Sol 6.1

  1. يا لَيلَةَ السَفحِ أَلّا عُدتِ ثانِيَةً

    سَقى زَمانَكَ هَطّالٌ مِنَ الدِيَمِ

    O night at the mountain's foot, will you not return once more?

    May a downpour of steady rain water your time.

  2. ماضٍ مِنَ العَيشِ لَو يُفدى بَذَلتُ لَهُ

    كَرائِمَ المالِ مِن خَيلٍ وَمِن نَعَمِ

    A bygone span of life—could it be ransomed, I would give for it

    the choicest wealth, of horses and of grazing herds.

  3. لَم أَقضِ مِنكِ لُباناتٍ ظَفِرتُ بِها

    فَهَل لِيَ اليَومَ إِلّا زَفرَةُ النَدَمِ

    I never had my fill of the pleasures I found in you;

    so have I today anything but a sigh of regret?

  4. فَلَيتَ عَهدَكِ إِذ لَم يَبقَ لي أَبَداً

    لَم يُبقِ عِندي عَقابيلاً مِنَ السَقَمِ

    If only your time, since it did not remain mine forever,

    had not left me lingering aftereffects of sickness.

  5. تَعَجَّبوا مِن تَمَنّي القَلبِ مُؤلَمُهُ

    وَما دَرَوا أَنَّهُ خِلوٌ مِنَ الأَلَمِ

    They marveled that the heart should long for what pains it,

    and did not know that it was free of pain.

  6. رُدّوا عَلَيَّ لَيالِيَّ الَّتي سَلَفَت

    لَم أَنسَهُنَّ وَلا بِالعَهدِ مِن قِدَمِ

    Give me back my nights that have passed;

    I have not forgotten them, nor has their memory grown old.

  7. أَقولُ لِلّائِمِ المُهدي مَلامَتَهُ

    ذُقِ الهَوى وَإِنِ اِسطَعتَ المَلامَ لُمِ

    I say to the reproacher who offers his reproach:

    Taste love, and if you can reproach, then reproach!

  8. وَظَبيَةٍ مِن ظِباءِ الإِنسِ عاطِلَةٍ

    تَستَوقِفُ العَينَ بَينَ الخَمصِ وَالهَضَمِ

    And a gazelle among human gazelles, unadorned,

    holds the eye between her hollowed belly and slender waist.

  9. لَو أَنَّها بِفِناءِ البَيتِ سانِحَةً

    لَصِدتُها وَاِبتَدَعتُ الصَيدَ في الحَرَمِ

    Were she to pass across the forecourt of the House,

    I would hunt her, introducing hunting into the sanctuary.

  10. قَدِرتُ مِنها بِلا رُقبى وَلا حَذَرٍ

    عَلى الَّذي نامَ عَن لَيلي وَلَم أَنَمِ

    I gained from her, without surveillance or fear,

    what slept heedless of my night, while I did not sleep.

  11. بِتنا ضَجيعَينِ في ثَوبَي هَوىً وَتُقىً

    يَلُفُّنا الشَوقُ مِن فَرعٍ إِلى قَدَمِ

    We spent the night side by side, in two robes of love and piety,

    longing wrapping us from head to foot.

  12. وَأَمسَتِ الريحُ كَالغَيرى تُجاذِبُنا

    عَلى الكَثيبِ فُضولَ الرَيطِ وَاللِمَمِ

    And at evening the wind, like a jealous woman, tussled with us

    on the dune over trailing robes and locks of hair.

  13. يَشي بِنا الطيبُ أَحياناً وَآوِنَةً

    مُضيئُنا البَأقُ مُجتازاً عَلى أَضَمِ

    Sometimes perfume betrayed us, and at other times

    the sudden rainstorm that lit us, passing over Aḍam.

  14. وَباتَ بارِقُ ذاكَ الثَغرِ يوضِحُ لي

    مَواقِعَ اللَثمِ في داجٍ مِنَ الظُلَمِ

    And all night the lightning of that mouth showed me

    the places for kisses in the deepest darkness.

  15. وَبَينَنا عِفَّةٌ بايَعتُها بِيَدي

    عَلى الوَفاءِ بِها وَالرَعيِ لِلذِمَمِ

    And between us stood chastity, to which I pledged my hand,

    to keep faith with it and honor pledges.

  16. يُوَلِّعُ الطَلُّ بُردَينا وَقَد نَسَمَت

    رُوَيحَةُ الفَجرِ بَينَ الضالِ وَالسَلَمِ

    Dew dappled our two cloaks, while there stirred

    the little dawn breeze between wild lote trees and acacias.

  17. وَأَكتُمُ الصُبحَ عَنها وَهيَ غافِلَةٌ

    حَتّى تَكَلَّمَ عُصفورٌ عَلى عَلَمِ

    And I hid the dawn from her while she was unaware,

    until a sparrow spoke upon a height.

  18. فَقُمتُ أَنفُضُ بُرداً ما تَعَلَّقَهُ

    غَيرَ العَفافِ وَراءَ الغَيبِ وَالكَرَمِ

    So I rose, shaking out a cloak to which nothing had clung

    but chastity, kept in secret, and nobility.

  19. وَأَلمَسَتني وَقَد جَدَّ الوَداعُ بِنا

    كَفّاً تُشيرُ بِقُضبانٍ مِنَ العَنَمِ

    And as farewell grew earnest between us, she let me touch

    a hand gesturing with twigs of ʿanam.

  20. وَأَلثَمَتنِيَ ثَغراً ما عَدَلتُ بِهِ

    أَريَ الجَنى بِبَناتِ الوابِلِ الرُذُمِ

    And she let me kiss a mouth I would not compare with

    fresh-gathered honey mingled with the daughters of a copious downpour.

  21. ثُمَّ اِنثَنَينا وَقَد رابَت ظَواهِرُنا

    وَفي بَواطِنِنا بُعدٌ مِنَ التُهَمِ

    Then we turned back; our outward appearance had aroused suspicion,

    yet inwardly we were far from all suspicion.

  22. يا حَبَّذا لَمَّةٌ بِالرَملِ ثانِيَةٌ

    وَوَقفَةٌ بِبُيوتِ الحَيِّ مِن أَمَمِ

    Ah, how sweet another meeting on the sand,

    and a halt close by the tribe's dwellings!

  23. وَحَبَّذا نَهلَةٌ مِن فيكِ بارِدَةً

    يُعدي عَلى حَرِّ قَلبي بَردُها بِفَمي

    And how sweet a cool draught from your mouth,

    its coolness in my mouth aiding me against my heart's heat.

  24. دَينٌ عَلَيكِ فَإِن تَقضيهِ أَحيَ بِهِ

    وَإِن أَبَيتِ تَقاضَينا إِلى حَكَمِ

    A debt you owe: if you repay it, I shall live by it;

    and if you refuse, we shall seek judgment from an arbiter.

  25. عَجِبتُ مِن باخِلٍ عَنّي بِريقَتِهِ

    وَقَد بَذَلتُ لَهُ دونَ الأَنامِ دَمي

    I marveled at one who begrudges me his saliva,

    though I offered him, alone of all humankind, my blood.

  26. ما ساعَفَتني اللَيالي بَعدَ بَينِهِمُ

    إِلّا بَكَيتُ لَيالينا بِذي سَلَمِ

    Never did the nights favor me after their departure

    without my weeping for our nights at Dhū Salam.

  27. وَلا اِستَجَدَّ فُؤادي في الزَمانِ هَوىً

    إِلّا ذَكَرتُ هَوى أَيّامِنا القُدُمُ

    Nor did my heart find a new love as time passed

    without my recalling the love of our days of old.

  28. لا تَطلُبَنَّ لِيَ الأَبدالَ بَعدَهُمُ

    فَإِنَّ قَلبِيَ لا يَرضى بِغَيرِهِمِ

    Never seek replacements for me after them,

    for my heart is content with none but them.