سَرى طَيفُها والمُلتَقى مُتَدانِ

وجِنْحُ الدُّجى والصُّبْحُ يَعْتلِجانِ

Her phantom passed by while we met,

And the wings of dusk and dawn shuddered.

ولا نَيْلَ إلا الطّيف في القُربِ والنّوى

وأما الذي تَهذي بهِ فأماني

Naught but visions of her in nearness and yearning,

As for what excites you, they are but wishes.

خَليلَيَّ مِنْ عُلْيا قُرَيْشٍ هُديتُما

أشَأنُكُما في حُبِّ عَلْوَةَ شاني

My two friends from the Nobles of Quraysh,

Your case, in love for an elevated maiden, is astonishing.

فَما لَكُما يَومَ العُذَيْبِ نَقِمْتُما

عَليَّ البُكا والأمرُ ما تَرَيانِ

Why on the day of al-Udhayb were you angry with me?

Making me weep while you two did not see.

فُؤادٌ بِذِكْرِ العامِريّةِ مُولَعٌ

وعَينٌ لَجوجُ الدّمعِ في الهَملانِ

A heart obsessed with al-Amriyyah,

And an eye whose tearing flows at al-Hamlan.

أما فيكُما مِنْ هِزّةٍ أُمَويّةٍ

لأرْوَعَ في أسْرِ الصّبابَةِ عانِ

Is there no Umayyad shake in you?

To frighten the youth in their folly.

ولمْ يَحْزُنِ الحَيَّ الكِنانِيَّ أنْ أُرَى

أسيراً لِهذا الحَيِّ من غَطَفانِ

Al-Hayy did not grieve that I was seen

Captive of this tribe from Ghatafan.

ألا بِأبي ذاكَ الغُزَيِّلُ إذ رَنا

إليّ وذَيّاكَ البُرَيقُ شَجاني

Oh, by the father of that tender gazelle, when she glanced at me

And the lightning of your eyes struck me.

نَظَرْتُ غَداةَ البَيْنِ والعَينُ ثَرّةٌ

ورُدْنايَ مِمّا أسْبَلَتْ خَضِلانِ

I looked the next day, my eye oozing,

As we returned from what the branches spilled.

فَحَمْحَمَ مُهْري وامْتَرى الدّمْعَ صاحِبي

وقدْ كادَ يَبكي مُنْصُلي وسِناني

My stead snorted and my companion wiped away a tear,

And my tooth pick almost cried from me.

ولولا حَنينُ الأرْحَبيّةِ لم يَهجْ

فَتًى مُضَريٌّ مِنْ بُكاءِ يَمانِ

Were it not for the ardour of al-Arhabiyyah none

From Mudar would sob with the weeping of Yemen.

أفِقْ منْ جَوًى يا أيّها المُهْرُ إنني

وإياكَ في أهْلِ الغَضى غُرُبانِ

Awaken from longing, O stead, we two

Among the people of love are strangers.

يَشوقُكَ ماءٌ بالأباطِحِ سَلْسَلٌ

وقد نَشَحَتْ بالأبْرَقَيْنِ شِناني

You yearn for water at al-Abatiha, a dangling chain,

As my blinkers glisten at al-Abraqayn.

هَوايَ لَعَمْري ما هَوِيْتَ وإنما

يُجاذِبُني رَيْبُ الزّمانِ عِناني

By my life, you have not yearned, rather

The doubt of time pulls me by the bridle.

وما مُغْزِلٌ تَعْطو الأراكَ يَهُزُّهُ

نَسيمٌ تُناجيه الخَمائِلُ وانِ

No spindle the virgins move

Sways with a breeze the girlfriends address.

وتُزْجي برَوْقَيْها أغَنَّ كأنّهُ

مِنَ الضّعْفِ يَطْوي الأرضَ بالرَّسَفانِ

She strikes its cheeks as if it

Falls from weakness, folding the ground in decay.

فَمالَ إِلى الظّلِّ الأراكِيّ دونَها

وكانا بهِ مِنْ قَبْلُ يَرْتَديانِ

It leaned towards the shaded sand dune beneath it

Where earlier they would promenade.

وصُبَّتْ علَيهِ الطُّلْسُ وهْيَ سَواغِبٌ

تَجوبُ إليهِ البيدَ بالنّسَلانِ

The herd poured over it while they strode,

Approaching it slowly with the boats.

فَعادَتْ إليهِ أمُّهُ وفؤادُها

هَفا كجَناحِ الصّقْرِ في الخَفَقانِ

Its mother returned to it, her heart

Fluttering like the wing of a hawk in flight.

وظلّتْ على الجَرْعاءِ ولْهَى كَئيبَةً

وقد سالَ واديها بأحمَرَ قانِ

It remained above al-Jar'a dolefully

As its valley streamed with red blood.

تَسوفُ الثّرى طَوراً ويَعْبَثُ تارةً

بِها أوْلَقٌ من شِدّةِ الوَلَهانِ

It paws the ground for a while and at times

A calf from the intensity of its craze plays with it.

بأوْجَدَ منّي يَومَ سِرْنا إِلى الحِمى

وقد نَزَلَتْ سَمْراءُ سَفْحَ أبانِ

More turbulent than I was the day we traveled to al-Hima

And Dark Brown descended the slope of Aban.

أفي كُلِّ يَومٍ حَنّةٌ تُعْقِبُ الأسى

وهَبْتُ لَها الأحشاءَ مُنذُ زَمانِ

Is there a care after the sorrow in every day?

And I have given it my heart for so long.

فحَتّامَ أُغْضي ناظِريَّ على القَذى

وأُلْقي بِمُسْتَنِّ الخُطوبِ جِراني

The gaze of Hatim is lowered over the mote

And I hurl the reputations of dignities from me.

ألَمْ تَعْلَمِ الأيّامُ أنّي بمَنزِلٍ

بهِ يُحْتَمى مِنْ طارِقِ الحَدَثانِ

Do you not know that I live in an abode

Where one takes refuge from the raids of events?

بأشْرَفِ بَيْتٍ في لُؤَيِّ بْنِ غالِبٍ

جَنوحٍ إِلى أبوابِهِ الثَّقَلانِ

The noblest house of Lu'ayy ibn Ghalib,

Sheltering, with its heavy doors.

ومَربوطَةٍ جُرْدٍ سَوابِقَ حَوْلَهُ

بمَرْكوزَةٍ مُلْسِ المُتونِ لِدانِ

Tethered steeds surrounding it,

Branded on their shoulders and flanks.

تَخِرُّ على الأذْقانِ في عَرَصاتِهِ

ملوكٌ يَرَوْنَ العِزَّ تَحتَ هَوانِ

Kings who see glory beneath humility

Crouch at its yards during times of rest,

وتَجمَحُ فيهمْ هَيْبةٌ قُرَشيّةٌ

لأبيَضَ منْ آلِ النّبيِّ هجانِ

And in them there is a Qurashi aura

Of the pure family of the Prophet, assistance.

مِنَ النَّفَرِ البيضِ الإِلى تَعْتَري العُلا

إلَيْهِمْ بيَومَيْ نائِلٍ وطِعانِ

Of the white-faced cavalry who attack eminence,

To them one day they arrive with a headlong charge.

بهِمْ رَفَعَتْ عُلْيا مَعَدٍّ عِمادَها

ودانَتْ لَها الأيّامُ بَعْدَ حِرانِ

With them 'Ulaiya elevated its pillars

And after Hiran the days submitted to it.

وجَرّوا أنابيبَ الرِّماحِ بهَضْبَةٍ

منَ المَجْدِ تَكْبو دونَها القَدَمانِ

They dragged the pipes of spears in an onslaught

Of glory, under which feet stumble.

فأفْياؤُهُمْ للمُسْتَجيرِ مَعاقِلٌ

وأبياتُهُمْ للمَكْرُماتِ مَغاني

Their swords are fortresses for the one seeking refuge

And their abodes treasures for the honoured.

أقولُ لِحادينا وقد لَغَبَ السُّرى

بأشباحِ قُودٍ كالقِسِيِّ حَوانِ

I say to our guide as the phantom disappeared

With the forms of leaders like apparitions:

نَواصِلَ من أعْقابِ لَيلٍ كأنّما

سَقاها الكرى عانيَّةً وسَقاني

“Dawn follows a night as if

Sorrow saturated it and quenched me.

يُلَوّينَ أعناقاً خَواضِعَ في الدُّجى

وتَرْمي بألْحاظٍ إليَّ رَوانِ

Swaying necks submissively in the darkness,

Casting glances at me like meadows.

أنِخْها طَليحاتِ المآقي لَواغِباً

بِما اعْتَسَفَتْ من صَحْصَحٍ ومِتانِ

Urge them, the she-camels of the watering places trotting

With what they scraped up of pebbles and fodder”.

فإنّ أميرَ المُؤمنينَ وجارَهُ

بِعَلياءَ لا يَسْمو لَها القَمَرانِ

The Commander of the Faithful and his neighbour

In the Highest Heaven cannot be reached by the two moons.

إليكَ امتطَيْتُ الخَيلَ واللّيلَ والفَلا

وقد طاحَ في الإدلاجِ كُلُّ هِدانِ

For you I rode horses, the night, and the stars,

And all guides fell in the darkness.

بِذي مَرَحٍ لا يَمْلأُ الهَوْلُ قَلْبَهُ

ولا يَتلَقّى لِمَّةً بِلَبانِ

One of cheerful disposition whom fear does not fill his heart,

Nor does he encounter a tribe with 1860 war.

وأُهْدي إليكَ الشِّعْرَ غَضّاً وما لَهُ

بِنَشْرِ أياديكَ الجِسامِ يَدانِ

I gift to you poetry fresh, without

Spreading by your great hands.

تَطولُ يَدي منها على ما أُريدُهُ

ويَقْصُرُ عنها خاطِري ولساني

My hand from it extends to what I want

While my mind and tongue fall short of it.

بَقيتَ ولا أبْقى لكَ اللهُ كاشِحاً

على غَرَرٍ يُرْمَى بهِ الرَّجَوانِ

You remain, may Allah not keep you distracted

By treasures at which the ambitious are thrown.

ومَدَّ عِنانَ الدّهْرِ إنْ شاءَ أو أَبى

إِلى نَيْلِ ما أمّلْتَهُ المَلَوانِ

And may He extend the bridle of fate, if He wills or not,

To attain what you wish, O Hopes.