أَمِن أُمِّ شَدّادٍ رُسومُ المَنازِلِ
تَوَهَّمتُها مِن بَعدِ سافٍ وَوابِلِ
From Umm Shaddad's abode the outlines of dwellings
I fancied after long travel and downpour.
وَبَعدَ لَيالٍ قَد خَلونَ وَأَشهُرٍ
عَلى إِثرِ حَولٍ قَد تَجَرَّمَ كامِلِ
And after nights gone by and months passed,
After revolving years had run their course,
أَرى أُمَّ شَدّادٍ بِها شِبهُ ظَبيَةٍ
تُطيفُ بِمَكحولِ المَدامِعِ خاذِلِ
I see in Umm Shaddad's abode a likeness to a gazelle
Roaming with intoxicated, weeping eyes.
أَغَنَّ غَضيضِ الطَرفِ رَخصٍ ظُلوفُهُ
تَرودُ بِمُعتَمٍّ مِنَ الرَملِ هائِلِ
The cooing of the tender-glancing turtle-doves
Alights in a thickly-wooded valley.
وَتَرنو بِعَينَي نَعجَةٍ أُمِّ فَرقَدٍ
تَظَلُّ بِوادي رَوضَةٍ وَخَمائِلِ
And it looks with the eyes of a ewe, Umm Farqad's,
Shading in a meadow with vegetation.
وَتَخطو عَلى بَردِيَّتَينِ غَذاهُما
أَهاضيبُ رَجّافِ العَشِيّاتِ هاطِلِ
And it walks on two robes whose food
Was the leftovers of arid, pouring evenings.
وَتَفتَرُّ عَن غُرِّ الثَنايا كَأَنَّها
أَقاحٍ تُرَوّى مِن عُروقٍ غَلاغِلِ
And it discloses from the bosom of its folds as though it were
A brake nourished from gushing saplings.
لَيالِيَ نَحتَلُّ المَراضَ وَعَيشُنا
غَريرٌ وَلا نُرعي إِلى عَذلِ عاذِلِ
Nights we pass in sickness and our life
Is a babble, heedless of a blamer's rebuke.
فَأَصبَحتُ قَد أَنكَرتُ مِنها شَمائِلاً
فَما شِئتَ مِن بُخلٍ وَمِن مَنعِ نائِلِ
So I came to deny in herlineaments I had known
Whether out of any stinginess or refusal of a seeker.
وَما ذاكَ عَن شَيءٍ أَكونُ اِجتَرَمتُهُ
سِوى أَنَّ شَيباً في المَفارِقِ شامِلي
And that was not because of a thing I would have sinned,
Save that grey hair affects all equally.
فَإِن تَصرِميني وَيبَ غَيرُكِ تُصرَمي
وَأوذِنتِ إيذانَ الخَليطِ المُزايِلِ
So if you spurn me and incline to another, you will be spurned,
And you gave warning of the way of the fickle.
إِذا ما خَليلٌ لَم يَصِلكَ فَلا تُقِم
بِتَلعَتِهِ وَاِعمَد لِآخِرَ واصِلِ
When a friend fails to join you, then do not insist
On his company, and go to another who will keep faith.
وَمُستَهلِكٍ يَهدي الضَلولَ كَأَنَّهُ
حَصيرُ صَناعٍ بَينَ أَيدي الرَوامِلِ
And a resourceless man leads into error, as though he were
A mat for the feet of the heavily-laden camels.
مَتى ما تَشَأ تَسمَع إِذا ما هَبَطتَهُ
تَراطُنَ سِربٍ مَغرِبَ الشَمسِ نازِلِ
Whenever you wish, if you humble him, you will hear
The croaking of a flock alighting at sunset.
رَوايا فِراخٍ بِالفَلاةِ تَوائِمٍ
تَحَطَّمَ عَنها البيضُ حُمرِ الحَواصِلِ
Chicks in the wilderness, twins,
Whose red yolks are shattered.
تَوائِمَ أَشباهٍ بِغَيرِ عَلاَمَةٍ
وُضِعنَ بِمَجهولٍ مِنَ الأَرضِ خامِلِ
Twins without a sign,
Placed in an unknown, sterile tract.
وَخَرقٍ يَخافُ الرُكبُ أَن يُدلِجوا بِهِ
يَعَضّونَ مِن أَهوالِهِ بِالأَنامِلِ
And a rugged road the riders fear to enter after nightfall,
Gnawing it with tentpegs.
مَخوفٍ بِهِ الجِنّانُ تَعوي ذِئابُهُ
قَطَعتُ بِفَتلاءِ الذِراعَينِ بازِلِ
Fearful, in it howling beasts,
I cut them down with both arms paralyzed.
صَموتِ السُرى خَرساءَ فيها تَلَفُّتٌ
لِنَبأَةِ حَقٍّ أَو لِتَشبيهِ باطِلِ
Deafening silence, in it confused babbling
For a true tiding or a false comparison.
تَظَلُّ نُسوعُ الرَحلِ بَعدَ كَلالِها
لَهُنَّ أَطيطٌ بَينَ جَوزٍ وَكاهِلِ
The baggage of the traveling company continues after losing energy.
For them is a howdah between actuality and maturity.
رَفيعِ المَحالِ وَالضُلوعِ نَمَت بِهِ
قَوائِمُ عوجٌ ناشِزاتُ الخَصائِلِ
Lofty and slender yet confounding in it
Firmly rooted trees of tangled disposition.
تُجاوِبُ أَصداءً وَحيناً يَروعُها
تَضَوُّرُ كَسابٍ عَلى الرَكبِ عائِلِ
It responds to echoes and sometimes alarm seizes it -
The gloom of a beggar aggressive to the group.
عُذافِرَةٍ تَختالُ بِالرَحلِ حُرَةٍ
تُباري قِلاصاً كَالنَعامِ الجَوافِلِ
A gangling she-camel prancing with the luggage, neck craning,
Vying with a stallion like pigeons with necks outstretched.
بِوَقعٍ دِراكٍ غَيرِ ما مُتَكَلَّفٍ
إِذا هَبَطَت وَعَثاً وَلا مُتَخاذِلِ
With a trot unlike the feigned,
When it alights on a dune and does not shirk.
كَأَنَّ جَريري يَنتَحي فيهِ مِسحَلٌ
مِنَ القُمرِ بَينَ الأَنعَمَينِ فَعاقِلِ
As though my mount gathers in it a smooth-going hyena
Between two fires, most prudent.
يُغَرِّدُ في الأَرضِ الفَلاةِ بِعانَةٍ
خِماصِ البُطونِ كَالصِعادِ الذَوابِلِ
It sings in the wilderness loudly
Like starving bellies screaming for aid.
وَنازِحَةٍ بِالقَيظِ عَنها جِحاشُها
وَقَد قَلَصَت أَطباؤُها كَالمَكاحِلِ
And a she-camel driven by the heat from which its young
And whose proboscides have shriveled like an eyebrow's dye.
وَظَلَّ سَراةَ اليَومِ يُبرِمُ أَمرَهُ
بِرَابِيَةٍ البَحّاءِ ذاتِ الأَعابِلِ
And the traveler of the day determined his affair
With an open-armed maiden given to intrigues,
وَهَمَّ بِوِردٍ بِالرَسيسِ فَصَدَّهُ
رِجالٌ قُعودٌ في الدُجى بِالمَعابِلِ
And aspired to a myrtle-scented tryst but was barred
By squatting men lying in wait at the watering-place,
إِذا وَرَدَت ماءً بِلَيلٍ تَعَرَّضَت
مَخافَةَ رامٍ أَو مَخَافَةَ حابِلِ
Whenever she comes to water at night, she is apprehensive
Fearing one who lies in wait or a roper.
كَأَنَّ مُدَهدى حَنظَلٍ حَيثُ سَوَّفَت
بِأَعطانِها مِن لَسِّها بِالجَحافِلِ
As though an ostrich Mudhahhad where it was delayed
With its chicks from its gaped mouth in multitudes.
