أَلا طَرَقَت أَسماءُ في غَيرِ مَطرَقِ
وَأَنّى إِذا حَلَّت بِنَجرانَ نَلتَقي
Has Asma's fate befallen in a place unbefitting,
And how then if she comes to Najran do we meet?
سَرَت كُلَّ وادٍ دونَ رَهوَةَ دافِعٍ
وَجَلذانَ أَو كَرمٍ بَلِيَّةَ مُحدِقِ
She roamed every valley without an impeding obstacle,
And the rugged terrains of Karman or perilous precipice.
تَجاوَزَت الأَعراضَ حَتّى تَوَسَّنَت
وَسادي بِبابٍ دونَ جِلذان مُغلَقِ
She went beyond considerations until she took shelter,
While I remain stationed at a door without handle or lock.
بِغُرِّ الثَنايا خَيَّفَ الظَلمُ نَبتَهُ
وَسُنَّةَ رِئمٍ بالجُنَينَةِ مونِقِ
In the folds of the dark night, gloom spread its growth;
And the tradition of a critic in the little garden flourished.
وَلَم أَرَها إِلّا تَعِلَّةَ ساعَةٍ
عَلى ساجِرٍ أَو نَظرَةً بِالمُشَرَّقِ
I did not see her except making excuses for an hour,
Glancing from an open tent or through an eastern window.
وَحَيثُ الجَميعُ الحابِسونَ بِراكِسٍ
وَكانَ المُحاقُ مَوعِداً لِلتَفَرُّقِ
Where everyone gathers, detaining with conversation,
And separation was the promised time to disperse.
بِوَجّ وَما بالي بِوَجّ وِبالُها
وَمَن يَلقَ يَوماً جِدَّةَ الحُبّ يُخلِقِ
With a face—what is it to me? Her face's radiance,
Whoever faces virgin love one day creates it anew.
وَأَبدى شُهورُ الحَجِّ مِنها مَحاسِناً
وَوَجهاً مَتى يَحلِل لَهُ الطيبُ يُشرِقِ
The months of Hajj displayed of her beautiful traits,
A face whose purity the perfumes reveal when applied.
فَأَمّا تَرَيني أَقصَرَ اليَومَ باطِلي
وَلاحَ بَياضُ الشَيبِ في كُلِّ مَفرقِ
You see me spending the day vainly,
As the whiteness of old age appears on every parting hair.
وَزايَلَني رَيقُ الشَبابِ وَظِلُّهُ
وَبُدِّلتُ مِنهُ سَحقَ آخَرَ مُخلِقِ
The saliva of youth and its shade have left me,
And I was changed from it to be crushed at last.
فَعَثرَةِ مَولىً قَد نَعَشتُ وَأُسرَةٍ
كِرامٍ وَأَبطالٍ لَدى كُلِّ مَأزِقِ
I have revived the stumbling of a Master, and a bridle
Of generous and brave men in every distressful plight.
وَحِرَّةِ صادٍ قَد نَضَحتُ بِشَربَةٍ
وَقَد ذُمَّ قَبلي لَيلَ آخَرَ مُطرِقِ
I have overflowed with a drink of one who pours,
And before me the night of another critic was blamed.
وَنَهبٍ كَجُمّاعِ الثُرَيّا حَوَيتُهُ
غِشاشاً بِمُحتاتِ القَوائِمِ خَيفَقِ
And a plunder like the collectivity of locusts I have contained it,
Fluttering with the forelegs of the crouching camels.
وَمَعشوقَةٍ طَلَّقنَها بِمُرِشَّةٍ
لَها سَنَنٌ كَالأَتحَمِيِّ المُخرَّقِ
And a lover I divorced with a single act,
She had qualities like a perforated and ripped mat.
فَباتَت سَليباً مِن أُناسٍ تُحِبُّهُم
كَئيباً وَلَولا طَعنَتي لَم تُطَلَّقِ
She spent the night feeling deprived by people she loves,
Grieving, and had I not stabbed her she would not be divorced.
وَخَيلٍ تَعادى لا هَوادَةَ بِينَها
شَهِدتُ بِمَدلوكِ المَعاقِمِ مُحنِقِ
And horses that harbor enmity with no reconciliation between them,
I have witnessed with the clash of their bridled mouths.
طَويل عُظامٍ غَيرِ خافٍ نَمى بِهِ
سَليمُ الشَظا في مُكرَباتِ المُطَبَّقِ
Long of bone that fears no growth flourished in him,
Safe from 分割 in adversities of compacted structure.
بَصيرٌ بَأَطرافِ الحِدابِ مُقَلِّصٍ
نَبيلٍ يُساوى بِالطِرافِ المُرَوَّقِ
Insightful, minimizing the edges of separation
Noble, equaling the highest peaks that are lofty.
إِذا ما استَحَمَّت أَرضُهُ مِن سَمائِهِ
جَرى وَهوَ مَودُعٌ وَواعِدُ مَصدَقِ
When his land rains from its clouds,
It flows while he bids farewell and promises honesty.
وَمَدَّ الشمالَ طَعنُهُ في عِنانِهِ
وَباعَ كَبوع الشادِنِ المَتَطَلِّقِ
And the stab of the north in his rein,
He sold the intensity of warriors set loose.
مِنَ الكاتِماتِ الرَبوَ تَمزَع مُقَدّماً
سَبوقاً إِلى الغاياتِ غَيرَ مُسَبَّقِ
Of the reserved, he ripped apart the leader,
Preceding to the goals without prior arrangement.
وَعَتهُ جَوادٌ لا يُباعُ جَبينُها
بِمَنسوبَةٍ أَعراقُهُ غَيرِ مُحمِقِ
It had a steed that would not sell its forehead
For a pedigree whose roots are not twisted.
وَمَرقَبَةٍ طَيَّرتُ عَنها حَمامَها
نَعامَتُها مِنها بِضاحٍ مَزَلَّقِ
And an observatory from which I frightened its doves,
Its ostrich wandering from it, glittering smoothly.
تَبيتُ عِتاق الطَيرِ في رَقَباتِها
كَطَرَّةِ بَيتِ الفارِسي المُعَلَّقِ
The untamed birds spend the night around its neck,
Like the suspended badge of the Persian horseman.
رَبَأتُ وَحُرجوجٍ جَهَدتُ رَواحَها
عَلى لاحِبٍ مِثلِ الحَصيرِ المُشَقَّقِ
I have ridden while exhausting its plowing mares
On bumpy terrain like cracked mats.
تَبيتُ إلى عِدٍّ تَقادَمَ عَهدُهُ
بِحَرٍّ تَقى حَرَّ النَهارِ بِغَلفَقِ
They spend the night counting days of old covenants
In hot sands that the mid-day heat melts down.
كَأَنَّ مَحافيرَ السِباعِ حِياضَهُ
لِتَعريسِها جَنبَ الأَزاءِ المُمَزَّقِ
It is as if the claw marks of beasts are its enclosures
For its wedding next to the tattered carpets.
مُعَرَّسُ رَكبٍ قافِلينَ بِصرَةٍ
صِرادٍ إِذا ما نارُهُم لَم تُحَرَّقِ
A bride of a riding company traveling with luggage
Whose fire, if ignited, does not calm down.
فَدَع ذا وَلَكِن هَل تَرى ضَوءَ بارِقٍ
يُضيءُ حَبِيّاً في ذُرىً مُتَأَلّقِ
So leave this and do you see a flashing light
That illuminates a loved one in radiant traces?
عَلا الأُكمَ مِنهُ وابِلٌ بَعدَ وابِلٍ
فَقَد أُرهِقَت قَيَعانُهُ كُلُّ مُرهَقِ
It rose above the dunes with rain after rain
For its valleys have been burdened, all are fatigued.
يَجُرُّ بِأَكنافِ البِحارِ إِلى المَلا
رَباباً لَهُ مِثلُ النَعامِ المُعَلَّقِ
It drags on the edges of seas to the harbor
A ship like a suspended ostrich carried on.
إِذا قُلتَ تَزهاهُ الرِياحُ دنا لَهُ
رَبابٌ لَهُ مِثلُ النَعامِ المُوَسَّقِ
If you say the winds make it sway, come closer to it,
A ship like a properly arranged ostrich appears.
كَأَنَّ الحُداةَ وَالمُشايِعَ وَسطَهُ
وَعوذاً مَطافيلاً بِأَمعَزَ مُشرِقِ
It is as if the leaders and the guides around it
And refugees are goats of the brilliant east.
أَسَألَ شَقاً يَعلو العِضاهَ غُثاؤُهُ
يُصَفِّقُ في قيعانِها كُلَّ مَصفَقِ
Asking for a cleft that its abundant flowing pus
Claps in its depths all that can clap.
فَجادَ شَرَوراً فَالسَتارَ فَأَصبَحَت
يَعارُ لَهُ وَالوادِيانِ بِمَودِقِ
So it brought evil and thus the curtain, and it became
Shameful for it and the valleys in lodging.
كَأَنَّ الضَبابَ بِالصَحارى عَشِيَّةً
رِجالٌ دَعاها مُستَضيفٌ لِمَوسِقِ
It is as if the fog in the deserts at night
Are men it invited for a musical evening.
لَهُ حَدَبٌ يَستَخرِجُ الذِئبَ كارِهاً
يُمِرُّ غُثاءً تَحتَ غارٍ مُطَلَّقِ
It has a hump that forcibly drags out the unwilling wolf
To pass in its depth under an abandoned cave.
يَشُقُّ الحِدابَ بِالصَحارى وَيَنتَحي
فِراخَ العُقابِ بِالحِقاءِ المُحَلّق
It splits through the deserts and takes cover
Under the soaring chicks of the eagle.
