1. هَلَ اِنتُم واقِفونَ عَلى السُطورِ

    فَنَنظُرَ ما لَقينَ مِنَ الدُهورِ

    Will you stop beside the inscriptions,

    so we may see what they have suffered through the ages?

  2. تُرِكنَ بِرِجلَةِ الرَوحاءِ حَتّى

    تَنَكَّرَتِ الدِيارُ عَلى البَصيرِ

    They were left at al-Rawha's watercourse, until

    the dwellings grew unrecognizable to the discerning eye,

  3. كَوَحيٍ بِالحِجارَةِ أَو وُشومٍ

    بِأَيدي الرومِ باقِيَةِ النَؤورِ

    like writing on stones, or tattoos

    on Roman hands, their soot pigment still remaining.

  4. وَخودٍ قَد رَأَيتُ بِها رَكولٍ

    بِرِجلَيها الدِمَقسَ مَعَ الحَريرِ

    And a lovely young woman I saw there, kicking

    fine white silk and silken cloth with both her feet.

  5. إِذا اِستَقبَلتَها كَرَعَت بِفيها

    كُروعَ العَسجَدِيَّةِ في الغَديرِ

    When you face her, she dips her mouth to drink,

    as an ‘Asjadiyya riding-camel drinks from the pool.

  6. كِلانا نَستَميتُ إِذا اِلتَقَينا

    وَأَبدى الحُبُّ خافِيَةَ الضَميرِ

    We both court death whenever we meet,

    and love reveals what lies hidden in the heart.

  7. فَتَقتُلُني وَأَقتُلُها وَنَحيا

    وَنَخلِطُ ما يُمَوِّتُ بِالنُشورِ

    So she kills me, and I kill her, and we live,

    and mingle what brings death with resurrection.

  8. وَلَكِنّا يُمَوِّتُنا رَسيسٌ

    تَمَكَّنَ بِالمَودَّةِ في الصُدورِ

    Yet a lingering passion kills us,

    rooted through affection within our breasts,

  9. رَشيفَ الخامِساتِ وَقيطَ هَضبٍ

    قَليلَ الماءِ في لَهَبِ الحَرورِ

    like camels watered every fifth day sipping a rocky pool,

    scant of water in the blaze of scorching heat.

  10. وَلَيسَ بِعائِدٍ يَومُ اِلتَقَينا

    بِرَوضٍ بَينَ مَحنِيَةٍ وَقورِ

    And the day we met will not return,

    in a meadow between a valley-bend and rounded hills,

  11. فَتَقضيني مَواعِدَ مُنسَآتٍ

    وَأَقضي ما عَليَّ مِنَ النُذورِ

    so she might fulfill her deferred promises to me,

    and I discharge the vows that bind me,

  12. وَأَشفي إِن خَلَوتُ النَفسَ مِنها

    شِفاءَ الدَهرِ آثِرَ ذي أَثيرِ

    and, if alone with her, heal my soul through her—

    a cure for all time, before all else.

  13. فَلَيتَ الدَهرَ عادَ لَنا جَديداً

    وَعُدنا مِثلَنا زَمَنَ الحَصيرِ

    If only time would return to us renewed,

    and we returned to what we were in the days of al-Hasir,

  14. وَعادَ الراجِعاتُ مِنَ اللَيالي

    شُهوراً أَو يَزِدنَ عَلى الشُهورِ

    and those nights came back again,

    for months, or even longer than months.

  15. أَلا يا رُبَّ ذي شَرَفٍ وَمَجدٍ

    سَيُنسَبُ إِن هَلَكتُ إِلى القُبورِ

    Ah, how many a man of nobility and glory

    will be numbered, if I die, among the graves,

  16. وَمَشبوحِ الأَشاجِعِ أَريَحِيٍّ

    بَعيدِ الذِكرِ كَالقَمَرِ المُنيرِ

    and many a man with outspread fingers, generous-hearted,

    of far-reaching fame, like the shining moon,

  17. رَفيعُ الناظِرَينِ إِلى المَعالي

    عَلى العِلّاتِ ذي خُلُقٍ يَسيرِ

    with both eyes raised toward noble heights,

    despite adversity, of an easygoing nature.

  18. يَكادُ المَجدُ يَنضَحُ مِن يَدَيهِ

    إِذا دُفِعَ اليَتيمُ عَنِ الجَزورِ

    Glory almost drips from his hands

    when the orphan is driven from the slaughtered camel,

  19. وَأَلجَأَتِ الكِلابَ صَباً بَليلٌ

    فَآلَ نُباحُهُنَّ إِلى الهَريرِ

    and a cold, damp east wind drives the dogs to shelter,

    so their barking turns to growling,

  20. وَقَد جَعَلَت فَتاةُ الحَيِّ تَدنو

    مَعَ الهُلّاكِ مِن عَرَمِ القُدورِ

    and the clan's young woman has begun to draw near

    with the starving, to the pots' fatty froth,

  21. وَكانَ اللَحمُ يَيسِرُهُ أَبوها

    أَحَبَّ إِلى الفَتاةِ مِنَ العَبيرِ

    and the meat her father apportioned by lot

    was dearer to the young woman than perfume.

  22. فَما أَنا لِلمَطِيَّةِ بِاِبنِ عَمٍّ

    وَلا لِلجارَةِ الدُنيا بِزيرِ

    So I am no cousin to the riding-camel,

    nor a womanizer with the woman next door;

  23. وَلَكِن ما تَزالُ بِيَ المَطايا

    خِفافَ الوَطءِ جائِلَةَ الضُفورِ

    but the riding-camels still carry me,

    light of tread, their braided girths swinging loose,

  24. بِبَلقَعَةٍ كَأَنَّ الأَرضَ فيها

    تَجَهَّزُ لِلتَحَمُّلِ وَالبُكورِ

    across a barren waste, where the earth seems

    to be preparing to move camp and leave at dawn.

  25. فيأخذني العناق وبَردُ فيها

    بموتٍ من عظامي أو فتورٍ

    Then the embrace and her mouth's coolness seize me,

    with a deadening of my bones, or languor.

  26. وأقحلُ حين أدخلُ في حشاها

    قحول القدّ في عنق الأسيرِ

    And I stiffen when I enter her depths,

    as a rawhide thong stiffens around a captive's neck.