Sol 6.1

  1. سَقى اللَهُ أَطلالاً بَنُعمٍ تَرادَفَت

    بِهِنَّ النُوى حَتّى حَلَلنَ المَطالِيا

    May God water the ruins at Nuʿm, where, one after another,

    separations came, until they settled at al-Matali.

  2. فَإِن كانَتِ الأَيّامُ يا أُمَّ مالِكٍ

    تُسَلّيكُمُ عَنّي وَتُرضي الأَعادِيا

    If the days, O Umm Malik,

    make you forget me and please my enemies,

  3. فَلا يَأمَنَن بَعدي اِمرِؤٌ فَجعَ لَذَّةٍ

    مِنَ العَيشِ أَو فَجعَ الخُطوبِ العَوافِيا

    then let no man after me feel safe from losing a pleasure

    of life, or from calamities robbing him of well-being.

  4. وَبُدِّلَت مِن جَدواكِ يا أُمَّ مالِكٍ

    طَوارِقُ هَمٍّ يَحتَضِرنَ وَسادِيا

    And in place of your favor, O Umm Malik, came

    night-visiting sorrows that beset my pillow.

  5. وَأَصبَحتُ بَعدَ الأُنسِ لابِسَ جُبَّةٍ

    أُساقي الكُماةَ الدارِعينَ العَوالِيا

    And after companionship, I came to wear a tunic,

    trading draughts of long spears with mail-clad champions.

  6. فَيَومايَ يَومٌ في الحَديدِ مُسَربَلا

    وَيَومٌ مَعَ البيضِ الأَوانِسِ لاهِيا

    So my days are two: a day when I am clad in iron,

    and a day at play with fair, companionable maidens.

  7. فَلا مُدرِكاً حَظّاً لَدى أُمِّ مالِكٍ

    وَلا مُستَريحاً في الحَياةِ فَقاضِيا

    So I neither win a share with Umm Malik,

    nor find relief in life by meeting my end.

  8. خَليلَيَّ إَن دارَت عَلى أُمِّ مالِكٍ

    صُروفُ اللَيالي فَاِبعَثا لِيَ ناعِيا

    My two friends, if upon Umm Malik fall

    the vicissitudes of night, send a herald of death for me.

  9. وَلا تَترُكاني لا لِخَيرٍ مُعَجَّلٍ

    وَلا لِبَقاءٍ تَنظُرانِ بَقائِيا

    And do not leave me—not for any good soon to come,

    nor for prolonged life, awaiting my survival.

  10. وَإِنَّ اَلَّذي أَمَّلتُ مِن أُمِّ مالِكٍ

    أَشابَ قَذالي وَاِستَهامَ فُؤادِيا

    And indeed, what I hoped for from Umm Malik

    has grayed the back of my head and driven my heart love-mad.

  11. فَلَيتَ المَنايا صَبَّحَتني غُدَيَّةً

    بِذَبحٍ وَلَم أَسمَع لِبَينٍ مُنادِيا

    Would that death had visited me at dawn one morning,

    with slaughter, and I had never heard a herald of parting.

  12. نَظَرتُ وَدوني يَذبُلٌ وَعِمايَةٌ

    إِلى آلِ نُعمٍ مَنظَراً مُتَنائِيا

    I looked, with Yadhbul and ʿImaya before me,

    toward Nuʿm's people, gazing from afar.

  13. شَكَوتُ إِلى الرَحمَن بُعدَ مَزارِها

    وَما حَمَّلَتني وَاِنقِطاعَ رَجائِيا

    I complained to the Merciful of how far it was to visit her,

    and what she had burdened me with, and the severing of my hope.

  14. وَقُلتُ وَلَم أَملِك أَعَمرُو بنُ عامِرٍ

    لِحَتفٍ بِذاتِ الرَقمَتَينِ يَرى لِيا

    And I said, unable to restrain myself: 'Does ʿAmr ibn ʿAmir

    see death awaiting me at Dhat al-Raqmatayn?'

  15. وَقَد أَيقَنَت نَفسي عَشِيَّةَ فارَقوا

    بِأَسفَلَ وادي الدَوحِ أَن لا تَلاقِيا

    And my soul already knew for certain, the evening they departed,

    at the lower end of Wadi al-Dawh, that there would be no reunion.

  16. إِذا ما طَواكِ الدَهرُ يا أُمَّ مالِكٍ

    فَشَأنُ المَنايا القاضِياتِ وَشانِيا

    If ever time folds you away, O Umm Malik,

    then let the life-ending fates have their way with me.