1. أشارت تودع سمارها

    عشية قد يممت دارها

    She gestured, bidding her evening companions farewell,

    at dusk, having already turned toward her home.

  2. قضت وطراً بجنوب الحمى

    وما قضت النفس أوطارها

    She fulfilled a desire beside the guarded grounds,

    but the soul had not fulfilled its desires.

  3. وراحت تدفُّ دفيف النعا

    مة تتَّبع العين آثارها

    And she departed, gliding with an ostrich's light gait,

    while the eye followed her tracks.

  4. إذا خطرت بدمقس الحرير

    تهزهز في المشي خطارها

    When she sways in silken damask,

    her swaying form quivers as she walks.

  5. نزت لي نفس جموح العنان

    أمانع بالزجر أمّارها

    My soul leapt, headstrong at the rein;

    with rebukes I resist its imperious urges.

  6. وفرعاء ترسل من جعدها

    وعيني ترسل مدرارها

    And a long-haired beauty lets some of her curls fall,

    while my eye pours forth its copious rain.

  7. تصدُّ بوجه كزهر الرياض

    تلفُّ بحوذانها غارها

    She turns away with a face like garden blossoms,

    entwining her laurel with her buttercups.

  8. إذا البرق ضاحك حافاتها

    يكلل بالقطر نوارها

    When lightning smiles along her borders,

    it crowns her blossoms with raindrops.

  9. أسيم اللحاظ ببستانها

    فيقتطف الطرف أثمارها

    I let my glances graze in her garden,

    and my gaze plucks its fruits.

  10. ولم أنس ليلة أنس الجميع

    وقد أفرد الحي ختارها

    And I have not forgotten the night when all were merry,

    when the clan had left its deceiver alone.

  11. ليلة أنسٍ صفا جوّها

    وقد ولَّع الطل أسحارها

    A night of delight, its air serene,

    with dew already dappling its predawn hours.

  12. بزغن بجوشنها طُلَّعاً

    غارنق تخجل أقمارها

    They emerged within its breastplate, newly risen—

    graceful maidens putting its moons to shame.

  13. روامٍ بعينٍ كعين المها

    ة نجلاء تشحذ بتّارها

    Archers, with eyes like the oryx's—

    wide eyes sharpening their keen blade.

  14. برزن برفرف إفرنجةٍ

    تحلُّ وتعقد زنّارها

    They emerged in fine Frankish drapery,

    loosening and tying their girdles.

  15. تضوَّع طيباً بردع العبير

    خفوق الجلابيب معطارها

    It breathed sweet scent from daubs of blended perfume—

    the flutter of their robes, richly fragrant.

  16. إذا نفحت قلت أيدي التجار

    تقلب من كثب فارها

    When they wafted scent, I said: "Merchants' hands

    are turning their musk-pods over close by."

  17. ورود تنازل عفر الظبا

    ترود الخميلة أزهارها

    Roses challenging pale gazelles,

    their blossoms roaming the leafy thicket.

  18. تحلُّ الغبيط سوى أنها

    بعلياء قد أوقدت نارها

    They dwell in the hollow, yet

    have kindled their fire upon a height.

  19. علقت بحمر قبيباتها

    لو أنّي أطرّق أستارها

    I fell in love with her little red tents;

    if only I could knock at her curtains!

  20. أرانيَ إن زرتُ ذاك الخباء

    جار الغزالة أو جارها

    I see myself, if I visit that tent,

    the sun's neighbor—or hers.

  21. خليليَّ قد برقت ديمةٌ

    تريق ببرقة أمطارها

    My two friends, a steady raincloud has flashed,

    pouring its rain upon a stony plain.

  22. إلا ورُد الخمس غدرانها

    وروداً يمانع إصدارها

    But seek its pools with five-day thirst,

    a coming to water that resists being driven away.

  23. فما ليَ غرُّ بهذِ الدنا

    تغرُّ واصحب غرارها

    Why am I gullible about these worldly realms?

    They deceive, and I keep company with their blade-edge.

  24. أسفّ بطيريَ للمطمعات

    أجوب السهول وأوعارها

    I fly low with my bird toward tempting gains,

    traversing the plains and their rugged ground.

  25. فيوماً أطالعُ أنجادَها

    ويماً أنازل أغوارها

    One day I ascend their highlands,

    and another I descend into their lowlands.

  26. أرى الناس درهمها دينها

    صيارف تعبد دينارَها

    I see people whose dirham is their religion—

    moneychangers worshipping their dinar.

  27. تضيِّع في الجود معروفها

    وتحفظ في البخل أعذارَها

    They neglect their kindness when it comes to giving,

    and preserve their excuses when it comes to stinginess.

  28. فتنكر نفسيَ عِرفانها

    هي الطير تعرف أوكارها

    So my soul rejects acquaintance with them;

    it is the bird that knows its nests.

  29. فهلا أريح بجنب الحمى

    رَواحل تحمل أسفارَها

    Why then should I not rest, beside the guarded grounds,

    the mounts that bear my journeys?

  30. أزور أخا مضر المكرمات

    ترحب بالجود من زارها

    I visit a kinsman of Mudar, whose noble deeds

    welcome with generosity whoever visits them.

  31. عليَّ القباب رحيب الجناب

    سبط الرواجب مغزارَها

    Lofty in his domes, spacious in his court,

    supple in his finger-joints, pouring bounty through them.

  32. كثير قرى الضيف مطعامها

    قليل الهجائن منحارَها

    Rich in fare for guests, lavish in feeding them;

    few are his purebred she-camels, for he slaughters them freely.

  33. أحاديث برهانه جمة

    يصحح بالنص أخبارَها

    Many are the accounts of his proof;

    he verifies their reports by the explicit text.

  34. تفرَّع من خير جرثومة

    تخيَّرها اللَه واختارها

    He branched forth from the finest ancestral stock,

    which God singled out and chose.

  35. نمته عواقد من هاشم

    على الحسب العدّ أزرارَها

    Bonds of Hashim's lineage nurtured him,

    their buttons fastened upon inexhaustible nobility.

  36. مفارق أنوار تيجانها

    تبزُّ الفراقد أنوارها

    Heads aglow with the radiance of their crowns—

    their lights outshine the Farqad stars.

  37. لها اللَه زخرف تلك الجنان

    وفجَّر باللطف أنهارَها

    For them God adorned those gardens,

    and with grace made their rivers gush.

  38. أراد لها الحكم في خلده

    فللطول قصَّر أعمارها

    He willed dominion for them in His eternal realm,

    and so, out of bounty, shortened their lives.

  39. فمن أين تدركها كنهها

    ومن أين ترعف أسرارَها

    How then could you grasp their essence?

    And from where do their secrets gush?

  40. مغازير تسكب آلاءها

    مغاوير تركب أخطارَها

    Bountiful givers pouring forth their blessings,

    bold raiders riding into their perils.

  41. تكاد إذا استبَقت بالفخار

    تقطع بالجري مضمارها

    When they vie in glory, they nearly

    cut through their racecourse with their running.

  42. فلم ترَ إلا فتىً مصحرا

    عفرني الدياميم مغوارَها

    And you saw none but a youth out in the desert—

    a mighty lion of the wastelands, their bold raider.

  43. قريع المقانب زحّافها

    زعيم الكتائب جرارَها

    Champion of cavalry squadrons, leading their advance;

    commander of battalions, drawing their hosts along.

  44. فكم ضربة منه أخدودة

    تقدُّ المجنَّ ومن دارَها

    How many a furrow-deep blow from him

    cleaves the shield and whoever parries it!

  45. وكم طعنة عنه أخطيفةٍ

    يقيء فمَ الجرح مسبارَها

    And how many a swift, snatching thrust from him—

    the wound's mouth spews out its probe!

  46. أخا الكرم الغمر كم راحة

    لك الركب يمم تيارَها

    O brother of boundless generosity, how many a palm

    of yours has the caravan sought for its torrent!

  47. وما ضرَّنا قلعُ وسمية

    وكفك تسبل آذارَها

    The passing of an autumn raincloud has not harmed us,

    while your palm pours down its March rains.

  48. وذا العيد عاد مع الواردين

    مناهل تخسف آبارها

    And this Eid has returned with those approaching

    watering places whose wells are sunk deep.

  49. تطالبُ عندك موهبةٌ

    له منك قبل قد اشتارَها

    A gift is requested of you,

    for it—one it had already harvested from you before.

  50. تصوم ولكن عن الفاحشات

    بنفسٍ ترى النسك أفطارَها

    You fast, but from shameful deeds,

    with a soul that regards devotion as its breaking of the fast.

  51. فدم للعدى مرغماً أنفها

    عدىً منك لا أدركت ثارها

    So endure, pressing your enemies' noses into the dust—

    enemies who may never take their vengeance on you.