Poems
- أأخطل لم ذكرت نساء قيسO Akhtal, why did you mention the women of Qays?
- أاليوم بان الحي أم واعدوا غداHas the clan departed today, or agreed on tomorrow?
- أبلغ حنيفة أن أول سبقهمTell Hanifa that, when they first took the lead,
- أحار بن كعب ثم لا شيء بعدهO Harith son of Ka‘b—then there is nothing after him,
- أحقا أتاني أن عوف بن مالكIs the report I have received true—that ʿAwf ibn Mālik
- أصبح الدهر وقد ألوى بهمTime has now swept them away,
- أقامت به حد الربيع وجارهاShe stayed there through spring, and her neighbor
- ألا طرقتنا بالمدينة بعدمAh, she visited us by night in Medina, after
- ألا قف بالمنازل والربوعCome, stop at the dwellings and encampments,
- ألا ناديا ربعي كبيشة باللوىLo, call, you two, to Kubaysha's two campsites at al-Liwā,
- ألا يا ديار الحي بالسبعانAh, dwellings of the clan at al-Sabuʿān!
- ألم تر أن القلب ثاب وأبصراHave you not seen that the heart returned to its senses and saw clearly,
- إلى كبد كأن منهاة سوطهاTo a broad-bellied steed, as though the tip of its whip-like tail
- أما الرواء ففينا حد ترئيةAs for appearance, ours is imposing to behold,
- أمسى بفيحان فنفر من قطاAt evening he was at Fayḥān, startling some sandgrouse
- أمن رسم دار بالجناح عرفتهاDo you recognize it from the outline of a house with wings
- أمن ظعن هبت بليل فأصبحتIs it because of women in camel litters who set out by night and by morning were
- إن الخليفة ماء لست قاربهAl-Hulayfah is indeed a watering place I will not approach,
- أناظر الوصل أم غاد فمصرومAre you awaiting reunion, or departing, cut off?
- بان الخليط فما للقلب معقولThe companions have departed; the heart has no restraint,
- بكت أم بشر أن تبدد رهطهاUmm Bishr wept because her clan had scattered,
- بلاحب كمقد المعن وعسهAlong a broad track like a strip of hide, trodden down
- بني عامر ما تأمرون بشاعرO sons of ʿĀmir, what do you advise concerning a poet
- تأمل خليلي هل ترى ضوء بارقLook closely, my friend: do you see the light of a lightning-bearing cloud,
- تأوبني الداء الذي أنا حاذرهThe malady I dread returned to haunt me at night,
- تجانف ربع من كبيشة منجلاKubaysha's campsite lies far aside at Manjal,
- تخوف السير منها تامكا قرداTravel wore away her lofty, matted-haired hump,
- ترفق أيها الحادي بعشاقBe gentle, O camel-driver, with lovers—
- تقدم قيس كل يوم كريهةQays is sent to the fore on every day of battle,
- تمور بضبعيها وترمي بجوزهاShe swings her upper forelegs and flings her midsection forward,
- جزى الله سعدا بالأبارق نعمةMay God reward Saʿd at al-Abāriq with a blessing,
- حي دار الحي لا دار بهاGreet the tribe’s abode, where no dwelling remains,
- حين تختلف العواليWhen the spearheads cross,
- خزامى وسعدان كأن رياضهاLavender and sa‘dan—as though their meadows
- خفرت على قيس فأدى خفارتيI pledged protection for Qays; my pledge was honored
- خليلي إن الرأي فرقه الهوىMy two friends, passion has scattered my judgment.
- خليلي عوجا حييا أم خشرمMy two friends, turn aside and greet Umm Khashram.
- دعتنا بكهف من كنا بين دعوةAt a cave in Kunabayn she called out to us,
- دعتنا عتيبة من عالجʿUtaybah called us from ʿĀlij,
- ذر العين تسفح في الديار فلا أرىLet the eye shed tears among the dwellings, for I do not see
- ذعرت بجوس نهبلة قذافI caused alarm with the roaming of a massive, swift she-camel,
- رحلت إليك من جنفاء حتىI journeyed to you from Janafa until
- زارتك من دونها شرج وحرتهShe visited you, though Sharj and its lava field lay between you and her,
- سائل بكبشة دارس الأطلالAsker of ruins haunter
- سبتني بعيني جؤذر حفلتهماShe captivated me with an oryx calf's eyes, adorned
- سل الدار من جنبي حبر فواهبAsk the dwelling by the two sides of Hibirr and Wahib,
- سل المنازل كيف صرم الواصلAsk the dwellings how one who kept ties broke them,
- شطت نوى من يحل السر فالشرفاFar lies the destination of those who dwell in al-Sirr, then al-Sharaf,
- طاف الخيال بنا ركبا يمانيناThe dream-image visited us, a band of Yemeni riders.
- طرقتك زينب بعدما طال الكرىZaynab visited you by night after slumber had grown long,
- عفا بطحان من قريش فيثربBatihan lies deserted, empty of Quraysh, and Yathrib too;
- عفا من سليمى ذو كلاف فمنكفDhū Kulāf, then Munkif, lie desolate, emptied of Sulaymā—
- عقاب عقنباة كأن وظيفهاA large, powerful eagle, as though her shank
- عوازب لم تسمع نبوح مقامةRoaming far afield, they have heard no barking from an encampment,
- فرأيتها عصلا موقحةSo I found them crooked and hardened,
- فقل للحماس يترك الفخر إنماSo tell al-Hamas to abandon boasting; for indeed
- فكيف لنا بالشرب إن لم تكن لناHow, then, can we drink if we have no
- فلو قبل مبكاها بكيت صبابةHad I wept as a youth for Layla
- فهل يبلغني أهل دهماء حرةSo will a purebred she-camel carry me to Dahma's people,
- قد قرق الدهر بين الحي بالظعنTime has parted the clan, through migration,
- قفا في دار أهلي فاسألاهاStop, you two, at my family's dwelling, and question it.
- كأن سخالها بلوى سمارAs though her fragrance was perfumed with buds of summer
- كأني ورحلي روحتنا نعامةAs though an ostrich bore my saddle and me onward at evening—
- كنخل بأعلى قرح حيط فلم يزلLike palms in upper Qarh, walled in, that always had
- لحقنا بحي أوبوا السير بعدماWe caught up with a tribe that had journeyed all day, after
- لقد تقوس لحييه ولمتهIndeed, his jaws and his locks have been encircled
- للمازنية مصطاف ومرتبعThe woman of Mazin has a summer dwelling and a spring encampment,
- لمن الديار بجانب الأحفارWhose are the dwellings beside al-Ahfar,
- ليالي بعضهم جيران بعضNights when some of them were neighbors to others,
- مذاويد بالبيض الحديث صقالهاWith white swords, freshly polished, they defend
- هتاك أخبية ولاج أبوبةA tearer of tents, an ever-frequent enterer of doors,
- هزئت مية أن ضاحكتهاMayyah mocked me for laughing with her,
- هل القلب عن دهماء سال فمسمحHas the heart forgotten Dahma and relented,
- هل أنت تخبر عنها كيف سيرتهاCan you tell of her—what her gait is like,
- هل أنت محيي الربع أم أنت سائلهWill you greet the campsite, or question it,
- هل تعرف الدار قفرا لا أنيس بهاDo you recognize the dwelling, desolate, with no companion in it,
- هل كنت إلا مجنا تتقون بهWas I anything but a shield with which you protected yourselves?
- وأصفر عطاف إذا راح ربهAnd a yellow gaming arrow, winning time and again—when its owner goes out in the evening,
- وافى الخيال وما وافاك من أممThe apparition arrived, though it did not come to you from nearby,
- وتعرف إن ضلت فتهدى لربهاAnd if she strays, she is recognized and led back to her owner,
- وتنكرت شيبي فقلت لهاAnd she disapproved of my gray hair, so I said to her:
- وجاءت به حياكة عركيةAnd a seafaring weaver woman bore him;
- وجيدا كجيد الآدم الفردراعهAnd a neck like that of a solitary pale gazelle, which was startled
- وغيث أسال الله مهجة نفسهAnd a raincloud whose soul's lifeblood God poured out
- وغيث تبطنت قريانهAnd a rain-fed pasture whose watercourses I traversed,
- وغيث مريع لم يجدع نباتهAnd a lush rain-fed pasture, its growth uncropped,
- وفي غطفان عذق عز ممنعAnd in Ghatafan is an unassailable date-cluster of glory,
- وقد دق منها الخصر حتى وشاحهاAnd her waist has grown so slender that her sash
- وقدر ككف القرد لا مستعيرهاAnd a pot like a monkey’s palm—no one who asks to borrow it
- ولا تقولن زهوا ما تخبرنيEnglish translation unavailable
- ولست وإن شاحنت بعض عشيرتيI will not, even if I quarrel with some of my clan,
- ولم أصطبح صهباء صافية القذىAnd I have drunk no morning draught of tawny wine, clear of dregs,
- ولو تشترى منه لباع ثيابهAnd if someone would buy them from him, he would sell his clothes
- ونحن منعنا البحر أن يشربوا بهAnd we kept the sea from them, lest they drink from it,
- وهم ثغروا أقرانهم بمضرسAnd they knocked out their opponents’ teeth with a serrated weapon,
- يا حر أمسيت شيخا قد وهى بصريO Hurr, I have grown old, and my sight has weakened.
- يا دار كبشة تلك لم تتغيرO dwelling of Kabsha, there, unchanged,
- يا صاحبي انظراني لا عدمتكماO my two companions, wait for me—may I never lose you both!
- يروي قوامح قبل الصبح صادفةHe gives drink before dawn to those with heads raised, turning aside,
- يزع الدارع منه مثل ماThe armored man draws back from it, just as
- يسقي بأجداد عاد هملا رغداHe waters untended herds abundantly at the wells of ʿĀd,
No poems found.