Sol 6.1

  1. هَلِ القَلْبُ عَنْ دَهْمَاءَ سَالٍ فَمُسْمِحُ

    وتَارِكُهُ مِنْهَا الخَيَالُ المُبَرِّحُ

    Has the heart forgotten Dahma and relented,

    and is her tormenting phantom leaving it alone?

  2. وزَاجِرُهُ اليَوْمَ المَشِيبُ فَقَدْ بَدَا

    بَرَأْسيَ شَيْبُ الكَبْرَةِ المُتَوَضِّحُ

    And is gray hair restraining it today? For there has appeared

    on my head the plainly visible grayness of old age.

  3. لقَدْ طَالَ مَا أَخْفَيْتُ حُبَّكِ في الحَشَا

    وفي القَلْبِ حَتَّى كَادَ بِالْقَلْبِ يَجْرَحُ

    Long indeed have I hidden my love for you in my breast,

    and in my heart, until it almost wounded my heart,

  4. قِدِيماً ولَمْ يَعْلَمْ بِذَلِكَ عَالِمٌ

    وإِنْ كَانَ مَوْثُوقاً يَوَدُّ ويَنْصَحُ

    for ages, and no one knew of it,

    even someone trusted, who loved and counseled sincerely.

  5. فَرُدِّي فُؤَادِي أَوْ أَثِيبِي ثَوَابَهُ

    فَقَدْ يملكُ المَرْءُ الكَرِيمُ فَيُسْجِحُ

    So return my heart, or give it its recompense;

    for a noble person may hold sway and show mercy.

  6. سَبَتْكَ بِمَأْشُورِ الثَّنَايَا كَأَنَّهُ

    أَقَاحِي غَدَاةٍ بَاتَ بِالدَّجْنِ يُنْضَحُ

    She captivated you with finely serrated front teeth, as though they were

    daisies at dawn, sprinkled through the cloudy night.

  7. لِيَالِيَ دَهْمَاءُ الفُؤادِ كأَنَّها

    مَهَاةٌ تَرَعَّى بِالفُقَيَّيْنِ مُرْشِحُ

    In those nights when Dahma, dear to my heart, seemed

    a white oryx grazing at al-Fuqayyayn, with a young calf.

  8. تَرَعَّى جَنَاباً طَيِّباً ثُمَّ تَنْتَحِي

    لأَعْيَطَ مِنْ أَقْرَابِهِ المِسْكُ يَنْفَحُ

    She grazes a pleasant tract, then makes her way

    toward a long-necked bull, musk wafting from his flanks.

  9. ولَوْ كَلَّمَتْ دَهْمَاءُ أَخْرَسَ كاظِماً

    لَبَيَّنَ بالتّكْليمِ أَوْ كَادَ يُفْصِحُ

    And were Dahma to speak to a mute, tight-lipped man,

    he would speak when addressed, or nearly speak clearly.

  10. سِرَاجُ الدُّجَى يَشْفِي السَّقْيمَ كَلاَمُهَا

    تُبَلُّ بِهَا العَيْنُ الطَّرِيفُ فَتُنْجِحُ

    She is a lamp in darkness; her speech heals the sick;

    through her, the injured eye is soothed and finds relief.

  11. كأن على فيها جنى ريق نحلة

    يباكره سار من الثلج أملح

    As though her mouth held the harvest of a bee's saliva,

    visited at dawn by a night-traveling cloud, whiter than snow,

  12. يُطِيرُ غُثَاءَ الدِّمْنِ عَنْهُ فَيَنْتَفِي

    بِبِيشَةَ عَرْضٌ سَيْلُهُ مُتَبَطِّحُ

    sweeping away the floating refuse of dung-heaps until it is gone—

    a vast cloud at Bisha, whose flood spreads wide.

  13. كأَنَّ صَرِيعَ الأَثْلِ والطَّلْحِ وَسْطَهُ

    بَخَاتِيُّ جُونٌ سَاقَهَا مُتَرِّبحُ

    As though the fallen tamarisks and acacias in its midst

    were black Bactrian camels driven by a profit-seeking trader.

  14. وخَوْقَاءَ جَرْدَاءِ المَسَارِحِ هَوْجَلٍ

    بِهَا لاِسْتِدَاءِ الشّعْشَعَانَاتِ مَسْبَحُ

    And a broad, desolate wilderness, its grazing grounds bare,

    where tall, slender she-camels have room to swim along in stride;

  15. يُبَكِّي بِها البُومُ الصَّدَى مِثْلَمَا بَكَى

    مَثَاكِيلُ يَفْرِينَ المَدَارِعَ نُوْحُ

    there owls make the male owl weep, just as weep

    bereaved mothers, wailing as they tear their gowns.

  16. كأَنَّ عَسَاقِيلَ الضُّحَى في صِمَادِهَا

    إذَا ذّبْنَ ضَحْلُ الدِّيمَةِ المُتَضَحْضِحُ

    As though the shreds of morning mirage upon its heights,

    when they melt, were a thin, shallow pool left by steady rain.

  17. قَطَعْتُ إِذَا لَمْ يَسْتَطِعْ قَسْوَةَ السُّرَى

    ولاَ السَّيْرَ رَاعِي الثَّلَّةِ المتَصَبِّحُ

    I crossed it when the rigors of night-travel could not be borne,

    nor the march, by the flock's late-rising shepherd,

  18. عَلَى ذاتِ إِسَآدٍ كأَنَّ ضُلُوعَهَا

    وأَلْوَاحَهَا العُلْيَا السَّقِيفُ المُشَبَّحُ

    on a night-striding she-camel, as though her ribs

    and her upper bones were a broad-beamed roof.

  19. جُمَالِيَّةٍ يُلْوِي بِفَضْلِ زِمَامِها

    تِلِيلٌ إِذَا نِيطَ الأَزِمَّةُ شَرْمَحُ

    A she-camel built like a male, the slack of her rein swayed by

    a long, towering neck whenever the reins are fastened.

  20. فَقُلْ لِلّذي يَبْغِي عَليَّ بِقَوْمِهِ

    أَجْدّاً تَقُولُ الحَقَّ أَمْ أَنْتَ تَمْزَحُ

    So tell the man who assails me with his tribe:

    Are you speaking truth in earnest, or are you jesting?

  21. بنَو عَامِرٍ قَوْمِي ومَنْ يَكُ قَوْمُهُ

    كَقَوْمِي يَكُنْ فِيهِمْ لَهُ مُنَتَدَّحُ

    The sons of Amir are my people; and whoever's people are

    like mine finds among them ample room.

  22. هِلالٌ ومَا تَمْنَعْ هِلالُ بْنُ عَامِرٍ

    فَمِنْ دُونِهِ مُرٌّ مِنَ المَوْتِ أَصْبَحُ

    Hilal—and whatever Hilal son of Amir protects,

    a bitter, pale-hued death bars the way to it.

  23. رِجَالٌ يُرَوُّونَ الرِّمَاحَ وتَحْتَهُمْ

    عَنَاجِيجُ مِنْ أَوْلادِ أَعْوَجَ قُرَّحُ

    Men who slake their spears' thirst, and beneath them

    are full-grown, fleet steeds from the offspring of Awaj.

  24. هُمُ حَيُّ ذِي البُرْدَيْنِ لاَ حَيَّ مِثْلُهُمْ

    إِذَا أَصْبَحَتْ شَهْبَاءُ بِالثَّلْجِ تَنْضَحُ

    They are the tribe of Dhu al-Burdayn; no tribe equals them

    when a gray day dawns, dripping with snow.

  25. وحَيُّ نُمَيْرٍ إن دَعَوْتُ أجَابَني

    كِرَامٌ إِذَا شُلَّ السَّعَامُ المُصَبَّحُ

    And Numayr's tribe, if I call, answers me—

    noble men when herds are driven off in a dawn raid.

  26. لأَسْيافِهمْ في كُلِّ يوْم كَريهَةٍ

    خذاريفُ هامٍ أوْ مَعَاصِمُ سُنَّحُ

    Their swords, on every day of battle, have

    skulls whirling like tops, or wrists crossing their path.

  27. وفي الغُرِّ مِنْ فَرْعَيْ رَبِيعِةٍ عَامِرٍ

    عَدِيدُ الحَصَى والسُّؤْدُدُ المُتَبَحْبِحُ

    And among the illustrious of the two branches of Rabi'a of Amir

    are hosts as countless as pebbles, and abundant lordship.

  28. هُمُ مَلَؤُوا نَجْداً ومِنْهُمْ عَسَاكِرٌ

    تَظَلُّ بِهَا أَرْضُ الخَلِيفَةِ تَدْلَحُ

    They have filled Najd, and from them come armies

    beneath which the caliph's land keeps staggering.

  29. وهُمْ مَلَكُوا ما بَيْنَ هَضْبَةِ يَذْبُلٍ

    ونَجْرَانَ هَلْ في ذَاكَ مَرْعىً ومَسْرَحُ

    And they have ruled all between Yadhbul's height

    and Najran—is there pasture and open range there?

  30. وشُبَّانُنَا مِثْلُ الكُهُولِ وكَهْلُنَا

    إذَا شَابَ قِنْعَاسٌ مِنَ القَوْمِ أَجْلَحُ

    Our young men are like elders; and our elder,

    when he grays, is an imposing, bald-fronted man of the tribe.

  31. تَحَاكَمُ أَفْنَاءُ العَشِيرَةِ عِنْدَهُ

    كَثيراً فَيُعْطِيهَا الجَزِيلَ ويَجْزَحُ

    The tribe's various branches bring their disputes before him

    often; he grants them rich gifts and gives lavishly.

  32. لَنا حُجُرَاتَ تَنْتَهِي الحَاجُ عنْدَهَا

    وصُهْبٌ عَلَى أَثْبَاجِهَا المَيْسُ طُلَّحُ

    We have chambers where petitions find fulfillment,

    and weary tawny camels with hackberry-wood saddles on their backs.