جَزِعتَ أَن شَتَّ صَرفُ الحَيَّ فَاِنفَرَقوا
وَأَجمَعوا البَينَ بِالرَهنِ الَّذي عَلَقوا
You were distressed that the turns of fate scattered them
And they collected the separation with the pledge they hung
فَقُمتُ أَتبَعُهُم عَيناً إِذا طَمَعَت
أَن يَرعَووا أَو يَعوجوا ساعَةً وَسَقوا
So I stood watching them when hope arose
That they would pause or waver for an hour and quench their thirst
لَمّاحَةً يَرفَعُ الشَخصُ البَعيدُ لَها
قَبلَ العُيونِ إِذا ما اِغرورقَ الحَدَقُ
With a glance the distant person raises to it
Before the eyes when the eyelids were overflowing
وَاِستَنفَروا بِنَوىً حَذّاءَ تَقذِفُهُم
إِلى أَقاصي هَواهُم ساعَةَ اِنطَلَقوا
And they were roused by an ardent intent that drives them
To the furthest extents of their passion when they set out
إِذا عَلَوا ظَهرَ حَرباءٍ يُحامِلُهُم
آلُ الضُحى وَإِذا ما أَسهَلوا غَرِقوا
When they surmounted the ridge of the noon mirage bearing them
The kith of morning and when they went down they drowned
في آلِ دَوِيَّةٍ تَجري السَرابُ بِها
إِذا تَرَقرَقَ ضَحلُ القاعَةِ القَرِقُ
In a house of sand where the mirage flows through it
When the surface of the desert flashes hot
وَصاحِبٌ غَيرِ نِكسٍ قَد نَشَأتُ بِهِ
عَن نَومِةٍ وَهوَ فيها مُهمَدٌ أَنِقُ
And a steadfast companion with whom I was brought up
From a slumber while he in it was extinguished, limp
مُسافِرٌ فَرَشَتهُ الأَرضُ مَنزِلَةً
أَدّى كَراهُ إِلَيها النَصُّ وَالعَنَقُ
A traveler whose bed the earth made into a halt
To which his composure and neck submitted
فَمالَ مَيلاً وَلَم يَسلَخ بَواطِنَهُ
سِرباً عَن ذُنوبِ المَتنِ مُنخَرِقُ
He inclined aside and did not slip out of his innermost
Like a drove turning away from the sins of the stretcher torn
كَأَنَّهُ شارِبٌ يَشفي لَذاذَتَهُ
بِالخَمرِ أَو وارِمُ الأَوداجِ مُختَنِقُ
As if he were a drinker who savors its delight
With wine or strangling the innards choked
فَقُمتُ أُخبِرُهُ بِالغَيثِ لَم أَرَهُ
وَالبَرقُ إِذ أَنا مَحزونٌ لَهُ أَرِقُ
So I stood to tell him about the rain I did not see
While I, distressed for him, was sleepless
مُزنٌ تُسَبِّحُ في ريحٍ شَآمِيَةٍ
مُكَلَّلٌ بِعَماءِ الماءِ مُنطَلِقُ
Sad, glorifying in a north wind
Crowned by the turbid water freed
لَمّا اِكفَهَرَّ شُرَيقِيِّ اللَوى وَأَوى
إِلى تَواليهِ مِن سُفّارِهِ رَفَقُ
When my boon receptor of renewal turned
To its sequences from its envoys composed
تَرَبَّصَ الَيلُ حَتّى قالَ شائِمُهُ
عَلى الرُوَيشِدِ أَو خَرجائِهِ يَدِقُ
The night held back until its blamer said
To the guide star or its appearance knocking
حَتّى إِذا المَنظرُ الغَربِيُّ جادَ دَماً
مِن حُمَرةِ الشَمسِ لَمّا اِغتالَها الأُفُقُ
Until when the westerly view ran blood
From the redness of the sun when the horizon assassinated it
القى عَلى ذاتِ أَحفارٍ كَلاكِلَهُ
وَشَبَّ نيرانُهُ وَاِنجابَ يَأتلِقُ
It cast upon the lair of anklets its sparks
And its fires blazed and its kindling flashed
ناراً يُراجِعُ مِنها العودُ جَدَّتَهُ
وَالنارُ تَسفَعُ عيداناً فَتَحتَرِقُ
A fire which the firewood takes back to its grandmother
And the fire climbs logs so they catch flame
وَباتَ يَحتِلِبُ الجَوزاءَ دِرَّتَها
بِنَوئِها حينَ هاجَت مَربَعٌ لَثِقُ
And he spent the night weeping to the Goat star its loss
With his bellowing when Aquarius was set boiling
يَبكي لِيُدرِكَ فَحلاً كانَ ضَيَّعَهُ
بِرَيِّقٍ سَبَطٍ مِنهُ وَيَنزَهِقُ
Crying to regain honey which he had squandered
With a copious draft from it and panting
فَما بِهِ بَطنُ وادٍ غِبَّ نَضحَتِهِ
وَإِن تَراغَبَ إِلّا مُسفَهٌ تَئِقُ
The interior of no valley poured is sated by its flooding even if
None but a fool is tempted
جَونُ المَسارِبِ رَقراقٌ تَظَلُّ بِهِ
شُمُّ المَخارِمِ وَالأَثناءُ تَصطَفِقُ
The runnels of the valleys dripping which the summits
And the slopes stream
يَكادُ يَطلُعُ صَعداً ثُمَّ يغلِبُهُ
غِرُّ الظَواهِرِ فَالوادي بِهِ شَرِقُ
It almost rises upward then the deceptiveness of phenomena overcomes it
And the valley because of it is deluged
إِذا تَحَرَّفَ مِن بَرواءَ مُعرِضَةٍ
دَعاهُ أَبطَحُ ذو حَرفَينِ مُنفَهِقُ
When it turns from an aversion of purpose
A winding depression with two sides tunneling calls it
عودٌ لَهُ شُعبٌ يُدعَينَ أَودِيَةً
بِمُلتَقاهُنَّ مِنهُ الصَفوَ وَالرَتَقُ
A jujube tree it has valleys called after it
By their conjunction from it chalk and gravel
فَمِن حَصاهُ نَقِيٌّ في جَوانِبِهِ
مَعَ الغَثاءِ وَمِنهُ الراسِبُ الغَرِقُ
So from its pebbles the pure and in its sides
With the scum and from it the settling thick
مُستَمسِكٌ بِعِزازِ الأَرضِ ضَنَّ بِهِ
كادَ يَرُدُّ غُرابَ الفاسِ مُطَّرِقُ
Clinging to the retainers of the earth, diminished by it
He almost repels the raven of the sword bowing
يَوماً يُظِلّ بِهِ الحَرباءُ مُعتَقِلاً
جِذعَ الهَشيمَةِ يَعلو ثُمَّ يَرتَفِقُ
A day he takes shade under the noon mirage making it
A refuge, atop the brushwood ascending then descending
كَأَنَّهُ شَيخُ سَوءٍ بَزَّ خِلعَتَهُ
عاري الأَشاجِعِ مَكلومٌ بِهِ رَمَقُ
As if he were an evil old man shedding his garments
Bare of armpits, blameworthy, by it feeble
