1. تَأَمَّلْ خَلِيليَ هَلْ تَرَى ضَوْءَ بَارِقٍ

    يَمَانٍ مَرَتْهُ رِيحُ نَجْدٍ فَفَتَّرَا

    Look closely, my friend: do you see the light of a lightning-bearing cloud,

    southern, milked by Najd's wind, then slackening?

  2. مَرَتْهُ الصَّبَا بِالغَوْرِ غَوْرِ تِهَامَةٍ

    فَلَمَّا وَنَتْ عَنْهُ بِشَعْفَيْنِ أَمْطَرَا

    The east wind milked it in the lowland, the lowland of Tihamah;

    when that wind slackened off at Sha'fayn, the cloud poured rain.

  3. يَمَانِيَةٌ تَمْرِي الرَّبَابَ كَأَنَّهُ

    رِئَالُ نَعَامٍ بَيْضُهُ قَدْ تَكَسَّرَا

    A southern wind milks the low clouds, as though they were

    ostrich chicks whose eggs have broken open.

  4. وطَبَّقَ لَوْذَانَ القَبَائِلِ بَعْدَمَا

    سَقَى الجِزْعَ مِنْ لوْذَانَ صَفْواً وأَكْدَرَا

    It blanketed the tribes' Lawdhan, after

    watering Lawdhan's valley bend with waters clear and turbid.

  5. فَأَمْسَى يَحُطُّ المُعْصِمَاتِ حَبِيُّهُ

    وأَصْبَحَ زَيَّافَ الغَمَامَةِ أَقْمَرَا

    By evening its massed clouds were driving down the white-footed ibex,

    and by morning it was moon-white, its cloud swaying proudly.

  6. كَأَنَّ بِهِ بَيْنَ الطَّرَاةِ ورَهْوَةٍ

    ونَاصِفَةِ الضَّبْعَيْنِ غَاباً مُسَعَّرَا

    As though within it, between al-Tarah and Rahwah

    and Nasifat al-Dab'ayn, stood a forest set ablaze.

  7. فَغَادَرَ مَلْحُوباً تُمَشِّي ضِبَابُهُ

    عَبَاهيلَ لَمْ يَتْرُكْ لَهَا المَاءُ مَحْجَرا

    So it left Malhub, driving its lizards to roam

    freely: the water had left them no sheltering burrow.

  8. أَقَامَ بِشُطَّانِ الرِّكَاءِ ورَاكِسٍ

    إِذَا غَرِقَ ابْنُ المَاءِ في الوَبْلِ بَرْبَرَا

    It remained along the banks of al-Rika' and Rakis;

    when the waterbird was engulfed in the downpour, it chattered.

  9. أَصَاخَتْ لَهُ فدْرُ اليَمَامَةِ بَعْدَمَا

    تَدَثَّرَهَا مِنْ وَبْلِهِ مَا تَدَثَّرَا

    Al-Yamamah's ibex listened intently to it, after

    its downpour had thoroughly enveloped them.

  10. أَنَاخَ بِرَمْلِ الكَوْمَحَيْن إِنَاخَةَ اليَمَانِي

    قِلاَصاً حَطَّ عَنْهُنَّ أَكْوُرَا

    It settled on al-Kawmahayn's sands as a Yemeni settles

    young she-camels, lifting their saddles off them.

  11. أجِدِّي أَرَى هذَا الزَّمَانَ تَغَيَّرا

    وبَطنَ الرِّكَاءِ مِنْ مَوَالِيَّ أَقْفَرَا

    Truly, I see this age transformed,

    and al-Rika's valley emptied of my kinsfolk.

  12. وكَائِنْ تَرَى مِنْ مَنْهَلٍ بَادَ أَهْلُهُ

    وعِيدَ عَلَى مَعْرُوفِهِ فَتَنَكَّرَا

    And how many a watering place you see whose people have perished,

    and, revisited as familiar, has grown unrecognizable.

  13. أَتَاهُ قَطَا الأَجْبَابِ مِنْ كُلِّ جَانِبٍ

    فَنَقَّرَ في أَعْطَانِهِ ثُمَّ طَيَّرَا

    The sandgrouse of al-Ajbab came to it from every side,

    pecked at its watering grounds, then flew away.

  14. فَإِمَّا تَرَيْني قَدْ أَطَاعَتْ جَنيبَتِي

    وخُيِّطَ رَأْسي بَعْدَ مَا كَانَ أَوْفَرَا

    If ever you see me with my spirit grown docile,

    and my head threaded with gray, once thick with hair,

  15. وأَصْبَحْتُ شَيْخاً أَقْصَرَ اليَوْمَ بَاطِلي

    وأَدَّيْتُ رَيْعَانَ الصِّبَا المُتَعوَّرَا

    and I have become an old man, my follies now ceased,

    and have repaid the borrowed prime of youth,

  16. وقَدَّمْتُ قُدَّامِي العَصَا أَهْتَدِي بِهَا

    وأَصْبَحَ كَرِّي لِلصَّبَابَةِ أَعْسَرَا

    and have set a staff before me to guide my steps,

    and my return to passionate longing has grown harder—

  17. فَقَدْ كُنْتُ أُحْذِي النَّابَ بِالسَّيْفِ ضَرْبَةً

    فأُبْقِى ثَلاثاً والوَظِيفَ المُكَعْبَرَا

    for I once dealt an old she-camel a sword-blow,

    leaving three legs and a shank cut to a stump.

  18. وأَزْجُرُ فِيهَا قَبْلَ تَمِّ ضَحَائِهَا

    مَنِيحَ القِدَاحِ والصَّرِيعَ المُجَبَّرَا

    I would cast the lots over her before her forenoon ended:

    the borrowed lot-arrow and the reinforced fallen shaft.

  19. تُخُيِّرَ نَبْعَ العَيْكَتَيْن ودُونَهُ

    مَتَالِفُ هَضْبٍ تَحْبِسُ الطَّيْرَ أَوْعَرَا

    It was selected from the nab' wood of the two thickets; before it

    lay deadly rocky heights, rugged enough to hold back birds.

  20. فَمَا زَالَ حَتَّى نَالَهُ مُتَغَلْغِلٌ

    تَخَيَّرَ مِنْ أَمْثَالِهِ مَا تَخَيَّرَا

    It remained there until a man who penetrated deep reached it,

    selecting from its fellows the best he could select.

  21. فَشَذَّبَ عَنْهُ النَّبْعَ ثُمَّ غَدَا بِهِ

    مُجَلًّى مِنَ اللاَّئِي يُفَدَّيْنَ مِطْحَرَا

    He pared away its nab' wood, then carried it off:

    a foremost winner among the ransomed shafts, thrusting others aside.

  22. يُطِيعُ البَنَانَ غَمْزُهُ وهْوَ مَانِعٌ

    كَأَنَّ عَلَيْهِ زَعْفَرَاناً مُعَطَّرَا

    Its bending obeys the fingertips, though it resists,

    as though perfumed saffron lay upon it.

  23. تَخِرُّ حِظَاءُ النَّبْعِ تَحْتَ جَبِينِهِ

    إِذَا سَنَحَتْ أَيْدِي المُفِيضينَ صَدَّرَا

    The little nab' shafts fall beneath its brow;

    when the lot-drawers' hands sweep forth, it comes out foremost.

  24. تَبَادَرُهُ أَيْدِي الرِّجَالِ إِذَا بَدَتْ

    نَوَاهِدع مِنْ أَيْدِي السَّرَابِيلِ حُسَّرَا

    Men's hands race toward it when they appear

    upraised and bare from the sleeves of their tunics.

  25. وإِنِّيَ لأَسْتَحْيِي وفي الحَقِّ مُسْتَحىً

    إِذَا جَاءَ بَاغِي العُرْفِ أَنْ أَتَعَذَّرَا

    And I am indeed ashamed—and rightly there is cause for shame—

    to make excuses when a seeker of kindness comes.

  26. إِذَا مِتُّ عَنْ ذِكْرِ القَوَافِي فَلَنْ تَرَى

    لَهَا تَالِياً مِثْلَي أَطَبَّ وأَشْعَرَا

    When I die and cease reciting rhymes, you will never see

    a reciter like me, more masterly and more poetic,

  27. وأَكْثَرَ بَيْتاً مَارِداً ضُرِبَتْ لَهُ

    حُزُونُ جِبَالِ الشِّعْرِ حَتَّى تَيَسَّرَا

    and more prolific in stubborn verses, for whose sake were battered

    the rugged slopes of poetry's mountains until the verse yielded:

  28. أَغَرَّ غَرِيباً يَمْسَحُ النَّاسُ وَجْهَهُ

    كَمَا تَمْسَحُ الأَيْدِي الأَغَرَّ المُشَهَّرَا

    a radiant, rare verse whose face people stroke,

    as hands stroke a renowned white-blazed horse.

  29. فَإِنْ تَكُ عِرْسي نَامَتِ الَّليْلَ كُلَّهُ

    فَقَدْ وَكَلَتْني أنْ أَصَبَّ وأَسْهَرَا

    If my wife has slept the whole night through,

    then she has left me to pine with love and stay awake.

  30. أَلاَ لَيْتَ ليْلَى بَيْنَ أَجْمَادِ عَاجِفٍ

    وتِعْشَارِ أَجْلَى في سَرِيجٍ وَأَسْفَرَا

    Oh, if only Layla were between 'Ajif's hard ridges

    and Ti'shar of Ajla, in Sarij and Asfar.

  31. ولكِنَّمَا لَيْلَى بِأَرْضٍ غَرِيبَةٍ

    تُقَاسي إِذَا النَّجْمُ العِرَاقِيُّ غَوَّرَا

    But Layla is in a foreign land,

    enduring hardship when the Iraqi star sinks.

  32. فإِمَّا تَرَيْنَا أَلْحَمَتْنَا رِمَاحُنَا

    وخِفَّةُ أَحْلاَمٍ ضِبَاعاً وأَنْسُرَا

    If ever you see us made food by our spears

    and our rash judgment, for hyenas and vultures,

  33. فَمَا نَحْنُ إِلاَّ مِنْ قُرُونٍ تُنُقِّصَتْ

    بأَصْغَرَ مِمَّا قَدْ لَقِيتُ وأَكْبَرَا

    we are but among generations diminished

    by smaller trials than I have faced, and greater.

  34. وشَاعِرِ قَوْمٍ مُعْجَبِينَ بِشِعْرِهِ

    مَدَدْتُ لَهُ طُولَ العِنَانِ فَقَصَّرَا

    And many a poet whose people admired his verse—

    I gave him the full length of rein, yet he fell short.

  35. لَقَدْ كَانَ فِينَا مَنْ يَحُوطُ ذِمَارَنَا

    ويُحْذِي الكَمِيَّ الزَّاعِبِيَّ المُؤَمَّرَا

    Indeed, among us was one who guarded our honor

    and dealt the armored warrior a thrust of the headed Za'ibi spear,

  36. ويَنْفَعُنَا يَوْمَ البَلاءِ بَلاَؤُهُ

    إِذَا اسْتَلْحَمَ الأَمْرُ الدَّثورَ المُغَمَّرَا

    whose valor helped us on the day of trial,

    when the crisis made prey of the sluggish novice.

  37. وخَطَّارَةٍ لَمْ يَنْضَحِ السِّلْمُ فَرْجَهَا

    تُلَقَّحُ بِالمُرَّانِ حَتَّى تَشَذَّرَا

    And many a swaying battle, whose vulva peace had not moistened,

    impregnated with spear-shafts until it flared in fury—

  38. شَهِدْنَا فَلَمْ نَحْرِمْ صُدُورَ رِمَاحِنَا

    مَقَاتِلَهَا والمُشْرَفيَّ المذَكَّرَا

    we witnessed; we did not deprive our spear-points

    of its vital targets, nor our hardened Mashrafi sword.

  39. وكُنا إِذَا مَا الخَصْمُ ذُو الضِّغْنِ هَرَّنَا

    قَدَعْنَا الجَمُوحَ واخْتَلَعْنَا المُعَذَّرَا

    When an adversary nursing rancor snarled at us,

    we curbed the bolter and stripped the haltered one.

  40. نَقُومُ بِجُلاَّنَا فَنَكْشِفُهَا مَعاً

    وإِنْ رَامَنَا أَعْمَى العَشِيَّةِ أَبْصَرَا

    We rise to our greatest crisis and dispel it together;

    if one blind at dusk assails us, he sees clearly.

  41. ويَقْدُمُنَا سُلاَّفُ حَيٍّ أَعِزَّةٍ

    تَحُلُّ جُنَاحاً أَوْ تَحُلُّ مُحَجَّرَ

    And the foremost men of a mighty tribe led us,

    dwelling at Junah or dwelling at Muhajjar.

  42. كَأَنْ لَمْ تُبَوِّئْنَا عَنَاجِيجُ كَالقَنَا

    جَنَاباً تَحَامَاهُ السَّنَابِكُ أخْضَرَا

    As though swift horses like spear-shafts had never settled us

    in a green domain that hooves kept away from,

  43. ولَمْ يَجْرِ بِالأَخْبَارِ بَيْنِي وبَيْنَهُمْ

    أَشَقُّ سَبُوحٌ لَحْمُهُ قَدْ تَحَسَّرَا

    nor had tidings traveled between me and them on

    a long-bodied, swimming-gaited horse, his flesh worn thin.

  44. كَأَنَّ يدَيْهِ والغُلاَمُ يَكُفُّهُ

    جَنَاحَانِ مِنْ سُوذَانِقٍ حِينَ أَدْبَرَا

    His forelegs, as the boy restrains him, seem

    two wings of a falcon turning away.

  45. أَقَبُّ كَسِرْحَانِ الغَضَا رَاحَ مُؤْصِلاً

    إِذَا خَافَ إِدْرَاكَ الطَّوَالِبِ شَمَّرَا

    Lean-bellied, like a ghada-thicket wolf setting out late in the day,

    he speeds up when he fears his pursuers will catch him.

  46. أَلَهْفِي عَلَى عِزٍّ عَزِيزٍ وظِهْرَةٍ

    وظِلٍّ شَبَابٍ كُنْتُ فِيهِ فَأَدْبَرَا

    Alas for mighty honor and backing,

    and youth's shade, in which I dwelt, now departed!

  47. وَلَهْفِي عَلَى حَيَّيْ حُنَيْفٍ كِلَيْهِمَا

    إِذَا الغَيْثُ أَمْسَى كَابِي الَّلوْنِ أَغْبَرَا

    And alas for both clans of Hunayf,

    when the rain-grown pasture became dull-colored and dust-gray.

  48. يُذَكِّرُنِي حَيَّيْ حُنَيفٍ كِلَيْهِمَا

    حَمَامٌ تَرَادَفْنَ الرَّكِيَّ المُعَوَّرَا

    Both clans of Hunayf are brought to my mind

    by doves flocking in succession to the ruined wells.

  49. ومَا لِيَ لاَ أَبْكِي الدِّيَارَ وأَهْلَهَا

    وقَدْ حَلَّهَا رُوَّادُ عَكّ وحِمْيَرَا

    Why should I not weep for the dwellings and their people,

    when pasture-seekers from 'Akk and Himyar have settled there?

  50. فَإِنَّ بَنِي قَنْيَانَ أَصْبَحَ سَرْبُهُمْ

    بِجَرْعَاءِ عَبْسٍ آمِناً أَنْ يُنَفَّرَا

    For the Banu Qanyan's flock has come to be

    at Jar'a' 'Abs, safe from being driven off.