صَرَمَت زُنيبَةُ حبلَ من لا يَقطَع

حبلَ الخليلِ وللأمانةِ تفجَعُ

Zunaybah's cord was cut by one who does not sever

The cord of a friend, though fidelity makes her grieve

ولقد حَرَصتُ على قليل متاعِها

يوم الرحيل فدمعُها المستنفَعُ

And I was keen to take but little of her belongings

The day she left, with tears profuse that I retrieve

جُذِّي حبالَكِ يا زُنَيبُ فانني

قد استبدُّ بوصلِ من هو اقطَعُ

Untie your cords, O Zunayb, for I

Am determined to connect with one more apt to cleave

ولقد قطعتُ الوصلَ يوم خلاجِهِ

واخو الصريمةِ في الأمورِ المزمعُ

And I have severed ties when plans were being hatched

The brother of clamor in matters preconceived

بمُجدَّةٍ عنسٍ كأنَّ سراتها

فَدَن تطيفُ به النبيطُ مرفَّعُ

With a camel, aged, as if her saddlebags

Were burdened by a weaver’s battens raised aloft,

قاظت أنالَ الى الملا وتربَّعت

بالحَزنِ عازبةً تُسَنُّ وتودعُ

She rose to the heights and sat herself down haughtily

Grieving, a spinster, greeting those she’d loved

حتى اذا لَقِحَت وعوليَ فوقَها

قَرِد يُهمُّ به الغرابُ الموقِعُ

Until, when pregnant, she roared loud above

A monkey, coveted by crows, aloof

قَرّبتُها للرَحلِ لمّا اعتادني

سفر أهمُ به وأمرٌ مزمعُ

I moved her closer when the departure neared

A journey I wished, with purpose undeceived

فكأنّها بعد الكلالة والسُّرى

عِلج تُغاليه قَذورٌ مُلمِعُ

As if, after decline and nightly trek,

A wound that festers foul she had received

يحتازها عن جحشها وتكفُّه

عن نفسه أن اليتيم مُدَفّعُ

Snatching her from her baby, yet herself

From him restraining, though an orphan bereaved,

وَيظَلُ مرتبئاً عليها جاذلاً

في رأسِ مرقبةٍ وَلأياً يرتَع

Still clambering on her back, importunate,

At the hill’s pinnacle, none to him heaved

حتى يُهيجها عشية خمسها

للوردِ جأب خَلفَها متترعُ

Until, as evening of her fifth day came,

For greenery, behind her, he perceived

يعدو تبادرهُ المخارم سَمحَج

كالدَلوِ خانَ رشاؤها المتقطعُ

He galloped, the twisted valleys outpacing,

Like a bucket whose rope is frayed uneven

حتى اذا وردا عيونا فوقها

غاب طِوال نابت ومُصرَّع

Until, when his eyes turned on her,

He missed his mark, and fate had intervened

لاقى على جَنبِ الشريعةِ لاطئا

صفوانَ في ناموسِهِ يتطلَعُ

He found, off the path, prone on his side

Saffwan, from his prayer rug having leaned

فرمى فاخطأها وصادفَ سهمُهُ

حَجَراً فَغُلِّلَ والنضيُّ مُجَزَّعُ

So he shot and missed her, his arrow instead

Striking a stone, split, its point it seemed

أهوى ليحمي فَرجَها اذ أدبرت

زَجِلاَ كما يحمي النَّجيدُ المشرِعُ

He swooped to protect her privates as she bolted

Like a curtain’s guardian not to be deceived

فتصكُ صكَاً بالسنابكِ نحرَهُ

وبجندلٍ صُمِّ ولا تتورعُ

She gasped as she struck his throat with her knees

And a mute, solid kick—she nothing bereaved

لا شيء يأتُو أتوَه لمّا علا

فوقَ القطاةِ ورأسُهُ مستتلعِ

When he rose over her back, his head held high

Not a thing did they do when he reprieved

ولقد غدوتُ على القنيصِ وصاحبي

نَهدٌ مراكِلُهُ مِسحٌ جُرشُعُ

And I had come at dawn, my friend and I

Gasping, his camel’s shoulders scraped and peeled

ضافي السبيب كأنّ غصنَ أباءَةٍ

رَيّان ينفضُها اذا ما يُقدَعُ

Pure Arabian steed, when cast he is seen

To seethe, provoked, if ever retrieved

تَئِقُ اذا ارسلتَهُ متقاذِفٌ

طمّاحُ أشرافٍ اذا ما يُنزَعُ

As if a rending lion’s paw he were

Whose swipes fending dogs cower, bowed, believed

وكأنّهُ فوتَ الجوالبِ جانئاً

رَئِم تَضَايَفُهُ كلابٌ أخضعُ

I treated him with cure upon cure, and gave him

A gift, as a darling friend may receive

داويتُهُ كلَّ الدواء وزدتُهُ

بَذلاً كما يُعطى الحبيبُ الموسِعُ

His share is the grayness of old age

And the mud—now tottering, he won’t be relieved

فله ضريبُ الشَولِ الاسُؤرَهُ

والجلُّ فهو مَربَبٌ لا يًخلَع

Yet if we race him, he’s the first to burst forth

His rider gloating, spurred on, perceived

فاذا نُراهِنُ كانَ اولَ سابقٍ

يختالُ فارسُهُ اذا ما يُدفَعُ

Nay, many’s the day we’ve confined his dashing

We give and delight in the friend; he’s reprieved

بل ربَّ يومٍ قد حَبسنا سبقَهُ

نُعطي ونُعمِر في الصديقِ وننفَعُ

And I have outstripped the enamored with a draft

So pure and delicious—deep gulps he’d breathe

ولقد سبقتُ العاذلاتِ بَشربَةٍ

ريّا وراووقي عظَيمٌ مُترعُ

An eye whose pure hue is the red

Of blood when a sacrifice is cleaved

جَفنٌ من الغريب خالصُ لونه

كدمِ الذبيحِ اذا يُشَنُ مشعشَعُ

It distracted me one day—made heedless

Some lads of their search, though clothed and conceived

الهو بها يوماً وألهي فتيةً

عن بَثّهم اذ أُلبسوا وتقنّعوا

Oh, the ache from charming friends of scant esteem

Who came to me, stumbling—just three!

يا لَهفَ من عرفاء ذات قليلةٍ

جاءَت اليَّ على ثلاثٍ تَخمَعُ

She kept watching me, looking around

Dubious, suspicious, while I deceived

ظَلَّت تراصِدُني وتنظر حولها

ويريبها رَمَقٌ واني مُطمِعُ

Remaining determined, drawing me in

To the den, none alive to relieve

وتَظَلُ تنشطني وتُلحِمُ أجرِياً

وسط العرين وليس حيٌ يَدفَعُ

Had my sword been in hand I’d have struck her

From me—but my side was naïve

لو كان سيفي باليمين ضربتُها

عنّي ولم أُوكل وجنبي الأَضيَعُ

I did swing it, and my blow brought down

Her hands, like the falling of leaves

ولقد ضَرَبتُ به فتُسقط ضربتي

ايديالكماةِ كأنهنَّ الخروع

A ruin, that—had I torn with a saber

Enough! My words here should achieve

ذاكَ الضياعُ فان حززتُ بمديةٍ

كفى فقولي محسنٌ ما يَصنَعُ

And I felt overjoyed at what some days have dealt

Though many a day has been grief

ولقد غُبطتُ بما ألاقي حقبةً

ولقد يمرُّ عليَّ يوم أشنع

After she who bore a kinswoman, shall I complain

Of Time’s injustice? Disturbed or aggrieved?

أفبَعد مَن ولدت نسيبةُ أشتكي

زوّ المنيةِ أو أرى أتوَجَعُ

And I know full well, it cannot be helped,

To the fates I am subject, shall I rage or be peeved?

ولقد علمتُ ولا محالة أنني

للحادثاتِ فهل تريني أجزَعُ

Aaden perished, then the line of Muharraq

Left a land and what they amassed was bereaved

أفنينَ عاداً ثم آلَ محرّقٍ

فتركنهم بلداً وما قد جَمعُوا

Theirs were the two Harithas, and theirs

Was the Kinsman's brother Tubba’, long believed

ولَهُنَّ كان الحارثان كلاهُما

ولَهُنَّ كان أخو المصانعِ تُبَّع

I counted my fathers to the clay whence we’re made

And called them, and found they nothing perceived

فعَدَدت آبائي الى عرق الثرى

فدعوتُهم فعلمتُ أن لم يسمعوا

They went before I knew them, taken by

A ghoul who came, on a path layered and weaved

ذهبوا فلم أدركهُمُ ودَعَتهُمُ

غولٌ أتوها والطريق المهيَعُ

Inevitable is loss and sorrow, so wait

In your people’s land, or another to grieve

لا بد من تَلَفٍ مُصيبٍ فانتظر

أبأرضِ قومكِ أم بأخرى المصرَع

There will come a day, bitter and stark

When you are mourned, shrouded, nothing conceived

وليأتينَ عليك يومٌ مرة

يُبكى عليك مُقنَعا لا تَسمَعُ