يا خَليلَيَّ هاجَني الذِكَرُ

وَحَمولُ الحَيِّ إِذ صَدَروا

O my two companions, remembrance has stirred me,

and the tribe’s loading up as they turned away.

ظَعَنوا كَأَنَّ ظُعنَهُمُ

مونِعُ القُنوانِ أَو عُشَرُ

They journeyed off, their camel-litters seeming to emerge

from among hanging date clusters or stands of ʿushar,

بِالَّتي قَد كُنتُ آمُلُها

فَفُؤادي موجَعٌ حَذِرُ

bearing away her for whom I had hoped;

and so my heart is aching and afraid:

ظَبيَةٍ مِن وَحشِ ذي بَقَرٍ

شَأنُها الغَيطانُ وَالغُدُرُ

a gazelle among the wild creatures of Dhū Baqar,

whose haunts are the lowlands and pools,

رَخصَةٍ حَوراءَ ناعِمَةٍ

طَفلَةٍ كَأَنَّها قَمَرُ

supple, wide-eyed, delicate—

a young beauty, as though she were the moon.

لَو سُقي الأَمواتُ ريقَتَها

بَعدَ كَأسِ المَوتِ لَاِنتَشَروا

If the dead were given her saliva to drink,

after death’s cup they would rise again.

وَيَكادُ الحَجلُ مِن غَصَصٍ

حينَ يَستَأنيهِ يَنكَسِرُ

Her anklet nearly snaps from constriction

whenever she makes it lag behind;

وَيَكادُ العَجزُ إِن نَهَضَت

بَعدَ طولِ البُهرِ يَنبَتِرُ

and her haunches, when she rises, nearly break away

after such prolonged, breathless strain.

قَد إِذا خُبِّرتُ أَنَّهُمُ

قَدَّموا الأَثقالَ فَاِبتَكَروا

Then, when I was told that they

had sent the baggage ahead and set out early—

أَخِيامُ البِئرِ مَنزِلُهُم

أَم هُمُ بِالعُمرَةِ اِئتَمَروا

were the approaches to the well their stopping place,

or had they resolved upon the ʿumra?

أَم بِأَعلى ذي الأَراكِ لَهُم

مَربَعٌ قَد جادَهُ المَطَرُ

Or, in the upper reaches of Dhū al-Arāk, did they have

a spring campsite generously watered by rain?

سَلَكوا خَلَّ الصِفاحِ لَهُم

زَجَلٌ أَحداجُهُم زُمَرُ

They threaded clefts amid the broad rocks, while

their camel-litters clamored, troop upon troop.

سَلَكوا شَعبَ النِقابِ بِها

زُمَراً تَحُتَثُّهُم زُمَرُ

They took her through the ravine of al-Niqāb

in bands, with bands chanting them onward.

قالَ حاديهِم لَهُم أُصُلاً

أَمكَنَت لِلشارِبِ الغُدُرُ

Their camel-driver said to them, “Leave the water!

The pools have afforded drinkers their chance.”

ضَرَبوا حُمرَ القِبابِ لَها

وَأُحيطَت حَولَها الحُجَرُ

They raised red-domed tents for her,

and enclosures were set all around her.

فَطَرَقتُ الحَيَّ مُكتَتِماً

وَمَعي سَيفٌ بِهِ أَثَرُ

By night I came secretly upon the encampment,

with a scar-marked sword at my side,

وَأَخٌ لَم أَخشَ نَبوَتَهُ

بِنَواحي أَمرِهِم خَبِرُ

and my brother, whose failing me I did not fear,

versed in every quarter of their affairs.

فَإِذا ريمٌ عَلى مُهُدٍ

في حِجالِ الخَزِّ مُستَتِرُ

And there she was—a white gazelle upon a couch,

veiled behind curtains of silk,

بادِنٌ تَجلو مُفَلَّجَةً

عَذبَةً غُرّاً لَها أُشُرُ

full-bodied, revealing evenly spaced teeth,

sweet and lustrous, their edges finely serrated.

حَولَها الأَحراسُ تَرقَبُها

نُوَّمٌ مِن طولِ ما سَهِروا

Guards surrounded her, charged with watching her,

asleep after so long a vigil,

أَشبَهوا القَتلى وَما قُتِلوا

ذاكَ إِلّا أَنَّهُم سَمَروا

resembling slain men, though none had killed them—

only because they had spent the night awake in company and talk.

فَدَعَت بِالوَيلِ ثُمَّ دَعَت

حينَ أَدناني لَها النَظَرُ

She cried out in woe, then cried again

when the sight of me brought me so near her;

وَدَعَت حَوراءَ آنِسَةً

حُرَّةً مِن شَأنِها الخَفَرُ

and she summoned a wide-eyed, companionable maid,

a freeborn woman whose nature was modest reserve.

ثُمَّ قالَت لِلَّتي مَعَها

وَيحَ نَفسي ما أَتى عُمَرُ

Then she said to the woman beside her,

“Woe is me! What has brought ʿUmar?

ما لَهُ قَد جاءَ يَطرُقُنا

وَيَرى الأَعداءَ قَد حَضَروا

Why has he come visiting us by night

when he sees the enemies gathered round?

لِشَقائي أُختٍ عَلِقنا

وَلِحينٍ ساقَهُ القَدَرُ

To my own misery I have admitted one dear to me,

and fate has driven him toward his doom.”

قُلتُ عِرضي دونَ عِرضِكُمُ

وَلَمَن عاداكُمُ جَزَرُ

I said, “My honor stands as a shield before yours,

and whoever opposes you is meat for slaughter.”