Sol 6.1

  1. أَفي رَسمِ دارٍ دارِسٍ أَنتَ واقِفُ

    بِقاعٍ تُعَفّيهِ الرِياحُ العَواصِفُ

    Are you standing at the faded trace of a dwelling,

    on a plain where tempestuous winds efface it?

  2. بِها جازَتِ الشَعثاءَ فَالخَيمَةَ الَّتي

    قَفا مَحرَضٍ كَأَنَّهُنَّ صَحائِفُ

    There she passed al-Shaʿthāʾ, then al-Khayma, which

    lies behind Maḥraḍ; they are like pages.

  3. سَحا تُربَها أَرواحُها فَكَأَنَّما

    أَحالَ عَليها بِالرَغامِ النَواسِفُ

    Its winds scraped away its earth, as though

    the scattering gusts had poured dust over it.

  4. وَقَفتُ بِها لا مَن أُسائِلُ ناطِقٌ

    وَلا أَنا إِن لَم يَنطِقِ الرَسمُ صارِفُ

    I stood there, but none whom I questioned spoke;

    nor would I turn away if the trace remained silent.

  5. وَلا أَنا عَمَّن يَألَفُ الرَبعَ ذاهِلٌ

    وَلا التَبلُ مَردودٌ وَلا القَلبُ عازِفُ

    Nor am I heedless of whoever frequents the encampment,

    nor is love's sickness repelled, nor my heart indifferent.

  6. وَلا أَنا ناسٍ مَجلِساً زارَنا بِهِ

    عِشاءً ثَلاثٌ كاعِبانِ وَناصِفُ

    Nor do I forget a gathering where we were visited

    one evening by three women: two budding-breasted maidens and one middle-aged woman.

  7. أَسيلاتُ أَبدانٍ دِقاقٌ خُصورُها

    وَثيراتُ ما التَفَّت عَلَيهِ المَلاحِفُ

    Smooth of body, slender in their waists,

    softly fleshed where their mantles enfolded them.

  8. إِذا قُمنَ أَو حاوَلنَ مَشياً تَأَطُّراً

    إِلى حاجَةٍ مالَت بِهِنَّ الرَوادِفُ

    When they rose or tried to walk, swaying,

    on some errand, their hips made them lean.

  9. نَواعِمُ لَم يَدرينَ ما عَيشُ شِقوَةٍ

    وَلا هُنَّ نَمّاتُ الحَديثِ زَعانِفُ

    Delicate women, unacquainted with a life of hardship,

    neither tale-bearing gossips nor lowly hangers-on.

  10. إِذا مَسَّهُنَّ الرَشحُ أَو سَقَطَ النَدى

    تَضَوَّعَ بِالمِسكِ السَحيقِ المَشارِفُ

    When perspiration touched them or dew fell,

    the heights grew fragrant with finely powdered musk.

  11. يَقُلنَ إِذا ما كَوكَبٌ غارَ لَيتَهُ

    بِحَيثُ رَأَيناهُ عِشاءً يُخالِفُ

    They would say, whenever a star sank: Would that it

    turned back to where we saw it in the evening!

  12. لَبِثنا بِهِ لَيلَ التَمامِ بِلَذَّةٍ

    نَعِمنا بِهِ حَتّى جَلا الصُبحُ كاشِفُ

    We lingered there in pleasure through the longest night,

    delighting there until the revealing dawn broke.

  13. فَلَمّا هَمَمنا بِالتَفَرُّقِ أَعجَلَت

    بَقايا اللُباناتِ الدُموعُ الذَوارِفُ

    Then, when we meant to part, they cut short

    our lingering desires—those streaming tears.

  14. وَأَصعَدنَ في وَعثِ الكَثيبِ تَأَوُّداً

    كَما اِجتازَ في الوَحلِ النِعاجُ الخَوارِفُ

    And they climbed the dune's soft sand, swaying,

    as autumn-lambing ewes cross through the mire.

  15. فَأَتبَعتُهُنَّ الطَرفَ مُتَّبِلَ الهَوى

    كَأَنّي يُعانيني مِنَ الجِنِّ خاطِفُ

    So I followed them with my gaze, ravaged by passion,

    as though a snatching jinni were grappling with me.

  16. تُعَفّي عَلى الآثارِ أَن تُعرَفَ الخُطى

    ذُيولُ ثِيابٍ يُمنَةٍ وَمَطارِفُ

    Effacing the tracks, lest the footsteps be recognized,

    were the hems of Yemeni garments and bordered cloaks.

  17. دَعاهُ إِلى هِندٍ تَصابٍ وَنَظرَةٌ

    تَدُلُّ عَلى أَشياءَ فيها مَتالِفُ

    Youthful dalliance and a glance called him to Hind,

    hinting at things in which destruction lay.

  18. سَبَتهُ بِوَحفٍ في العِقاصِ كَأَنَّهُ

    عَناقيدُ دَلّاها مِنَ الكَرمِ قاطِفُ

    She captivated him with thick hair in plaits, as though it were

    clusters a picker had lowered from the vine,

  19. وَجيدِ خَذولٍ بِالصَريمَةِ مُغزِلٍ

    وَوَجهِ حَميٍّ أَضرَعَتهُ المَخالِفُ

    and with the neck of a lone doe nursing her fawn in a thicket,

    and the face of a fevered man weakened by recurring fevers.

  20. فَكُلُّ الَّذي قَد قُلتِ يَومَ لَقيتُكُم

    عَلى حَذَرِ الأَعداءَ لِلقَلبِ شاغِفُ

    So all that you said on the day I met you all,

    while wary of enemies, pierced my heart.

  21. وَحُبُّكِ داءٌ لِلفُؤادِ مُهَيِّجٌ

    سَفاهاً إِذا ناحَ الحَمامُ الهَواتِفُ

    And love for you is an illness that stirs my heart

    to folly whenever the calling doves lament.

  22. وَنَشرُكِ شافٍ لِلَّذي بي مِنَ الجَوى

    وَذِكرُكِ مُلتَذٌ عَلى القَلبِ طارِفُ

    And your fragrance heals the burning anguish within me,

    and remembrance of you is sweet, fresh to the heart.

  23. وَقُربُكِ إِن قارَبتِ لِلشَملِ جامِعٌ

    وَإِن بِنتِ يَوماً بانَ مَن أَنا آلَفُ

    And your nearness, if you draw near, restores our union;

    and if you depart one day, the one I cherish is gone.

  24. فَإِن راجَعَتهُ في التَراسُلِ لَم يَزَل

    لَهُ مِن أَعاجيبِ الحَديثِ طَرائِفُ

    Then, if she answered him in their exchange of messages, he always

    had fresh delights among the marvels of conversation.

  25. وَإِن عاتَبَتهُ مَرَّةً كانَ قَلبُهُ

    لَها ضَلعُهُ حَتّى تَعودَ العَواصِفُ

    And if she reproached him once, his heart

    inclined toward her until the storm-winds returned.

  26. فَكُلُّ الَّذي قَد قُلتِ كانَ اِدِّكارُهُ

    عَلى القَلبِ قَرحاً يَنكَأُ القَلبَ قارِفُ

    So all that you said—its recollection became

    a wound upon the heart, reopened by one who picked at it.

  27. أَثيبي اِبنَةَ المَكنِيِّ عَنهُ بِغَيرِهِ

    وَعَنكِ سَقاكِ الغادِياتُ الرَوادِفُ

    Requite me, daughter of the man spoken of under another name,

    as you are too; may successive morning rainclouds water you.

  28. عَلى أَنَّها قالَت لِأَسماءَ سَلِّمي

    عَلَيهِ وَقولي حُقَّ ما أَنتَ ذائِفُ

    Yet she told Asmaʾ: Greet

    him, and say: What you fear is justified.

  29. أَرى الدارَ قَد شَطَّت بِنا عَن نَوالِكُم

    نَوىً غُربَةً فَاِنظُر لِأَيٍّ تُساعِفُ

    I see our dwelling has borne us far from your bounty,

    into exile's remoteness; consider whom you will favor.

  30. فَقُلتُ أَجَل لا شَكَّ قَد نَبَأَت بِهِ

    ظِباءٌ جَرَت فَاِعتافَ مَن هُوَ عائِفُ

    So I said: Yes, without doubt, this was foretold

    by gazelles that ran, and the augur read their omen.

  31. فَقالَت لَها قولي أَلَستَ بِزائِرٍ

    بِلادي وَإِن قَلَّت هُناكَ المَعارِفُ

    Then she told her: Say, Will you not visit

    my land, even if acquaintances there are few?

  32. كَما لَو مَلَكنا أَن نَزورَ بِلادَكُم

    فَعَلنا وَلَم تَكثُر عَلَينا التَكالِفُ

    Just as, were we able to visit your land,

    we would do so, and no great trouble would burden us.

  33. فَقُلتُ لَها قولي لَها قَلَّ عِندَنا

    لَنا جُشَمُ الظَلماءِ فيما نُصادِفُ

    So I told her: Tell her, Slight in our eyes

    are the hardships we encounter in the dark,

  34. وَنَصّى إِلَيكِ العَيسَ شاكِيَةَ الوَجى

    مَناسِمُها مِمّا تُلاقي رَواعِفُ

    and driving the pale camels toward you, complaining of sore feet,

    their footpads bleeding from what they endure.

  35. بَراهُنَّ نَصّي وَالتَهَجُّرُ كُلَّما

    تَوَقَّدَ مَسمومٌ مِنَ اليَومِ صائِفُ

    My hard driving and midday travel wore them down whenever

    a summer-hot, simoom-scorched stretch of day blazed.

  36. تَحَسَّرَ عَنهُنَّ العَرائِكُ بَعدَما

    بَدَأنَ وَهُنَّ المُقفِراتُ العَلائِفُ

    Their hump-fat wasted away, after

    they set out, desert-going and fed on fodder.

  37. وَإِنّي زَعيمٌ أَن تُقَرِّبَ فِتيَةً

    إِليكِ مُعيداتُ السَفارِ عَواطِفُ

    And I guarantee that young men will be brought near

    to you by returning camels, seasoned in journeys.