1. بانَ الخَليطُ وَلَو طُوِّعتُ ما بانا

    وَقَطَّعوا مِن حِبالِ الوَصلِ أَقرانا

    The companions departed; had I been obeyed, they would not have gone,

    and they severed linked strands from the cords of union.

  2. حَيِّ المَنازِلَ إِذ لا نَبتَغي بَدَلاً

    بِالدارِ داراً وَلا الجيرانِ جيرانا

    Greet the dwellings, for we seek no substitute:

    no house for that house, nor neighbors for those neighbors.

  3. قَد كُنتُ في أَثَرِ الأَظعانِ ذا طَرَبٍ

    مُرَوَّعاً مِن حِذارِ البَينِ مِحزانا

    In the wake of the departing litters I was full of longing,

    terrified with dread of separation, deeply grieving.

  4. يا رَبُّ مُكتَإِبٍ لَو قَد نُعيتُ لَهُ

    باكٍ وَآخَرَ مَسرورٍ بِمَنعانا

    Ah, many a grief-stricken man, were my death announced to him,

    would weep, and another rejoice at the news of our death.

  5. لَو تَعلَمينَ الَّذي نَلقى أَوَيتِ لَنا

    أَو تَسمَعينَ إِلى ذي العَرشِ شَكوانا

    If you knew what we suffer, you would pity us,

    or heard our complaint to the Possessor of the Throne,

  6. كَصاحِبِ المَوجِ إِذ مالَت سَفينَتُهُ

    يَدعو إِلى اللَهِ إِسراراً وَإِعلانا

    like a man amid the waves when his ship lists,

    calling upon God in secret and aloud.

  7. يا أَيُّها الراكِبُ المُزجي مَطِيَتَهُ

    بَلِّغ تَحِيَّتَنا لُقّيتَ حُملانا

    O rider urging his mount onward,

    carry our greeting—may you be granted mounts!

  8. بَلِّغ رَسائِلَ عَنّا خَفَّ مَحمَلُها

    عَلى قَلائِصَ لَم يَحمِلنَ حيرانا

    Carry messages from us, light in their load,

    on young she-camels that have borne no calves,

  9. كَيما نَقولُ إِذا بَلَّغتَ حاجَتَنا

    أَنتَ الأَمينُ إِذا مُستَأمَنٌ خانا

    so that, once you have delivered our request, we may say:

    You are trustworthy when one entrusted betrays.

  10. تُهدي السَلامَ لِأَهلِ الغَورِ مِن مَلَحٍ

    هَيهاتَ مِن مَلَحٍ بِالغَورِ مُهدانا

    You bear greetings from Malah to the people of al-Ghawr;

    how far from Malah, in al-Ghawr, is the one we greet!

  11. أَحبِب إِلَيَّ بِذاكَ الجِزعِ مَنزِلَةً

    بِالطَلحِ طَلحاً وَبِالأَعطانِ أَعطانا

    How dear to me is that valley bend as a dwelling,

    its acacias as acacias, its watering grounds as watering grounds!

  12. يا لَيتَ ذا القَلبَ لاقى مَن يُعَلِّلُهُ

    أَو ساقِياً فَسَقاهُ اليَومَ سُلوانا

    Would that this heart found someone to comfort it,

    or a cupbearer to give it forgetfulness to drink today!

  13. أَو لَيتَها لَم تُعَلِّقنا عُلاقَتَها

    وَلَم يَكُن داخِلَ الحُبُّ الَّذي كانا

    Or would that she had not ensnared us in her attachment,

    and the love that came to be had never entered!

  14. هَلّا تَحَرَّجتِ مِمّا تَفعَلينَ بِنا

    يا أَطيَبَ الناسِ يَومَ الدَجنِ أَردانا

    Why do you not scruple at what you do to us,

    O you whose sleeves smell sweetest on an overcast day?

  15. قالَت أَلِمَّ بِنا إِن كُنتَ مُنطَلِقاً

    وَلا إِخالُكَ بَعدَ اليَومِ تَلقانا

    She said: Visit us if you are departing;

    and I do not think you will meet us after today.

  16. يا طَيبَ هَل مِن مَتاعٍ تُمتِعينَ بِهِ

    ضَيفاً لَكُم باكِراً يا طَيبَ عَجلانا

    O Tayb, have you any pleasure to offer

    an early guest of yours, O Tayb, in haste?

  17. ما كُنتُ أَوَّلَ مُشتاقٍ أَخا طَرَبٍ

    هاجَت لَهُ غَدَواتُ البَينِ أَحزانا

    I was not the first yearning man, possessed by longing,

    for whom the mornings of separation stirred sorrows.

  18. يا أُمَّ عَمروٍ جَزاكِ اللَهُ مَغفِرَةً

    رُدّي عَلَيَّ فُؤادي كَالَّذي كانا

    O Umm Amr, may God reward you with forgiveness:

    give me back my heart as it once was.

  19. أَلَستِ أَحسَنَ مَن يَمشي عَلى قَدَمٍ

    يا أَملَحَ الناسِ كُلِّ الناسِ إِنسانا

    Are you not the fairest of all who walk on feet,

    O loveliest human being among all mankind?

  20. يَلقى غَريمُكُمُ مِن غَيرِ عُسرَتِكُم

    بِالبَذلِ بُخلاً وَبِالإِحسانِ حِرمانا

    Your creditor meets, though you suffer no hardship,

    stinginess instead of generosity, and denial instead of kindness.

  21. لا تَأمَنَنَّ فَإِنّي غَيرُ آمِنِهِ

    غَدرَ الخَليلِ إِذا ما كانَ أَلوانا

    Never feel safe—for I am not safe from it—

    from a friend's betrayal when he changes colors.

  22. قَد خُنتِ مَن لَم يَكُن يَخشى خِيانَتَكُم

    ما كُنتُ أَوَّلَ مَوثوقٍ بِهِ خانا

    You have betrayed one who did not fear your treachery;

    I was not the first trusted one to betray.

  23. لَقَد كَتَمتُ الهَوى حَتّى تَهَيَّمَني

    لا أَستَطيعُ لِهَذا الحُبُّ كِتمانا

    I concealed passion until it drove me mad;

    I cannot conceal this love.

  24. كادَ الهَوى يَومَ سَلمانينَ يَقتُلُني

    وَكادَ يَقتُلُني يَوماً بِبَيدانا

    Love nearly killed me on the day at Salmanayn,

    and nearly killed me one day at Baydan.

  25. وَكادَ يَومَ لِوى حَوّاءَ يَقتُلُني

    لَو كُنتُ مِن زَفَراتِ البَينِ قُرحانا

    And it nearly killed me at the sand bend of Hawwa,

    had I been unscarred by the sighs of separation.

  26. لا بارَكَ اللَهُ فيمَن كانَ يَحسِبُكُم

    إِلّا عَلى العَهدِ حَتّى كانَ ما كانا

    May God not bless anyone who thought you

    anything but faithful to the pledge, until what happened happened.

  27. مِن حُبَّكُم فَاِعلَمي لِلحُبِّ مَنزِلَةً

    نَهوى أَميرُكُمُ لَو كانَ يَهوانا

    Out of love for you—know, then, the place of love—

    we love your chieftain, if only he would love us.

  28. لا بارَكَ اللَهُ في الدُنيا إِذا اِنقَطَعَت

    أَسبابُ دُنياكَ مِن أَسبابِ دُنيانا

    May God not bless the world if they are severed—

    the ties of your life from the ties of ours.

  29. يا أُمَّ عُثمانَ إِنَّ الحُبُّ عَن عَرضٍ

    يُصبي الحَليمَ وَيُبكي العَينَ أَحيانا

    O Umm Uthman, love that comes unbidden

    infatuates the prudent and sometimes makes the eye weep.

  30. ضَنَّت بِمَورِدَةٍ كانَت لَنا شَرَعاً

    تَشفي صَدى مُستَهامِ القَلبِ صَديانا

    She withheld a watering place once freely open to us,

    quenching the thirst of one love-distraught at heart and parched.

  31. كَيفَ التَلاقي وَلا بِالقَيظِ مَحضَرُكُم

    مِنّا قَريبٌ وَلا مَبداكِ مَبدانا

    How can we meet, when your summer encampment is not

    near us, nor is your desert camp the same as ours?

  32. نَهوى ثَرى العِرقِ إِذ لَم نَلقَ بَعدَكُمُ

    كَالعِرقِ عِرقاً وَلا السُلّانِ سُلّانا

    We love the earth of al-Irq, since after you we have not found

    a sand ridge like al-Irq, nor valleys like al-Sullan.

  33. ما أَحدَثَ الدَهرُ مِمّا تَعلَمينَ لَكُم

    لِلحَبلِ صُرماً وَلا لِلعَهدِ نِسيانا

    Time, as you know, has brought no change toward you:

    no severing of the cord, nor forgetting of the pledge.

  34. أَبُدِّلَ اللَيلُ لا تَسري كَواكِبُهُ

    أَم طالَ حَتّى حَسِبتُ النَجمَ حَيرانا

    Has the night been altered, that its stars do not travel,

    or has it grown so long I thought the star bewildered?

  35. يا رُبُّ عائِذَةٍ بِالغَورِ لَو شَهِدَت

    عَزَّت عَلَيها بِدَيرِ اللُجِّ شَكوانا

    Ah, many a woman seeking refuge in al-Ghawr, had she been present,

    would have found our lament at Dayr al-Lujj hard to bear.

  36. إِنَّ العُيونَ الَّتي في طَرفِها حَوَرٌ

    قَتَلنَنا ثُمَّ لَم يُحيِينَ قَتلانا

    Those eyes, with dark pupils set against bright whites,

    killed us, then did not revive our slain.

  37. يَصرَعنَ ذا اللُبَّ حَتّى لا حِراكَ بِهِ

    وَهُنَّ أَضعَفُ خَلقِ اللَهِ أَركانا

    They fell the man of reason until he lies motionless,

    though in limbs they are the weakest of God's creatures.

  38. يا رُبُّ غابِطِنا لَو كانَ يَطلُبُكُم

    لاقى مُباعَدَةً مِنكُم وَحِرمانا

    Ah, many a man who envies us, if he sought you,

    would meet estrangement from you and denial.

  39. أَرَينَهُ المَوتَ حَتّى لا حَياةَ بِهِ

    قَد كُنَّ دِنَّكَ قَبلَ اليَومِ أَديانا

    They showed him death until no life remained in him;

    they had subdued you, before today, in many ways.

  40. طارَ الفُؤادُ مَعَ الخَودِ الَّتي طَرَقَت

    في النَومِ طَيِّبَةَ الأَعطافِ مِبدانا

    My heart flew with the tender maiden who visited by night

    in sleep, sweet in her contours and full-bodied,

  41. مَثلوجَةَ الريقِ بَعدَ النَومِ واضِعَةً

    عَن ذي مَثانٍ تَمُجُّ المِسكَ وَالبانا

    her saliva snow-cool after sleep, laying aside her covering

    from folded contours, breathing musk and ben oil.

  42. بِتنا نَرانا كَأَنّا مالِكونَ لَنا

    يا لَيتَها صَدَّقَت بِالحَقِّ رُؤيانا

    We spent the night seeing ourselves as masters of ourselves;

    would that she had truly fulfilled our dream!

  43. قالَت تَعَزَّ فَإِنَّ القَومَ قَد جَعَلوا

    دونَ الزِيارَةِ أَبواباً وَخُزّانا

    She said: Take comfort, for the people have set

    doors and guards in the way of visiting.

  44. لَمّا تَبَيَّنتُ أَن قَد حيلَ دونَهُمُ

    ظَلَّت عَساكِرُ مِثلُ المَوتِ تَغشانا

    When I realized that a barrier had been set before them,

    armies like death kept enveloping us.

  45. ماذا لَقيتُ مِنَ الأَظعانِ يَومَ قِنىً

    يَتبَعنَ مُغتَرِباً بِالبَينِ ظَعّانا

    What I suffered from the departing litters on the day at Qina,

    as they followed a wanderer, ever traveling away in separation!

  46. أَتبَعتُهُم مُقلَةً إِنسانُها غَرِقٌ

    هَل يا تُرى تارِكٌ لِلعَينِ إِنسانا

    I followed them with an eye whose pupil was drowning.

    I wonder: is there one who will leave the eye its pupil?

  47. كَأَنَّ أَحداجَهُم تُحدى مُقَفِّيَةً

    نَخلٌ بِمَلهَمَ أَو نَخلٌ بِقُرّانا

    Their howdahs, urged onward by song as they receded, seemed

    palms at Malham, or palms at Qurran.

  48. يا أُمَّ عُثمانَ ما تَلقى رَواحِلُنا

    لَو قِستِ مُصبَحَنا مِن حَيثُ مُمسانا

    O Umm Uthman, what our riding camels endure—

    if you measured where we are at dawn from where we were at dusk!

  49. تَخدي بِنا نُجُبٌ دَمّى مَناسِمَها

    نَقلُ الحَزابِيِّ حِزّاناً فَحِزّانا

    Noble camels trot with us, their footpads bloodied

    by the uplands' gravel, rough tract after rough tract.

  50. تَرمي بِأَعيُنِها نَجداً وَقَد قَطَعَت

    بَينَ السَلَوطَحِ وَالرَوحانِ صُوّانا

    They cast their eyes toward Najd, having crossed

    flinty ground between al-Salawtah and al-Rawhan.

  51. يا حَبَّذا جَبَلُ الرَيّانِ مِن جَبَلٍ

    وَحَبَّذا ساكِنُ الرَيّانِ مَن كانا

    Ah, how dear is Mount al-Rayyan among mountains,

    and how dear the dweller of al-Rayyan, whoever it may be!

  52. وَحَبَّذا نَفَحاتٌ مِن يَمانِيَةٍ

    تَأتيكَ مِن قِبَلِ الرَيّانِ أَحيانا

    And how dear are gusts of a Yemeni wind,

    that sometimes reach you from the direction of al-Rayyan!

  53. هَبَّت شَمالاً فَذِكرى ما ذَكَرتُكُمُ

    عِندَ الصَفاةِ الَّتي شَرقَيَّ حَورانا

    It blew northerly—what memories, as I recalled you

    at the smooth rock east of Hawran!

  54. هَل يَرجِعَنَّ وَلَيسَ الدَهرُ مُرتَجِعاً

    عَيشٌ بِها طالَما اِحلَولى وَما لانا

    Will there ever return—though time does not return—

    a life there that so often grew sweet and gentle?

  55. أَزمانَ يَدعونَني الشَيطانَ مِن غَزَلي

    وَكُنَّ يَهوَينَني إِذ كُنتُ شَيطانا

    In the days when they called me the devil for my love poetry,

    and they loved me when I was a devil.

  56. مَن ذا الَّذي ظَلَّ يَغلي أَن أَزورَكُمُ

    أَمسى عَلَيهِ مَليكُ الناسِ غَضبانا

    Who is the one who kept seething that I should visit you?

    By evening, the King of mankind was angry with him.

  57. ما يَدَّري شُعَراءُ الناسِ وَيلَهُمُ

    مِن صَولَةِ المُخدِرِ العادي بِخَفّانا

    What do the poets among men know—woe to them—

    of the onslaught of the lair-dwelling lion attacking at Khaffan?

  58. جَهلاً تَمَنّى حُدائي مِن ضَلالَتِهِم

    فَقَد حَدَوتُهُمُ مَثنى وَوُحدانا

    Ignorantly, someone longed for my camel-driving song, out of their folly;

    so I drove them by song, in pairs and singly.

  59. غادَرتُهُم مِن حَسيرٍ ماتَ في قَرَنٍ

    وَآخَرينَ نَسوا التَهدارَ خِصيانا

    I left some spent, dead in a coupling-rope,

    and others, gelded, who had forgotten their bellowing.

  60. ما زالَ حَبلِيَ في أَعناقِهِم مَرِساً

    حَتّى اِشتَفَيتُ وَحَتّى دانَ مَن دانا

    My rope kept chafing at their necks,

    until I had my satisfaction, and those who yielded had yielded.

  61. مَن يَدعُني مِهُمُ يَبغي مُحارَبَتي

    فَاِستَيقِنَنَّ أُجِبهُ غَيرَ وَسنانا

    Whoever among them calls me out, seeking to fight me—

    be certain: I answer him, far from drowsy.

  62. ما عَضَّ نابِيَ قَوماً أَو أَقولَ لَهُم

    إِيّاكُمُ ثُمَّ إِيّاكُمُ وَإِيّانا

    My fang never bites a people until I say to them:

    Beware! Again beware—and beware of us!

  63. إِنّي اِمرُؤٌ لَم أُرِد فيمَن أُناوِئُهُ

    لِلناسِ ظُلماً وَلا لِلحَربِ إِدهانا

    I am a man who, regarding those I oppose, has never sought

    injustice toward people, nor appeasement in war.

  64. أَحمي حِمايَ بِأَعلى المَجدِ مَنزِلَتي

    مِن خِندِفٍ وَالذُرى مِن قَيسِ عَيلانا

    I defend my domain; my station is at glory's summit,

    among Khindif, and in the heights of Qays Aylan.

  65. قالَ الخَليفَةُ وَالخِنزيرُ مُنهَزِمٌ

    ما كُنتَ أَوَّلَ عَبدٍ مُحلِبٍ خانا

    The caliph said, as the pig fled in defeat:

    You were not the first conspiring slave to betray.

  66. لَقى الأُخَيطِلُ بِالجَولانِ فاقِرَةً

    مِثلَ اِجتِداعِ القَوافي وَبرَ هِزّانا

    Al-Ukhaytil met a back-breaking calamity in al-Jawlan,

    like the rhymes shearing off Hizzan's fur.

  67. يا خُزرَ تَغلِبَ ماذا بالُ نِسوَتِكُم

    لا يَستَفِقنَ إِلى الدَيرَينِ تَحنانا

    O narrow-eyed men of Taghlib, what ails your women,

    that they never regain their senses, yearning for the two monasteries?

  68. لَن تُدرِكوا المَجدَ أَو تَشروا عَباءَكُمُ

    بِالخَزِّ أَو تَجعَلوا التَنّومَ ضَمرانا

    You will not attain glory until you trade your cloaks

    for silk, or turn tannum into damran.