أَلَمَّ خَيالٌ مِن قُتَيلَةَ بَعدَما
وَهى حَبلُها مِن حَبلِنا فَتَصَرَّما
A vision of Qutaila haunted me after she passed,
Though her tent rope was of our rope, so they intertwined.
فَبِتُّ كَأَنّي شارِبٌ بَعدَ هَجعَةٍ
سُخامِيَّةً حَمراءَ تُحسَبُ عَندَما
I spent the night as if I were drinking, after dozing,
A red hangover thought to be pure when poured.
إِذا بُزِلَت مِن دَنِّها فاحَ ريحُها
وَقَد أُخرِجَت مِن أَسوَدِ الجَوفِ أَدهَما
When it is decanted from its vat, its odor emerges,
Having been brought out from the darkness of the bowels.
لَها حارِسٌ ما يَبرَحُ الدَهرَ بَيتَها
إِذا ذُبِحَت صَلّى عَلَيها وَزَمزَما
It has a guard who does not leave its home through time;
When slaughtered he prays over it and glorifies it.
بِبابِلَ لَم تُعصَر فَجاءَت سُلافَةً
تُخالِطُ قِنديداً وَمِسكاً مُخَتَّما
In Babylon it was not pressed, so it came choice
Mingling with cloves and sealed musk.
يَطوفُ بِها ساقٍ عَلَينا مُتَوَّمٌ
خَفيفٌ ذَفيفٌ ما يَزالُ مُفَدَّما
A cupbearer circles us, one of persistent ill omen,
Light, gliding, his hands ever bloodstained.
بِكَأسٍ وَإِبريقٍ كَأَنَّ شَرابَهُ
إِذا صُبَّ في المِصحاةِ خالَطَ بَقَّما
With a goblet and ewer as if its drink,
When poured in the bowl, mingled with ruins.
لَنا جُلَّسانٌ عِندَها وَبَنَفسَجٌ
وَسيسِنبَرٌ وَالمَرزَجوشُ مُنَمنَما
We have two parlors by it and bougainvillea
And lilies and marjoram murmuring.
وَآسٌ وَخيرِيٌّ وَمَروٌ وَسَوسَنٌ
إِذا كانَ هِنزَمنٌ وَرُحتُ مُخَشَّما
Myrtle, and Syrian pear, and bittersweet,
When spring has come and aromatic herbs exhale.
وَشاهَسفَرِم وَالياسَمينُ وَنَرجِسٌ
يُصَبِّحُنا في كُلِّ دَجنٍ تَغَيَّما
Yellow jasmine and lily and narcissus
Give us good morning in every darkened valley.
وَمُستُقُ سينينٍ وَوَنٌّ وَبَربَطٌ
يُجاوِبُهُ صَنجٌ إِذا ما تَرَنَّما
The pipe of the lutes and flutes and the tambourine
Answering the cymbals when they resonate.
وَفِتيانُ صِدقٍ لا ضَغائِنَ بَينَهُم
وَقَد جَعَلوني فَيسَحاهاً مُكَرَّما
And honest lads, no rancor among them,
Who have made me their paragon, honored.
فَدَع ذا وَلَكِن رُبَّ أَرضٍ مُتيهَةٍ
قَطَعتُ بِحُرجوجٍ إِذا اللَيلُ أَظلَما
Leave this be! But how many a bewildered land
Have I traversed with my zebra when night darkened,
بِناجِيَةٍ كَالفَحلِ فيها تَجاسُرٌ
إِذا الراكِبُ الناجي اِستَقى وَتَعَمَّما
With a she-camel like a stallion, bold in it,
When the praying rider paused and donned his headcloth.
تَرى عَينَها صَغواءَ في جَنبِ مُؤقَها
تُراقِبُ في كَفّي القَطيعَ المُحَرَّما
You see her little eye on the side of her forehead
Watching in my hands the forbidden herd
كَأَنّي وَرَحلي وَالفِتانَ وَنُمرُقي
عَلى ظَهرِ طاوٍ أَسفَعِ الخَدِّ أَخثَما
As if my saddlebags, the boys, and belongings
Were on the back of a shaggy-necked unruly camel.
عَلَيهِ دَيابوذٌ تَسَربَلَ تَحتَهُ
أَرَندَجَ إِسكافٍ يُخالِطُ عِظلِما
Over it a striped cloth beneath which
Rested a rug of Askar mingled with darkness.
فَباتَ عَذوباً لِلسَماءِ كَأَنَّما
يُوائِمُ رَهطاً لِلعَزوبَةِ صُيَّما
So he passed the night gentle to the heavens as if
Accommodating a group of the solitary dejected.
يَلوذُ إِلى أَرطاةِ حِقفٍ تَلُفُّهُ
خَريقُ شَمالٍ تَترُكُ الوَجهَ أَقتَما
Taking refuge in the arms of a windswept dune
Enveloping him, the draft of a north wind leaving the face darker.
مُكِبّاً عَلى رَوقَيهِ يَحفِرُ عِرقَها
عَلى ظَهرِ عُريانِ الطَريقَةِ أَهيَما
Leaning on his side he dug its veins
On the back of the naked road, confused.
فَلَمّا أَضاءَ الصُبحُ قامَ مُبادِراً
وَحانَ اِنطِلاقُ الشاةِ مِن حَيثُ خَيَّما
So when dawn lit up he rose hastily
And the moment came to unleash the flock from where it camped.
فَصَبَّحَهُ عِندَ الشُروقِ غُدَيَّةً
كِلابُ الفَتى البَكرِيُّ عَوفِ بنِ أَرقَما
The dogs of the young man, ‘Awf ibn al-Aram, met it
At daybreak and released it from his enclosure.
فَأَطلَقَ عَن مَجنوبِها فَاِتَّبَعنَهُ
كَما هَيَّجَ السامي المُعَسِّلُ خَشرَما
They hounded it from morn till the night overtook it
And it endured patiently the afternoon, so it persevered.
لَدُن غُدوَةً حَتّى أَتى اللَيلُ دونَهُ
وَجَشَّمَ صَبراً رَوقَهُ فَتَجَشَّما
And I inclined toward the ill-omened one my hands, so I repelled it
With more ardent than the branch of the tree of sadness.
وَأَنحى عَلى شُؤمى يَدَيهِ فَذادَها
بِأَظمَأَ مِن فَرعِ الذُؤابَةِ أَسحَما
And I inclined toward it when he shook in the chest his throat
As the one with the lute excites the singing girls.
وَأَنحى لَها إِذ هَزَّ في الصَدرِ رَوقَهُ
كَما شَكَّ ذو العودِ الجَرادَ المُخَزَّما
So the panels of its chest shook with the throat of his zebra
As the one with the lute excites the aligned girls.
فَشَكَّ لَها صَفحاتِها صَدرُ رَوقِهِ
كَما شَكَّ ذو العودِ الجَرادَ المُنَظَّما
And he wheeled about like a wounded ostrich, fleeing and wary,
Shielding from the heat of Sirima, respected.
وَأَدبَرَ كَالشَعرى وُضوحاً وَنُقبَةً
يُواعِنُ مِن حَرِّ الصَريمَةِ مُعظَما
That was after the struggle when I compared my she-camel,
If the sheep one day in the meadow brays,
فَذَلِكَ بَعدَ الجَهدِ شَبَّهتُ ناقَتي
إِذا الشاةُ يَوماً في الكِناسِ تَجَرثَما
Despairing that my Lord has denied it
The days of time, but honor and nobility.
تَؤُمُّ إِياساً إِنَّ رَبّي أَبى لَهُ
يَدَ الدَهرِ إِلّا عِزَّةً وَتَكَرُّما
God made it grow above every tribe,
A father, then a father who disdains baseness wherever.
نَماهُ الإِلَهُ فَوقَ كُلَّ قَبيلَةٍ
أَباً فَأَباً يَأبى الدَنِيَّةَ أَينَما
And it never retreats one day to oppress and its face darkens
To ride disability or contend with sin.
وَلَم يَنتَكِس يَوماً فَيُظلِمَ وَجهُهُ
لِيَركَبَ عَجزاً أَو يُضارِعَ مَأثَما
If the honor of mankind were on the top of a craggy
Jagged rock perceiving the one who limps,
وَلَو أَنَّ عِزَّ الناسِ في رَأسِ صَخرَةٍ
مُلَملَمَةٍ تُعيّ الأَرَحَّ المُخَدَّما
The Lord of men would give you the key to its gate,
And if there were no gate, He would give you a ladder.
لَأَعطاكَ رَبُّ الناسِ مِفتاحَ بابِها
وَلَو لَم يَكُن بابٌ لَأَعطاكَ سُلَّما
So the Nile of Egypt when its torrents rise,
And the sea of Baniqya when it flows abundantly,
فَما نيلُ مِصرٍ إِذ تَسامى عُبابُهُ
وَلا بَحرُ بانِقيا إِذا راحَ مُفعَما
With more generous than it, obtaining. Some of them,
When asked a kindness, turn away and frown.
بِأَجوَدَ مِنهُ نائِلاً إِنَّ بَعضَهُم
إِذا سُئِلَ المَعروفَ صَدَّ وَجَمجَما
He is the giver of the perfections of character to his neighbor
Likened always to a constant downpour or heavily laden palms.
هُوَ الواهِبُ الكومَ الصَفايا لِجارِهِ
يُشَبَّهنَ دَوماً أَو نَخيلاً مُكَمَّما
And every full pool is limited in its extent
And every torrent like the plowshare, blackish.
وَكُلَّ كُمَيتٍ كَالقَناةِ مَحالُهُ
وَكُلَّ طِمِرٍّ كَالهِراوَةِ أَدهَما
And every source of honor like the channel of a torrent
And the most generous hand of the servant, debased.
وَكُلَّ مِزاقٍ كَالقَناةِ طِمِرِّةٍ
وَأَجرَدَ جَيّاشَ الأَجارِيِّ مِرجَما
And every high-mettled one like the Phoenician parcel
Dragging to the shop a sack, marked.
وَكُلَّ ذَمولٍ كَالفَنيقِ وَقَينَةٍ
تَجُرُّ إِلى الحانوتِ بُرداً مُسَهَّما
And he left no desperate man among people like him
To remedy a wrong or undertake a debt.
وَلَم يَدعُ مَلهوفٌ مِنَ الناسِ مِثلَهُ
لِيَدفَعَ ضَيماً أَو لِيَحمِلَ مَغرَما
