يا دارَ مَيَّةَ بِالعَلياءِ فَالسَنَدِ

أَقوَت وَطالَ عَلَيها سالِفُ الأَبَدِ

O abode of Mayya, amidst the highlands and the sand,

Old age has consumed it and time has passed it by,

وَقَفتُ فيها أُصَيلاناً أُسائِلُها

عَيَّت جَواباً وَما بِالرَبعِ مِن أَحَدِ

I stood in it calling out, questioning it,

It gave no answer while the land was void of people,

إِلّا الأَوارِيَّ لَأياً ما أُبَيِّنُها

وَالنُؤيَ كَالحَوضِ بِالمَظلومَةِ الجَلَدِ

Save the wild animals spending the night therein,

And ostriches like water-troughs amid the desolate sands,

رَدَّت عَلَيهِ أَقاصيهِ وَلَبَّدَهُ

ضَربُ الوَليدَةِ بِالمِسحاةِ في الثَأَدِ

It reflected their distant voices and returned the echoes,

The beating of drums at Al-Tha’d like lightning in clouds,

خَلَّت سَبيلَ أَتِيٍّ كانَ يَحبِسُهُ

وَرَفَّعَتهُ إِلى السَجفَينِ فَالنَضَدِ

It freed a prisoner who was confined,

And raised him up to the two roof-tops and the bier,

أَمسَت خَلاءً وَأَمسى أَهلُها اِحتَمَلوا

أَخنى عَلَيها الَّذي أَخنى عَلى لُبَدِ

It became empty while its inhabitants moved away,

He who lamented over it lamented over Lubad,

فَعَدِّ عَمّا تَرى إِذ لا اِرتِجاعَ لَهُ

وَاِنمِ القُتودَ عَلى عَيرانَةٍ أُجُدِ

So ignore what you see since it cannot be reversed,

And drive the camels gently through the soft sands,

مَقذوفَةٍ بِدَخيسِ النَحضِ بازِلُها

لَهُ صَريفٌ صَريفُ القَعوِ بِالمَسَدِ

Cast by the forelocks into the valley of Dakhish,

With a ringing sound like that of cracking by hailstones,

كَأَنَّ رَحلي وَقَد زالَ النَهارُ بِنا

يَومَ الجَليلِ عَلى مُستَأنِسٍ وَحِدِ

As though my camel-litter when the day declined with us

On a miserable, lonely day amid the hissing wind,

مِن وَحشِ وَجرَةَ مَوشِيٍّ أَكارِعُهُ

طاوي المُصَيرِ كَسَيفِ الصَيقَلِ الفَرَدِ

And the trees of a desolate, feared wasteland,

Bending, like the straight polished Indian sword,

سَرَت عَلَيهِ مِنَ الجَوزاءِ سارِيَةٌ

تُزجي الشَمالُ عَلَيهِ جامِدَ البَرَدِ

Over which the northerly wind blew, with intense cold,

So it shivered for fear of the sound of dogs and passed the night sleepless;

فَاِرتاعَ مِن صَوتِ كَلّابٍ فَباتَ لَهُ

طَوعَ الشَوامِتِ مِن خَوفٍ وَمِن صَرَدِ

I set them on it and it continued hissing at them,

A troop of she-camels, innocent of pregnancy,

فَبَثَّهُنَّ عَلَيهِ وَاِستَمَرَّ بِهِ

صُمعُ الكُعوبِ بَريئاتٌ مِنَ الحَرَدِ

While he was snarling, wherever I made him halt,

At the onslaughts of war by the stony tracts of Nujud,

وَكانَ ضُمرانُ مِنهُ حَيثُ يوزِعُهُ

طَعنَ المُعارِكِ عِندَ المُحجَرِ النَجُدِ

He charged the wild cows, protecting them,

With the onslaughts of a piercing trotter when recovering from lameness,

شَكَّ الفَريصَةَ بِالمِدرى فَأَنقَذَها

طَعنَ المُبَيطِرِ إِذ يَشفي مِنَ العَضَدِ

As though issuing from the side of his companion

A stupid camel, whom his owner had left behind at a camping-place,

كَأَنَّهُ خارِجاً مِن جَنبِ صَفحَتِهِ

سَفّودُ شَربٍ نَسوهُ عِندَ مُفتَأَدِ

So he continued swallowing the rich herbage, hunching up,

In a miserable state, truly without any friend;

فَظَلَّ يَعجُمُ أَعلى الرَوقِ مُنقَبِضاً

في حالِكِ اللَونِ صَدقٍ غَيرِ ذي أَوَدِ

When a comrade saw his companion's madness

And no way to his sense or guidance,

لَمّا رَأى واشِقٌ إِقعاصَ صاحِبِهِ

وَلا سَبيلَ إِلى عَقلٍ وَلا قَوَدِ

His soul said to him, "I see no hope here,

And your master is not safe and sound";

قالَت لَهُ النَفسُ إِنّي لا أَرى طَمَعاً

وَإِنَّ مَولاكَ لَم يَسلَم وَلَم يَصِدِ

So it will take me to Nu'man—verily he possesses

Excellence above men both far and near.

فَتِلكَ تُبلِغُني النُعمانَ إِنَّ لَهُ

فَضلاً عَلى الناسِ في الأَدنى وَفي البَعَدِ

I do not see any man among the people resembling him,

Nor any retinue of the tribesmen except one;

وَلا أَرى فاعِلاً في الناسِ يُشبِهُهُ

وَلا أُحاشي مِنَ الأَقوامِ مِن أَحَدِ

Namely Solomon, when Allah said to him,

"Journey in the wilderness and mark it out with stones",

إِلّا سُلَيمانُ إِذ قالَ الإِلَهُ لَهُ

قُم في البَرِيَّةِ فَاِحدُدها عَنِ الفَنَدِ

And reduce the jinn to obedience; verily I have permitted them

To build Tadmur with clay and stone,

وخيّسِ الجِنَّ إِنّي قَد أَذِنتُ لَهُم

يَبنونَ تَدمُرَ بِالصُفّاحِ وَالعَمَدِ

So whoever obeys you, benefit him through his obedience,

Even as he obeyed you, and guide him to righteousness;

فَمَن أَطاعَكَ فَاِنفَعهُ بِطاعَتِهِ

كَما أَطاعَكَ وَاِدلُلهُ عَلى الرَشَدِ

And whoever disobeys you, punish him with chastisement

That will deter the wrongdoers and is not simply a bandage;

وَمَن عَصاكَ فَعاقِبهُ مُعاقَبَةً

تَنهى الظَلومَ وَلا تَقعُد عَلى ضَمَدِ

None is suited for this affair but you or one whom you preceded

And outstripped the steed when it strains to the utmost;

إِلّا لِمِثلِكَ أَو مَن أَنتَ سابِقُهُ

سَبقَ الجَوادَ إِذا اِستَولى عَلى الأَمَدِ

He gave to Farwah a hundred reddish-white camels, whose succession

Of gifts is not given for misery;

أَعطى لِفارِهَةٍ حُلوٍ تَوابِعُها

مِنَ المَواهِبِ لا تُعطى عَلى نَكَدِ

The Giver decked them out with trappings,

Bright like the full moons in their upper parts;

الواهِبُ المِئَةَ المَعكاءَ زَيَّنَها

سَعدانُ توضِحَ في أَوبارِها اللِبَدِ

And also chestnut horses, whose girths

Were bound with the ropes of Hira, new and strong,

وَالأُدمَ قَد خُيِّسَت فُتلاً مَرافِقُها

مَشدودَةً بِرِحالِ الحيرَةِ الجُدُدِ

And runners, the ends of whose leading-ropes trailed along,

Cooled by the blowing of the northerly winds, fresh and sweet,

وَالراكِضاتِ ذُيولَ الرَيطِ فانَقَها

بَردُ الهَواجِرِ كَالغِزلانِ بِالجَرَدِ

While the horses were kicking up the dust-clouds in their excitement,

Like birds escaping from a storm and intense cold;

وَالخَيلَ تَمزَعُ غَرباً في أَعِنَّتِها

كَالطَيرِ تَنجو مِنَ الشُؤبوبِ ذي البَرَدِ

Judge with the judgment of the girl of Huyay

When she looked at a flock of pigeons coming to water,

اِحكُم كَحُكمِ فَتاةِ الحَيِّ إِذ نَظَرَت

إِلى حَمامِ شِراعٍ وارِدِ الثَمَدِ

Accompanied by a hawk, and then followed

By one like an unEyelinered bottle free from dust,

يَحُفُّهُ جانِبا نيقٍ وَتُتبِعُهُ

مِثلَ الزُجاجَةِ لَم تُكحَل مِنَ الرَمَدِ

She said: "Would that this pigeon flock were ours

Together with our own dovecote—and half as many more!"

قالَت أَلا لَيتَما هَذا الحَمامُ لَنا

إِلى حَمامَتِنا وَنِصفُهُ فَقَدِ

They counted them, and found them ninety-nine, lacking nothing and with nothing over,

So she completed a hundred including her own doves,

فَحَسَّبوهُ فَأَلفَوهُ كَما حَسَبَت

تِسعاً وَتِسعينَ لَم تَنقُص وَلَم تَزِدِ

And quickly finished the reckoning of that number.

No—by Him whose Kaaba I have touched,

فَكَمَّلَت مِئَةً فيها حَمامَتُها

وَأَسرَعَت حِسبَةً في ذَلِكَ العَدَدِ

And whose body the buildings at Najd have not harbored,

And by the believers who take refuge with the birds,

فَلا لَعَمرُ الَّذي مَسَّحتُ كَعبَتَهُ

وَما هُريقَ عَلى الأَنصابِ مِن جَسَدِ

Whom the riders of the valley and of Sa'd touch!

I have said naught of evil in what you have done

وَالمُؤمِنِ العائِذاتِ الطَيرِ تَمسَحُها

رُكبانُ مَكَّةَ بَينَ الغَيلِ وَالسَعَدِ

If I raise not my whip-hand against myself;

But the saying of certain people has distressed me,

ما قُلتُ مِن سَيِّئٍ مِمّا أَتَيتَ بِهِ

إِذاً فَلا رَفَعَت سَوطي إِلَيَّ يَدي

Their saying being a blow with a cranium on my liver.

Then may my Lord chastise me with a chastisement

إِلّا مَقالَةَ أَقوامٍ شَقيتُ بِها

كانَت مَقالَتُهُم قَرعاً عَلى الكَبِدِ

That will rejoice the eye of him who brings you calumny!

I am told that Abu Qabus has threatened me—

إِذاً فَعاقَبَني رَبّي مُعاقَبَةً

قَرَّت بِها عَينُ مَن يَأتيكَ بِالفَنَدِ

But there is no repose for him who is enraged like a lion.

Gently! The ransom of all the tribes is yours,

أُنبِئتُ أَنَّ أَبا قابوسَ أَوعَدَني

وَلا قَرارَ عَلى زَأرٍ مِنَ الأَسَدِ

And I have no wealth or children to lose;

Do not cast me into a predicament from which I have no escape,

مَهلاً فِداءٌ لَكَ الأَقوامُ كُلُّهُمُ

وَما أُثَمَّرُ مِن مالٍ وَمِن وَلَدِ

Even if your enemies have inveigled you with presents.

For when the winds blow fiercely the Euphrates—

لا تَقذِفَنّي بِرُكنٍ لا كِفاءَ لَهُ

وَإِن تَأَثَّفَكَ الأَعداءُ بِالرِفَدِ

Its eddies cast up the white spume in bunches—

Every valley contributing a flooding rain,

فَما الفُراتُ إِذا هَبَّ الرِياحُ لَهُ

تَرمي أَواذِيُّهُ العِبرَينِ بِالزَبَدِ

Therein debris of the tamarisk and papyrus—

The sailor remains in fear of it, seeking refuge

يَمُدُّهُ كُلُّ وادٍ مُترَعٍ لَجِبٍ

فيهِ رِكامٌ مِنَ اليَنبوتِ وَالخَضَدِ

In a bittern-bed beyond the sand and gravel,

One day with richer gifts than it, it gives superfluous gifts,

يَظَلُ مِن خَوفِهِ المَلّاحُ مُعتَصِماً

بِالخَيزُرانَةِ بَعدَ الأَينِ وَالنَجَدِ

And the bounty of today does not prevent that of tomorrow—

This is my praise; so if you hear it, 'tis well;

يَوماً بِأَجوَدَ مِنهُ سَيبَ نافِلَةٍ

وَلا يَحولُ عَطاءُ اليَومِ دونَ غَدِ

For I have not made myself liable to curses and shackles.

Lo, this excuses him whom you benefit not;

هَذا الثَناءُ فَإِن تَسمَع بِهِ حَسَناً

فَلَم أُعَرِّض أَبَيتَ اللَعنَ بِالصَفَدِ

For its owner is a partner in misery.

ها إِنَّ ذي عِذرَةٌ إِلّا تَكُن نَفَعَت

فَإِنَّ صاحِبَها مُشارِكُ النَكَدِ