عَزَفتَ بِأَعشاشٍ وَما كِدتَ تَعزِفُ

عَزَفتَ بِأَعشاشٍ وَما كِدتَ تَعزِفُ

وَأَنكَرتَ مِن حَدراءَ ما كُنتَ تَعرِفُ

وَأَنكَرتَ مِن حَدراءَ ما كُنتَ تَعرِفُ

You turned away at Aʿshāsh, though you could scarcely turn away,

You played love songs but could hardly play them well,

and found unfamiliar in Ḥadrāʾ what you once knew.

And denied the virtues of one you used to know so well,

وَلَجَّ بِكَ الهِجرانُ حَتّى كَأَنَّما

وَلَجَّ بِكَ الهِجرانُ حَتّى كَأَنَّما

تَرى المَوتَ في البَيتِ الَّذي كُنتَ تَيلَفُ

تَرى المَوتَ في البَيتِ الَّذي كُنتَ تَيلَفُ

And estrangement has so beset you that it is as though

Estrangement so gripped you, it was as though

you see death in the house you once frequented.

You saw death in the house where once you were kept whole,

لَجاجَةُ صُرمٍ لَيسَ بِالوَصلِ إِنَّما

لَجاجَةُ صُرمٍ لَيسَ بِالوَصلِ إِنَّما

أَخو الوَصلِ مَن يَدنو وَمَن يَتَلَطَّفُ

أَخو الوَصلِ مَن يَدنو وَمَن يَتَلَطَّفُ

Stubborn estrangement is no loving bond; only

Obduracy in one deaf to reunion’s call—not at all

one who draws near and shows tenderness is a true companion in love.

Like one who draws near in love, and is kind to all,

إِذا اِنتَبَهَت حَدراءُ مِن نَومَةِ الضُحى

إِذا اِنتَبَهَت حَدراءُ مِن نَومَةِ الضُحى

دَعَت وَعَلَيها دِرعُ خَزٍّ وَمِطرَفُ

دَعَت وَعَلَيها دِرعُ خَزٍّ وَمِطرَفُ

When Ḥadrāʾ wakes from her midmorning sleep,

When my love awoke at dawn, still tired from the night before,

she calls, wearing a silk-and-wool shift and a bordered cloak,

She rose in a coat of mail and a bridle with bells galore,

بِأَخضَرَ مِن نَعمانَ ثُمَّ جَلَت بِهِ

بِأَخضَرَ مِن نَعمانَ ثُمَّ جَلَت بِهِ

عِذابَ الثَنايا طَيِّباً حينَ يُرشَفُ

عِذابَ الثَنايا طَيِّباً حينَ يُرشَفُ

for a green twig from Naʿmān, then with it polishes

In freshest green from Nu‘man—then she proudly rode

her sweet front teeth—a mouth delicious when sipped.

To gently punish the hillsides when their flowers exploded,

وَمُستَنفِزاتٍ لِلقُلوبَ كَأَنَّها

وَمُستَنفِزاتٍ لِلقُلوبَ كَأَنَّها

مَهاً حَولَ مَنتوجاتِهِ يَتَصَرَّفُ

مَهاً حَولَ مَنتوجاتِهِ يَتَصَرَّفُ

And women who stir the heart, as though they were

Arousing hearts, as though she were

white oryx moving about their newborn young;

An owl hovering round its nestlings without care,

يُشَبَّهنَ مِن فَرطِ الحَياءِ كَأَنَّها

يُشَبَّهنَ مِن فَرطِ الحَياءِ كَأَنَّها

مِراضُ سُلالٍ أَو هَوالِكُ نُزَّفُ

مِراضُ سُلالٍ أَو هَوالِكُ نُزَّفُ

their overwhelming modesty makes them seem as though they were

From shyness, they resembled, it could be said,

sick with consumption, or dying and drained of blood.

A herd of does, or gazelles freshly bled,

إِذا هُنَّ ساقَطنَ الحَديثَ كَأَنَّهُ

إِذا هُنَّ ساقَطنَ الحَديثَ كَأَنَّهُ

جَنى النَحلِ أَو أَبكارِ كَرمٍ يُقَطَّفُ

جَنى النَحلِ أَو أَبكارِ كَرمٍ يُقَطَّفُ

When they exchange conversation, it is as though it were

When they conversed it was like the yield

the bees' harvest, or the first grapes plucked from a vine.

Of bees, or first pickings in a vineyard freshly tilled,

مَوانِعُ لِلأَسرارِ إِلّا لِأَهلِها

مَوانِعُ لِلأَسرارِ إِلّا لِأَهلِها

وَيُخلِفنَ ما ظَنَّ الغَيورُ المُشَفشِفُ

وَيُخلِفنَ ما ظَنَّ الغَيورُ المُشَفشِفُ

They keep secrets from all but those entitled to them,

Guarding their secrets, except from whom they wished,

and belie what the jealous, fretfully suspicious man suspects.

Believing none of the lies of spying peepers and fishers,

يُحَدِّثنَ بَعدَ اليَأسِ مِن غَيرِ ريبَةٍ

يُحَدِّثنَ بَعدَ اليَأسِ مِن غَيرِ ريبَةٍ

أَحاديثَ تَشفي المُدنَفينَ وَتَشغَفُ

أَحاديثَ تَشفي المُدنَفينَ وَتَشغَفُ

After hope is lost, they speak without cause for suspicion,

After despair, they would speak without guile

words that heal the lovesick and kindle passion.

Words that delight ardent lovers all the while,

إِذا القُنبُضاتِ السودِ طَوَّفنَ بِالضُحى

إِذا القُنبُضاتِ السودِ طَوَّفنَ بِالضُحى

رَقَدنَ عَلَيهِنَّ الحِجالُ المُسَجَّفُ

رَقَدنَ عَلَيهِنَّ الحِجالُ المُسَجَّفُ

When the short black maids go about at midmorning,

When the black of night patrolled around the dawn

the ladies lie asleep, curtained canopies above them.

They fell asleep wrapped in their long gowns,

وَإِن نَبَّهَتهُنَّ الوَلائِدُ بَعدَما

وَإِن نَبَّهَتهُنَّ الوَلائِدُ بَعدَما

تَصَعَّدَ يَومُ الصَيفِ أَو كادَ يَنصِفُ

تَصَعَّدَ يَومُ الصَيفِ أَو كادَ يَنصِفُ

And if the slave girls wake them after

And if their mother woke them after the summer day

the summer day has climbed high, or almost reached noon,

Had risen high or started to give way,

دَعَونَ بِقُضبانِ الأَراكِ الَّتي جَنى

دَعَونَ بِقُضبانِ الأَراكِ الَّتي جَنى

لَها الرَكبُ مِن نَعمانَ أَيّامَ عَرَّفوا

لَها الرَكبُ مِن نَعمانَ أَيّامَ عَرَّفوا

they call for arak twigs, which were gathered

They called for the staffs of litter they had been carried in

for her from Naʿmān by the riders, on the days they stood at ʿArafāt.

From Nu‘man on days of old, before sin,

فَمِحنَ بِهِ عَذباً رُضاباً غُروبُهُ

فَمِحنَ بِهِ عَذباً رُضاباً غُروبُهُ

رِقاقٌ وَأَعلى حَيثُ رُكِّبنَ أَعجَفُ

رِقاقٌ وَأَعلى حَيثُ رُكِّبنَ أَعجَفُ

Then with it they draw sweet saliva from a mouth whose tooth-edges

Which they sweetly sniffed from end to tip—

are delicate, and whose upper gum, where they are set, is spare of flesh.

Fine wands, the tallest where the litters were equipped.