دمٌ أريقَ بأسيافِ الهوى هَدَرُ
في يومِ رامةَ والأظعانُ تبتكِرُ
Blood was spilled by the swords of passion, unavenged,
on the day at Ramah, when the camel trains set out at dawn.
زَمُّوا المطيَّ فكم مِن مقلةٍ ثَعَبَتْ
في عَرْصَةِ الدارِ ما لا يَتْعَبُ النَهَرُ
They bridled the mounts—how many an eye then poured forth
into the dwelling's courtyard what no river could rival.
وأجَّجَ البينُ في الأحشاءِ نارَ هوًى
بعدَ الحبائبِ أمستْ وهي تَستعِرُ
Separation kindled in the entrails a fire of longing;
after the beloved departed, it remained there blazing.
أضحتْ مُمَنَّعةً بالسمهريِّ فلو
زالَ الوشيجُ تولَّى منعَها الخَفَرُ
She was guarded by spears of hard samhar wood; yet if
the spear shafts vanished, modesty itself would guard her.
وكلمَّا اضطرمتْ أطفأتُ سورتَها
بأدمعٍِ في الربوعِ العُجمِ تنتصرُ
Whenever that fire flares, you quench its violence
with your tears; among the speechless ruins, you take your revenge.
تُسمي وتصبحُ قي الأطلالِ دافقةً
فليس تُخشى إذا ما أخلفَ المطرُ
Evening and morning they stream through the ruins,
so there is nothing to fear when the rain fails.
أحبَّةٌ رحلوا فالدمعُ مستبقٌ
من مقلتَّي على الأثارِ يَبتدِرُ
Beloved ones departed, and the tears raced ahead,
hastening from my eyes toward their traces—
في منزلٍ تُرْبُهُ مِن بعدِما ذهبتْ
كرُّ السنينَ على أصابِه عَطِرُ
toward a dwelling whose soil, after
the circling years passed over its people, is fragrant.
لا ذنبَ لي عندَ مَنْ رثَّتْ عهودُهمُ
اِلاّ بوادرُ شيبٍ جَرَّهُ الكِبَرُ
Those whose affection has turned away find no fault in me
except the first gray hairs that age has drawn forth.
والبيضُ عندَهمُ كالبيضِ مصلتةً
على الرءوسِ وذنبٌ ليس يُغْتَفَرُ
To them, gray hairs are like white swords unsheathed
upon the head—and a sin that cannot be forgiven.
آليتُ لاحِلتُ عن دينِ الوفاءِ كما
قد كانَ يعهدُ من حالي واِنْ غدروا
I swore never to turn from the creed of fidelity,
as they have always known my way, even if they betray.
ياريحُ لا أرجٌ منهمُ وقد رحلوا
عن الجَنابِ ولاعِلمٌ ولاخَبَرُ
O wind, since they departed, no fragrance of them remains
in the precinct, nor is there word or news.
مُرِّي على أَثَرِ الأحبابِ واحتملي
الَّي نشراً يحاكي عَرْفَهُ القَطُرُ
Pass over the beloved's traces, and carry
to me a scent whose perfume the rain emulates.
يضوعُ طيباً وقد مَّرتْ سعادُ بهِ
كما تَضَوَّعَ غِبَّ الدِّيمةِ الزَّهَرُ
It breathes sweetness wherever Suʿād has passed,
as flowers breathe fragrance after steady rain.
أشكو الفراقَ اليها وَهْيَ لاهيةٌ
كأنَّما قلبُها مِن قسوةٍ حجرُ
I complain to her of parting, but she remains heedless,
as though her heart, from hardness, were stone.
أسأتْ مِن بِعدِها إذا لم أمتْ كمداً
يوَم الرَّحيلِ فقلْ ليكيف أعتذرُ
I did wrong, after her, if I did not die of grief
on the day of departure—tell me, how can I be excused?
وبا زمانَ تناجينا على أمَمٍ
تُراكَ بعدَ تمادي البينِ تَنْتَظِرُ
Ah, the time when we conversed together at close range—
I see you, after separation has stretched so long, still waiting.
هيهاتَ ساروا وأبقَوا للنوى حَرَقاً
تبيتُ تُضرِمُها الأشجانُ والفِكَرُ
Far from it! They left, bequeathing separation a burning grief
that sorrows and thoughts keep kindled through the night.
ووكلوني برعي الفرقدينِ وقد
نامتْ عيونُ تحامَي أهلَها السَّهَرُ
They charged me with watching the two Farqad stars, while
the eyes of those who spared themselves wakefulness slept.
واليومَ لم يبقَ لي إلا تذكُّرهُمْ
اِنَّ التحرُّقَ يُذكي جمَرهُ الذِّكَرُ
Today nothing remains to me but remembering them,
for burning anguish makes memory's embers flare.
للّهِ كم في الديارِ الخُرسِ مِن وَصَبٍ
فيه لأهلِ الهوى والوجدِ معتبرُ
By God, how much suffering lies in the speechless dwellings,
where those who love and yearn may take their lesson.
صبُّ يُرى أبداً مِن بعدِ بعدِهمُ
عِقْدُ الدموعِ على خدَّيهِ يَنْتثَرُ
A lover is always seen, since they went far away,
with a necklace of tears scattered over his cheeks.
براهُ بريَ المُدى بُعْدُ الخليطِ فما
يكادُ يُثبِتَه مِن سُقمِه النَّظَرُ
Calamities deliberately wear him down as a blade is honed, until
the eye can scarcely discern him through his wasting sickness.
يبكي على أَثَرِ الأظعانِ في دِمَنٍ
وفي رسومِ ديارٍ مالها أثرُ
He weeps over the camel train's tracks in deserted camps
and over the outlines of dwellings that now bear no trace.
عفَّى معالِمَها طولُ الزمانِ وما
تَبيتُ تُحدِثُه للأربعِ الغِيَرُ
Long ages have effaced their landmarks, as has whatever
the four changing winds renew upon the camps through the night.
وعاذلٍ دأْبهُ عَذْلي فقلتُ له
مالي على العذلِ والتأنيبِ مُصْطَبرُ
A rebuker, whose habit is to chide me—I said to him:
I have no patience for rebuke and reproach.
بَلومُني وزنَادُ الحبِّ مضطرمٌ
في القلبِ يَقدحُ ما لا يقدحُ العُشَرُ
He blames me while love's fire-striker blazes,
sparking in my heart what even ushar wood cannot spark.
خَفِّضْ عليكَ فمالي عنهمُ عِوَضٌ
يا مَنْ يلومُ ولا في عيرِهمْ وَطَرُ
Ease off: I have no substitute for them,
O you who blame me, and I desire no one but them.
وفي الهوادجِ أقمارٌ إذا سَفَرَتْ
تُغنيكَ أنوارُها أن يَطْلُعَ القمرُ
Within the howdahs are moons; whenever they unveil,
their radiance makes the moon's rising needless.
هِيفُ المعاطفِ كالباناتِ رنَّحها
مرُّ النسيمِ غدا أوراقَها الشَّعَرُ
Slender-waisted, like ben trees made to sway
by the passing breeze, with hair serving as their leaves.
بانوا فعادَ زمانُ القربِ مذ هجروا
بعداً وعانيتُ ليلاً مالَهُ سَحَرُ
They left, and since they deserted me, the age of closeness turned
to distance; I endured a night that had no dawn.
وكادَ مِن سَهَري فيه ومِن قَلقَي
يمَلُّ في جنحهِ تعليلَي السّمَرُ
Through my sleeplessness and the anxiety within it, the night
in its darkness nearly tired of my beguiling it with talk.
كم كانَ في عنفوانِ الوصلِ يُذكِرنُي
هذا الصدودَ الذى جُرِّعتُه الحَذَرُ
How often, in union's first bloom, wariness reminded me
of this cold turning-away that I have now been made to drink.
سقاكَ يا مَنحنى الوادي القطارُ فكم
أظلنَّي في ذراكَ البانُ والسَّمُرُ
May the train of rain clouds water you, O bend of the valley—how often
within your shelter the ben trees and acacias shaded me.
أين الأحبَّةُ لاحتْ لي معالِمَها
مجهولةً قد محا آثارَها الدَّهَرُ
Where are the beloved, whose landmarks appeared to me
unrecognizable, their traces erased by time?
وأين تلكَ القدودُ الملدُ مائسةً
تكادُ مِن ثِقَلِ الأردافِ تنأَطِرُ
And where are those supple figures, swaying like branches,
almost bent double beneath the weight of their hips?
غابوا فأضحتْ مغاني الأنسِ خاليةً
حتى كأنهَّمُ فيهنَّ ما حضروا
They vanished, and the abodes of intimacy became empty,
as though they had never once been present there.
