Sol 6.1

  1. ألا حيِّيا بالخبِيّ الديارا

    وهلْ ترجعَنَّ ديارٌ حِوارا

    Come, you two, greet the dwellings at al-Khabiyy.

    But will dwellings ever return a reply?

  2. زمانَ الصِّبا ليتَ أيامَنا

    رجعْنَ لنا الصالحاتِ القِصارا

    In the days of youth—if only our days

    would return to us, those good, brief days!

  3. زمانٌ عليَّ غُرابٌ غُدافٌ

    فطيَّرَهُ الدهرُ عنّي فطارا

    A time when upon me rested a dusky raven;

    then Time drove it from me, and it flew away.

  4. فلا يُبعدِ اللهُ ذاكَ الغُدافَ

    وإنْ كانَ لا هو إلاّ ادِّكارا

    May God not banish that dusky raven,

    though it be nothing but remembrance.

  5. فأصبحَ موقعُهُ بائضاً

    محيطاً خِطاماً محيطاً عِذارا

    So its perch became white,

    encircling the noseband, encircling the cheekstrap.

  6. فأما مَسايحُ قدْ أفحشَتْ

    فلا أنا أسطيعُ منها اعتذارا

    As for locks that have grown unsightly,

    I can find no excuse for them.

  7. وهازئةٍ إنْ رأتْ كَبْرَةً

    تَلفَّعَ رأسٌ بها فاستنارا

    And many a mocking woman, when she saw old age

    wrap a head and make it shine—

  8. أجارَتِنا إنَّ ريبَ المَنو

    نِ قبلي عابَ الرجالَ الخِيارا

    O our neighbor, the ravages of fate

    marred the finest men before me.

  9. فإمّا ترَيْ لِمَّتي هكذا

    فأكثرتِ مما رأيتِ النِّفارا

    If you see my hair like this

    and recoil so much from what you have seen,

  10. فقدْ أرتَدي وحْفةً طَلّةً

    وقدْ أشعفُ العطراتِ الخِفارا

    I once wore a thick, luxuriant mane,

    and inflamed the hearts of fragrant, modest women.

  11. وقدْ كنتُ أسحبُ فضلَ الرِّداء

    وأُرخي على العقِبَيْنِ الإزارا

    I used to drag the trailing length of my cloak,

    and let my waist-wrap hang down over my heels.

  12. ورَقراقةٍ لا تطيقُ القِيا

    مَ إلاّ رويداً وإلاّ انبِهارا

    And many a soft-bodied woman who could not rise

    except slowly, and then breathlessly—

  13. خلَوتُ بها نَتجازى الحَدي

    ثَ شيئاً علاناً وشيئاً سِرارا

    I was alone with her, exchanging talk,

    some aloud, and some in whispers.

  14. كأنَّ على الشمسِ منها الخِمارَ

    إذا هيَ لاثَتْ عليها الخِمارا

    As though her veil lay over the sun

    whenever she wound that veil about herself.

  15. كأنَّ الخزامى يمُجُّ الندى

    بمَحنيَةٍ أُنُفاً والعرارا

    As though lavender, shedding dew,

    fresh-grown in a valley bend, and ʿarār blossoms,

  16. تَقاَّمُ في نشرِ أثوابِها

    إذا الليلُ أردفَ جَوزاً وحارا

    gathered in the fragrance of her clothes,

    when night brought one stretch after another and turned,

  17. وأخّرَ جَوزاً وكانتْ لهُ

    خُداريّةٌ يعتكِرْنَ اعتِكارا

    holding another stretch back, while it had

    inky shadows swirling in dense swirls.

  18. ويومِ تساقَطُ لذّاتُهُ

    كما ساقطَ المُدجَناتِ القطارا

    And many a day whose pleasures rained down

    as rain-clouds shed their showers,

  19. تأنفْتُ لذّاتِهِ باكراً

    بَرَهْرهةً طَفلةً أو عُقارا

    I sought its pleasures afresh, early:

    a plump, tender woman, or wine.

  20. بكلتَيْها قدْ قطعتُ النَّها

    رَ خَوداً شَموعاً وكأسلً هِتارا

    With both I passed the day:

    a playful young beauty and an ample cup.

  21. فأمّا الفتاةُ فمِلَكُ اليمينِ

    تنضِحُ نضْحاً عبيراً وقارا

    As for the woman, she was my right hand's possession,

    exuding perfume and qār resin.

  22. وأمّا العُقارُ فوافى بهِ

    سَبيئةَ حولَيْنِ تَجْراً تِجارا

    And as for the wine, it was brought

    as a purchased two-year vintage, by trading merchants.

  23. كأنَّ الشبابَ ولذّاتِهِ

    ورَيْقَ الصِّبا كانَ ثوباً مُعارا

    It was as though youth and its pleasures,

    and youth's first bloom, had been a borrowed garment.

  24. وغيثٍ تَجنَّنَ قُريانُهُ

    يُخايلُ فيهِ المُرارُ المُرارا

    And many a rain-fed pasture, its watercourses hidden,

    where one murār plant rivaled another—

  25. علَوناهُ يَقدُمُنا سَلْهبٌ

    نُسكِّنُهُ تَئِقاً مُستطارا

    we ascended it, led by a tall, long-bodied horse,

    soothing him, high-spirited and skittish.

  26. قَصرْنا لهُ دونَ رزقِ العيالِ

    بُحّاً مَهاريسَ كُوماً ظُؤارا

    We reserved for him, ahead of our family's sustenance,

    hoarse-voiced, massive, high-humped foster-mothers:

  27. مَقاحيدَ يَغْبِقْنَهُ ما اشتهى

    فيصبحُ أحسنَ شيءٍ شَوارا

    full-humped she-camels, giving him all the evening milk he wished,

    so he woke the finest creature in appearance.

  28. فبِتْنا بأوسطِهِ سُرّةً

    نُصَهْصي النُّهاقَ بهِ والعِرارا

    We spent the night in its very heart,

    rousing there the braying and the ostriches' cries.

  29. فلما أضاءَ لنا حاجبٌ

    منَ الشمسُ تحسِبُهُ العينُ نارا

    Then, when a rim shone out for us

    from the sun, which the eye took for fire,

  30. رأينَ المها ورأينَ النَّعامَ

    وأحمِرةً بغَميسٍ نِعارا

    they saw the oryx and saw the ostriches,

    and wild asses braying at Ghamīs.

  31. فلما رأينا صِفاحَ الوجو

    هِ يَبرُقْنَ نَغْتَرهُنَّ اغتِرارا

    When we saw the broad planes of their faces

    gleaming, we sought to take them unawares.

  32. غدَونا بهِ مثلَ وقْفِ العَرو

    سِ أهيفَ بطناً مُمَرّاً مُغارا

    We set out early on him, like a bride's bracelet,

    slender-bellied, tightly twisted, firmly knit.

  33. قذفْنا الحَرُوريَّ في شِدقِهِ

    وأُبطِنَ مُلَحَمُ فيهِ العِذارا

    We thrust the Ḥarūrī bit into his mouth,

    and the cheekstrap was tucked into his fleshy mouth.

  34. فلما عقلْنا عليهِ الغُلا

    مَ قِرنَيْنِ لا يُنكرانِ الغِوارا

    When we strapped the boy upon him—

    two matched companions, neither a stranger to raiding—

  35. حذرناهُ من فلكٍ بافعٍ

    يغيبُ الرَّقاقَ ويطفو الخُبارا

    we warned him of a lofty, rounded rise;

    he sank low over firm flats and floated over soft earth.

  36. كأنَّ غُلَيِّمنا مُعْصِماً

    ونحنُ نرى جانبَيءهِ الشَّرارا

    As though our little rider clung for safety,

    while we saw sparks on either side of him.

  37. يمرُّ بهِ برَدٌ سابحٌ

    يُشَقِّقُ من كلِّ بينٍ دبارا

    Barad, coursing, carried him along,

    cleaving furrows through every interval.

  38. كأنَّ مُلأتُهُ مُدْبِراً

    حريقُ الغَريفِ إذا ما استدارا

    As though his covering, as he sped away,

    were a burning thicket when it wheeled around:

  39. هشيمٌ منَ الغافِ مُستوقدٌ

    يُسنِّنُ ريحاً وزادَ استعارا

    dry ghaf brushwood, kindled,

    racing the wind and flaring still more fiercely.

  40. وشدَّدَ أزرقَ مثلَ الشِّها

    بِ كنّا انتقَيْناهُ زُرقاً حِشارا

    And he braced a blue-gray spear like a meteor,

    which we had chosen from slender blue-gray shafts.

  41. فلما علاهُنَّ شُؤْبوبُهُ

    ولفَّ نفِيُّ غبارٍ غبارا

    When his onrushing shower swept over them,

    and dust-spray wrapped one dustcloud in another,

  42. فأحْذاهُ مثلَ قُدامى الجِناحِ

    خَضْخَضَ قُصْباً وأفرى سِتارا

    he gave it a point like a wing's foremost feather,

    churning hollow bones and rending their covering.

  43. فتزداد حَمْياً شآبيبُهُ

    وتزداد أوضاحُهنَّ احمِرارا

    His showers grew fiercer,

    and their white markings grew redder.

  44. فألغى مَهاتَيْنِ في شأوِهِ

    وألغى الظَّليمَ وألغى الحِمارا

    He cast down two oryx in his course,

    and cast down the male ostrich, and the wild ass.

  45. وخَطّارةٍ مثلِ خطْرِ الفنِي

    قِ تقطعُ منهُ الحِطاطُ السِّفارا

    And many a tail-swinging she-camel, swinging like a stallion,

    whose plunging motion snaps the nose-rope,

  46. هَوِيَّ مُصَلَّمةٍ صَعْلةٍ

    تأوَّبُ بالسِّيِّ زُغباً صغارا

    rushing like an earless, small-headed ostrich hen,

    returning at al-Siyy to her tiny downy chicks.

  47. رماها المساءُ فما تبتلي

    بأرْمِيَةٍ ينهمِرْنَ انهمارا

    Evening drove her on, and she cared nothing

    for clouds pouring down in torrents.

  48. يبادرْنَ رَيِّقَ ذي كِرْفئٍ

    يَقُدُّ الرُّبا ويشقُّ البحارا

    They raced the first onset of a dark, towering cloud,

    that cleaves the hills and rends the seas.

  49. خَشوفِ الظلامِ إذا أظلمَتْ

    فأما النهارَ فتَخْدي النهارا

    Plunging into darkness when night falls,

    but by day she trots the whole day long.

  50. رميتُ بها الليلَ حتى انحنتْ

    كأنَّ بها وهْيَ رهْبٌ هِجارا

    I hurled her through the night until she bent,

    as though a hobble bound her, lean and swift as she was.

  51. تُبادرُهُ أمَّ أُدْحِيّها

    فتَبْدِرُهُ وتفوتُ الغبارا

    She raced him to the heart of her nest,

    outstripping him and leaving the dust behind.

  52. فشبَّهتُ تلكَ صُهابيّةٌ

    منَ العيسِ تهدي قِلاصاً مِهارا

    So I likened that one to a tawny she-camel

    among the pale camels, leading young, foal-like she-camels.

  53. إذا يدُها وافدَتْ رِجلَها

    بأغبرَ يزدادُ إلاّ اغبرارا

    Whenever her foreleg came to meet her hindleg

    across a dusty plain that only grew dustier,

  54. تَواهَق أربَعُها واغتلى

    مُقدَّمُها وابتذلْنَ المَحارا

    her four limbs raced each other, and up rose

    her forequarters; they worked their joints hard.

  55. إلى حكَمٍ وهوَ أهلُ الثناءِ

    وحُسنِ الثناءِ تولّى القِفارا

    Toward Hakam, worthy of praise,

    and noble praise, she crossed the deserts.

  56. أُنيختْ بهِ ولقدْ هُلّلتْ

    ومُقْوَرَّةً كِليتاها اقوِرارا

    She was made to kneel beside him, worn crescent-thin,

    and deeply hollowed at both her kidneys.

  57. كأنَّ العُفاةَ على بابِهِ

    عفاةُ المُحَصَّبِ ترمي الجِمارا

    As though the seekers of gifts at his door

    were the visitors of al-Muḥaṣṣab, casting the pebbles.