ذَكَرتُكِ وَالنّجمُ اليَمانِى كأَنَّهُ

وَقَد عارَضَ الشِّعرَى قَرِيعُ هِجَانِ

I remembered you, and the Yemeni star was as if

It had contended with Sirius, igniting passion’s fire.

فَقُلتُ لأَصحَابِى ولاحَت غَمامَةٌ

بِنَجدٍ أَلا لِلهِ ماتَرَيَانِ

So I said to my friends when a cloud appeared

In Nejd, “By God, do you not see?”

فَقالا نَرَى بَرقاً تَقطَّعُ دُونَهُ

مِنَ الطَّرفِ أَبصارٌ رَوَانِى

They said, “We see lightning rending it,

Dazzling sights beyond the eyes’ endurance.”

أَفِى كُلِّ يَومٍ أَنتَ رامٍ بِلادها

بِعَينَينِإِنساناهُما غَرِقا

Must you every day roam her lands,

With two eyes of a man drowned in them?

فَعَينَىَّ يا عَينَىَّ حَتَّامَ أَنتُما

بِهِجرانِ أُمِّ الغَمرِ تَختَلِجانِ

My eyes, O my eyes, you Ultimacy, you are

Agitated by parting from Umm al-Ghamr.

أَما أَنتُما إِلاّ عَلَىَّ طَلِيعَةٌ

عَلَى قُربِ أَعدائِى وَبُعدِ مَكانِى

Are you not just scouts against me

Nearby my enemies, far from my abode?

إِذا اغرَورَقَت عَيناىَ قالَ صَحابَتِى

إِلى كَم تَرَى عَيناكَ تَبتَدِرَانِ

When my eyes grow pale, my friends say

“To what do your eyes keep hastening?”

عَذَرتُكِ يا عَينِى الصَّحيحَةَ بالبُكَا

فَمالَكِ يا عَوراءُ وَالهَمَلانِ

I pardoned you, O my right eye, for weeping

So what ails you, O defective one, O bleary one?

أَلا فَاحمِلانِى بارَكَ اللهُ فِيكُما

إِلى حاضِرِى الماءِ الّذِى تَرِدَانِ

No! Bear me, God bless you both,

To my fresh water which you seek.

فإنَّ عَلَى الماءِ الّذِى تَردانِهِ

غَرِيماً لَوَانِى الَّينَ مُنذ زَمانِ

For by the water you seek

Is a lover whose color has faded for ages—

لَطيفَ الحَشَا عَذبَ اللَّمَى طَيِّبَ النَّثا

لَهُ عِلَلٌ ما تَنقَضِى لأَوانِ

Of soft down, sweet drink, good smell—

He has charms that do not cease for a time.