أَلا يا قَتلُ قَد خَلُقَ الجَديدُ

وَحُبُّكِ ما يَمُحُّ وَما يَبيدا

Alas, O murder, the new has been created,

And your love does not fade or pass away.

وَقَد صادَت فُؤادَكَ إِذ رَمَتهُ

فَلَو أَنَّ اِمرَأً دَنِفاً يَصيدُ

And it has hunted your heart when it shot it,

As if a hunter hunts the prey.

وَلَكِن لا يَصيدُ إِذا رَماها

وَلا تَصطادُ غانِيَةٌ كَنودُ

But it does not hunt when it shoots it,

Nor does a singer hunt the melody.

عَلاقَةَ عاشِقٍ وَمِطالَ شَوقٍ

وَلَم يَعلَقكُمُ رَجُلٌ سَعيدُ

A lover's attachment and longing's agony,

And no happy man has bound you two.

أَلا تَقنى حَياءَكَ أَو تَناهى

بُكاءَكَ مِثلَ ما يَبكي الوَليدُ

Don't you spare your shyness or refrain

Your weeping like a newborn cries?

أَرَيتُ القَومَ نارِكَ لَم أُغَمِّض

بِواقِصَةٍ وَمَشرَبُنا زَرودُ

I saw people whose fire for you I did not shut my eyes,

Our drink being pokeberries and jujubes.

فَلَم أَرَ مِثلَ مَوقِدِها وَلَكِن

لِأَيَّةِ نَظرَةٍ زَهَرَ الوَقودُ

But I did not see fire kindled like it, except

For which glance did the fuel bloom?

أَضاءَت أَحوَرَ العَينَينِ طَفلاً

يُكَدَّسُ في تَرائِبِهِ الفَريدُ

It lit up the whites of the eyes of a child

Heaped up in his unique wrappings.

وَوَجهاً كَالفِتاقِ وَمُسبَكِرّاً

عَلى مِثلِ اللُجَينِ وَهُنَّ سودُ

With a face like dawn and intoxicated,

On the likes of rose and narcissus.

وَتَبسِمُ عَن مَهاً شَبِمٍ غَرِيٍّ

إِذا يُعطى المُقَبِّلَ يَستَزيدُ

Smiling from a shy, charming mouth,

When given a kiss, asks for more.

كَأَنَّ نُجومَها رُبِطَت بِصَخرٍ

وَأَمراسٍ تَدورُ وَتَستَريدُ

As if its starts were tied to a rock

And stars that revolve and wander.

إِذا ما قُلتُ حانَ لَها أُفولٌ

تَصَعَّدَتِ الثُرَيّا وَالسُعودُ

If I said the time for its setting has come,

The Pleiades and Suhayl ascended.

فَلَأياً ما أَفَلنَ مُخَوِّياتٍ

خُمودَ النارِ وَاِرفَضَّ العَمودُ

So whichever declining beauties there were,

The fire was extinguished and the pillar collapsed.

أَصاحِ تَرى ظَعائِنَ باكِراتٍ

عَلَيها العَبقَرِيَّةُ وَالنُجودُ

Look, there are gazelles early in the morning,

On them are sagacity and bounty.

كَأَنَّ ظِباءَ وَجرَةَ مُشرِفاتٍ

عَلَيهِنَّ المَجاسِدُ وَالبُرودُ

As if musk deer and wild cows fleeting

Wearing bracelets and ice on them.

عَلى تِلكَ الحُدوجِ إِذِ اِحزَأَلَّت

وَأَنتَ بِهِم غَداةَ إِذٍ مَجودُ

When those hips quivered

And you with them one morning conferring.

فَيا لَدَنِيَّةٍ سَتَعودُ شَزراً

وَعَمداً دارَ غَيرِكِ ما تُريدُ

So it is a coquetry that will return embers

And a pillar whose inclination you do not want.

فَما أُجشِمتِ مِن إِتيانِ قَومٍ

هُمُ الأَعداءُ وَالأَكبادُ سودُ

You were not deterred from coming to a people

Who are enemies and livers are black.

فَإِذ فارَقتِني فَاِستَبدِليني

فَتىً يُعطي الجَزيلَ وَيَستَفيدُ

So if you leave me, find me a replacement,

A man who gives plenty and profits.

فَمِثلِكِ قَد لَهَوتُ بِها وَأَرضٍ

مَهامِهَ لا يَقودُ بِها المُجيدُ

The likes of you I have sported with

And lands whose glory no noble leads.

قَطَعتُ وَصاحِبَي سُرُحٌ كِنازٌ

كَرُكنِ الرَعنِ ذِعلِبَةٌ قَصيدُ

My companion and I took a break at Mayyun

Like a roaring lion, a long poem.

كَأَنَّ المُكرَهَ المَعبوطَ مِنها

مَدوفُ الوَرسِ أَو رُبٌّ عَقيدُ

As if the hated camel saddle of it

Is the ravaged saddle or a lord bound.

كَأَنَّ قُتودَها بِعُنَيبِساتٍ

تَعَطَّفَهُنَّ ذو جُدَدٍ فَريدِ

As if its saddles are of young she-camels

Sought by one with amazing separation.

تَضَيَّفَ رَملَةَ البَقّارِ يَوماً

فَباتَ بِتِلكَ يَضرِبُهُ الجَليدُ

He lodged at Remlah of Al-Baqqar one day

And there the frost struck him at night.

يُكِبُّ إِذا أَجالَ الماءَ عَنهُ

غُصونُ الفَرعِ وَالسَدَلُ القَريدُ

It folds over him when the water flows off him

The tree branches and the hanging monkey-bread.

فَأَصبَحَ يَنفُضُ الغَمَراتِ عَنهُ

وَيَربِطُ جَأشَهُ سَلِبٌ حَديدُ

So he shakes off the flooding from him in the morning

And ties his belly tight, iron bands.

وَرُحٌّ كَالمُحارِ مُوَتَّداتٌ

بِها يَنضو الوَغى وَبِهِ يَذودُ

With belts like seashells drawn

With which battle is repelled and fended off.

أَذَلِكَ أَم خَميصُ البَطنِ جَأبٌ

أَطاعَ لَهُ النَواصِفُ وَالكَديدُ

Or is it the belly wrap a coarse garment

Obeyed by ostriches and hedgehogs?

يُقَلِّبُ سَمحَجاً فيها إِباءٌ

عَلى أَن سَوفَ تَأتي ما يَكيدُ

Turning blades in it with refusal

Expecting that which comes to destroy.

بَقى عَنها المَصيفَ وَصارَ صَعلاً

وَقَد كَثُرَ التَذَكُّرُ وَالقُعودُ

Of it remained the summer, and it became ramshackle

And much remembering and sitting increased.

إِذا ما رَدَّ تَضرِبُ مَنخَرَيهِ

وَجَبهَتَهُ كَما ضُرِبَ العَضيدُ

When he tosses back and hits his nostrils

And his forehead, as the boulder is hit.

فَتِلكَ إِذا الحُجوزُ أَبى عَلَيهِ

عِطافَ الهَمِّ وَاِختَلَطَ المَريدُ

That is when the old camels refused to welcome

The brush of worries and the confused mingled.

فَإِنَّكَ لَو سَأَلتِ قُتَيلَ عَنّا

إِذا صَفَحَت عَنِ العاني الخُدودُ

So if you asked the slain about us

When the cheeks forgot the troublemakers.

تَنيهِ وَقَد أَحالَ القِدُّ فيهِ

وَشَفَّ فُؤادَهُ وَجَعٌ شَديدُ

Berating him as old age changed him

And healed his heart, severe pain.

فَخَلَّصَهُ الَّذي وافاهُ مِنّا

وَكُنّا الوَفدَ إِذ حُبِسَ الوُفودُ

He who joined us from us saved him

While we were the delegation when roads were blocked.

فَلَم نَطلُب لَهُ شُكراً وَلَكِن

نُوَلّي حَمدَ ذَلِكَ مَن يُريدُ

We did not ask thanks of him, but rather

Entrust the praise of that to the Intender.

وَقَومٍ تَصرِفُ الأَنيابُ مِنهُم

عَلَينا ثُمَّ لَم يَصِدِ الوَعيدُ

And people whose tusks are turned against us

Then deterrence did not bar the threat.

بَعَونا فَاِلتَمَسنا ما لَدَيهِم

وَكادونا بِكَبشِهِمُ فَكيدوا

They sought us out so we sought what they had

And they almost destroyed us with their stupidity.