عَلى الدارِ بِالرُمّانَتَينِ تَعوجُ
صُدورُ مَهارى سَيرُهُنَّ وَسيجُ
On the abode with the two pomegranate trees aslant,
Sway the breasts of beautiful women walking proudly.
فَعُجنا عَلى رَسمٍ بِرَبعٍ تَجُرُّهُ
مِنَ الصَيفِ جَشّاءُ الحَنينِ نَؤوجُ
So we pitched our tents according to a certain plan,
Dragging them from summer, while the tents of longing sway.
شَآمِيَّةٌ هَوجاءُ أَو قَطَرِيَّةٌ
بِها مِن هَباءِ الشِعرَيَينِ نَسيجُ
A Shami or Qatari beauty,
With the light down of her two arms interwoven.
تُثيرُ وَتُبدي عَن دِيارٍ بِنَجوَةٍ
أَضَرَّ بِها مِن ذي البِطاحِ خَليجُ
She arouses and reveals traces of an abode in Najwa,
Defiled by those from Dhi al-Bitaah marsh.
عَلامَتُها أَعضادُ نُؤيٍ وَمَسجِدٌ
يَبابٌ وَمَضروبِ القَذالِ شَجيجُ
Its landmarks are camel litters and a small mosque,
A gate, and the pounding area of threshing floors.
وَمَربَطُ أَفلاءِ الجِيادِ وَمَوقِدٌ
مِنَ النارِ مُسوَدُّ التَرابِ فَضيجُ
And the tethering place of piebald steeds and a fireplace,
With blackened earth from its fires glowing.
أَذاعَ بِأَعلاهُ وَأَبقى شَريدَهُ
ذَرى مُجنَحاتٍ بَينَهُنَّ فُروجُ
It spread with its heights and left its lower parts,
Like wings of birds fluttering between them.
ثَلاثٍ صَلَينَ النارَ شَهراً وَأَرزَمَت
عَلَيهِنَّ رَجزاءُ القِيامِ هَدوجُ
Three spent a month by the fire, compelled by
The firmness of performing prayers to bend down.
كَأَنَّ بِرَبعِ الدارِ كُلَّ عَشِيَّةٍ
سَلائِبَ وُرقاً بَينَهُنَّ خَديجُ
As if, in the quarter of the abode every evening,
There were councils with intermingled branches between them.
تَبَدَّلَتِ العُفرُ الهِجانِ وَحَولَها
مَساحِلُ عاناتٍ لَهُنَّ نَشيجُ
The large tent of goat hair changed, and around it
Were the resting places of she-camels moaning over them.
نَفَينَ حَوالِيَّ الجِحاشِ وَعَشَّرَت
مَصايِيفُ في أَكفالِهِنَّ سُحوجُ
The springs of al-Jihash turned away, and the summer
Pastures with their young in their bosoms welcomed them.
تَأَوَّبَ جَنبَي مَنعِجٍ وَمَقيلُها
بِحَزمِ قِرَورى خِلفَةٌ وَوَشيجُ
It turned aside the two sides of a howdah, while behind it
Was a Uqarawi she-camel, Khalfah, swaying.
عَهِدنا بِها سَلمى وَفي العَيشِ غِرَّةٌ
وَسُعدى بِأَلبابِ الرِجالِ خَلوجُ
We knew Salma to be safe, and lucky in life,
And Su‘da to be intimate with the minds of men.
لَيالِيَ سُعدى لَو تَراءَت لِراهُبٍ
بِدَومَةَ تَجرٌ عِندَهُ وَحَجيجُ
The nights of Su‘da’s luck, if seen by a monk,
With a constant church in his abode, would make him confused.
فَلا دينَهُ وَاِهتاجَ لِلشَوقِ إِنَّها
عَلى الشَوقِ إِخوانَ العَزاءِ هَيوجُ
For neither his religion, nor his fervor for passion,
Are helpers for passion. They are the camels roaring with grief.
وَيَومَ لَقيناها بِتَيمَنَ هَيَّجَت
بَقايا الصِبى إِنَّ الفُؤادَ لَجوجُ
And the day we met her at Tayman, she stirred up
The remnants of youth. My heart is still perplexed!
غَداةَ تَراءَت لِاِبنِ سِتّينَ حِجَّةً
سَقِيَّةُ غَيلٍ في الحِجالِ دَموجُ
One morning she appeared to the son of sixty pilgrimages
As a cupbearer of a troop with swords in their sheaths clashing.
إِذا مَضَغَت مِسواكَها عَبِقَت بِهِ
سُلافٌ تَغالاها التِجارُ مَزيجُ
When she chews her toothstick, it is perfumed with
A gum that traders find profitable when they mix.
فِداءٌ لِسُعدى كُلُّ ذاتِ حَشِيَّةٍ
وَأُخرى سَبَنتاةُ القِيامِ خَروجُ
Su‘da is a ransom for every woman of distinction,
And another is Sabantah, eminent in performing the rites.
كَأَدماءَ هَضماءَ الشَراسيفِ غالَها
عَنِ الوَحشِ رِخوَدُّ العِظامِ نَتيجُ
She fed on the corpses of strong young camels, made lawful
By the shaggy-haired beasts of prey that tore them apart.
رَعَتهُ صُدورَ الطَلعِ فَنّاءُ كَمشَةٌ
بِحَزمِ رِضامٍ بَينَهُنَّ شُروجُ
She pastured on the breasts of calves, a destroyer like a Khamshah she-camel,
With a bundle of young ostriches walking between them.
أَلَم تَعلَمي يا أُمَّ أَسعَدَ أَنَّني
أُهاجُ لِخَيراتِ النَدى وَأَهيجُ
Do you not know, O mother of Sa‘d, that I
Am excited by the finest heavy rain and stir it up?
وَهَمٍّ عَراني مِن بَعيدٍ فَأَدلَجَت
بِيَ اللَيلَ مَنجاةُ العِظامِ زَلوجُ
Preoccupation from afar has afflicted me, so the night
Enveloped me in deliverance from bones that crack.
وَشُعثٍ نَشاوى مِن نُعاسٍ وَفَترَةٍ
أَثَرتُ وَأَنضاءٍ لَهُنَّ ضَجيجُ
And unkempt morningsluggishness from drowsiness,
While the tracks are fresh and the bones crackle over them.
ظَلِلنا بِحَوّارينَ في مُشمَخِرَّةٍ
تَمُرُّ سَحابٌ تَحتَنا وَتَلوجُ
We rested in the shade of canopies on an erect
Hill, while the clouds pass beneath us and twist.
تَرى حارِثَ الجَولانِ يَبرُقُ دونَهُ
دَساكِرُ في أَطرافِهِنَّ بُروجُ
You see the lightning of Harith in the Golan below him,
And battalions with their towers twisting at their edges.
شَرِبنا بِبَحرٍ مِن أُمَيَّةَ دونَهُ
دِمَشقُ وَأَنهارٍ لَهُنَّ عَجيجُ
We drank from a sea belonging to Umayyah, below which
Is Damascus and rivers with their strong currents twisting.
فَلَمّا قَضَينَ الحاجَ أَزمَعنَ نِيَّةً
لِخَلجِ النَوى إِنَّ النَوى لَخَلوجُ
When they finished the pilgrimage, they intended
To set out again. Resolution twists resolve.
عَلَيها دَليلٌ بِالفَلاةِ وَوافِدٌ
كَريمٌ لِأَبوابِ المُلوكِ وَلوجُ
With them was a guide in the wilderness, and a noble
Visitor of the courts of kings who brings gifts and twists.
وَيَقطَعنَ مِن خَبطٍ وَأَرضٍ بَسيطَةٍ
بَسابِسَ قَفراً وَحشُهُنَّ عُروجُ
They traversed undulating and barren lands,
Vast expanses whose emptiness brought them dread.
فَلَمّا دَنا مِنها الإِيابُ وَأَدرَكَت
عَجارِفُ حُدبٌ مُخُّهُنَّ مَزيجُ
When the return journey drew near, and the camels’
Feet picked their way, their shoulders twisting beneath the loads,
إِذا وُضِعَت عَنها بِظَهرِ مَفازَةٍ
حَقائِبُ عَن أَصلابِها وَسُروجُ
When their bags were unloaded from their backs at a ridge,
And their saddlebags from their flanks and twists,
رَأَيتَ رُدافَي فَوقَها مِن قَبيلَةٍ
مِنَ الطَيرِ يَدعوها أَحَمُّ شَهوجُ
You would have seen the packs on their humps like a flock
Of birds following them, the most ardent in desire twisting.
فَلَمّا حَبا مِن خَلفِنا رَملُ عالِجٍ
وَجَوشٌ بَدَت أَعناقُها وَدَجوجُ
When the shifting sands behind us were stirred up,
And bubbles appeared, their necks entwining.
