هاتيكَ دارُهُمُ فَعَرِّج وَاِسأَلِ
مَقسومَةً بَينَ الصَبا وَالشَمأَلِ
Come by their abodes and go slowly, and ask
Divided between youth and hoariness.
وَكَأَنَّنا لَم نَغنَ بَينَ عِراصِها
في غَبطَةٍ وَكَأَنَّنا لَم نَحلُلِ
It is as though we never sang among their walls
In delight, and as though we never halted.
لَجَّت جُفونُكَ بِالبُكاءِ فَخَلِّها
تَسفَح عَلى طَلَلٍ لِشُرٍّ مُحوِلِ
Your eyelids have been shut by weeping, so part them
To flow on the remnants of an evil change.
وَلَرُبَّ مُهلِكَةٍ يَحارُ بِها القَطا
مَسجورَةٍ بِالشَمسِ خَرقٍ مُجهَلِ
And many a desolate place the guide gets lost in,
Scorched by the sun, torn and unknown.
خَلَّفتُها بِشِمِلَّةٍ تَطَأُ الدُجى
مُرتاعَةِ الحَرَكاتِ حِلسٍ عَيطَلِ
I left it with a robe that treads the darkness
Startled in movement, night of scanty garb.
تَرنو بِناظِرَةٍ كَأَنَّ حِجاجَها
وَقبٌ أَنافَ بِشاهِقٍ لَم يُحلَلِ
It gazes with a look as though its tear ducts
Were mouths of towering heights never halted.
وَكَأَنَّ مَسقِطَها إِذا ما عَرَّسَت
آثارُ مَسقِطِ ساجِدٍ مُتَبَتِّلِ
And it is as though when she alights her place of descent
Are traces of a prostrating worshipper, humble.
وَكَأَنَّ آثارَ النُسوعِ بِدَفِّها
مَسرى الأَساوِدِ في هِيامٍ أَهيَلِ
And it is as though the traces of the huntresses in her plain
Are the track of lions in confused folly.
وَيَشُدُّ حاديها بِحَبلٍ كامِلٍ
كَعَسيبِ نَخلٍ خوصُهُ لَم يَنجَلِ
And her guide holds her with a complete rope,
Like a palm tree whose bark never gets stripped.
وَكَأَنَّها عَدواً قَطاةٌ صَبَّحَت
زُرقَ المِياهِ وَهَمُّها في المَنزِلِ
And it is as though she were a wild enemy who travelled at dawn
The blues of the water, while her thoughts were of home.
مَلَأَت دِلاءَ تَستَقِلَّ بِحَملِها
قُدّامَ كَلكَلِها كَصُغرى الحَنظَلِ
She filled her buckets, taking pride in carrying them,
Before her anklets like the little whelp.
وَغَدَت كَجُلمودِ القِذافِ يُقِلُّها
وافٍ كَمِثلِ الطَيلَسانِ المُخمَلِ
She sways like the swinging of the leather bucket that carries her
In timing like the embroidered hem of a garment.
حَمَّلتُها ثِقَلَ الهُمومِ فَقَطَّعَت
أَسبابُهُنَّ بِنا تَخِبُّ وَتَعتَلي
I loaded her with heavy worries, so they cut off
Their ties with us, bent and twisted.
عَن عَزمِ قَلبٍ لَم أَصِلهُ بِغَيرِهِ
عَضبِ المَضارِبِ صائِبٍ لِلمَفصِلِ
From the resolve of a heart I did not turn to other than it,
Anger of a striker hitting the joints.
حَتّى إِذا اِعتَدَلَت عَلَيهِم لَيلَةٌ
سَقَطوا إِلى أَيدي قَلائِصَ نُحَّلِ
Until when an appointed night came over them
They fell into the hands of armed raiders.
حَتّى اِستَثارَهُمُ دَليلٌ فارِطٌ
يَسمو لِغايَتِهِ بِعَينَي أَجدَلِ
Until an experienced guide aroused them
Soaring to his goal with the eyes of a young mountain goat,
يُدعى بِكُنيَتِهِ لِآخِرِ ظِمئِها
يَوماً وَيُدعى بِاِسمِهِ في المَنهَلِ
Called by his nickname when their thirst was at its most
And called by his name at the drinking station.
لَبِسَ الشُحوبَ مِنَ الظَهائِرِ وَجهُهُ
فَكَأَنَّهُ ماوِيَّةٌ لَم تُصقَلُ
Pallor from the burdens appeared on his face
So that he seemed polished granite that was not smoothed.
سارٍ بِلَحظَتِهِ إِذا اِشتَبَهَ الهُدى
بَينَ المَجَرَّةِ وَالسِماكِ الأَعزَلِ
Traveling with his glance when guidance was confused
Between planets and an isolated star.
وَلَرُبَّ قِرنٍ قَد تَرَكتُ مُجَدَّلاً
جَزَراً لِضارِيَةِ الذِئابِ العُسَّلِ
And many a twisted lock have I left disheveled
As prey for the ravenous beasts that morning fed.
عَهدي بِهِ وَالمَوتُ يَخفُرُ رَوحَهُ
وَبِرَأسِهِ كَفَمِ الفَنيقِ الأَهزَلِ
My pact with him while death keeps guard over his soul
And with his head like the beak of a wretched raven.
وَلَقَد قَفَوتُ الغَيثَ يَنطُفُ دَجنُهُ
وَالصُبحُ مُلتَبِسٌ كَعَينِ الأَشهَلِ
And I have tasted the rain dripping its moisture
While dawn was still confused like the one-eyed blinker.
بِطَمرَةٍ تَرمي الشُخوصَ بِمُقلَةٍ
كَحلاءَ تُعرِبُ عَن ضَميرِ المُشكِلِ
With a sprinkling that casts shadows with a ladle
Like tattooing expressing the mind of the troubled.
فَوهاءَ يَفرُقُ بَينَ شَطرَي وَجهِها
نورٌ تَخالُ سَناهُ سَلَّةَ مُنصُلِ
An air that cleaves between two sides of her face
A light whose sharpness seems a hanging spearhead.
وَكَأَنَّما تَحتَ العِذارِ صَفيحَةٌ
عُنِيَت بِصَفحَتِها مَداوِسُ صَيقَلِ
And it is as though below the excuse there lies a sheet
That chisels have been taken to, planed and smoothed.
