أَعَرَفتَ بَينَ رُوَيَّتَينِ وَحَنبَلٍ

دِمَناً تَلوحُ كَأَنَّها الأَسطارُ

I recognize between two hillocks and Hanbal

Blood that gleams as if it were lines of poetry

لَعِبَ العَجاجُ بِكُلِّ مَعرِفَةٍ لَها

وَمُلِثَّةٌ غَبَياتُها مِدرارُ

The non-Arab played with every sign of it

And a blended one whose ignorance is copious

فَعَفَت مَعالِمَها وَغَيَّرَ رَسمَها

ريحٌ تَرَوَّحَ بِالحَصى مِبكارُ

So its features are effaced and its shape is changed

By a wind that blew with pebbles and rain

فَتَرى الأَثافِيَ وَالرَمادَ كَأَنَّهُ

بُوٌّ عَلَيهِ رَوائِمٌ أَظآرُ

So you see the ashes and embers as if they are

An abyss with banners hanging over it

وَلَقَد يَحُلُّ بِها الجَميعُ وَفيهِمُ

حورُ العُيونِ كَأَنَّهُنَّ صِوارُ

And everyone camps there including

The houris whose eyes are like statues

يَأنَسنَ عِندَ بُعولِهِنَّ إِذا اِلتَقَوا

وَإِذا هُمُ بَرَزوا فَهُنَّ خِفارُ

Who feel at ease with their husbands when they meet

And when they come out, they are like knights

شُمُسٌ إِذا بَلَغَ الحَديثُ حَياءَهُ

وَأَوانِسٌ بِكَريمَةٍ أَغرارُ

A sun when shyness overcomes speech

And intimates with a generous, naive one

وَكَلامُهُنَّ كَأَنَّما مَرفوعُهُ

بِحَديثِهِنَّ إِذا اِلتَقَينَ سِرارُ

And their talk is as if its moderator

Were their talk when they meet privately

رُجُحٌ وَلَسنَ مِنَ اللَواتي بِالضُحى

لِذُيولِهِنَّ عَلى الطَريقِ غُبارُ

Clamor and coquetry from those in the morning

To whom dust clings on the road

وَإِذا خَرَجنَ يَعُدنَ أَهلَ مُصابَةٍ

كانَ الخُطا لِسِراعِها الأَشبارُ

And when they go out to count the people of Musabah

The guide was their brisk pace

هُنَّ الحَرائِرُ لَم يَرِثنَ لِمُعرِضٍ

مالاً وَلَيسَ أَبٌ لَهُنَّ يُجارُ

They are the free women who did not inherit

Money for a disinterested person and have no protecting father

فَاِطرَح بِعَينِكَ هَل تَرى أَحداجِهِم

كَالدَومِ حينَ تُحَمَّلُ الأَخدارُ

So cast your eyes, do you see any of them

Like the jujube when the fruit ripens

يَغشى الإِكامَ بِهِنَّ كُلَّ مُخَيَّسٍ

قَد شاكَ مُختَلِفاتُهُ مَوّارُ

He overwhelms the blind with them, every squinter

Whose different peering has dazzled

وَإِذا العُيونُ تَكارَهَت أَبصارُها

وَجَرى بِهِنَّ مَعَ السَرابِ قِفارُ

And when the eyes dislike their sights

And the mirage flows with them through the desert