عَفَت بَعدَنا أَجراعُ بِكرٍ فَتَولَبِ
فَوادى الرِداهِ بَينَ مَلهىً فَمَلعَبِ
The bare earth was left to morning clouds after we left,
Between a playground and a viewing place,
إِذاً لَم يَكُن رِسلٌ يَعودُ عَلَيهِمُ
مَرَينا لَهُم بِالشَوحَطِ المُتَقَوِّبِ
As if no messengers would come back to them,
We passed by them on the winding road,
بِمَكنونَةٍ كَالبيضِ شانَ مُتونَها
مُتونُ الحَصى مِن مُعلَمٍ وَمُعَقَّبِ
With burrows like eggs, the insides of which
Are stone burrows from a known place and stepped on,
بَقايا الذُرى حَتّى تَعودَ عَلَيهِمُ
عَزالي سَحابٍ في اِغتِماسَةِ كَوكَبِ
The remnants of homes until they return to them,
Secluded clouds during the disappearance of a planet,
إِذا كُنتَ مُجتازاً تَميماً لِذِمَّةٍ
فَمَسِّك بِحَبلٍ مِن عَديِّ بنِ جُندَبِ
When you pass by a guarantee for a duty,
Hold on to a rope from Adiyy the son of Jundab,
هُمُ كاهِلُ الدَهرِ الَّذي يُتَّقى بِهِ
وَمَنكِبُهُ المَرجُوُّ أَكرَمُ مَنكِبِ
They are the shoulder of fate which is feared for protection
And its hoped for side is the most generous side,
إِذا مَنَعوا لَم يُرجَ شَيءٌ وَراءَهُم
وَإِن رَكِبَت حَربٌ بِهِم كُلَّ مَركَبِ
If they prevent, nothing comes out behind them,
And if war rides, it rides all the ships with them,
وَإِنّي لَداعيكَ الحَلالَ وَعاصِماً
أَباكَ وَعِندَ اللَهِ عِلمُ المُغَيَّبِ
And I call you to the lawful and protect you,
And with God is the knowledge of the hidden,
أَبى لِلحَلالِ رِخوَةً في فُؤادِهِ
وَأَعراقُ سَوءٍ في رَجيعٍ مُعَلَّبِ
He refused to let the lawful become soft in his heart,
And the veins of evil in a mended sandal,
وَأَصفَرَ عَطّافٍ إِذا راحَ رَبُّهُ
جَرى اِبنا عِيانٍ بِالشِواءِ المُضَهَّبِ
And a yellow-bellied servant went pale when his Lord left,
He walked the two sons of the valley in the scorched and burnt valley,
خَروجٍ مِنَ الغُمّى إِذا كَثُرَ الوَغى
مُفَدّىً كَبَطنِ الأَينِ غَيرِ مُسَبَّبِ
An exit from gloominess when the clamor increases,
Ransomed like the belly of a lamb without cause,
غَدا عانِداً صَعلاً يَنوءُ بِصَدرِهِ
إِلى الفَوزِ مِن كَفِّ المُفيضِ المُؤَرَّبِ
Tomorrow he comes hostile, arrogant, bending his chest
To winning from the palm of the gushing, blessed palm
حَلَفتُ لَهُم لا تَحسِبونَ شَتيمَتي
بِعَينَي حُبارى في حِبالَةِ مُعزِبِ
I swore to them, “Do not count my insult
With bleary eyes in the blindness of isolation,”
رَأَت رَجُلاً يَسعى إِلَيها فَحَملَقَت
إِلَيهِ بِمَأقى عَينِها المُتَقَلِّبِ
A woman saw a man striving toward her so she stared at him
With the corner of her turning eye,
تَنوشُ بِرِجلَيها وَقَد بَلَّ ريشَها
رَشاشٌ كَغِسلِ الوَفرَةِ المُتَصَبِّبِ
She flaps her legs and her feathers have been soaked
By sprinkling like the washing of the dripping beard,
وَأَورَقَ مُذ عَهدِ اِبنِ عَفّانَ حَولَهُ
حَواضِنُ أُلّافٌ عَلى غَيرِ مَشرَبِ
And it leafed since the era of the son of Affan around him
Surrounds of thousands without drinking,
وِرادُ الأَعالي أَقبَلَت بِنُحورِها
عَلى راشِحٍ ذي شامَةٍ مُتَقَوِّبِ
The lofty camels came with their necks
To one with a beauty mark wearing kohl,
كَأَنَّ بَقايا لَونِهِ في مُتونِها
بَقايا هَناءٍ في قَلائِصِ مُجرِبِ
It is as if the remnants of his color in their insides
Are remnants of bliss in the shields of a tester,
أَلَم تَعلَمي يا أَلأَمَ الناسِ أَنَّني
بِمَكَّةَ مَعروفٌ وَعِندَ المُحَصَّبِ
“Do you not know, oh most painful of people, that I
Am well-known in Mecca and with the slaughtered?”
وَكُنّا كَنوكانِ الرِجالِ وَعِندَنا
حِبالٌ مَتى تَعلَق بِنوكانَ تَنشَبِ
And we were like the wax effigies of men, and with us
Were ropes which if tied to an effigy become attached,
أَخو دَنَسٍ يُعطي الأَعادي بِإِستِهِ
وَفي الأَقرَبينَ ذو كِذابٍ وَنَيرَبِ
A brother of impurity who gives enemies generously with his hand
Yet to relatives is of lying and betrayal,
سَريعٌ دَريرٌ في المِراءِ كَأَنَّهُ
عَمودُ خِلافٍ في يَدَي مُتَهَيِّبِ
Quick, flowing in argument as if he is
A pillar of opposition in the hands of one who intimidates
وَبَدرِيَّةٍ شَمطاءَ تَبني خِباءَها
عَلى بَرَمٍ عِندَ الشِتاءِ مُجَنَّبِ
And a freckled Badriyya who builds her tent
On shifting sands during winter, bent.
