هَل تَعرِفُ المَنزِلَ بِالأَهيَلِ
كَالوَشمِ في المِعصَمِ لَم يَجمُلِ
Do you know the abode by the evening star
Like a tattoo on the wrist, never beautiful
وَحشاً تُعَفّيهِ سَوافي الصَبا
وَالصَيفُ إِلّا دَمَنَ المَنزِلِ
A wild animal cleaned by the blowing wind
And summer only ruined the abode
أَو شَنَّةٍ يَنفَحُ مِن قَعرِها
عَطٌّ بِكَفَّي عَجِلٍ مُنهِلِ
Or an arbor whose bottom exhales
A perfume with the palms of a swift camel ladling
تَعنو بِمَخروتٍ لَهُ ناضِحٌ
ذو رَيِّقٍ يَغذو وَذو شَلشَلِ
Taking care of choice camels, among them a milker
With smooth neck being fed and another obstinate
ذلِكَ ما دينُكَ إِذ جُنِّبَت
أَحمالُها كَالبُكُرِ المُبتِلِ
That is your religion when you avoided
Their burdens like an untamed young camel
عيرٌ عَلَيهِنَّ كِنانِيَّةٌ
جارِيَةٌ كَالرَشَإِ الأَكحَلِ
A caravan over which are canopies
And a black-eyed slave girl like the blackest kohl
كَالأَيمِ ذي الطُرَّةِ أَو ناشىءِ ال
بَردِيِّ تَحتَ الحَفَإِ المُغيِلِ
Like the defective camel with neck strap or a tender
Calf under a reddish saddle cloth
تَنكَلُّ عَن مُتِّسِقٍ ظَلمُهُ
في ثَغرِهِ الإِثمِدُ لَم يُفلَلِ
Turning away from a consistent darkness
In its everlasting horizon that was never folded
غُرِّ الثَنايا كَالأَقاحي إِذا
نَوَّرَ صُبحَ المَطَرِ المُنجَلي
Secret places like ar-Risha when
The morning rain has illuminated it
هَل هاجَكَ اللَيلَ كَليلٌ عَلى
أَسماءَ مِن ذي صُبُرٍ مُخيِلِ
Did the night excite you like an exciting night upon
Asma from the one with patience turning away
أَنشَأَ في العَيقَةِ يَرمي لَهُ
جوفُ رَبابٍ وَرِهٍ مُثقَلِ
He created in weakness, it casts for him
The interior of a guitar and a heavy echo
فَاِلتَطَّ بِالبُرقَةِ شُؤبوبُهُ
وَالرَعدُ حَتّي بُرقَةَ الأَجوَلِ
So it dodged with its lightning, and thunder
Until the lightning of al-Ajwal
أَسدَفُ مُنشَقٌّ عُراهُ فَذو ال
إِدماثِ ماكانَ كَذى المَوئِلِ
Tattered clouds, their bareness thus not
Possessing rain like that of provisions
حارَ وَعَقَّت مُزنَهُ الريحُ وَاِن
قارَ بِهِ العَرضُ وَلَم يُشمَلِ
It boiled and its bitterness stung the wind, and if
It approached the land it did not include it
مُستَبدِرا يَزعَبُ قُدّامَهُ
يَرمي بِعُمِّ السَمُرِ الأَطوَلِ
Insistently coming first, it casts in front of it
It throws Umm As-Samr the longest
ظاهَرَ نَجدا فَتَرامى بِهِ
مِنهُ تَوالي لَيلَةٍ مُطفِلِ
Appearing friendly, so it traded with it
A sequence of an imposing night from it
لِلقُمرِ مِن كُلِّ فَلاً نالَهُ
غَمغَمَةٌ يَقزَعنَ كَالحَنظَلِ
For every district obtained by the moon
Murmurs drive it away like peeled wood
فَأَصبَحَ العينُ رُكوداً على ال
أَوشازِ أَن يَرسِخنَ في المَوحِلِ
So the eye remained still upon the followers
If they become steady in the mud
كَالسُحُلِ البيضِ جَلا لَونَها
سَحُّ نِجاءِ الحَمَلِ الأَسوَلِ
Like the white foreheads prominent in color
Extinguished by the descent of the slow camel train
أَروى بِجِنِّ العَهدِ سَلمى وَلا
يُنصِبكَ عَهدُ المَلِقِ الحُوَّلِ
Quench the pact of Salma and do not
Let the pact of the fickle maker disconcert you
دَع عَنكَ ذا الأَلسِ ذَميماً إِذا
أَعرَضَ وَاِستَبدَلَ فَاِستَبدِلِ
Leave off from this intimate if he
Turned away and substituted - so substitute
وَاِسلُ عَنِ الحُبِّ بِمَضلوعَةٍ
تابَعَها الباري وَلَم يَعجَلِ
And divert from love with one followed
By the Creator and did not hurry
كَالوَقفِ لا وَقرٌ بِها هَزمُها
بِالشِرعِ كَالخَشرَمِ ذي الأَزمَلِ
Like an endowment - no tranquility in it - defeat it
With the law like the wide-mouthed jug
مِن قَلبِ نَبعٍ وَبِمَنحوضَةٍ
بيضٍ وَلَينٍ ذَكَرَ مِقصَلٍ
From a heart of spring and a white basin
Soft - it recalled a weaned camel calf
مُنتَخَبُ اللُبِّ لَهُ ضَربَةٌ
خَدباءُ كَالعَطِّ مِنَ الخِذعِلِ
Choice of milk - it has a stroking
Like the stroking of the black designated camel
أَفلَطَها اللَيلُ بِعيرٍ فَتَس
عى ثَوبُها مُجتَنِبُ المَعدِلِ
The night saddled it with a caravan so its garment
Sought to avoid straightness
أَبيَضُ كَالرَجعِ رَسوبٌ إِذا
ما ثاخَ في مُحتَفَلِ يَختَلي
White like the foam that bubbles when
It dissolved in a reverberating boil
ذلِكَ بَزّى وَسَليهِم إِذا
ما كَفتَ الحَيشُ عَنِ الأَرجُلِ
That is their finery and equip them when
The courtyard did not prevent them from traveling
هَل أُلحِقُ الطَعنَةَ بِالضَربَةِ ال
خَدباءِ بِالمُطَّرِدِ المِقصَلِ
Shall I make the stab reach the non-stroking
Blow with the consistent separator
مِمّا أَقَضّى وَمَحارُ الفَتى
لِلضُّبعِ وَالشيبَةِ وَالمَقتَلِ
Of what I fulfill, and the youth's zeal
For the wolf, the old she-camel, and killing
إِن يُمسِ نَشوانَ بِمَصروفَةٍ
مِنها بِرِىٍّ وَعَلى مِرجَلِ
If it touches our settlements with
Some of it while charging and heavily armed
لا تَقهِ المَوتَ وَقَيّاتُهُ
خُطَّ لَهُ ذلِكَ في المَحبَلِ
Do not prevent death though stopping it
That is destined for it at the rope
لَيسَ لِمَيتٍ بِوَصيلٍ وَقَد
عُلِّقَ فيهِ طَرَفُ المَوصِلِ
No benefit in a dead person while
The end of the rope is attached to him
أَودى إِذا اِنبَتَّت قُواهُ فَلَم
يَركَب إِذا ساروا وَلَم يَنزِلِ
It led to ruin when its strength sprouted but did not
Ride when they traveled and did not camp
