ضَرَبُوا الخيامَ على النَّدَى والخِيمِ

ورَغِبْتُ عن مَرْعًى بِهِنَّ وَخيمِ

They pitched tents upon the dew and small tents

And I was keen to pasture among them and their tents

ما كنتُ أَوَّلَ زاهدٍ في رَوْضَةٍ

تُجْنَى أَراقِمُ وَشْيِها المَرْقُوم

I was not the first ascetic in a garden

Whose palms and branched trees were picked

كم من سقيمِ الجسمِ يِتُّ لأَجلِهِ

وأَنا الصَّحيحُ بداءِ كلِّ سقيمِ

How many with frail bodies yearn for it

While I, though healthy, have the ills of every frail one

فارجِعْ عنِ الوادي فإِنَّ مياهَهُ

مما يُشَبُّ بها غليلُ الهيمِ

So turn away from the valley, for its waters

Are what his fervent thirst is mixed with

مدّ الحُمَاةَ من الأَسِنَّةِ فوقَه

ظِلاًّ وذاكَ الظِّلَّ من يَحْمُومِ

The protectors extended from tongues above it

A shade, and that shade is from the fevered

وبشِعْبِ رامَةَ مَعْرَكٌ يغدُو بِهِ

قَلْبُ الهِزَبْرِ أَسيرِ لَحْظِ الرِّيمِ

And in the valley of Rama is a fray in which

The heart of the coward is captive to the glance of the spear

حيثُ التَفَتَّ إِلى مطالِعِ شَمْسِهِ

أَلفَيْتَها محجوبَةً بِغُيُوم

Wherever he turned to the horizons of his sun

You found them obscured by clouds

مَغْنًى يُدِيرُ به النسيمُ رَحِيقَهُ

ممزوجَةَ الرَّشَفَاتِ من تَسْنِيمِ

A melody which the breeze turns with its nectar

Blended with the sprinklings of gentle plucking

وكأَنَّ مُبْتًسَمَ السحابِ متيَّمٌ

يبكي عليه بدمعِهِ المسجومِ

As if the smiling of the clouds is a lover

Who weeps for it with his heated tears

لِمَنِ المنازلُ كالمَنازِلِ رِفْعَةً

وضياءَ آفاقٍ وبُعْدَ نُجُومِ

For whom are the dwellings like dwellings of loftiness

And light of horizons and distance of stars

ما رَدَّدَ المشتاقُ فيها نظرةً

إِلا انْثَنَتْ عن نَضْرَةٍ ونعيمِ

The longing one has not glanced in them

Except it swayed from delight and bliss

أَتُرَى الذي في وَجْهِهِ لِيَ جَنَّةٌ

يَدْري بأَنِّي أَصطلي بجحيمِ

Can it be that he whose face is a paradise to me

Knows that I warm myself by hellfire

أُبْدِي التَّجَلُّدَ في الكلامِ وأَنطوِي

دونَ العذولِ على حَشًى مكلومِ

I show composure in speech and fold myself

Without complaining, upon burning sorrows

مالِي إِذا اسْتَظْلَلْتُ وارِفَ هَمِّه

سَقَطَتْ عَلَيَّ فروعُها بِهُمومِ

What is it to me if when I sought shade under it

Its branches fell upon me with worries

أَنا بالبراقِعِ والبَلاقِعِ هائِمٌ

لا أَكْحَلُ الجَفْنيْنِ بالتَّهْوِيمِ

I wander with veils and calamities

Not darkening my eyelids with drowsiness

كم مَهْمَهٍ خَفَضَتْ رُءُوسَ إِكامِهِ

نَغَمَ الحُداةِ برَفْعِ أَيدِي الكُومِ

How many noble qualities lowered their heads

The melody of separation by raising hands of despair

نادَى لسانُ الدهرِ باسْمِي ناقصاً

فَحَمَلْتُه مِنْهُ على التَّرْخِيمِ

The tongue of time called my name truncating it

So I carried it from him with resignation

ودُعِيتُ بالمرزوقِ ثمّ اسْتَرْجَعَتْ

أَيَّامُهُ فَدُعِيتُ بالمَحْروم

And I was called blessed, then its days

Took it back, so I was called deprived

لولا الجدودُ لما ارْتَمَتْ بمُسَافِرٍ

كَفُّ الغِنَى وتعلَّقَتْ بمُقِيمِ

If it weren't for the ancestors, no traveller would flourish

The palm of wealth and cling to the resident

والحظُّ حتَّى في الحروفِ مُؤَثِّرٌ

تختصُّ بالتدقيقِ والتفخيمِ

And fortune, even in letters, has effect

Specializing in emphasis and amplification

ويقبِّلُ الضَّحَّاكُ ما سَفَرَتْ لهم

تحتَ العَجَاجَةِ عن أَغَرَّ شَتِيمِ

And they kiss what roamed to them

Under the litter, from the most vulgar abuse

وتَحَمَّلُوا لِلْفُرْسِ في صَنْعَائِها

أُمَّ التي جاءَتْ على أَحْمِيمِ

And they tolerated for the Persians in their Sana'a

The Umm that came on Peregrine Falcons

وانظِمْ بسِلْكِ القَوْلِ دُرَّ فِعالِهِمْ

في لَبَّةِ المنثورِ والمنظومِ

And string with the twine of words the pearls of their deeds

In the mantle of prose and verse