Sol 6.1

  1. نأَتكَ بليلى نِيَّةٌ لم تُقاربِ

    وما حُبُّ ليلى مِن فؤادي بذاهِبِ

    A far-off destination has carried Layla away from you,

    yet love of Layla will not depart from my heart.

  2. مُنَعَّمةٌ تجلو بعودِ أراكةٍ

    ذَرى بَرَدٍ عَذبٍ شَنيبِ المناصبِ

    Pampered, she polishes with a twig of arak

    the tips of sweet hailstones, cool and bright at their roots.

  3. كأنَّ فضيضاً من غريضِ غمامةٍ

    على ظمأٍ جادَت به أُمُّ غالِبِ

    As though freshly poured water from a cloud's new rain

    were Umm Ghalib's gift to a thirsting man,

  4. لمستهلكٍ قد كان من شِدَّةِ الهوى

    يموتُ ومن طولِ العِداتِ الكواذبِ

    a man wasted away, who from love's intensity

    was dying, and from long, false promises.

  5. صريعُ غوانٍ راقَهُنَّ ورُقنَه

    لَدُن شبَّ حتى شابَ سودُ الذوائبِ

    Stricken by beauties, he pleased them and they pleased him,

    from his first manhood until his black tresses turned gray.

  6. وثنتينِ مما قد يَلَذُّهما الفتى

    جمعتُهما راحٍ وبيضاءَ كاعبِ

    And two things a young man may delight in

    I brought together: wine and a fair maiden with budding breasts,

  7. قُديديمةٍ التجريبِ والحلمِ أنني

    أرى غفلاتِ العَيشِ قَبل التجارِبِ

    a little before experience and wisdom, for I

    see life's carefree moments as preceding experience.

  8. وما ريحُ رَوضٍ ذي أَقاحٍ وَحَنوَةٍ

    وذي نَفَلٍ من قُلَّةِ الحَزنِ عازِبِ

    Nor is the scent of a meadow with daisies and chamomile,

    and clover, remote on the crest of rugged ground,

  9. سَقَتهُ سماءٌ ذاتُ ظلٍّ فنقّعت

    نطافاً ولمّا سَيلُ المذانِبِ

    watered by a shading cloud that left

    small pools of water, though the gullies had not yet flowed,

  10. بأطيبَ مِن ليلى إذا ما تمايلت

    من الليلِ وسنى جانِباً بَعدَ جانِبِ

    sweeter than Layla whenever she sways

    drowsily at night, from side to side.

  11. تُلاعِبُ أتراباً من الحي مَوهناً

    فصارَ الخُطا مُستَرخياتِ المناكبِ

    She plays with girls her age from the clan late at night,

    then their steps grew languid, their shoulders relaxed.

  12. تلاهَينًَ واستَنعَت بهن خريدة

    إلى مَلعبٍ ناءٍ من الحَيِّ ناضِبِ

    They frolicked, and a shy maiden led them

    to a remote playing-ground, far from the clan.

  13. وبِيضِ حِسانٍ يتَّبِعنَ إِلى الصَّبا

    رسولاً كميعادِ العِتاقِ النجائبِ

    And fair, lovely women, following toward youthful dalliance

    a messenger, to a meeting like that of noble thoroughbred camels,

  14. فأَقبَلنَ ما يمشينَ إِلا تأوّداً

    حِسانُ الوجوه ضافياتُ الذوائبِ

    then came toward us, walking only with a graceful sway,

    beautiful of face, with flowing tresses.

  15. فلما التقينا قامَ للعاجِ رَنَّةٌ

    وكُنَّ صريعاً من سَليبٍ وسالبِ

    When we met, their ivory ornaments rang out,

    and they were stricken, plundered and plunderers alike.

  16. وإني وإن كان المُسافِرُ نازِلاً

    وإن كان ذا حق على الناس واجبِ

    And I—though a traveler lodges as a guest,

    and though he has a binding claim upon people,

  17. ولا بُدَّ أنَّ الضَّيفَ مخبرُ ما رأى

    مخبّرُ أهلٍ أو مخبرُ صاخبِ

    and a guest is bound to tell what he has seen,

    whether to family or to a loud talker—

  18. لمُخبرُكَ الانباءَ عن أمٍّ منزلٍ

    تَضيّفتها بين العُذيبِ فراسِبِ

    will certainly tell you news of a mistress of a dwelling

    whose hospitality I sought between al-ʿUdhayb and Rasib.

  19. تلفَّعتُ في طَلٍّ وريحٍ تلُفُّني

    وفي طِرمِساء غيرِ ذاتِ كواكبِ

    I wrapped myself against dew and a wind that enveloped me,

    and in starless, pitch-black darkness,

  20. إِلى حيزبونٍ تُوقِدُ النَّارَ كلَّما

    تَلَفَّعت الظلماءُ من كُلِّ جانبِ

    I went to a crone who kindled fire whenever

    darkness shrouded her from every side.

  21. تصلّى بها بَردَ العِشاءِ ولم تكُن

    تخالُ وَبِيصَ النارِ يبدو لراكِبِ

    She warmed herself by it against the evening's cold, never

    thinking the fire's gleam would be seen by a rider.

  22. فما راعَها إِلا بُغامُ مطيتي

    تُريح بمحسورٍ من الصَوتِ لاغبِ

    Nothing startled her but the lowing of my mount,

    breathing out a worn and weary sound.

  23. تقول وقد قَربتُ كوري وناقتي

    اليكَ فلا تَذعَر عليَّ ركائبي

    She said, as I brought my saddle and she-camel near,

    'Away with you! Do not frighten my riding-camels!'

  24. فجنَّت جنوناً من دلالاتٍِ منيخةٍ

    ومن رَجُلٍ عاري الأشاجِعِ شاحِبِ

    She flew into a frenzy at the kneeling [camel; reading uncertain],

    and at a pallid man with fleshless knuckles,

  25. سرى في جليدِ الليل حتى كأنما

    تَخَزَّم بالاطرافِ شَوكَ العقاربِ

    who traveled through the night's ice until it seemed

    he had pierced his extremities with scorpions' barbs.

  26. فَسلَّمتُ والتسليمُ ليس يَسُرُّها

    ولكنّه حَقٌ على كُلِّ جانِبِ

    I greeted her, though the greeting did not please her,

    but it is a duty on either side.

  27. فَرَدَّت سلاماً كارِهاً ثُمَّ اعرَضت

    كما انحازتِ الافعى مخافةَ ضارِبِ

    She returned an unwilling greeting, then turned away,

    as a viper withdraws for fear of someone striking it.

  28. فقُلتُ لها لا تَفعلي ذا براكبِ

    أتاكِ مصيبٍ ما أصابَ فذاهِبِ

    I said to her, 'Do not treat a rider this way—

    one who has come to you, takes what he finds, then departs.'

  29. فلما تَنازَعنا الحديث سأَلتُها

    مَن الحيُّ قالت مَعشَرٌ مِن مُحاربِ

    When we exchanged words, I asked her,

    'Who is the clan?' She said, 'A people of Muharib.'

  30. من المُشتَوينَ القَدَّ مما تراهم

    جياعاً وريفُ الناسِ ليس بناضبِ

    Of those who roast dried hide, for you see them

    hungry, though people's plenty has not run dry.

  31. فلما بدا حِرمانُها الضيفَ لم يكُن

    عليّ مُناخُ السوءِ ضَربَةَ لازِبِ

    When her refusal of the guest became clear, it was not

    an inescapable obligation for me to camp in misery.

  32. فَقُمت إِلى مُهريّةٍ قد تعوَّدَت

    يداها ورجلاها خيببَ المواكبِ

    So I rose and went to a Mahri she-camel, well accustomed

    in forelegs and hindlegs to the caravans' trot.

  33. تُفرّي قميصَ الليل عنها وتنتحي

    كانّ بذفرَاها بُزاقَ الجنادِبِ

    She tears the shirt of night away from herself and presses on,

    as though grasshoppers' spittle lay behind her ears.

  34. ترى كلَّ ميلٍ جاوزته غنيمةً

    سُحيراً وقد صارَ القُميرُ بحاجبِ

    She counts every mile she has passed as a gain,

    near dawn, when the little moon had reached the horizon's brow.

  35. تخوّدُ تخويدَ النَّعامةِ بعدما

    تصوّبت الجوزاءُ قصدَ المغاربِ

    She strides with an ostrich's stride, after

    Orion had sloped down toward the western horizons.

  36. كأني ورَحلي من نجاءِ مُواشِكِ

    على قارحٍ بالمنصليةِ قاربِ

    As though my saddle and I, through her headlong speed,

    were on a mature wild ass at al-Munsiliyyah, bound for water,

  37. حدا إننا من ذي حَماسِ وعَرعَرٍ

    لقاحاً يغشيها رؤوسُ الصياهبِ

    driving [she-asses; reading uncertain] from Dhu Hamas and ʿArʿar,

    nursing females, with tawny males' heads looming over them,

  38. مفدحةٍ قُبّاً خِفافاً بطونُها

    وقد وازنتُ جِحشانها بالحوالبِ

    heavily burdened, lean, their bellies light,

    and I had matched their foals with the milk-giving females.

  39. تَمُرُّ كَمَرِّ الطَيرِ في كُلِّ غَمرَةٍ

    ويكتحِلُ التالي بمورٍ وحاصبِ

    They pass like birds through every billowing cloud,

    and the one behind takes swirling dust and pelting grit for kohl.

  40. إلا إنما نيرانُ قَيس إذا اشتَوَوا

    لطارقِِ ليلٍ مثلُ نارِ الحباحبِ

    But the fires of Qays, when they roast food, are only

    like al-Hubahib's fire to one who arrives at night.

  41. إذا مُتُّ فانعيني بما كُنتُ اهله

    لتغلبَ إنَّ الحَقَّ لا بُدَّ غالي

    When I die, lament me with the praise I deserved,

    to Taghlib—for truth must surely be held dear—

  42. إذا الحيُّ حَلّوا فرط حَولٍ بغائطِ

    جديبٍ مُنَدّاهُ انيقٍ لحاطبِ

    when the clan camps, after a year has passed, in a lowland

    barren of pasture, yet pleasing to a wood-gatherer.