أَوحَشت النَخلُ مِن مَعاقِلِ فَالرَو
ضاتِ بَينَ الغَيساءِ فَالنُجُدِ
The palms are desolate amid strongholds between the sands and the meadows,
The wild replaced by the familiar from times gone by,
بُدِّلتِ الوَحشَ بِالأَنيسِ لِما
مَرَّ عَلَيها مِن سالِفِ الأَبَدِ
After years aloft its arenas
You hear within prizes of money,
بَعدَ سَوامٍ تَعلو مَسارِحَهُ
تَسمَعُ فيهِ جَوائِزَ النَقَدِ
It guards its pack and protects them
A gaze like a vigilant doe, unsheathed,
يَحرُسُ أَكلاءَهُ وَيَحفَظُهُ
طِرفٌ كَتَيسِ الظِباءِ مُنجَرِدِ
And a swimmer, gathering, clawed by
Every unruly leader like a lion,
وَسابِحٍ مُدمِجٍ يَخرِشُهُ
كُلُّ عُنودِ القِيادِ كَالمَسَدِ
It has no prophecy, so it refused it
On a day of wagering, from it no acceptance or rejection,
لَيسَت لَهُ نَبوَةٌ فَنَكرَهُها
يَومَ رِهانٍ مِنهُ وَلا طَرَدِ
O can you see the lightning in the darkness of its knuckles
In a growling thunder, its temples clenched,
يا هَل تَرى البَرقَ بِتُّ أَرقَبُهُ
في مُكفَهِرٍّ نَشاصُهُ قَرَدِ
It leaned on the dome of ruins gloriously
The pole glittering between the sands and the rocks,
مالَ عَلى قُبَّةِ البُثاءِ فعز
زَ المَترُ بَينَ الرَجلاءِ فَالجُمُدِ
It leaves them, the endings, scattered,
Like fresh, loosened headbands,
يَترُكُ مِنها النِهاءُ مُفرِطَةً
مِثلَ الرِياطِ المَنشورَةِ الجُدُدِ
When a Yemeni wind passes it
It returns its banners to the textile,
إِذامَرَتهُ ريحٌ يَمانِيَّةٌ
يَرُدُّ رَيعانَهُ إِلى نَضَدِ
If yesterday I stroked the soil, could
Death after me turn from anyone?
إِن أَمسِ رَمساً تَحتَ التُرابِ فَهَل
تَصرِفُ بَعدي المَنونُ عَن أَحَدِ
Every person has lost his loved ones
And a Muslim his face turned to the homeland,
كُلُّ اِمرِئٍ فاقِدٌ أَحبَتهُ
وَمُسلِمٍ وَجهَهُ إِلى البَلَدِ
I opened my shop spreading it
With luggage atop the brilliant camels
وَقَد أُغادي الحانوت أَنشُرُهُ
بِالرَحلِ فوقَ العَرانَةِ الأُجُدِ
My eyes pierce the cups yet I do not
Get drunk from their scent and I do not flinch,
تَنفُذُ عَيني إِلى الكَياسِ وَلا
أَسكَرُ مِن ريحِها وَلَم أَكَدِ
I avoid the era of scheming, and I
Slay the hunger of the wretched outcast
وَاِترُك القَرنَ مِنَ المَكرِ وَقَد
أَقتُلُ جوعَ المُحَوَّلِ الصَرِدِ
And I bring down the fearful stranger with it
I fold up the day with a slumbering wail
وَأَهبِطُ العازِبَ المَخوفَ بِهِ
أَطوي النَهارَ بِسابِحٍ نَهِدِ
Barefoot, its vessels,
Clouds like frightened ewes, restless,
أَجرَدَ مَدلوكَةٍ مَعاقِمُهُ
فُقمٌ كَشاةِ الصَريمَةِ العَتَدِ
It did not contend with veils and its
Heat did not weary it, nor did it object
لَم يَتَخاوَشِ مِنَ النِقابِ وَلَم
يُزرِ بِهِ قَيظُهُ وَلَم يَرِدِ
