أَلا حَيِّيا الدارَ المُحيلَ رُسومُها
تَهيجُ عَلَينا ما يَهيجُ قَديمُها
Come, you two—salute the dwelling whose traces are effaced.
It stirs us—its ancient memory stirs us.
سَقى تِلكَ مِن دارٍ وَمَن حَلَّ رَبعَها
ذِهابُ الغَوادي وَبلُها وَمُديمُها
May that dwelling, and whoever inhabits its precinct, be watered
by the passing morning clouds—their downpour and their steady rain.
ظَلَلتُ أَوُدُّ العَينَ عَن عَبَراتِها
إِذا نَزَفَت كانَت سَريعاً جُمومُها
All day I struggled to turn my eyes away from their tears;
whenever they ran dry, their welling swiftly returned.
كَأَنّي أُقاسي مِن سَوابِقِ عَبرَةٍ
وَمِن لَيلَةٍ قَد ضافَ صَدري هُمومُها
It was as though I suffered the first onrush of a tear,
and a night whose cares pressed tightly upon my breast.
تُرَدُّ بِأَثناءٍ كَأَنَّ نُجومَها
حَيارى إِذا ما قُلتُ غابَ نُجومُها
They returned at intervals, while the night's stars seemed
bewildered whenever I said, “Its stars have vanished.”
فَبِتُّ أَضُمُّ الرُكبَتَينِ إِلى الحَشا
كَأَنّي راقي حَيَّةٍ أَو سَليمُها
So I spent the night clasping my knees against my breast,
as though charming a snake—or lying stricken by its bite.
سَيَكفيكَ أَمرَ الهَمِّ عَزمُكَ صَرمَهُ
وَيَكفيكَ مَخلوجَ الأُمورِ صَريمُها
Your resolve to cut anxiety off will suffice against its power;
for affairs pulled awry, a decisive will shall suffice.
وَيَعمَلَةٍ أَرمي بِها البيدَ في السُرى
يُقَطَّعُ أَجوازَ الفَلاةِ رَسيمُها
And with a hardy she-camel I cast myself across the wastes by night;
her swift pace cuts through the desert's broad expanses.
رَجومٍ بِأَثقالٍ شِدادٍ رَجيلَةٍ
إِذا الآلُ في التِّيهِ اِستَقَلَّت حُزومُها
A tireless walker, assailed by heavy, crushing loads,
when the mirage over the wilderness lifts its ridges into view.
كَأَنّي وَأَقتادي عَلى حَمشَةِ الشَوى
يَجورُ صَراريٌّ بِها وَيُقيمُها
As though I, guiding her upon her lean-shanked legs,
were a shipmaster who lets his craft veer, then rights it.
أُمَضّي بِها الأَهوالَ في كُلِّ قَفرَةٍ
يُنادي صَداها آخِرَ اللَيلِ بومُها
With her I traverse terrors in every barren waste;
at night's end, its owls call back her echo.
أَنُصُّ السُرى فِيها بِكُلِّ هَجيرَةٍ
تُغَيِّرُ أَلوانَ الرِجالِ سَمومُها
I press the night journey on through every blazing noontide
whose simoom alters the very colors of men.
أَرى بِدَعاً مُستَحدَثاتٍ تُريبُني
يَجوزُ بِها مُستَضعَفٌ وَحَليمُها
I see strange new practices that make me wary;
through them pass both the weak and the forbearing.
فَإِن تَكُ أَموالٌ أُصيبَت وَحُوِّلَت
دِيارٌ فَقَد كُنّا بِدارٍ نُقيمُها
If riches have been seized and carried away,
and dwellings displaced—we once had a home where we lived.
وَنَحمي عَنِ الثَغرِ المَخوفِ وَيُتَّقى
بِغارَتِنا كَيدُ العِدى وَضُيومُها
We defend the dreaded frontier, and protection is won
through our raids from the enemy's plots and oppressions.
صَبَرنا لَها حَتّى تَفَرَّجَ بَأسُنا
وَفِئنا لَنا أَسلابُها وَعَظيمُها
We held firm until our force broke through,
and returned with its plunder and greatest prizes as our own.
نَعُدُّ لِأَيّامِ الحِفاظِ مَكارِماً
فِعالاً وَأَعراضاً صَحيحاً أَديمُها
For days when honor must be defended, we count as noble
great deeds and reputations whose skin remains unscarred.
أَبي أَصلَحَ الحَيَّينِ بَكراً وَتَغلِباً
وَقَد أُرعِشَت بَكرٌ وَخَفَّ حُلومُها
My father reconciled the two peoples, Bakr and Taghlib,
when Bakr had been made to tremble and its judgment had grown rash.
وَقامَ بِصُلحٍ بَينَ عَوفٍ وَعامِرٍ
وَخُطَّةِ فَصلٍ ما يُعابُ زَعيمُها
He also established peace between Awf and Amir—
a decisive settlement whose guarantor stands beyond reproach.
