على الرَّبعِ رَبْعِ الرّاحلين سلامي

وإنْ هاج تسليمي عليه أُوامي

My greetings to the quarter of travelers,

Even if my longing greeting reaches them in waves

تذكّرتُ لمّا أنْ مررتُ على اللِّوى

بِأهلِ اللّوى وجدى وطول سَقامي

I remembered, when I passed by the encampment,

The people of the encampment, and my love and prolonged yearning

وما مكّنَ الحادون بِي من تَلُّومٍ

عليه ولا مَن حَطّ بعضَ لثامي

The slanderers were not able to blame me for him

Nor those who pulled down part of my veil

وساروا وقلبي من ورائي تلفُّتاً

وإنْ كان قصدُ النّاعجاتِ أمامي

They went while my heart looked back behind me

Even if the intention of the she-camels was ahead of me

وَما كنتُ من قبل الّذين ترحّلوا

أُقادُ إلى دار الهوى بزِمامِ

I was not before those who traveled

Leading to the abode of love with the bridle

وَلمّا تَركنا الأثلَ من جَنَباتِنا

وأطربني منهنّ نَوْحُ حَمامٍ

And when we left the family from our sides

And the cooing of some doves delighted me

رماني غزالُ الواديينِ بسهمِهِ

وطاشتْ وعندي الشَّيبُ عنه سهامي

The gazelle of the two valleys shot me with his arrow

And I was overwhelmed, while greyness protected me from his arrows

وَما رابَهُ إلّا اِبيِضاضُ مفارقي

وأنّ صباحي في مكان ظلامي

Nothing stopped him except my greying separation

And that my morning is in the place of my darkness

نَفضتُ الصِّبا عن أمّ رأسي وقَلَّصَتْ

عن الغانياتِ شِرَّتي وعُرامي

I shook off youth from the mother of my head and it diminished

My mischief and nakedness from the singing girls

فما لِيَ تعريجٌ بذاتِ قلائدٍ

ولا لِيَ إلمامٌ بذاتِ خِدامِ

So why would I frequent the owners of necklaces

Nor lead the owners of maids

فَكَم بين أنّي رُقْتُهنّ بفاحمي

وبينِيَ لمّا راعهنّ ثَغامي

So how much did I disturb them with my conversing

And how I startled them when I herded them

أقول وقد خلّفتُ سَلْعاً لناقتي

وزفرتُها موصولةٌ ببُغامِ

I say, and I left belongings for my she-camel

And I bid her farewell loaded with goods

وَحنّتْ كما حنّ الأباءُ محرَّقاً

تلاطمُهُ النّكْباءُ أيَّ لِطامِ

She yearned as fathers who are burning yearn

Tossed by successive misfortunes - what misfortune!

فؤادِيَ مشتاقٌ ودمعِيَ جامدٌ

وأنتَ بلا شوقٍ ودمعُك هامِ

My heart longs while my tears are frozen

While you are without longing and your tears are asleep

وليس بمغنٍ في سوادِ جوانحٍ

لقلبك من وَجْدٍ بياضُ لُغامِ

There is no singer in the darkness of my heart

For your heart from the whiteness of tender feelings

قِفِي بي على الزَّوراءِ في خير موقفٍ

وَعوجي بِنا منها بخير إمامِ

Stop by me at the hillock in the best stopping place

And guide both of us from it with the best guide

فما لَكِ إنْ بلَّغْتِنِيه مشافِرٌ

يعُدنَ إلى قطع المدَا بخطامِ

So why, if the claws deliver me to it

Will they not return to cut with knives?

ولستُ أُبالي كيف أصبحتِ بعدها

أَجبَّاءَ أم كَوْماءَ ذاتَ سَنامِ

I do not care how you become afterwards

Lofty or a heap with brances

وَقد عَلِقَتْ كفَّيَّ بالنّبعِ من مُنىً

فما أنا أُمْنى بعدها بثُمامِ

For my palms have clung to the springhead out of love

So I do not wish for any fruit after it

فقولوا لِمَلْكِ النّاس عنِّيَ قولةً

إذا قلتُها لم أخشَ فيه مَلامي

So say to the king of mankind about me words

Which if I say I do not fear any blame

أَلستَ الّذي لولاه لم يكُ ركنُنُا

بركنٍ ولا مدعومُهُ بدعامِ

Are you not the one who if not for him

We would have no pillar to lean on or column for support?

وَلَولا الّذي نظّمتَهُ منه جاهداً

لغُودِر محلولاً بغير نظامِ

And if not for the one you have appointed as a fighter

He would be destroyed, dissolved without order

ولا كان منّا غيرُ حائمِ قفرةٍ

يلوذ على حرّ الصَّدى بحيامِ

And we would have been nothing but people roaming the desert

Seeking shade from the hot wind with rags

فأين ملوكُ الأرضِ منك وأين مِنْ

تَبَلُّجِ إصباحٍ سوادُ ظلامِ

So where are the kings of earth compared to you

And where is the darkness of night from the radiance of dawn?

وأيُّ مليكٍ قبلك اليومَ قادرٌ

مضى لم يطُفْ فيه بَربْعِ أثامِ

And which king before you today is able

If he passes he does not circle with a speck of sins

وأيُّ حلالٍ قبلما أنت فاعلٌ

رأيناهُ لم يمزِجْهُ بعضُ حرامِ

And which lawful thing before you acted

Did we not see him mix it with some sin?

وَأَنتَ الّذي أَوْلَيتنا النّعمَ الّتي

تركْن كِرامَ النّاسِ غيرَ كِرامِ

You are the one who granted us blessings that

Made people's honour unlike any honour

وقد جرّبوا منك الحفيظةَ حيثما

دُعيتَ إليها والعيونُ سوامِ

And they have tested you for safeguarding wherever

You were called to it while the eyes were sleeping

لدَى ساعةٍ ما إنْ بها متحكِّمٌ

سوى ذابلٍ لَدْنٍ وحدِّ حُسامِ

In an hour when no controller has power

Other than one wearing out, whose sword is blunt

وأنت على جَنْبَيْ سريعٍ إلى المدَا

كأنّك منه فوق ظهرِ شَمامِ

You are on the sides of a steed, swift to battle

As if you were above it, atop a wild ostrich

وللخيلِ إمّا من نَجيعٍ براقعٌ

وإلّا عثارٌ في الصّعيد بِهامِ

The horses either have some fleet footed ones with banners

Or stumblers in the plain with buzzing insects

يثرنَ خفافاً في الوغى فكأنّما

شَلَلْتَ على دَوٍّ قطيعَ نَعامِ

Scattering lightly in the fray, as if

You made a herd of ostriches slip

وَحولكَ طلّاعون كلَّ ثَنِيَّةٍ

إلى الموتِ ورّادون كلَّ حِمامِ

Around you are scouts of every path

To death, aiming at every dove

إذا قُذِفوا في حَوْمَةٍ فكأنّما

تَضَرَّمُ منه قَفْرُها بضرامِ

When they are thrown into the fray, it is as if

Its expanse crumbles from them with fragments

تراهمْ كراماً بالنّفوسِ لدى الوغى

ولكنّهمْ في الحربِ جِدُّ لِئامِ

You see them as generous with their souls in battle

But in war they are most wicked

جعلتُك حِصْني يوم خوفي من الأذى

وتُرساً من الأعداء يوم أُرامي

I made you my fortress on the day I feared harm

And a shield against the enemies when I was plotted against

فأنتَ سِناني يوم طعنِيَ في الكُلى

وأنت حُسامي إن سلَلْتُ حسامي

So you are my spear on the day I was stabbed in the gut

And you are my sword when I unsheathed my sword

ولستُ أُبالي بعد أن إِبْتَ بالّذي

تريع جروحي عنده وكِلامي

I do not care, after you decide, about the one

Who treats my wounds with him and my talk

وإنّ عَنائي في هواك لَراحةٌ

وَإِنّ اِنتِقاصي في رضاك تمامي

And my toil for your sake is comfort

And my loss in your satisfaction is my perfection

وَعَن كُلَّ شيءٍ تَجتَويهِ طرائدي

وفي كلِّ شيءٍ ترتضيهِ حِيامي

I avoid everything my prey run from

And everything you accept is my sanctuary

وما ضرّني لمّا شَرِبتُك أنّني

غَرَفتُ فلم أشربْ كؤوس مُدامِ

It did not hurt me when I drank you that I

Drew a cup but did not drink cups of wine

وَلا أنّ كفّي لم أَنُطْها بِعصْمَةٍ

من النّاس أطواراً وأنت عصامي

Nor that my palm, I did not make it

Safe from people's ways while you are my staff

وحوشيتُ أَنْ ألقى سواك مُمَلَّكاً

هوايَ ومعطي باليدين غرامي

I felt estranged that I would accept other than you

As my beloved, and a giver with his hands of my love

فإنْ تكُ أسبابٌ لديك ضعيفةٌ

فأسبابُ قربي منك غيرُ رِمامِ

For the causes near you are weak

While the causes of my nearness to you are not flimsy

فلا حان يومٌ منك فيه قطيعتي

ولا آن وقتٌ فيه منك صِرامي

The day never came from you in which was my separation

Nor the time in which was my harshness from you

ولا اِطُّرِحَتْ إلّا برَبْعِك أرحُلي

وَلا كانَ إلّا في ذُراك مقامي

My saddlebags are only discarded in your abode

And my dwelling was only in your orbit

وأيُّ كلامٍ لم يكنْ بمفَاخرٍ

سبقت بها سِلْكاً فليس كلامي

And what speech was there not of virtues

I surpassed in, so it is not my speech

وهُنِّيتَ يومَ المِهْرَجانِ فإنّه

كفيلٌ بما تهوى بكلِّ مَرامِ

You were celebrated on the day of festivity, for it

Suffices for what you love in every goal

يبشّرنا فيما نرى بإقامةٍ

وفي نعمٍ أُلْبِستَها بدوامِ

It gives us good news of stability in what we see

And blessings you have clothed with permanence

وَما جاءنا إلّا بِأَسعدِ طالعٍ

وَلا زارَنا إِلّا بأفضلِ عامِ

Nothing came to us but with the luckiest star

And nothing visited us but the best year

ومهما تَدُمْ فالعينُ فيه قريرةٌ

وكلُّ غصونٍ للأنامِ نوامِ

And however long it lasts, the eye in it is delighted

And every branch is sleepy for the people