أَلاَ طَرَقَتْنَا بِالْمَدِينَةِ بَعْدَمَ
طَلَى الَّليْلُ أَذْنَابَ النِّجَادِ فَأَظْلَمَا
Alas, at night in the town we kept knocking,
After the darkness draped the tails of the stars and darkened them.
تَخَطَّتْ إِلَيْنَا الدُّورَ والسُّوقَ كُلَّهَا
ومَنْ كَانَ فِيهَا مِنْ فَصِيحٍ وأَعْجَمَا
It crept upon us, the houses, markets and all
Who were eloquent or inarticulate therein.
عَشِيَّةَ وَافَى مِنْ قُرَيْشٍ وَعَامِرٍ
ومِنْ غَطَفَانَ مَأْتَمٌ رُزْنَ مَأْتَمَا
In the evening came to us of Quraish, and 'Aamir,
And of Gatafan, a grieving assembly that grieved.
يَمحْنَ بِأَطْرَافِ الذُّيُولِ عَشِيَّةً
كَمَا بَهَرَ الوَعْثُ الهِجَانَ المَزَنَّمَا
They wiped their mounts' croups in the evening
As the down had adorned the decorated camel gear.
كَأَنَّ السُّرَى أَهْدَتْ لنَا بَعْدَمَا ونَى
مِنَ اللَّيْلِ سُمَّارُ الدَّجَاجِ فَنَوَّمَا
As if the Pleiades, after the night had departed,
Brought to us the rooster's crowing that induced slumber.
رَبِيبَةَ حُرٍّ دَافَعَتْ في حُقُوفِهِ
رَخَاخَ الثَّرَى والأُقْحُوَانَ المُدَيَّمَا
The free woman urged ahead her camel with a litter
Whose streaming banners trailed, and saddle cloths of leather.
تُرَاعِي شَبُوباً في المَرَادِ كَأَنَّهُ
سُهَيْلٌ بَدَا في عَارِضٍ مِنْ يَلَمْلَمَا
She herds a colt in foal that seems as if
Suhail rose in the cheek of one dark-lipped.
تظَلُّ الرُّخَامَى غَضَّةً في مَرَادِهِ
مِنَ الأَمْسِ أَعْلَى لِيطِهَا قدْ تَهَضَّمَا
The slit-eared camels, unmilked, in her herd
Were by last night too high for her to milk.
حَشَا ضِغْثَ شُقَّارَى شَرَاسِيفَ ضُمَّراً
تَخَذَّمَ مِنْ أَطْرَافِهَا مَا تَخَذَّمَا
He packed a bundle of dry sjubar-wood, fragments of dry 'ud and sammar,
Taking from their edges as much as he could take.
يَبِيتُ عَلْيَهما طَاوِياً بِمَبِيتِهِ
بِمَا خَفَّ مِنْ زَادٍ ومَا طَابَ مَطْعَمَا
He spends the night bent over it, sleeping
On what little provision remained good to eat.
يَظَلُّ إِلَى أَرْطَأةِ حِقْفٍ يُثِيرُهَا
يُكَابِدُ عَنْهَا تُرْبَهَا أَنْ يُهَدَّمَا
He remains next to the sand-dune, disturbing it,
Enduring its soil lest it be demolished.
يَبِيتُ وحُرِّيٌّ مِنَ الرَّملِ تَحْتَهُ
إلَى نَعِجٍ مِنْ ضَائِنِ الرَّمْلِ أَهْيَمَا
He spends the night, fretful about the sand beneath him,
Bleating to a ewe lost in the sands.
كَاَنَّ مَجْوِسيّاً أَتَى دُونَ ظِلِّهَا
ومَاتَ النَّدَى مِنْ جَانِبَيْهِ فَأَصْرَمَا
As if he were a Magian who came without his shade
And the dew died off on both his sides, so he was stripped bare.
غَدَا كَالفِرِنْدِ العَضْبِ يَهْنَزُّ مَتْنُهُ
مِنَ العِتْقِ لَوْلاَ لِيتُهُ لَتَحَطَّمَا
In the morning he sways like an 'ud stick, his trunk
Creaking from bondage, were it not for his weakness it would have snapped.
تَوَرِّعُهُ الأَهْوَالُ مِنْ دُونِ هَمِّهِ
كَمَا وَرَّعَ الرَّاعِي الفَنِيقَ المُسَدَّمَا
Fears dissuade him from his concern
As they dissuaded the shepherd from the saddle-patched camel.
لَنَا حَاضِرٌ فَخْمٌ وبَادٍ كَأنَّهُ
شَمَارِيخُ رَضْوَى عِزَّةً وتَكَرُّمَا
We have a glorious, splendid present and past, as if
It were lofty pillars of honor and generosity.
نُقَطِّعُ أَوْسَاطَ الحُقُوفِ لِقَوْمِنَا
إِذَا طُلِبَتْ في غَيْرِ أَنْ تَتَهَضَّمَا
We apportion the interiors of the dwellings to our people
When asked, without their being demolished.
لَنَا أَصْلُهَا ولِلسَّمَاحِ صُدُورُهَا
ونُنْصِفُ مَوْلاَنَا وإِنْ كَانَ أَظْلَمَا
To us belongs their origin, and to the generous their hearts,
And we treat our lord with fairness, even if he were unjust.
وصَهْبَاءَ يَسْتَوشي بِذِي اللُبِّ مِثْلُهَا
قَرَعْتُ بِهَا نَفْسي إِذَا الدِّيكُ أَعْتَمَا
By her of excellent character I swear equal to it -
I have censured myself whenever the cock crowed.
تَمَزَّزْتُهَا صِرْفاً وقَارَعْتُ دَنَّهَا
بِعُودِ أَرَاكٍ هَزَّهُ فَتَرَنَّمَا
I have rejected her coldly and rapped her cheek gently
With a sweet basil stick he had waved and so made melodious.
