أَلا تِلكَ عِرسي إذا أمعَرت

أَساءَت مَلامَتَنا والإِمارا

Behold, when ‘Arsi turns away her mount,

She blames us though blameless are we;

وقالَت أرى المالَ أَهلَكتَهُ

وَأَحسَبُهُ لَو تَراهُ مُعارا

“I see,” she says, “you have squandered your wealth,

And I think were you to see it, ashamed you would be.

وَيَمنَعُ مِنها نَماءَ الإِفال

نسيءُ القِداحَ وَنَقدي التِجارا

The creditors deny us access to loans—

Those who sell on credit seek what we owe;

وَقَولُ الأَلَدَّةِ عِندَ الفِصالِ

إِذا قُمتُ لا تَترُكَنّا حَرارا

The slaves say, as I rise to depart,

‘Do not abandon us here lest we burn!’”

غَشيتُ حُزوناً بِبَطنِ الضِباعِ

فَأَلمَحتُ مِن آلِ سَلمى دِثارا

Gloomy, I entered a wolf-lair by night.

Then I glimpsed the mantles of Salma’s clan.

نَظَرتُ وَأَهلي عَلى صائِفٍ

هُدُوّاً فَآنَستُ بِالفَردِ نارا

I looked and saw my family on Sa’if,

Migrating. I glimpsed a lone fire in the distance.

عَلَيها خَذولٌ كَأُمِّ الغَزالِ

تَقرو بِذَروَةِ ضالاً قِصارا

Upon it a forlorn gazelle like a mother gazelle

Grazing by herself lost from the herd.

تَنُصُّ لِرَوعاتِهِ جيدَها

إِذا سَمِعَت مِن مُغَمٍّ جُؤارا

She offers her smooth neck to any feared sound—

If she but hears the complaint of a dove.

أَصاحِ تَرى البَرقَ لَم يَغتَمِض

إِذا زَعزَعَتهُ الجَنوبُ اِستطارا

Behold the lightning which did not go out

When the gale shook it and it flashed time and again.

فَسَلَّ مَصابيحَهُ بِالعِشاءِ

تَحسَبُ مِن حافَتَيهِ المَنارا

So it shed its lamps in the darkening night,

Its edges seeming to be cressets.

كَأَنَّ تَكَشّفهُ بِالنَشاصِ

بُلقٌ تَكَشَّفُ تَحمي مِهارا

As if, when it lightened, its veil lifted displayed

An adorable one who a secret would guard.

أَقامَ بِذي النَخلِ رَيعانَهُ

وَجادَ مُسَلِّحَةً فَالسِتارا

The saplings of date palms it made stand straight,

And generous palm trees it violently stripped.

وَحَطَّطَ أَحمَرَ بِالدَونَكَينِ

يغشَينَ مُعتَصِماتٍ تِعارا

Blood-red streaks mar the smooth dunes,

Covering shrinking cowerers.

فَأَضحى بِمُعتَلِجِ الوادِيَينِ

يَبرُقُ مِنهُ صَبيرٌ نَهارا

So at mid-day the two valleys’ cleft

Flashes with glittering pools of running water,

حَسيفَ يَزيفُ كَزَيفِ الكَسيرِ

يَنهَمِرُ الماءُ مِنهُ اِنهِمارا

Like the torrent of melted lead

Pouring water as in ceaseless rain,

وَغَيثٍ تَبَطَّنتُ قُريانَهُ

يُجاوِبُ فيهِ نَهيقَ عِرارا

Or a cloud whose sides took in water

Answered by the braying roar of camels,

ذَعَرتُ عَصافيرَهُ بِالسَوادِ

أُوَزِّعُ ذا مَيعَةٍ مُستَطارا

I startled its black birds

Distributing calls in various notes,

مِنَ المُغضِباتِ بِفَضِّ القُرونِ

إِذا كَرَّ فيهِ حَميمٌ غِرارا

Made angry by the vieing of voices

Whenever the red blaze burst out from it,

إِذا نَزَّعَتهُ إِلَيَّ الشَمال

راجَعَ تَقريبَهُ ثُمَّ غارا

When the north wind tugged it toward me,

It turned back after nearing me, then disappeared,

كَما جاشَ بِالماءِ عِندَ الوَقودِ

مِرجَلُ طَبّاخِهِ ثُمَّ فارا

As broth boiled before the kindling

In the pot of its cook, who then departed.

يَعِزُّ القَوافِل سَهلَ الطَريقِ

إِذا طابَقَت وَعثَهُنَّ الحِرارا

The highroad makes travel hard for caravans

When its glowing heat reaches them.

يَفينَ وَيَحسَبُهُ قافِلاً

إذا اِقوَرَّ حملاجَ ليفٍ مُغارا

It ebbs as if it were the fading torrent bed

Filled with the rich alluvia of the floodwater.

وَمُفرِهَةِ تامِكٍ نَيُّها

إِذا ما تُساقُ تَزينُ العِشارا

The she-camel of Tami!, when she kneels down,

Adorning the litter as the trappings sway.

لَقَيتُ قَوائِمها أَربُعاً

فَعادَت ثَلاثاً وَعادَت ضِمارا

I found she had lost the use of all four legs—

She could only walk on three, disabled.

فَجاءَ إِلَينا أَلَذَّ الرِجالِ

يُقسِمُ يَأَخُذُ مِنهُ اليَسارا

To me came the best of men. He swore

He would take 10 percent of her price in brokers fee.

تَفَلَّت عَن غِلمَةٍ شارِبينَ

لَو طارَ شَيءٌ مِنَ الجَهلِ طارا

Freed from boyish folly by one hardened drinker,

Were anything there to make us fly, we’d fly away!

فَلَمّا تَبَيَّنَ مِكروهُنا

وَأَيقَنَ أَنّا نُهينُ السَيارا

When our ugly business became clear to him

And he knew we were saddling up to go,

تَصَدّى لِنَجزِيَهُ مِثلَها

وَنَنظُرَ ماذا يَكونُ الحِوارا

He set himself to complete his promise—

And we wait to see what the result will be!