وتنوفةٍ عذراءَ لم تركـ

ـب بأخفاف الركاب

And a virgin wilderness, never trod—

—den by the hooves of riding camels,

جاوزتها وقناعُ وجهِ

الأفقِ أذيالُ السَّحاب

I crossed her, while the veil over the face—

—of the horizon was the clouds’ trailing hems.

وكأنَّ آثاري بها

آثارُ سطرٍ في كتاب

It was as though the tracks I left on her

were traces of a line in a book.

غنَّى الذبابُ بجوّها

فلأجلهِ رقص السَّراب

The flies sang in her air,

and at their song the mirage danced.

وسمعتُ لا طرباً بها

تصفيقَ أجنحة الغراب

And there I heard, with no delight,

the clapping of the raven’s wings.

ما هالنا عطل الدجى

خوفاً ولا عدم الشراب

The night’s stark bareness did not strike us

with fear, nor did the lack of drink,

ثقةً بصبح سيوفنا

فيها وغدرانِ العباب

trusting as we did in the dawn of our swords

within her, and in pools of surging water.