Sol 6.1

  1. أَجِدَّكَ إن نُعمٌ نَأَت أَنتَ جازِذعُ

    قَدِ اِقتَرَبَت لَو أَنَّ ذَلِكَ نافِعُ

    In earnest—if Nu'm has gone far away, are you distraught?

    She has drawn near—if only that were any use.

  2. قَدِ اِقتَرَبَت لَو أَنَّ في قُربِ دارِها

    نَوالاً وَلَكِن كَلُّ مَن ضَنَّ مانِعُ

    She has drawn near—if only her dwelling's nearness held

    some favor; but everyone who is stingy withholds.

  3. وَقَد جاوَرَتنا في شُهورٍ كَثيرَةٍ

    فَما نَوَّلَت وَاللَهُ راءٍ وَسامِعُ

    She dwelt beside us for many months,

    yet gave no favor; God sees and hears.

  4. فَإِن تَلقَيَن نُعمى هُديتَ فَحَيِّها

    وَسَل كَيفَ تُرعى بِالمَغيبِ الوَدائِعُ

    If you meet Nu'ma—may you be guided—greet her,

    and ask how trusts are tended in one's absence.

  5. وَظَنّي بِها حِفظٌ لِغَيبي وَرِعيَةٌ

    لِما اِستُرعِيَت وَالظَنُّ بِالغَيبِ واسِعُ

    I expect her to keep faith in my absence and care

    for what she was entrusted with; conjecture about the unseen is boundless.

  6. وَقُلتُ لَها في السِرِّ بَيني وَبَينَها

    عَلى عَجَلٍ أَيّانَ مَن سارَ راجِعُ

    I said to her, in secret, between her and me,

    hurriedly, 'When will the one who departed return?'

  7. فَقالَت لِقاءٌ بَعدَ حَولٍ وَحِجَّةٍ

    وَشَحطُ النَوى إِلّا لِذي العَهدِ قاطِعُ

    She said, 'We meet after a year and another year.'

    Far-flung separation severs ties, except for those who keep their pledge.

  8. وَقَد يَلتَقي بَعدَ الشَتاتِ أُولو النَوى

    وَيَستَرجِعُ الحَيَّ السَحابُ اللَوامِعُ

    Those parted may meet again after dispersal,

    and flashing clouds may bring the tribe back.

  9. وَما إِن خَذولٌ نازَعَت حَبلَ حابِلٍ

    لِتَنجُوَ إِلّا اِستَسلَمَت وَهيَ ظالِعُ

    No doe apart from her herd, struggling against a trapper's cord

    to escape, only to surrender, limping,

  10. بِأَحسَنَ مِنها ذاتَ يَومٍ لَقيتُها

    لَها نَظَرٌ نَحوي كَذي البَثِّ خاشِعُ

    was lovelier than she, one day when I met her,

    her gaze toward me downcast, like one in anguish.

  11. رَأَيتُ لَها ناراً تُشَبُّ وَدونَها

    طَويلُ القَرا مِن رَأسِ ذَروَةَ فارِعُ

    I saw a fire being kindled for her; before it

    a long-backed ridge towered from Dharwa's summit.

  12. فَقُلتُ لِأَصحابي اِصطَلوا النارَ إِنَّها

    قَريبٌ فَقالوا بَل مَكانُكَ نافِعُ

    I told my companions, 'Warm yourselves at the fire; it is

    near.' They said, 'No—your place here serves you better.'

  13. فَيا لَكَ مِن حادٍ حَبَوت مُقَيَّداً

    وَأَنحى عَلى عِرنَين أَنفِكَ جادِعُ

    Ah, what a camel-driver you are! May you crawl in fetters,

    and may a mutilator strike the bridge of your nose!

  14. أَغَيظاً أَرادَت أَن تُخِبَّ جِمالُها

    لِتَفجَعَ بِالأَضعانِ مَن أَنتَ فاجِعُ

    Was it out of spite she wished her camels to trot,

    to wound through departure the one you wound?

  15. فَما نُطفَةٌ بِالطَودِ أَو بِضَرِيَّةٍ

    بَقِيَّةُ سَيلٍ أَحرَزَتها الوَقائِعُ

    No little pool on the mountain or at Dariyya,

    a flood's remnant, held safe in rock basins,

  16. يُطيفُ بِها حَرّانُ صادٍ وَلا يَرى

    إِلَيها سَبيلاً غَيرَ أَن سَيُطالِعُ

    circled by a parched, thirsty man who sees

    no way to reach it, though he will gaze at it,

  17. بِأَطيَبَ مَن فيها إِذا جِئتَ طارِقاً

    مِنَ اللَيلِ وَاِخضَلَّت عَلَيكَ المَضاجِعُ

    is sweeter than her mouth, when you come calling

    by night, and the bedding grows damp around you.

  18. وَحَسبُكَ مِن نَأيٍ ثَلاثَةُ أَشهُرٍ

    وَمِن حَزَنٍ أَن زادَ شَوقَكَ رابِعُ

    Three months of distance are enough for you,

    and grief enough, that a fourth has heightened your longing.

  19. سَعى بَينَهُم واشٍ بِأَفلاقِ بِرمَةٍ

    لِيَفجَعَ بِالأَظغانِ مَن هُوَ جازِعُ

    A slanderer went among them with potsherds of falsehood,

    to wound through departure one already distraught.

  20. بَكَت مِن حَديثٍ بَثَّهُ وَأَشاعَهُ

    وَرَصَّفَهُ واشٍ مِنَ القَومِ راصِعُ

    She wept at a tale he spread and broadcast,

    pieced together by a deft fabricator, a tale-bearer from the tribe.

  21. بَكَت عَينُ مَن أَبكاكَ لا يَعرِفُ البُكا

    وَلا تَتَخالَجكِ الأُمورُ النَوازِعُ

    May the eye of him who made you weep shed tears—he who knows no weeping;

    and may no unsettling troubles tug at you.

  22. فَلا يَسمَعَن سِرّي وَسِرَّكِ ثالِثٌ

    أَلّا كُلُّ سِرٍّ جاوَزَ اِثنَينِ شائِعُ

    Let no third person hear my secret and yours;

    indeed, every secret shared beyond two is spread abroad.

  23. وَكَيفَ يَشيعُ السِرُّ مِنّي وَدونَهُ

    حِجابٌ وَمِن دونِ الحِجابِ الأَضالِعُ

    How could the secret spread from me, when before it

    stands a veil, with ribs before that veil?

  24. وَحُبٌّ لِهَذا الرَبعِ يَمضي أَمامَهُ

    قَليلُ القِلى مِنهُ جَليلٌ وَرادِعُ

    Ahead of my love for this dwelling goes

    a little disdain from it—immense, and enough to hold me back.

  25. لَهوتُ بِهِ حَتّى إِذا خِفتُ أَهلَهُ

    وَبَيَّنَ مِنهُ لِلحَبيبِ المُخادِعُ

    I took delight in it until I feared its people,

    and the deceiver disclosed some of it to the beloved,

  26. نَزَعتُ فَما سِرّي لِأَوّلِ سائِلٍ

    وَذو السِرِ ما لَم يَحفَظِ السِرَّ ماذِعُ

    then I withdrew; my secret is not for the first to ask.

    A keeper who does not guard the secret is a divulger.

  27. وَقَد يَحمَدُ اللَهُ العَزاءَ مِنَ الفَتى

    وَقَد يَجمَعُ الأَمرَ الشَتيتَ الجَوامِعُ

    God may commend a young man's fortitude,

    and binding ties may reunite what lies scattered.

  28. أَلا قَد يُسلّى ذو الهَوى عَن حَبيبِهِ

    فَيَسلى وَقَد تُردي المَطِيَّ المَطامِعُ

    Indeed, a lover may be made to forget his beloved,

    and forget; cravings may destroy the riding camels,

  29. كَما قَد يُسلّى بِالعِقالِ وَبِالعَصا

    وَبِالقَيدِ ضِغنُ الفَحلِ إِذ هُوَ نازِعُ

    just as one may soothe, with a hobble and a stick

    and fetters, a breeding camel's rancor when he strains to go.

  30. وَما رَاعَني إِلّا المُنادي أَلا اِظعَنوا

    وَإِلّا الرَواغي غُدوَةً وَالقَعاقِعُ

    Nothing startled me but the caller: 'Ho, depart!'

    and the bellowing camels at dawn, and the clatter.

  31. فَجِئتُ كَأَنّي مُستَضيفٌ وَسائِلٌ

    لِأُخبِرَها كُلَّ الَّذي أَنا صانِعُ

    I came as though seeking hospitality and asking a favor,

    to tell her everything I was going to do.

  32. فَقالَت تُزَحزِح ما بِنا كُبرُ حاجَةٍ

    إِلَيكَ وَلا مِنّا لِفَقرِكَ راقِعُ

    She said, 'Move away! We have no great need

    of you, nor anyone among us to patch your poverty.'

  33. فَمازِلتُ تَحتَ السَترِ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

    مِنَ الحَرِّ ذو طِمرَينِ في البَحرِ كارِعُ

    I stayed beneath the screen until I seemed,

    from the heat, a man in two worn garments wading in the sea.

  34. فَهَزَّت إِلَيَّ الرَأسَ مِنّي تَعَجُّباً

    وَعُضِّضَ مِما قَد فَعَلتُ الأَصابِعُ

    She shook her head at me, amazed by me,

    and fingers were bitten over what I had done.

  35. فَأَيُّهُما ما أَتبَعَنَّ فَإِنَّني

    حَزينٌ عَلى إِثرِ الَّذي أَنا وادِعُ

    Whichever of the two I follow, I shall be

    grieving in the wake of the one I leave behind.

  36. بَكى مِن فِراقِ الحَيِّ قَيسُ بنُ مُنقِذٍ

    وَإِذراءُ عَينَي مِثلِهِ الدَمعُ شائِعُ

    Qays ibn Munqidh wept at parting from the tribe,

    and the eyes of one like him commonly shed tears.

  37. بِأَربَعَةٍ تَنهَلُّ لَمّا تَقَدَّمَت

    بِهِم طُرقٌ شَتّى وَهُنَّ جَوامِعُ

    For four his tears streamed, when they were borne onward

    by divergent roads, though roads can also reunite.

  38. وَما خِلتُ بَينَ الحَيِّ حَتّى رَأّيتُهم

    بِبَينونَةَ السُفلى وَهَبَّت سَوافِعُ

    I never expected the tribe's parting until I saw them

    at Lower Baynuna, as scorching winds arose.

  39. وَإِنّي لَأَنهى النَفسَ عَنها تَجَمُّلاً

    وَقَلبي إِلَيها الدَهرَ عَطشانُ جائِعُ

    I restrain myself from her, to preserve my dignity,

    while my heart is forever thirsty and hungry for her.

  40. كَأَنَّ فُؤادي بَينَ شِقَّينِ مِن عَصاً

    حِذارَ وُقوعِ البَينِ وَالبَينُ واقِعُ

    My heart seems caught between two halves of a split stick,

    in dread of parting's coming—and parting will come.

  41. يَحُثُّ بِهِم حادٍ سَريعٌ نَجاؤُهُ

    وَمُعرىً عَنِ الساقَينِ وَالثَوبُ واسِعُ

    A camel-driver urges them on, swift in his going,

    and bare about the shins, his garment loose.

  42. فَقُلتُ لَها يا نُعمَ حُلّي مَحَلَّنا

    فَإِنَّ الهَوى يا نُعمَ وَالعَيشُ جامِعُ

    I said to her, 'O Nu'm, settle at our camp,

    for love, Nu'm, and life can bring us together.'

  43. فَقالَت وَعَيناها تَفيضانِ عَبرَةً

    بِأَهلِيَ بَيِّن لي مَتى أَنتَ راجِعُ

    She said, her eyes overflowing with tears,

    'My family be your ransom—tell me plainly when you will return.'

  44. فَقُلتُ لَها تَاللَهِ يَدري مُسافِرٌ

    إِذا أَضمَرَتهُ الأَرضُ ما اللَهُ صانِعُ

    I said to her, 'By God, does a traveler know,

    when the earth has hidden him, what God will do?'

  45. فَشَدَّت عَلى فيها اللِثامَ وَأَعرَضَت

    وَأَمعَنَ بِالكُحلِ السَحيقِ المَدامِعُ

    She drew the veil tight over her mouth and turned away,

    and her tear-streams ran on, bearing the finely powdered kohl.

  46. وَإِنّي لِعَهدِ الوُدِّ راعٍ وَإِنَّني

    بِوَصلِكَ ما لَم يَطوِني المَوتُ طامِعُ

    And I keep the covenant of affection, and I

    hope for union with you until death folds me away.