1. أسيّان ما في الأيكِ ناحَ حمامهُ

    بعدَ الملا إلّا وحمّ حمامهُ

    He is grief-stricken: never do the grove's doves lament

    after the folk have gone without his doom drawing near.

  2. يَعلو عَلى أنضائهِ إن أرزمت

    تحتَ الرِحال منَ الجوى أرازمهُ

    Above his wasted mounts, when they low

    beneath the saddles, rise his moans of heartache.

  3. وَإِلى الرسومِ حنينهُ ونزوعهُ

    وَإِلى الأحبّةِ شوقهُ وغرامهُ

    Toward the ruined traces go his yearning and his longing to return,

    and toward his loved ones, his longing and consuming love.

  4. لَم يبقَ منهُ في خلال شبابهِ

    في الجسمِ إلّا جلدهُ وعظامهُ

    Nothing remained of him, in the midst of his youth,

    in his body but his skin and bones.

  5. يا صاحبيَّ قِفا بنا في مربعٍ

    للحيِّ مثل الرند لاحَ وشامهُ

    O my two companions, halt with us at a spring campsite

    of the tribe, its tattoo-marks showing like laurel.

  6. لَم يُبدِ مِن آياتهِ وسماتهِ

    لِلعينِ إلّا نوّه ورجامهُ

    It showed none of its signs and markings

    to the eye but its trench and its stone-heaps.

  7. أَبلى حداثتهُ وعفّا رسمهُ

    نوّ الثريّا وبلُه ورهامهُ

    Its newness was worn away, its trace effaced,

    by the Pleiades' rains, their downpour and their drizzle.

  8. أَقوى وما مرّت عليه شهوره

    أَبداً فكيفَ إِذا اِنقضت أعوامهُ

    It is deserted, though months have not passed over it

    at all—what, then, when its years have elapsed?

  9. عاصَتهُ في صيرانهِ صيرانُه

    أبداً ومِن آرامهِ آرامُهُ

    Its wild herds defy it within its enclosures,

    always, and its gazelles among its cairns.

  10. وَمُهفهف طاوي الحشا ما زارَني

    بِالوصلِ إلّا طيفُه ولمامهُ

    And a slender, lean-waisted one—none has visited me

    in union but his phantom and his fleeting apparition.

  11. يمضي النهارُ بهجرهِ وإذا سجى

    جنحُ الدجى سَمحت بهِ أحلامهُ

    The day passes in his estrangement; and when there settles

    the wing of darkness, dreams of him freely grant his presence.

  12. حَكّمتهُ في مُهجتي حتّى اِنقضت

    بِالجورِ في تَحكيمه أحكامهُ

    I made him judge over my heart, until his decrees

    were carried out with tyranny in his judging.

  13. يَرمي القلوبَ مخالساً بسهامهِ

    فَتصيبُ لبّاتِ القلوبِ سهامهُ

    He shoots at hearts, catching them unawares with his arrows;

    so his arrows strike the very bosoms of hearts.

  14. وَيميسُ في بردِ الشبابِ إذا مشى

    فَكأنّ عودَ الخيزُران قوامهُ

    And he sways in the cloak of youth when he walks,

    as though his stature were a bamboo stem.

  15. وَيفوحُ طيباً ثغرهُ بعد الكرى

    كَالمسكِ لمّا زالَ عنه ختامهُ

    And his mouth breathes fragrance after sleep,

    like musk when its seal has been removed.

  16. بدرٌ تشفُّ بروده بضيائهِ

    وَستورهُ وسجوفهُ وخيامهُ

    A full moon whose light shines through his cloaks,

    and his curtains, his hangings, and his tents.

  17. منعَ الوصالَ عليَّ حتّى أنّه

    ممّا تمنّع لا يردّ سلامهُ

    He denied me union, to the point that

    in his aloofness he does not return even a greeting.

  18. عزّ الرضا وَالوصلُ منه قليلهُ

    وَكَثيرهُ وحلالهُ وحرامهُ

    His favor and union are hard to win, in small measure

    or great, whether lawful or forbidden.

  19. وَبعيدُ أرجاءِ المسافةِ نازحٌ

    ما فيهِ إلّا عفره ونعامهُ

    And a remote expanse, far-reaching in its bounds,

    containing only its dust-colored gazelles and ostriches:

  20. جاوزت غايته بعيسٍ بازل

    غصّت بهِ أنساعهُ وحزامهُ

    I crossed its farthest reach on full-grown, pale camels,

    their girth-straps and belly-bands strained around their bulk.

  21. وَإِلى الفَتى كهلان كم أهديت من

    درٍّ كمثلِ الدرّ زان نظامهُ

    And to the noble youth Kahlan I have offered so many

    pearls like pearls, made lovely by their stringing!

  22. اليجشبيّ الأمجد الملك الّذي

    شَرقت بِبهجةِ ملكهِ أيّامهُ

    Al-Yajshubi, the most glorious, the king whose

    days shone with the splendor of his reign.

  23. ملكٌ رَقى رتبَ العلا حتّى دنا

    عمّا اِرتقاه منَ العُلا بهرامهُ

    A king who climbed the ranks of glory, until

    his Bahram lay below the heights he had attained.

  24. يَعلو قيام الحارثينَ قعوده

    شرفاً وَمرتبةُ فكيف قيامهُ

    His sitting surpasses the standing of the two Hariths

    in honor and rank—how much more his standing!

  25. مشق الكتائبَ بالحسامِ كأنّما

    برقُ الغمامةِ في الغمامِ حسامهُ

    He slashed through battalions with his sword, as though

    his sword were a cloud's lightning amid the clouds.

  26. درّت لهُ الدنيا بلطفك فاِحتسى

    نعماً وما نسخ الرضاع فطامهُ

    The world gave him milk through your kindness, and he sipped

    blessings; his weaning did not end his suckling.