أَشاقَتكَ الهَوادِجُ والخُدُورُ
وَبَينُ الحَىِّ والظُّعُنُ البُكُورُ
The mountain-passes and the sandy wastes confine you,
And between the sands and rocky tracts are the morning stars,
وَبِيضٌ يَرتَمِينَ إِذا التَقَينا
قُلُوبَ القَومِ أَعيُنُهُنَّ حُورُ
White like the flash of our meeting glances,
The hearts of the folk are eyes and they are pure.
هِجانُ اللَّونِ أَبكارٌ وَعُونٌ
عَلَيهِنَّ المَجاسِدُ وَالحَرِيرُ
Soft-skinned maidens, shy and languorous,
Clad in their mantles and silken robes.
إِذا طَرَدَت فُنُونُ الرِّيحِ فِيهِ
تَوَشَّى المِسكُ يأرَجُ وَالعَبِيرُ
When the wind tosses the fragrance of musk,
Ambergris and perfume into the air,
بَدَونَ كأَنَّهُنَّ غَمامُ صَيفٍ
تَهَلَّلَ وَاكفَهَرَّ لَهُ صَبِيرُ
They appear like a summer's cloud,
That passes suddenly, charged with abundant rain.
فَلَمّا أن رَكِبنَ تَنَكَّبَتنَا
جَوافلُ مِن ذَوِى الحاجاتِ زُورُ
But when they rode away, shoals of false men
Thronged about them, all with some want.
نَعَم فَبَدا المُجَمجَمُ مِن فُؤَادِى
وَكادَ القَلبُ مِن وَجدٍ يَطِيرُ
Then, truly, my skull was split from my bosom,
My heart almost flew away for sadness.
يُكَلِّفُنِى عَلَى الحَدَثانِ قَلبِى
نَوًى لِلحَىِّ مَطلَبُهَا عَسِيرُ
My heart distraught by the maidens imposes on me
A wish hard to fulfil for their love.
عَلَى حِينَ اندَمَلَتُ وَثابَ حِلمِى
وَلاحَ عَلَى مَفارِقِىَ القَتِيرُ
Till my reason returned and my patience was restored,
And the compact of my kinsmen was revealed to me.
كأَنَّ القَلبَ عِندَ دِيارِ سَلمَى
سَلِيمٌ أو رَهِينُ دَمٍ أسِيرُ
My heart seemed as though it were in Salma's dwellings,
Safe, or a captive of blood held in durance.
كذَلكَ مِن أُمامةَ قَبلَ هذا
لَيالَى أَنتَ مُقتَبَلٌ غَرِيرُ
Even so, before this, you were my beloved,
My nights were passed embraced by you, murmuring softly.
إِذِ المُتَهانِفُ الغُرنُوقُ يَهوى
زِيارَتنا وَيَكرَهُنا الغَيورُ
While the boon-companion, the sociable rogue, craved
Our visits, and the jealous one estranged us.
وَعِندَ الغانِياتِ لَنا دُيونٌ
وَفِى مَأوَى القُلُوبِ هَوىً ضَمِيرُ
With the singing-girls we had obligations
And in the heart's retreat a love held in conscience.
تُرِيكَ مُفَلَّجاً عَذبَ الثَّنايا
كَلَونِ الأُقحُوَانِ لَهُ أُشُورُ
You would show me gentle of conversation,
Pliant like the Oka-branches, soft-lined,
وَعَينَى ظَبيَةٍ بِجِواءِ رَملٍ
يَصُوعُ فُؤَادَها رَشَأٌ صَغِيرُ
And the eye of a wild cow of Al-Jiwa', whose heart
A small calf wounds among the sand-dunes.
فَلَو تُولِينَنِى لَعَلِمتِ أَبِّى
بِمَعرُوفٍ لِفاعِلِهِ شَكُورُ
Had you wished me well, you would have known my father
To be kindly to the doer of good, grateful.
أُدِيمُ لَكِ المَوَدَّةَ إِنَّ وَصلِى
بِأَحسَنِ ما ظَنَنتِ بِهِ جَدِيرُ
I would have kept faith with you; for my troth,
I thought you worthy of the best I could give.
وَأَمنَحُكِ التِى لا عارَ فِيها
كَأَنَّ نَسِيبَها بُردٌ حَبِيرُ
And granted you favours that bear no shame,
As though your kinsman were a hail-stone's core.
أتانا بِالمَلاَ كَلِمٌ حَدَاهُ
حِجازِىٌّ بِطِينَتِهِ فَخُورُ
There came to us, wearing his clay like armour,
A Hejazi, stiff-necked with pride.
عَدُوٌّ لا يَنامُ ولا تَرَاهُ
وَلَو أَبدَى عَدَاوَتَهُ بَصيرُ
A sleepless foe, unseen,
Though the keen-sighted were aware of his enmity,
وَلَو جاوَبتَنِى لَقَصَرتَ عَنِّى
وَأَنتَ عَنِ المَدَى نَاءٍ حَسِيرُ
Had you answered me, you would have wearied of me,
While you fail far short of the distance I can go.
وَلَو عاوَدتَنِى لَرَأَيتَ قَومِى
هُمُ الأَشرافُ وَالعَدَدُ الكَثِيرُ
Had you returned to me, you would have seen my folk
As the noblest tribe, in numbers many.
إِذا الجَوزاءُ أَردَفَتِ الثُّرَيا
وَعَزَّ القَطرُ وافتُقِدَ الصَّبِيرُ
When Canopus follows the Pleiades,
And rain becomes scarce and the patient man is sought,
وَبَاتَت فِى مكامِنِهَا الأَفاعِى
وَلَم يَتَكَلَّمِ الكَلبُ العَقُورُ
When the snakes lie in their hiding-places,
And the rabid dog is dumb, lacking even the power to bark,
وَجَدتَ بَقِيَّةَ المَعرُوفِ فِينَا
مُقِيماً ما ثَوَى بِمِنىً ثَبِيرُ
Then you would have found the remnant of good faith in us,
Standing firm, who have made our dwelling in Ma'inn.
