وَمُطروفَةِ العَينَينِ قَد قُدتُ لِلصِبا
تُقادُ إِلى أُخرى لَذيذٍ شَميمُها
With languishing eyes I was led to youth
Led to another sweet of scent
وَكَيفَ بِعَيني وَالَّتي طُرِفَت بِها
لَها حينَ أَلقاها يَموتُ سُجومُها
How can it be with my eyes which languished for her
When I met her, her eyelids would die
وَدَوِّيَّةٌ ناءٍ مِنَ الخِمسِ مائُها
تَقَمَّسُ في طافي السَرابِ أَرومُها
A crooked, bending, hundred fathoms deep
Wallowing in the mirage’s sand dunes
وَلَيلَةِ أَسرابٍ نُزولٍ مِنَ القَطا
يُثارُ بِأَلحي المُرقِلاتِ جُثومُها
And a night of flocks descending from highland
Stirred by the anklets’ bells, their hosts
أَثَرتُ بِها جونَ القَطا حينَ عَسكَرَت
عَلى الأَرضِ دَيجورٌ تَداعى خُصومُها
I sensed the essence of the flocks when they camped
On the ground, hosts sprawling helpless
كَأَنَّ حَديثَ الدارِجاتِ مِنَ القَطا
تَراطِنُ أَنباطٍ تَلاقَت وَرومُها
As if the women’s chatter were Anbati
Their dialects mingling as they walked
بِمُستَأنِسٍ بِالقَفرِ فَردٍ تَقاذَفَت
عَلى الأَرضِ دَيموماتُها وَحُزومُها
A lone man friendly with the wasteland prattled
Throwing down his rags and belongings
كَأَنَّ رِجالَ الداعِرِيَّةِ تَحتَها
قِلاصُ نَعامٍ يَنتَحيها ظَليمُها
As if it were men of Da’riya beneath it
Feathers of ostriches, soiled by its gloom
وَلَيلَةِ لَيلٍ لِلمَهاري طَويلَةٍ
وَأَيّامُها اللاتي طِوالٌ حُسومُها
And a long night for the watchman
Lasting days, its darkness hard to endure
أَقَمتُ بِها أَعناقَ غيدٍ كَأَنَّها
سُكارى تُفَدّى تارَةً وَتَلومُها
I positioned tall necks that seemed drunk
Scolded at times, at others coaxed gently
وَسَوداءَ مِن لَيلِ التَمامِ اِعتَسَفتُها
إِلى أَن تَجَلّى عَن بَياضٍ هُدومُها
And blackened by the darkness of night I probed it
Till daybreak shone white on its garb
كَأَنَّ بِها مَوصولَتَينِ طَعَنتُها
بِأَعناقِ أَطلاحٍ دَوامٍ كُلومُها
As if two she-camels stabbed by me
With necks of slenderwood, lasting is its gloom
أَقَمتُ لَها أَعناقَ لازِقَةِ الذُرى
إِلى أَن تَجَلّى بِالبَياضِ بَهيمُها
I positioned adjoining necks trampled by raiders
Till their innocence shone brightly
وَما جُشَّمُ الأَظهارَ مِثلُ شِمِلَّةٍ
وَحامِلَةٍ لِلهَمِّ ماضٍ صَريمُها
None scarred the backs like a shirt of scales
Bearing sorrow of days gone by, painful its bleakness
تَخَوَّنَها تَهجيرُ كُلِّ وَديقَةٍ
إِلى أَن أَتَت مُخَّ السُلامى شُحومُها
Whose loyalty was tempted by every companion
Till only the bone of peace remained nourishing
وَهاجِرَةٍ كَلَّفتُ نَفسي وَناقَتي
مِنَ المُنضِجاتِ اللَحمِ نَيّاً سُمومُها
An emigrant who tasked myself and my she-camel
With roasts, deliciously poisonous their choicest bits
فَهُنَّ شِفاءُ الهَمِّ إِذ جاءَ طارِقاً
لَدى البَدَواتِ المُسمَهِرِّ عَزيمُها
For they cure anxiety when the visitor comes
To vigils, resolute the will of their hosts
وَحَمراءُ مِن لَيلِ الشِتاءِ قَتَلتُها
مِنَ القَرِّ يَأبى كَلبُها لا يُريحُها
And a red night of winter I killed
Sheltered from the cold, its dog gives her no peace
يَعَضُّ عَلى النارِ الَّذينَ يَلونَها
إِذا كانَ ثَوبَ الكَلبِ مِنها جَحيمُها
Biting at the fire, those who tend it
When the dog’s coat comes from it, hellish
جَعَلتُ لِحافَ القَرِّ لِلمُبتَغي القِرى
بِضَربَةِ ساقٍ قَد أُفِرَّ صَميمُها
I made the tent’s rug for the seeker of lodging
With a slap releasing its very core
أَنَخنا ثَلاثاً تَحتَ ضامِنَةِ القِرى
مِنَ الغَليِ يَسمو بِالمُحالِ هَزيمُها
We took cover, three of us beneath the tent folds
The boiling inside magnifies the vanquished
فَلَيتَ أَميرِ المُؤمِنينَ قَدِ اِنتَهَت
إِلَيهِ مِنَ الصُهبِ المَهاري رَسيمُها
Would that the Commander of the Faithful
Had attained the watchman spirits’ signal
عَلَيها اِمرُؤٌ لا يَنقُضُ اللَيلُ عَزمَهُ
وَلا يُدرِكُ الحاجاتِ إِلّا حَميمُها
A man whose resolve night does not break
And who attains all wants, only its pith
بِذِعلِبَةٍ ما مَسَّ إِلّا مُناخُها
لِنِصفِ صَلاةٍ وَهيَ دامٍ رَثيمُها
With a bucket undisturbed but by its milker
Halfway through a prayer still slowly pouring
لَها الأَرضُ إِلّا أَربَعٌ ثَفِناتُها
إِذا اللَيلَةُ السَوداءُ ناداهُ بومُها
The land belongs to none but its four cubits
When darkest night beckons with its howl
وَلا يَقتُلُ اللَيلَ المُبَيَّتَ هَمُّهُ
مِنَ الصُهبِ بِالرُكبانِ إِلّا كُتومُها
His worries at night don’t wane for riders
Except when its totality is undisclosed
وَلَيلَةِ لَيلٍ قَد حَمَلتُ ثَقيلَها
عَلى رَحلِ مِذعانٍ بَطيءٍ سُؤومُها
And a pitch black night whose burden I carried
On slow, foreboding mounts, bleak their affair
خَبَطتُ بِها الظَلماءَ حَتّى أَضائَها
عَمودُ ضِياءٍ بِالبَياضِ يَضيمُها
I probed the darkness until a pillar lit it
With shining whiteness squeezing it
وَلَيلَةِ لَيلٍ مُرجَحِنٍّ ظَلامُها
سَواءٌ عَلَينا طَلقُها وَغُيومُها
And a pitch black night balanced is its darkness
To us the same, its horizons or its clouds
كَأَنَّ بِها الأَيّامَ وَاللَيلَ وَصِّلا
وَظَلماءَ مُسوَدٌّ عَلَيها بَهيمُها
As if it tied together there nights and days
And a darkness as black as can be, bleak its expanse
إِذا ما رَجَونا ضَوأَها اِعتَكَرَت لَها
شَآمِيَّةُ الأَلوانِ ضَوءٌ بَريمُها
When we hope for its end, there accumulates for it
A lantern with colored light, ample its gleam
فَذَلِكَ مِن لَيلِ الطِوالِ إِذا اِلتَقَت
عَلَينا بِهِ ظَلمائُهُ وَعُتومُها
For such is the darkness of long nights when
Its gloom and density come upon us
إِذا قُلتُ لِلحُرّاسِ هَل لَيلَتي دَنَت
مِنَ الصُبحِ أَو كانَت جُنوحاً نُجومُها
When I say to the guards, “Is my night done?
Has morning drawn near or do stars adorn its expanse?”
يَقولونَ ما يَنزِلنَ إِلّا تَنَزُّلاً
بَطيئاً وَمُسوَدّاً عَلَينا أَديمُها
They say, “It will not abate, ever gloomy its continuity”
Would that I were in the place of the forty
فَلَيتَ مَكانَ الأَربَعينَ الَّتي لَها
بِساقَيَّ آثارٌ مِبينٌ وَشومُها
With my thigh plainly marked by its talons
I found my brother Najdah and mourned him
أَخا نَجدَةٍ عِندي أَخوهُ فَجَعتُهُ
بِهِ وَالمَنايا جانِياتٌ حُتومُها
As fate’s blows can be so cruel
He defended him from me, sword in hand
فَنازَلَني بِالسَيفِ عَنهُ وَدونَهُ
مَعَ السَيفِ حِضبُ الأَرضِ بادٍ شَكيمُها
Along with his sword, all of earth’s pebbles assailing
