دَعَتْنا بِكَهْفٍ مِنْ كُنَا بَيْن دَعْوَةً

عَلَى عَجَلٍ دَهْمَاءُ والرَّكْبُ رَائِحُ

She called to us from a cave, though we were between a call

In haste, and the caravan was departing,

فَقُلْتُ وقَدْ جَاوَزْنَ بَطْنَ خُمَاصَةٍ

جَرَتْ دُونَ دَهْمَاءَ الظِّبَاءُ البَوَارِحُ

So I said, when we had passed the belly of Khumasah,

The gazelles raced below Dahma, the wild beasts.

أَتَى دُونَهَا ذَبُّ الرِّيَادِ كَأَنَّهُ

فَتىً فَارِسيٌّ في سَرَاوِيل َرَامِحُ

There came below it the pursuers, as though

A Persian youth in striped trousers, a lancer,

ومَا ذِكْرُهُ دَهْمَاءَ بَعْدَ مَزَارِهَا

بِنَجْرَانَ إلاَّ التُّرَّهَاتُ الصَحَاصِحُ

And the mention of it is not Dahma after her burial place

In Najran, but the twitterings, the wakeful.

عَفَا الدَّارَ مِنْ دَهْمَاءَ بَعْدَ إِقَامَةٍ

عَجَاجٌ بِجَنْبَيْ مَنْدَدٍ مُتَنَاوِحُ

The house was vacated of Dahma after staying,

Bustards near a mourning ostrich moaning.

فَضِخْدٌ فَشِسْعَى مِنْ عُمَيْرَة فَالِّلوَى

يَلُحْنَ كَما لاَحَ الوُشُومُ القَرَائِحُ

So pleasure and travel from Umayrah, then bending over,

Croaking as the storks croaked, the sleepless.

إِذَا النَّاسُ قَالُوا كَيْفَ أَنْتَ وقَدْ بَدَا

ضَمِيرُ الَّذِي بي قُلْتُ لِلنَّاسِ صَالِحُ

When people say how are you, and it appears,

The conscience that is in me, I say to people, well.

لِيَرْضَى صَدِيقٌ أوْ لِيَبْلُغَ كَاشِحاً

ومَا كُلُّ مَنْ سَلفْتَهُ الوُدَّ نَاصِحُ

That a friend may be content, or reach a desirer,

And not everyone you preceded in love is an advisor.

إِذَا قِيلَ مَنْ دَهْمَاءُ خَبَّرْتُ أَنَّهَا

مِنْ الجِنِّ لَمْ يَقْدَحْ لَهَا الزَّنْدَ قَادِحُ

When it is said who is Dahma, I relate that she

Is of the Jinn, no flint sparked fire for her.

وكَيْفَ ولاَ نَارٌ لِدَهْمَاءَ أَوْقِدَتْ

قَرِيباً ولاَ كَلْبٌ لِدَهْمَاءَ نَابِحُ

And how not, when no fire was kindled for Dahma,

Nor a dog barked for Dahma nearby.

وإِنَّي لَيَلْحَانِي عَلَى أَنْ أُحِبَّهَا

رِجَالٌ تُعَزِّيهمْ قُلُوبٌ صَحَائِحُ

And I am urged to love her by men

Whose hearts are consolation-seeking hearts.

ولَوْ كَانَ حُبِّي أُمَّ ذِي الوَدْعِ كُلُّهُ

لأهْلِكِ مَالاً لَمْ تَسَعْهُ المَسَارِحُ

And if my love for Umm Dhi Al-Wadaa were all,

It would destroy property the meadows could not contain.

أبَى الهَجْرَ مِنْ دَهْمَاءَ والصَّرْمَ أَنَّنِي

مُجِدٌّ بِدَهْمَاءَ الحَدِيثَ ومَازِحُ

She refused separation from Dahma and conversation that I

Am eminent in talk of Dahma and joking.

ويَوْماً عَلَى نَجْرَانَ وَافَتْ فَخِلْتُهَما

كَأَحْسَنِ مَا ضَمَّتْ إِلَيَّ الأَبَاطِحُ

And one day at Najran we met, so I joined them,

As best as the tents drew me in.

بِمَشْيٍ كَهَزِّ الرُّمْحِ بَادٍ جَمَالُهُ

إِذَا جَدَفَ المَشْيَ القِصَارُ الدَّحَادِحُ

With a gait like the shaking of a spear, whose beauty,

When the short-stepped gait hastens, sways.

ولَسْتُ بِنَاسٍ قَوْلَهَا إِذْ لَقِيتُهَا

أَجِدِّي نَبَتْ عَنْكَ الخُطُوبُ الجَوَارِحُ

And I am not people whose speech, when I meet it,

I take seriously - the calamities sprouted from you!

نَبَا مَا نَبَا عَنِّي مِنَ الدَّهْرِ مَاجِداً

أُكَارِمُ مَنْ آخَيْتُهُ وأُسَامِحُ

It foretold what it foretold about me, gloriously,

I befriend those I befriended, and pardon.

وإِنِّي إِذَا مَلَّتْ رِكَابي مُنَاخَهَا

رَكِبْتُ ولَمْ تَعْجَزْ عَلَيَّ المَنَادِحُ

And when my she-camels end their resting place,

I ride, and the passes do not hinder me.

وإَنَّي إِذَا ضَنَّ الرَّفُودُ بِرِفْدِهِ

لَمُخْتَبِطٌ مِنْ تَالِدِ المَالِ جِازِحُ

And when scarcity was stingy with its charity,

I am a winner from the birth of possessions, desirous.

وعَاوَدْتُ أَسْدَامَ المِيَاهِ ولمْ تَزَلْ

قَلاَئِصُ تَحْتي في طَرِيقٍ طَلاَئِحُ

And I returned to the valleys of water, and still

My dogs were under me on a path, yearning.

تَظَلُّ تُغَشِّي ظِلَّهَا سَدِرَاتِهَا

وتُعْقَدُ في أَرْسَاغِهِنَّ السَّرَائِحُ

It shades, covering with its shade its lotuses,

And knots in their ponytails the turbans.

وتُولِجُ في الظِّلِّ الزَّنَاءِ رُؤوسَهَا

وتَحْسَبُهَا هِيماً وهُنَّ صَحَائِحُ

And it inserts into the shade of adultery their heads,

Deeming them delirious, while they are wakeful.

كَأَنَّ مُنَحَّاهَا إِذَا الشَّمْسُ أَعْرَضَتْ

وأَجْسَامَهَا تَحْتَ الرِّحَالِ النَّوَائِحُ

As if its swinging parts, when the sun turns away,

And their bodies beneath the traveling pouches, are mournful.