Sol 6.1

  1. لِعَزَّةَ أَطلالٌ أَبَت أَن تَكَلَّما

    تَهيجُ مَغانيها الطَروبَ المُتَيَّما

    ʿAzza has ruins that refuse to speak;

    her dwelling sites stir the yearning, love-enslaved man.

  2. كَأَنَّ الرِياحَ الذارِياتِ عَشِيَّةً

    بِأَطلالِها يَنسِجنَ ريطاً مُسَهَّما

    As though the scattering winds, one evening,

    were weaving arrow-patterned cloth among her ruins.

  3. أَبَت وَأَبى وَجدي بِعَزَّةَ إِذ نَأَت

    عَلى عُدواءِ الدارِ أَن يَتَصَّرَما

    They refused; and my passion for ʿAzza, when she went away, refused,

    despite the remoteness of her home, to come to an end.

  4. وَلَكِن سَقى صَوبُ الرَبيعِ إِذا أَتى

    عَلى قَلَهِيَّ الدارِ وَالمُتَخَيَّما

    Yet may spring's downpour, when it comes, fall

    upon Qalahiyy, the dwelling and the camping ground,

  5. بِغادٍ مِنَ الوَسمِيِّ لَمّا تَصَوَّبَت

    عَثانينُ وادِيهِ عَلى القَعرِ دَيَّما

    with a morning cloud of autumn's first rains, when down stream

    its cloud's rain-beards, in steady showers upon the depths.

  6. سَقى الكَدرُ فَاللَعباءَ فَالبُرقَ فَالحِمى

    فَلَوذَ الحِصى مِن تَغلَمَينِ فَأَظلَما

    It watered al-Kadr, then al-Laʿbāʾ, then al-Burq, then al-Ḥimā,

    then the gravelly lee at Taghlamayn, then Aẓlam;

  7. فَأَروى جَنوبَ الدَونَكَينِ فَضاجِعاً

    فَدَرَّ فَأَبلى صادِقَ الوَبلِ أَسحَما

    it drenched the south of al-Dawnakayn, then Ḍājiʿ,

    then Darr and Ablā, with sure downpours from a black cloud.

  8. تَثُجُّ رُواياهُ إِذا الرَعدُ زَجَّها

    بِشابَةَ فَالقُهبِ المَزادَ المُحَذلَما

    Its water-carriers gush when thunder drives them on,

    at Shābah, then al-Qahb, like brimming waterskins.

  9. فَأَصبَحَ مَن يَرعى الحِمى وَجَنوبَهُ

    بِذي أَفَقٍ مُكّاؤُهُ قَد تَرَنَّما

    So whoever grazes al-Ḥimā and its southern reaches

    finds himself at Dhū Afaq, whose lark has burst into song.

  10. دِيارٌ عَفَت مِن عَزَّةَ الصَيفَ بَعدَما

    تُجِدُّ عَلَيهِنَّ الوَشيعَ المُثَمَّما

    Dwellings of ʿAzza, effaced in summer, after

    she had renewed their woven screens, packed with thatching grass.

  11. فَإِن أَنجَدَت كانَ الهَوى بِكَ مُنجِداً

    وَإِن أَتهَمَت يَوماً بِها الدارُ أَتهَما

    If she goes up to Najd, love takes you up to Najd;

    if one day her home bears her to Tihāmah, love goes there too.

  12. أَجَدَّ الصِبا وَاللَهوُ أَن يَتَصَرَّما

    وَأَن يُعقِباكَ الشَيبَ وَالحِلمَ مِنهُما

    Youth and pleasure have resolved to pass away,

    and leave you gray hair and sober judgment in their place.

  13. لَبِستَ الصِبا وَاللَهوَ حَتّى إِذا اِنقَضى

    جَديدُ الصِبا وَاللَهوِ أَعرَضَت عَنهُما

    You wore youth and pleasure until there was no more

    freshness in youth and pleasure; then you turned from both:

  14. خَليلَينِ كانا صاحِبَيكَ فَوَدَّعا

    فَخُذ مِنهُما ما نَوَّلاكَ وَدَعهُما

    two close friends who had been your companions, now bidding farewell.

    Take from them what they gave you, and let them go.

  15. عَلى أَنَّ في قَلبي لِعَزَّةَ وَقرَةً

    مِنَ الحُبِّ ما تَزدادُ إِلّا تَتَيُّما

    Yet in my heart, for ʿAzza, is a deep-rooted attachment

    of love that only grows more enslaving.

  16. يُطالِبُها مُستَيقِناً لا تُثيبُهُ

    وَلَكِن يُسَلّي النَفسَ كَي لا يُلَوَّما

    He seeks her favor, certain she will not reward him,

    but consoles his soul, so that he may not be blamed.

  17. يَهابُ الَّذي لَم يُؤتَ حلماً كَلامَها

    وَإِن كانَ ذا حلمٍ لَدَيها تَحَلّما

    A man granted no self-command stands in awe of her speech;

    and if he has self-command, he composes himself before her.

  18. تَروكٌ لِسِقطِ القَولِ لا يُهتَدى بِهِ

    وَلا هِيَ تُستَوصى الحَديثَ المُكَتَّما

    She shuns worthless talk in which no guidance can be found,

    nor need she be urged to guard confidential speech.

  19. وَيَحسَبُ نَسوانٌ لَهُنَّ وَسيلَةً

    مِنَ الحُبِّ لا بَل حُبُّها كانَ أَقدَما

    Some women think they have a claim

    upon my love—no, love for her came first.

  20. وَعُلِّقتُها وَسطَ الجَواري غَريرَةً

    وَما قُلِّدَت إِلا التَميمَ المُنَظَّما

    I fell in love with her, an innocent among the girls,

    when she wore no necklace but amulets strung together.

  21. عَيوفُ القَذى تَأبى فَلا تَعرِفُ الخَنا

    وَتَرمي بِعَينَيها إِلى مَن تَكَرَّما

    Disdaining impurity, she rejects it and knows no obscenity,

    and casts her eyes toward a man of noble bearing.

  22. إِلى أَن دَعَت بِالدَرعِ قَبلَ لِداتِها

    وَعادَت تُرى مِنهُنَّ أًبهى وَأَفخَما

    Until she asked for a woman's shift before her age-mates,

    and came to seem more radiant and stately than they.

  23. وغالَ فُضُولَ الدَرعِ ذي العَرضِ خَلقُها

    وَأَتعَبَتِ الحَجلَينِ حَتّى تَقَصَّما

    Her figure consumed the spare folds of the ample shift,

    and strained her two anklets until they broke apart.

  24. وَكَظَّت سِوارَيها فَلا يَألُوانِها

    لَدُن جاوَرا الكَفَّينِ أَن يَتَقَدَّما

    She crowded her bracelets tight, so they cannot,

    since coming beside her hands, move any farther up.

  25. وَتُدني عَلى المَتنَينِ وَحفاً كَأَنَّهُ

    عَناقيدُ كَرمٍ قَد تَدَلّى فَأَنعَما

    She lets fall over her shoulders thick hair, as though it were

    clusters on a vine, hanging down in lavish abundance.

  26. مِنَ الهَيفِ لا تَخزى إِذا الريحُ أَلصَقَت

    عَلى مَتنِها ذا الطُرَّتَينِ المُنَمنَما

    Slender-waisted, she is not shamed when the wind presses

    the embroidered, twin-bordered cloth against her back.

  27. وَكُنتُ إِذا ما جِئتُها بَعدَ هجرةٍ

    تَقاصَرَ يَومَيذٍ نَهاري وَأَغيَما

    Whenever I came to her after an estrangement,

    my daylight that day grew short and clouded over.

  28. فَأَقسَمتُ لا أَنسى لِعَزَّةَ نَظرَةً

    لَها كِدتُ أُبدي الوَجدَ مِنّي المُجَمجَما

    I swore never to forget a glance from ʿAzza,

    at which I nearly revealed the passion hidden within me:

  29. عَشِيَّةَ أَومَت وَالعُيونُ حَواضِرٌ

    إِلَيَّ بِرَجعِ الكَفِّ أَن لا تَكَلَّما

    one evening when she gestured, while eyes looked on,

    to me with a turn of her hand: 'Do not speak.'

  30. فَأَعرَضتُ عَنها وَالفُؤادُ كَأَنَّما

    يَرى لَو تُناديهِ بِذَلِكَ مَغنَما

    I turned away from her, though my heart seemed

    to count it a prize if she called to it that way.

  31. فَإِنَّكَ عَمري هَل أُريكَ ظَعائِناً

    بِصَحنِ الشَبا كَالدَومِ مِن بَطنِ تَريَما

    Indeed, by my life, shall I show you women in howdahs,

    on al-Shabā's plain, like doum palms from Taryamā's valley?

  32. نَظَرتُ إِلَيها وَهيَ تَنضو وَتَكتَسي

    مِنَ القَفرِ آلاً كُلَّما زالَ أَقتَما

    I watched the caravan as it shed and donned

    the desert's mirage, growing dust-dark whenever it shifted.

  33. وَقَد جَعَلَت أَشجانَ بِركٍ يَمينَها

    وَذاتَ الشِمال مِن مُريخَةَ أَشأَما

    It had placed the branching ravines of Birk on its right,

    and Muraykhah's left-hand reaches still farther left,

  34. مُوَلِّيَةً أَيسارَها قَطَنَ الحِمى

    تَواعَدنَ شِرباً مِن حَمامَةَ مُعلَما

    turning its left flanks toward Qaṭan of al-Ḥimā;

    they had agreed on a well-marked watering place at Ḥamāmah.

  35. نَظَرتُ إِلَيها وَهيَ تُحدى عَشِيَّةً

    فَأَتبَعتُهُم طَرفِيَّ حَتّى تَتَمَّما

    I watched it, urged on with camel-song one evening,

    and followed them with my two eyes to their utmost reach.

  36. تَروعُ بِأَكنافِ الأَفاهيدِ عيرُها

    نَعماً وَحُقباً بِالفَدافِدِ صُيَّما

    Its caravan startles, around al-Afāhīd,

    wild herds and white-bellied asses standing without grazing on the wastes.

  37. ظَعائِنُ يَشفينَ السَقيمَ مِنَ الجَوى

    بِهِ وَيُخَبِّلنَ الصَحيحَ المُسَلَّما

    Women in howdahs who heal the sick man of the anguish

    within him, yet drive the sound, unscathed man mad.

  38. يُهِنَّ المُنقّى عِندَهُنَّ مِنَ القَذى

    وَيُكرِمنَ ذا القاذورَةِ المُتَكَرِّما

    They slight the man they judge free of blemish,

    and honor the disdainful man who bears himself proudly.

  39. وَكُنتُ إِذا ما جِئتُ أَجلَلنَ مَجلِسي

    وَأَبدَينَ مِنّي هَيبَةً لا تَجَهُّما

    Whenever I came, they honored my presence,

    and showed awe of me, not sullenness.

  40. يُحاذِرنَ مِنّي غَيرَةً قَد عَلِمنَها

    قَديماً فَما يَضحَكنَ إلّا تَبَسُّما

    They guarded against a jealousy in me they had known

    of old; they never laughed beyond a smile.

  41. يُكَلِّلنَ حَدَّ الطَرفِ عَن ذي مَهابَةٍ

    أَبانَ أولاتِ الدَلِّ لَمّا تَوَسَّما

    They blunt their sharp glances before a man held in awe,

    who discerned the coquettish women when he read their signs.

  42. تَراهُنَّ إِلّا أَن يُؤَدّينَ نَظرَةً

    بِمُؤخِرِ عَينٍ أَو يُقَلِّبنَ مِعصَما

    You see them—except when they cast a glance

    from an eye's outer corner, or turn a wrist—

  43. كَواظِمَ لا يَنطِقنَ إِلّا مَحورَةً

    رَجيعَةَ قَولٍ بَعدَ أَن يَتَفَهَّما

    restrained, uttering nothing but a response,

    a return of words after he has sought understanding.

  44. وَكُنَّ إِذا ما قُلنَ شَيئاً يَسُرُّهُ

    أَسَرَّ الرِضا في نَفسِهِ وَتَجَرّما

    Whenever they said something that pleased him,

    he hid his pleasure within himself and found fault.

  45. فَأُقصَرَ عَن ذاكَ الهَوى غَيرَ أَنَّهُ

    إِذا ذُكِرَت أَسماءُ عاجَ مُسَلِّما

    Thus he was kept from that passion, except that,

    whenever Asmāʾ was mentioned, he turned aside in greeting.