أَقولُ وَما حَنَّت بِذي الأَثلِ ناقَتي
قِري لا يَنَل مِنكَ الحَنينُ المُرَجَّعُ
Though my she-camel has not yearned for the loved ones,
Rest, O my heart, longing will not bring back what is gone.
تَحِنّينَ إِلّا أَنَّ بي لا بِكِ الهَوى
وَلَي لا لَكِ اليَومَ الخَليطُ المُوَدِّعِ
You long though love is not mine but yours,
While parting this day is not for me but for you to bear.
وَباتَت تَشَكّى تَحتَ رَحلي ضَمانَةً
كِلانا إِذاً يا ناقَ نِضوٌ مُفَجَّعُ
All night she complained beneath my saddle as though
We were both, O she-camel, grieved and bereft.
أَحَسَّت بِنارٍ في ضُلوعي فَأَصبَحَت
يَخُبُّ بِها حَرُّ الغَرامِ وَيوضَعُ
She felt a fire burning in my heart so dawn found her
With it the ardour of passion had subsided.
أَروحُ بِفِتيانٍ خِماصٍ مِنَ الجَوى
لَهُم أَنَّهُ في كُلِّ دارٍ وَأَدمُعُ
I journey with lively lads of the tribe,
Who everywhere are tearful for the departed.
إِذا غَرَّدَ الرَكبُ الخَفيُّ تَأَوَّهوا
لِما وَجَدوا بَعدَ النَوى وَتَوَجَّعوا
When the travelling band chirped, they sighed
At what they found after the halt, and were anguished.
عَلى أَبرَقِ الحَنّانِ كانَ حَنينُنا
وَبِالجِزعِ مَبكىً إِن مَرَرنا وَمَجزَعُ
It was for the lightning flashes of the beloved places that we grieved,
And if we passed by, it was with tears and lament.
تَزافَرَ صَحبي يَومَ ذي الأَثلِ زَفرَةً
تَذوبُ قُلوبٌ مِن لَظاها وَأَدمُعُ
My companions, the day we departed, moaned in unison,
Hearts melting at the sound, and eyes weeping.
مَنازِلُ لَم تَسلَم عَلَيهِنَّ مُقَلَّةٌ
وَلا جَفَّ بَعدَ البَينِ فيهِنَّ مَدمَعُ
No eyelid took leave dry of the abodes
Nor, after separation, did a tear dry up in them.
فَدَمعٌ عَلى بالي الدِيارِ مُفَرَّقٌ
وَقَلبٌ عَلى أَهلِ الدِيارِ مُوَزَّعُ
So tears are shed for the far-flung homes,
And hearts torn asunder for the home-folk.
أَرى اليَأسَ حَتّى تَعزِمَ النَفسُ سَلوَةً
وَيَرجَعَ بي داعي الغَرامِ فَأَطمَعُ
I see despair until the soul determines endurance,
And the lover in me recalls so I aspire anew.
ذَكَرتُ الحِمى ذِكرَ الطَريدِ مَحَلَّهُ
يُذادُ مَذادَ العاطِشاتِ وَيُرجَعُ
I recalled the preserve, haunt of the sand-grouse,
Panting as the thirsty do, and I returned.
وَأَينَ الحِمى لا الدارُ بِالدارِ بَعدَهُم
وَلا مَربَعٌ بَعدَ الحَنينِ مُرَبَّعُ
But where are the preserves without them in their dwellings?
Where is an enclosure after the longing has gone?
سَلامٌ عَلى الأَطلالِ لا عَن جِنايَةٍ
وَإِن كُنَّ يَأساً حينَ لَم يَبقَ مَطمَعُ
Farewell to the ruins, not for offending them,
Though they be despair, when expectation is no more.
نَشَدتُكُمُ هَل زالَ مِن بَعدِ أَهلِهِ
زَرودٌ وَرامَتهُ طُلولٌ وَأَربُعُ
I asked you, has the cloak fallen from their dwellings?
Are there long necks and buds in the valley still?
وَهَل أَنبَتَ الوادي العَقيقِيُّ بَعدَهُم
وَبُدِّلَ بِالجيرانِ شِعبٌ وَلَعلَعُ
Or has it, since their going, been overgrown
And the companions changed to solitude and desolation?
فَيا قَلبُ إِن يَفنَ العَزاءُ فَطالَما
عَهِدتُكَ بَعدَ الظاعِنينَ تَصَدَّعُ
O heart, if consolation is lost, long have I known you
Crack after the departed. Now to patience I incline.
وَقَد كانَ مِن قَلبي إِلى الصَبرِ جانِبٌ
فَقَلبِيَ بَعدَ اليَومِ لِلصَبرِ أَجمَعُ
Yes, the feast of love came to me, recalled by
A land at Meetha, flashes at its ridges.
نَعَم عادَني عيدُ الغَرامِ وَنَبَّهَت
عَلَيَّ الجَوى دارٌ بِمَيثاءَ بَلقَعُ
A waft like summer lightness stirred my heart,
Breathed by a scene of meadows, soft, lush.
وَطارَت بِقَلبي نَفحَةٌ غَضَوِيَّةٌ
يُنَفِّسُها حالٌ مِنَ الرَوضِ مُمرِعُ
I blush before my friends, yet my will
Is obedient to passion, obedient, pliant.
أَصُدَّ حَياءً لِلرِفاقِ وَإِنَّما
زِمامِيَ مُنقادٌ مَعَ الشَوقِ طَيِّعُ
Today I glanced at the right ridge-line, a glance that
Turned my eyes back streaming, weeping.
نَظَرتُ الكَثيبَ الأَيمَنَ اليَومَ نَظرَةً
تَرُدُّ إِلَيَّ الطَرفَ يَدمى وَيَدمَعُ
How often a wild thing, a beauty in its vale,
On the necks of the look-outs gives and denies.
وَرُبَّ غَزالٍ داجِنٍ في كِناسِهِ
عَلى رُقبَةِ الواشينَ يُعطي وَيَمنَعُ
And I am gentle in love’s bargaining if she displays coyness,
Giving me of her conversation’s plenty, so I am content.
وَأُحسِنُ في الوُدِّ التَقاضي إِذا لَوى
وَيَبذُلُ مَنزورَ النَوالِ فَأَقنَعُ
I woke for the Yemeni lightning a friend,
A consolation in his visit, fleeting, brilliant.
وَأَيقَظتُ لِلبَرقِ اليَمانيِّ صاحِباً
بِذاتِ النَقا يَخفىمِراراً وَيَلمَعُ
He approached like a Najdi, invoking memories so vivid
The preserve was ablaze with them, impassioned, drunk.
تَعَرَّضَ نَجديّاً وَأَذكى وَميضُهُ
عَقيقَ الحِمى مِنهُ مَعانٌ وَأَجرَعُ
Will you help me in loneliness with a glance?
Then we weep for those nights and are anguished?
أَأَنتَ مُعيني لِلغَليلِ بِنَظرَةٍ
فَنَبكي عَلى تِلكَ اللَيالي وَنَجزَعُ
God forbid that you love as I love,
For longing would call you wherever you were.
مَعاذَ الهَوى لَو كُنتَ مِثلي في الهَوى
إِذاً لَدَعاكَ الشَوقُ مِن حيثُ تَسمَعُ
There the fates saw me sleepless with ardour
And here my innermost soul agonized, torn apart.
هَناكَ الكَرى إِنّي مِنَ الوَجدِ ساهِرٌ
وَبُرءُ الحَشى إِنّي مِنَ البَينِ موجَعُ
I have no energy but to brace myself awhile,
No sleep but broken, troubled dozing.
فَلا لُبَّ لي إِلّا تَماسُكُ ساعَةٍ
وَلا نَومَ لي إِلّا النُعاسُ المُرَوَّعُ
Sheer cold turned from me malign, subduing its chill
While ardent longing regards not the drowsy cloak.
تَصامَمَ عَنّي لائِثاً فَضلَ بُردِهِ
وَلا يَحفِلُ الشَوقَ النَؤومُ المُقَنَّعُ
The nights have twisted you from a comrade who
In incompetence wraps himself, droops and trails.
طَوَتكَ اللَيالي مِن رَفيقٍ كَأَنَّهُ
مِنَ العَجزِ يَربوعُ المَلا المُتَقَصِّع
He sleeps at the edge of the prayer-niche uncouthly,
Then rising from his pelting the pebbles, departs.
يَنامُ عَلى هَدِّ الصَفاةِ بَلادَةً
إِذا قامَ مِن نَبذِ الحَصاةِ المُشَيّعُ
Oh would that I knew! Every home now lies broken.
Oh for a dwelling to unite and gather us!
أَلا لَيتَ شِعري كُلُّ دارٍ مُشَتَّتٌ
أَلا مَوطِنٌ يَدنو بِشَملٍ وَيَجمَعُ
Oh for solace to still the tears and so end!
Oh for a watering-place to slake the thirst and refresh!
أَلا سَلوَةٌ تَنهى الدُموعَ فَتَنتَهي
أَلا مَورِدٌ يَروي الغَليلَ فَيُنقَعُ
But patience before the blows of fate and its pinches!
Does the abject camel complain of its load and submission?
فَصَبراً عَلى قَرعِ الزَمانِ وَغَمزِهِ
وَهَل يُنكِرُ الحِملَ الذَلولُ المَوَقَّعُ
I yielded my back to the departure of my vanquished,
So every leading rein has dragged me on in its train.
وَهَبتُ لَهُ ظَهري عَلى عَقرِ غارِبي
فَكُلُّ زِمامٍ قادَني مِنهُ أَتبَعُ
How often a rugged ascent has been ridden in humility,
A she-camel vigorous overnight, in the morning, led by the bridle.
وَكَم ظَهرِ صَعبٍ عادَ بِالذُلِّ يُمتَطى
وَعَرنينِ آبٍ باتَ بِالضَيمِ يُقرَعُ
Say to the nights that bear me: bear gently or hard,
For the bow of destiny holds no turning back now.
وَقُل لِلَّيالي حامِلي أَو تَحامَلي
فَلَم يَبقَ في قَوسِ المَقاديرِ مَنزَعُ
