أَهاجَ لَكَ الشَوقَ القَديمَ خَيالُهُ
مَنازِلُ بَينَ المُنتَضى وَمُنيمِ
The image of the past awakened your longing,
Between the homes of intimacy and sleep.
وَقَد حالَ دوني السِجنُ حَتّى نَسيتُها
وَأَذهَلَني عَن ذِكرِ كُلِّ حَميمِ
Prison has come between me and you, until I forgot it
And it made me heedless of every intimate friend.
عَلى أَنَّني مِن ذِكرِها كُلَّ لَيلَةٍ
كَذي حُمَةٍ يَعتادُ داءَ سَليمِ
Yet I remember it every night,
Like one afflicted who is used to an ongoing illness,
إِذا قيلَ قَد ذَلَّت لَهُ عَن حَياتِهِ
تُراجِعُ مِنهُ خابِلاتِ شَكيمِ
When it is said that it has weakened for him his life,
The wasted cheeks revisit him.
إِذا ما أَتَتهُ الريحُ مِن نَحوِ أَرضِها
فَقُل في بَعيدِ العائِلاتِ سَقيمِ
Whenever the wind comes to me from the direction of her land,
I say, in the distance of the family, an invalid.
فَإِن تُنكِري ما كُنتِ قَد تَعرِفينَهُ
فَما الدَهرُ مِن حالٍ لَنا بِذَميمِ
If you deny what you used to know,
Time for us is not in a reprehensible state.
لَهُ يَومُ سَوءٍ لَيسَ يُخطِئُ حَظُّهُ
وَيَومٌ تَلاقى شَمسُهُ بِنَعيمِ
It has a day of misfortune where its luck does not miss,
And a day where its sun meets bliss.
وَقَد عَلِمَت أَنَّ الرِكابَ قَدِ اِشتَكَت
مَواقِعَ عُريانٍ مَكانَ كُلومِ
You knew the riders complained
Of the barren places of the land in every wilderness and dune,
تُقاتِلُ عَنها الطَيرَ دونَ ظُهورِها
بِأَفواهِ شُدقٍ غَيرِ ذاتِ شُحومِ
They fight to protect it from the birds without their appearance
With mouths without fat or saliva.
أَضَرَّ بِهِنَّ البُعدُ مِن كُلِّ مَطلَبٍ
وَحاجاتُ زَجّالٍ ذَواتُ هُمومِ
Distance from every desire has harmed them
And the needs of an impoverished man full of worries,
وَكَم طَرَّحَت رَحلاً بِكُلِّ مَفازَةٍ
مِنَ الأَرضِ في دَوِّيَّةٍ وَحُزومِ
How much baggage did it throw in every desolate place
Of the land - noisy and speedy!
كَأَحقَبَ شَحّاجٍ بِغَمرَةِ قارِبٍ
بِليتَيهِ آثارٌ ذَواتُ كُدومِ
Like the tracks of a shipwrecked man in the darkness of a boat
With traces of footsteps full of misery.
إِذا زَخَرَت قَيسٌ وَخِندِفُ وَاِلتَقى
صَميماهُما إِذ طاحَ كُلُّ صَميمِ
When Qais and Khindif meet
And their friendship fails when every friendship fails.
وَما أَحَدٌ مِن غَيرِهِم بِطَريقِهِم
مِنَ الناسِ إِلّا مِنهُمُ بِمُقيمِ
No one travels their road
Of the people except us who live there.
وَكَيفَ يَسيرُ الناسُ قَيسٌ وَرائَهُم
وَقَد سُدَّ ما قُدّامَهُم بِتَميمِ
How can people walk when Qais is behind them
And Tameem has blocked what is in front of them?
سَيَلقى الَّذي يَلقى خُزَيمَةُ مِنهُمُ
لَهُم أُمُّ بَذّاخينَ غَيرَ عَقيمِ
Whoever meets them will meet Khuzaima,
For them a mother of warriors, not barren.
هُما الأَطيَبانِ الأَكثَرانِ تَلاقَيا
إِلى حَسَبٍ عِندَ السَماءِ قَديمِ
They are the two finest who meet most
To noble origin with the ancient sky.
فَمَن يَرَ غارَينا إِذا ما تَلاقَيا
يَكُن مَن يَرى طَودَيهِما كَأَميمِ
Whoever sees our two cliffs when they meet
Would see two towering mountains.
أَبَت خِندِفٌ إِلّا عُلُوّاً وَقَيسُها
إِذا فَخَرَ الأَقوامُ غَيرَ نُجومِ
Khindif refused anything but the heights, and her Qais,
When the tribes fell, not stars.
وَنَحنُ فَضَلنا الناسَ في كُلِّ مَشهَدٍ
لَنا بِحَصىً عالٍ لَهُم وَحُلومِ
We surpassed people in every scene,
For us lofty mountains, for them split bones.
فَإِن يَكُ هَذا الناسُ حَلَّفَ بَينَهُم
عَلَينا لَهُم في الحَربِ كُلَّ غَشومِ
If these people make an oath between them against us,
For them in war all the darkness.
فَإِنّا وَإِيّاهُم كَعَبدٍ وَرَبِّهِ
إِذا فَرَّ مِنهُ رَدَّهُ بِرُغومِ
For we and them are like a slave and his lord,
When he flees Him, He returns him with ropes.
وَقَد عَلِمَ الداعي إِلى الحَربِ أَنَّني
بِجَمعِ عِظامِ الحَربِ غَيرُ سَؤومِ
The one who calls for war knows I am,
With the bones of war, not ill-omened.
إِذا مُضَرُ الحَمراءُ يَوماً تَعَطَّفَت
عَلَيَّ وَقَد دَقَّ اللِجامَ شَكيمي
When the red Mudar one day showed affection for me
And it tightened the bridle on my determination,
أَبَوا أَن أَسومَ الناسَ إِلّا ظُلامَةً
وَكُنتُ اِبنَ ضِرغامِ العَدُوِّ ظَلومِ
They refused that I treat the people with anything but darkness,
And I was the son of the oppressive enemy, the tyrant.
