أَمِن مَنزِلٍ عافٍ وَمِن رَسمِ أَطلالِ

بَكيتَ وَهَل يَبكي مِنَ الشَوقِ أَمثالي

From a house of well-being and from the outline of ruins

I wept, and does anyone like me weep from longing?

دِيارُهُمُ إِذ هُم جَميعٌ فَأَصبَحَت

بَسابِسَ إِلّا الوَحشَ في البَلَدِ الخالي

Their abodes, when all were gone, became

Desolate but for the beasts in the empty land.

قَليلاً بِها الأَصواتُ إِلّا عَوازِفاً

عِراراً زِماراً مِن غَياهيبَ آجالِ

Few are the sounds there except for

Wailing pipes, from desert foxes prolonging their howls.

فَإِن تَكُ غَبراءُ الخُبَيبَةِ أَصبَحَت

خَلَت مِنهُمُ وَاِستَبدَلَت غَيرَ أَبدالِ

So if the beloved's abode is dusty, it has become

Empty of them and taken on others in exchange.

بِما قَد أَرى الحَيَّ الجَميعَ بِغِبطَةٍ

بِها وَاللَيالي لا تَدومُ عَلى حالِ

Seeing all the living happy

In it, and the nights do not last in one state,

أَبَعدَ بَني عَمروٍ وَرَهطي وَإِخوَتي

أُرَجّي لَيانَ العَيشِ وَالعَيشُ ضَلّالُ

After the clan of ‘Amr, my comrades and brothers

I wish for the comfort of life, though life leads astray.

فَلَستُ وَإِن أَضحَوا مَضَوا لِسَبيلِهِم

بِناسيهِمُ طولَ الحَياةِ وَلا سالي

If they are gone, gone on their way,

I won’t forget them, throughout life, nor move on.

أَلا تَقِفانِ اليَومَ قَبلَ تَفَرُّقٍ

وَنَأيٍ بَعيدٍ وَاِختِلافٍ وَأَشغالِ

Will you not stop today, before parting

And distant separation and divergence and preoccupations,

إِلى ظُعُنٍ يَسلُكنَ بَينَ تَبالَةٍ

وَبَينَ أَعالي الخَلِّ لاحِقَةِ التالي

At the flanks of a valley between Tabala

And the heights of Khall, pursuing the following hills,

فَلَمّا رَأَيتُ الحادِيَينِ تَكَمَّشا

نَدِمتُ عَلى أَن يَذهَبا ناعِمَي بالِ

When I saw the two drivers shrink back

I regretted that they would take away my easy life,

رَفَعنَ عَلَيهِنَّ السِياطَ فَقَلَّصَت

بِنا كُلُّ فَتلاءِ الذِراعَينِ شِملالِ

Raising the whips over them, so they shrank

Together, the forearms of both gathering in.

خَلوجٍ بِرِجلَيها كَأَنَّ فُروجَها

فَيافي سُهوبٍ حَيثُ تَختَبُّ في الآلِ

With a gait of her legs as if her clefts

Were rough ground where the mirage wavers.

فَأَلحَقَنا بِالقَودِ كُلُّ دِفَقَّةٍ

مُصَدَّرَةٍ بِالرَحلِ وَجناءَ مِرقالِ

And every surge of us

Fastened by the packsaddles and the camel-litters’ awnings,

فَمِلنا وَنازَعنا الحَديثَ أَوانِساً

عَلَيهِنَّ جَيشانِيَّةٌ ذاتُ أَغيالِ

And we shared conversation and sweets

And talk of whatever the fancy of the empty mind desires,

وَمِلنا إِلَينا بِالسَوالِفِ وَالحُلى

وَبِالقَولِ فيما يَشتَهي المَرِحُ الخالي

As if youth had come with the scent of a soft

Breeze of musk, not purchasable with money however dear,

كَأَنَّ الصَبا جاءَت بِريحِ لَطيمَةٍ

مِنَ المِسكِ لا تُسطاعُ بِالثَمَنِ الغالي

And the fragrance of Khuzama in the corners of a garden

Watered from it, flowing from the hanging water-skin.

وَريحِ خُزامى في مَذانِبِ رَوضَةٍ

جَلا دِمنَها سارٍ مِنَ المُزنِ هَطّالِ