إِنَّ النَضيرَةَ رَبَّةَ الخِدرِ
أَسرَت إِلَيكَ وَلَم تَكُن تُسري
The beautiful Nadira, mistress of the tent,
Yearned for you though you didn’t reciprocate.
فَوَقَفتُ بِالبَيداءِ أَسأَلُها
أَنّى اِهتَدَيتِ لِمَنزِلِ السَفرِ
So I stood in the wilderness to ask her,
“How did you find your way to the home of travel?”
وَالعيسُ قَد رُفِضَت أَزِمَّتُها
مِمّا يَرَونَ بِها مِنَ الفَترِ
The camel saddle’s straps are slackened
By all they see of her exhaustion.
وَعَلَت مَساوِئُها مَحاسِنَها
مِمّا أَضَرَّ بِها مِنَ الضُمرِ
Her faults have outweighed her virtues
From the harm that melancholy brought her.
كُنّا إِذا رَكَدَ النَهارُ لَنا
نَغتالُهُ بِنَجائِبٍ صُعرِ
When the day would wane for us
We’d ambush it with curving scimitars,
عوجٍ نَواجٍ يَغتَلينَ بِنا
يُعفينَ دونَ النَصِّ وَالزَجرِ
Far-strung bows to waylay it, making sport of us,
Sparing us neither advice nor rebuke.
مُستَقبِلاتٍ كُلَّ هاجِرَةٍ
يَنفَحنَ في حَلقٍ مِنَ الصُفرِ
She-camels going forward, each an emigrant
Breathing through a throat bleached pale.
وَمَناخُها في كُلِّ مَنزِلَةٍ
كَمَبيتِ جونِيِّ القَطا الكُدرِ
And her halting place at every stopover
Is like where a hyena, mangy and foul, slept.
وَسَما عَلى عودٍ فَعارَضَنا
حِرباؤُها أَو هَمَّ بِالخَطَرِ
One day she stood on a peg and challenged us,
Flaunting her saddle or hinting of danger.
وَتَكَلُّفي اليَومَ الطَويلَ وَقَد
صَرَّت جَنادِبُهُ مِنَ الظُهرِ
And I exerted myself through the long day though
Her shoulder blades were prominent from leanness.
وَاللَيلَةَ الظَلماءَ أُدلِجُها
بِالقَومِ في الدَيمومَةِ القَفرِ
On the dark night I penetrate it
With my comrades in pitch-black desolation,
يَنعى الصَدى فيها أَخاهُ كَما
يَنعى المُفَجَّعُ صاحِبَ القَبرِ
Where each echo calls to its brother
As a bereaved woman calls at the grave.
وَتَحولُ دونَ الكَفِّ ظُلمَتُها
حَتّى تَشُقَّ عَلى الَّذي يَسري
Its darkness blocks my palm
Until it's hard on one walking there,
وَلَقَد أَرَيتُ الرَكبَ أَهلَهُمُ
وَهَدَيتُهُم بِمَهامِهٍ غُبرِ
And I have seen the caravan—its people—
And guided them, their paths obscured by dust.
وَبَذَلتُ ذا رَحلي وَكُنتُ بِهِ
سَمحاً لَهُم في العُسرِ وَاليُسرِ
I shared my mount, being gracious to them
In difficulty and ease.
فَإِذا الحَوادِثُ ما تُضَعضِعُني
وَلا يَضيقُ بِحاجَتي صَدري
So when misfortunes shake me
And my chest feels no constraint from their need,
إِنّي أُكارِمُ مَن يُكارِمُني
وَعَلى المُكاشِحِ يَنتَحي ظُفري
I repay those who show me honor,
And from those who quarrel with me my sword keeps its distance.
يُعيِي سِقاطي مَن يُوازِنُني
إِنّي لَعَمرُكَ لَستُ بِالهَذرِ
My determination exhausts those who would test me.
By your life, I am no idle boaster!
لا أَسرِقُ الشُعَراءَ ما نَطَقوا
بَل لا يُوافِقُ شِعرَهُم شِعري
I do not steal what the poets have uttered,
But their poetry does not accord with mine.
إِنّي أَبى لي ذَلِكُم حَسَبي
وَمَقالَةٌ كَمَقالِعِ الصَخرِ
This lineage of mine contents me;
My speech is like the splitting of rock.
وَأَخي مِنَ الجِنِّ البَصيرُ إِذا
حاكَ الكَلامَ بِأَحسَنَ الحَبرِ
My brother among the jinn, the keen-sighted one,
Weaves the finest speech.
أَنَضيرَ ما بَيني وَبَينَكُمُ
صُرَمٌ وَما أَحدَثتُ مِن هَجرِ
Distance lies between me and you,
An interval, after I departed.
وَلَقَد شَكَرتُ نَوالَكُم وَبَلاكُمُ
إِن كانَ عِندَكَ نافِعاً شُكري
I thanked you for your gifts and your testing me.
If my thanks benefit you, do not sever
لا تَقطَعي وَصلي وَتَلتَمِسي
غَيري وَلَمّا تَعلَمي خُبري
My tie to you, do not seek
Another in my stead unless you know my news.
جودي فَإِنَّ الجودَ مَكرُمَةٌ
وَاِجزي الحُسامَ بِبَعضِ ما يَفري
Be generous, for generosity is noble,
And requite the swords for some of what they reap.
وَحَلَفتُ لا أَنساكُمُ أَبَداً
ما رَدَّ طَرفَ العَينِ ذو شُفرِ
I swore I shall never forget you
So long as the sharp-bladed sword flashes.
وَحَلَفتُ لا أَنسى حَديثَكِ ما
ذَكَرَ الغَوِيُّ لَذاذَةَ الخَمرِ
And I swore I shall not forget your words
As long as the reveler recalls the sweetness of wine,
وَلَأَنتِ أَحسَنُ إِذ بَرَزتِ لَنا
يَومَ الخُروجِ بِساحَةِ القَصرِ
For you are the most beautiful when you come forth to us
On the day of departure in the field of the palace,
مِن دُرَّةٍ أَغلى المُلوكُ بِها
مِمّا تَرَبَّبَ حائِرُ البَحرِ
Like a pearl the kings pay dearly for
From the pearl diver wandering the depths of the sea,
بَيضاءُ لَو مَرَّت بِذي نُسُكٍ
يَتلو البَيانَ يَلوحُ في الزُبرِ
Pearly white—if she passed by one
Reciting scripture, the clarity shining in his prayer book,
مُتَبَتِّلٍ عَن كُلِّ فاحِشَةٍ
سَكَنَ الصَوامِعَ رَهبَةَ الوِزرِ
Devoutly avoiding all disgrace,
Living in hermitages in awe of sin—
لَرَأَيتَهُ حَرّانَ يَذكُرُها
يَجتازُ رُؤيَتَها عَلى الذِكرِ
You would see him impassioned, remembering her,
Her sight interrupting his devotions.
بَذَّت نِساءَ العالَمينَ كَما
بَذَّ الكَواكِبَ مَطلَعُ البَدرِ
She eclipsed the women of all worlds
As the rising moon eclipses the stars,
مَمكورَةُ الساقَينِ شِبهُهُما
بَردِيَّتا مُتَحَيِّرٍ غَمرِ
Smooth of leg, the two like columns
Of pearl meandering, immersed.
تَنمي كَما تَنمي أَرومَتُها
بِمَحَلِّ أَهلِ المَجدِ وَالفَخرِ
She grows like her buttocks grow
In the abode of the splendid and proud.
يَعتادُني شَوقٌ فَأَذكُرُها
مِن غَيرِ ما نَسَبٍ وَلا صِهرِ
Longing takes hold of me, so I recall her
With no kinship or marriage tie between us,
كَتَذَكُّرِ الصادي وَلَيسَ لَهُ
ماءٌ بِقُنَّةِ شاهِقٍ وَعرِ
Like the thirsty man’s recall though he has no
Water skin or towering, barren crag.
وَلَقَد تُجالِسُني فَيَمنَعُني
ضيقُ الذِراعِ وَعِلَّةُ الخَفرِ
She would sit with me but then my cramped arm and fear of disgrace
Would stop me.
لَو كُنتِ لا تَهوَينَ لَم تَرِدي
أَو كانَ ما تَلوينَ في وَكرِ
If you didn’t passionately love, you wouldn’t have come.
Or if what you twisted and coiled in your den
لَأَتَيتُهُ لا بُدَّ طالِبَهُ
فَاِقنَي حَياءَكِ وَاِقبَلي عُذري
Were not there, I’d inevitably come, seeking it.
So spare me your shame and accept my excuse!
قُل لِلنَضيرَةِ إِن عَرَضتَ لَها
لَيسَ الجَوادُ بِصاحِبِ النَزرِ
Say to Nadira, if you happen upon her:
The generous man is no holder of riches.
قَومي بَنو النَجّارِ رِفدُهُمُ
حَسَنٌ وَهُم لي حاضِرو النَصرِ
Rise, O Banu Najjar, their backup
Is excellent, and they are my ready help.
المَوتُ دوني لَستُ مُهتَضِماً
وَذَوُو المَكارِمِ مِن بَني عَمروِ
Death is beneath me, I cannot be subdued,
And the noble souls of Banu ‘Amr—
جُرثومَةٌ عِزٌّ مَعاقِلُها
كانَت لَنا في سالِفِ الدَهرِ
A knee-haltered camel herd whose fortresses
Once sheltered us in days gone by.
