مَنَعَ النَومَ ماوِيَ التَهمامُ

وَجَديرٌ بِالهَمِّ مَن لا يَنامُ

Sleeplessness kept awake by cares

Anxiety, O Mawiyah, has banished sleep,

And troubles are for him who never sleeps

And worthy of worry is he who cannot sleep.

مَن يَنَم لَيلَهُ فَقَد أُعمِلُ اللَي

لَ وَذو البَثِّ ساهِرٌ مُستَهامُ

He who sleeps the night has wasted night

While others sleep the night away, I toil through the dark,

While the anxious remains awake and rapt

The possessor of sorrow is wakeful, distracted by love.

هَل تَرى مِن ظَعائِنٍ باكِراتٍ

كَالعَدَولِيِّ سَيرُهُنَّ اِنقِحامُ

Can you see the young she-camels rising early

Do you see the ladies in litters departing at dawn,

Marching like warriors in hasty stride

Like large ships, their movement is a plunging rush?

واكِناتٍ يَقضَمنَ مِن قُضُبِ الضُر

مِ كِالعَدَولِيِّ سَيرُهُنَّ اِنقِحامُ

Chewing the dry desert growth

Sitting safely, nibbling on the branches of the Dharm tree,

Marching like warriors in hasty stride

Like large ships, their movement is a plunging rush.

وَسَبَّتني بِناتُ نَخلَةَ لَو كُن

تُ قَريباً أَلَمَّ بي إِلمامُ

And the palm-tree girls taunted me, if only

The daughters of Nakhlah captivated me; had I been

They were near, cares would afflict me

Nearer, a brief visit would have befallen me.

يَكتَبينَ اليَنجوجَ في كَبَّةِ المَش

تى وَبُلهٌ أَحلامُهُنَّ وَسامُ

Writing love messages in scent bags

They scent themselves with aloe-wood in the dead of winter,

Their dreams are confused and intertwined

Simple and carefree, their dreams are fair and pleasant.

وَيَصُنَّ الوُجوهَ في المَيسَنانِي

يِ كَما صانَ قَرنَ شَمسٍ غَمامُ

They guard their faces behind the veils

They guard their faces in mirrors of Maysan,

As though a cloud guards the radiant sun

As a cloud guards the horn of the sun.

وَتَراهُنَّ في الهَوادِجِ كَالغِز

لانِ ما إِن يَنالُهُنَّ السِهامُ

You’d think them does in the litters

You see them inside the howdahs like gazelles,

Safe from the arrows that fly all around

Whom arrows can never reach or harm.

نَخَلاتٌ مِن نَخلِ بَيسانَ أَينَع

نَ جَميعاً وَنَبتُهُنَّ تُؤامُ

Palm trees of Baysan, fully ripened

Like palm trees of Baysan, ripened

Growing together, supported and erect

All together, their growth like twins.

وَتَدَلَّت عَلى مَناهِلِ بُردٍ

وَفُلَيجٌ ومِن دونِها وَسَنامُ

Their clusters hang over springs of cool water,

They leaned over the watering places of Burd,

Little meadows, behind them rocky hills

With Fulayj and Sanam lying beyond them.

وَأَتاني تَقحيمُ كَعبٍ لِيَ المَن

طِقَ إِنَّ النَكيثَةَ الإِقحامُ

And Ka’b came plodding heavily to tell me:

Word reached me of Ka'b’s intrusion into my speech;

“Strange times! Rush headstrong into the fray!

Indeed, breaking ties is a plunging into ruin.

في نِظامٍ ما كُنتُ فيهِ فَلا يَح

زُنكَ شَيءٌ لِكُلِّ حَسناءَ ذامُ

Though you acted not by the rules, let nothing

Regarding a matter I was not part of; so let nothing grieve you,

Grieve you, for every beauty has her defect.”

For every beautiful woman has some flaw.

وَلَقَد رابَني اِبنُ عَمِّيَ كَعبٌ

أَنَّهُ قَد يَرومُ ما لا يُرامُ

Indeed, I was troubled that my cousin Ka’b

My cousin Ka'b has truly disquieted me,

Seemed set on what should never be attempted,

In that he seeks what cannot be sought.

غَيرَ ذَنبٍ بَنى كِنانَةَ إِنّي

إِن أُفارِق فَإِنَّني مِجذامُ

No crime of ours, O clan of Kinanah, rather

Without any sin committed, O Bani Kinanah,

I, if we part, will be torn to pieces,

If I depart, I cut ties completely.

لا أَعُدُّ الإِقتارَ عُدماً وَلَكِن

فَقدُ مَن قَد رُزِئتُهُ الإِعدامُ

I do not count loss of contact a loss, but

I do not count material poverty as true lack,

I have lost one whose loss is utter destruction,

But the loss of those I have lost is the true destitution.

مِن رِجالٍ مِنَ الأَقارِبِ فادوا

مِن حُذاقِ هُمُ الرُؤوسُ العِظامُ

One of the champions of his tribe, who were

Of kinsmen who have passed away,

As pillars, white-faced heroes of great deeds,

From the skilled ones, the great leaders.

فَهُمُ لِلمُلائِمينَ أَناةٌ

وَعُرامٌ إِذا يُرادُ العُرامُ

Clement to those whose ways pleased them,

To the meek, they are forbearance,

But raging lions when rage was required,

And fierceness when fierceness is required.

وَسَماحٌ لَدى السِنينَ إِذا ما

قَحَطَ القَطرُ وَاِستَقَلَّ الرِهامُ

Generous in the days of famine when rain was

And generosity during the famine years, when

Scarce and the bows gave little protection,

The rain dries up and the drizzles are scant.

وَرِجالٌ أًَبوهُم وَأَبى عَم

رٌو وَكَعبٌ بيضُ الوُجوهِ جِسامُ

Men whose fathers were Aws and Abd Amr,

Men whose father—and my father Amr,

And Ka’b, fair-faced and strongly-built,

And Ka'b—were white-faced, noble, and great.

وَشَبابٌ كَأَنَّهُم أُسدُ غيلٍ

خالَطَت فَرطَ حَدِّهِم أَحلامُ

Young men like roaring lions in the hunt

And youths like lions of the thicket,

Whose keenness was confused with foolish dreams,

Whose sharp edge is tempered by wisdom.

وَكُهولٌ بَنى لَهُم أَوَّلوهُم

مَأَثُراتٍ يَهابُها الأَقوامُ

And mature men who by their deeds had built

And elders for whom their ancestors built

Great glories that made other clans afraid,

Glories that nations regard with awe.

سُلِّطَ الدَهرُ وَالمَنونُ عَلَيهِم

فَلَهُم في صَدى المَقابِرِ هامُ

Time and fate have power over them

Time and Fate were given power over them,

And the echoing tombs are filled with their dust,

So now in the echo of graves, they are but skulls.

وَكَذاكُم مَصيرُ كُلِّ أُناسٍ

سَوفَ حَقّاً تُبليهِمُ الأَيّامُ

Such is the end of all mankind

And such is the destiny of all people;

That days will surely bring to ruin,

Truly, the days will wear them all away.

فَعَلى إِثرِهُم تَساقَطُ نَفسي

حَسَراتٍ وَذِكرُهُم لي سَقامُ

And in their wake, my soul falls

Following their trail, my soul falls away

In sorrow, remembering is my sickness,

In regrets, and their memory is my sickness.

إِبِلي الإِبلُ لا يُحَوِّزُها الرا

عونَ مَجُّ النَدى عَلَيها المُدامُ

My she-camels stride proudly, scornful of all

My camels are true camels; the herdsmen do not drive them back,

The meadows pour showers on them continuously,

The pure dew upon them is like wine.

وَتَدَلَّت بِها المَغارِضُ فَوقَ ال

أَرضِ ما إِن تُقِلُّهُنَّ العِظامُ

With swaying humps looming over the land,

Their girth-places hang low above the earth,

Bones do not diminish their massive frames,

The bones can barely support their bulk.

سَمِنَت فَاِستَحَشَّ أَكرُعُها لا الن

نَيُّ نَيٌّ وَلا السَنامُ سَنامُ

Now fat, their gelded rams outpacing riders,

They grew fat until their shanks became clumsy;

Not tired out, nor worn by saddle or rein,

Neither is the fat mere fat, nor the hump a mere hump.

فَإِذا أَقبَلَت تَقولُ إِكامٌ

مُشرِفاتٌ فَوقَ الإِكامِ إِكامُ

Approaching they seem to say “Press on!”,

When they approach, you say: Hills

Uphill, press on! And press on!

Looming high above other hills.

وَإِذا أَعرَضَت تَقولُ قُصورٌ

مِن سَماهيجَ فَوقَها آطامُ

Departing they seem to say “Encampments!”,

And when they turn sideways, you say: Palaces

Tent walls appear over which rise tent poles,

Of Samahij, topped with fortresses.

وَإِذا ما فَجِئتَها بِطنَ غَيبٍ

قُلتَ نَخلٌ قَد حانَ مِنها صِرامُ

And when you surprise them in a hidden dale,

And if you come upon them suddenly in a hidden valley,

You’d say “Palms which the East wind makes tremble!”

You say: Palm trees whose harvest time has come.

وَهيَ كَالبَيضِ في الأَداحِيِّ ما يو

هَبُ مِنها لِمُستَتِمٍّ عِصامُ

They are like white eggs in the sand grouse nests,

They are like eggs in ostrich nests; not a single strap

From which the stooping picker gathers nothing,

Is given from them to one seeking completion.

غَيرَ ما طَيَّرَت بِأَوبارِها القَف

رَةُ في حَيثُ يَستَهِلُّ الغَمامُ

Save what their flapping startled from the low scrub

Except for what the desolate land blew from their fur,

Where first the clouds begin to gather,

To where the clouds pour down rain.

فَهيَ ما إِن تُبينُ مِن سَلَفٍ أَر

عَنَ طَودٍ لِسِربِهِ قُدّامُ

They show no weakness though long without water,

They do not stray from the van of a vast army,

A herd whose leader suffers no straying,

Like a mountain, leading its herd forward.

مُكفَهِرٍّ عَلى حَواجِبِهِ يَغ

رَقُ في جَمعِهِ الخَميسُ اللُهامُ

His brow is frowning darkly, and Thursday’s

Dark and grim on its edges, wherein

Assembly is blest by him when all gather,

The massive army drowns in its multitude.

فارسٌ طارِدٌ وَمُلتَقِطٌ بَي

ضاً وَخَيلٌ تَعدو وَأُخرى صِيامُ

A horseman pursuing, another gathering strays,

A knight pursuing, and one gathering spoils,

Horses galloping, others calmly grazing,

And horses galloping, while others stand still.

قَد بَراهُنَّ غِرَّةُ الصَيدِ وَالإِع

داءُ حَتّى كَأَنَّهُنَّ جِلامُ

The thrill of the hunt and the foe excited them

The pursuit of game and constant galloping has worn them thin,

Till they were like a closely-knit necklace,

Until they look like blades.

قَد تَصَعلَكنَ في الرَبيعِ وَقَد قَر

رَعَ جِلدَ الفَرائِضِ الأَقدامُ

They cavorted in springtime, and soon got used to

They became lean in the spring, and indeed

Breaking the rules and exceeding the limits,

The hooves have struck the skin of the legs.

جاذِياتٌ عَلى السَنابِكِ قَد أَف

زَعَهُنَّ الإِسراجُ وَالإِلجامُ

Racing past dwellings, startled by lanterns,

Standing poised upon their hooves,

Frightened by saddles and reins pulling at them,

Terrified by the saddling and the bridling.

لَجِبٌ تُسمَعُ الصَواهِلُ فيهِ

وَحَنينُ اللِقاحِ وَالإِرزامُ

A barren land, yet the stallions' neighing echoes,

A clamorous army, wherein neighing is heard,

As does the mating call and the females’ answering,

And the yearning of camels, and the lowing.

بِعُرىً دونَها وَتُقرَنُ بِالقَي

ظِ وَقَد دَلَّهُ الرِباعَ البُغامُ

Its expanse bounded only by mirage

With ropes keeping them close, and coupled in the heat,

Where the high dunes curve away from the viewer,

While their young are distracted by the mothers' cry.