سَقى أَريِحاءَ الغَيثُ وَهيَ بَغيضَةٌ
إِلَيَّ وَلَكِن بي لِيُسقاهُ هامُها
Ariha was watered though she's hateful to me
But to quench the thirst of her wild beasts
مِنَ العَينِ مُنحَلُّ العَزالي تَسوقُهُ
جَنوبٌ بِأَنضادٍ يَسُحُّ رُكامُها
Carried from a streaming eye by a lone camel man
By the south winds on high that sweep her sands away
إِذا أَقلَعَت عَنها سَماءٌ مُلِحَّةٌ
تَبَعَّجَ مِن أُخرى عَلَيكَ غَمامُها
When from her the salty rain clouds pass
Onto another's domain shift her piled-up clouds
فَبِتُّ بِدَيرَي أَريِحاءَ بِلَيلَةٍ
خُدارِيَّةٍ يَزدادُ طولاً تَمامُها
I pass the night in Ariha's convent on an eve
So long drawn out through the dark hours
أُكابِدُ فيها نَفسُ أَقرَبِ مَن مَشى
أَبوهُ لِنَفسٍ ماتَ عَنّي نِيامُها
Enduring myself – was closer than one who walked –
The father of a soul now dead to me in sleep
وَكانَ إِذا أَرضٌ رَأَتهُ تَزَيَّلَت
لِرُؤيَتِهِ صَحراؤُها وَإِكامُها
When a land saw him, it was refreshed
By his sight, its deserts and its barrens
تَرى مَزِقَ السِربالِ فَوقَ سَمَيدَعٍ
يَداهُ لِأَيتامِ الشِتاءِ طَعامُها
You see the shreds of his garment atop acacia
His hands the winter orphans’ food
عَلى مِثلِ نَصلِ السَيفِ مَزَّقَ غِمدَهُ
مَضارِبُ مِنهُ لا يُفَلَّ حُسامُها
Like the blade of a sword he ripped its sheath
His tents ready, their tent-pegs never pulled up
وَكانَت حَياةَ الهالِكينَ يَمينُهُ
وَلِلنَيبِ وَالأَبطالِ فيها سِمامُها
In his hand was the life of the doomed
And for the prophet and heroes in it, their poison
وَكانَت يَداهُ المِرزَمَينِ وَقِدرُهُ
طَويلاً بِأَفناءِ البُيوتِ صِيامُها
In his hands the podex and his kettle
Through the homes’ corners long in fast
تَفَرَّقُ عَنها النارُ وَالنابُ تَرتَمي
بِأَعصابُها أَرجاؤُها وَاِهتِزامُها
Around it fire and brands spray out
Its poles and props shake and quiver
جِماعٌ يُؤَدّي اللَيلُ مِن كُلِّ جانِبٍ
إِلَيها إِذا وارى الجِبالَ ظَلامُها
A band the night leads in from every side
When it shrouds the mountains in darkness
يَتامى عَلى آثارِ سودٍ كَأَنَّها
رِئالٌ دَعاها لِلمَبيتِ نَعامُها
Bereaved over black ruins as though they
Were wild cows called by him to spend the night
لِمَن أَخطَأَتهُ أَريِحاءُ لَقَد رَمَت
فَتىً كانَ حَلّالَ الرَوابي سِهامُها
To whomever Ariha missed, she surely threw
A horseman who aimed her highland arrows
