يا دارُ يا دارَ أَطرابي وَأَشجاني
أَبلى جَديدَ مَغانيكِ الجَديدانِ
O home, O home of my troubles and griefs
I have worn out the newness of your new songs
لَئِن تَخَلَّيتُ مِن لَهوي وَمِن سَكَني
لَقَد تَأَهَّلتُ مِن هَمّي وَأَحزاني
If I left behind my playfulness and dwelling
I was wedded to my anxiety and sorrows
جاءَتكَ رائِحَةٌ في إِثرِ باكِرَةٍ
تَروي ثَرىً مِنكَ أَمسى غَيرَ رَيّانِ
A breeze came to you in the wake of dawn
Watering earth in you, no longer moistened
حَتّى أَرى النورَ في مَغناكَ مُبتَسِماً
كَأَنَّهُ حَدَقٌ في غَيرِ أَجفانِ
Until I see the light in your valley smiling
As if it were an eyelid without eyelashes
لَمّا وَقَفتُ عَلى الأَطلالِ أَبكاني
ما كانَ أَضحَكَني مِنها وَأَلهاني
When I stood at the ruins, they made me weep
What had made me laugh and play of them
فَما أَقولُ لِدَهرٍ شَتَّتَت يَدُهُ
شَملي وَأَخلى مِنَ الأَحبابِ أَوطاني
So what do I say to a time whose hand scattered
My family, and emptied homes of loved ones
وَما أَتاني بِنُعمى ظَلتُ لابِسَها
إِلّا اِنثَنى مُسرِعاً فيها فَعَرّاني
Whatever blessings came my way, wearing them
Except they hastily bared me of them
كَم نِعمَةٍ عَرِفَ الإِخوانُ صاحِبَها
لَمّا مَضَت أَنكَروهُ بَعدَ عِرفانِ
How many favors did friends know their companion
When gone, denying after recognition
وَمَهمَهٍ كَرِداءِ العَصبِ مُشتَبِهٍ
قَطَّعتُهُ وَالدُجى وَالصُبحُ خَيطانِ
And a worry, a cloak of muscle resembling
I tore it, while night and dawn were its stitches
وَالريحُ تَجذِبُ أَطرافَ الرِداءِ كَما
أَفضى الشَقيقُ إِلى تَنبيهِ وَسنانِ
The wind pulls the edges of the cloak as
The brother cried out to awaken and sharpen
حَتّى طَوَيتُ عَلى أَحشاءِ ناجِيَةٍ
كَأَنَّما خَلقُها تَشيِيدُ بُنيانِ
Until I folded over the belly of she-camel
As if her creation built structures
كَأَنَّ أَخفافَها وَالسَيرُ يَنقُلُها
دَلاءُ بِئرٍ تَدَلَّت بَينَ أَشطانِ
As if her soft feet in travel carried her
The buckets of a well dangling between cliffs
لَها زِمامٌ إِذا أَبصَرتُ جَولَتَهُ
حَسِبتُ في قَبضَتي أَثناءَ ثُعبانِ
She has a bridle, and when I saw its revolution
I thought in my hands the coils of a snake
إِلى هِلالٍ تَجَلَّت عَنهُ لَيلَتُهُ
باريهِ صَوَّرَهُ في خَلقِ إِنسانٍ
To a crescent whose night was stripped from it
In creation, its Maker formed it into a human
لَجَّت بِنا هُجرَةٌ وَالقَلبُ عِندَكُمُ
فَإِطلِقي القَلبَ أَو قودي لِجُثماني
Exile parted us, with hearts still with you
So free my heart, or return my body to me
أَنا الَّذي لَم تَدَع فيهِ مَحَبَّتُكُم
فَضلاً لِغَيرِكِ مِن إِنسٍ وَلا جانِ
I whom your love left no favor
To another human or jinn
فَإِن أَرَدتِ وِصالاً فَاِقبَلي صِلَتي
مِنّي وَإِلّا فَهِجرانٌ بِهِجرانِ
So if you want union, accept my prayer
From me, or else estrangement with estrangement
ما الوُدُّ مِنّي بِمَنقولٍ إِلى مَذِقٍ
وَلَستُ أَطرَحُ نَفسي حَيثُ تَلحاني
Affection in me is not conveyed to other tastes
Nor do I cast myself where you urge me
وَلا أُريدُ الهَوى إِن لَم يَكُن لِهَوى
نَفسي وَبَعضُ الهَوى وَالمَوتُ سِيّانِ
I want no love if love be not
For my soul, and love and death be equal
وَرَبُّ سِرٍّ كَنارِ الصَخرِ كامِنَةٍ
أَمَتُّ إِظهارَهُ مِنّي فَأَحياني
Lord of a secret, as latent as flint-stone fire
I prefer to conceal it within me, so revive me
لَم يَتَّسِع مَنطِقي فيهِ بِبائِحَةٍ
حَزماً وَلا ضاقَ عَن مَثواهُ كِتماني
My speech did not expand with a revealing sin
Nor, confined, was it too narrow for my hiding
وَرَبُّ نارٍ أَبيتُ اللَيلَ أَوقِدُها
في لَيلَةٍ مِن جُمادى ذاتِ تَهتانِ
Lord of a fire I kept burning all night
On a February night of confusion
يُقَيِّدُ اللَحظَ فيها عَن مَسالِكِها
كَأَنَّها لَبِسَت أَثوابَ رُهبانِ
Restraining glances on their paths
As if they wore the clothes of monks
ما زِلتُ أَدعو بِضَوءِ النارِ مُقتَرِباً
يُغري دُجى اللَيلِ مِنهُ شَخصُ حَرّانِ
I kept calling by the fire’s light drawing near
Its glow tempting the darkness of excited man
وَقَد تَشُقُّ غُبارَ الحَربِ لي فَرَسٌ
مُقَدَّمٌ غَيرَ هَيّابٍ وَلا وانِ
I have a horse that splits the dust of war for me
Foremost, fearless, and resolute
وَقَدُّ قائِمَةٍ مِنهُ مُرَكَّبَةٍ
في مَفصَلٍ ضامِرِ الأَعصابِ ظَمآنِ
With upright stance, mounted
In joints thirsty, with shriveled nerves
بِحَيثُ لا غَوثَ إِلّا صارِمٌ ذَكَرٌ
وَجَنَّةٌ كَحَبابِ الماءِ تَغشاني
Where there is no rescue but a remembering sword
And a coat of mail like drops of water protecting me
وَصَعدَةٍ كَرِشاءِ البِئرِ ناهِضَةٍ
بِأَزرَقٍ كَاِتِّقادِ النَجمِ يَقظانِ
With a mount like the pulley of a well rising
In blueness kindling like an awakened star
سَلي فَدَيتُكِ هَل عَرَّيتُ مِن مِنَني
خَلقاً وَهَل رُحتُ في أَثوابِ مَنّانِ
Greetings I ransom you, have I stripped of my favors
A being? And have I smelled with robes of conferral?
وَهَل مَزَجتُ صَفائي لِلصَديقِ وَهَل
أَودَعتُ يا هِندُ غَيرَ الحَمدِ خَزّاني
And have I mixed my clear drink for a friend? And have I, O Hind,
Deposited in storage other than praise?
وَلا عَقَقتُ بِجَسِّ الكَأسِ ساقِيَتي
وَلا عَفَفتُ وَظَلَّ الدَهرُ يَنعاني
I did not show irreverence with the cup-bearer’s goblet
Nor abstain while time kept tempting me
أَسرَرتُ حُزناً بِها وَالقَلبُ مُضطَرِبٌ
وَراحَ يُنبي بِغَيرِ الحَقِّ إِعلاني
I concealed sorrow with it, and the heart was restless
Gone announcing falsely my proclamation
وَقَد أَرِقتُ لِبَرقٍ طارَ طائِرُهُ
وَالنَومُ قَد خاطَ أَجفاناً بِأَجفانِ
Many a night I lay awake, for lightning that flew
While sleep had sewn eyelid to eyelid
في مُكفَهَرٍّ كَرُكنِ الطَودِ مُصطَخِبٍ
كَأَنَّ إِرعادَهُ تَحنانُ ثَكلانِ
In thunderous excitement like the trembling of a mountain
As if its rumbling the keening of bereaved women
