1. قِف وسلّم في مغاني ذي سلم

    واِلثم الآيات منها واِستلِم

    Stop and offer greetings at the dwellings of Dhu Salam,

    and kiss their traces and touch them reverently.

  2. وَاِسأل الركبَ منها مستعلما

    عن دارِ هند ورباب وحذم

    And question the caravan from there, seeking news

    of the home of Hind, Rabab, and Hadham.

  3. دمناً كم قد سحبنا زمنا

    حلل الإعجابِ منها كَم وكَم

    Deserted traces—how often, for a time, we trailed

    robes of pride there—how often, how often!

  4. وَلَكم غازلتُ في عرَصاتها

    غزلة ما بينَ هاتيكَ الخِيَم

    And how often I courted in their courtyards

    a gazelle among those tents,

  5. حيث سُعدى بالرِضى مسعدة

    وأميم هيَ مِن وصلي أمم

    where Su'da brought happiness through her favor,

    and Umaym was near to union with me.

  6. هَكذا والدهرُ عنّا نائم

    مُستقرٌّ وهَوانا لَم يَنَم

    So it was: Time slept, heedless of us,

    at rest, while our love never slept.

  7. وَتَرى أيّامنا مُشمسة

    لم يُكدِّر نورها غيمُ الغيَم

    And you would see our days filled with sunshine,

    not even the thickest clouds dimming their light,

  8. وَليالي حظّنا مقمرةٌ

    مادحت فيها بجاميم الظلَم

    and the nights of our good fortune moonlit,

    with no dense masses of darkness spreading within them.

  9. يا لذاكَ العيشِ ما أعذبهُ

    مطعماً كان لمَن منه طعم

    Ah, that life! How sweet it was

    to the taste of whoever tasted it!

  10. وَمغنّ في الأماليدِ شدا

    وَنسيمُ الريحِ فيها قد نسم

    And a singer trilled among the supple boughs,

    while the breeze breathed softly through them,

  11. وَالندى في الروضِ كاللؤلؤ والر

    روضِ في الزهرِ منير مُبتسم

    and dew in the meadow was like pearls, and the

    meadow shone among its blossoms, smiling.

  12. رتَّل السجعَ فأورى في الحشا

    جمرَ وجدٍ شبّ فيه واِضطرَم

    It chanted its cooing and kindled in my breast

    embers of longing that flared and blazed within.

  13. يا مَلومي لو عرفت الحبّ عن

    عينِ عقلٍ كنت فيه لم تلَم

    O my reproacher, had you known love through

    the eye of reason, you would not have blamed me for it.

  14. لُمتني في حبِّ سعدى وهوَ في

    مَذهَبي دينٌ وفرضٌ قد لَزِم

    You blamed me for loving Su'da, though in

    my creed it is a religion, a binding duty.

  15. خلّني والسقم منه إنّني

    قَد أرى اللذّات في ذاكَ السقَم

    Leave me with the sickness it brings, for I

    find delights within that very sickness.

  16. غادةٌ ما واصلت لي حَبلها

    قطّ إلّا اِنبتّ قطعاً واِنصَرَم

    A tender maiden: never did she join her cord to mine

    without its snapping utterly apart and being severed.

  17. ضخمةُ الأردافِ يحوي درعها

    غصنَ بانٍ فوقَ دعصٍ مرتكم

    Full-hipped, her shift enfolds

    a bān-tree bough above a heaped-up dune.

  18. غصن بانٍ فاعم من فوقهِ

    قمر مِن فوقه الليلُ اِدلهَم

    A luxuriant bān-tree bough, above which

    is a moon, with pitch-black night above it.

  19. صنمٌ إِن لاحَ لي قلت له

    جلّ هَذا الحسنُ عن حسنِ الصَنَم

    An idol—when she appears to me, I tell her:

    'This beauty far surpasses an idol's beauty.'

  20. يَشتكي خلخالها مِن ساقها

    حينَما غصّ فيهِ واِحتكَم

    Her anklet complains of her leg

    when it is choked around it and held fast.

  21. كَشفت برقعَها عَن وجهها

    فَبدا في الحسنِ عَن حسنِ الصنَم

    She lifted her veil from her face,

    and it appeared in beauty beyond an idol's beauty.

  22. رحصة الأطرافِ يجري وشحها

    فوقَ خصرٍ دقّ منها واِنهضَم

    Delicate of limb, her sash flows

    over a waist of hers, slender and drawn in.

  23. وَإِذا ما صافَحَتني صافحت

    ببنانات كأطرافِ العنَم

    And when she clasps my hand, she does so

    with fingers like the tips of the 'anam tree.

  24. وَإِذا اِبتسمت قلت بدا

    لؤلؤٌ في الثغرِ منها منتظم

    And when she smiles, I say, 'There appear

    pearls, strung in order within her mouth.'

  25. في لَماها شنبٌ في لحظها

    حورٌ في أنفها يَبدو شمَم

    Her dusky lips hold cool sweetness; in her glance,

    a vivid contrast of black and white; her nose shows a graceful rise.

  26. أسفا لريقتها الروح بلثمها

    ما عاينت من تحتَ اللثم

    Ah, the soul's longing for her saliva, for kissing her—

    for what I glimpsed beneath the veils!

  27. عَطشا في عطشٍ منّى إلى

    رشفة مِن ريقِها العذبِ الشبم

    Thirst upon thirst within me for

    a sip of her sweet, cool saliva.

  28. أيُّها المعسرُ لا ترغب إلى

    سمن تحسبهُ وهو ورم

    O impoverished one, do not yearn for

    what you suppose is fat, when it is swelling.

  29. وَاِفصدن وجهَ عرارٍ تلفهِ

    بحرَ جودٍ بالعَطايا مُتلطم

    And lance Arar's face; you will find him

    a sea of bounty, surging with gifts.

  30. ملكٌ سادَ الورى طفلاً وما

    نَبتت مِن فوقِ خدّيه اللمم

    A king who ruled mankind as a child, before

    locks had sprouted upon his cheeks.

  31. وَأَحاطَ المُلك والإقليم بالس

    سيف والرمحِ الرديني والقَلَم

    And he secured kingdom and province with the

    sword, the Rudayni spear, and the pen.

  32. فَهو مقباسُ هدىً في ملكهِ

    وَهوَ مقماعٌ لمن فيهِ اِغتشَم

    So he is a beacon of guidance in his kingdom,

    and a subduer of those who act unjustly there.

  33. لَم يَزل للمجتدي في كفِّه

    وَلِمن غاضبهُ شهدٌ وسم

    Always in his palm, for the supplicant,

    and for whoever provokes him, lie honey and poison.

  34. كَم هَمت للوفدِ من أنوائهِ

    ديمٌ تخجل أنواءَ الديَم

    How often, from his clouds, have poured upon delegations

    steady showers that shame the clouds of steady rain!

  35. وَأَفاد المجتدي مِن مالهِ

    نعماً سابغةً بعد نِعَم

    And from his wealth he granted the supplicant

    abundant blessings, blessing after blessing.

  36. ما أَتاهُ معدم مجتدياً

    قطّ إلّا صارَ معدوم العدَم

    No pauper ever came to him seeking gifts

    without becoming destitute of destitution.

  37. أَيقَنت همّته أنّ الثنا

    خيرُ محصولٍ وأَزكى مُغتنَم

    His lofty ambition knew for certain that praise

    was the best harvest and the purest prize.

  38. أَمِنَ الناسُ العدا في ملكهِ

    كأمانِ الطيرِ في سوحِ الحرَم

    In his kingdom, people were safe from enemies,

    as birds are safe in the courts of the Sanctuary.

  39. أَيّها القرم الّذي قد صعدت

    في مَعاليهِ به قعس الهِمَم

    O noble chief, through whom have ascended

    to his lofty ranks the proudest aspirations,

  40. إنّني في مَعشري متشيق

    لكَ من دونِ عشيري والحشَم

    among my people I am filled with longing

    for you, above my kin and attendants.

  41. فَاِنتعشني من أزاليق بها

    صرتُ ما بينَ مخافاتٍ همَم

    So lift me from the slippery places where

    I have come to dwell between fears and ambitions.

  42. واِعلمن أنّك إن ضيّعتني

    صرت في التضييع لحماً في إضَم

    And know that if you forsake me,

    I shall be, abandoned, meat in Idam.