Sol 6.1

  1. أَلا اِنعِم صَباحاً أَيُّها الرَبعُ وَاِنطِقِ

    وَحَدِّث حَديثَ الرَكبِ إِن شِئتَ وَاِصدُقِ

    Ah, good morning, O abandoned campsite—speak!

    Tell the riders' story, if you will, and tell it truly.

  2. وَحَدِّث بِأَن زالَت بِلَيلٍ حُمولُهُم

    كَنَخلٍ مِنَ الأَعراضِ غَيرِ مُنَبِّقِ

    Tell how their laden camels departed by night,

    like palms of al-A'rad, not planted in rows.

  3. جَعَلنَ حَوايا وَاِقتَعَدنَ قَعائِداً

    وَخَفَّفنَ مِن حَوكِ العِراقِ المُنَمَّقِ

    The women set saddle-pads in place and mounted riding camels,

    and chose light coverings of Iraq's patterned cloth.

  4. وَفَوقَ الحَوايا غِزلَةٌ وَجَآذِرٌ

    تَضَمَّخنَ مِن مِسكٍ ذَكِيٍّ وَزَنبَقِ

    Above the saddle-pads were gazelles and oryx calves,

    perfumed with potent musk and jasmine oil.

  5. فَأَتبَعتُهُم طَرفي وَقَد حالَ دونَهُم

    غَوارِبُ رَملٍ ذي أَلاءٍ وَشَبرَقِ

    I followed them with my gaze, though between us rose

    the crests of dunes bearing alā shrubs and shabraq thorns,

  6. عَلى إِثرِ حَيٍّ عامِدينَ لِنِيَّةٍ

    فَحَلّوا العَقيقَ أَو ثَنِيَّةَ مُطرِقِ

    on the trail of a tribe intent upon its destination;

    they encamped at al-'Aqiq or the pass of Mutriq.

  7. فَعَزَّيتُ نَفسي حينَ بانوا بِحَسرَةٍ

    أَمونٍ كَبُنيانِ اليَهودِيِّ خَيفَقِ

    When they left, I consoled myself with a travel-worn she-camel,

    trusty, built like a Jew's masonry, and swift.

  8. إِذا زَجَرَت أَلفَيتُها مُشمَعِلَّةً

    تُنيفُ بِعَذقٍ مِن غُروسِ اِبنِ مُعنِقِ

    Whenever I urged her, I found her speeding,

    raising a palm-cluster of a tail from Ibn Mu'niq's groves.

  9. تَروحُ إِذا راحَت رَواحَ جَهامَةٍ

    بِإِثرِ جَهامٍ رائِحٍ مُتَفَرِّقِ

    When she travels, she travels like a rainless cloud,

    following drifting, scattered rainless clouds.

  10. كَأَنَّ بِها هِراً جَنيباً تَجُرُّهُ

    بِكُلِّ طَريقٍ صادَفَتهُ وَمَأزِقِ

    As though she dragged a cat tethered to her,

    along every road and narrow pass she encountered.

  11. كَأَنّي وَرَحلي وَالقِرابَ وَنُمرُقي

    عَلى يَرفَئِيٍّ ذي زَوائِدَ نَقنَقِ

    As though I and my saddle, my sword-case and my cushion

    rode a clucking cock ostrich with projecting appendages.

  12. تَرَوَّحَ مِن أَرضٍ لِأَرضٍ نَطِيَّةٍ

    لِذِكرَةِ قَيضٍ حَولَ بَيضٍ مُفَلَّقِ

    He set out from one land for another far away,

    remembering shells around his hatching eggs.

  13. يَجولُ بِآفاقِ البِلادِ مُغَرِّباً

    وَتُسحِقُهُ ريحُ الصَبا كُلَّ مُسحَقِ

    He roams the land's horizons, ranging far afield,

    and the east wind drives him to the farthest reaches.

  14. وَبَيتٌ يَفوحُ المِسكُ في حُجُراتِهِ

    بَعيدٍ مِنَ الآفاتِ غَيرِ مُرَوَّقِ

    And in a dwelling whose chambers breathed musk,

    safe from harm, with no outer awning,

  15. دَخَلتُ عَلى بَيضاءَ جُمٍّ عِظامُها

    تُعَفّي بِذَيلِ الدِرعِ إِذ جِئتُ مودَقي

    I entered upon a fair woman, her bones well fleshed,

    who erased my footprints with her gown's hem as I came,

  16. وَقَد رَكَدَت وَسطَ السَماءِ نُجومُها

    رُكودَ نَوادي الرَبرَبِ المُتَوَرِّقِ

    while the stars stood still in the heart of the sky,

    like gatherings of leaf-browsing oryx standing still.

  17. وَقَد أَغتَدي قَبلَ العُطاسِ بِهَيكَلٍ

    شَديدٍ مَشَكِّ الجَنبِ فَعمِ المُنَطَّقِ

    Often I set out before anyone sneezes, on a great-framed horse,

    tightly knit in the flanks, full and broad at the girth.

  18. بَعَثنا رَبيئاً قَبلَ ذاكَ مُحَمَّلاً

    كَذِئبِ الغَضى يَمشي الضَراءَ وَيَتَّقي

    Before that, we had sent Muhammal ahead as scout,

    like a wolf of the ghada thickets, stalking under cover and wary.

  19. فَظَلَّ كَمِثلِ الخَشفِ يَرفَعُ رَأسَهُ

    وَسائِرُهُ مِثلُ التُرابِ المُدَقَّقِ

    He kept raising his head like a fawn,

    the rest of him like finely powdered dust.

  20. فَجاءَ خَفِيّاً يَسفِنُ الأَرضَ بَطنُهُ

    تَرى التُربَ مِنهُ لاصِقاً كُلَّ مَلصَقِ

    Then he came unseen, his belly scraping the ground;

    you could see dust clinging to every part of him.

  21. وَقالَ أَلا هَذا صُوارٌ وَعانَةٌ

    وَخَيطُ نَعامٍ يَرتَعي مُتَفَرِّقِ

    He said, 'Look: a herd of oryx, a herd of wild asses,

    and a scattered string of ostriches grazing.'

  22. فَقُمنا بِأَشلاءِ اللِجامِ وَلَم نَقُد

    إِلى غُصنِ بانٍ ناضِرٍ لَم يُحَرَّقِ

    We rose with the bridle-straps; what we approached was no

    fresh, unscorched bough of a bān tree.

  23. نُزاوِلُهُ حَتّى حَمَلنا غُلامَنا

    عَلى ظَهرِ ساطٍ كَالصَليفِ المُعَرَّقِ

    We struggled with him until we set our lad

    on a tall horse's back, like a neck-bone stripped of flesh.

  24. كَأَنَّ غُلامي إِذ عَلا حالَ مَتنِهِ

    عَلى ظَهرِ بازٍ في السَماءِ مُحَلِّقِ

    My lad, when he mounted the middle of his back, seemed

    to ride a hawk soaring in the sky,

  25. رَأى أَرنَباً فَاِنقَضَّ يَهوي أَمامَهُ

    إِلَيها وَجَلّاها بِطَرفٍ مُلَقلَقِ

    that saw a hare and swooped, plunging straight ahead

    toward her, sighting her with a darting eye.

  26. فَقُلتُ لَهُ صَوِّب وَلا تُجهِدَنَّهُ

    فَيَذرُكَ مِن أَعلى القَطاةِ فَتُزلَقِ

    I told him, 'Lean low, and do not overtax him,

    lest he toss you from his high croup and you slip off.'

  27. فَأَدبَرنَ كَالجَزعِ المُفَصَّلِ بَينَهُ

    بِجيدِ الغُلامِ ذي القَميصِ المُطَوَّقِ

    They fled like onyx beads, with spacers between them,

    on the neck of a lad in a collared tunic.

  28. وَأَدرَكَهُنَّ ثانِياً مِن عِنانِهِ

    كَغَيثِ العَشِيِّ الأَقهَبِ المُتَوَدِّقِ

    He overtook them with his rein still drawn back,

    like a gray evening raincloud pouring down.

  29. فَصادَ لَنا عيراً وَثَوراً وَخاضِباً

    عِداءً وَلَم يَنضَح بِماءٍ فَيَعرَقِ

    He caught us a wild ass, an oryx bull, and a red-shanked ostrich,

    in succession, without shedding a drop of sweat.

  30. وَظَلَّ غُلامي يَضجَعُ الرُمحَ حَولَهُ

    لِكُلِّ مَهاةٍ أَو لِأَحقَبَ سَهوَقِ

    My lad kept leveling his spear all around him,

    at every oryx cow or tall, white-bellied wild ass.

  31. وَقامَ طِوالَ الشَخصِ إِذ يَخضِبونَهُ

    قِيامَ العَزيزِ الفارِسِيِّ المُنَطَّقِ

    He stood tall of frame as they stained him,

    as a mighty, girdled Persian lord stands.

  32. فَقُلنا أَلا قَد كانَ صَيدٌ لِقانِصٍ

    فَخِبّوا عَلَينا كُلَّ بَيتٍ مُزَوَّقِ

    We said, 'Ah, the hunter has indeed had his game;

    now pitch over us every richly decorated tent.'

  33. وَظَلَّ صِحابي يَشتَوُونَ بِنِعمَةٍ

    يَصُفّونَ غاراً بِاللَكيكِ المُوَشَّقِ

    My companions spent the day roasting meat in comfort,

    packing their mouths with thick-cut meat.

  34. وَرُحنا كَأَنَّ مِن جُؤاثى عَشِيَّةٌ

    نُعالي النِعاجَ بَينَ عِدلٍ وَمُشنَقِ

    We returned at evening, as though from Ju'atha,

    heaping up oryx cows in balanced loads or hanging them high.

  35. وَرُحنا بِكَاِبنِ الماءِ يُجنَبُ وَسطَنا

    تُصَوَّبُ فيهِ العَينُ طَوراً وَتَرتَقي

    And we returned with one like a waterbird, led in our midst,

    the eye running down him now, and now climbing back.

  36. وَأَصبَحَ زهلولاً يُزِلُّ غُلامَنا

    كَفِدحِ النَضِيِّ بِاليَدَينِ المُفَوَّقِ

    By morning he was sleek, making our lad slip,

    like a heavy bare arrow-shaft, notched by both hands.

  37. كَأَنَّ دِماءَ الهادِياتِ بِنَحرِهِ

    عُصارَةَ حِنّاءٍ بِشَيبٍ مُفَرَّقِ

    As though the blood of the herd's leaders on his breast

    were henna juice on scattered gray hairs.