هلْ تعْرِفُ الدَّارَ عَفا رَسْمُها

إلاَّ الأَثافِيَّ ومَبْنى الخِيَمْ

Do you know the abode whose ruins have faded?

Except for tent pegs and camel litter.

أَعْرِفُها داراً لأَسْماءَ فالد

دَمْعُ عَلى الخَدَّيْنِ سَحٌّ سَجَمْ

I know it as the abode of Asma, so tears

Flow down the cheeks in torrents.

أَمْسَتْ خَلاءً بعدَ سُكَّانِها

مُقْفِرَةً ما إِنْ بها مِنْ إِرَمْ

It became empty after its dwellers left,

Desolate, with no sign of a tent peg left

إلاَّ مِنَ العِينِ تَرْعَّى بها

كالفارسيِّينَ مَشَوْا في الكُمَمْ

Except what the eye can graze there

Like Persian horses walking in the sand dunes.

بَعْدَ جَمِيعٍ قد أَراهُمْ بها

لهُمْ قِبابٌ وعليهمْ نَعَمْ

After I saw them all in it,

With tents above them and bounty.

فَهَلْ تُسَلِّي حُبَّها بازِلٌ

ما إنْ تُسَلَّى حُبَّها مِنْ أَمَمْ

Can its love be consoled after it declined?

Its love cannot be consoled from sorrows.

عَرْفاءُ كالفَحْلِ جُمالِيَّةٌ

ذاتُ هِبابٍ لا تَشكَّى السَّأمْ

Its good-natured people are beautiful,

With a love that feels no boredom.

لم تَقْرإ القَيْظَ جَنِيناً وَلا

أَصُرُّها تَحْمِل بَهْمَ الغَنَمْ

It did not spend the summer pregnant, nor

Do I hobble it to carry lambs.

بَلْ عَزَبَتْ في الشَّوْلِ حَتَّى نَوَتْ

وسُوِّغَتْ ذا حُبُكٍ كالإِرَمْ

Rather, it galloped freely in the plain until

It became accustomed to the bridle and halter.

تَعْدُو إذا حُرِّكَ مِجْدافُها

عَدْوَ رَباعٍ مُفْرَدٍ كالزُّلَمْ

It runs when its oar is stirred

Like the running of a single young horse.

كأَنَّهُ نِصْعُ يَمانٍ وبِالْ

أَكْرُعِ تَخْنِيفٌ كَلَوْنِ الحُمَمْ

As if it is the she-camel of Yemen in pace

And the trotting of a dappled crane.

باتَ بغَيْبٍ مُعْشِبٍ نَبتُهُ

مُخْتَلِطٍ حُرْبُثُهُ باليَنَمْ

It spent the night in verdant vegetation, its plants

Intertwined, mixed with grass.