هل تعرفُ الدارَ خفَّ ساكِنُها
بالحجرِ فالمستوى إلى الثَّمَدِ
Do you know the house whose dweller has departed?
It crumbles into rubble on the hillside plain.
دارٌ لبهانةٍ خدلجَةٍ
تَبسمُ عن مثلِ بارِدِ البَرَدِ
A house where Bahana once smiled and sported,
Like the cold brilliance of midwinter rain.
أثَّت فطالَت حتى إذا اعتدلت
ما إن يَرَى الناظرونِ من أوَدِ
It stretched its height till balanced and righted,
That none who saw it found a flaw inside.
فيها فأما نقاً فأسفلُها
والجيدُ منها لظبيةِ الجَرَدِ
The best of it is like a doe's white hide,
While all below is rubble without light.
لا الدهرُ فإن ولا مواعِدُها
تأتي فليتَ القتولَ لم تَعِدِ
Not time itself, nor yet the trysts it plighted
Can bring the loved ones back it once did hide.
وعداً محاصيلُهُ إلى خُلُفِ
ذاك طلابُ التضليلِ والنكَدِ
Those were but promises which led astray
Deceivers who delight in causing pain.
هيفاءُ يلتذُّها معانِقُها
بعدَ عِلالِ الحديثِ والنجَدِ
Hyfa walks there, her lover at her side,
After their passion and the torment's stain,
تمشي إلى نحو بيتِ جارَتِها
واضعةً كفَّها على الكَبِدِ
Towards her neighbor's house she makes her way,
With hand at waist to ease the ache inside.
نعمَ شعارُ الفتى إذا بردَالا
يلُ وآضت كواكِبُ الأسَدِ
Yes, and the youth's true standard, when cloak's displayed,
Is like the Lion's stars when night-clouds fade,
كأنَّ ماءَ الغمامِ خالَطَهُ
راحٌ صَفَا بعدَ هادرِ الزَّبَدِ
As though the rain-filled clouds were pierced and swayed
By winds blowing the fringed foam aside,
والمسكُ والزنجبيلُ عُلَّ به
أنيابُها بعد غفلَةِ الرَّصَدِ
Musk and ginger undulate in his braid
After the curls' oblivious cascade.
دع ذا ولكن ربَّ عاذِلَةٍ
لو عَلِمَت ما أُريدُ لِمَ تعدِ
Leave that be, though she I love upbraided,
And knew not why I made her so afraid,
هبت بليلٍ تلومُ في شربِ ال
خَمرِ وذكرِ الكواعب الخُرُدِ
Came in the night to scold me over wine
And dalliance with slave-girls she decried.
فقُلتُ مهلاً فما عليكِ إن ام
سيتُ غوياً غيِّي ولا رشدي
I said "Patience, though I'm led from wisdom's line,
Madly I stray, there is no sense or guide."
إني لمستيقنٌ لئن لم أمُت
مل يوم إني إذن رهينُ غَدِ
For if I live without you, I'm resigned
To be in death forever at your side.
هل نحنُ إلا كَمَن تقدَّمنا
منا ومن تمَّ ظِمؤُه يَرِد
Are we not like those before who pined,
And drank the drought of love unsatisfied?
نحنُ كمَن ما مضى وما ان أرى
شحاً يزيدُ الحريصَ من عَدَدِ
We are the same as those now left behind,
And increasing avarice brings no pride.
فلا تلومنني على خُلقي
واقني حياءَ الكريمِ واقتعدي
Then do not blame me for my nature, find
Me honor, wisdom, piety beside!
