عَفا بَعدَ سَلمى حاجِرٌ فَذُنابُ

فَأَحمادُ حَوضى نُؤيُهُنَّ يَبابُ

After Salma's departure an abandoned encampment, with the tents' flaps blowing,

The pools of my courtyard they would visit, their gates now locked.

دِيارٌ خَلَت مِن آبِداتٍ وَلَم يَكُن

بِها الوَحشُ إِلّا جامِلٌ وَقِبابُ

A land now empty of all its dwellers,

With no life but the wild beasts and some tents.

كَأَنَّ بَقايا عَهدِهِنَّ بِحاجِرٍ

فَبُرقَةِ حَوضى قَد دَرَسنَ كِتابُ

As if the relics of their time here embroidered on the encampment's sands

Were archives washed away by my courtyard's rains.

وَيَومَ صَفَحتُ الرَكبَ بَعدَ لَجاجِهِ

وَقَفتُ بِها قَصراً وَهُنَّ خَرابُ

And the day the caravan traveled on after its sojourn,

I stood by the manor, now fallen in ruins.

ذَهَبتُ وَخَلَّيتُ المَنازِلَ بِاللِوى

وَما بِيَ يَوماً إِن ذَهَبنَ ذَهابُ

I went away, leaving the dwellings to the twisting sands,

Never once, if they vanished, would I go after them.

وَقائِلَةٍ طالَبتَ سَلمى حَزَوَّراً

إِلى أَن خَلَت سِنٌّ وَزالَ طِلابُ

A woman seeking the love of Salma asked insistently

Until with age, all wooing was done.

تَصَبُّ إِذا شَطَّت وَتَصبو إِذا دَنَت

كَأَنَّكَ لَم تَعلَم لِداتِكَ شابوا

She pours herself out when she draws near, and is poured out when distant,

As if, my dear, you never knew your suitor grows old.

فَهَل أَنتَ سالٍ عَن سُلَيمى وَلَم يَزَل

حِجاكَ يُغالُ تارَةً وَسِقابُ

Are you asking about Sulayma? Always has she

Declined my love, at times roughly, at times gently.

فَقُلتُ لَها لا تَجعَليني كَمَن بِهِ

إِذا ما دَنا عُرضِيَّةٌ وَخِلابُ

I said to her, "Do not make me like those men

Who fawn before every marry glance and slender waist."

وَإِنَّ سُلَيمى في اللِقاءِ لَحُرَّةٌ

وَإِنّي بَغِيٍّ عِندَها لَمُصابُ

"Sulayma is shy when we meet,

And to her I am an unwanted suitor."

أَطالَت عِناني يَومَ قالَت لِأُختِها

وَما حُبُّ مَشغوفَينِ بُثَّ هَواهُما

She gave me free rein the day she said to her sister,

"No ardent lovers' passion, if in it are no sighs or quarreling or reproach-"

إِذا لَم يَكُن فيهِ نَثاً وَعِتابُ

وَلَم تَرَ عَيني مِثلَ سُعدى مُباعِداً

Never have my eyes seen anyone turn away like Sa'd,

Or bear what your brother is blamed for.

وَلا مِثلَ ما يَلقى أَخوكَ يُعابُ

بَدا طَمَعٌ مِنها لَنا فَتَبِعتُهُ

When she hinted at hope for us, I pursued it-

For hopes once stirred, necks are humbled.

وَلِلطَّمَعِ البادي تَذِلُّ رِقابُ