بانَت لَميسُ بِحَبلٍ مِنكَ أَقطاعِ
وَاِحتَلَّتِ الغَمرَ تَرعى ذاتَ أَشراعِ
Lamis appeared bound by a rope from you, cutting off pieces,
And she sailed the deep water, grazing with her large sails.
وَأَصبَحَت في بَني نَصرٍ مُجاوِرَةً
تَرعى الأَباطِحَ في عِزٍّ وَإِمراعِ
And she dwelled among the Bani Nasr as a neighbor,
Grazing the sand dunes proudly and freely.
كَأَنَّ عَينَيَّ إِذ وَلَّت حُمولُهُمُ
في الفَجرِ فَيضُ غُروبٍ ذاتِ إِتراعِ
As if my eyes, when their caravans departed
At dawn, were the outpouring of a sunset with fluttering robes.
هَلّا سَأَلتِ هَداكِ اللَهِ ما حَسَبي
أُمَّ الوَليدِ وَخَيرُ القَولِ لِلواعي
Why didn’t you ask your rightly guided one, O mother of Al-Walid and the best of speakers,
Should I forgive the great sin though its injuries have pierced me?
هَل أَغفِرُ الذَنبَ ذا الجُرحَ العَظيمِ وَلَو
مَرَّت عَجارِفُهُ مِنّي بِأَوجاعِ
God knows what I strive for on behalf of all of them,
And what pains my chest and ribs with its absence.
اللَهُ يَعلَمُ ما أَسعى لِجُلِّهِمِ
وَما يَغيبُ بِهِ صَدري وَأَضلاعي
I strive for a people whose striving
Among the clan was heedless wandering without purpose.
أَسعى عَلى جُلِّ قَومٍ كانَ سَعيُهُمُ
وَسطَ العَشيرَةِ سَهواً غَيرَ دَعداعِ
I will not reconcile with those who opposed us and I will forsake them
And I will never fail them with disloyalty.
وَلا أُصالِحُ مَن عادَوا وَأَخذُلُهُم
وَلا أَغيبُ لَهُم يَوماً بِأَقذاعِ
I have set out at dawn to the tavern, awakened
By a neck like the eye of a rooster, very bright.
وَقَد غَدَوتُ عَلى الحانوتِ يَصبَحُني
مِن عاتِقٍ مِثلِ عَينِ الديكِ شَعشاعِ
She sets out to me and rebukes me for his company-
We while away the morning in play and listening.
تَغدو عَلَيَّ وَنَدماني لِمِرفَقِهِ
نَقضي اللَذاذَةَ مِن لَهوٍ وَإِسماعِ
When we desire, we call him and he pours for us
From his inflated nostril’s outpouring, bent over.
إِذا نَشاءُ دَعَوناهُ فَصَبَّ لَنا
مِن فَرغِ مُنتَفِخِ الحَيزومِ رَكّاعِ
And she showed me before the living, speaking
With a sword-like tongue the color of salt that slices.
وَقَد أَراني أَمامَ الحَيَّ مُنتَطِقاً
بِصارِمِ مِثلِ لَونِ المِلحِ قَطّاعِ
She urges the steeds of the sword along, fully covering
The sand like a prohibition at the bottom of a valley.
تَحفِزُ عَنّي نِجادَ السَيفِ سابِغَةٌ
تَغشى الأَنامِلِ مِثلُ النَهيِ بِالقاعِ
Their faces, like Indian swords, toward the shouting
Whenever the caller stirs them for battle.
في فِتيَةٍ كَسُيوفِ الهِندِ أَوجُهُهُم
نَحوَ الصَريخِ إِذا ما ثَوَّبَ الداعي
