نوقٌ براهنَّ السُّرى

طِرْنَ بنا لولا البُرى

A camel left subtle traces,

Keeping us company when no humans did.

حنَّتْ وقد لاحَ لها

البرقُ على وادي القُرى

She moaned as lightning flashed for her

Across the valleys' breadth.

فأرقلتْ تؤمُّ مِن

فرطِ الحنينِ الأجفُرا

So she tossed, restless with yearning,

Oppressed by grievous longing.

روازحٌ يأمرُها

حنينُها أن تَصْبِرا

Poor beast who obeys

Her longing's command to show patience.

كم يسَّرَتْ مِن مطلبٍ

قد طالما تَعَسَّرا

How often she's eased a goal

That long seemed too hard!

وسهَّلَتْ لي أرَباً

مِن قبلِها تعذَّرا

And smoothed a path that

Before was rough with hardship.

هل تُبْلِغَنَّي الريحُ عن

أحبابِ قلبي خَبَرا

Can the wind convey, from those

My heart loves, any news?

يسرى اليَّ نشرُه

في طيِّها معطَّرا

Wafting perfumed in its folds

Things gladness would diffuse?

بانوا كأنِّي ما

قضيتُ من لقاءٍ وَطَرا

As though we'd never shared

A visit, or known joy.

وأظهرتْ في بُعدِهم

لنا الليالي عِبَرا

And in their absence showed

Our nights a woeful ploy.

يا مربعاً راعَ الفِرا

ق ظبيه والجؤذرا

O square enclosure, where gazelles

Grazed, does it yet endure?

ومنزلاً سقيتُهُ

دمعاً يُحاكي المَطَرا

A camp I watered with the tears

That rain could not outpour.

ما بَخِلَ المزنُ

على الأطلالِ اِلاّهَمَرا

Scarce did the abandoned camp

Withhold its torrents, in my pain.

وجادَ تربَ أرضِه

مغْلَنْطِفاً مُتْعَنْجِرا

Its soil was fertile ground that gave

Rich pasture, once again.

يا ملعباً كانَ بهِا

الوصالُ غَضّاً نَضِرا

O playground where union was

Still fresh, still green in hope!

كم قد شَمَمْتُ مِن

ثراكَ مَنْدَلاً وعَنْبَرا

How often I plucked from you

A sweet herb, a tender rope!

أحيانَ جرَّتْ ذيلَها

فيكَ النُّعامى سَحَرا

Sometimes ostriches would trail

Their wings across your floor.

وأودَعَتْها زينبٌ

طيبَ شذاها الاذْغَرا

And Zainab left the scent

Of sweetest perfumes, evermore.

فكادَ أن يُسكرَني

نسيمُها لمّا سَرى

Her soft breeze made me drunk

Whene’er it gently blew.

للّهِ كم غازلتُ في

الربعِ غزالاً أحْوَرا

By God, how many gazelles I courted

In that place - docile, tame!

يرنو اليَّ لظُهُ

فيستَبيني نَظَرا

They’d glance at me, their eyes brimming

With love, without the least shame.

بدرٌ تبدَّىفأهنْ

ت في هواهُ البِدَرا

A full moon she appeared, so my heart

Melted in her lunar flame,

وأخجلَ الشمسَ بها

ءُ نُوُّرِه والقمرا

Outshining sun and moon in her brilliance

And radiant acclaim.

ما مالَ مِن سُكرِ الصَّبا

وتيههِ أو خَطَرا

Never escaping love's madness

Or losing all his wits.

الا رَكْبتث في هواهُ

مِن غرامي خَطَرا

But plunging headlong into passion

Beyond what reason permits.

والحبُّ ما أورثَني

بعدَ الخليطِ السَّهرا

And love has left me, after sweet union,

Nothing but long wakeful nights.

بُعْدُ الدِّيار والمَزارِ

مَنَعا جفني الكَرى

Faraway land and tombs forbid

My eyes their wonted rites.

وشرَّداهُعن طروقِ

مضجعي ونفَّرا

Banishing them from the familiarity

Of my bed, and causing frights.

حتى بقيتُ شَبَحَاً

للعائدينَ لا أُرى

So I remain a specter, unseen

By those returning to reunite.

مَنْ لي بعودِ الوصلِ لو

عادَ رطيباً أخْضَرا

Who will bring me the union I crave,

Green and fresh again?

رَياّنّ قد أينعَ لي

بقربهَ وأثمرا

A garden that flourished for me

In the nearness I knew then.

يَرِفُّ أويميلُ

كالنَّزيفِ عُلَّ المَسْكِرا

Swaying like the drinker lost

In wine's heady terrain.

أسحبُ تحتَ ظِلِّهِ

مِنَ السُّرورِ الاُزرا

I'd linger blissful beneath its shade,

Well content to remain.