1. أَرَسمَ دِيارٍ بِالسِتارَينِ تَعرِفُ

    عَفَتها شَمالٌ ذاتُ نيرَينِ حَرجَفُ

    Do you recognize a trace of dwellings at al-Sitarayn?

    A cold, fierce north wind of double force has effaced them,

  2. مُبَكِّرَةٌ لِلدارِ أَيما ثُمامُها

    فَيَبقى وَأَيما عَن حَصاها فَتَقرِفُ

    coming early to the dwelling—as for its thumam grass,

    it remains; but she scrapes the dust from the dwelling's pebbles,

  3. حَرونٌ عَلى الأَطلالِ مِن كُلِّ صَيفَةٍ

    وَفَقّا عَلَيها ذو عَثانينَ أَكلَفُ

    lingering stubbornly over the ruins with every summer rain;

    and a dusky cloud with trailing rain-beards pours upon it.

  4. إِذا حَنَّ سُلّافُ الرَبيعِ أَمامَها

    وَراحَت رَواياهُ عَلى الأَرضِ تَرجُفُ

    When spring's first clouds groan before it,

    and its water-bearing clouds go out at evening, trembling over the earth,

  5. فَلَم تَدَعِ الأَرواحُ وَالماءُ وَالبِلى

    مِنَ الدارِ إِلّا مايَشوقُ وَيَشعَفُ

    the winds, the water, and decay have left nothing

    of the dwelling but what awakens longing and inflames the heart:

  6. رُسوماً كَآياتِ الكِتابِ مُبينَةٍ

    بِها لِلحَزينِ الصَبِّ مَبكى وَمَوقِفُ

    traces like the clear markings of a book,

    where the sorrowing lover has a place to weep and stand.

  7. وَقَفتُ بِها وَالدَمعُ يَجري حَبابَهُ

    عَلى النَحرِ حَتّى كادَتِ الشَمسُ تُكسَفُ

    I stood there while tears streamed in beads

    over my breast, until the sun was nearly darkened.

  8. تَذَكَّرتَ أَيّاماً تَسَلَّفتُ لينَها

    عَلى لِذَّةٍ لَو يُرجَعُ المُتَسَلَّفُ

    You remembered days whose softness I had borrowed

    in pleasure—if only what was borrowed could return!

  9. كَأَنَّكَ لَم تَعهَد بِها الحَيَّ جيرَةً

    جَميعَ الهَوى في عَيشِهِ ماتُصَرِّفُ

    As though you had never known the tribe there as neighbors,

    with all you desired in their life, wherever you turned,

  10. إِذِ الناسُ ناسٌ وَالبِلادُ بِغِرَّةٍ

    وَأَنتَ بِها صَبُّ القَرينَةِ مولِفُ

    when people were truly people and the land was untroubled,

    and there you were, lovesick for your companion, fondly attached.

  11. وَقَد كانَ في الهِجرانِ لَو كُنتَ ناسِياً

    رَميمَ وَهَل يُنسى رَبيعٌ وَصَيَّفُ

    And estrangement might have brought solace, if you could forget

    Ramim—but can the spring and summer rains be forgotten?

  12. وَلَم تُنسِني الأَيّامُ وَالبَغيُ بَينَنا

    رَميمُ وَلا قَذفُ النَوى حينَ تَقذِفُ

    The days and the hostility between us have not made me forget

    Ramim, nor separation's cast when it flings us far.

  13. وَلَم يَحلُ في عَيني بَديلٌ مَكانَها

    وَلَم يَلتَبِس بي حَبلُ مَن يَتَعَطَّفُ

    No substitute in her place has grown pleasing to my eyes,

    nor has the cord of anyone showing tenderness entwined me.

  14. وَقَد حَلَفَت وَالسِترُ بَيني وَبَينَها

    بِرَبِّ حَجيجٍ قَد أَهَلّوا وَعَرَّفوا

    She had sworn, with a curtain between her and me,

    by the Lord of pilgrims who had raised their pilgrimage cries and stood at Arafat,

  15. عَلى ضُمَّرٍ في الميسِ يَنفُخنَ في البُرى

    إِذا شابَكَت أَنيابُها اللَجنَ تَصرِفِ

    on lean she-camels in hackberry-wood saddles, snorting through their nose-rings,

    when their fangs are tangled in froth, they gnash.

  16. لَقَد مَسَّني مِنكِ الجَوى غَيرَ أَنَّني

    أَخافُ كَما يَخشى عَلى ذاكَ أَحِلفُ

    Love's anguish has surely touched me through you, yet I

    fear as one fears—on that I swear.

  17. وَكانَ صُدودٌ بَعدَ ناءَبطَنَ الهَوى

    قُلوباً فَكادَت لِلَّذي كانَ تُجنَفُ

    Then came estrangement after love [had entered]

    hearts, which almost turned aside because of what had happened,

  18. كَتَركِ الأَميمِ الهائِمِ الماءَ بَعدَما

    تَنَحّى بِكَفَّيهِ يَسوفُ وَيَغرِفُ

    like a head-wounded, thirst-crazed man abandoning water after

    he had leaned upon both palms, sniffing and scooping.

  19. وَداوِيَّةٌ لايَأمَنُ الرَكبُ جَوزَها

    بِها صارِخاتُ الهامِ وَالبومِ يَهتِفُ

    And in a desert whose depths the riders did not trust,

    where owls shriek and hoot,

  20. دَعاني بِها داعي رَميمٍ وَبَينَنا

    بَهيمُ الحَواشي ذو أَهاويلِ أَغضَفُ

    Ramim's caller summoned me there; between us lay

    a night black at its edges, thick and full of terrors.

  21. تَقَحَّمتُ لَيلَ العيسِ وَهيَ رَذِيَّةٌ

    وَكَلَّفتُ أَصحابي الوَجيفَ فَأَوجَفوا

    I plunged through the night with the pale camels, though they were worn out,

    and urged my companions to a swift trot, so they hastened,

  22. لِنِخبِرَ عَنها أَو نَرى سَروَ أَرضِها

    وَقَد يُتعِبُ الرَكبَ المُحِبُّ المُكَلَّفُ

    to learn of her or see the uplands of her land;

    an infatuated lover may indeed weary the caravan.

  23. وَلَو لَم تَمِل بِالعيسِ مَعوِيَّةُ العُرى

    لَمالَ بِها أَيكٌ أَثيثٌ وَغَريفُ

    And had a twisted-loop rein not turned the pale camels,

    a dense grove and a thicket would have turned them,

  24. وَمَكنونَةٌ سودُ المَجاثِمِ لَم يَزَل

    يُهَيِّرَها لِلعَيكَتَينِ التَلَهُّفِ

    and a hidden one with black resting places, which

    longing for the two thickets never ceased to wear away.

  25. وَما العَيشُ إِلّا في ثَلاثٍ هِيَ المُنى

    فَمَن نالَها مِن بَعدُ لا يَتَخَوَّفُ

    Life lies only in three things—the heart's desires;

    whoever attains them need fear nothing thereafter:

  26. صِحابَةُ فِتيانٍ عَلى ناعِجِيَّةٍ

    مَناسِمُها بِالأَمعَزِ المَحلِ تَرعُفُ

    the company of young men, riding a long-necked she-camel,

    whose foot-pads bleed on the barren, stony ground;

  27. وَكَأسٌ بِأَيدي الساقِيَينِ رَوِيَّةٌ

    يُمِدّانِ راوُقيهِما حينَ تُنزَفُ

    and a brimming cup in the hands of two cupbearers,

    who replenish their two decanters whenever it is drained;

  28. وَرَبَّةُ خِدرٍ يَنفُحُ المِسكَ جَيبُها

    تَضَوَّعَ رَيّاها بِهِ حينَ تَصدِفُ

    and a lady of the curtained chamber, whose neckline wafts musk,

    her fragrance spreading with it whenever she turns aside.

  29. إِذا سُلِبَت فَوقَ الحَشِيّاتِ أَشرَقَت

    كَما أَشرَقَ الدِعصَ الهِجانُ المُصَيَّفُ

    When undressed upon the cushions, she shines

    as a white sand-mound washed by summer rain shines.