أَرِقتُ لِذِكرى مَنزِلٍ شَطَّ نازِحٍ

كَلِفتُ بِأَنفاسِ الشَمالِ لَهُ شَمّا

I lay sleepless, remembering a dwelling gone far, far away;

I grew enamored of the north wind’s breaths, inhaling them for its scent.

فَقُلتُ لِبَرقٍ يَصدَعُ اللَيلَ لامِحٍ

أَلا حَيِّ عَنّي ذَلِكَ الرَبعَ وَالرَسما

I said to a gleaming flash of lightning that cleaves the night:

“Go, greet for me that encampment and its traces.

وَأَبلِغ قَطينَ الدارِ أَنّي أَُحِبُّهُ

عَلى النَأيِ حُبّاً لَو جَزاني بِهِ جَمّا

Tell the household of the dwelling that I love them

from afar—a love I wish they would requite abundantly.

وَأَقرىء عُفَيراءَ السَلامَ وَقُل لَها

أَلا هَل أَرى ذاكَ السُها قَمَراً تَمّا

Give ʿUfayrā my greetings, and say to her:

‘Ah, shall I see that Suhā as a moon grown full?

وَهَل يَتَثَنّى ذَلِكَ الغُصنُ نَضرَةً

بِجَزعي وَهَل أَلوي مَعاطِفَهُ ضَمّا

Will that bough, in all its freshness, bend

in my valley, and shall I fold its curves into an embrace?

وَمَن لي بِذاكَ الخِشفِ مِن مُتَقَنَّصٍ

فَآكُلَهُ عَضّاً وَأَشرَبَهُ شَمّا

Who can get me that fawn from the hunting ground,

so I may eat it in bites and drink it in as scent?’

وَدونَ الصِبا إِحدى وَخَمسونَ حِجَّةً

كَأَنّي وَقَد وَلَّت أُريتُ بِها حُلما

Between me and youth stand fifty-one years,

as though, now they have gone, I had merely been shown a dream in them.

فَيا لَيتَ طَيرَ السَعدِ يَسنَحُ بِالمُنى

فَأَحظى بِها سَهماً وَأَنأى بِها قِسما

If only fortune’s bird would cross auspiciously, bearing my desire,

that I might win her as my portion and carry her away as my allotted share.

وَيا لَيتَني كُنتُ اِبنَ عَشرٍ وَأَربَعٍ

فَلَم أَدعُها بِنتاً وَلَم تَدعُني عَمّا

If only I were a boy of ten and four—

then I would not call her daughter, nor would she call me uncle.