Sol 6.1

  1. أَيا حَرَجاتِ الحَيِّ حينَ تَحَمَّلوا

    بِذي سَلَمٍ لا جادَكُنَّ رَبيعُ

    O thickets of the tribe, when they broke camp,

    At Dhu Salam—may no spring rain fall on you!

  2. وَخَيماتُكِ اللاتي بِمُنعَرَجِ اللَوى

    بَلينَ بَلىً لَم تَبلَهُنَّ رُبوعُ

    And your little tents at the bend of al-Liwa

    Have worn away as no dwellings have ever worn.

  3. أَلا هَل إِلى لَيلى قُبَيلَ مَنِيَّتي

    سَبيلٌ وَهَل لِلناجِعينِ رُجوعُ

    Ah, to Layla, shortly before my death, is there

    A way—and will those seeking pasture return?

  4. إِلى اللَهِ أَشكو نِيَّةً شَقَّتِ العَصا

    هِيَ اليَومَ شَتّي وَهيَ أَمسِ جَميعُ

    To God I lament a resolve to depart that split the staff of unity:

    Today it lies in pieces, though yesterday it was whole.

  5. فَلَو لَم يَهِجني الظاعِنونَ لَهاجَني

    حَمائِمُ وُرقٌ في الدِيارِ وُقوعُ

    So, had the departing travelers not stirred me, I would have been stirred

    By gray doves perched among the dwellings.

  6. تَداعَينَ فَاِستَبكَينَ مَن كانَ ذا هَوى

    نَوائِحُ لا تَجري لَهُنَّ دُموعُ

    They called to one another and made every lover weep:

    Wailing mourners whose tears do not flow.

  7. لَعُمرُكَ إِنّي يَومَ جَرعاءِ مالِكٍ

    لَعاصٍ لِأَمرِ العاذِلينِ مُضيعُ

    By your life, on the day at Jar‘a Malik, I was

    Surely defiant of the reproachers’ command, heedless of it.

  8. وَما كادَ قَلبي بَعدَ أَيّامَ جاوَزَت

    إِلَيَّ بِأَجوازِ البَدِيِّ يَريعُ

    And scarcely could my heart, after days gone by,

    Return to me in the reaches of al-Badi.

  9. وَإِنَّ اِنهِمالَ الدَمعِ يا لَيلَ كُلَّما

    ذَكَرتُكِ يَوماً خالِياً لَسَريعُ

    And the pouring of tears, O Layla, whenever

    I remember you on a lonely day, is swift indeed.

  10. مَضى زَمَنٌ وَالناسُ يَستَشفِعونَ بي

    فَهَل لي إِلى لَيلى الغَداةَ شَفيعُ

    Gone is the time when people sought my intercession;

    So is there, this morning, an intercessor for me with Layla?

  11. نَدِمتُ عَلى ما كانَ مِنّي نَدامَةً

    كَما نَدِمَ المُغبونَ حينَ يَبيعُ

    I deeply regretted what I had done,

    As one cheated regrets when he sells.

  12. لَعَمرُكَ ما شَيءٌ سَمِعتُ بِذِكرِهِ

    كَبَينِكِ يَأتي بُغتَةً فَيَروعُ

    By your life, nothing I have heard spoken of

    Is like your parting: it comes suddenly and strikes terror.

  13. عَدَمتِكِ مِن نَفسٍ شَعاعاً فَإِنَّني

    نَهَيتُكِ عَن هَذا وَأَنتِ جَميعُ

    May I be rid of you, scattered soul! For I

    Forbade you this while you were still whole.

  14. وَقَرَّبتِ لي غَيرَ القَريبِ وَأَشرَفَت

    هُناكَ ثَنايا ما لَهُنَّ طُلوعُ

    And you brought the distant near to me; there loomed

    Mountain passes with no way of ascent.

  15. يُضَعِّفُني حُبَّيكِ حَتّى كَأَنَّني

    مِنَ الأَهلِ وَالمالِ التَليدِ نَزيعُ

    My love for you weakens me, until I seem

    Uprooted from my kin and ancestral wealth.

  16. إِذا ما لَحاني العاذِلاتُ بِحُبِّها

    أَبَت كَبِدٌ مِمّا أُجِنُّ صَديعُ

    Whenever the reproaching women blame me for loving her,

    My liver, cleft by what I conceal, refuses,

  17. مَدى الدَهرِ أَو يَندى الصَفا مِن مُتونِهِ

    وَيُشعَبُ مِن كَسرِ الزُجاجِ صُدوعُ

    For all time—or until smooth rock sweats from its surfaces,

    And cracks in shattered glass are mended.

  18. وَحَتّى دَعاني الناسُ أَحمَقَ مائِقاً

    وَقالوا تَبوعٌ لِلضَلالِ مُطيعُ

    And people even called me a fool, a simpleton,

    And said, “An avid follower of error, obedient to it.”

  19. وَكَيفَ أُطيعُ العاذِلاتِ وَحُبُّها

    يُؤَرِّقُني وَالعاذِلاتُ هُجوعُ

    And how can I obey the reproaching women, when love for her

    Keeps me sleepless while the reproaching women slumber?