لِمَنِ الدارُ كَأَنضاءِ الخِلَل

عَهدُها مِن حِقَبِ العَيشِ الأُوَل

For whom is the abode like the white anklets,

Its era is from the spans of the first life,

بِمَغامِيدَ فَأعلى أُسُنٍ

فَحُناناتٍ فَأَوقٍ فالجَبَل

With tent pegs, so the highest of traces,

Then coos, then valleys, then mountains,

فَبِرَعمَينِ فَرَيطاتٍ لَها

وَبِأَعلى حُرَّياتٍ مُتنَقَل

Then sprouts, then plains for it,

And the highest sandy tracts that roam,

فَذِهابُ الكَورِ أَمسَى أَهلَهُ

كُّلُّ مَوشِيٍّ شَواهُ ذُو رَمَل

So the going of the balls has made its people

Every walker whom the sands busied,

دارُ قَومِي قَبلَ أَن يُدرِكَهُم

عَنَتُ الدَهرِ وَعَيشٌ ذُو خَبَل

The abode of my people before the vicissitudes of time afflicted them

And a life of disorder,

وَشَمُولٍ قَهوَةٍ باكَرتُها

فِي التَبَاشِيرِ مِنَ الصُّبحِ الأُوَل

And all-inclusiveness of coffee whose morning

Was in the early mornings,

باشَرَتهُ جَونَةٌ مَرشومَةٌ

أَو جَدِيدٌ حَدَثُ القارِ جَحَل

A she-camel marked it,

Or a newborn whose neck skin is coarse,

وَضَعَ الأُسكُوبُ فِيهِ رُقَعاً

مِثلَ ما يُرقَعُ بالكَيِّ الطَحِل

And the pot was placed in it patches

Like what is patched with thick stitched cloth,

فَشَرِبنا غَيرَ شُربٍ واغِلٍ

وَعَلَلنا عَلَلاً بَعدَ نَهَل

So we drank a drink free of sediment,

And we flavored it with flavoring after it dripped,

وَعَناجِيجَ جِيادٍ نُجُبٍ

نَجلِ فَيّاضٍ وَمِن آلِ سَبَل

And neighs of noble, purebred steeds

Of white descent and of the lineage of meadows,

قُصِرَ الصَنعُ عَلَيها دائِماً

فَإِذَا الصَاهِلُ مِنهُنَّ صَهَل

Work was poured upon it constantly

So when the late afternoons came, it echoed,

جاوَبَتهُ حُصُنٌ مُمسَكَةٌ

أَرِناتٌ لَم يُلَوِّحها الهَمَل

Answering were citadels firmly constructed

Purebreds that the extinct wild cows did not drive out,

مِثلَ عَزفِ الجِنِّ في صَلصَلَةٍ

لَيسَ فِي الأَصواتِ مِنهُنَّ صَحَل

Like the music of jinn in the tinkling

Of sounds among which there is no discordance,

فَجَرى مِن مِنخَرَيهِ زَبَدٌ

مِثلَ ما أَثمَرَ حُمّاضُ الجَبَل

So from its nostrils foam ran

Like what the acid plants on a mountain produced,

فَعَرَفنا هِزَّةً تأخُذُهُ

فَقَرَّناهُ بِرَضراضٍ رِفَل

And we knew a tremor that seized it

So we matched it to a pony fine of build

أَيَّدِ الكاهِلِ جَلدٍ بازِلٍ

أَخلَفَ البازِلَ عاماً أَو بَزَل

The wither of smooth skin succeeded

After the smooth-skinned one a year or became smooth

فظَنَنّا أَنَّهُ غالِبُهُ

فَزَجَرناهُ بِيَهياهٍ وَهَل

And we thought that it had overcome it

So we startled it with oohs and haas,

رُفِعَ السوطُ وَلَم يُضرَب بِه

فَأَرَنَّ الوَقعُ مِنهُ وَاحتَفَل

The whip was raised but was not struck with it

Yet the impact of it showed and clamored,

كَلِياً مِن حِسِّ ما قَد مَسَّهُ

وَأَفانِينِ فُؤادٍ مُحتَمَل

Sufficing from the sense of what had touched it

And the insides of a heart that endured,

فَاستَوَت لِهزِمَتا خَدّيمِها

وَجَرَى الشَفُّ سَواءً فاعتَدَل

So its servant’s cheeks leveled out equally

And the spit flowed evenly and moderated,

فَتآيا بِطَرِيرٍ مُرهَفٍ

جُفرَةَ المَحزِمِ مِنهُ فَسَعَل

So it twittered with a croaking modulated,

The horse blanket around its waist so it could jump away,

عَسَلانَ الذِئبِ أمسى قارِباً

بَرَدَ اللّيلُ عَلَيه فَنَسَل

The night cooled upon it so it slipped down,

Kharit, dark browed, Van Dyke brown, white stockinged,

خارِطٌ أَحقَبُ فِلُو ضامِرٌ

أَبلَقُ الحَقوَينِ مَشطُوبُ الكَفَل

Crooked legged, the fetlocks shaved,

So the camel caravan descended until its emptiness

فَأَدَلَّ العَيرُ حَتّى خِلتَهُ

قَفَصَ الأَمرانِ يَعدُو فِي شَكَل

The two footed rabbit runs in a lope

My companions said when they saw it approaching,

قالَ صَحبي إِذ رَأَوهُ مُقبِلاً

ما تَراهُ شَأنُهُ قُلتُ أَدَل

“What do you reckon its condition is?” I said it approaches,

Would that all of Qais had cut it off

لَيتَ قَيساً كُلَّها قَد قَطَعَت

مُسحُلاناً فَحَصِيدا فَتُبَل

Into waterless tracts, then barren lands, then salty flats,

The mounts, then the highest pregnant she-camel

فَالأَشافِيَّ فَأَعلى حامِرٍ

فَلِوَى الخُرِّ فَأَطرافَ الرَجَل

Then the twists of passing and the legs’ edges

Making Syria an oven for them

جَاعِلِينَ الشّامَ حَمّاً لَهُمُ

وَلَئِن هَمُّوا لَنِعمَ المُنتَقَل

And if they intend to, excellent is the place transferred

His death a reward and his life an enrichment

مَوتُهُ أَجرٌ وَمَحياهُ غِنىً

وَإِليِه عَن أَذاةٍ مُعتَزَل

And to Him secluded from harm retreated

My neighbor asked me about my slave girl

سَأَلتَنِي جارَتي عَن أَمتي

وَإِذا ما عَيَّ ذُو اللُّبَِ سَأَل

And should the owner of dissolvement ask about

She asked me about people who perished

سَأَلَتني عَن أُنَاسٍ هَلَكُوا

شَرِبَ الدَهرُ عَليهِم وَأَكَل

Time drank away at them and ate

They reached rule but when they reached

بَلَغُوا المُلكَ فَلَمّا بَلَغُوا

بِخِسارٍ وانتَهى ذاكَ الأَجَل

With loss and that lifespan ended

And time placed a curse upon them

وَضَعَ الدَهرُ عَلَيهِم بَركَةً

فَأُبِيدُوا لم يُغادِر غَيرَ فَل

So they were annihilated, none left but few

And it showed me confusion in the wake of them

وَأُراِني طَرِباً في إِثرِهِم

طَرَبَ الواِلهِ أَو كالمُختَبل

The confusion of the distraught or the deranged

I chide the people but do not chide them

أَنشُدُ الناسَ وَلا أُنشِدُهُم

إِنّما يَنشُدُ مَن كانَ أَضَل

Indeed, only one astray chides

If only I knew when what passed passed

لَيتَ شِعرِي إِذ قَضى ما قَد مَضى

وَتَجَلّى الأَمرُ لِلّهِ الأَجَل

And the matter clarified for God, the Timeless

What are we supposed to think of people who killed

ما يُظَنَّنَّ بِناسٍ قَتَلُوا

أَهلَ صِفِّينَ وَأَصحابَ الجَمَل

The people of Siffin and the Camel’s companions

And the son of Affan, pious, Muslim

وَاِبنَ عَفّانَ حَنيفاً مُسلِماً

وَلُحُومَ البُدنِ لَمّا تُنتَقَل

And the flesh of corpses when bodies are transferred

Where do they sleep when they wrong

أَيَنامُونَ إِذا ما ظَلَمُوا

أَم يَبِتُونَ بِخَوفٍ وَوَجَل

Or do they sleep in fear and panic

And they have a mark when you discern them

وَلَهُم سِيما إِذا تُبصِرُهُم

بَيَّنَت رِيبَةَ مَن كانَ سَأَل

Clarifying the suspicion of one who asked

So a rainy winter blew sharply

فَتَمَطّى زَمخَريٌّ وارِمٌ

مِن ربِيعٍ كُلَّما خَفَّ هَطَل

From a Rabi` whenever it lightened, it rained heavily

It prevented betrayal so I did not intend it

مَنَعَ الغَدرَ فَلَم أَهُمم بِهِ

وَأَخُو الغَدرِ إِذا هَمَّ فَعَل

And the brother of betrayal, when he intended, did

Fear of God and that I am a man

خَشيَةُ اللَهِ وَأَنّي رَجُلٌ

إِنَّما ذِكري كَنارٍ بِقَبَل

Whose mention is only like a blazing fire

They plot my murder among themselves

يَتَواصونَ بِقَتلي بَينَهُم

مُقبِلي نَحويَ أَطرافَ الأَسل

Approaching me, the edges of the swords

If you see my worry has busied me

إِن تَري هَمّيَ أَمسى شاغِلي

وَإِذا ما نُوجِيَ الهَمُّ شَغَل

And when worry busies, it occupies

Like the swaying gait of a pregnant she-camel

مِثلُ هِيمانِ العَذَارى بَطنُهُ

يَلهَزُ الروضَ بِنُقعاِن النَفَل

It jostles the meadow with its dangling teats

The ocean fish did not contend with me over a muzzle

لَم يُقَايِظني عَلى كاظِمَةٍ

سَمَكُ البَحرِ وحَولِيُّ الدَقَل

Nor the Nile fish nor the moray eel

When they are the best of a living clan of Suqah

إِذ هُمُ مِن خَيرِ حَيِّ سُوقَةً

وَطِىءَ الأَرضَ بِسَهلٍ أَو جَبَل

And tread the land, be it plain or mountain,

For a stranger who stands among them asking

لِغَرِيبٍ قَامَ فِيهِم سائِلاً

وَلِجارٍ جُنُبٍ جاءَ فَحَل

And a neighbor who comes seeking lodging

They rush humbly to the one calling them

يَستَخِفُّونَ إِلى الداعي بِهِم

وَإِلى الضيفِ إِذا الضيفُ نَزَل

And to the guest when the guest descends