Poems
- أأمك كانت أخبرتك بطولهWas it your mother who had told you of its length,
- أبلغا قومنا جذاما ولخماYou two, convey to our people, Judham and Lakhm,
- أتعرف الدار أم لا تعرف الطللاDo you know the house or do you not know the ruins?
- أتعرف بالصحراء شرقي شابكDo you recognize, in the desert east of Shabik,
- أحب القرينة لم تصحبI love the companion, though she has not joined me,
- أرواح أم بكرة فاغتداءAn evening departure, or morning and an early start,
- أطربت أم رفعت لعينك غدوةWere you stirred with longing, or did there rise before your eyes at dawn
- ألا رب لهو آنس ولذاذةAh, many a convivial pastime and delight
- ألا من لقلب لا يزال كأنهAh, who will aid a heart that never ceases to be as though it were
- ألمم على طلل عفا متقادمVisit an ancient campsite's time-effaced ruins,
- إن الخليط أجدوا البين فانقذفواThe companions made their parting final and rushed away,
- إنا رضينا وإن غابت جماعتهاIndeed, we have accepted, even if its assembly was absent,
- أهبطته الركب يعذيني وألجمهI brought him down among the riders, bearing me along, and I bridle him
- أهم سرى أم عاد للعين عائرIs it a care that traveled by night, or has an irritation returned to the eye?
- بانت حسينة وائتمت بمن باناHusayna departed and followed those who departed.
- بانت سعاد وليس الود ينصرمSu‘ad has departed, yet affection does not end.
- بكت شجوها تحت الدجى فتناجمتShe wept her sorrow beneath the night's darkness; then welled forth
- تروي لأزغب صيفي بمهلكةShe brings water for a downy, summer-hatched chick in a deadly waste,
- تودقت شمسه حتى إذا حميتHis sun set until when skulls were burnt
- توهم إبلاد المنازل عن حقبHe dimly discerned the dwellings’ traces after an age;
- جزعت أن شت صرف الحي فانفرقواYou grieved that fate scattered the clan, and they parted,
- حتى أتيت مريا وهو منكرسUntil I came to Muriyy, who was crouching,
- حتى رأى الناظر الشعرى مبينةUntil the watcher saw Sirius clearly revealed,
- حدثت أن رويعي الإبل يشتمنيI was told that a petty camel-herder is reviling me—
- حسب الرائد المورض أن قدThe pasture-seeking scout thought that
- حملت نفسي على أمر وقلت لهاI compelled my soul to undertake a matter, and said to her:
- دعا بالبقة الأمناء يوماOne day at al-Baqqah, he summoned the trusted men—
- زالت قضاعة عنها بعدما سكنتQuḍāʿa departed from it after dwelling
- سواء عليك القفر أم أنت نازلTo you, the wilderness is no different from lodging
- شطت بجارتك النوى فتحملSeparation has borne your neighbor far away; endure it.
- طال الكرى وألم الهم فاكتنعاSleep has lasted long; care descended and clung close.
- ظللت أسأل أهل الحي جائزةI asked the people of the neighborhood for a prize
- عرف الديار توهما فاعتادهاHe recognized the dwellings by surmise and revisited them,
- علاني الشيب واشتعل اشتعالاGray hair has overtaken me and blazed brightly,
- علوناهم في كل فخر وسؤددWe surpassed them in all glory and eminence,
- على ذي منار تعرف العين متنهLofty indeed is a landmark whose ridge the eye recognizes,
- على كل سلهبة لا حهاUpon every tall, long-bodied mare worn lean
- عما يا ابنتي قيس صباحا ومظلماMay you both fare well, daughters of Qays, in morning and darkness.
- غابت سراة بني بحر ولو شهدواThe chiefs of Banu Bahr were absent; had they been present
- غدا ولم يقض من سلومة الوطراTomorrow came, and he did not finish his farewell greeting,
- غشيت بعفرى أو برجلتها ربعاI visited a campsite at ʿUfrā, or by its watercourse—
- فسل هوى من لا يؤاتيك ودهSo ease your longing for one whose affection does not answer yours
- فظل بصحراء الأميشط بطنهSo his belly remained in the desert of Al-Amishat
- فعظام فالبرقات جاد عليهماThen ʿIẓām, then al-Burqāt—rain fell abundantly upon them both.
- فما عزلوك مسبوقا ولكنThey did not dismiss you as one outstripped, but
- قضاعية الكعبين كندية الحشاHer ankles are of Qudaʿa, her waist of Kinda;
- قمر السماء وشمسها اجتمعاThe moon of the sky and its sun have come together.
- لعمري لقد أجرى الإمام لغايةBy my life, the Imam has raced toward a goal
- لم أر محبوسا من الناس واحداI have not seen a single prisoner among men
- لمن الدار كعنوان الكتابWhose is this dwelling, like the heading of a book?
- لمن الدار مثل خط الكتابWhose is the dwelling, like the writing in a book,
- لمن المنازل أقفرت بغباءWhose are the dwellings, now deserted at Ghabāʾ?
- لمن رسم دار كالكتاب المنمنمWhose are these dwelling-traces, like an ornamented book,
- لو أطعتك يا غرار كسوتنيHad I obeyed you, O Ghirar, you would have clothed me
- لو يستطيع ضجيعها لأجنهاIf her bedfellow could, he would conceal her
- ليت شعري هل تخبرني الديارIf only I knew: will the dwellings tell me
- ما هاج شوقك من مغاني دمنةWhat stirred your longing among the sites of an old encampment,
- منع النوم طارقات الهمومSleep was denied by night-visiting cares,
- نأتك حسينة فيمن نأىHusaina came to you from those who are remote,
- نزع الفؤاد عن البطالة والصباThe heart has turned away from idleness and youthful folly,
- نشا مستسرا بين هضب هشيمةHe rose concealed between a crumbling plateau,
- هل عند منزلة قد أقفرتIs there any news at a dwelling now deserted,
- هل عند منزلة قد أقفرت خبرIs there any news at a dwelling now deserted,
- هم يستجيبون للداعي ويكرهممThey answer the caller, and [unclear wording concerning them]
- وجاءت من أباطحها قريشAnd Quraysh came from its gravelly valleys,
- وجرت سنابكها بالعراقAnd she dragged her hooves through Iraq,
- وحجرا وزبانا وإن يك ملقطAnd Ḥajar and Zabbān—and if Mulqiṭ has
- ورعيت من دار وإن لم تنطقيAnd may you be cared for, O dwelling, though you do not speak
- وعون يباكرن النظيمة مربعاAnd mature females visit al-Nazimah at dawn for spring grazing.
- وكفك سبطة ويداك سحAnd your palm is open, and both your hands pour forth generously;
- ولله عينا من رأى كحمالةBy God, she seemed a carrier camel that bore
- وما شجاني أنني كنت نائماAnd what stirred my sorrow was that I lay asleep,
- ومنيف غوج اللبان يرى منهAnd a towering one, broad of breast, on whom can be seen
- وناعمة تجلو بعود أراكةAnd a delicate woman polishes with an arak twig
- ويأكلن ما أغنى الولي فلم يلثAnd they graze on what the following rain made plentiful, and that rain did not linger;
- يخرجن من فرجات النقعThey emerge bloodied from gaps in the dust,
No poems found.