هيَ العيسُ مُبْتَذِراتُ الخُطا

نَوافِخُ منْ مَرَحٍ في البُرى

They are the young gazelles, making slight mistakes,

Galloping in the wilderness in delight.

أتَجْزَعُ للبَيْنِ أم تَرْعَوي

إِلى جَلَدٍ أسْأَرَتْهُ النّوى

Do you weep out of yearning or graze

On tough plants which have been afflicted by adversity?

ولمْ يَتْرُكِ البَيْنُ لي عَبْرَةً

ولكنها عَلَقٌ يُمْتَرى

And yearning left me no tears,

Rather, it is an affliction that kills.

فصَبْراً على عُدَواءِ الدِّيارِ

وإنْ أضْرَمَتْ بُرَحاءَ الجَوى

So have patience with the hostility of the abodes,

Even if the expanses of the atmosphere were aflame.

وفي مَنْشِطِ الرِّمْثِ عُذْريّةٌ

أبَتْ قُضُبُ الهِنْدِ أنْ تُجْتَلى

And in the thickets of Rmith there is a doe

Whose Indian twigs refuse to be ignited.

إذا رُفِعَ السِّجْفُ عنها بَدَتْ

هِلالاً على غُصُنٍ في نَقا

When the covering is lifted from her she appears

Like a crescent on a branch amid spots.

رَمَتْني بألْحاظِها الفاتِراتِ

فعادَتْ سِهاماً وكانتْ ظُبا

She glanced at me with her languid eyes,

Then they turned into arrows although they were gazelles.

وكَمْ بالجُنَيْنَةِ منْ شادِنٍ

يَصيدُ بعَيْنَيْهِ لَيْثَ الثّرى

And how many allurers are there in gardens

Who hunt with their eyes the lions of the land!

طَرَقْتُ الخِيامَ على رِقْبَةٍ

طُروقَ الخَيالِ يخوضُ الدُّجى

I circled the tents led

By the fantasies of thoughts traversing the darkness.

وتَحْتيَ أدْهَمُ يُخْفي الصّهيلَ

كَما اسْتَرَقَ المَضرَحِيُّ الوَعَى

Under me is a dusky steed concealing the neighing

As the clown stole away the consciousness.

أشَمُّ المُعَذَّرِ ضافي السّبي

بِ عالي السَّراةِ سَليمُ الشّظى

I smell the apologizer whose mount is docile,

Of high pedigree, safe of temper.

كساهُ الدُّجى حُلّةً والصّباحُ

يَلوحُ بِجَبْهَتِهِ والشّوى

The darkness clothed him in a garment but the morning

Appears with its forehead and the cooking fire.

فأقْبَلَ نَحوي وأتْرابُهُ

حَوالَيْهِ كالخِشْفِ بَيْنَ المَها

So he came toward me and his companions

Surrounding him like ashes amid the sparks.

وباتَ يُمَسِّحُ مَكْحولَةً

يُرَنِّقُ في ناظِرَيْها الكَرى

And he began wiping his wine-skin,

Adorning his eyes for it.

وجاذَبَني فَضَلاتِ العِنانِ

حِذاراً إِلى عَذَباتِ اللِّوى

And he pulled me by the slackened bridle

Cautiously toward the sweet bending.

وقُمْنا إِلى مُنْحَنى الوادِيَيْنِ

نَجُرُّ على أجْرَعَيْهِ الرِّدا

And we got up toward the bend of the two valleys,

Dragging our feet burdened with debt.

وبِتْنا نُكَفْكِفُ صَوْبَ الغَمامِ

بفَضْلِ الوِشاحِ تُحَيْتَ الغَضى

We spent the night shaking toward the clouds

By the favor of the cloak, the temptation of youth was greeted.

فَيا ما أُحَيْسِنَ ذاكَ العِناقَ

وقد مَسَّ ثِنْيَ نِجادي ندىً

So excellent is that embrace I prize

When my necklace of pearls touched me with dew!

يَفُضُّ القَلائِدَ منْ ضِيقِهِ

وتَلْفِظُ أطْواقَهُنَّ الطُّلى

It pours necklaces from its tightness

And its chains pour forth their dissolved pearls.

وقالتْ سُلَيْمى لأتْرابِها

أتَعْرِفْنَ باللهِ هذا الفَتى

And Suleima said to her companions,

"Do you, by God, know this young man?

أغَرُّ نَمَتْهُ إِلى خِنْدِفٍ

شَمائِلُ تُخْلَقُ منها العُلا

The blossoming of his youth inclines to gracefulness,

Attributes are created from it from which grandeur shines forth.

إذا نَشَرَ الفَخْرُ أحْسابَهُ

تَبسّمَ عنهُنّ عِرْقُ الثّرى

When glory spreads its accounts,

The veins of the ground smile from it."

أبا الغَمْرِ دَعوَةَ مَنْ أوْرَثَتْهُ

أميّةُ منْ مَجْدِها ما تَرى

O father of flooding, the call of one whom

Umayyah made inherit from its glory what you see!

إذا الخارجيُّ ثَوى بالحَضيضِ

سَمَوْتُ وأنتَ مَعي للذُّرا

When the Khārijite lies in the dust,

I and you soared to the high grounds.

فدَتْكَ الأعاريبُ منْ ماجِدٍ

قَريبِ النّوالِ بَعيدِ المَدى

The nomads sacrifice themselves for a majestic one,

Near in bestowal, far in purpose.

ضَرَبَتْ على الأيْنِ صَدْرَ المَطيِّ

فقدَّ إليكَ أديمَ القِرى

It struck the hands of the riding-animal on the breast,

So it inclined to you the reins of the towns.

فلَمْ أرَ أندى يَداً بالنّوا

لِ منكَ وأكْرَمَ مِنها لَظَى

I have never seen a hand more generous in bestowal

Or more generous than it in food.