1. همتُ غراماً بالبروقِ اللمَّعِ

    لاحتْ على روضِ الحمى ولَعْلَعِ

    I fell madly in love with the flashing lightning,

    which shone over the meadow of the Hima and La‘la‘.

  2. أومضَ لمعُ برقِها لمقلةٍ

    بعدَ النوى ساهرةٍ لم تَهْجَعِ

    Its lightning's gleam flashed before an eye

    wakeful after separation, never sleeping.

  3. وجرَّدَتْ سيوفَها على حشاً

    بعدَ أحبابيَ الأولى مقطَّعِ

    And it unsheathed its swords against a breast

    torn apart after losing my loved ones, who

  4. بانوا فأيُّ ناظرٍ مِن بعدِما

    بانوا على عصرِهمُ لم يَدْمَعِ

    departed—what eye, after

    they departed, did not weep for their days?

  5. وأيُّ قلبٍ والحدوجُ قد سَرَتْ

    عنِ الحِمى مُزمِعةً لم يَجزَعِ

    And what heart, when the howdahs had traveled by night

    resolutely from the Hima, did not anguish?

  6. فيا أمانيَّ النفوسِ بعدَما

    بانوا إذا لم يَرجِعوا لا تَرجعي

    So, O hopes of souls, after

    they departed, if they do not return, do not return.

  7. ويا سروري بعدَ جيرانِ النقا

    اِنْ شئتَ بالظعنِ اللحاقَ فاتبَعِ

    And O my joy, after al-Naqa's neighbors have gone,

    if you wish to catch up with the departing caravan, follow it.

  8. فلستُ آسي وهمُ قد رحلوا

    على فراقٍ ظاعنٍ أو مُزمِعِ

    For I do not grieve, now that they have gone,

    over the parting of one departing or resolved to depart.

  9. ودَّعْتُ طيبَ العيشِ يومَ ارقلَتْ

    نُجبُهمُ بالظاعنِ المودَّعِ

    I bade farewell to life's sweetness the day they sped away—

    their noble camels bearing the traveler bidden farewell.

  10. للهِ كم قد خلَّفوا مِن مهجةٍ

    حرّى وقلبٍ للغرامِ موجَعِ

    By God, how many a soul they have left

    burning, and a heart aching with passion!

  11. وكم على أطلالِهم مِن مدمعٍ

    اجراهُ تغريدُ الحمامِ السُّجَّعِ

    And how many a tear upon their ruined dwellings

    the cooing doves' song has made flow!

  12. ومغرمٍ لمّا نأى أحبابُه

    عنِ الحِمى بالعيشِ لم يَنتفِعِ

    And many a lovesick man, when his loved ones went far

    from the Hima, found no joy in living.

  13. يُقلِقُه نوحُ الحمامِ كلَّما

    شدا على غصنِ النقا المزعزَعِ

    The doves' lament disturbs him whenever

    they sing upon al-Naqa's swaying branch.

  14. غرَّدَ لمّا اينعتْ غصونُه

    رغبَّ شآبيبِ الغيوثِ الهُمَّعِ

    They sang when its branches grew lush,

    [Apparently: after] bursts of pouring rain.

  15. ونحتُ مِن فرطِ الغرامِ والهوى

    فيها كنوحِ الهائمِ المُفَجَّعِ

    And I wailed from an excess of passion and love

    there, like a grief-stricken, love-crazed wanderer's wailing.

  16. في كلَّ يومٍ لي على آثارِهم

    دمعٌ يسحُّ في عِراصِ الباقعِ

    Each day, at the traces they left, I have

    tears streaming through al-Baqi‘'s open grounds,

  17. وزفرةٍ مِن بعدِ أهلِ حاجرٍ

    تكادُ أن تنقدَّ منها أضلُعي

    and a sigh, after the people of Hajir have gone,

    from which my ribs almost split apart,

  18. وحنةٍ تَعقُبُها مِن بعدِها

    أنَّةُ محزونٍ بهمْ مفجَّعِ

    and a cry of longing, followed in its wake

    by the groan of one sorrowful and stricken over them.

  19. يا لوعتي مِن بعدِ سكّانِ الحِمى

    زيدي ويا راحةِ سِرّي ودَّعي

    O my anguish, after the Hima's dwellers have gone,

    grow greater; and O my inward peace, bid farewell!

  20. ويا عذولي كفَّ عن لومي فقد

    آليتُ لا أُعطي العذولَ مسمعي

    And O my reproacher, cease blaming me, for I have

    sworn not to lend the reproacher my ear.

  21. هل يُرجِعُ العذلُ محبّاً كلَّما

    رَدَدْتَهُ عنِ الهوى لم يرجِعِ

    Can reproach turn back a lover who, whenever

    you turn him from love, does not turn back?

  22. هامَ بهمْ فكلَّما عذلْتَهُ

    في حبَّهمْ من الغرامِ لا يَعي

    He is crazed with love for them; whenever you reproach him

    for loving them, he is too consumed by passion to comprehend.

  23. مغرًى بتسآلِ الربوعِ والهوى

    يضطرُّه إلى سؤالِ الأربعِ

    He is obsessed with questioning the dwelling sites, and love

    compels him to question the encampments.

  24. يا ويحَهُ ماذا الذي يُفيدُه

    سؤالُ دارٍ بالعراءِ بلقعِ

    Alas for him! What good does it do him

    to question a desolate dwelling in the open waste?

  25. تبدَّلتْ مِن بعدِ أُنسِ أهلِها

    منهمْ بِتَنعابِ الغرابِ الأبقعِ

    After its people's companionship, it has exchanged

    them for the cawing of the pied crow.

  26. واستبدلتْ عينايَ عن هجوعِها

    طوالَ السُّهادِ في الظلامِ الأسفعِ

    And my eyes have taken, in place of their slumber,

    long hours of sleeplessness in the dusky darkness.

  27. أبعدَما بانَ الخليطُ وانبرى

    يؤمُّ باناتِ اللَّوى فالأجرَعِ

    Can I, after the companions have departed and set out

    toward the ban trees of al-Lawa, then al-Ajra‘,

  28. أرجو الكرى يَطرُقُ طرفي في الدُّجى

    كما عَهِدْتُ أو يزورُ مضجعي

    hope that sleep will visit my eye in the night's darkness,

    as it used to, or come to my bed?

  29. علالةٌ ارجوه أن يزورَني

    ولا ارى في الدارِ أحبابي معي

    A little solace—I hope that it will visit me,

    though I do not see my loved ones with me in the dwelling.

  30. كففتُ بعدَ جيرتي وبعدَهم

    عنهمْ وعن لذَّةِ عيشي مطمعي

    After my neighbors went away and grew distant, I curbed

    my hopes for them and for the sweetness of my life.