أَينَ بانوكِ أَيُّها الحيرَةُ البَي
ضاءُ وَالموطِئونَ مِنكِ الدِيارا
Where are your maidens, O abandoned white ruins,
Whose dwellers have worn you down and channeled rivers through you?
وَالأولى شَقَّقوا ثَراكِ مِن العُش
بِ وَأَجروا خِلالَكِ الأَنهارا
They who would host guests when the north winds blew
And kindle fires when evening drew near.
المُهيبونَ بِالضُيوفِ إِذا هَبَّ
ت شَمالاً وَالموقِدونَ النارا
Whenever its embers died down they revived it
With bowls of dried butter and branches of thorn trees.
كُلَّما باخَ ضَوؤُها أَقضَموها
بِالقُبَيباتِ مَندَليّاً وَغارا
Around you they tethered their steeds and marked out for you
Trails from the highlands as gifts.
رَبَطوا حَولَكِ الجِيادَ وَخَطّوا
لَكِ مِن مَركَزِ العَوالي عِذارا
Their horses' hooves trampled your soil until
They named your land's cheeks the cheeks of maidens.
وَحَموا أَرضَكِ الحَوافِرَ حَتّى
لَقَّبوا أَرضَها خُدودَ العَذارى
Time has left you nothing but lessons for eyes
And matter to wonder about.
لَم يَدَع مِنكَ حادِثُ الدَهرِ إِلّا
عِبراً لِلعُيونِ وَاِستِعبارا
Remnants of palaces of long-departed nights
Have told us news of their people.
وَبَقايا مِن دارِساتِ طُلولٍ
خَبَّرَتنا عَن أَهلِها الأَخبارا
Scents of the land as if fluttering scent-sellers
Were shaking perfumes on it.
عَبِقاتِ الثَرى كَأَنَّ عَلَيها
لَطمَيّينِ يَنفُضونَ العِطارا
Domes as though they had raised from it
Lighthouses for the lost in darkness.
وَقِبابٍ كَأَنَّما رَفَعوا مِن
ها لِمُستَرشِدِ الظَلامِ مَنارا
They calculated between them and the stars of the horizon
A kinship from nights of yore.
عَقَدوا بَينَها وَبَينَ نُجومِ ال
أُفقِ مِن سالِفِ اللَيالي جِوارا
Where are your swooping eagles who lodged
And made their nests their abode?
أَينَ عِقبانُكِ الخَواطِفُ حَلَّق
نَ وَأَبقَينَ عِندَكِ الأَوكارا
Men, like lions, walked your ground,
Summoning their pillars and comrades.
وَرِجالٌ مِثلُ الأُسودِ مَشوا في
كِ تَداعوا قَوائِماً وَشِفارا
How fine, the day your people came into being!
How fine, the day your abode became a home!
حَبَّذا أَهلُكِ المُحِلّونَ أَهلاً
يَومَ بانوا وَحَبَّذا الدارُ دارا
They were only like riders who lingered awhile
At their camp, then departed.
لَم يَكونوا إِلا كَرَكبٍ تَأَنّى
بُرهَةً في مُناخِهِ ثُمَّ سارا
