Sol 6.1

  1. صَحا عَن تَصابِيهِ الفُؤادُ المُشَوَّقُ

    وَحانَ مِنَ الحَيِّ الجَميعِ تَفَرُّقُ

    The longing heart has sobered from its youthful dalliance,

    and the time has come for the gathered tribe to part.

  2. وَأَصبَحَ لا يَشفي غَليلَ فُؤادِهِ

    قِطارُ السَّحابِ وَالرَّحِيقُ المُرَوَّقُ

    And now his heart’s burning thirst is not soothed

    by showers from the clouds or clear, strained wine.

  3. لَدُن شَالَ أَحْداجُ القَطينِ غُدَيَّةً

    عَلى جَلهَةِ الوَادِي مَعَ الصُّبحِ تُوسَقُ

    Since the camp-dwellers’ howdahs rose one morning,

    loaded at dawn on the valley’s bank,

  4. تَطالَعُ ما بَينَ الرَّجَى فَقُراقِرٍ

    عَلَيهِنَّ سِربالُ السَّرابِ يُرَقرِقُ

    appearing between al-Rajā and Qurāqir,

    a robe of mirage shimmering over them.

  5. وَقَد جاوَزَتها ذاتُ نِيرَينِ شارِفٌ

    مُحَرَّمَةٌ فِيها لَوامِعُ تَخفِقُ

    And a double-warped war—an aged she-camel—had already passed them,

    untamed, with gleams fluttering within her,

  6. بِجَأْوَاءَ جُمهورٍ كَأَنَّ طَريقَها

    بِسُرَّةَ بَينَ الحَزنِ وَالسَّهلِ رَزدَقُ

    with a dark, massed host, as though its path

    at Surrah, between rough ground and level, were a row of palms.

  7. يَشُولُ عَلى أَقطارِها القَومُ بِالقَنا

    تَحوطُ عَلى آثارِهِنَّ وَتَلحَقُ

    Along its flanks the men raise their spears;

    it circles along their tracks and catches up.

  8. وَقالَ جَميعُ الناسِ أَينَ مَصِيرُنا

    فَأَضمَرَ مِنها خُبثَ نَفس مُمَزَّقُ

    And all the people said, “Where is our destination?”

    So Mumazzaq concealed a malicious intent concerning it.

  9. فَلَمَّا أَتى مِن دونِها الرِّمْثُ وَالغَضا

    وَلاحَت لَنا نارُ الفَرِيقَينِ تَبرُقُ

    Then, when the rimth shrubs and ghada trees appeared on this side of it,

    and the two groups’ fire gleamed into view before us,

  10. فَوَجَّهَها غَربِيَّةً عَن بِلادِنا

    وَوَدَّ الَّذينَ حَولَنا لَو تُشَرِّقُ

    he directed it westward, away from our homeland,

    while those around us wished it would head east.

  11. فَجالَت عَلى أَجوازِها الخَيلُ بِالقنا

    تُواضِعُ مِن قَرنَي جَدود وَتَمرُقُ

    Then the cavalry wheeled through its midst with spears,

    racing from Jadūd’s twin heights and darting onward.

  12. فَمَن مُبلِغُ النُعمانَ أَنَّ أُسَيِّداً

    عَلى العَينِ تَعتادُ الصَّفا وَتُمَرِّقُ

    Who, then, will tell al-Nuʿmān that Usayyid

    at al-ʿAyn frequents the smooth rocks and leaves its droppings,

  13. وَأَنَّ لُكَيزاً لَم تَكُن رَبَّ عُكَّةٍ

    لَدُن صَرَّحَت حُجَّاجُهُم فَتَفَرَّقوا

    and that Lukayz was not the lord of ʿUkka,

    when their pilgrims came into the open and scattered?

  14. قَضَى لِجَميعِ النَّاسِ إِذ جاءَ أَمرُهُمْ

    بِأَنْ يَجنُبُوا أَفراسَهُمْ ثُمَّ يَلْحَقوا

    He decreed for all the people, when their affair arose,

    that they should lead their horses alongside, then follow,

  15. لِتُبلِغَنِي مَن لا يُكَدِّرُ نِعمَةً

    بِعُذرٍ وَلا يَزكو لَدَيهِ التَّمَلُّقُ

    so they might carry me to one who does not spoil a bounty

    with an excuse, and in whose eyes flattery does not flourish.

  16. يَؤُمُّ بِهِنَّ الحَزمَ خِرقٌ سَمَيدَعٌ

    أَحَذُّ كَصَدرِ الهندوانِيِّ مِخفَقُ

    A bold, noble man leads them toward the hard uplands,

    lean and nimble as an Indian sword’s tip, swift-moving.