أَتَهجُرُ غانِيَةً أَم تُلِم
أَمِ الحَبلُ واهٍ بِها مُنجَذِم
Do you shun a singing girl or blame her?
Or has the rope of love for her unraveled?
أَمِ الصَبرُ أَحجى فَإِنَّ اِمرَأً
سَيَنفَعُهُ عِلمُهُ إِن عَلِم
Or has patience proved better, for surely a man
Will benefit from his knowledge if he has knowledge,
كَما راشِدٍ تَجِدَنَّ اِمرَأً
تَبَيَّنَ ثُمَّ اِنتَهى أَو قَدِم
Just as a mature man whom you will find
Who has investigated then attained or walked ahead.
عَصى المُشفِقينَ إِلى غَيِّهِ
وَكُلَّ نَصيحٍ لَهُ يَتَّهِم
He disobeyed thesolicitous ones to his perdition
And suspected every sincere adviser to him.
وَما كانَ ذَلِكَ إِلّا الصَبى
وَإِلّا عِقابَ اِمرِئٍ قَد أَثِم
That was none but youthfulness
And the punishment of a sinful man.
وَنَظرَةَ عَينٍ عَلى غِرَّةٍ
مَحَلَّ الخَليطِ بِصَحراءِ زُم
And a glance of an eye at a simpleton
She who pitched her tent in the wilderness of Zum.
وَمَبسِمَها عَن شَتيتِ النَبا
تِ غَيرِ أَكَسٍّ وَلا مُنقَضِم
And her smile apart from the dispersal of the people,
Without being chaste or broken up.
فَبانَت وَفي الصَدرِ صَدعٌ لَها
كَصَدعِ الزُجاجَةِ ما يَلتَإِم
So there appeared in my chest a split, for her
Like the split of a glass vessel not to be repaired.
فَكَيفَ طِلابُكَها إِذ نَأَت
وَأَدنى مَزاراً لَها ذو حُسُم
How then were her suitors when she came
And the nearest place of visitation for her was to be had?
وَصَهباءَ طافَ يَهودِيُّها
وَأَبرَزَها وَعَلَيها خُتُم
And Sa'haba went around her synagogue
And brought her out with a seal upon her.
وَقابَلَها الريحُ في دَنِّها
وَصَلّى عَلى دَنِّها وَاِرتَسَم
And the wind confronted her in her abasement,
And prayed over her abasement and withdrew.
تَمَزَّزتُها غَيرَ مُستَدبِرٍ
عَنِ الشَربِ أَو مُنكِرٍ ما عُلِم
I took her without being deterred
From drinking or denying what was known.
وَأَبيَضَ كَالسَيفِ يُعطي الجَزي
لَ يَجودُ وَيَغزو إِذا ما عَدِم
And she was as white as the sword that gives reward,
It would not be generous or raid if it missed.
تَضَيَّفتُ يَوماً عَلى نارِهِ
مِنَ الجودِ في مالِهِ أَحتَكِم
I was once a guest of his
Out of generosity in his wealth, so I will judge.
وَيَهماءَ تَعزِفُ جِنّانُها
مَناهِلُها آجِناتٌ سُدُم
And Yahma sings, her gardens
Whose springs are turbulent and blocked up.
قَطَعتُ بِرَسّامَةٍ جَسرَةٍ
عَذافِرَةٍ كَالفَنيقِ القَطِم
I cut across with swift, tall,
High-stepping steeds like the Phoenician ships.
غَضوبٍ مِنَ السَوطِ زَيّافَةٍ
إِذا ما اِرتَدى بِالسَراةِ الأَكَم
Wrathful from the whip, decked out
When the riding-camels donned the shackles.
كَتومِ الرُغاءِ إِذا هَجَّرَت
وَكانَت بَقِيَّةَ ذَودٍ كُتُم
Silent as the silence of deserted encampments
When they depart and the remainder of the herd is silent.
تُفَرِّجُ لِلمَرءِ مِن هَمِّهِ
وَيُشفى عَلَيها الفُؤادُ السَقِم
It relieves a man of his anxiety
And upon it is healed the sick heart.
إِلى المَرءِ قَيسٍ أُطيلُ السَرى
وَآخُذُ مِن كُلِّ حَيٍّ عُصُم
To the man Qais I make the journey long
And take from every district precaution.
وَكَم دونَ بَيتِكَ مِن مَعشَرٍ
صُباةِ الحُلومِ عُداةٍ غُشُم
And how many groups below your abode
Are foolish lads, hostile ruffians.
إِذا أَنا حَيَّيتُ لَم يَرجِعوا
تَحِيَّتَهُم وَهُمُ غَيرُ صُم
When I greet they do not return
My greeting, and they are not deaf.
وَإِدلاجِ لَيلٍ عَلى خيفَةٍ
وَهاجِرَةٍ حَرُّها يَحتَدِم
And the darkness of night upon sly
Women, their heat blazes.
وَإِنَّ غَزاتَكَ مِن حَضرَمَوتَ
أَتَتني وَدوني الصَفا وَالرَجَم
And indeed your raids from Hadhramaut
Came to me while before me are Tehama and stoning.
مَقادَكَ بِالخَيلِ أَرضَ العَدو
وَجُذعانُها كَلَفيظِ العَجَم
Your riding-camel troop on enemy land
And their trunks like the mumbled speech of the non-Arabs.
وَجَيشُهُمُ يَنظُرونَ الصَبا
حَ فَاليَومَ مِن غَزوَةٍ لَم تَخِم
And their army look each morning
For war, so today is not a day to shrink from battle.
وُقوفاً بِما كانَ مِن لَأمَةٍ
وَهُنَّ صِيامٌ يَلُكنَ اللُجُم
Standing for what was of success
While they are fasting, their pot boiling.
فَأَظعَنتَ وِترَكَ مِن دارِهِم
وَوِترُكَ في دارِهِم لَم يُقِم
So you stirred them and your stirring among them
Did not settle, as the flood circulated the rolling pebbles.
تَؤُمُّ دِيارَ بَني عامِرٍ
وَأَنتَ بِآلِ عُقَيلٍ فَغِم
You do not want, for whom you exerted yourself,
As is said about the live coal, "It kindled the dirham."
أَذاقَتهُمُ الحَربُ أَنفاسَها
وَقَد تُكرَهُ الحَربُ بَعدَ السَلَم
She was like a pregnant woman the morning after
Conception her delivery was not known.
تَعودُ عَلَيهِم وَتُمضيهِمُ
كَما طافَ بِالرُجمَةِ المُرتَجِم
He rises over the grief among his people
So he pardons when he wills or avenges.
وَلَم يودِ مَن كُنتَ تَسعى لَهُ
كَما قيلَ في الحَيِّ أَودى دَرِم
The brother of war, not a submissive weakling,
Nor wearing the sandals of one whose bowels gurgle.
وَكانَت كَحُبلى غَداةَ الصَبا
حِ كانَت وِلادَتُها عَن مُتِمّ
Nor is Mu'zibd from the estuary of the Euphrates
A deep pool whose diving-birds collide.
يَقومُ عَلى الوَغمِ في قَومِهِ
فَيَعفو إِذا شاءَ أَو يَنتَقِم
It upturns the boat with oars
Its frame has almost shattered.
أَخو الحَربِ لا ضَرَعٌ واهِنٌ
وَلَم يَنتَعِل بِقِبالٍ خَذِم
Its sailor huddles in its middle
Fearfully like its ribbing constricting him.
وَما مُزبِدٌ مِن خَليجِ الفُرا
تِ جَونٌ غَوارِبُهُ تَلتَطِم
More generous than him with what he has
When their heavens do not frown.
يَكُبُّ الخَلِيَّةَ ذاتَ القِلا
عِ قَد كادَ جُؤجُؤُها يَنحَطِم
He is the Giver of the chosen hundred
Like palm trees which the truncated circulates.
تَكَأكَأَ مَلّاحُها وَسطَها
مِنَ الخَوفِ كَوثَلَها يَلتَزِم
And every pile like the trunk of a cutting
That runs upon sublime authorities.
بِأَجوَدَ مِنهُ بِما عِندَهُ
إِذا ما سَمائُهُم لَم تَغِم
Its columns like the tracks of the oryx
Their tips touching the ground silently.
هُوَ الواهِبُ المِئَةَ المُصطَفا
ةَ كَالنَخلِ طافَ بِها المُجتَرِم
It hunts the lote-trees and their gum and
Their brambles before they are bathed.
وَكُلَّ كُمَيتٍ كَجِذعِ الطَري
قِ يَردي عَلى سَلِطاتٍ لُثُم
And a day when I see the Pleiades
Turn away like scattered pearls.
سَنابِكُهُ كَمَداري الظِبا
ءِ أَطرافُهُنَّ عَلى الأَرضِ شُم
It hangs low swiftly as if the Pleiades
A blue one followed it, flesh.
يَصيدُ النَحوصَ وَمِسحَلَها
وَجَحشَهُما قَبلَ أَن يَستَحِمّ
For indeed Mu'awiyah the noblest of the noble
Long bones, lofty ambitions.
وَيَومٍ إِذا ما رَأَيتُ الصِوَا
رَ أَدبَرَ كَاللُؤلُؤِ المُنخَرِم
When will you leave them to battle?
Horses will come to you with other than thick necks.
تَدَلّى حَثيثاً كَأَنَّ الصِوَا
رَ أَتبَعَهُ أَزرَقِيٌّ لَحِم
When they sit in the evening
Visions of 'Aad and their hands suppled.
فَإِنَّ مُعاوِيَةَ الأَكرَمينَ
عِظامُ القِبابِ طِوالُ الأُمَم
And 'Awra came so I answered her
With an ugly, denying the tie of relation.
مَتى تَدعُهُم لِلِقاءِ الحُرو
بِ تَأتِكَ خَيلٌ لَهُم غَيرُ جُمّ
With denial for her a surah
Which if sent she does not avenge herself.
إِذا ما هُمُ جَلَسوا بِالعَشِي
يِ فَأَحلامُ عادٍ وَأَيدي هُضُم
She says, "My daughter, when the departure was certain,
Do you see us as equal, and who will be bereft?"
وَعَوراءَ جاءَت فَجاوَبتُها
بِشَنعاءَ نافِيَةٍ لِلرَقِم
"Our father, so do not toss away from us
For we are in prosperity when you do not toss."
بِذاتِ نَفِيٍّ لَها سَورَةٌ
إِذا أُرسِلَت فَهيَ ما تَنتَقِم
"And O father, do not cease to be with us
For we fear that you will be cut off."
تَقولُ اِبنَتي حينَ جَدَّ الرَحيلُ
أَرانا سَواءً وَمَن قَد يَتِم
"Do you see us when the lands have pretended you dead,
We are hidden, and the womb-relations cut off from us."
أَبانا فَلا رِمتَ مِن عِندِنا
فَإِنّا بِخَيرٍ إِذا لَم تَرِم
"Did you fear for me misfortune in the circumambulation,
And how many circumambulators calamity has not tossed?"
وَيا أَبَتا لا تَزَل عِندَنا
فَإِنّا نَخافُ بِأَن تُختَرَم
"And indeed I have gone around the land its horizons
'Oman, then Himyar, then Jerusalem."
أَرانا إِذا أَضمَرَتكَ البِلا
دُ نُجفى وَتُقطَعُ مِنّا الرَحِم
"I came to the Negus in his land
And the land of Nabataea and the land of the non-Arabs."
أَفي الطَوفِ خِفتِ عَلَيَّ الرَدى
وَكَم مِن رَدٍ أَهلَهُ لَم يَرِم
"Then Najran, then the villages of Kinda,
Then which purpose did it have I did not toss about for?"
وَقَد طُفتُ لِلمالِ آفاقَهُ
عُمانَ فَحِمصَ فَأوريشَلِم
"And after that to Hadhramaut
So I fulfilled my concern, and time I was anxious."
أَتَيتُ النَجاشِيَّ في أَرضِهِ
وَأَرضَ النَبيطِ وَأَرضَ العَجَم
"Do you not see Hadhra when its inhabitants
With bliss - and does one provided for last?"
فَنَجرانَ فَالسَروَ مِن حِميَرٍ
فَأَيَّ مَرامٍ لَهُ لَم أَرُم
"Shahpur the Jund stayed in it two years
Striding about in it, steps treading."
وَمِن بَعدِ ذاكَ إِلى حَضرَمَوتَ
فَأَوفَيتُ هَمّي وَحيناً أَهُم
"So his Lord did not increase him in strength
And the like of his neighbor did not endure."
أَلَم تَرَيِ الحَضرَ إِذ أَهلُهُ
بِنُعمى وَهَل خالِدٌ مَن نَعِم
"So when his Lord saw his deed
He came upon him suddenly and did not avenge."
أَقامَ بِهِ شاهَبورُ الجُنو
دَ حَولَينِ يَضرِبُ فيهِ القُدُم
"And he had called his comrades with a call
Come now to your matter, it is decided."
فَما زادَهُ رَبُّهُ قُوَّةً
وَمِثلُ مُجاوِرِهِ لَم يُقِم
"So die honorable by your swords
And for death one with daring gulps it down."
فَلَمّا رَأى رَبُّهُ فِعلَهُ
أَتاهُ طُروقاً فَلَم يَنتَقِم
"And for death there is better for one who attains it
When the man - his nation does not last."
وَكانَ دَعا رَهطَهُ دَعوَةً
هَلُمَّ إِلى أَمرِكُم قَد صُرِم
"So in that is an example for one who would die with dignity
And Ma'rib whose dam the torrent split."
فَموتوا كِراماً بِأَسيافِكُم
وَلِلمَوتِ يَجشَمُهُ مَن جَشِم
"Its stones built by them the villages
When their water came it did not flow gently."
وَلِلمَوتِ خَيرٌ لِمَن نالَهُ
إِذا المَرءُ أُمَّتُهُ لَم تَدُم
"So it watered the crops and its grapes
With ample water when it was divided."
فَفي ذاكَ لِلمُؤتَسِي أُسوَةٌ
وَمَأرِبُ قَفّى عَلَيها العَرِم
"So they lived in bliss
Then a torrent coursed through it eroding."
رُخامٌ بَنَتهُ لَهُم حِميَرٌ
إِذا جاءَهُ ماؤهُم لَم يَرِم
"So the villages and its canals flew off
In Yahma in which is a mirage that promises."
فَأَروى الزُروعَ وَأَعنابَها
عَلى سَعَةٍ ماؤهُم إِذ قُسِم
"So they flew quickly, and they could not estimate
From it enough for a weaned child to drink."
فَعاشوا بِذَلِكَ في غِبطَةٍ
فَجارَ بِهِم جارِفٌ مُنهَزِم
فَطارَ القُيولُ وَقَيلاتُها
بِيَهماءَ فيها سَرابٌ يَطِم
فَطاروا سِراعاً وَما يَقدِرو
نَ مِنهُ لِشُربِ صَبِيٍّ فَطِم
