Sol 6.1

  1. رَدَّ الخَليطُ الجِمالَ فَاِنصَرَفوا

    ماذا عَلَيهِم لَو أَنَّهُم وَقَفوا

    The company turned the camels back and departed.

    What harm would it have done them if they had stopped?

  2. لَو وَقَفوا ساعَةً نُسائِلُهُم

    رَيثَ يُضَحّي جِمالَهُ السَلَفُ

    If only they had stopped awhile for us to question them,

    while the advance party gave its camels their morning feed.

  3. فيهِم لَعوبُ العَشاءِ آنِسَةُ ال

    دَلِّ عَروبٌ يَسوءُها الخُلُفُ

    Among them is a woman playful at dusk, at home in

    coquetry, affectionate, whom broken promises distress.

  4. بَينَ شُكولِ النِساءِ خِلقَتُها

    قَصدٌ فَلا جَبلَةٌ وَلا قَضَفُ

    Among the varied forms of women, her build

    is balanced, neither bulky nor scrawny.

  5. تَغتَرِقُ الطَرفَ وَهيَ لاهِيَةٌ

    كَأَنَّما شَفَّ وَجهَها نُزُفُ

    She captivates the gaze, herself unheeding,

    as though blood loss had thinned her face.

  6. قَضى لَها اللَهُ حينَ يَخلُقُها ال

    خالِقُ أَلّا يُكِنَّها سَدَفُ

    God ordained for her, when he created her—

    the Creator—that no darkness should conceal her.

  7. تَنامُ عَن كُبرِ شَأنِها فَإِذا

    قامَت رُوَيداً تَكادُ تَنغَرِفُ

    She sleeps, heedless of most of her affairs; and when

    she rises slowly, she almost folds over.

  8. حَوراءُ جَيداءُ يُستَضاءُ بِها

    كَأَنَّها خوطُ بانَةٍ قَصِفُ

    With large dark eyes and a long neck, she gives light,

    as though she were a fragile shoot of a bān tree.

  9. تَمشي كَمَشيِ الزَهراءِ في دَمَثِ ال

    رَملِ إِلى السَهلِ دونَهُ الجُرُفُ

    She walks like a white oryx through soft

    sand toward level ground, with steep banks before it.

  10. وَلا يَغِثُّ الحَديثُ ما نَطَقَت

    وَهوَ بِفيها ذو لَذَّةٍ طَرِفُ

    Nor does her talk grow stale as she speaks;

    and in her mouth it is delightful and fresh.

  11. تَخزُنُهُ وَهوَ مُشتَهى حَسَنٌ

    وَهوَ إِذا ما تَكَلَّمَت أُنُفُ

    She stores it up, though it is lovely and desired;

    and whenever she speaks, it is new.

  12. كَأَنَّ لَبّاتِها تَبَدَّدَها

    هَزلى جَرادٍ أَجوازُهُ جُلُفُ

    As though the hollows of her throat were strewn

    with lean locusts whose middles are hollow.

  13. كَأَنَّها دُرَّةٌ أَحاطَ بِها ال

    غَوّاصُ يَجلو عَن وَجهِها الصَدَفُ

    She is like a pearl taken in hand by

    the diver, the shell drawing clear of its face.

  14. وَاللَهِ ذي المَسجِدِ الحَرامِ وَما

    جُلِّلَ مِن يُمنَةٍ لَها خُنُفُ

    By God, Lord of the Sacred Mosque, and by that which

    is draped in a Yemeni mantle with coarse-cloth panels:

  15. إِنّي لَأَهواكَ غَيرَ ذي كَذِبٍ

    قَد شُفَّ مِنّي الأَحشاءُ وَالشَغَفُ

    truly I love you, with no falsehood in me;

    my entrails and heart's sheath have been worn thin.

  16. بَل لَيتَ أَهلي وَأَهلَ أَثلَةَ في

    دارٍ قَريبٍ مِن حَيثُ تَختَلِفُ

    Rather, if only my people and Athlah's people were in

    a dwelling near where she comes and goes.

  17. أَيهاتَ مَن أَهلُهُ بِيَثرِبَ قَد

    أَمسى وَمَن دونَ أَهلِهِ سَرِفُ

    How far apart—one whose people in Yathrib have

    reached evening, and one whose people lie beyond Sarif!

  18. يا رَبِّ لا تُبعِدَن دِيارَ بَني

    عُذرَةَ حَيثُ اِنصَرَفتُ وَاِنصَرَفوا

    O Lord, never let the homes of Banu

    Udhrah be far away, wherever I go and they go.

  19. أَبلِغ بَني جَحجَبى وَقَومَهُمُ

    خَطمَةَ أَنّا وَراءَهُم أُنُفُ

    Tell Banu Jahjaba and their people,

    Khatmah, that we stand behind them, unbowed.

  20. وَأَنَّنا دونَ ما يَسومُهُمُ ال

    أَعداءُ مِن ضَيمِ خُطَّةٍ نُكُفُ

    And that, against whatever is forced upon them by

    their enemies as humiliating terms, we refuse to bow.

  21. نَفلي بِحَدِّ الصَفيحِ هامَهُمُ

    وَفَليُنا هامَهُم بِنا عُنُفُ

    We comb their heads with the broad sword's edge,

    and harsh at our hands is the combing of their heads.

  22. إِنّا وَلَو قَدَّموا الَّتي عَلِموا

    أَكبادُنا مِن وَرائِهِم تَجِفُ

    Indeed, even if they have done what they well know,

    our livers tremble behind them.

  23. لَمّا بَدَت غُدوَةً جِباهُهُم

    حَنَّت إِلَينا الأَرحامُ وَالصُحُفُ

    When their brows appeared one morning,

    kinship and the scrolls called out to us.

  24. كَقيلِنا لِلمُقَدَّمينَ قِفوا

    عَن شَأوِكُم وَالحِرابُ تَختَلِفُ

    As when we told the vanguard, 'Hold back

    from your charge!' while the spears crossed.

  25. يَتبَعُ آثارَها إِذا اِختُلِجَت

    سُخنٌ عَبيطٌ عُروقُهُ تَكِفُ

    When they were wrenched free, their tracks were followed

    by hot, fresh blood, its veins dripping.

  26. قالَ لَنا الناسُ مَعشَرٌ ظَفِروا

    قُلنا فَأَنّى بِقَومِنا خَلَفُ

    People said to us, 'A victorious company!'

    We said, 'Then where is a replacement for our people?'

  27. لَنا مَع آجامِنا وَحَوزَتِنا

    بَينَ ذُراها مَخارِفٌ دُلُفُ

    Alongside our forts and our domain, we have

    among their heights date groves close at hand.

  28. يَذُبُّ عَنهُنَّ سامِرٌ مَصِعٌ

    سودَ الغَواشي كَأَنَّها عُرُفُ

    A fierce band gathered by night defends them,

    their black head-coverings like manes.