1. بانَ الخليطُ بسحرة ِ فتبدَّدوا

    والدّارُ تسعفُ بالخليطِ وتبعدُ

    The companions departed before dawn and scattered.

    And the dwelling brings companions near, then keeps them far away.

  2. هَاجُوا عَلَيْكَ مِنَ الصَّبَابَة ِ لَوْعَة ً

    بردَ الغليلُ، وحرُّها لا يبرُدُ

    They stirred in you a burning pang of yearning.

    Thirst has cooled, but its heat does not cool.

  3. لمَّا رأيتُهُمُ حزائقَ أجهشتْ

    نَفْسي وقُلْتُ لَهُمْ: أَلاَ لاَ تَبْعُدُوا

    When I saw them in bands, it burst into sobs—

    my soul—and I said to them, "Ah, do not go far!"

  4. وجرى ببينهمُ، غداة َ تحمَّلوا

    منْ ذي الأبارقِ، شاحجٌ يتفيَّدُ

    Their parting was heralded, the morning they loaded up,

    by a harsh-voiced crow from Dhu al-Abariq, strutting.

  5. شَنِجُ النَّسَا، أَدْفَى الجَنَاحِ، كأَنه

    في الدَّارِ، بَعْدَ الظَّاعِنِينَ، مقَيَّدُ

    Taut of leg-sinew, curved of wing, as though

    tethered in the dwelling after the travelers had gone.

  6. مَذِلٌ بِغَائِبِ مَا يُجِنُّ ضَمِيرُهُ

    غردٌ، يعسِّرُ بالصِّياحِ، وينكُدُ

    Blabbing the hidden things its heart conceals,

    loud-voiced, bringing hardship and ill fortune with its cries.

  7. كَصِيَاحِ نُوتِيٍّ، يَظَلُّ، عَلَى ذُرَى

    قيدومِ قرواءِ السَّراة ِ، يندِّدُ

    Like the cry of a sailor who keeps, atop

    the prow of a long-backed vessel, raising his voice.

  8. يا صَاحِبِي بِسَوَاءِ فَيْفِ مُلَيْحَة ٍ

    مَا بِالثَّنِيَّة ِ بَعْدَ قَوْمِكَ مَقْعَدُ

    O my companion, amid Mulayhah's desert plain,

    there is no staying at the pass after your people.

  9. فَاطْرَحْ بِطَرْفِكَ هَلْ تَرَى أَظْعَانَهُمْ

    والكَامِسِيَّة ُ دُونَهُنَّ فَثَرْمَدُ

    Cast your gaze: do you see their departing camel-litters,

    with al-Kamisiyyah between you and them, then Tharmad?

  10. ظعنٌ تجاسرُ بينَ حزمِ عوارضٍ

    وعنيزتينِ، ربيعهنَّ الأغيدُ

    Litters venture between the ridge of 'Awarid

    and 'Unayzatayn, their spring pasture lush and tender,

  11. بِأغَنَّ كَالحُوَلاَءِ، زَانَ جِنَانَهُ

    نَوْرُ الدَّكَادِكِ، سُوقُهُ تَتَخَضَّدُ

    in a thick-grown valley, like a caul, its gardens adorned

    by hillock blossoms, whose stalks bend and break.

  12. حَتَّى إِذَا صُهْبُ الجَنَادِبِ وَدَّعَتْ

    نَوْرَ الرَّبِيعِ، ولاَحَهُنَّ الجُدْجُدُ

    Until, when the tawny grasshoppers forsook

    spring blossoms, and fierce summer heat scorched them,

  13. واسْتَحْمَلَ الشَّبَحَ الضُّحَى بزُهَائِهِ

    وأميتَ دعموصُ الغديرِ المثمدُ

    and the forenoon lifted visible shapes in its shimmer,

    and the water-grub of the scant-water pool was killed,

  14. وتَجَدَّلَ الأُسْرُوعُ، واطَّرَدَ السَّفَا

    وجرتْ بجائلها الحدابُ القرددُ

    and the caterpillar lay fallen, and dry grass awns streamed away,

    and rugged ridges flowed in the shifting haze,

  15. وانسابَ حيَّاتُ الكثيبِ، وأقبلتْ

    أرقُ الفراشِ لما يشبُّ الموقدُ

    and the dune's snakes slithered forth, and there came

    pale moths toward whatever the fire-kindler lights,

  16. قَرَّبْنَ كُلَّ نَجِيبَة ٍ وعُذافِرٍ

    كالوقفِ صفَّرَهُ خطيرٌ ملبدُ

    they brought near every noble she-camel and sturdy male,

    bracelet-like, yellowed by a matted, swishing tail,

  17. غوجِ اللَّبانِ إذا استحمَّ وضينُهُ،

    وَجَرَى حَمِيمُ دُفُوفِهِ المُتَفَصِّدُ

    swaying-chested, when its girth grows hot

    and streaming sweat runs down its flanks.

  18. يَمْطُو مُحَمْلَجَة َ النُّسُوعِ بِجَهْضَمٍ

    رحبَ الأضالعِ، فهْوَ منْها أكبدُ

    He outstrides a tightly girt she-camel with his massive frame,

    wide of rib, broader-chested than she.

  19. فَبِذاكَ أَطَّلِعُ الهُمُومَ إِذَا دَجَتْ

    تَبْرِيَ لَهُ أُجُدُ الفَقَارَة ِ جَلْعَدُ

    Upon that mount I surmount cares when they grow dark,

    a sturdy, firm-spined she-camel running beside him,

  20. منْ كلِّ ذاقنة ، يعومُ زمامُها

    عومَ الخشاشِ علَى الصَّفا يترأَّدُ

    one of those chin-drooping she-camels whose rein floats

    like a small snake swimming over smooth rock, swaying gently.

  21. فُتْلٍ مَرَافِقُها، كَأَنَّ خَلِيفَها

    مكوٌ، أبنَّ بهِ سباعٌ، ملحَدُ

    Her elbows turn outward, as though her armpit's hollow

    were a recessed burrow where beasts of prey have stayed.

  22. حَرَجٍ كَمِجْدَلِ هَاجِرِيٍّ لَزَّهُ

    بِذَوَاتِ طَبْخِ أَطِيمَة ٍ لاَ تَخْمُدُ

    A wooden saddle-frame, like a man of Hajar's tower, tightly fitted

    with bricks fired in a kiln that never goes out.

  23. عملتْ علَى مثلٍ، فهنَّ توائمٌ

    شَتَّى ، يُلاَحِكُ بَيْنَهُنَّ القَرْمَدُ

    They were made to one pattern, so they are twins,

    though separate, with mortar joining them tightly.

  24. كمْ دونَ إلفكَ منْ نياطِ تنوفة ٍ

    قذفٍ، تظلُّ بهَا الفرائصُ ترعدُ

    How many far-reaching stretches of wasteland lie before your beloved,

    vast and remote, where flank muscles tremble all day!

  25. فيهَا ابنُ بجدتها يكادُ يذيبُهُ

    وَقْدُ النَّهَارِ إِذَااسْتَذَابَ الصَّيْخَدُ

    There, even its native dweller is almost melted

    by the day's blaze, when the searing heat turns molten.

  26. يُوفِي عَلَى جِذْمِ الجُذُولِ، كَأَنَّهُ

    خَصْمٌ اَبَرَّ عَلَى الخُصُومِ يَلَنْدَدُ

    He stands high upon the stumps of tree trunks, as though

    an obstinate adversary who has outmatched his opponents,

  27. أو معزبٌ وحدٌ، أضلَّ أفائلاً

    ليلاً، فأصبحَ فوقَ قرنٍ ينشدُ

    or a solitary, far-ranging herdsman who lost young camels

    by night, and at morning calls for them from a rocky height.

  28. في تِيهِ مَهْمَهَة ٍ كَأَنَّ صُوِيَّها

    أيْدِي مُخَالِعَة ٍ تَكُفُّ وتَنْهَدُ

    In a trackless wilderness whose cairns resemble

    gamblers' hands, drawing back and reaching forward.

  29. لَزِمَتْ حَوَالِسُهَا النُّفُوسَ، فَثَوَّرَتْ

    عُصَباً، تَقُومُ مِنَ الحِذَارِ وتَقْعُدُ

    Its lurking perils cling to souls and stir up

    bands that rise and sit in dread.

  30. يمسي بعقوتها الهجفُّ كأنَّه

    حبشيُّ حازقة ٍ غدا يتهبَّدُ

    The hulking ostrich spends the evening on its outskirts, like

    an Abyssinian of a band, setting out at dawn to gather colocynth seeds.

  31. مُجْتَابُ شَمْلَة ِ بُرْجُدٍ لِسَرَاتِهِ

    قدراً، وأسلمَ ما سواها البرجُدُ

    Wearing a coarse dark wrap over his back

    to its measure; the wrap leaves all else bare.

  32. يعتادُ أدحية َ بنينَ بقفزة ٍ

    مَيْثَاءَ يَسْكُنُها الَّلأى والفَرْقَد

    He regularly visits his chicks' nest on a rise,

    soft and sandy, inhabited by the wild ox and the calf.

  33. حَبَسَتْ مَنَاكِبُها السَّفَى ، فَكَأَنَّهُ

    رُفَة ٌ بِنَاحِيَة ِ المَدَاوسِ مُسْنَدُ

    Its slopes catch the dry grass awns, as though they were

    a heap of chaff piled beside the threshing floors.

  34. والقَيْضَ أَجْنُبُهُ، كَأَنَّ حُطَامَهُ

    فِلَقُ الحَوَاجِلِ شَافَهُنَّ المُوقِدُ

    And eggshells lie around him, their broken fragments like

    shards of glass flasks polished by the fire-tender.

  35. يدعو العرارُ بها الزِّمارَ، كما اشتكَى

    ألِمٌ تُجَاوِبُهُ النِّسَاءُ العُوَّدُ

    There the male's booming calls to the female's piping, as complains

    a sufferer answered by women visiting the sick.

  36. هلْ يُدنينَّكَ منهمُ ذو مصدقٍ،

    شجعٌ، يجلُّ عن الكلالِ، ويحصدُ

    Will one of proven mettle bring you close to them,

    bold, beyond weariness, scything onward,

  37. كمخفِّقِ الحشيينْ باتَ تلفُّهُ

    وَطْفَاءُ سَارِيَة ٌ، وهِفُّ مُبْرِدُ

    like a hollow-flanked bull wrapped all night by

    a dense cloud passing by night and a chilling wind?

  38. ضاحي المراعي والطَّياتِ، كأنَّهُ

    بَلَقٌ تَعَاوَرَهُ البُنَاة ُ مُمَدَّدُ

    Exposed among his pastures and haunts, as though

    a sprawling white palace worked on by builders in turn.

  39. يققُ السَّراة ِ، كأنَّ في سفلاتِهِ

    أثرَ النَّؤورِ جرَى عليهِ الإثْمِدُ

    Pure white of back, as though upon his lower parts

    were tattoo-soot over which antimony had flowed.

  40. حُبِسَتْ صُهَارَتُهُ، فَظَلَّ عُثَانُهُ

    في سيطلٍ كُفئتْ له، يتردَّدُ

    Its melted fat was confined, and its smoke kept

    swirling in a cauldron overturned above it,

  41. حَتَّى إِذَا هُوَ آلَ، واطَّرَدَتْ لَهُ

    شُعَبٌ كَأَنَّ وُحِيَّهُنَّ المُسْنَدُ

    until, when it had thickened, and across it spread

    branching marks whose inscriptions resembled Musnad script,

  42. أجلتْ يدا بلويَّة ٍ عنها، لهَا

    إِبَرٌ تَرَكْنَ قَرَائِحاً لاَ تَبْلُدُ

    a Bali woman's hands laid them bare; she had

    needles that left wounds whose traces never fade.

  43. يَبْدُو وتُضْمِرُهُ البِلاَدُ، كَأَنَّهُ

    سيفٌ علَى شرفٍ يُسلُّ ويُغمدُ

    He appears, then the land conceals him, like

    a sword upon a rise, drawn and sheathed.

  44. وكَأَنَّ قِهْزَة َ تَاجِرٍ جِيبَتْ لَهُ

    لِفُضُولِ أَسْفَلِها كِفَافٌ أَسْوَدُ

    As though a merchant's white cloth had a neck-hole cut for him,

    its hanging lower edges bordered in black.

  45. هَاجَتْ بِهِ كُسُبٌ، تَلَعْلَعُ لِلطَّوَى

    والحِرْصِ يَدْأَلُ خَلْفَهُنَّ المُؤْسِدُ

    Hounds roused him, clamoring with hunger

    and eagerness, their handler trotting behind them.

  46. صُعرُ السَّوالفِ بالجراءِ، كأنَّها

    خَلْفَ الطَّرائِدِ خَشْرَمٌ مُتَبَدِّدُ

    Necks twisted in the chase, as though they were,

    behind the quarry, a scattered swarm of bees.

  47. واجتبنَ حاصبَهُ، وولَّى يقتري

    فيحانَ، يُسجحُ مرَّة َ ويعرَّدُ

    They cut through his flying gravel; he turned to range across

    Fayhan, now running smoothly, now veering away.

  48. يُذْرِي رَوَائِسَهَا الأَوَائِلَ مِثْلَ مَا

    يُذْرِي فَرَاشَ شَبَا الحَدِيدِ المِبْرَدُ

    He scatters their foremost, headlong runners, just as

    a file scatters shavings from iron's edge.

  49. تترَى ، ويخصفُها بحرفَيْ روقهِ

    شَزْراً، كَمَا اخْتَصَفَ النِّقَالَ المِسْرَدُ

    They come in succession; he stitches them with both edges of his horn,

    obliquely, as an awl stitches doubled leather soles.

  50. فصددنَّ عنهُ، وقدْ عصفنَ بنعجة ٍ

    خذلتْ، وأفردَها فريرٌ مفردُ

    So they turned from him, having stormed upon a wild cow

    that had left the herd, her lone calf keeping her apart.

  51. فالقومُ أجنبُها شرائجُ، منهمُ

    طَاهٍ يَحُشُّ، وهَبْهَبيٌّ يَفْأدُ

    The men are beside her in groups; among them

    a cook stoking the fire, and a nimble fellow roasting.

  52. وغَدَا تَشُقُّ يَداهُ أوْسَاطُ الرُّبَى

    قسمَ الفئالِ تقدُّ أوسطَهُ اليدُ

    And he went on, his forelegs cleaving through the hills,

    like the division in fi'al, a hand slicing the sand-mound's middle.

  53. يَقْرُو الخَمَائِلَ مِنْ جِواءِ عُوارِضٍ

    ويخوضُ أسفلَها خُزامَى تمأدُ

    He ranges through thickets in the valley of 'Awarid,

    and wades below them through swaying lavender.

  54. فبذاكَ أطَّلعُ الهمومَ إذذا دَجَتْ

    ظلمٌ خوالفُها تخلُّ وتؤصَدُ

    Upon that mount I surmount cares when they grow dark,

    glooms whose lingering remnants are opened and shut.

  55. قَالَتْ أُمَامَة ُ، والهُمُومُ يَعُدْنَني

    وِرْدَ الحَوائِمِ سُدَّ عَنْها المَوْرِدُ

    Umamah said, while cares kept visiting me

    like thirsty creatures circling a barred watering place:

  56. أَنَبَا بِحاجَتِكَ الأمِيرُ، ومدَّهُ

    في ذاكَ قومٌ كاشحونَ فأجهدُوا

    "Has the emir spurned your request, supported

    in this by spiteful men who did their utmost?

  57. فَاقْذِفْ بِنَفْسِكَ في البِلادِ، فَإِنَّما

    يقضي، ويُقصرُ همَّهُ المتبلِّدُ

    Then cast yourself abroad through the lands, for only

    the dull stay-at-home cuts short and curtails his ambition.

  58. وأخُو الهُمُومِ، إِذا الهُمُومُ تَحَضَّرَتْ

    جُنْحَ الظَّلامِ، وِسَادَهُ لا يَرْقُدُ

    And the man burdened with cares, when his cares come

    to his pillow at nightfall, does not sleep."

  59. فلبستُ للحربِ العوانِ ثيابَها،

    وشَبَبْتُ نَارَ الحَرْبِ فَهْيَ تَوَقَّدُ

    So I donned the garments for war renewed,

    and kindled war's fire; now it blazes.