أجيرانَ وادي الأثْلِ هَلْ مِنْكُمُ وَصُلُ
لصَبٍّ على فُرقاكم دَمْعُه وَيْلُ
O neighbors of Wadi al-Athl, is there any reunion to be had from you
for a lovesick man whose tears at parting from you pour down in torrents?
جوارحهُ تَشْكو جروحَ جفونِكم
وَعَقَّلْتموه وَهَوَ لَيْسَ بِهِ عَقْلُ
His limbs complain of wounds inflicted by your eyelids,
and you have bound him, though he possesses no reason.
وَفَرَّقْتُمو ما بينَ جَنْبيْهِ والكَرَى
وفارقتموه والفراقُ لهُ عَقْلُ
You parted his sides from sleep,
and left him—separation itself his fetter.
وَتُظهِرُ حكمَ الجَوْرِ فيه قدودُكم
وفي سَعْيكم لانَتْ وبانَ لها عَدْلُ
In your figures the decree of injustice appears,
yet in your movement it softens, and justice is revealed.
وحتّامَ لا أصغي لعذلٍ وذِكْرُكُمْ
يَلَذُّ بسَمْعِي حينَ ما ذُكِرَ العَذْلُ
How long shall I refuse to heed my censurers, when remembrance of you
is sweet to my hearing whenever reproach is spoken?
أسُكَّانَ وادي الضَالِ إنَّ محَاجِري
فليسَ لها عن سَكْبِ أدمعِها شُغْلُ
O dwellers of Wadi al-Ḍāl, my tear ducts
have no occupation but pouring out their tears.
وعيني ببَحْرِ الدَّمعِ ظَلَّتْ تَعُومُهُ
فَضَلَّتْ فلا شَمْسٌ تَبِينُ ولا ظِلُ
My eye remained swimming in a sea of tears
until neither sun nor shade could be discerned.
وحَمَلْتُموني الثِقْلَ مَعْ ضَعْف قُوّتي
فهل ترْحَمُوني إذْ أضرَّ بِيَ الثِقْلُ
You made me bear the heavy load despite my feeble strength;
will you have mercy on me, now that the burden has harmed me?
أفاترةَ العينينِ إنَّ ودادكم
عظيمٌ وصَعْبٌ في فؤادي ولا سَهْلُ
O languid-eyed one, truly my love of you
is immense, and what lies in my heart is no easy thing.
عذابي عَذْبٌ في هواكم وخاطِري
فلا خَطَرَ السُّلوانُ فيهِ ولا يسلو
My torment is sweet in loving you, and my mind
admits no thought of consolation, nor can it forget.
لأجلِكُم قد جُدْتُ بالروحِ للقَنَا
ولو بانَ لي مِنْكُم بِوَصْلِكُم بُخْلُ
For your sake I have freely offered my soul to the spears,
though your miserliness with union has become plain to me.
بروحي مَنْ قَدْ بانَ للبانِ قاصداً
وأنْهَلني مِنْ حيثُ لا يَعْذُبُ النَّهْلُ
My soul be ransom for the one who openly made for departure
and gave me a draught from which no sweetness could be drunk.
سَقَاني حُمَيَّا الهَجْرِ من دون ظَلْمِهِ
و لا غروَ في قيسٍ جرى ذلك الفِعْلُ
He made me drink the heady wine of abandonment, besides his injustice;
no wonder that such a deed befell Qays.
مضَى قبل أن أحْظَى ببعضِ وَدَاعه
ولا وَشَّحَتْ خَصْرِي سواعدُهُ العَبْلُ
He departed before I could enjoy even part of his farewell,
or his full forearms could gird my waist like a sash.
تَيَمَّمتُ أرضاً هَوْجَلاً مُطْمَئنةً
بها الشُّقَّةُ القُصوى وليس بها سُبْل
I made for a land of terrifying, level wastes,
where the utmost hardship lies and no paths exist.
يجوب بي الفِيْحُ المَهامَةَ شَدْقَمٌ
طوالٌ أياديهِ مرافقُهْ فُتْلُ
A wide-jawed camel bore me across the spacious desert reaches,
long in the forelegs, its joints tightly sinewed.
تَحَدَّرَ مِثِلَ السَّيل في السَّيرِ راغباً
ويظهر منه الرَّبْعُ والرَّقْلُ والنَّقْلُ
It swept onward like a torrent, eager in its course,
displaying now the amble, the swift trot, and the racing gait—
إلى شمس دنيانا وبدرِ سمائها
مع الشِبْلِ الذي شأنهُ البَذْلُ
toward the sun of our world and the full moon of its sky,
together with the lion cub whose very nature is giving:
سليل ابن سلطان الهُمام الذي يُرَى
له في الورى من بعدِ خالقِنا الفَضْلُ
a scion of Ibn Sultan, the valiant one who is deemed
to hold, after our Creator, preeminence among mankind.
هو السيدُ الزاكي المليكُ الذي نَمَى
على الأرض من أكفافِه الجودُ والعَدْلُ
He is the pure lord, the sovereign through whose hands
generosity and justice have flourished across the earth.
تسلَّلَ من أملاكِ تُبَّعَ نَجْرُهُ
فلا بعدَه بَعْدُ ولا قَبْلَه قَبْلُ
His stock descends from the kings of Tubbaʿ;
none comes after him, nor was anyone before him.
هو العَلَمُ الهادي الذي يُهتدى بهِ
وطاعتُهُ فَرْضٌ عَلَيْنا ولا نَفْلُ
He is the guiding standard by which the way is found,
and obedience to him is incumbent upon us, not voluntary devotion.
له مِنَنٌ لا قَطُّ يُحْصَى عِدادُها
وللخَلْقِ من أبذالهِ أبداً كِفْلُ
His favors can never be numbered,
and all creation forever has a share in his bounty.
إذا همَّ تدميراً لأرضِ عدائهِ
مَحَاها وأهلوها أصابَهم الخَبْلُ
When he resolves to destroy his enemies’ land,
he effaces it, and madness strikes its people.
وكم بقعةٍ أربابُها ضَلَّ سعيُهم
فَجَلاَّهم قَسْراً وَبُقْعَتُهم غُفْل
How many a region whose rulers’ endeavors went astray
has he emptied by force, leaving its tract desolate?
يردُّ التماحَ الطَرْفِ نورُ جبينهِ
وإن صالَ فوق الطَرْفِ ليس له مِثْلُ
The radiance of his brow turns back the eye’s aspiring gaze,
and when he charges mounted, he has no equal.
يسابقُ أطرافَ الرماحِ إلى الوغى
وأفراسُه مِ الغيظِ أعينُها قُبْلُ
He races the spearpoints into battle,
while his horses’ eyes cross with rage.
بسيفٍ يباري البرقَ يفري به العِدا
ولم يَبْقَ من أجسادِهم أبداً جَزْلُ
With a sword that rivals lightning he cleaves the enemy,
leaving no substantial part of their bodies intact.
وناديه فوقَ الفرقديْنِ محلُّه
وأعداؤه طُرّاً يَدُوْسُهم النَّعْلُ
His court has its station above the two Farqads,
and his enemies, every one of them, are trampled beneath sandals.
