شَطَّ المَزارُ بِجَدوى وَاِنتَهى الأَمَلُ
فَلا خَيالٌ وَلا عَهدٌ وَلا طَلَلُ
The meeting place with Jadwa is far, and hope has ceased,
No phantom, no covenant, nor any trace of ruins.
إِلّا رَجاءَ فَما نَدري أَنُدرِكُهُ
أَم يَستَمِرُّ فَيَأتي دونَهُ الأَجَلُ
Save for a hope we know not if we shall attain,
Or if it persists until death arrives before it.
شَيخٌ شَآمٌ وَأُفنونٌ يَمانِيَةٌ
مِن دونِها الهَولُ وَالمَوماةُ وَالعِلَلُ
An elder of the Levant and a branch of Yemen,
Between them lie terror, the barren wasteland, and ailments.
ما أَمُُّ غُفرِ عَلى دَعجاءَ ذي عَلَقٍ
يَنفي القَراميدَ عَنها الأَعصَمُ الوَقِلُ
Not like the mother of a fawn upon a dark, hanging peak,
From which the white-footed climber kicks away the stones.
في رَأسِ خَلقاءَ مِن عَنقاءَ مُشرِفَةٍ
لا يَنبَغي دونَها سَهلٌ وَلا جَبَلُ
At the summit of a smooth, towering height,
Beneath which neither plain nor mountain is fitting.
إِلذا كَمِثلِكَ فينا غَيرَ أَنَّ لَنا
شَوقاً وَذَلِكَ مِمّا كَلَّفَت جَلَلُ
Is there one like you among us? Save that we harbor
A longing, and that is a grave burden imposed.
هَيهاتَ حَيٌّ غَدَوا مِن ثَجرِ مَنزِلِهِم
حَيٌّ بِنَجرانَ صاحَ الديكُ فَاِحتَمَلوا
Far away! A tribe departed early from Thajr, their abode,
A tribe in Najran; the rooster crowed, and they journeyed on.
الخَزرَجِيُّ الهِجانُ الفَرعِ لا تَرِعٌ
ضيقُ المَجَمِّ وَلا جافٍ وَلا تَفِلُ
The Khazraji of noble branch, neither frivolous,
Nor narrow of heart, nor harsh, nor unkempt.
الزاجِرُ العيسَ في الإِمليسِ أَعيُنُها
مِثلُ الوَقائِعِ في أَنصافِها السَمَلُ
Who urges the white camels across the smooth desert, their eyes
Like hollows wherein remnant water lies.
يَهدي الجُيوشَ وَيَهدي اللَهُ شيمَتَهُ
في طِرمِسِ البيدِ سامي الطَرفِ مُعتَدَلُ
He leads the armies, and God guides his character,
In the gloom of the wilds, high-gazing and balanced.
كَالكَوكَبِ الأَزهَرِ اِنشَقَّت دُجُنَّتُهُ
في الناسِ لا رَهَقٌ فيهِ وَلا بَخَلُ
Like the brilliant star when the darkness is rent asunder,
Among the people, holding neither folly nor miserliness.
هادٍ ضِياءٌ مُنيرٌ فاصِلٌ فَلَجٌ
قَضاؤُهُ سُنَّةٌ وَقَولُهُ مَثَلُ
A guide, a light, illuminating, decisive, and triumphant,
His judgment is law, and his speech is a proverb.
هَذا الثَناءُ وَأَجدِر أَن أُصاحِبَهُ
وَقَد يُدَوِّمُ ريقَ الطامِعِ الأَمَلُ
This is the praise, and I am worthy to accompany him,
For hope may sustain the anticipation of the yearning one.
