صَيداءَ شَأمِيَّةٍ حَرفٍ كَمُشتَرِفٍ
إِلى الشِخاصِ مِنَ التَضغانِ مَبحومِ
A fawn from Damascus, an eloquent word as if peering out,
At people, from the oppressions, aggrieved,
أَو أَخدَرِيَّ فَلاةٍ ظَلَّ مُرتَبِئاً
عَلى صَريمَةِ أَمرٍ غَيرِ مَقسومِ
Or a blackened wilderness where shadows have settled
Upon the misery of an unresolved matter,
جَونٌ يُؤَجِّلُ عاناتٍ وَيَجمَعُها
حَولَ الخُدادَةِ أَمثالَ الأَناعيمِ
Sorrow that defers torments and brings them together
Around the victims like sheep without a shepherd,
رَعى بِها أَشهُراً يَقرو الخَلاءَ بِها
مُعانِقاً لِلهَوادي غَيرَ مَظلومِ
He herded them for months, the deserts were his pasture,
Embracing the valleys, unharmed,
شَهرَي رَبيعٍ يَلُسُّ الأَرضَ مونِقَةً
إِلى جُمادى بِزَهرِ النورِ مَعمومِ
Two months of spring in which the land sits beautifully
Until mid-summer with flowers blooming everywhere,
بِالدَحلِ كُلَّ ظَلامٍ لا تَزالُ لَهُ
حَشرَجَةٌ أَو سَحيلٌ بَعدَ تَدويمِ
With nightfall, darkness still has for it
Tumult or late rain after settlement,
حَتّى إِذا أَنفَضَ البُهمى وَكانَ لَهُ
مِن ناصِلٍ مِن سَفاها كَالمَخاذيمِ
Until when the confused one came to his senses, he had
A departing guest whose nonsense was like raving,
تَذَكَّرَ الوِردَ وَاِنضَمَّت ثَميلَتُهُ
في بارِحٍ مِن نَهارِ النَجمِ مَسمومِ
He remembered the flowers and his thoughts rejoined
In the eve of a day with a poisoned star,
أَرَنَّ وَاِنتَظَرَتهُ أَينَ يَعدِلُها
مُكَدَّحاً بِجَنينٍ غَيرِ مَهشومِ
She called and waited, where would he make it up to her
Burdened with an unborn child,
غاشي المَخارِمِ ما يَنفَكُّ مُغتَصِباً
زَوجاتِ آخَرَ في كُرهٍ وَتَرغيمِ
Rider of the meadows, he wouldn’t stop violating
The wives of others forcefully and bitterly,
وَظَلَّ يَعدِلُ أَيَّ المَورِدَينِ لَها
أَدنى بِمُنخَرِقِ القيعانِ مَسؤومِ
And he kept wondering which of the two pastures would bring her
Closer, at the farthest point of the valley, ill-fated,
أَضارِجاً أَم مِياهِ السَيفِ يَقرِبُها
كَضارِبٍ بِقِداحِ القَسمِ مَأمومِ
The slopes or the euphrates waters, he brings her
Like one who casts divine arrows, obedient,
حَتّى إِذا جَنَّ داجي اللَيلِ هَيَّجَها
ثَبتُ الخَبارِ وَثَوبٌ لِلجَراثيمِ
Until when the night grew still, it provoked her,
Firm news and a garment for germs,
يَلُمُّها مُقرِباً لَولا شَكاسَتُهُ
يَنفي الجِحاشَ وَيُزري بِالمَقاحيمِ
He meets her, if not for his flaw
That rejects temptation and is mean with lovers,
حَتّى تَلاقى بِها في مُسيِ ثالِثَةٍ
عَيناً لَدى مَشرَبٍ مِنهُنَّ مَعلومِ
Until she met him a third time
At a well-known watering place,
خافَ عَلَيها بَحيراً قَد أَعَدَّ لَها
في غامِضٍ مِن تُرابِ الأَرضِ مَدمومِ
He feared for her a lake that he had prepared
In an obscure place of the dusty earth, damned.
