Sol 6.1

  1. يَقولُ خَليلي بِاللَوى مِن حُفارَةٍ

    وَقَد قَفَّ تاراتٍ مِنَ الخَوفِ جانِبُه

    My companion says at al-Liwa in Hufarah,

    and his side has shuddered repeatedly with fear:

  2. حَذارِ الرَدى وَالقَلبُ يَعلَمُ أَنَّهُ

    أَلَيسَ حِمامي لا مُحالَةَ أَنَّهُ

    "Beware of death!" And the heart knows that it...

    Is it not my appointed death? There is no doubt that

  3. إِذا جاءَ ساقَتني إِلَيهِ حَوالِبُه

    وَأَبيَضَ ماضي الهَمِّ مُنقَبِضِ الحَشا

    when it comes, its agents will drive me to it.

    And a fair-complexioned man, resolute in purpose, lean of belly,

  4. كَريمِ النَثا يُغني بِهِ مَن يُصاحِبُه

    أَخو ثِقَةٍ لَم يُعطَ ثَديَ وَليدَةٍ

    noble in repute; whoever accompanies him finds support through him.

    A trustworthy man, never given a slave girl's breast,

  5. كَنَصلِ اليَمانِي لَم تُغَلَّل مَضارِبُه

    كَأَنَّ عَلى أَعطافِهِ لَونُ مُذهَبٍ

    like a Yemeni blade whose striking edges are unmarred.

    As though the hue of gilding lay upon his flanks,

  6. طَرَدتَ الكَرى عَنهُ بِذَكرَيكَ بَعدَما

    أَطالَ سُرى لَيلٍ وَذَلَّت رَكائِبُه

    you drove sleep from him with two recollections of you, after

    he had prolonged his night travel and his mounts had grown subdued.

  7. فَقامَ كَسَكرانٍ بِهِ عُقبُ سَكرَةٍ

    وَبَردَةُ مَجرورٍ مِنَ النَومِ جانِبُه

    So he rose like a drunkard with a bout's aftereffects still upon him,

    and the chill of one whose side is dragged out of sleep,

  8. إِلى سَلسَلٍ رَسلٍ سَفيهٍ زِمامُهُ

    أَنافَ لِأَعلى مَوضِعِ الرَحلِ غارِبُه

    toward a smooth-going, easy-paced mount with a restless rein;

    its withers rose to the saddle's highest point.

  9. وَقُمتُ إِلى أَعوادِ حَرفٍ كَأَنَّما

    تَرى بِأَقاصي البيدِ غُنماً تَناهَبُه

    And I rose to the wooden saddle-frame of a lean she-camel, as though

    you see, at the deserts' farthest reaches, booty you vie to seize.

  10. عَلَيهِ فَيَأبى أَن يُفَرِّطَ ثائِبُه

    وَمَرَّت تُضاغي بِالعَشِيِّ ثَعالِبُه

    upon it; so the one returning to it refuses to let it slip,

    and its foxes passed, yelping to one another in the evening.

  11. لِنُدرِكَ وَصلاً بانَ مِنكَ لِنِيَّةٍ

    وَلا خَيرَ في وَصلٍ يُماديهِ طالِبُه

    so we may attain a union severed from you by a journey,

    and no good lies in a union whose seeker delays it.

  12. فَأَشهَدَ عِندَ اللَهِ أَن قَد سَبَبتَني

    كَأَنَّ سَلاقَ الخَمرِ بَينَ خِلالِهِ

    So I testify before God that you have indeed reviled me.

    As though the essence of wine lay between its gaps,

  13. وَأَسوَدَ مَيّادٍ عَلى جَيدِ عَوهَجٍ

    جَعادِ النَواحي غَيرُ زُعرٍ ذَوائِبُه

    and black hair swaying on the neck of a long-necked gazelle,

    curly at the sides, its tresses not sparse.

  14. وَرَخصٍ بِهِ الحَنّاءُ لَم يَعدُ أَن جَلا

    أَكَمتُهُ بَعدَ التَثَبُّتِ خاضِبُه

    And a tender hand bearing henna; he did no more than brighten

    its mound after careful deliberation—the one who dyed it.