1. أَشاقَكَ مِن عَبلَ الخَيالُ المُبَهَّجُ

    فَقَلبُكَ مِنهُ لاعِجٌ يَتَوَهَّجُ

    Has Abla's radiant phantom stirred your longing,

    so that your heart, inflamed by it, blazes?

  2. فَقَدتَ الَّتي بانَت فَبِتُّ مُعَذَّباً

    وَتِلكَ اِحتَواها عَنكَ لِلبَينِ هَودَجُ

    You lost her who departed, and I spent the night tormented;

    and a howdah enclosed her, bearing her away from you at parting.

  3. كَأَنَّ فُؤادي يَومَ قُمتُ مُوَدِّعاً

    عُبَيلَةَ مِنّي هارِبٌ يَتَمَعَّجُ

    It was as though my heart, the day I rose to bid farewell

    to Ubayla, were fleeing from me, writhing.

  4. خَليلَيَّ ما أَنساكُما بَل فِداكُما

    أَبي وَأَبوها أَينَ أَينَ المُعَرَّجُ

    My two friends, I do not forget you; rather, may you be ransomed by

    my father and hers! Where, where is the stopping-place?

  5. أَلِمّا بِماءِ الدُحرُضَينِ فَكَلَّما

    دِيارَ الَّتي في حُبِّها بِتُّ أَلهَجُ

    Stop at the water of al-Duhrudayn, then speak to

    the dwellings of her whose love I kept proclaiming through the night.

  6. دِيارٌ لِذاتِ الخِدرِ عَبلَةَ أَصبَحَت

    بِها الأَربَعُ الهوجُ العَواصِفُ تُرهِجُ

    Dwellings of Abla, lady of the curtained chamber: now

    the four raging storm winds raise dust there.

  7. أَلا هَل تُرى إِن شَطَّ عَنّي مَزارُها

    وَأَزعَجُها عَن أَهلِها الآنَ مُزعِجُ

    Ah, I wonder—if the place to visit her is far from me,

    and someone has now driven her away from her people—

  8. فَهَل تُبلِغَنّي دارَها شَدَنِيَّةٌ

    هَمَلَّعَةٌ بَينَ القِفارِ تُهَملِجُ

    will a Shadani she-camel carry me to her dwelling,

    a swift, long-striding beast, pacing through the wastes?

  9. تُريكَ إِذا وَلَّت سَناماً وَكاهِلاً

    وَإِن أَقبَلَت صَدراً لَها يَتَرَجرَجُ

    She shows you, when she turns away, a hump and withers,

    and, if she comes toward you, her swaying chest.

  10. عُبَيلَةُ هَذا دُرُّ نَظمٍ نَظَمتُهُ

    وَأَنتِ لَهُ سِلكٌ وَحُسنٌ وَمَبهَجُ

    Ubayla, these are pearls of verse that I have strung,

    and you are their thread, their beauty, and their delight.

  11. وَقَد سِرتُ يا بِنتَ الكِرامِ مُبادِراً

    وَتَحتِيَ مَهرِيٌّ مِنَ الإِبلِ أَهوَجُ

    And I have journeyed in haste, O daughter of the noble,

    with a headstrong Mahri camel beneath me,

  12. بِأَرضٍ تَرَدّى الماءُ مِن هَضَباتِها

    فَأَصبَحَ فيها نَبتُها يَتَوَهَّجُ

    in a land where water tumbled down from its hills,

    and there its vegetation began to glow.

  13. وَأَورَقَ فيها الآسُ وَالضالُ وَالغَضا

    وَنَبقٌ وَنِسرينٌ وَوَردٌ وَعَوسَجُ

    And myrtle, wild lote trees, and saxaul put forth leaves there,

    and jujube, musk rose, rose, and boxthorn.

  14. لَئِن أَضحَتِ الأَطلالُ مِنها خَوالِياً

    كَأَن لَم يَكُن فيها مِنَ العَيشِ مُبهِجُ

    Even if her ruined camps have become deserted,

    as though no delight of life had ever been there,

  15. فَيا طالَما مازَحتُ فيها عُبَيلَةً

    وَمازَحَني فيها الغَزالُ المُغَنَّجُ

    oh, how often I playfully teased Ubayla there,

    and the coquettish gazelle playfully teased me there!

  16. أَغَنُّ مَليحُ الدَلِّ أَحوَرُ أَكحَلٌ

    أَزَجُّ نَقِيُّ الخَدِّ أَبلَجُ أَدعَجُ

    Softly nasal-voiced, charmingly coy, with stark black-and-white eyes, naturally kohl-rimmed,

    arched-browed, pure-cheeked, with brows apart and deep-black eyes.

  17. لَهُ حاجِبٌ كَالنونِ فَوقَ جُفونِهِ

    وَثَغرٌ كَزَهرِ الأُقحُوانِ مُفَلَّجُ

    He has an eyebrow like the letter nun above his eyelids,

    and a mouth like chrysanthemum blossoms, with spaced teeth.

  18. وَرِدفٌ لَهُ ثِقلٌ وَخَصرٌ مُهَفهَفٌ

    وَخَدٌّ بِهِ وَردٌ وَساقٌ خَدَلَّجُ

    And a weighty rump, and a slender waist,

    and a cheek bearing roses, and a full, rounded calf,

  19. وَبَطنٌ كَطَيِّ السابِرِيَّةِ لَيِّنٌ

    أَقَبُّ لَطيفٌ ضامِرُ الكَشحِ مُدمَجُ

    and a belly soft as a fold of Sabiri cloth,

    slender and delicate, lean at the flanks and compactly formed.

  20. لَهَوتُ بِها وَاللَيلُ أَرخى سُدولَهُ

    إِلى أَن بَدا ضَوءُ الصَباحِ المُبَلَّجُ

    I dallied with her while night let down its curtains,

    until the radiant light of morning appeared.

  21. أُراعي نُجومَ اللَيلِ وَهيَ كَأَنَّها

    قَواريرُ فيها زِئبَقٌ يَتَرَجرَجُ

    I watched the stars of night, as though they were

    glass vessels with mercury trembling within them.

  22. وَتَحتِيَ مِنها ساعِدٌ فيهِ دُملُجُ

    مُضيءٌ وَفَوقي آخَرٌ فيهِ دُملُجُ

    And beneath me was her forearm, bearing an armlet

    that gleamed; and above me another, bearing an armlet.

  23. وَإِخوانِ صِدقٍ صادِقينَ صَحِبتَهُم

    عَلى غارَةٍ مِن مِثلِها الخَيلُ تُسرَجُ

    And you accompanied true brothers, faithful men,

    on a raid of the kind for which horses are saddled.

  24. تَطوفُ عَلَيهِم خَندَريسٌ مُدامَةٌ

    تَرى حَبَباً مِن فَوقِها حينَ تُمزَجُ

    Strong, aged wine makes its rounds among them;

    you see bubbles upon it when it is mixed.

  25. أَلا إِنَّها نِعمَ الدَواءُ لِشارِبٍ

    أَلا فَاِسقِنيها قَبلَ ما أَنتَ تَخرُجُ

    Ah, it is indeed an excellent remedy for a drinker;

    ah, give it to me to drink before you go out.

  26. فَنُضحي سُكارى وَالمُدامُ مُصَفَّفٌ

    يُدارُ عَلَينا وَالطَعامُ المُطَبهَجُ

    Then we spend the morning drunk, with the wine arrayed in rows,

    passed around among us, along with fried food.

  27. وَما راعَني يَومَ الطِعانِ زُهوقُهُ

    إِلَيَّ بِمَن بِالزَعفَرانِ تَضَرَّجوا

    And on the day of spears I was not frightened by his rush

    toward me with men who had stained themselves with saffron.

  28. فَأَقبَلَ مُنقَضّاً عَلَيَّ بِخَلقِهِ

    يُقَرِّبُ أَحياناً وَحيناً يُهَملِجُ

    Then he came swooping down on me with his host,

    cantering at times and at times pacing smoothly.

  29. فَلَمّا دَنا مِنّي قَطَعتُ وَتينَهُ

    بِحَدِّ حُسامٍ صارِمٍ يَتَبَلَّجُ

    When he drew near me, I severed his aorta

    with the edge of a keen, cutting sword that gleamed.

  30. كَأَنَّ دِماءَ الفُرسِ حينَ تَحَدَّرَت

    خَلوقُ العَذارى أَو قُباءَ مُدَبَّجُ

    As though the Persians' blood, when it flowed down,

    were maidens' saffron perfume, or a brocaded robe.

  31. فَوَيلٌ لِكِسرى إِن حَلَلتُ بِأَرضِهِ

    وَوَيلٌ لِجَيشِ الفُرسِ حينَ أُعَجعِجُ

    So woe to Kisra if I descend upon his land,

    and woe to the Persian army when I roar,

  32. وَأَحمِلُ فيهِم حَملَةً عَنتَرِيَّةً

    أَرُدُّ بِها الأَبطالَ في القَفرِ تَنبِجُ

    and launch among them an Antara-like charge,

    with which I drive back the champions as they clamor in the wastes.

  33. وَأَصدِمُ كَبشَ القَومِ ثُمَّ أُذيقُهُ

    مَرارَةَ كَأسِ المَوتِ صَبراً يُمَجَّجُ

    And I strike the people's ram, then make him taste

    the bitterness of death's cup—bitter aloes spat out.

  34. وَآخُذُ ثَأرَ النَدبِ سَيِّدِ قَومِهِ

    وَأُضرِمُها في الحَربِ ناراً تُؤَجَّجُ

    And I take vengeance for the valiant man, the chief of his people,

    and set it ablaze in war, a fire stoked to flame.

  35. وَإِنّي لَحَمّالٌ لِكُلِّ مُلِمَّةٍ

    تَخِرُّ لَها شُمُّ الجِبالِ وَتُزعَجُ

    And I am indeed a bearer of every calamity

    before which lofty mountains fall and are shaken.

  36. وَإِنّي لَأَحمي الجارَ مِن كُلِّ ذِلَّةٍ

    وَأَفرَحُ بِالضَيفِ المُقيمِ وَأَبهَجُ

    And I surely shield the neighbor from every humiliation,

    and rejoice in the guest who stays, and am delighted.

  37. وَأَحمي حِمى قَومي عَلى طولِ مُدَّتي

    إِلى أَن يَرَوني في اللَفائِفِ أُدرَجُ

    And I defend my people's domain for the whole span of my life,

    until they see me being wrapped in shrouds.

  38. فَدونَكُمُ يا آلَ عَبسٍ قَصيدَةً

    يَلوحُ لَها ضَوءٌ مِنَ الصُبحِ أَبلَجُ

    So take, O house of Abs, a poem

    whose light gleams brighter than the dawn.

  39. أَلا إِنَّها خَيرُ القَصائِدِ كُلَّها

    يُفَصَّلُ مِنها كُلُّ ثَوبٍ وَيُنسَجُ

    Lo, it is the best of all poems,

    from which every garment is cut and woven.