop and tell me of the meadows of Ramah,

"Halt and tell me of the sandy stretches of Rama,

If clouds have rained down there, pouring out sorrows.

Have the benevolent clouds poured their rain upon them?"

وَهل أَمرَعَت أَجراعُ لَعلَع بَعدَنا

وَهل رُدِّدَت فيها اللُحونُ الهَواتِفُ

And have the meadows of Layla’ echoed with sound since we left?

"And have the slopes of La’la’ bloomed fertile since we left?

Have anthems replayed in them?

And do the echoing melodies of birds still resonate there?"

سَقى هَضَباتٍ بعدَ ما وانَ في الحِمى

من المُزنِ ثَجّاحُ العَزاليِّ واكِف

It has watered plateaus after desire faded,

May the pouring rain water the hills beyond Ma’wan in the sanctuary,

As the rain of beneficence soaked the highlands.

From heavy clouds with bursting spouts, unceasing.

وَجادَ رُبوعاً بِاللِوى كلُّ مُطفِلٍ

أَجشُّ هَزيمٍ وَدقُهُ مُتَرادِفُ

And it poured generosity in the meadows - every parasite

May every thundering cloud be generous to the dwellings at Al-Liwa,

Was routed, and routed again likewise.

With deep, rumbling thunder and rain falling in sheets.

فَلي سَكنٌ ما بَينَ مُلتَفِّ دَوحِها

يَعزُّ عَليهِ أَن يَطولَ التَقاذُف

So I have a dwelling between the encampments of her tribe

For a beloved of mine dwells amidst its tangled thickets,

Too difficult for exchanging messages to reach.

Who finds it grievous that our separation has grown so long.

يَظَلُّ إِذا أَضمَرتُ لِلبَينِ نِيَّةً

يُرامِقُني وَالدَمعُ هامٍ وَذارِفُ

It remains overlooking me when I decide to leave,

Whenever I resolved to depart, he would remain

Gazing at me while tears pour profusely.

Gazing at me while tears welled up and flowed.

خَليلَيَّ وَدَّعتُ التَصابي وَقُوِّضَت

مَآربُ لي في رَبعهِ وَمواقِفُ

O my friend, I bid farewell to pleasures, and my hopes

O my two friends, I have bid farewell to youthful folly,

In his land were destroyed, and the covenants.

And my desires and stations in its realm have been dismantled.

وَأذَّنَ صُبحُ الشَيبِ في لَيلِ لِمَّتي

فَفِئتُ وَلكِني عَلى اللَيلِ آسِفُ

The dawn of old age gave notice in the night of my adversity,

The dawn of gray hair has called out in the night of my dark locks,

So I turned away, though I regret the night.

So I have awakened, yet I mourn the passing of that night.

وَباعَدَ مَن كُنّا نُسَرُّ بِقُربِهِ

وَآخرُ مَطوِيٌّ عَليهِ اللَفائِفُ

It distanced those we delighted in their nearness,

Time has distanced those whose nearness once brought us joy,

While others passed away, and time brought additional sorrows.

While others lie wrapped within their burial shrouds.

رِجالٌ وَأَوقاتٌ وَشَرخُ شَبيبَةٍ

مَضوا وَزمانٌ بِالحَبيبُ مُساعِفُ

Men, eras, and the prime of my youth are gone,

Noble men, precious times, and the flower of youth

While days with the beloved were redoubled.

Have all passed, along with an era when fortune favored lovers.

فَقُل ما تَشا في مُهجَةٍ قَد تَصَدَّعَت

بِلَوعَةِ مَوتورٍ بِما أَنا واصِفُ

So say what you wish to a heart that is cracked

So say what you will of a heart that has been shattered

With the sorrow of loss - I speak from experience.

By the anguish of a bereft soul, describing what I now endure.

جَعَلتُ سَميري حينَ عَزَّ مُسامِري

دَفاتِرَ أَملَتها القُرونُ السَوالِفُ

I made my nights, when companionship was denied me,

I took for my companion, when true friends grew scarce,

Pages written by centuries of stories.

Volumes dictated by the centuries of old.

فَطَوراً أُناجي كُلَّ حَبرٍ مُوَفَّقٍ

إِذا ما دَعا لَبَّت دُعاهُ المَعارِفُ

Sometimes I converse with every worthy scholar

At times I converse with every wise and guided scholar,

When his call stirs the gentle passions.

Whose call all forms of knowledge answer instantly.

وَطَوراً كَأَنّي مَع زُهَيرِ وَجَروَلٍ

وَطَوراً يُناجيني مُلوكٌ غَطارِفُ

And sometimes it is as if I am with Zuhair and Jarwal,

At other times, I feel I am with the poets Zuhair and Jarwal,

Or kings of imagination speak to me.

Or that majestic kings are holding council with me.

تَسَلَّيتُ عَن كُلٍّ بِتِذكارِ عُصبَةٍ

لَهُم في العُلا مَجدٌ تَليدٌ وَطارِفُ

I consoled myself about all through memories of a people

I found solace from all things in the memory of a clan

Whose glory in high deeds was longstanding and singular.

Who possess in the heights of nobility a glory both ancient and new.

بِها لَيلُ سادوا مَن يَليهِم وَمن نَأى

كُهوفٌ حَصيناتٌ إِذا اِضطُرَّ خائِفُ

With them the night was illumined. They mastered those around them

Noble masters who ruled over those near and far alike,

And those distant - like fortified caves for one in distress.

Impregnable sanctuaries for the fearful when distress compels them.

مَطاعيمُ في اللأوى مَطاعينُ في الوغى

بُحورُ نَدىً لا يَجتَويهِنَّ غارِفُ

Welcoming in privation, obeyed in commotion,

Feeders of the hungry in famine, strikers of the enemy in war,

Seas that no turbulence could stir.

Oceans of generosity that no seeker ever finds distasteful.

رَبيعٌ لِأَقوامٍ جَفَتهُم بِلادُهُم

إِذا اِستَحكَمَت غُبرُ السِنينَ الجَواحِفُ

A springtime for people whose homelands had abandoned them

A springtime for peoples whose own lands have forsaken them,

When the calamities of years overwhelmed.

When the dusty, devastating years tighten their grip.

يَعولونَهُم فَضلاً وَلا صِهرَ بَينَهُم

وَلا نَسَبٌ يُدنيهِمُ أَو تَعارُفُ

They adopted them out of merit, with no marriage

They sustain them out of grace, though no kinship binds them,

Or lineage binding them, nor even familiarity.

Nor any lineage or prior acquaintance draws them near.

يُنَسّونَهُم أَخدانَهُم وَدِيارَهُم

فَكم أَرمَلٍ في أَدهَمِ الفَضلِ راسِفُ

They forgot their own brothers and homes

They make them forget their old friends and lost homes,

So many widows lament the nobility of the buried!

For how many a destitute soul walks shackled in the chains of their kindness.

لِيَهنِ بَني الشَهمِ الغَضَنفَرِ قاسِمٍ

مَآثِرُ تَبقى ما تَخلَّفَ خالِفُ

Good fortunes to the proud tribe of Qasim

Congratulations to the sons of the gallant lion, Qasim,

Whose glories remain long after opponents vanish.

For virtues that shall endure as long as generations succeed one another.

أُولاكَ بَنو خَيرٍ لهُ إِن أَرَدتَهُ

وَإِن كانَ شَرّاً فَالأُسودُ الزَوالِفُ

They are a people of nobility, if you desire it,

They are the sons of goodness itself, if you seek it,

But if evil, then dark lions that ravage.

But if evil is sought, they are lions on the prowl.

وَلَأيٍ لهُم لكِن لِمَن حلَّ في الثَرى

مَزيدُ اِختِصاصٍ بي وَما ثَمَّ عاطِفُ

I wish them well, but I have a greater attachment

I owe them loyalty, but especially to the one laid in the earth,

To one who settled in the grave - no emotions beyond.

Who holds a special place with me, where no other sympathy lies.

سَقى اللَهُ قَبراً حلَّهُ سَيبَ رَحمَةٍ

وَلَقّاهُ فَوزاً يَومَ تُتلى الصَحائِفُ

May God water a grave in which Saib rests,

May God water the grave he occupies with a torrent of mercy,

And join him to success on the Day of Reckoning.

And grant him triumph on the Day the scrolls are read.

لَقَد بانَ مَحمودُ النَقيبَةِ لَم يَكُن

بِطائِشِ لُبٍّ وَالسُيوفُ رَواعِفُ

Indeed Mahmoud of Naqibah was seen to be no reckless soul

He has departed, a man of praiseworthy character, never

When swords were harvesting lives.

Losing his wits even when swords dripped with blood.

وَلي بَعدَهُ وُدٌّ بِأَروَعَ ماجِدٍ

أَبِيٍّ لِخَلّاتِ الكِرامِ مُحالِفُ

And I have, after him, a love of the most glorious Mansur -

After him, my affection turns to a magnificent, noble soul,

A father to the noble ones, and steadfast in covenant.

A proud spirit, allied eternally with the virtues of the generous.

إِذا الرائِدُ الزَهافُ أَخفَقَ سَعيُهُ

وَضاقَت بِأَربابِ المَواشي النَفانِفُ

When the deluded leader fails in his endeavor

When the weary scout fails in his endeavor,

And those who tend livestock despair from want -

And the vast deserts become too narrow for the herdsmen,

هُنالِكَ إِمّا رافِدٌ أَو مُمَوِّلٌ

يَلوذُ بهِ الهُلّاكُ بادٍ وَعاكِفُ

Thereupon, either a supporter appears, or a reinforcer

There you will find him, either giving support or bestowing wealth,

To whom the desperate flees, pleading and obedient.

Whom the desperate seek for refuge, both nomad and settler.

كَذا الرَوعُ إِن أَبدى نَواجِذَ عابِسٍ

وَخَفَّت حُلومٌ وَاِستُطيرَت شَراسِفُ

So too, if adversity bares its claws

Likewise in war, when it bares its frowning fangs,

And hearts cower, and fierce minds withdrawal -

And minds grow light with panic, and hearts tremble in the chest,

تَرى قَسَماتِ الأَريَحِيِّ اِبن قاسمٍ

تَهلَّلُ نوراً وَالوُجوهُ كَواسِفُ

You will see the visage of Ibn Qasim glow radiantly

You see the features of the high-spirited Ibn Qasim

While faces around him grim with fear.

Beaming with light while other faces are eclipsed by gloom.

وَإِن قيلَ عَبد اللَهِ وافى لِمُشكَلٍ

تَبَجَّحَ مَضهودٌ وَفاءَ مُخالِفُ

And if it is said Abdullah fulfilled a difficult matter,

If it is said, "Abdullah has arrived to solve a dilemma,"

A resentful critic will pronounce it a violation.

The oppressed rejoice, and the opponent yields.

أَلَم تَرَهُ يُعطي الجَزيلَ مِنَ اللُها

وَيَقتَحِمُ الأَهوالَ وَهيَ مَخاوِفُ

Did you not see him generously giving and boldly

Do you not see him bestowing abundant gifts,

Confronting terrors - though they are fears?

And storming through terrors when they are most fearful?

فَقُل لِاِمرىءٍ يَسعى لِيُدرِكَ شأوَهُ

رُوَيدَكَ دونَ المَجدِ فيحٌ صَفاصِف

So say to one who strives to attain his goal:

So say to the man who strives to reach his stature:

"Gently! Glory lies not in heights you can scale."

"Hold back! Before such glory lie vast, empty wastelands."

تَعَشَّقتَ أَمراً في كفِّ سَيِّدٍ

فَهَيهاتَ تَأتي فِعلَهُ أَو تُناصِفُ

You fell in love with something in the hand of a master;

"You have desired a quality held in a master’s hand,"

It is futile! His actions you cannot match!

"How impossible for you to match his deeds or even come close!"

فَما المَجدُ إِلّا قُنَّةٌ في مُمَنَّعٍ

وَدونَ اِرتِقاها مُعضِلاتٌ مَتالِفُ

For glory is but a treasure in the forbidden;

For glory is but a peak on an inaccessible mountain,

Below reaching it are formidable obstacles.

And to ascend it, one must face deadly perils.

وَدونَكَ أَبياتاً شَوارِدَ في المَلا

تُهَزُّ إِذا تُتلى لَهُنَّ السَوالِفُ

And I have verses wandering desolate in the highlands

So take these verses that shall roam through the lands,

That tremble when recited by the storytellers.

Making heads nod in rhythm when they are recited.

أَوابِدُ إِلّا في مَديحِكَ أُنسُها

نَوفِرُ إِلّا عَن عُلاكَ عَوازِفُ

Desolate, but for your praise giving them life,

Rare jewels that find no comfort save in your praise,

Silent, but for your greatness awakening music.

Shy and elusive, turning away from all highness but yours.

وَأَسحَنُ خَتمٍ لِلنِّظام إِذا اِنتَهى

صَلاةٌ وَتَسليمُ الإِلهِ المُضاعَفُ

No verse is a finer seal than salawat and peace

And the finest seal for this poem as it concludes

Upon the God who multiplies blessings,

Is the prayer and the redoubled peace of God,

عَلى المُصطَفى الهادي الأَمينِ وَآلهِ

وَأَصحابهِ ما طافَ في البَيتِ طائِفُ

And upon the Trustworthy Guide, his family

Upon the Chosen One, the Guide, the Trustworthy, and his kin,

And companions - as long as pilgrims circle the House.

And his companions, as long as pilgrims circle the Holy House.