عاود العين سهدُها فحماها

سنة النوم فاستباح حماها

Sleeplessness returned to the eye, denying it rest,

Forbidding the slumber of sleep, violating its sanctuary.

عيدها بالهدُوّ طاف يوافى الـ

ـعين واعتاد سهدها وقذاها

In the quiet, its recurring grief circled to meet

The eye, accustomed now to wakefulness and pain.

كلما اعتاد في الحيازم أورى

من دفين الهموم برح جواها

Whenever it settles in the chest, it kindles

The intense burning of love from buried sorrows.

أم دعاها لما مضى من صباها

فاندعت للذي إليه دعاها

Or did it call her to the youth that has passed,

So she answered the call directed toward her?

طارقُ الطيف من سليمى وأنّى

لسُلميى الطريقُ بعد كراها

A visiting phantom from Sulayma—yet how

Can Sulayma find the path after drifting to sleep?

وسليمى فروقةٌ حين تخطو

بين جاراتها قصيرٌ خطاها

For Sulayma is timid whenever she walks;

Among her neighbors, her steps are short and shy.

أم نسيم الجنوب أم لبروق

آخر الليل بات يبدو سناها

Is it the southern breeze? Or is it lightning

At the end of the night, whose brilliance shines forth?

أم لورق على غصون تداعت

بالبكا هيّج البكاء بكاها

Or doves upon the branches that called out

In weeping, their tears stirring my own to flow?

أم لدور لآل زينب جرّت

فوقها الذيل أرضها وسماها

Or for the dwellings of Zaynab’s kin, over which

Both earth and sky have dragged their hem in ruin?

فروايا السماء تهمى عليها

والهوابى شمالها وصباها

The clouds of heaven pour down upon them,

While the winds of north and east blow dust across.

ما عناك الغداة من دار سلمى

درست بعدها وشطّ نواها

What troubles you this morning of Salma's abode?

It is effaced since she left, and her distance is far.

فلئن كان كل مغنى لسلمى

لك يبدو يهيجُ منك هواها

If every dwelling place of Salma that appears

Before you stirs the passion of her love within,

فبذات الكلاب مغنى ومغنى

لسليمى لدى نبيكة راها

Then at Dhat al-Kilab lies a dwelling, and another

For Sulayma exists near Nubaykat Raha.

ولها حول مخرم البير دار

أوحشت بعدها وصم صداها

And around Makhram al-Bir she had a home

That grew desolate after her, its echo silenced.

وبخيف الطريق دار ودار

باضاة الحمار عاف رباها

And at Khayf al-Tariq stands a house, and another

At Idat al-Himar, its hills worn away.

زعم الجاهلون أّ عهودا

كنّ بينى وبينها أناها

The ignorant claimed that vows which once existed

Between me and her—that I have forgotten them.

أو منحت الوداد غير سليمى

لا ومن زيّن السما وبناها

Or that I gave my love to other than Sulayma;

No, by Him who adorned the heavens and built them!

ودحا الأرض والجبال عليها

بعد تمهيد صنعها أرساها

Who spread out the earth and set the mountains upon it,

Anchoring them firm after smoothing their creation.

ما تغيّرت لا ولكن عدانى

عن لقاها أجلّ ممّا عداها

I have not changed, no; but I was hindered

From meeting her by fate greater than what hindered her.

غير أنى أرى العسير يسيراً

في الهوى والعسير ان لا أراها

Yet I deem the difficult easy for the sake of love,

And the only difficulty lies in not seeing her.

ومهاوٍ تهاب إن نظرتها

عين مجتازها الجليد سراها

And perils which, if the eye of the bold traveler

Beheld them, would dread to traverse by night.

كل يهماء صارخ البوم يدعو

في دجنّاتها يخاف رداها

In every trackless waste where the screeching owl calls

Within the gloom, fearing its own destruction.

فلها من هنا وهنّا دويّ

بين غطش بالليل أعمى هداها

It echoes with a hum from here and there,

Amidst the night's blindness where guidance is lost.

ورقيب وحارسٍ وعدو

ينصبون الرصاد لي بلقاها

A watcher, a guard, and a foe—all of them

Setting ambushes to prevent me meeting her.

قد تجشّمتُ هولها أتخطّى

لسليمى حتّى دخلت علاها

I braved their terror, stepping past them

To reach Sulayma, until I entered her lofty abode.

فتميّزتُها فدلّ عليها

في الدجى طيب نشرها وبُراها

I sought her out, and was guided to her

In the dark by her sweet scent and her radiance.

فجلوتُ النقاب أبحث حتفى

عن كجيدانةٍ أصيب طلاها

I lifted the veil, seeking my own end,

Revealing a beauty like a gazelle struck in the neck.

فسَمَت فوق حقفه تتراءى

فهي تسمو وتستخير رشاها

She rose above the dune, revealing herself,

Rising gracefully, looking toward her fawn.

مقلتيها وجيدها وسليمى

فضل اللّه وجهها وقفاها

Her eyes, her neck—this is Sulayma;

God has favored her face and her form.

فعلتنى مهابةٌ ووجومٌ

من لقاها وما علاني علاها

Awe and silence overcame me at her meeting,

Yet nothing overcame me quite like her majesty.

فأشارت بأنّ في البيت ناسا

ينشرون الحديث فيمن أناها

She signaled that there were people in the house

Who spread gossip about those who visit her.

قلت لاعين ويك تخشى فقالت

كل عين في حيّنا نخشاها

I said, "Woe to you, there is no eye to fear." She said,

"Every eye in our tribe is one we must dread."

قلت لأيا وصلت قالت تنحّى

قبل دهياء معضل ألقاها

I said, "With great struggle I arrived." She said, "Withdraw,

Before a calamitous misfortune befalls me."

قلت فالموت ويك أيسرُ خطب

عند نفس الكريم دون مناها

I said, "Death, woe to you, is a lighter burden

To a noble soul than falling short of its desire."

ثم نازعتها الحديث أنيذا

فإذا كلّ ما عراني عراها

Then I exchanged sweet conversation with her,

And behold, all that afflicted me had afflicted her.

فتبيّنت أنّها بالتنحّى

تبتلى ما تخاف من رقباها

I realized that by telling me to withdraw,

She was testing the fear of her watchers.

فصَفا بينَنا الحديثُ وقالَت

لا تعد مثلها وألق عصاها

The conversation cleared between us, and she said,

"Do not do this again, but settle down here."

ثم بتنا بقية الليل نلهو

بأحاديث لا يملّ جناها

We spent the rest of the night in delight,

With conversations whose harvest never tires.

عاذلى في السفاه تيدَكَ عنى

أسفاهُ الهوى يعِدُّ سفاها

O you who blame me for folly, hold your tongue;

Is the folly of love truly counted as folly?

ان تناهى الشباب عنّى وولى

فنبفسي فتوّةٌ لا تناهى

If youth has finished with me and turned away,

Yet in my soul is a youthfulness that never ends.