Sol 6.1

  1. عَشِيَّةَ أَعلى مِذنَبِ الجَوفِ قادَني

    هَوىً كادَ يُنسي الحِلمَ أَو يُرجِعُ الجَهلا

    One evening, at the upper reach of al-Jawf's watercourse, I was led by

    a passion that nearly made me forget self-restraint or brought folly back.

  2. عَشِيَّةَ تَعصيني غُروبُ مَدامِعي

    وَإِن قُلتُ أَحياناً لِعَبرَتِها مَهلا

    That evening, torrents from my eyes defied me,

    though I sometimes told their weeping, 'Hold back.'

  3. وَما خِفتُ وَشكَ البَينِ حَتّى رَأَيتُهُم

    لِظَعنِهِمُ رَدّوا الغُرَيرِيَّةَ البُزلا

    I did not fear imminent separation until I saw them

    bringing back the full-grown Ghurayriyya camels for their departure.

  4. أُحِبُّ لِحُبِّ العاصِمِيَّةِ مَعشَراً

    مِنَ الناسِ ما كانوا صَديقاً وَلا أَهلا

    For love of the Asimiyya woman, I love a group

    of people who had been neither friends nor kin.

  5. وَأَرعاهُمُ بِالغَيبِ مِن أَجلِ حُبِّها

    وَأوليهِمُ مِنّي الكَرامَةَ وَالبَذلا

    I watch over them in their absence, for love of her,

    and bestow on them my respect and generosity.

  6. لَقَد جَمَحَت عِرسُ الفَرَزدَقِ وَاِلتَوى

    بِحَدراءِ قَومٌ لَم يَرَوهُ لَها أَهلَ

    Indeed, al-Farazdaq's wife bolted, and she was held back—

    Hadra—by a people who did not deem him worthy of her.

  7. رَأَوا أَنَّ صِهرَ القَومِ عارٌ عَلَيهِمُ

    وَأَنَّ لِبِسطامٍ عَلى غالِبٍ فَضلا

    They judged marriage kinship with that clan a disgrace upon them,

    and Bistam superior to Ghalib.

  8. دَعَت يالَ ذُهلٍ رَغبَةً عَن مُجاشِعٍ

    وَهَل بَعدَها حَدراءُ داعِيَةٌ ذُهلا

    She cried, 'O men of Dhuhl!' in aversion to Mujashi;

    and will Hadra call upon Dhuhl after that?

  9. وَفيمَ اِبنُ ذي الكيرَينِ مِن بَيتِ خالِدٍ

    وَهَل يَجمَعُ البَيتُ الخَنانيصَ وَالنَحلا

    And what place has the son of the two-bellows man in Khalid's house?

    Can a house hold piglets and bees together?

  10. وَلَو رَقَّعَت كيرَيكَ كانَت كَظاعِنٍ

    مِنَ الغَيثِ يَختارُ الجُدوبَةَ وَالمَحلا

    Had she patched your two bellows, she would have been like a traveler

    leaving rain-fed pasture to choose barrenness and drought.

  11. فَقَد مُنِعَ القَينُ الجَوازَ وَقَد يَرى

    لِشَيبانَ عَينَ الماءِ وَالعَطَنَ السَهلا

    The smith has been denied passage, though he can see

    Shayban's spring and its level camel resting-ground.

  12. هُمُ مَنَعوا عُرسَ الفَرَزدَقِ وَاِلتَوَوا

    عَلَيهِ فَلاقى دونَها عَتَباً بَسلا

    They withheld al-Farazdaq's wife and closed ranks

    against him; he met forbidding obstacles on the way to her.

  13. وَما رَدَّ قَومُ الحَوفَزانِ عَلَيكُمُ

    ظُلامى وَما قالوا لِصاحِبِهِم مَهلا

    Al-Hawfazan's people did not repay you

    with injustice, nor tell their companion, 'Hold back.'

  14. وَقَد باتَ مُغتَرّاً بِحَدراءَ قَينُكُم

    وَنامَ وَلَم يَجعَل عَلى قَيدِها قُفلا

    Your smith spent the night complacent about Hadra,

    and slept, without putting a lock on her fetter.

  15. وَنامَ وَما أَسرى وَأَسرَت وَأَصبَحَت

    تَأَمَّلُ مِن أَنقاءَ أَسنُمَةٍ رَملا

    He slept and did not travel by night; she did, and at dawn

    gazed at sand among Asnuma's dunes.

  16. فَقَد عوفِيَت حَدراءُ شَيبانَ أَن تُرى

    حَليلَةَ قَينٍ أَو يَكونَ لَها بَعلا

    Shayban's Hadra has been spared being seen

    as a smith's wife, or having him for a husband.

  17. إِذا فَوَّزَت عَن مَسحُلانَ وَدافَعَت

    بِشَيبانَ لاقى القَينُ مِن دونِها شُغلا

    When she crossed the wilderness away from Masḥulan and defended herself

    with Shayban's help, the smith found trouble barring his way to her.

  18. وَهُم نَزَعوا بِالرَوعِ قَلبَ اِبنِ حابِسٍ

    كَما اِستَوفَضَت خَيلٌ بِكَبَّتِها الإِبلا

    They tore Ibn Habis's heart out with terror,

    as horses stampede camels with their massed charge.

  19. غَضِبتَ عَلَينا أَن مَنَعنا مُجاشِعاً

    قَديماً مَعينَ الماءِ فَاِحتَفَروا الضَحلا

    You were angry with us because we denied Mujashi,

    long ago, the flowing water, so they dug for shallow water.

  20. أَلا إِنَّما جَرَّت عَلى خَوفِ مالِكٍ

    قُلوبٌ تَساقَينَ النَواكَةَ وَالجَهلا

    Indeed, what brought on the fear of Malik was

    hearts that shared draughts of stupidity and folly.

  21. وَقَد طالَ أَبسي قَبلَ ذاكَ مُجاشِعاً

    بِحَدراءَ يَلقَونَ الصَواعِقَ وَالأَزلا

    Before that, my harrying of Mujashi had long continued;

    over Hadra they faced thunderbolts and hardship.

  22. وَما نَوَّخوها قَينَكُم آلَ ضَوطَرٍ

    لَأَلأَمَ مَن يَحذى عَلى قَدَمٍ نَعلا

    They did not make her kneel for your smith, O house of Dawtar—

    surely the basest of all who put a sandal on a foot.

  23. وَما رَغِبوا في صِهرِ آلِ مُجاشِعٍ

    وَما إِن رَأوا شَكلَ القُيونِ لَهُم شَكلا

    They had no desire for marriage ties with the house of Mujashi,

    nor did they see the smiths' kind as a match for their own.

  24. أَبَعدَ تَرامينا ثَلاثينَ حِجَّةً

    فَقَد صِرتَ يا اِبنَ القَينِ لا تُدرِكُ التَبلا

    After thirty years of our trading volleys at one another,

    have you now, smith's son, grown unable to exact revenge?

  25. إِذا ما تَراجَعنا صَكَكتُكَ صَكَّةً

    تَرى بَعدَ تَزيِيلِ العِظامِ لَها دَحلا

    Whenever we renew our exchanges, I strike you such a blow

    that, after the bones are sundered, you see a deep hollow left by it.

  26. وَحَبلُكُمُ غَرَّ الزُبَيرَ فَلَم يَكُن

    لِيَأمَنَ جارٌ بَعدَهُ لَكُمُ حَبلا

    Your bond deceived al-Zubayr, so no

    protected neighbor after him could trust a bond of yours.

  27. قِفوا فَاِسأَلوا الأَقوامَ مَن يُنهِلُ القَنا

    وَمَن يَكشِفُ البَلوى وَمَن يَمنَعُ الأَصلا

    Stand, and ask the peoples who gives the spears their drink,

    and who dispels affliction, and who defends the ancestral stock,

  28. وَمَن يَقتُلُ الأَبطالَ وَالخَيلُ تَنبَري

    بِفُرسانِها وِردَ القَطا غَلَلاً ضَحلا

    and who kills champions while the horses rush forth

    with their riders, as sandgrouse flock to a shallow stream.

  29. أَلا رُبَّ جَبّارٍ سَلَبناهُ تاجَهُ

    فَأَصبَحَ فينا عانِياً يَشتَكي الكَبلا

    Behold, many a tyrant have we stripped of his crown,

    and he became a captive among us, complaining of his fetters.