كتمنا الهوى وكففنا الحنينا — Alabywrdy

كَتَمْنا الهَوى وكَفَفْنا الحَنينا

فلَمْ يَلْقَ ذُو صَبوَةٍ ما لقِينا

We concealed our love and restrained our yearning;

so no lover has endured what we endured.

وأنْتُمْ تَبُثّونَ سِرَّ الغَرا

مِ طَوْراً شِمالاً وطَوْراً يَمينا

While you spread the secret of love,

now to the left, now to the right.

ولما تَنادَيْتُمُ بالرّحي

لِ لَمْ يَتْرُكِ الدّمْعُ سِراً مَصونا

And when you called to one another to depart,

tears left no secret safely hidden.

وكيف نُحاوِلُ كِتْمانَهُ

وقد أخْضَلَ العَبَراتُ الجُفونا

And how can we attempt to conceal it,

when tears have already drenched our eyelids?

أَمِنْتُمْ على السِّرِّ مِنا القُلوبَ

فهَلاّ اتّهَمْتُم عليهِ العُيونا

You trusted our hearts with the secret;

then why did you not suspect our eyes?

وممّا أذاعَتْهُ يومَ العُذَيْبِ

مَهارى بسِرْبِ عَذارى حُدِينا

And among those that revealed it on the day at al-ʿUdhayb

were Mahri she-camels, urged on by song, bearing a troop of maidens.

أوانِسُ أبرَزَهُنَّ النّوى

فلاحَتْ بُدوراً وماسَتْ غُصونا

Young women whom separation brought forth:

they shone as full moons and swayed as branches.

ومدّتْ إلينا منَ الخِدْرِ غِيداً

وأغْضَتْ على النّظَرِ الشَّزْرِ عِينا

And they reached toward us from the curtained chamber, slender-necked,

and lowered their wide eyes while gazing sidelong.

أحِنُّ إلَيها ومِنْ دُونِها

تَعُدُّ الرّكائِبُ بِيناً فَبينا

I yearn for her, and short of reaching her,

the riding camels count separation upon separation.

وأيْنَ العِراقُ منَ الأخشَبَيْنِ

وإنْ أعْمَلَ الصَّبُّ طَرْفاً شَفونا

And how far Iraq lies from al-Akhshabayn,

even if the lover strains a keen eye!

بعَيْشِكُما أيُّها الحادِيانِ

قِفا وعلى ما أعاني أَعِينا

By your lives, O two camel-drivers,

halt, and help me in what I suffer.

فإنّ المَطايا رأَتْ بالعَقيقِ

مَعاهِدَ منْ آلِ سُعْدى بَلينا

For the mounts saw at al-ʿAqiq

the worn-out dwellings of Suʿda’s people.

فأحْداقُهُنَّ تَرُشُّ الدّموعَ

وأنْفاسُهُنَّ تَقُدُّ الوَضينا

So their eyes sprinkle tears,

and their breaths tear the saddle-girth apart.

ويَحْكي السّرابُ إذا ما زَها

ظَعائِنَها البَحْرَ يزْهو السّفينا

And the mirage mirrors, when it lifts

her camel-litters, the sea buoying ships.

ولابُدَّ مِنْ زَفْرَةٍ تَستَطي

رُ مِنْ أرحُلِ الرّازِحاتِ العُهونا

And there must be a sigh that sends flying

the woolen tufts from the saddles of exhausted she-camels.

سُقِينَ الحَيا الجَوْدَ مِنْ أيْنُقٍ

أطَعْنَ الهَوى وعَصَيْنَ البُرينا

May those she-camels be watered with copious rain,

who obeyed love and defied their nose-rings!

أرَبْعَ البَخيلَةِ ماذا دَهاكَ

وما للحِمى خاشِعاً مُسْتَكينا

O dwelling of the withholding woman, what has befallen you?

And why is the protected ground humbled and subdued?

فأينَ الخِيامُ التي ظُلِّلَتْ

بسُمْرٍ أُلاحِظُ فيها المَنُونا

Then where are the tents that were shaded

by brown spears, in which I glimpse death?

وقد ساءَني أن أرى دارَها

تَصوغُ الحمائِمُ فيها لُحونا

It has grieved me to see her dwelling,

with doves composing melodies within it.

لَئِنْ ضَنّتِ السُّحُبُ الغادِياتُ

فلَسْتُ بدَمْعي عليها ضَنينا

If the morning clouds withhold their rain,

I am not sparing of my tears over it.

كأنّ الشّآبيبَ مِنْ صَوْبِهِ

مَواهِبُ خَيْرِ بَني الحَبْرِ فينا

As though the showers from that downpour

were gifts from the finest of the Scholar’s sons among us.

أغَرُّ لأعظَمِهِمْ هامَةً

وأوْضَحِهِمْ في قُرَيْشٍ جَبينا

Radiant, truly the loftiest-headed of them,

and the brightest-browed among Quraysh.

إذا ما انْتَمى عَمَتِ الأبْطَحَيْنِ

مآثِرُهُ وامْتَطَيْنَ الحَجونا

When he declares his lineage, al-Abtahayn are encompassed

by his glorious deeds, which mount al-Hajun.

وتِلْكَ البَنيّةُ مُذْ أُسِّسَتْ

أبَتْ غَيرَ عَبدِ مَنافٍ قَطينا

And that edifice, since it was founded,

has refused any resident but ʿAbd Manaf.

بِها رَكَزوا السُّمْرَ فوقَ العُلا

وشَدّوا بِها الصّاهِلاتِ الصُّفونا

There they planted brown spears above the heights of glory,

and tethered there the neighing steeds, standing poised.

وشنّوا على وَلَدَيْ يَعْرُبٍ

غِواراً يُضَرِّمُ حَرْباً زَبُونا

And they unleashed against Yaʿrub’s two sons

raids that kindled a savage war.

وحَلَّ بَنو هاشِمٍ بالبِطاحِ

مَحَلَّ الضّراغِمِ تَحْمي العَرينا

And Banu Hashim settled in the valley flats

as lions settle, guarding their lair.

أيَبْغي العِدا شَأْوَهُمْ والرِّياحُ

إذا ما ابْتَدَرْنَ إليهِ وَجينا

Do enemies seek to match their reach, when even the winds,

whenever they race toward it, grow footsore?

أبى اللهُ أنْ تَقْبَلَ المَكْرُما

تُ عِرْضاً هَزيلاً ومالاً سَمينا

God would not let noble deeds accept

lean honor and fat wealth.

وعندي للمُقْتَدي أنْعُمٌ

أمِنْتُ بهِنَّ الزّمانَ الخَؤونا

And I have favors from al-Muqtadi,

through which I am safe from treacherous Time.

وإني وإنْ ضَعْضَعَتْني الخُطوبُ

لأَنْفُضُ عنْ فَضْلِ بُرْدَيَّ هُونا

And I, though calamities have shaken me,

still shake disgrace from the trailing hems of my two cloaks.

وقدْ عَلمَتْ خِندِفٌ أنّني

أكونُ بنَيْلِ المَعالي قَمينا

And Khindif knows that I

am worthy of attaining the heights of honor.

وللضّيْفِ حَقٌّ وعَمْرو العُلا

يَعُدُّ الحقوقَ عليهِ دُيونا

And the guest has a right, and ʿAmr al-ʿUla

counts the rights he owes as debts.

ولمّا اقْشَعرَّتْ بطاحُ الحِجازِ

كَفى قَومَهُ أزْمَةَ المَحلِ حينا

And when the valley flats of the Hijaz shuddered,

he spared his people famine’s grip for a time.

وفاضَتْ لدَيْهِ دِماءُ العِشارِ

على شُعَلِ النّارِ للطّارِقينا

And the blood of pregnant she-camels flowed before him

over the flames of the fire, for guests arriving by night.

وأنتَ ابْنُهُ والوَرى يَمتَرو

نَ مِنْ راحَتَيْكَ الغَمامَ الهَتونا

And you are his son, while mankind milks

from your two palms the cloud that pours its rain.

فلا زِلْتَ مُلْتَحِفاً بالعُلا

تُقَضّي الشّهورَ وتَنْضو السّنينا

So may you always remain cloaked in glory,

passing the months and shedding the years.