أجدك شاقتك الحمول البواكر — رقيع الوالبي

أَجِدَّكَ شاقَتكَ الحمولُ البَواكِرُ

نَعَم ثُمَّ لَم يَعذِركَ بِالبَينِ عاذِرُ

Truly, have the dawn-departing camel-caravans stirred your longing?

Yes; yet no one excused your grief at parting.

بَلى إِنَّ نَفسي لَم تَلُمنِي وَلَم أَبِت

عَلى غَدرَةٍ وَالخائِنُ العَهدِ غادِرُ

Indeed, my soul did not reproach me, nor did I spend the night

in treachery; whoever betrays a pledge is a traitor.

وَلَم أَدرِ ما المَكرُ الَّذي أَزمَعوا بِنا

فَأَحذَرَهُ حَتّى أمرَّ المَرائِرُ

And I did not know the scheme they had planned against us,

so as to guard against it, until the cords of resolve were twisted tight.

وَحَتّى رأَيتُ الآلَ يُزهي حُمولَهُم

كَما اِستَنَّ مِن فَوقِ الفُراتِ القَراقِرُ

And until I saw the mirage lift their laden camels,

as great ships race across the Euphrates.

فَسَبَّحتُ وَاِستَرجَعتُ وَالبَينُ رَوعَةٌ

لِمَن لَم يَكُن ترعى عَلَيهِ المَقادِرُ

So I glorified God and invoked our return to Him; parting is a terror

for one whom the decrees of fate do not watch over.

وَآنَستُ في الأَعداءِ حَولي شَماتَةً

بِها نَظَرَتْ نَحوي العُيونُ النَّواظِرُ

And I sensed gloating among the enemies around me,

with which the watching eyes looked toward me.

وَقالَ الخَلِيّونَ اِنتَظِر أَن يصورَهُم

إِلَيكَ إِذا ما الصَّيفُ صارَ المَصائِرُ

And the carefree said, 'Wait until they are drawn

to you by their places of return, when summer comes round.'

فَقُلتُ لأَصحابي اِرحَلوا إِنَّما المُنى

لَحاقٌ بِهِم إِن بَلَّغَتْنا الأَباعِرُ

So I told my companions, 'Set out! Our sole desire

is to catch up with them, if the camels carry us there.

تُوَدِّعْ وَداعَ البَينِ أَو تَرتَجعْ هَوىً

جَديداً عَلى عِصيانِ مَن لا يُؤامِرُ

You may bid a parting farewell, or regain a love,

renewed, in defiance of one who seeks no counsel.'

فَما أَلحَقَتنا العِيسُ حَتَّى تَفاضَلَت

وَحَتَّى عَلا طَيَّ البُرينِ المَكاوِرُ

But the pale camels did not bring us up with them until they outstripped one another,

and until turban-coils rose above the loops of the nose-rings,

وَحَتَّى اِعتَمَمنَ البِرسَ مِن خَلجِها البُرى

يَكونُ لِثامَيهِ الَّذي لا يُطايِرُ

and until their tugging at the nose-rings wrapped them in cotton turbans,

forming his two face-veils, never flung away.

إِذا ما تَغَنّى راكِبٌ أَجمَرَت بِهِ

جُماهِرَةٌ خَطارَةٌ أَو جُماهِرُ

Whenever a rider sang, he was sped along

by a sturdy, tail-swinging she-camel, or a sturdy he-camel.

تَسوفُ لِطَرفِ العَينِ أمّاً وَرِقبَةً

شَديد حَزيمِ الزورِ بِالسَيرِ ماهِرُ

She scents the way within eyeshot, seeking a goal and keeping watch;

he is strong in his breast-girth, skilled at travel,

مُجِدٌّ كَقِدحِ الفَرضِ بِالكَفِّ صَكَّة

عَلى عادَةٍ مِنهُ خَليعٌ مُقامِرُ

pressing hard, like a notched gaming-arrow slapped with the palm,

in the habitual fashion of a dissolute gambler.

بِحَيثُ التَقَت أَحلاسُهُ مِن دُفوفِهِ

مَوارِدُ مِن أَنساعِهِ وَمَصادِرُ

Where his saddle-cloths meet along his flanks,

lie the entry and exit points of his girth-straps.

إِذا شَكَّ لَحيَيهِ لُغامٌ أَزالَهُ

سَديسٌ وَنابٌ كَالشَّعيرَةِ فاطِرُ

When foam binds his two jaws together, it is cleared away

by a sixth incisor and a fang like a barley-grain, breaking through.

وَحُبّ حَبيبٍ قَد دَعاني لَهُ الهَوى

وَراحِلَةٍ قَد أَعمَلَتها تماضِرُ

And love for a beloved, to whom passion had called me,

and a riding-camel that Tamadir had urged onward,

عَشِيَّةَ سَلَّمنا عَلَيها فَسَلَّمَت

فَماذا ترى أَم أَيّ شَيءٍ تُحاذِرُ

on the evening we greeted her and she returned our greeting:

'So what do you think, or what is it you fear?'

فَقُلتُ لَها عَن غَيرِ سُخطٍ وَلا رِضىً

أَغَيرِيَ أَم إِيّايَ غَيثُكِ ماطِرُ

So I said to her, neither angry nor content,

'Does your rain fall upon another, or upon me?'

فَقالَت تَعَلَّم أَهلنا لَيسَ فيهِمُ

بِكُلِّ الَّذي تَلقى مِنَ الوَجدِ عاذِرُ

Then she said, 'Know that among our people there is no one

to excuse you for all the passionate longing you endure.

فَكُن مِنهُم إِن كُنتَ تَرجو هَوادَةً

عَلى حَذَرٍ مادامَ لِلزَيتِ عاصِرُ

So, if you hope for leniency, deal with them

with caution, as long as anyone presses oil.'

وَكَيفَ وَلا أَنساكَ عَن طولِ هِجرَةٍ

فَأَسلُوَ إِلا رَيثَ ما أَنا ذاكِرُ

But how? I cannot forget you despite long estrangement,

and so find solace, save for the brief interval before I remember,

طوالَ اللَيالي ما تَغَنَّت حَمامَةٌ

يَميحُ بِها غُصنٌ وَبِالريحِ ناضِرُ

throughout the nights, whenever a dove sings,

a branch swaying beneath her, fresh in the wind.

تُثَنِّي جَناحَيها إِذا آدَ غُصنُها

حذاراً وَهَولاً أَن تَزِلَّ الأَظافِرُ

She folds her two wings when her branch bends,

in caution and dread lest her claws slip.

يُجاوِبُها في الأَيكِ مِن بَطنِ بيشَةٍ

عَلى هَدب الأَفنانِ وُرقٌ نَظائِرُ

She is answered amid the groves in the valley-bed of Bishah,

by gray doves like her on the fringes of the boughs.

صَوادِحُ مِثلُ الشَربِ يُبدي رَنينُها

مِنَ الشَوقِ ما كانَت تُسِرُّ السَرائِرُ

Singing aloud like a band of drinkers, their ringing cries reveal

the longing their innermost thoughts had concealed.

كَأَنَّ الَّذي يَنعى لَها المَيت مَلعَبٌ

لأَصبَهبَذٍ تُجبى إِلَيهِ الدَّساكِرُ

As though the one announcing a death to her were a performer

for an ispahbad, to whom the village estates pay tribute.