Sol 6.1

  1. طَرِبتَ وَشاقَكَ البَرقُ اليَماني

    بِفَجِّ الريحِ فَجِّ القاقُزانِ

    You were stirred, and the Yemeni lightning awakened your longing,

    At Fajj al-Rih, the pass of al-Qaquzan.

  2. أَضَوءُ البَرقِ يَلمَعُ بَينَ سَلمى

    وَبَينَ الهَضَبِ مِن جَبَلَي أَبانِ

    Is it the lightning's glow that flashes between Salma

    And the hills of Aban's two mountains?

  3. أَضَواءَ البَرقِ بِتَّ تَشيمُ وَهناً

    لَقَد دانَيتَ وَيحَكَ غَيرَ داني

    You spent the late hours watching the lightning's gleams;

    Indeed you drew near—alas for you!—to what is far away.

  4. أَلَم تَرَ أَنَّ عِرفانَ الثُرَيّا

    يُهَيِّجُ لي بِقَزوينَ اِحتِزاني

    Have you not seen that recognizing the Pleiades

    Stirs my grief in Qazwin?

  5. خَليلي مُدَّ طَرفَكَ هَل تَرى لي

    ظَعائِنَ بِاللِوى مِن عَوكَلانِ

    My friend, stretch out your gaze: can you see for me

    Women in howdahs at al-Liwa in Awkalan?

  6. ظَعائِنُ لَو يَصِفنَ بِدَيرِ لَيلى

    مَنى لي أَن أُلاقيهِنَّ ماني

    Women—if they summered at Dayr Layla,

    A decreer of fate would ordain that I meet them.

  7. وَمالَكَ بِالظَعائِنِ مِن سَبيلٍ

    إِذا الحادي أَغَذَّ وَلَم يُدانِ

    And you have no way to reach the women in howdahs

    When the camel-driver hastens on without drawing near.

  8. وَلَو أَنَّ الظَعائِنَ عُجنَ شَيئاً

    عَلَيَّ بِبَطنِ ذي بَقَرٍ كَفاني

    And had the women in howdahs turned aside even a little

    Toward me in the valley of Dhu Baqar, that would have sufficed me.

  9. وَلَكِنَّ الظَعائِنَ رُمنَ صَرمي

    هُنالِكَ وَاِتلَأَبَّ الحادِيانِ

    But the women in howdahs sought to sever ties with me

    There, and the two camel-drivers went straight on.

  10. بِأَربَعَةٍ هَمَت عَيناكَ لَمّا

    تَجاوَبَ خَلفَها صَدحُ القِيانِ

    At Arba'a your eyes streamed tears, when

    Behind them the singing-girls' voices answered one another.

  11. أَلا يالَيتَ شِعري هَل أَراني

    وَشَعباً حَيِّنا مُتَلائِمانِ

    Ah, would that I knew: shall I find myself

    With the two branches of our tribe reunited,

  12. بِأَبرَقَ مِن بِراقِ لِوى سَعيدٍ

    تَأَزَّرَ وَاِرتَدى بِالأُقحُواني

    On a stony ridge among the ridges of Liwa Sa'id,

    Girded and cloaked in daisies?

  13. وَهَل أَستَسمِعَنَّ بُعَيدَ وَهنٍ

    تَهَزُّجَ سَمرِ جِنِّ أَو عَوانِ

    And shall I listen, a little into the night,

    To the lilting night-talk of jinn or captive women?

  14. أَلا مَن مُبلِغٌ عَنّي بَشيراً

    عَلانِيَةً وَنِعمَ أَخو العِلانِ

    Ah, who will carry a message from me to Bashir,

    Openly—and fine indeed is the man of openness!

  15. يَمانِيٌّ تَبوَّغُ لِلمَساعي

    يَجاهُ وَكُلُّ ذي حَسَبٍ يَماني

    A Yemeni—for noble endeavors surge

    His hands [probable reading]—and every man of noble lineage is Yemeni.

  16. وَلَو خَلَّيتُ لِلشُعراءِ وَجهي

    لَما اِكتَبَلوا يَدَيَّ وَلا لِساني

    And even if I exposed my face to the poets,

    They would not shackle my hands or my tongue.

  17. إِذا ما غِبتُ عَنهُم أَوعَدوني

    وَإِن ضارَستُهُم كَرِهوا قِراني

    When I am absent from them, they threaten me;

    Yet if I grapple with them, they hate being matched against me.

  18. وَيُؤذِنُهُم عَلَيَّ فَتاءُ سِنّي

    حَنانَكَ رَبَّنا ياذا الحَنانِ

    And the youth of my years emboldens them against me;

    Your compassion, our Lord, O Possessor of compassion!

  19. سَيَعلَمُ كُلُّهُم أَنّي مُسِنٌّ

    إِذا رَفَعَت عَناناً عَن عِنانِ

    They will all learn that I am seasoned,

    When a cloud of dust is raised above the reins.

  20. شَقِيُّ بَعدَ عَبدِ بَني حَرامٍ

    وَجَدِّكَ مَن تَكونُ بِهِ اليَدانِ

    Wretched, after the slave of Banu Haram,

    By your fortune, is anyone on whom the two hands fall.

  21. حَلَفتُ لَأُحدِثَنَّ العامَ حَرباً

    مُشَمِّرَةً كَناصِيَةِ الحِصانِ

    I have sworn to start a war this year,

    Girded for action like a stallion's forelock,

  22. لَقَومٍ ظاهَروا وَالحَربُ عَنهُم

    كَهامُ الضِرسِ ضارِبَةُ الجِرانِ

    Against a people who joined forces, while war, far from them,

    Was blunt of tooth, her neck laid upon the ground.

  23. أَبَوا لِشَقائِهِم إِلّا اِبتِعاثي

    وَمِثلي ذو العُلالَةِ وَالمَتانِ

    They insisted, to their own misery, on provoking me;

    And one like me has reserves of strength and toughness.

  24. وَيا عَجَبا لِيَشكُرَ إِذا أَغَذَت

    لِنَصرِهِمُ رُواةُ اِبنَي دُخانِ

    And what a wonder for Yashkur, when there hasten

    To their aid the reciters of Dukhan's two sons!

  25. أَلَم تَرَ لُؤمَ يَشكُرَ دونَ بَكرٍ

    أَقامَ كَما أَقامَ الفَرقَدانِ

    Have you not seen how Yashkur's baseness, apart from Bakr,

    Stands fixed, as the two Farqad stars stand fixed?

  26. تَحالَفَ يَشكُرٌ وَاللُؤمُ قِدماً

    كَما جَبَلا قَناً مُتَحالِفانِ

    Yashkur and baseness made a pact long ago,

    As Qana's two mountains are bound in alliance.

  27. فَلَيسَ بِبارِحٍ عَنهُم سِواهُم

    وَلَيسَ بِظاعِنٍ أَو يَظعَنانِ

    So it will not leave them for anyone else,

    Nor will it depart unless the two depart together.