لَتارِكٌ أَرضَكُم مِن غَيرِ مَقليَةٍ
وَزائِرٌ أَهلَ حُلوانٍ وَإِن بَعُدوا
Leaving your lands with no regrets,
Visiting the people of Hulwan though distant they may be.
إِنّي وَجدِّك يَدعوني لأَرضِهِم
قُربُ الأَواصِرِ والرِّفدُ الَّذي رَفَدوا
For your love calls me to your lands,
So close are our ties and bounties you have bestowed.
كَذاكَ لا يَزدَهيني عَن بَني كَرَمٍ
وَلَو ضَنَنتُ بِهِنَّ البُدَّنُ الخُرُدُ
Thus the people of Karam cannot keep me away,
Not even if I deemed them paltry and mean.
بَل لَيتَ شِعري وليتٌ غَيرُ مُدرِكَةٍ
وَكُلُّ ما دونَهُ لَيتٌ لَهُ أَمَدُ
If only I knew—but alas, I know not,
And all else pales, if only it could last.
هَل تُبلِغَنّي بَني مَروانَ إِن شَحَطَت
عَنّي ديارُهُمُ عَيرانةٌ أُجُدُ
Will the Banu Marwan relay, if their lands
Become too remote, that I pine and yearn?
عيديَّةٌ عُلِفَت حَتّى إِذا عَقَدَت
نَيّاً وَتَمَّ عَلَيها تامِكٌ قَرِدُ
A she-camel, ‘Eidiyya, I trained until
Her gait grew smooth and she turned perfectly docile.
قَرَّبتُها لِقُتودي وَهيَ عافيَةٌ
كالبُرجِ لَم يَعرُها مِن رِحلَةٍ عَمَدُ
I readied her for travel though unaccustomed,
Like a tower unshaken by the journey ahead.
يَسعى الغُلامُ بِها تَمشي مُشَنّعَةً
مَشيَ البَغيِّ رأَت خُطّابَها شَهِدوا
The boy leads and she walks with swaying saddle,
Amidst onlookers, with a lover’s sauntering gait.
تُرعَدُ وَهيَ تُصاديهِ خَصائِلُها
كَأَنَّما مَسَّها مِن قِرَّةٍ صَرَدُ
She quivers and shakes her braids as if
Smitten by ecstasy—such smoothness in her tread!
حَتّى شَدَدتُ عَلَيها الرَحلَ فانجَرَدَت
مَرَّ الظَليمِ شأَتهُ الأُبَّدُ الشُرُدُ
Until I cinched the saddle firm and she bolted
Swift as lightning’s gleam, a blur at full speed.
وَشواشَةٌ سَوطُها النَقرُ الخَفيُّ بِها
وَوَقعُها الأَرضَ تَحليلٌ إِذا تَخِدُ
Her whip—a faint rap—and her hooves beat
The earth with the sound of melting metal rods.
كَأَنَّ بَوّاً أَمامَ الرَكبِ تَتبَعُهُ
لَها نَقولُ هَواها أَينَما عَمَدوا
As if a howling wolf pursued the caravan,
We follow her lead wherever the road takes us.
تَنسَلُّ بِالأَمعَزِ المَرهوبِ لاهيَةً
عَنهُ إِذا جَزِعَ الرُكبانُ أَو جَلُدوا
Playing with the flock, aloof from the riders
When they show fear or act with haste.
كَأَنَّ أَوبَ يَدَيها بِالفَلاةِ إِذا
لاحَت أَماعِزُها والآلُ يَطَّرِدُ
As if a torrent lay before her in the wasteland,
When her goats appeared and the clan marched on.
أَوبُ يَدَي سابِحٍ في الآلِ مُجتَهِدٍ
يَهوى يُقَحِّمُهُ ذو لُجَّةٍ زَبِدُ
A torrent before a swimmer midst his tribe
Plunging in headfirst though the eddies raged.
قَومٌ وِلادَتُهُم مَجدٌ يُنالُ بِها
مِن مَعشَرٍ ذُكِروا في مَجدِ مَن وَلَدوا
A people whose birth was glory, attained hereby
From a people famed for the glory of their sires.
