زُوروا بِنَا اليَوم سَلمى أَيُّها النَّفَرُ
وَنَحنُ لمَّا يُفَرِّق بينَنا القَدَرُ
Visit us today, O travellers,
While fate still allows us to meet.
نَنظُر سُلَيمَى فإِن ضَنَّت بنائِلِها
عَنَّا انصَرَفنا وماذا يَنفَعُ النَّظَرُ
Let's look upon Salma - if she's stingy with her tent ropes
We'll leave, for of what use is gazing?
مِن حُبِّ سَلمَى الّتى لَو طُولِعَت كَبِدِى
بَينَ الضُّلوعِ بَدَا مِنها بها أَثَرُ
From love of Salma, whose liver,
If examined among my ribs, bears her trace.
لقد حَذِرتُ غَدَاةَ البَينِ من نملى
والمبتنى مِن وَرَالَو يَنفَعُ الحَذَرُ
I was warned of parting at dawn from my ants
And what is built of sticks - does caution help?
بينَ الخَليطُ فَمِنهُم سالكٌ يَمناً
مُصَعِّدِينَ وبَعضُ القَومِ مُنحَدِرُ
Among the mixed throng - some heading right,
Some climbing, some of the folk descending.
رَدُّوا الجَمائِلَ أَو باتَت مُعَلِّقةً
حتَى استَقلّوا معَ الإصباحِ فابتَكروا
They returned the camels or left them suspended
Till dawn broke and they went on.
فأَقبلُوها بَياضَ المَتنِ قَد جَعَلُوا
مِنًى شِمالاً وفيها عَنهُمُ زَورُ
So they faced them, their saddles white,
And turned them aside to the left.
واستَقبَلَتهُم فِجَاجُ الهَضبِ فاتِحَةً
أَفوَاهَها كلُّهَا نَهجٌ لَهُم دَرَرُ
The rough ground met them with open
Mouths, each a path for them strewn with pearls.
كأَنَّهُم دُلُحٌ يَسقِي جَدَاوِلَها
مُحَلِّمٌ حَيثُ أَدَّت خَرجَها هجَرُ
As though they were a train watering its runnels,
A picker wherever autumn showed its harvest,
فِيحُ العَرَاجينِ غَضُّ البُسرِزَيّنَهُ
فَوقَ الحُدوجِ عُذُوقٌ زَانَها الثَّمَرُ
The fresh green of the Busr palm-trees
Above the hollows, viands its fruits adorn.
تلوِى بِأمطائِهَا الأَروَاحُ فاختَلَفَت
أَمطاؤها فَجُذوعُ النَّخلِ تَنهَصِرُ
The winds twist in its thickets diversely
And the palm-tree trunks creak as they bow.
حُمراً وَخُضراً كساها اللهُ زُخرُفَهُ
كَما اكتَسَى بالنَّباتِ العَازِبِ الزَّهَرُ
Clothed in red and green the Lord decorated it
As the unmarried man is clothed in flowers.
وَفِى الظَّعَائنِ سَلمَى وَهيَ وادِعَةٌ
مثلُ الغَمامةِ يَعشَى دُونَهَا البَصَرُ
And in the clouds Salma, as she bids farewell,
Like a cloud at night-fall dimming the sight.
عارَضتهُم بِكَنازِ اللّحمِ ناجيةٍ
اَعرَت دَسائعَها الحاجاتُ وَالنَّفَرُ
She confronted them with hunks of meat, wailing,
Baring her forearms - the needs and the travellers!
كأنَّ مِن زَبَدٍ جَعدٍ جَماجَمها
بِالسّابِرِىِّ وبالكَتّانِ تَختَمِرُ
As though her tangled, dishevelled locks
Were fermenting with mercury and linen.
حَتّى لَحِقنا وَدُونَ الحىِّ مُنصلتاً
شاكى السِّلاَحِ بَعِيدُ السَّأوِ مُنشَمِرُ
Till we reached her, by the quarter unveiled,
Bare armed, distant, girded with weapons.
قٌلنا السَّلامُ عليكُم وَهوَ يَزبُرُنا
وَرحمةُ الله أَمّا بَعدُ ما الخبرُ
We said "Peace be upon you" and he snarled at us
"And God's mercy - what news otherwise?"
يَرمِى لِنَفرَقَ منه أو يخوِّفَنا
بذَاتِ لوثاء يرمى فيهما الوترُ
He sought to frighten or disperse us
With a thing filthy in which the bowstring speeds.
منكم قريبا فَهل مِن وَاردٍ لكُم
قد ضَمَّهُنَّ إِلى وَهدَاهُما العكرُ
"Are you visitors? What has led
You to guide them?" He drew them back.
