بي مِن جوى التبريحِ اشِفاقُ

فهل لدائي منه اِفراقُ

The ache of parting tortures me,

so is there a cure for my malady?

ولي فؤادٌ مِن حذارِ النوى

ورحلةِ الأحبابِ خَفّاقُ

My heart fears the turn of fate,

and the departure of loved ones agitates me.

ومقلةٌ جادتْ بأمواهِها

على الطلولِ الخُرْسِ آماقُ

My eyelids have wept copious tears

upon my pale, sleepless cheeks.

لا نومُها عادَ ولا طيفُهمْ

بعدَ النوى والبينِ طرّاقُ

Neither sleep returns, nor their specters,

after separation and distance have torn us apart.

منازلٌ مذ بانَ سكّانُها

عاودَني هَمٌّ واِيراقُ

The dwellings where they once lived

now renew my sorrow and agony.

ذِكْرٌ ووجدٌ بهما تلتظي

أضالِعٌ تَفْنَى وأشواقُ

Remembrance and longing burn my ribs,

weakening them, and stir my passions.

وأربعٌ يشقى بها مغرمٌ

تُقلِقُه الذكرى ومشتاقُ

And four miseries torture the lovesick one:

memories disturb him, and he yearns.

ووقفةٌ فيها واِنْ أرمضتْ

بِسُّمِ يومِ البينِ درياقُ

And a standstill, though it inflames

the lethal poison of the days of separation.

ما أنسَ لا أنسَ وقد ثوَّرَ ال

حادونَ عن نجدٍ وقد ساقوا

Those who have left can never be forgotten,

after they marched off from Nejd, departing.

وراعني لا راعني بعدها

للبين اِرعادٌ واِبراقَ

No more do they care for me after they

unleashed for separation claps and flashes of lightning.

واندفعتْ كلُّ بجاويَّةٍ

اِعمالُها نصٌّ واِعناقُ

And they raced off, every one

with her belongings, text, and she-camel.

وكلُّ وخادٍ رمينا بهِ

غُبرَ الموامي فهو سبّاقُ

And each departed friend we pelted

with the dust of the dunes―he took the lead!

له وراءَ القومِ أن غلَّلُوا

في البيدِ اِشآمٌ واِعراقُ

For him, behind the tribe, the

young camels sauntered easily with swaying lithe necks.

فهل يُرجَّى لفؤادي وقد

سارَ مع الأظعانِ اِطلاقُ

Can my heart hope, when

it has marched off with the emaciated camels?

ظعائنٌ قامَ لأشواقِنا

بعد تنائيهنَّ أسواقُ

Emaciated camels rose to our passions

after their remoteness brought them to market.

وأنفسُ العُشّاقِ بعدَ النوى

قد بقيتْ منهنَّ أَرْماقُ

And the souls of lovers after their leave-taking

were the remnants left among them.

ذاقوا مِنَ الوجدِ وأسبابِه

بعدَ نوى الجيرةِ ما ذاقوا

They tasted of lovesickness and its causes

after the parting of neighbors like none before.

حواجبُ الغيدِ قِسيٌّ لها

في الحُسنِ قبلَ اليومِ اِغراقُ

The brows of the gazelles were unkind

in beauty before the day of flooding.

كم فتكتْ يوُماً بعُشّاقِها

منهنَّ أهابٌ وأحداقُ

How often they wreaked havoc on their lovers,

from them: perdition and downcast eyes!

والحبُّ داءٌ راحَ مِن قبلِنا

عليه أحبابٌ وعُشّاقُ

And love is an illness which once

afflicted lovers and the passionate.

أحبَّةٌ قد كان ناديهمُ

له بنورِ القومِ اِشراقُ

Sweethearts whose society

once illuminated it with the light of the tribe.

فوابلُ الدمع وقد أزمعوا

عن الحمى في الدارِ غَيداقُ

Downpours of tears, when they intended

to depart from the abode, weeping parted.

هم نقضوا عهدي ومَنْ ذا الذي

ما خانَهُ عهدٌ وميثاقُ

They broke their vow to me―but who

has a vow or pact not betrayed?

وما حماماتٌ بوادي الغَضا

مِن لحنها يَخْجَلُ اسحاقُ

Like doves in the valley of Ghada

whose song would shame even the clearest voice.

لنوحِها في كبدي كلَّما

ناحتْ على الأغصانِ اِحراقُ

Their lamenting sets my liver aflame

whenever they coo upon the branches.

كأنَّها فيها قيانٌ غدتْ

يستُرها منهنَّ أوراقُ

As if they were lovesick creatures veiled

among the leaves by the foliage.

يوماً كَنَوحي عندما كظَّني

مِن ألمِ التبريحِ اِرهاقُ

One day when the pain of parting

overwhelmed me with unbearable exhaustion.

ولا سحيقُ المسكِ قد حبَّه

في الحيَّ عطارٌ وسحّاقُ

Not even pure musk, which perfumers

and scent-merchants love,

ينفحُ بالطيبِ فيستافُه

مِن نسماتِ الريحِ نشّاقُ

Exhales its perfume, which the

flirtatious breeze then conveys.

يوماً كأشعاري وقد عُطَّرَتْ

منهنَّ أمصارٌ وآفاقُ

One day like my poems, which were scented

and spread through lands and horizons.

لنظمهِ في طبقاتِ النُّهى

يدٌ وفي الاِعرابِ اِعراقُ

With his composition in the layers of melody,

a hand, and in prosody, well-constructed.