ما زِلتُ أَطَّرِقُ المَنازِلَ بِالنَوى

حَتّى نَزَلتُ مَنازِلَ النُعمانِ

I still wander from house to house with purpose

Until I came upon Nu’man’s houses

بِالحيرَةِ البَيضاءِ حَيثُ تَقابَلَت

شُمُّ العِمادِ عَريضَةُ الأَعطانِ

In al-Hira al-Bayda, where there gathered

The pillars of Imād and the ropes of A‘ṭān

شَهِدَت بِفَضلِ الرافِعينَ قِبابَها

وَتُبينُ بِالبُنيانِ فَضلَ الباني

Its domes bear witness to the merit of those who raised them

And its structure shows the merit of the builder

ما يَنفَعُ الماضينَ إِن بَقِيَت لَهُم

خُطَطٌ مُعَمَّرَةٌ بِعُمرٍ فانِ

Of no use to the departed, even if there remained for them

Tracks made immortal for an ephemeral lifetime

وَرَأَيتُ عَجماءَ الطَلولِ مِنَ البِلى

عَن مَنطِقٍ عَرَبِيَّةَ التَبيانِ

And I saw the unintelligible speech of bygone days

Rendered incomprehensible to the articulate speaker

باقٍ بِها حَظُّ العُيونِ وَإِنَّما

لا حَظَّ فيها اليَومَ لِلآذانِ

The eyes still retain their share, but now

The ears have no share in it today

وَعَرَفتُ بَينَ بُيوتِ آلِ مُحَرِّقٍ

مَأوى القِرى وَمَواقِدَ النيرانِ

And I came to know, among the houses of Banū Muḥarriq,

The shelter of the villages and the fireplaces

وَمَناطَ ما اِعتَقَلوا مِنَ البيضِ الظُبى

وَمَجَرَّ ما سَحَبوا مِنَ المُرّانِ

And the place where they captured the shy ostriches

And the tracts where they dragged the tent ropes

وَرَأَيتُ مُرتَبِطَ السَوابِقِ لِلمَها

وَمَعاقِلَ الآسادِ لِلذُؤبانِ

And I saw the racetracks for horses

And the lairs of lions for their cubs

الهاجِمينَ عَلى المُلوكِ قِبابَهُم

وَالضارِبينَ مَعاقِدَ التيجانِ

The attackers of kings, their domes

And those who struck the crowns

وَكَأَنَّ يَومَ الإِذنِ يَبرُزُ مِنهُمُ

أَسدُ الثَرى وَأَساوِدُ الغيطانِ

And it is as though, on the day of the raid, there emerges from them

The lion of the ground and the black lions of the thickets

وَلَقَد رَأَيتُ بَديرِ هِندٍ مَنزِلاً

أَلِماً مِنَ الضَرّاءِ وَالحِدثانِ

And indeed I saw in the monastery of Hind a house

Painful from poverty and disasters

أَفضى كَمُستَمِعِ الهَوانِ تَغَيَّبَت

أَنصارُهُ وَخَلا مِنَ الأَعوانِ

It surrendered like one listening to threats—its supporters disappeared

And it was devoid of aides

بالي المَعالِمِ أَطرَقَت شَرَفاتُهُ

إِطراقَ مُنجِذِبِ القَرينَةِ عانِ

The guideposts bowed down its parapets

In the manner of a brisk she-camel whose nose ring is pulled

أَو كَالوُفودِ رَأوا سِماطَ خَليفَةٍ

فَرَموا عَلى الأَعناقِ بِالأَذقانِ

Or like delegations who saw the whip of a caliph

So they bent their necks low

وَذَكَرتُ مَسحَبَها الرِياطَ بِجَوِّهِ

مِن قَبلِ بَيعِ زَمانِها بِزَمانِ

And I remembered its racetrack in its heyday

Before its time was sold for another time

وَبِما تَرُدُّ عَلى المُغيرَةِ دَهيَهُ

نَزعَ النَوارِ بِطيئَةَ الإِذعانِ

And because of what it endures of humiliation, it shed

The girdle, slowly submitting

أَمَقاصِرَ الغِزلانِ غَيَّرَكِ البِلى

حَتّى غَدَوتِ مَرابِضَ الغِزلانِ

O shortened resting place of gazelles! Time has changed you

Until you became a den of little gazelles

وَمَلاعِبَ الإِنسِ الجَميعِ طَوى الرَدى

مِنهُم فَصِرتِ مَلاعِبَ الجِنّانِ

And a playground for all mankind—time has erased them

And so you became a playground for jinn

مِن كُلِّ دارٍ تَستَظِلُّ رِواقَها

أَدماءُ غانِيَةٌ عَنِ الجيرانِ

From every house, your porch shades

Singing slave girls heedless of neighbors

وَلَقَد تَكونُ مَحَلَّةً وَقَرارَةً

لِأَغَرِّ مِن وَلَدِ المُلوكِ هِجانِ

You might become a rest area and an overnight stay

For the most graceful son of kings, loud and unruly

يَطَءُ الفُراتُ فِناءَها بِعُبابِهِ

وَلَها السُلافَةُ مِنهُ وَالروقانِ

The Euphrates enters your courtyard with its floods

While you get your share of drinking and irrigation from it

وَوَقَفتُ أَسأَلُ بَعضَها عَن بَعضِها

وَتُجيبُني عِبَرٌ بِغَيرِ لِسانِ

And I stood asking some parts of it about others

And they answered me with muteness, without speech

قَدَحَت زَفيري فَاِعتَصَرتُ مَدامِعي

لَو لَم يَؤُل جَزَعي إِلى السُلوانِ

My sighs led me to shed tears

Had not my anguish led to acquiescence

تَرَقى الدُموعُ وَيَرعُوي جَزعُ الفَتى

وَيَنامُ بَعدَ تَفَرُّقِ الأَقرانِ

Tears flow and the young man’s anguish subsides

And he sleeps after his companions separate

مِسكِيَّةُ النَفَحاتِ تَحسَبُ تُربَها

بُردَ الخَليعِ مُعَطَّرَ الأَردانِ

The musky breaths thinks its soil

Is the perfume of the fragrant sweet basil

وَكَأَنَّما نَشَرَ التِجارُ لَطيمَةً

جَرَتِ الرِياحُ بِها عَلى العُقيانِ

And it is as though the merchants spread out a new garment

Which the winds blew onto spear shafts

ماءٌ كَجيبِ الدِرعِ تَصقُلُهُ الصَبا

وَنَقاً يُدَرِّجُهُ النَسيمُ الواني

Water like coat of mail, burnished by the morning light

And drops shaken by the gentle, affectionate breeze

حَلَلُ المُلوكِ رَمى جَذيمَةَ بَينَها

وَالمُنذَرينِ تَغايُرُ الأَزمانِ

The robes of kings—Jaẓīma threw them between them

While eras vary for those who give warning

طَرداً كَدَأبِ الدَهرِ في طَردِ الأُلى

والى الحَفائِظَ في بَني الدَيّانِ

Expelling them like the way time expels dear ones

And for safekeeping among the people of the fortresses

نَعَقَ الزَمانُ بِجَمعِهِم عَن لَعلَعٍ

وَأَقَضَّ مَنزِلَهُم عَلى نَجرانِ

Time sniffed them out to neigh about them

And set their dwellings among the date palms

وَكَآلِ جَفنَةَ أَزعَجَتهُم نَبوَةٌ

نَقَلَت قِبابَهُمُ عَنِ الجَولانِ

And like the uproar of a storm that disturbed them

Transporting their domes from the highlands

وَعَلى المَدائِنِ جَلجَلَت بِرِعادِها

عَركاً لَكَلكَلِها عَلى الإيوانِ

And it crackled against the cities with its lightnings

Commotion to rattle their pillars

وَإِلى اِبنِ ذي يَزَنٍ غَدَت مَرحولَةً

نَفَضَت حَوِيَّتَحا عَلى غُمدانِ

And it turned transferred to the son of Dhū Yazan

Shedding its quivers upon the scabbards

قَصَفَت قَنا جَدَلِ الطِعانِ وَثَوَّرَت

بَعدَ الأَمانِ بِعامِرِ الضَحيانِ

It tore through the thickets of poised spears and stirred up

After safety, the settlements of Ḍuḥyān

زَفَرَ الزَمانُ عَليهِمُ فَتَفَرَّقوا

وَجَلَوا عَنِ الأَوطارِ وَالأَوطانِ

Time snorted at them, so they separated

And departed from the lands and homelands