بَانَ الخَليطُ فَمَا لِلْقَلْب مَعْقُولُ

ولاَ عَلَى الجيرَةِ الغَادِينَ تَعْوِيلُ

The confusion appeared, so the heart has no comprehension,

Nor on the departing neighbors is there any reliance.

أَمَّا هُمُ فَعُدَاةٌ مَا نُكَلِّمُهُمْ

وهْيَ الصَّدِيقُ بِهَا وَجْدٌ وتَخْبِيلُ

As for them, they are enemies - we do not speak to them,

While it is the friend in whom is pleasure and playfulness.

كَأَنَّني يَوْمَ حَثَّ الحَادِيانِ بِهَا

نَحْوَ الإِوَانَةِ بِالطَّاعُونِ مَتْلُولُ

It was as though when the two guides drove me with it

Towards Al-Eewanah during the plague stumbling,

يَوْمَ ارْتَحَلْتُ بِرَحْلِي دُونَ بَرْذَعَتي

والقَلْبُ مُسْتَوْهِلٌ بِالبَيْنِ مَشْغُولُ

The day I departed with my saddlebag without my armor,

While my heart was busy with parting fully occupied.

ثُمَّ اغْتَرَزْتُ عَلَى نَضْوِي لأبْعَثَهُ

إِثْر الحُمُولِ الغَوَادِي وهْوَ مَعْقُولُ

Then I was girded on my she-camel to send it

After the caravans passing through the valley, and it was comprehended.

فَاسْتَعْجَلَتْ عَبْرَةٌ شَعْوَاءُ قَمَّحَهَا

مَاءٌ ومَالَ بِها في جَنْفِها الجُولُ

So a swift tear flowed copiously, moistened by

Water, and it tilted within its eyelid playfully.

فَقُلْتُ مَا لِحُمُولِ الحَيِّ قَدْ خَفِيَتْ

أَكَلَّ طَرْفِيَ أَمْ غَالَتْهُمُ الغُولُ

So I said, “Why have the caravans of the living hidden from my vision?

Have the wolves devoured them or have they been carried off by ghuls?”

يَخْفَوْنَ طَوْراً فَأَبْكِي ثُمَّ يَرْفَعُهُمْ

آلُ الضُّحَى والهِبِلاَّتُ المَرَاسِيلُ

They hide for a while so I cry, then the kinfolk of the forenoon raise them up,

And the communications of nightfall lead them with the caravans.

تَخْدِي بِهِمْ رُجُفُ الأَلْحِي مُلَيَّثَةٌ

أَظْلاَلُهُنَّ لأَيْدِيهنَّ تَنْعِيلُ

They walk with them while the vertigo of mid-day heat distorts them,

Their shadows to their hands inclining.

ولِلْحُدَاةِ عَلَى آثَارِهِمْ زَجَلٌ

ولِلسَّرَابِ عَلَى الحِزَّانِ تَبْغِيلُ

And for their vestiges on the ashes is the clamor of crawling,

And for the mirage upon the gravel plains is delusion.

حَتَّى إِذَا حَالَتِ الشَّهْلاَءُ دُونَهُمُ

واسْتَوْقَدَ الحَرُّ قَالُوا قَوْلَةً قِيلُوا

Until when the afternoon prevented them from passage

And the heat kindled, they uttered a saying: encamp!

واسْتَقْبَلُوا وَادِياً جَرْسُ الحَمَامِ بِهِ

كَأَنَّهُ نَوْحُ أَنْبَاطٍ مَثَاكِيلُ

And they faced a valley in which the ringing of pigeons,

As though it were the moaning of Anbati camels lamenting.

لَمْ يُبْقِ مِنْ كَبِدِي شَيْئاً أَعِيشُ بِهِ

طُولُ الصَّبَابَةِ والبِيضُ الهَرَاكِيلُ

Of my liver, nothing remains for me to live by

Because of the length of travel and the separation of encampments.

مِنْ كُلِّ بَدَّاءَ في البُرْدَيْنِ يَشْغَلُهَا

عَنْ حَاجَةِ الحَيِّ عُلاَّمٌ وتَحْجِيلُ

With every kind of affliction stinging them

From needs of the living: tokens and pensiveness.

مِمَّنْ يَجُولُ وِشاحَاهَا إِذَا انْصَرَفَتْ

ولاَ تَجُولُ بِسَاقَيْهَا الخَلاَخِيلُ

From those who wander while their loincloths, when they turn away,

Flutter, and their anklets jingle not with bells.

يَزِينُ أَعْدَاءَ مَتْنَيْهَا ولَبَّتَها

مُرَجَّلٌ مُنْهَل بِالمِسْكِ مَعْلُولُ

He adorns the enemies of her neck and breast

A man effeminate, perfumed, and dressed in beautiful clothes.

تُمِرُّهُ عَطِفَ الأَطْرَافِ ذَا غُدَرٍ

كَأَنَّهُنَّ عَنَاقِيدُ القُرَى المِيلُ

She passes by him, though he be treacherous,

As though they were bunches of lote trees bending over.

هِيفُ المُرَدَّى رَدَاحٌ في تَأَوُّدِهَا

مَحْطُوطَةُ المَتْنِ والأَحْشَاءِ عُطْبُولُ

Swaying of the well-rounded camel litter wherein she rides

Propped up, her belly girth and intestines exposed.

كَأَنَّ بَيْنَ تَرَاقِيهَا ولبَّتِهَا

جَمْراً بِهِ مِنْ نُجُومِ اللَّيْلِ تَفْصِيلُ

As though between her neck and breast

Were embers therein of the stars of night embedded.

تَشْفِي مِنَ السِّلِّ والبِرْسَامِ رِيقَتُهَا

سُقْمٌ لِمَنْ أَسْقَمَتْ داءٌ عَقَابِيل

Her saliva heals consumption and mange -

A sickness for whoever she has made ill: unfailing remedies.

تَشْفِي الصَّدَى أَيْنَمَا مَالَ الضَّجِيعُ بِهَا

بَعْدَ الكَرَى رِيقَةٌ مِنْهَا وتَقْبِيلُ

Her saliva heals the ringing in the ears wherever the sleeper turns to her,

After the wine cups: a draft from it and a kiss.

يَصْبُوا إِلَيْهَا ولَوْ كَانُوا عَلى عَجَلٍ

بِالشِّعْبِ مِنْ مَكَّةَ الشَّيبُ المَثَاكِيلُ

They hasten to her even if they are in a hurry

At Shi’b from Mecca - the graybeards, the weak.

تَسْبِي القُلُوبَ فَمِنْ زُوَّارِهَا دَنِفٌ

يَعْتَدُّ آخِر دُنْيَاهُ ومَقْتُولُ

She captures hearts, so among her visitors are those

Who exceed the limits and are destroyed.

كَأَنَّ ضَحْكَتَها يَوْماً إِذَا ابْتَسَمَتْ

بَرْقٌ سَحَائِبُهُ غُرٌّ زَهَالِيلُ

As though her laughter one day when she smiles

Is lightning whose clouds are dense, rumbling,

كَأَنَّهُ زَهَرٌ جَاءَ الجُنَاةُ بِهِ

مُسْتَطْرَفٌ طَيِّبُ الأَرْواحِ مَطْلُولُ

As though it is a flower the vintners have brought

A choice bouquet of pleasant fragrance plucked.

كَأَنَّهَا حِينَ يَنْضُو النَّوْمُ مِفْضَلَها

سَبِيكَةٌ لَمْ تُنَقِّصْهَا المَثَاقِيلُ

As though she is, when slumber reveals her bangs,

A poured ingot that the scales have not diminished.

أَوْ مُزْنَةٌ كَشَّفَتْ عَنْهَا الصَّبَا رَهَجاً

حَتَّى بَدَا رَيِّقٌ مِنْهَا وتَكْلِيلُ

Or a buried hoard that the youths have uncovered,

Until her saliva was exposed and her collar.

أَوْ بَيْضَةٌ بَيْنَ أَجْمَادٍ يُقَلِّبُهَا

بِالمَنْكَبيْنِ سُخَامُ الزِّفِّ إِجْفِيلُ

Or an ewe that the soft sands had isolated

From her accustomed pasture - cheeks clearly tattooed.

يَخْشَى النَّدَى فَيُوَلِّيهَا مَقَاتِلَهُ

حَتَّى يُوَافِيَ قَرْنَ الشَّمْسِ تَرْجِيلُ

In a lofty abode of the musical entertainer living,

With the jinn of twittering, and the evil eye, the observers.

أَوْ نَعْجَةٌ مِنْ إِرَاخِ الرَّمْلِ أَخْذَلَهَا

عَنْ إِلْفِها وَاضِحُ الخَدَّيْنِ مَكْحُولُ

Her soul said to her, “Be with him at his birth

For the wretched, if you go beyond, are eaten.”

بِشُقَّةٍ مِنْ نَقَا العَزَّافِ يَسْكُنُهَا

جِنُّ الصَّرِيمَةَ والعِينُ المَطَافِيلُ

So the heart is concerned with terrors that alarm it,

And the flesh, from intense fright, is withered.

قَالَتْ لَهَا النَّفْسُ كُونِي عِنْدَ مَوْلِدِهِ

إِنَّ المُسْيكِينَ إِنْ جَاوَزْتِ مَأْكُولُ

It grows accustomed through a heart not divided

And a pearl that no misfortunes have disgraced.

فَالقَلْبُ يَعْنَى بِرَوْعَاتٍ تُفَزِّعُهُ

واللَّحْمُ مِنْ شِدَّةِ الإِشْفَاقِ مَخْلُولُ

Until one ferocious of nature restrained her in the air,

Deafening, while I reddened the cheeks, disgraced.

تَعْتَادُهُ بِفُؤَادٍ غَيْرِ مُقْتَسَمٍ

ودِرَّةٍ لَمْ تَخَوَّنْهَا الأَحَالِيلُ

He clenched his jaws on her - all who approached him

Turned away, and into his trunk was insertion.

حَتَّى احْتَوَى بِكْرَهَا بِالجَوِّ مُطَّرِدٌ

سَمَعْمَعٌ أَهْرَتُ الشِّدْقَيْنِ زُهْلُولُ

Of the flowers that the breeze had scattered

Nothing remained on his nose ropes except amulets.

شَدَّ المَمَاضِغَ مِنْهُ كُلَّ مُنْصَرَفٍ

مِنْ جَانِبَيْهِ وفي الخُرْطُومِ تَسْهِيلُ

As though between his eyes and forehead

Were from his dye in the blood of the people a handkerchief.

لَمْ يَبْقَ مِنْ زَغَبٍ طَارَ النَّسِيلُ بِهِ

عَلى قَرَامَتْنِهِ إِلاَّ شَمَالِيلُ

Sturdy as a spear, clenched in his hands,

And from it the canals stretched out, and in them a ghoul.

كَأَنَّمَا بَيْنَ عَيْنَيْهِ وزُبْرَتِهِ

مِنْ صَبْغِهِ في دِمَاءِ القَوْمِ مِنْدِيلُ

He crosses the deserts in leaps, and his watering place

From lack of grief is pools - water wheels.

كَالرُّمْحِ أَرْقَلَ في الكَفَّيْنِ واطَّرَدَتْ

مِنْهُ القَنَاةُ وفِيهَا لَهْذَمٌ غُولُ

When he first snorted, and made her hear it,

With a lofty mansion or bend below,

يَطْوِي المفَاوِزَ غِيطَاناً ومَنْهَلُهُ

مِنْ قُلَّةِ الحَزْنِ أَحْوَاضٌ عَدَامِيلُ

The ululation almost burst from his larynx

And rattling between his jaws: broken bits.

لَمَّا ثَغَا الثَّغْوَةَ الأُولَى فَأَسْمَعَهَا

ودُونَهُ شُقَّةٌ مِيلاَنِ أَوْ مِيلُ

She shook the black rocks with decorated hooves,

And their striking when they struck: soft sounds.

كَادَ اللُّعَاعُ مِنَ الحَوْذَانِ يَسْحَطُهَا

ورِجْرِجٌ بَيْنَ لحْيَيْهَا خَنَاطِيلُ

Until she came to the camp of the wretched one, searching for him,

And around her were pieces of him scattered.

تُذْرِي الخُزَامَى بأَظْلاَفٍ مُخَذْرَفَةٍ

ووَقْعُهُنَّ إِذَا وَقَعْنَ تَحْلِيلُ

The searching of a mourner for a heart in her playgrounds,

And henna on her hands embedded.

حَتَّى أَتَتْ مَرْبِضَ المِسْكِينِ تَبْحَثُهُ

وحَوْلَهَا قِطَعٌ مِنْهُ رَعَابِيلُ

بَحْثَ الكَعَابِ لِقُلْبٍ في مَلاَعِبِهَا

وفي اليَدَيْنِ مِنَ الحِنّاءِ تَفْصِيلُ