لِمَنْ الدَّيَارُ بِجَانِبِ الأَحْفَارِ

فَبَتِيل دَمْخٍ أَوْ بِسَلْعِ جُزارِ

For whom are the dwellings by the excavations

A stinking mud or a butcher’s wares,

أَمْسَتْ تَلُوحُ كَأَنَّهَا عَامِيَّةً

والعَهْدُ كَانَ بِسَالِفِ الإِعْصَارِ

They appear wavering as if they were nomadic

While in the past they were in raging storms

خَلَدَتْ ولَمْ يَخْلُدْ بِهَا مَنْ حَلّهَا

ذَاتُ النِّطَاقِ فَبُرْقَةُ الإمْهَارِ

They remained while those who inhabited them did not

The slender waisted, flashes of unsheathed swords

فَرِيَاضُ ذِي بَقَرٍ فَحَزْمُ شَقِيقَةٍ

قَفْرٌ وقَدْ يَغْنَيْنَ غَيْرَ قِفَارِ

Courtyards of cattle and bundles of aromatic plants

A wasteland that may satisfy others than the destitute

بَعْدَ المُرَوَّحِ والعَزِيبِ كَأَنَّهُ

حَرَجُ السَّلِيلِ مُمَنَّعُ الأَدْبَارِ

After the fans and the isolated abodes as if they are

The confused track of foxes, inaccessible from behind

والعَادِيَاتِ البَرْدَ كُلَّ عَشِيَّةٍ

قُبَّ البُطُونِ كَأَنَّهُنَّ صَوَارِي

And the racers at nightfall everyday

Paunches of the camels as if they were cisterns

والمُسْمِعَاتِ لَدَى الشُّرُوبِ كَأَنَّهَا

أَدْمُ الظِّبَاءِ نَوَاعِمُ الأَبْشَاره

And the feminine listeners during drinking as if they are

Tawny gazelles, soft complexioned

وَمَجَالِسٍ تَمْشي الغَطَارِفُ بَيْنَهَا

كالجِنِّ لَيْسَ لَبُوسُهُمْ بِنِمَارِ

And the gatherings in which mysteries move about

Like jinn with no garments of prestige

وإِذَا الشَّمَالُ تَرَوَّحَتْ بِعَشِيَّةٍ

تَرْمِي البُيُوتَ بِيَابِسِ الأَحْظَارِ

And when the north wind blows at nightfall

It hurls the houses with dry wood

أَلْفَيْتَنَا مَرْفُوعَةً حُجُرَاتُهَا

لِلضَّيْفِ عِنْدَ مَزَاحِفِ الأَيْسَارِ

We found them with their chambers

Raised for the guest at the arrival of the left side

في مَجْلِسٍ يُغْلُونَ كلَّ عَبِيطَةٍ

في مَحْفِلٍ سَبِطِينَ غَيْرِ زِمِارِ

In a session where they recite every uncouth poem

In a gathering, august, without lutes

ومُعَرَّسٍ تَجِبُ القُلُوبُ مَخَافَةً

مِنْهُ وتُبْدِي خَافِيَ الأَسْرَارِ

And a wedding where hearts are filled with awe

Of it and reveal hidden secrets

تَنْتَابُهُ غَرِضِينَ عِنْدَ صَوَافِنٍ

وضَوَامِرٍ يَصْرِفْنَ بِالأَكْوِارِ

He approaches them with purposes at nightfalls

And pots they pass around

حَتَّى إذَا مَا الصُّبْحُ شَقَّ أَدِيمَهُ

لِلْقَوْمِ أَوْقَدُوا عَلَى الإِبْصَارِ

Until when the dawn tore its cover

For the tribe, they ignited the sights

جَدَّتْ قَرِيَنَتُهُمْ عَلَى مَا خَيَّلَتْ

وغَدَتْ تُبَشِّرُ طَيْرُهُمْ بِغِوَارِ

Their wives pretended as they imagined

And went to give glad tidings to their birds with dust

وضَرَبْنَ مِنْ نَظَر وأَعْرَضَ سَارِحٌ

سَبطُ المَشَافِرِ سَاقِطُ الأَوْبَارِ

And they set out looking and a rider turned away

With sagging lips and fallen mane

يَقْطَعْنَ عَرْضَ الأَرْضِ غَيْرَ لوَاغِبٍ

وكَأَنَّ مُحْزِنَهَا لهُنَّ صَحَارِي

They crossed the width of the earth without deviation

As if its expanse is a meadow for them

فَقَضَيْنَ مَا قَضَّيْنَ ثُمَّ تَرَكْنَهُمْ

عُزُبَ المَبَاءَةِ غُيَّبَ الأَنْفَارِ

Then they did what they did and left them

Unmarried, absent, hidden from sight