نَعَم هذِهِ أَطلالُ سُلمى فَسَلِّمِ

وَأَرخِ بِها سَيلَ الشُؤونِ وَأَسجِمِ

Yes, these are the ruins of Sulma, so bid them peace,

Yes, these are Sulma's ruins, so offer your greeting,

And let the torrents of events and epochs flow through them.

And unleash there a torrent of tears, pouring them freely.

وَقِف في مَغانيها وَعَفِّر بِتُربِها

صَحيفَةً حُرِّ الوَجهِ قَبلَ التَندُّمِ

Stop at its resting places and rub on your bright-faced page,

Stand amidst her dwelling-places, and cover with their dust

Before regret, with their dust.

The complexion of a noble face, before the time of regret arrives.

فَثَمَّ مَقيلُ الوَجدِ لا بَل مُقامُهُ

وَثَمَّ هَوى نَفسِ المَشوقِ المُتَيَّمِ

There lies the abode of passion, nay rather its halting-place,

For there lies the resting place of passion—nay, its very home,

And there lies the longing of the enamored soul.

And there resides the desire of a soul enthralled and lovelorn;

وَمَسحَبُ أَذيالٍ لِغِزلانِ جيرَةٍ

سَقَوني سُلافَ الوَصلِ غَيرَ المُفَدَّمِ

And the train of gowns of the young gazelles of Jurah

Where the neighborhood gazelles once trailed their long skirts,

Gave me to drink the early wine of union without anything distasteful.

And served me the pure, unmixed wine of loving union.

غَضارَةُ عَيشٍ قد تَوَهَّمتُ أَنها

تَدوم فكان الأَمر غَيرَ التَوَهُّمِ

The freshness of a life I imagined would last

A freshness of life I had imagined would

But the matter was other than the imagining.

Endure forever, but reality betrayed my illusion.

متى تَذكُرَ اهالي تَهِج بين أَضلُعي

عَقابيلُ وَجدٍ كالحريقِ المُضرَّمِ

When will the people of Tahj remember in my ribs

Whenever I recall her people, there rages within my ribs

Fires of passion like blazing embers?

The sequelae of passion, burning like a kindled fire.

أَقولُ لِصَحبي وَالمَراسيلُ تَرتَمي

بِنا سُهَّما تَرمي الفَيافي بِسُهَّمِ

I say to my companions while the saddle-beasts jostle us,

I say to my companions, as our riding camels plunge ahead,

"Take at random the arrows that Fate shoots."

Gaunt with travel, crossing the wastelands on gaunt beasts:

أَلا عَوجَةٌ مِنكم على الربعِ رُبَّما

شَفَيتَ الذي بي أَو قَضَيتُ تَلَوُّمي

Won't one of you turn aside to the meadow, perhaps

"Will you not turn aside briefly toward the abandoned camp? Perhaps,

To cure what is in me or accomplish my release?

I might cure my ailment or fulfill my need to linger."

فَعاجوا فَغَطَّت ناظِرَ العَينِ عَبرَةٌ

فَلم أَتَبَيَّن شاخِصاً مِن مُهدَّمِ

So they hurried away, and tears covered my eyes' sight,

So they turned their mounts, and a tear veiled my sight,

And I could not make out anything definite from the ruined encampment,

Until I could not distinguish what stood from what was ruined.

أَجدَّ كما أَن لّا أَمُرَّ بِمَنزِلٍ

لِمَيَّةَ إِلّا أَمزُجُ الدَمع بِالدَمِ

I passionately pour out tears whenever I pass by an abode

Is it my fate that I never pass by a dwelling

At Mayya except I mix blood with those tears.

Of Mayya’s, without mixing my tears with blood?

وَلا أَستَبينَ البَرقَ يَفري وَميضُهُ

جَلابيبَ مَسدولٍ مِن الجُنحِ مُظلِمِ

I cannot discern in the flashing lightning as its light ripples

Nor can I watch the lightning, whose flash tears through

Robes let down belonging to a winged darkness.

The cloaks of the dark, descended night,

بِجِزعِ اللِوى إِلّا أَبيتُ مُسَهَّداً

كأَنَّ شَراسيفي نُفِذنَ بِأَسهُمِ

Except I spend the night wrapped in the twisting of my anguish

At the valley’s bend, without spending the night sleepless,

As if my mattress were studded with its arrows.

As though my ribs were pierced through with arrows.

سَهِرنا فَناموا وَاِرتَحَلنا فَخَيَّموا

عَناءٌ لِنَجدِيٍّ عَلاقَةُ مُتهِمِ

We were wakeful while they slept, we folded our tents while they pitched theirs;

We kept vigil while they slept; we departed while they pitched camp—

A weary task for the love-sick, the accusations of a blamer!

Suffering awaits the Highlander attached to one from the Lowlands.

بَلى حينَ خادَعتُ اللَجاجَةَ بِالأَسى

وَمَنَّيتُها بِالظَنِّ صَبرَ المُرَجِّمِ

Yes indeed, when I beguiled coquetry with grief

Indeed, when I beguiled my obstinate heart with sorrow,

And deluded it with the assumption of one resigned...

And fed it uncertain hopes, like one guessing at the unseen,

تَراءَت لِمَشغوفٍ بِها لِتُعيدَهُ

ظَلومَ الهَوى في دائِهِ المُتَقَدِّم

It appeared to a passion-maddened lover to return him

She appeared to her infatuated lover to return him

To the oppression of love in his running ulcer...

To the tyranny of love and his ancient affliction.

وَأَوحَت إِلى طَرفي بِإيماضِ طَرفِها

وَهَزَّت قَواماً كَالقَضيبِ المُنَعَّمِ

And she hinted to me with a blinking of her eye,

She signaled to my gaze with the flash of her glance,

And shook her whole body like a waving branch,

And swayed a figure like a supple, tender branch.

فَكُنتُ أُمَنّي النَفسَ جِدَّ مُمازِحٍ

فَعُدتُ بِما شاهَدتهُ جِدَّ مُغرَمِ

So my soul would beguile itself in utter earnest

I had been entertaining my soul in jest,

And I came back passionately enamored by what I had seen.

But returned, by what I witnessed, truly in love.

وقائِلَةٍ لي وَالرِكابُ مُناخَةٌ

وَقد رَقرَقَت دَمعَ الحَزينِ المُكَتَّمِ

And she said to me while the camels were kneeling down,

A woman spoke to me while the camels knelt to rest,

With their tears flowing from sad eyes:

While she shed the glistening tears of silent grief:

إِلى كَم بِها تَرمي الفِجاجَ مُخاطِراً

وَلِلرِّزقِ أَسبابٌ بِدونِ التَجَشُّمِ

To what will you expose me to danger with them

"How long will you traverse these ravines, risking all,

While seeking wealth has means other than plundering?

When sustenance has means other than such hardship?"

فَقُلتُ لَها مَهلاً فَإِنََ تَقَلقُلي

إِلى كَعبَةٍ يَهوي لها كلُّ مُعدِمِ

So I said to her, "Wait, for an enamored one

I replied, "Gently now; for my restless journeying

Is plunging towards a Kaaba to which every wretched one inclines,

Is toward a Kaaba to which every destitute soul flies."

وَيَنتابُها قَومٌ كِرامٌ أَعِزَّةٌ

فَفيها اِبنُ عُكّازٍ وَفيها اِبنُ ضَيغَمِ

And which excellent noble people of good birth visit

A sanctuary visited by a noble, mighty people;

Among them the son of `Ukkaaz and among them son of Dhiigham.

There abide the heirs of 'Ukkaz and Dhaygham.

مَناسِكُ حجٍّ قد أُقيمَت فُروضُها

خَلا أَنَّ مَن يَسعى بها غير مُحرِمِ

Pilgrimage rites have been performed whose rules

Pilgrimage rites whose obligations are fully kept,

Are prescribed except that he who travels there is not a sanctified pilgrim.

Except that those who strive there wear no pilgrim's garb.

بَناها عِمادُ الدينِ وَالفَضلِ قاسِمٌ

وَبَوَّأَها أَبناءَهُ قُل وَأَعظِمِ

The pillar of religion and merit, al-Qaasim, erected it

It was built by Qasim, the Pillar of Faith and Virtue,

And gave his sons authority over it—say and magnify!

Who settled his sons within it—speak of them and glorify!

هُمُ القَومُ لا الجاني عَلَيهِم بِسالِمٍ

وَلا جارُهُم لِلحادِثاتِ بِمُسلَمِ

They are the people—not he who offends them—of safety

They are a people against whom no aggressor is safe,

And their neighbors are safe from disasters.

Nor is their neighbor ever surrendered to misfortune.

إِذا نَزَلوا الأَرضَ الجَديبَ تَزَخرَفَت

وَإِن نازَلوا شَقيَ القَنا بِالتَحَطُّمِ

When they encamp on arid ground it becomes verdant

If they settle in barren land, it blooms with ornament;

And if they halt on the shore of Qanaa it is rebuilt.

If they do battle, the spear-shafts suffer shattering.

وَتَجهَلُ أَيديهِم عَلى المالِ في النَدى

وَتَحلُمُ عَمَّن ذَنبُهُ بِالتَكَلُّمِ

Their hands do not refrain from wealth at the appointed time

Their hands show no prudence with wealth in their generosity,

And they dream of one whose offense is but to talk.

Yet they show forbearance to one whose sin is mere speech.

عَلى رِسلِكُم يا طالِبي المَجدِ فاتَكُم

إِلى غَلَواتِ المَجدِ جَريُ المُطَهَّمِ

Forward your riding beasts, you seekers of glory,

Slow down, O seekers of glory! You have been outstripped

For the torrents of glory have left the purified behind."

In the race to glory's peaks by a thoroughbred steed.

أَغَرُّ عَلَيهِ لِلطّلاقَةِ ميسَمٌ

يَلوحُ لَها نورٌ بِدونِ تَوَسُّمِ

I spur him on to free speech though light

A radiant leader, bearing the mark of cheerful grace,

Shines on it without any branding.

Emitting a light that shines clear without need of searching.

سَرى لِلعُلا وَهناً وَأَصبَحَ غَيرُهُ

وَهَيهاتَ سارٍ لِلعُلا مِن مُهَوِّمِ

He attained heights and sublimity while others attained only weariness

He journeyed for eminence at midnight, while others slept;

And remoteness from seeking the heights if one frets!

Far different is the climber of heights from the dreamer.

فَتى طَلِباتٍ إِن تَباعَدنَ نالَها

بِجُردِ المَذاكي وَالوَشيجِ المُقَوَّمِ

A young man who, when goals seem distant wins them

A youth of ambitions; if they drift far, he grasps them

With the sword's sharpness and the well-fashioned spear.

With swift steeds and straightened spears,

وَعَزمَةِ سَبّاقٍ إِلى كُلِّ غايَةٍ

وَهِمَّةِ مِقدامٍ عَلى كلِّ مُعظَمِ

And with the resolve of one who races towards every goal

With the resolve of a victor racing to every goal,

And the boldness of a brave man against every greatly venerated thing.

And the spirit of a warrior facing every peril.

لَعَمري لِفَرعٍ بَين قَيسٍ وَحاجِبٍ

قَديماً وَلِلفَيّاضِ قاسِمُ يَنتَمي

By my life, he belongs both to an ancient lineage of Qais and Hajib

By my life, to a lineage between Qais and Hajib,

And to the line of the magistrate al-Fayaad, al-Qaasim.

Of ancient fame, and to the generous Fayyad, Qasim belongs.

لِفَرعٍ زَكا في مَغرِسِ الفَضلِ أَصلُهُ

وَفاحَ شَذاهُ بَينَ عُربٍ وَأَعجُمِ

To a lineage which was intrinsically good in original disposition,

To a branch whose root thrived in the soil of virtue,

Whose perfume wafted among Arab and non-Arab.

And whose fragrance wafted among Arabs and foreigners alike.

إِلَيهِ مَصوناتُ المَعالي تَشَوَّفَت

تَشَوُّفَ ذي وَجدٍ إِلى الزَوجِ أَيِّمِ

To him the safe-guarded glories inclined

The guarded treasures of high status gazed up at him,

With yearning like that of an impassioned lover towards her intimate.

As a longing woman gazes toward a spouse.

وَلوعٌ بِكَسبِ بِكَسبِ الحَمدِ وَالمَجدِ هاجِرٌ

خِلالَ الدَنايا شيمَةً بِتَشَيُّمِ

And an inherited longing to acquire fame and glory

Passionate for earning praise and glory, shunning

As its praise-worthy traits among mankind.

The traits of baseness, by nature and by habit.

إِذا ما اِنتَدى زُوّارُهُ وَضُيوفُهُ

تَبَدّى كَبَدرِ التِمِّ مِن بينِ أَنجُمِ

When his visitors and guests gather

When his visitors and guests gather in his hall,

He appears like the full moon among the stars.

He shines forth like the full moon amidst the stars.

يُغادونَ مَغشِيَّ الرِواقَينِ باسِماً

قَبائِلُ شَتّى مِن فَصيحٍ وَأَعجَمِ

They fill both his corridors heterogeneous tribes

They flock to his crowded courts, where he stands smiling,

Of eloquent and less eloquent.

Diverse tribes, both eloquent Arabs and strangers.

فَمِن مُعلِنٍ شُكراً وَمن طالِبٍ جداً

وَمن مُستَقيلٍ عَثرَةَ المُتَنَدِّمِ

Including those giving thanks and those petitioning seriously

Some proclaiming thanks, others seeking bounty,

And those seeking relief from the stumbling of the remorseful.

And some seeking pardon for a regretful slip.

أَبا الفَضلِ لَم يَفضُلكَ زَيدٌ وَحاتِمٌ

وَمَعنٌ إِذا قِسنا بِغَيرِ التَقَدُّمِ

O Father of Excellence, neither Zaid nor Haatim nor Ma`n

O Abu'l-Fadl, neither Zayd nor Hatim surpassed you,

Surpassed you when measured against other than the best!

Nor Ma'n, if we judge by merit rather than mere antiquity.

لَئِن هُم أَبانوا في العُلا مَنهَجَ النَدى

لَكَم شِدتَ فيها مَعلَماً بَعدَ مَعلَمِ

If they did broadcast the mint-water of high direction,

If they first revealed the path of generosity in high places,

You established landmark after landmark in it.

You have surely built there landmark upon landmark.

تَرَحَّلتُ عَنكُم لا اِغتِباطاً بِغَيرِكُم

وَلا عَن مُقامٍ في حِماكُم مُذَمَّمِ

I departed from you neither happily preferring others

I journeyed away from you, not delighting in others,

Nor discontent in your protection finding fault.

Nor fleeing a stay in your sanctuary that was anything but noble.

فَكُنتُ وَسَيري وَاِعتِياضي سِواكُمُ

كَبائِعِ دينارٍ بِمَغشوشٍ دِرهَمِ

I was in my way and wont none but you

I was—in my departure and exchange of you for others—

Like one peddling a gold dinar for illegitimate silver coin.

Like one trading a gold dinar for a counterfeit coin.

فَجاءَكَ بي وُدٌّ قَديمٌ غَرَستَهُ

وَتابَعتَهُ سَقياً بِسَجلِ التَكَرُّمِ

An old love you planted brought me to you

But an ancient affection you planted has brought me back,

And you augmented it by irrigating the channel of your bounty.

One you nurtured with the overflowing bucket of kindness.

إِلَيكَ رَحَلنا كُلَّ مَحبوكَةِ القَرا

أَمونِ السُرى بَينَ الجَديلِ وَشَدقَمِ

We migrated to you, all those harbored by the neighboring dwellings,

Toward you we rode every sturdy-backed she-camel,

Secured in journeying between Judayl and Shadaqam.

Trusted in night travel, bred of noble Jadil and Shadqam stock.

إِذا اِلتَحَفَت أُكمُ الفَيافي بِآلِها

وَنُشِّرَ فيها كَالمُلاءِ المُعَلَّمِ

Whenever its lodges put on their high-born women

When the desert hills wrapped themselves in shimmering mirages,

And it was spread out through them like a figured cloak...

Unfurled across the waste like striped mantles,

تَزِفُّ كَهَدّاجِ يَؤُمُّ فِراخُهُ

تَنَكَّسُ مِن ريحٍ وَغَيمٍ مُخَيِّمِ

It would sway slowly like the partridge leading its chicks:

She hastens like an ostrich shuffling toward its chicks,

It turns over, blown by the winds and the clouding air.

Retreating from the wind and the tent of gathering clouds.

هَدى ما هَدى حَتّى إِذا اللَيلُ جَنَّةُ

وَخافَ اِرتِكامَ العارِضِ المُتَبَسِّمِ

It came as gifts came until when night donned its darkness

It traveled on until, when the night veiled it,

And it feared the overwhelming of the smiling latecomer.

And it feared the heaping of storm clouds, smiling with lightning,

تَنَفَّسَ مَزؤوداً وَخَفَّ كَأَنَّهُ

فُلَيتَهُ مَسنونِ الصَوائِدِ أَقطَمِ

It breathed easily as if delivered

It breathed in terror and sped light, as if

And subsided as if its snare were stern destroyer.

Escaping a sharp-toothed, snapping stallion.

طَوَيتُ بِأَيدها الفَلا مُتَعَسِّفاً

بِها مِيثَها وَالأَمعَزَ المُتَسَنَّمِ

I folded its ropes wrongfully

With her hooves I folded up the desert distances, traversing

Stopping its placid course and that of the trained she-goat.

Its soft sands and its rugged, stony heights,

لِأَحظى بِقُربٍ مِنكَ إِذ جُلُّ مُنيَتي

لِقاكَ وَأُهدي الشُكرَ غَيرَ مُجَمجِمِ

In order to gain nearness to you since my whole purpose

To gain the fortune of your nearness, for my greatest wish

Was to meet you and give thanks without delay.

Is to meet you and offer clear, unspoken thanks.

ثَناءٌ كَنَشرِ الرَوضِ راوَحهُ النَدى

وَغاداهُ مَعلولُ الصَبا المنُتَنَسَّمِ

Praise spreading like the meadow whose expanse

Praise like the garden’s scent, visited by evening dew,

The dew pervades and which the gentle morning zephyr breathes into.

And greeted at dawn by the gentle, breathing breeze.

وَصَلِّ إِلهي ما هَمي الوَدقُ أَو شَدا

عَلى الأَيكِ مِطرابٌ بِحُسنِ التَرَنُّمِ

And pray God whatever my inclination bids me bind

And may my God send blessings—as long as rain falls, or sings

Or repeat beautifully modulated in song,

Upon the bough a bird, joyous in its melody—

عَلى المُصطَفى الهادي الأَمينِ وَآلهِ

وَأَصحابِهِ وَالتابِعينَ وَسَلِّمِ

For the Guided One, Trustworthy and Trusted and his House

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

And Companions and Successors—and greet!

And his companions and followers; and grant them peace.