قِفوا بِالناجيات عَلى ُزرودِ

تُناجِ دَوارس الدَمن الهَمودِ

I stand by the survivors at the ruins

The circling doves of the silent valley mourn

نحيي حِمى زرود بِالقَوافي

وَتَبكِ عَلَيهِ بِالدَمع البَديدِ

We greet the protectors of Zarood with rhymes

And shed plentiful tears for it

عَفا أَطلالَها وَكَف الغَوادي

بِعرصتها وَدَمدمة الرُعود

Its remnants have healed and the valleys have calmed

With its courtyard and the rumbling of thunder

تَعَرّت مِن بَشاشَتِها فَأَضحى

يَسرُّ مَحولها قَلب الحَسود

It lost its vitality and so

The hearts of the envious rejoice at its demise

وَاخلق ثَوب جدتها وَكانَت

مفوّقة الدرانك وَالبُرود

And the clothes of its grandmother wore out

Embroidered gowns and black wool

وَقَد كانَت تهشُّ الزائر بِها

مَنازِلُها وَتضحك لِلوفود

Its houses used to welcome visitors

And smile at the caravans

سَقى أَيامَنا بِزرود غَيث

يَجود مَدى الزَمان عَلى زرود

Our days were watered in Zarood by a rain

That lasted the ages on Zarood

لَيال بِاللُقا بيض أَعيضت

بِأَيام مِن التَفريق سود

Nights as white as ivory were blackened

By days of separation

وَلي كَبد بِذاكَ الجَو جَرى

تَلوب بِهِ مِن الظَمأ الشَديد

And I have a liver that flew in that air

Parched by severe thirst

وَقَلبٌ لا يَعنف بِالتَسلي

وَدَمعٌ لا يغير بِالجُمود

A heart that does not complain or protest

And tears that do not dry up

وَرَكب أَدلَجوا وَاللَيل مَرس

بِكلكلةٍ عَلى قَلب رقود

They rode at night while it slept

With anklets on a slumbering heart

أَبادوا العيس لَما كَلَفوها

دَؤُوباً قَطع بيد بعد بيد

They destroyed the flock when it was loaned to them

Cutting it violently piece by piece

وَما زالَ الهَوى وَالشَوق يَرمي

بِراكِبِهِ إِلى أَمَدٍ بَعيد

And longing still cast

Its rider to a far-off goal

إِذا أَنوا مِن الأَشواق أَنَت

مِن الجُهد المُبرح وَالوَخيد

When you become weary of fervent passions

Of exertion, solitude, and weariness

تَرامى كَالسِهام بَهم وَتَرمي

بِخوص عَيونَهنَّ إِلى الوُرود

It throws you like arrows randomly

And casts you at the flowers

فَقَد أَلقوا بِها قَطع الفَيافي

وَقَد مَرنت عَلى حَرّ القتود

So they threw at it bunches of spears

And it became accustomed to the burning rods

تَشف جُسومَهُم مِن حَر وَجد

وَيَبدو عَظمهنَّ مِن الجُلود

Their bodies are scraped of skin by the heat

And their bones show through their hides

إِلى إِن سارَ جَيش الصُبح

عَلى الظَلماء خَفاق البُنود

Until the army of dawn marched

With the fluttering flags through the darkness

فَكَفوا الزَجر عَن عيس تَفانَت

وَخَروا كَالسُجود عَلى الصَعيد

They stopped tormenting the flock that put up with it

And fell prostate on the ground

فَرُحتُ أَسائل الرُكبان عَن مَن

أَضاعوني وَلَم يَرعوا عُهودي

So I began to ask the riders about those

Who lost me and broke their vows

وَأَلصق بِالثَرى كَبدي عَساهُ

يَخف بَبردهِ بِغَض الوُقود

And I squeeze my liver to the ground perhaps

Its coolness will lessen the inflammation

وَاَسفح دَمع مُشتاق عَميدٍ

إِلى سَكن نَأى عَنهُ فَقيد

And I shed the tear of a longing elder

To a residence from which he is barred

دُموعاً بِالجَوى وَالوَجد أَضحَت

شُهوداً لا تُقابل بِالجُحود

Tears of passion and ardour have become

Witnesses that cannot be denied

فَذُب يا قَلب أَشواقاً وَهمّاً

وَيا طَرفي تَسلَّ عَن الهُجود

Melt, O heart, with worries and concerns

And O eyes, stop your weeping

وَشعر حَكتهُ مِن نَسج فكري

بُروداً مثل ديباج الخُدود

Poetry woven from the fabric of my thoughts

Cool like the skin of cheeks

مَعانٍ مثل مَعسول الأَماني

وَأَشهى مِن رِضاب ثُمَ بُرود

Meanings like the honey of wishes

And more delicious than cloves and then coolness

وَأَلفاظ عَذاب رائِقات

تَروق بِحُسنِها دُر العُقود

Tormenting words, exquisite,

That dazzle like a necklace of pearls

كَما جَمع الهَوى مِن بَعد شَوق

يَذيب النَفس بَين فَم وَجيد

Just as love gathered after yearning

Melting the soul between mouth and cheek

شَكَوت بِها هَوى ظَبي غَرير

يُعذِبُني بِهَجر أو صُدود

I complained of the love of a delicate gazelle

Who tortures me with estrangement or rejection

فَلَيسَ لَهُ مِن الأَغراض بُدٌّ

وَلا لي عَن هَواهُ مِن مَحيد

He has no choice but to wound

Nor I any refuge from his love

إِذا أَحيا بِمِنطِقِهِ فُؤادي

إِذابَ النَفس بِالصَد المُبيد

When he speaks life into my heart

Melting the soul with conversation that kills

أَخذت السحر عَن عَينيهِ حَتّى

طَبَعت السحر نَظماً كَالفَريد

I took the magic from his eyes until

I imprinted that unique magic into verse

قَوافٍ مثل ما سَقَطَت دُموع ال

نَدى وَهناً عَلى الرَوض المَجود

Rhymes like the tears of soft dew

That fell ill and weak upon the generous garden

تَميل بِكُل طَبع مُستَقيم

وَتَطرب كُل مِفضال مَجيد

Inclining with each upright nature

And making every noble one ecstatic

إِذا أَنشَدتَهنَّ أَدرت راحاً

وَقالَ الدَهر لي هَل مِن مَزيد

When you recite them you sense tranquility

And time says to me, “Is there any more?”

رَمى كَبدي بِثالثة الأَثافي

زَمانٌ حكمهُ حُكم الوَليد

It threw my liver to the three fortunetellers

An era whose rule is the rule of the lost

زَمانٌ أَخرقٌ قَد راحَ سُكراً

بِجَرُّ ذُيول جبار عَنيد

An era that is torn, drunk

Dragging the robes of an obstinate tyrant

يَريك الباز مِن خَدم الحبارى

وَأسد الغاب مِن خَول القُرود

It shows you the obedient servant in place of the master

And the cave lion in place of the monkey

وَأجدل مرقب يُمسي غَراب

يِهدّدهُ بِأَنواع الوَعيد

It shows the watchful eagle as a raven

Threatening him with all kinds of warnings

وَأَيامٌ غضابٌ لا لجرم

عَلى الأَيام مُعلِنَة الحُقود

And there are angry days though innocent

Openly breaking pacts

دَعا داعي الحَمام بغر قَومي

فَوافوهُ عَلى خَيل البَريد

The caller called my tribe’s steeds

And they raced to him on swift horses

وَأَودعهم لُحوداً بَل جُفوناً

كَذا الأسياف تَودع في الغُمود

And he lodged them in graves not eyelids

As swords lodge in scabbards

فَلا زالَت جُفون السُحب تَهمي

عَلى تِلكَ الصَفائح وَاللُحود

The eyelids of the clouds still race

To those caskets and graves

مَضوا وَبَقيت بَعدَهُم فَريداً

أُقاسي وَحشَهُ الفرد الوَحيد

They left and after them I remained alone

Suffering the loneliness of the only one

أَرى عاراً وَقَد أَودوا حَياتي

فَأَنف مِن بَقائي وَمِن وُجودي

I see shame though they destroyed my life

So I dislike my remaining and my existence

أَكفكف كُلَما ذَكَروا دُموعي

فَتَعصيني وَتَأبى غَير جودي

I hold back whenever they mention my tears

But they disobey me and refuse to flow

تَرامى هِمَتي بي كُل مَرمى

وَأَرسف مِن هُمومي في قُيود

My aspirations collide into every goal

And I exceed in my worries and shackles

وَأَطوى أَضلعاً مائث غَراماً

لِتَقصيري عَلى نَفس مَديد

And I endure hundreds of deep sorrows

For neglecting my weary soul

أَعل بِآحن رَنق وَأَمري

عَفافة بَلغهُ دونَ الزَهيد

I lament with choking melancholy and my affairs

Have reached the point of asceticism

تَرفق يا زَمان فَما فُؤادي

بِصَلد لا يَلين وَلا جَليد

Be gentle, O time, for my heart

Is not hardened or frozen

وَلَيسَ القَلب مِن حَجر فَيَبقى

عَلى هَذا وَلا أَنا مِن حَديد

The heart is not made of stone so as to remain

In this state nor am I made of iron

رُويَداً لا تُحاول ماء وَجهي

وَهاكَ إِن أشتهيت دَم الوَريد

Gently, do not seek the water of my face

And here, if you desire the blood of veins

وَلا تَحسَب حَياتي فيكَ مِنّا

فَإِني لَستُ أَرغَب في الخُلود

Do not think me indebted to you for my life

For I do not care to live forever