طربت لعلوي من الريح شاقني

لريا بريا البان من علَمي نجدِ

I thrilled to an upland breeze that stirred my longing

for Rayyā, with the bān trees’ scent from Najd’s twin heights.

تنفس يهدي ل عقابل لوعة

بكاتمة للحب والناجيات بنا تخدي

It breathed, bringing lingering pangs of anguish [text unclear],

for a woman who conceals love, while swift she-camels trot with us.

ولما هبطنا الجزعِ من مسقط النقا

وطحنا على شيح الأباطح والرندِ

And when we descended to the valley bend from the dune’s foot,

and alighted upon the valley flats’ wormwood and laurel,

مغذّين نبغي سرحة القاع بالحمى

وللعيس إرسالٌ بذاك الثرى الجعدِ

hurrying on, seeking the plain’s spreading tree in the protected pasture,

and the pale camels had free rein over that moist earth.

خمائلُ أزهارٍ وزهرُ حمائِلٍ

مجودةِ أحوى الروض تعبق بالندِّ

Thickets of blossoms and gleaming sword-belts,

rain-drenched in the dark-green meadow, fragrant with incense.

فيا لتباريح تروح وتغتدي

عَليَّ بها دَعدٌ لِيَ اللضه من دَعدِ

Oh, the torments that come at evening and at morning,

Daʿd brings them upon me; I have [unclear] from Daʿd.

لَقَد حكم البين المطوّح في الحشا

موءللة يعلقن بالحجر الصلدِ

Separation, which flings one far away, has indeed given dominion in my heart

to sharpened points that lodge in solid stone.

أراجعةٌ أيّام لهويَ والهوى

باغلمةٍ مُردٍ وملمومةٍ جُردِ

Will the days of my revelry and love return,

with beardless youths and a close-packed troop of sleek steeds?

وهل أطرقن تلك القباب مخاطراً

بمأثورةٍ قضبٍ ومطرودةٍ مُلدِ

And shall I visit those domed tents by night, braving danger,

with patterned cutting swords and straight, supple spears?

وَهَل أُسرح العينَ الطليحة مسرحاً

بذي البان ملتفّ الأرجاع بالسَعدِ

And shall I let my weary eye roam through a pasture

at Dhū al-Bān, where the pools are thick with sedge?

مواطن إلّا في ومجمعِ رفقتي

صفا بهم عيشي وساغ بهم وِردي

Dwelling places—[unclear phrase]—and my companions’ meeting-place,

where my life with them was serene, and my draught with them went down sweetly.

ذكرتُهُم ذكراً على البعد بعدهم

ولَستُ بناسيهم على القرب والبعدِ

I kept them in remembrance from afar, after they were gone,

and I do not forget them, whether near or far.

رَعيتُ لهم عَهد الأخاء وإن يكن

تجافوا فلم يرعو إذمامي ولا عهدي

I upheld the covenant of brotherhood for them, even if it be that

they turned away and honored neither my pledged protection nor my covenant.

رَموا بيَ مَرمى الهيم في كلِّ وهدةٍ

خلاءٍ خلَت حتى من البوم والربدِ

They cast me where thirst-crazed camels are cast, into every hollow,

desolate, empty even of owls and gray ostriches.

تلقيتُ فيها لفحَ حرِّ سمومها

بأفئدةٍ يُسدي لها الشوق ما يُسدي

There I faced the scorching blast of heat from its desert wind,

with hearts upon which longing bestows whatever it bestows.