قد رابه ولمثل ذلك رابه — Al Arji

قَد رابَهُ وَلِمثل ذَلِكَ رابَهُ

وَقَعَ البَياضُ عَلى السَوادِ فَشابَهُ

It troubled him—and such a thing would trouble him.

Whiteness fell upon blackness and mingled with it.

لَونٌ حَسِبتُ إِلى النِساءِ مُبَغَّضٌ

عِندَ النُصُولِ إِذا يَحِينُ خِضابُهُ

A color, I thought, hateful to women,

when the dye fades and its dyeing falls due.

إِنَّ الشَباب عَسا وَأَدبَرَ خَيرُهُ

فَمَتى تَقُولُ وَلاتَ حِينَ إِيابُهُ

Youth has withered, and its best has passed away.

When, then, you ask? It is no time now for its return.

أَفَبَعدَ ذاكَ وَبَعدَ ما ذَهَبَ الَّذي

يَزَعُ الفُؤادَ عَن أَن يُصَبَّ ذَهابُهُ

Was it after that, after the passing of that

whose loss restrains the heart from being love-struck,

أَذرى الدُموعَ فَلامَهُ أَصحابُهُ

إِذ صاحَ بِالبَينِ المُشِتِّ غَرابُهُ

that he shed tears, and his companions reproached him,

when his raven cried of sundering separation

مِن آلِ عَمرَةَ وَالمُحِبُّ مُشَوَّقٌ

سَرِبُ الدُمُوعِ إِذا نَأى أَحبابُهُ

from ʿAmra's household? A lover is filled with longing,

his tears streaming when his loved ones are far away.

ذَهَبَ النَهارُ وَلا يَبُوخُ عِتابُهُم

صَبّاً يَقِلُّ لَدى العِتابِ عِتابُهُ

The day passed, but their reproach did not abate—

of a lovesick man whose own reproach dwindles under theirs.

وَاللَهُ يَعلَمُ ما تَرَكتُ مِراءَهُم

أَلّا يَكُونُ مَعي لِذاكَ جَوابُهُ

God knows I did not give up disputing with them

for lack of an answer to that,

إِلّا مَخافَةَ أَن أُصارِمَ صاحِباً

وَالصرمُ فاعلَم وَالمِرا أَسبابُهُ

but only for fear of breaking with a friend.

And estrangement—know this—is caused by wrangling.

وَيَرى اللَئيمُ غَنيمَةً في مالِهِ

سَبَّ الكَريمِ إِذا الكَريمُ أَجابَهُ

The base man counts as a gain to his fortune

a noble man's insult, if the noble man answers him.

فَسَكَتُّ إِضرابَ الحَليمِ وَإِنَّما

يُنجى الحَليمَ عَن الخَنا إِضرابُهُ

So I kept silent, turning away as the forbearing do; only

his turning away saves the forbearing man from foul speech.

وَأَفَضتُ عَبرَةَ مَعوِلٍ هاجَت لَهُ

ذِكرَ الحَبيب فَهاجَهُ إِطرابُهُ

I poured out a wailer's tear, stirring in him

the beloved's memory; the emotion it stirred aroused him.

عَزَمُوا الفِراقَ وَقَرَّبُوا لِرَحيلِهِم

كَالهَضبِ في يَومٍ يَظَلُّ سَرابُهُ

They resolved to part and brought near for their departure

camels like hills, on a day whose mirage kept

يَجري عَلى جُدبِ المِتانِ كَأَنَّهُ

ماءٌ أَغاثَ بِهِ البِلادَ سَحابُهُ

flowing across barren, hard ground, as though it were

water with which its clouds had relieved the land.

يَوماً يَظَلُّ الرِيمُ فيهِ لازِماً

قعرَ الكِناس وَلا يُحَسُّ ضَبابُهُ

A day when the white gazelle stayed fast

in the depths of its covert, while the day's lizards went unseen;

يَكتَنُّ مِن وَهجِ السُمُومِ كَأَنَّما

جُدُدُ المَلاءِ مِنَ البَياضِ ثِيابُهُ

it sheltered from the blaze of scorching winds, as though

its garments, in their whiteness, were brand-new mantles.

مِن كُلِّ مُنتَفِخٍ كَأَنَّ تَلِيلَهُ

جِذعٌ بَراهُ جائِزاً خَشّابُهُ

Each camel was massive, its neck seeming

a trunk its woodworker had hewn into a crossbeam.

تَستَنفِدُ النِسعَ الطَويلَ ضُلُوعُهُ

نابى المَعِدِّ نَبيلَةٌ آرابُهُ

Its ribs used up the whole long girth-strap,

its flank bulging, its limbs magnificent.

مُغضٍ إِذا غَضَّ الزِمامَ خِشاشُهُ

يَفتَرُّ عَن أَنَفٍ فَيَبدُو نابُهُ

Head lowered when its nose-peg tightened the rein,

it parted its lips in proud anger, and its canine showed,

عَن مِثلِ زافِرَةِ الرِتاجِ أَجافَهُ

مِن بَعدِ أَوَّلِ فَتحِهِ بَوّابُهُ

like the upright of a great gate, closed

by its keeper after he first opened it.

حَتّى إِذا قُضِيَ الرَحيلُ وَقَد سَطا

نَقعٌ يَثُورُ إِلى السَماءِ ضَبابُهُ

At last, when the departure was complete, and there had risen

dust whose haze surged into the sky,

نَبَّعتُ ذِفراهُ عَلى قَصَراتِهِ

كَالمُهلِ يَتَّبِعُ المَقَدَّ حَبابُهُ

I made sweat gush from behind its ears over its neck,

like molten metal, its bubbles coursing along the neck,

مِن حَيثُ تَنتَكِتُ المَرافِقُ أَو يَقَع

أَثَرُ المَرافِقِ حَيثُ عادَ تِرابُهُ

from where the elbows strike, or where falls

the mark of the elbows, where its dust returns:

دَقّاً يُراوِجُ دَقَّهُ ثَفَناتِهِ

سَحقَ التَخَلّصِ إِذ يَصِيحُ جَنابُهُ

a pounding, its blows alternating against its calloused pads,

a grinding struggle to break free, while its flank cries out.

خَرَجَت تَأَطَّرُ في أَوانِسَ كَالدُمى

وَالمُزنُ يَبرُقُ بِالعَشِيِّ رَبابُهُ

She came out swaying among young women like statues,

while the rain clouds' banks flashed with lightning at evening.

يَمشِينَ مَشيَ العِين في مُتَأَنِّقٍ

مِن نَبتِهِ غَرِدِ الضَحاءِ ذُبابُهُ

They walked like wide-eyed antelopes through a delightful stretch

of vegetation, its flies humming in the late morning,

في زاهِرٍ مِثل النُجُومِ أَمالَهُ

ظَلَمٌ فَتَمَّ وَلَم يَهِج إِعشابُهُ

amid blossoms like stars, bowed

by dew; it flourished fully, its grass not yet withered.

فَبَدا وَما عَمِدَت بِذاكَ تَبَرُّماً

جِيدٌ يمُجُّ عَلى اللُبانِ سَخابُهُ

Then there appeared—she had not meant it out of vexation—

a neck whose scented necklace poured upon her breast

مِسكاً وَجادِيَّ العَبير فَأَشرَقا

حَتّى كَأَنَّ دَماً يُقالُ أَصابَهُ

musk and saffron perfume, and both gleamed,

until one might say that blood had touched it.

تُدنى عَلى اللِيتَينِ أَسحَمَ وارِداً

رَجِلاً يَشِفُّ لناظِرٍ جِلبابُهُ

She lowered over both sides of her neck black, flowing hair,

loosely waved, its covering sheer to an onlooker.

وَكَأَنَّ أَحوَرَ مِن ظِباءِ تَبالَةٍ

يَقرُو الخَمائِلَ حِينَ تَمَّ شَبابُهُ

It was as though a dark-eyed gazelle of Tabala,

ranging through thickets in the fullness of its youth,

أَهدى لِعَمرةَ مُقلَتَيهِ إِذ رَمَت

نَحوي بِما لا يُستَطاعُ ثَوابُهُ

had given ʿAmra its two eyes, when she cast

toward me what could not be repaid

مِن طَرفِها إِني رَأَيتُ مُكَثِّراً

نَما عَلَيها لا يَريمُ إِهابُهُ

from her gaze; I saw a prolific gossip

informing against her, his hide never stirring.

وَتَبَسَّمَت لِيَ عَن أَغَرَّ مُؤَشَّرٍ

ظَلمِ تَحَيَّرَ بارِدٍ أَنيابُهُ

She smiled at me, revealing bright, finely serrated teeth,

where lustrous saliva pooled and the canines were cool,

كَغَريضِ مَوهِبَةٍ أَطافَ بِمائِها

طَودٌ تَمَنَّعَ أَن تُنالَ لِصابُهُ

like fresh water in a rock hollow, its water ringed

by a mountain whose ravines could not be reached.

بَيضاءَ تَنسُجُها الصَبا في مُشرِفٍ

حَلَّ القُلُوبَ الصادِياتِ حِجابُهُ

White, the east wind weaving it upon a height,

its veil undoing thirsty hearts.

فَعَلَونَ أَوطِئَةَ الخُدورِ كَما عَلَت

رُقبُ المَها كُثُباً تَحِفُّ هِضابُهُ

They mounted the cushions of their curtained litters, as mounted

long-necked oryx upon dunes ringed by hills,

أَنقاءَ وَحشِيِّ الأَلا أَسكانُهُ

فِيها يَقيلُ وَرَعيُها إِخصابُهُ

sand dunes, haunts of the wild creature among alā shrubs;

there it rests at noon, and their grazing gives it plenty.

فَتَبِعتُهُنَّ لِنِيَّةٍ شَحَطَت بِهِم

كَالنخلِ حانَ لِمُجتَنٍ أَرطابُهُ

So I followed them toward a destination that carried them far,

like palms whose soft-ripe dates were ready for a picker.

وَأَنَختُ مُنعَقِدَ الحِبالِ وَفَوقَهُ

رَحلٌ تَغَشَّت بَزَّهُ أَجلابُهُ

I made the camel of knotted sinews kneel; upon it

was a saddle, its wrappings covering its cloth.

مِن خَلفِهِ لَدنُ المَهَّزةِ قاطِعٌ

ضافٍ تَضَمَّنَهُ لِذاكَ قِرابُهُ

Behind it was a cutting blade, supple when shaken,

long and ample, enclosed for that purpose by its scabbard.

فَتَبِعتُهُم وَلَنِعمَ صاحِبُ واحِدٍ

في الوَحشِ يَبدُرُ قَبلَهُ أَصحابُهُ

So I followed them—what a fine companion for a man alone

in the wilds, when his companions hurry ahead of him!

حَتّى إِذا اِختَلَطَ الظَلامُ وَقارَبُوا

زُرقاً وَأَسهَلَ لِلمُنيخِ جَنابُهُ

At last, when darkness gathered and they drew near

Zurq, its outskirts level for one halting his camels,

نَزَلُوا كَما نَزَلَ الحَجيجُ بِأَبطَحٍ

ضَمَّتهُمُ عِندَ الجِمارِ حِصابُهُ

they alighted as pilgrims alight upon a gravelly plain,

whose gravel gathered them at the stoning sites.