لَمَّا حَدَا بِالأَيْمَنِينَ يَسَارُ

وَسَرى اليَمانُونَ العَشِيَّ وَسَارُوا

When the right-hand tribe advanced leftwards,

And the Yemenites travelled by night and marched on,

طَلَبَتْ عُيُونُكَ دَمْعَها فَأَجَابَهَا

قَانٍ وَلِلحُزْنِ الدِّمَاءُ تُعَارُ

Your eyes sought their tears, so it granted them

Blood, for tears are the ornament of sorrow.

وَدَمٌ وَدَمْعٌ حِينَ يَخْتَلِطَانِ في

إِثْرِ الخَلِيطِ فَجُرْحُهُنَّ جُبَارُ

Blood and tears when blended together

In the wake of the blend, their wounds roar.

وَتَغَيَّرَ الرَّسْمَانِ جِسْمُكَ والحِمَى

لا أَنْتَ أَنْتَ وَلا الدّيارُ دِيارُ

The symmetry of your body changed, and the fever,

You're no longer you, nor are the houses, houses.

وَغَدوْتَ يُسْعِدُكَ الحَمامُ وَكَيْفَ لا

وَحَشَاكَ وَهْيَ كِلاهُما أَطْيارُ

And you started your day cheerful. Why wouldn't you

When both the pigeon and dove have made you their companion?

وَعَجِبْتُ مِنْكَ بِكُلّ وَادٍ هَائمٍ

فِيهِمْ وَمَا مِنْ شأْنِكَ الإِشْعارُ

And I wondered about you wandering every valley,

Preoccupied with them, though poetry is not your habit.

تَضَعُ الخُدُودَ عَلَى مَوَاضِعَ قَدْسَقَتْ

ها العَينُ وَهِيَ جَميعُها آثارُ

You place your cheeks where the eyes have shed

Tears, and they are all traces.

وَيَرِقُّ جُنْحُ اللَّيْلِ مِنْكَ عَلَى فَتىً

فِي إِثْرِهَا يَقْسُو عَليْكَ نَهَارُ

The wing of night sheds its shadow over a youth,

After which the day treats you harshly.

إِنْ غِبْتَ وَجْداً لَا أَذىً هذا وَلَا

تَدْري بِرقّةِ ذَا فَمَا هُوَ عَارُ

If you are absent out of love, not harm, that is one thing,

You don't know the gentleness of that mouth, so no shame.

ما فِيكَ بَعْدَهُمُ لِصَحْوٍ فَضْلةٌ

هَيْهَاتَ أَفْنَى صَحْوَكَ الإِسْكارُ

After them, you have no sobriety left,

Alas! drunkenness has erased your sobriety.

ما زِلْتَ تُلْقي ما تَقولُ عَواذِلٌ

حَتّى اسْتَوى الإِقْلالُ والإِكْثَارُ

You kept saying what the flirts say

Until scarcity and abundance became equal.