عَزَفتَ بِأَعشاشٍ وَما كِدتَ تَعزِفُ
وَأَنكَرتَ مِن حَدراءَ ما كُنتَ تَعرِفُ
You played love songs but could hardly play them well,
And denied the virtues of one you used to know so well,
وَلَجَّ بِكَ الهِجرانُ حَتّى كَأَنَّما
تَرى المَوتَ في البَيتِ الَّذي كُنتَ تَيلَفُ
Estrangement so gripped you, it was as though
You saw death in the house where once you were kept whole,
لَجاجَةُ صُرمٍ لَيسَ بِالوَصلِ إِنَّما
أَخو الوَصلِ مَن يَدنو وَمَن يَتَلَطَّفُ
Obduracy in one deaf to reunion’s call—not at all
Like one who draws near in love, and is kind to all,
إِذا اِنتَبَهَت حَدراءُ مِن نَومَةِ الضُحى
دَعَت وَعَلَيها دِرعُ خَزٍّ وَمِطرَفُ
When my love awoke at dawn, still tired from the night before,
She rose in a coat of mail and a bridle with bells galore,
بِأَخضَرَ مِن نَعمانَ ثُمَّ جَلَت بِهِ
عِذابَ الثَنايا طَيِّباً حينَ يُرشَفُ
In freshest green from Nu‘man—then she proudly rode
To gently punish the hillsides when their flowers exploded,
وَمُستَنفِزاتٍ لِلقُلوبَ كَأَنَّها
مَهاً حَولَ مَنتوجاتِهِ يَتَصَرَّفُ
Arousing hearts, as though she were
An owl hovering round its nestlings without care,
يُشَبَّهنَ مِن فَرطِ الحَياءِ كَأَنَّها
مِراضُ سُلالٍ أَو هَوالِكُ نُزَّفُ
From shyness, they resembled, it could be said,
A herd of does, or gazelles freshly bled,
إِذا هُنَّ ساقَطنَ الحَديثَ كَأَنَّهُ
جَنى النَحلِ أَو أَبكارِ كَرمٍ يُقَطَّفُ
When they conversed it was like the yield
Of bees, or first pickings in a vineyard freshly tilled,
مَوانِعُ لِلأَسرارِ إِلّا لِأَهلِها
وَيُخلِفنَ ما ظَنَّ الغَيورُ المُشَفشِفُ
Guarding their secrets, except from whom they wished,
Believing none of the lies of spying peepers and fishers,
يُحَدِّثنَ بَعدَ اليَأسِ مِن غَيرِ ريبَةٍ
أَحاديثَ تَشفي المُدنَفينَ وَتَشغَفُ
After despair, they would speak without guile
Words that delight ardent lovers all the while,
إِذا القُنبُضاتِ السودِ طَوَّفنَ بِالضُحى
رَقَدنَ عَلَيهِنَّ الحِجالُ المُسَجَّفُ
When the black of night patrolled around the dawn
They fell asleep wrapped in their long gowns,
وَإِن نَبَّهَتهُنَّ الوَلائِدُ بَعدَما
تَصَعَّدَ يَومُ الصَيفِ أَو كادَ يَنصِفُ
And if their mother woke them after the summer day
Had risen high or started to give way,
دَعَونَ بِقُضبانِ الأَراكِ الَّتي جَنى
لَها الرَكبُ مِن نَعمانَ أَيّامَ عَرَّفوا
They called for the staffs of litter they had been carried in
From Nu‘man on days of old, before sin,
فَمِحنَ بِهِ عَذباً رُضاباً غُروبُهُ
رِقاقٌ وَأَعلى حَيثُ رُكِّبنَ أَعجَفُ
Which they sweetly sniffed from end to tip—
Fine wands, the tallest where the litters were equipped.
