Mu’allaqa of Imraul Qais: English Translation: معلقة امرئ القيس

 معلقة امرئ القيس

قِفَا نَبْكِ مِنْ ذِكْرَى حَبِيبٍ ومَنْزِلِ         بِسِقْطِ اللِّوَى بَيْنَ الدَّخُول فَحَوْمَلِ

فَتُوْضِحَ فَالمِقْراةِ لمْ يَعْفُ رَسْمُها          لِمَا نَسَجَتْهَا مِنْ جَنُوبٍ وشَمْألِ

تَرَى بَعَرَ الأرْآمِ فِي عَرَصَاتِهَا            وَقِيْعَانِهَا كَأنَّهُ حَبُّ فُلْفُلِ

كَأنِّي غَدَاةَ البَيْنِ يَوْمَ تَحَمَّلُوا              لَدَى سَمُرَاتِ الحَيِّ نَاقِفُ حَنْظَلِ 

وُقُوْفًا بِهَا صَحْبِي عَليَّ مَطِيَّهُمُ           يَقُوْلُوْنَ: لا تَهْلِكْ أَسًى وَتَجَمَّلِ

وإِنَّ شِفائِيَ عَبْرَةٌ مُهْرَاقَةٌ                  فَهَلْ عِنْدَ رَسْمٍ دَارِسٍ مِنْ مُعَوَّلِ؟

كَدَأْبِكَ مِنْ أُمِّ الحُوَيْرِثِ قَبْلَهَا             وَجَارَتِهَا أُمِّ الرَّبَابِ بِمَأْسَلِ

إِذَا قَامَتَا تَضَوَّعَ المِسْكُ مِنْهُمَا            نَسِيْمَ الصَّبَا جَاءَتْ بِرَيَّا القَرَنْفُلِ

فَفَاضَتْ دُمُوْعُ العَيْنِ مِنِّي صَبَابَةً         عَلَى النَّحْرِ حَتَّى بَلَّ دَمْعِيَ مِحْمَلِي

ألَا رُبَّ يَوْمٍ لَكَ مِنْهُنَّ صَالِحٍ             وَلَا سِيَّمَا يَوْمٌ بِدَارَةِ جُلْجُلِ

ويَوْمَ عَقَرْتُ لِلْعَذَارَى مَطِيَّتِي             فَيَا عَجَبًا مِنْ كورها المُتَحَمَّلِ

فَظَلَّ العَذَارَى يَرْتَمِيْنَ بِلَحْمِهَا             وشَحْمٍ كَهُدَّابِ الدِّمَقْسِ المُفَتَّلِ

ويَوْمَ دَخَلْتُ الخِدْرَ خِدْرَ عُنَيْزَةٍ            فَقَالَتْ:لَكَ الوَيْلَاتُ! إنَّكَ مُرْجِلِي

تَقُولُ وقَدْ مَالَ الغَبِيْطُ بِنَا مَعًا:           عَقَرْتَ بَعِيْرِي يَا امْرأَ القَيْسِ فَانْزِلِ

فَقُلْتُ لَهَا:سِيْرِي وأَرْخِي زِمَامَه            ولَا تُبْعدِيْنِي مِنْ جَنَاكِ المُعَلَّلِ

فَمِثْلِكِ حُبْلَى قَدْ طَرَقْتُ ومُرْضِعٍ          فَأَلْهَيْتُهَا عَنْ ذِي تَمَائِمَ مُحْوِلِ

إِذَا مَا بَكَى مِنْ خَلْفِهَا انْصَرَفَتْ لَهُ               بِشَقٍّ، وتَحْتِي شِقُّهَا لَمْ يُحَوَّلِ

ويَوْمًا عَلَى ظَهْرِ الكَثِيْبِ تَعَذَّرَتْ         عَلَيَّ، وَآلَتْ حَلْفَةً لم تَحَلَّلِ

أفاطِمَ مَهْلًا بَعْضَ هَذَا التَّدَلُّلِ            وإِنْ كُنْتِ قَدْ أزمَعْتِ صَرْمِي فَأَجْمِلِي

وَإنْ تكُ قد ساءتكِ مني خَليقَةٌ            فسُلّي ثيابي من ثيابِكِ تَنْسُلِ

أغَرَّكِ مِنِّي أنَّ حُبَّكِ قَاتِلِي                وأنَّكِ مَهْمَا تَأْمُرِي القَلْبَ يَفْعَلِ؟

وَمَا ذَرَفَتْ عَيْنَاكِ إلَّا لِتَضْرِبِي            بِسَهْمَيْكِ فِي أعْشَارِ قَلْبٍ مُقَتَّلِ

وبَيْضَةِ خِدْرٍ لَا يُرَامُ خِبَاؤُهَا              تَمَتَّعْتُ مِنْ لَهْوٍ بِهَا غَيْرَ مُعْجَلِ

تَجَاوَزْتُ أحْرَاسًا إِلَيْهَا وَمَعْشَرًا             عَلَّي حِرَاصًا لَوْ يُسِرُّوْنَ مَقْتَلِي

إِذَا مَا الثُّرَيَّا فِي السَّمَاءِ تَعَرَّضَتْ         تَعَرُّضَ أَثْنَاءَ الوِشَاحِ المُفَصَّلِ

فَجِئْتُ وَقَدْ نَضَّتْ لِنَوْمٍ ثِيَابَهَا             لَدَى السِّتْرِ إلَّا لِبْسَةَ المُتَفَضِّلِ

فَقَالتْ: يَمِيْنَ اللهِ، مَا لَكَ حِيْلَةٌ،           وَمَا إِنْ أَرَى عَنْكَ الغَوَايَةَ تَنْجَلِي

خَرَجْتُ بِهَا تمْشِي تَجُرُّ وَرَاءَنَا            عَلَى أَثَرَيْنا ذيل مِرْطٍ مُرَحَّلِ

فَلَمَّا أجَزْنَا سَاحَةَ الحَيِّ وانْتَحَى           بِنَا بَطْنُ خَبْتٍ ذِي حِقَافٍ عَقَنْقَلِ

هَصَرْتُ بِفَوْدَيْ رَأْسِهَا فَتَمَايَلَتْ           عَليَّ هَضِيْمَ الكَشْحِ رَيَّا المُخَلْخَلِ

مُهَفْهَفَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ غَيْرُ مُفَاضَةٍ             تَرَائِبُهَا مَصْقُولَةٌ كَالسَّجَنْجَلِ

كَبِكْرِ المُقَانَاةِ البَيَاضَ بِصُفْرَةٍ             غَذَاهَا نَمِيْرُ المَاءِ غَيْرُ مُحَلَّلِ

تَصُدُّ وتُبْدِي عَنْ أسِيْلٍ وَتَتَّقي            بِنَاظِرَةٍ مِنْ وَحْشِ وَجْرَةَ مُطْفِلِ

وجِيْدٍ كَجِيْدِ الرِّيمِ لَيْسَ بِفَاحِشٍ            إِذَا هِيَ نَصَّتْهُ وَلَا بِمُعَطَّلِ

وفَرْعٍ يَزِيْنُ المَتْنَ أسْوَدَ فَاحِمٍ              أثِيْثٍ كَقِنْوِ النَّخْلَةِ المُتَعَثْكِلِ

غَدَاثِرُهُ مُسْتَشْزِرَاتٌ إلَى العُلا             تَضِلُّ العِقَاصُ فِي مُثَنَّى وَمُرْسَلِ

وكَشْحٍ لَطِيفٍ كَالجَدِيْلِ مُخَصَّرٍ          وسَاقٍ كَأُنْبُوبِ السَّقِيِّ المُذَلَّلِ

وتَعْطُو بِرَخْصٍ غَيْرَ شَثْنٍ كَأَنَّهُ           أَسَارِيْعُ ظَبْيٍ أَوْ مَسَاويْكُ إِسْحِلِ

تُضِيءُ الظَّلامَ بِالعِشَاءِ كَأَنَّهَا            مَنَارَةُ مُمْسَى رَاهِبٍ مُتَبَتِّلِ

وَتُضْحِي فَتِيْتُ المِسْكِ فَوْقَ فِراشِهَا       نَؤُومُ الضَّحَى لَمْ تَنْتَطِقْ عَنْ تَفَضُّلِ

إِلَى مِثْلِهَا يَرْنُو الحَلِيْمُ صَبَابَةً            إِذَا مَا اسْبَكَرَّتْ بَيْنَ دِرْعٍ ومِجْوَلِ

تَسَلَّتْ عَمَايَاتُ الرِّجَالِ عَنْ الصِّبَا        ولَيْسَ فُؤَادِي عَنْ هَوَاكِ بِمُنْسَلِ

ألَّا رُبَّ خَصْمٍ فِيْكِ أَلْوَى رَدَدْتُهُ           نَصِيْحٍ عَلَى تَعْذَالِهِ غَيْرِ مُؤْتَلِ

ولَيْلٍ كَمَوْجِ البَحْرِ أَرْخَى سُدُوْلَهُ          عَلَيَّ بِأَنْوَاعِ الهُمُوْمِ لِيَبْتَلِي

فَقُلْتُ لَهُ لَمَّا تَمَطَّى بِصُلْبِهِ               وأَرْدَفَ أَعْجَازًا وَنَاءَ بِكَلْكَلِ

ألَا أَيُّهَا اللَّيْلُ الطَّوِيْلُ ألَا انْجَلِي          بِصُبْحٍ، وَمَا الإصْبَاحُ منِكَ بِأَمْثَلِ

فَيَا لَكَ مَنْ لَيْلٍ كَأنَّ نُجُومَهُ              بِأَمْرَاسِ كَتَّانٍ إِلَى صُمِّ جَنْدَل ِ

وقربةِ أقوامٍ جعلتُ عصامَها             على كاهلٍ مني ذلولٍ مرحّلِ

ووادٍ كجوف العَيرِ قفرٍ قطعته            به الذئب يعوي كالخليع المعيّلِ

فقلتُ له لمّا عوى: إنّ شأننا              قليل الغنى إنْ كنتَ لمّا تموّلِ

كلانا إذا ما نال شيئا أفاته               ومن يحترثْ حرْثي وحرثك يهزلِ

وَقَدْ أغْتَدِي والطَّيْرُ فِي وُكُنَاتِهَا            بِمُنْجَرِدٍ قَيْدِ الأَوَابِدِ هَيْكَلِ

مِكَرٍّ مِفَرٍّ مُقْبِلٍ مُدْبِرٍ مَعًا                 كَجُلْمُوْدِ صَخْرٍ حَطَّهُ السَّيْلُ مِنْ عَلِ

كَمَيْتٍ يَزِلُّ اللَّبْدُ عَنْ حَالِ مَتْنِهِ            كَمَا زَلَّتِ الصَّفْوَاءُ بِالمُتَنَزَّلِ

مِسِحٍّ إِذَا مَا السَّابِحَاتُ عَلَى الوَنى         أَثَرْنَ الغُبَارَ بِالكَدِيْدِ المَرَكَّلِ

عَلَى الذبل جَيَّاشٍ كأنَّ اهْتِزَامَهُ             إِذَا جَاشَ فِيْهِ حَمْيُهُ غَلْيُ مِرْجَلِ

مسحٍّ إذا ما السابحات على الونى         أثرْن الغبار بالكديدِ المركّلِ

يُزلّ الغُلَامَ الخِفَّ عَنْ صَهَوَاتِهِ            وَيُلْوِي بِأَثْوَابِ العَنِيْفِ المُثَقَّلِ

دَرِيْرٍ كَخُذْرُوفِ الوَلِيْدِ أمَرَّهُ                تتابع كَفَّيْهِ بِخَيْطٍ مُوَصَّلِ

لَهُ أيْطَلا ظَبْيٍ، وَسَاقَا نَعَامَةٍ              وإِرْخَاءُ سَرْحَانٍ، وَتَقْرِيْبُ تَتْفُلِ

ضليعٍ إذا استدبرته سدّ فرجه              بضافٍ فويق الأرضِ ليس بأعزلِ

كَأَنَّ عَلَى المتنين مِنْهُ إِذَا انْتَحَى          مَدَاكُ عَرُوسٍ أَوْ صَلايَةَ حَنْظَلِ

كأنّ دماء الهاديات بنحره                 عُصارة حنّاءٍ بشيب مرجّلِ

فَعَنَّ لَنَا سِرْبٌ كَأَنَّ نِعَاجَهُ                 عَذَارَى دَوَارٍ فِي مُلاءٍ مُذيَل

فَأَدْبَرْنَ كَالجِزْعِ المُفَصَّلِ بَيْنَهُ              بِجِيْدٍ مُعَمٍّ فِي العَشِيْرَةِ مُخْوَلِ

فَأَلْحَقَنَا بِالهَادِيَاتِ ودُوْنَهُ                  جَوَاحِرُهَا فِي صَرَّةٍ لَمْ تُزَيَّلِ

فَعَادَى عِدَاءً بَيْنَ ثَوْرٍ ونَعْجَةٍ             دِرَاكًا، وَلَمْ يَنْضَحْ بِمَاءٍ فَيُغْسَلِ

وَظَلَّ طُهَاةُ اللَّحْمِ مِن بَيْنِ مُنْضِجٍ         صَفِيفَ شِوَاءٍ أَوْ قَدِيْرٍ مُعَجَّلِ

ورُحْنَا وَيكاد الطَّرْفُ يقصر دونه          مَتَى ما تَرَقَّ العَيْنُ فِيْهِ تَسَفَّلِ

فبات عليه سرْجه ولجامه                 وبات بعينيْ قائما غير مرسل

أصاح تَرَى بَرْقًا أُرِيْكَ وَمِيْضَهُ            كَلَمْعِ اليَدَيْنِ فِي حَبِيٍّ مُكَلَّلِ

يُضِيءُ سَنَاهُ أَوْ مَصَابِيْحُ رَاهِبٍ           أَمان السَّلِيْطَ بالذُّبَالِ المُفَتَّلِ

قَعَدْتُ لَهُ وصُحْبَتِي بَيْنَ ضارج           وبَيْنَ العُذَيْبِ، بَعْدَ مَا مُتَأَمَّلِي

على قَطَنٍ بالشَّيْم أيمنُ صوبه            وأيسره على الستار فيذْبُلِ

فأَضْحَى يَسُحُّ المَاءَ حول كتيفة           يَكُبُّ عَلَى الأذْقَانِ دَوْحَ الكَنَهْبَلِ

ومرّ على القَنّان من نفَيَانِه               فأنزلَ منه العُصْمَ من كلّ منْزِلِ

وتَيْمَاءَ لَمْ يَتْرُكْ بِهَا جِذْعَ نَخْلَةٍ            وَلَا أُطُمًا إِلَّا مَشِيدًا بِجِنْدَلِ

كأنّ ثبيرا في عَرانين وَبْله                كبيرُ أناسٍ في بِجادٍ مزمّلِ

كَأَنَّ ذُرَى رَأْسِ المُجَيْمِرِ غُدْوَةً            مِنَ السَّيْلِ وَالغُثّاءِ فَلْكَةُ مِغْزَلِ

وأَلْقَى بِصَحْرَاءِ الغَبيْطِ بَعَاعَهُ             نُزُوْلَ اليَمَانِي ذِي العِيَابِ المُحمّلِ

كأنّ مَكاكِيَّ الجِواءِ غُديَّةً                 صُبِحْنَ سُلافا من رحيقٍ مُفلفلِ

كَأَنَّ السباعَ فِيْهِ غَرْقَى عشيَّةً             بِأَرْجَائِهِ القُصْوَى أَنَابِيْشُ عَنْصُلِ

 

Mu’allaqa of Imraul Qais: English Translation

“Stop, friends! Let’s stay and weep at the thought of my love.

She lived here on the desert’s edge between Dakhool and Howmal.

“Even now the campsite’s not been totally wiped out.

The Southerly blows sand over it, but the Northerly sweeps it away.

“The fields and fences of the old home are desolate now;

The dung of wild deer lies around thick as peppercorns.

“The morning we parted it was as if I were standing in our tribe’s gardens,

in acacia-shrubs, my eyes watering at the popping colocynth pods.”

As I my pour out my heart in this lonely place, my friends stop their camels;

shouting, “Don’t kill yourself with this grief; bear this sorrow patiently.”

But I can only relieve my pain with relentless tears.

Can this desolation really bring me solace?

Before I met Unaizah, I mourned for two others;

Ummul-Huwairith and her neighbor Ummul-Rahab in Masal.

They were also beautiful, spreading the odor of musk as they moved,

as the soft zephyr brings the scent of the clove.

So the tears dropped down on my breast, remembering days of love;

The tears even wet my sword-belt, so soft was my love.

Look how many good times I’ve spent with beautiful girls;

I especially remember the day at the oasis of Darat-i-Juljul.

On that day I killed my camel for food for the girls:

who happily split up its gear to be lugged by their camels.

It’s a wonder, a riddle, that an unsaddled camel was put onto saddles!

The butcher was a wonder, too; so selfless in his generous gift!

Then the girls started throwing the camel’s flesh into the pot;

fat was woven with lean like loose hanks of white twisted silk.

That was the day I entered the camel’s howdah, Unaizah’s  howdah!

But she objected, saying, “Shame on you, now I’ll have to go by foot.”

She pushed me away, while the howdah was swaying with the motion;

She said, “You’re wearing my camel out, Oh Imru-ul-Quais, so get off.”

Then I said, “Drive him on! Let his reins loose, while you turn to me.

Don’t think of the camel and how we weigh him down; let’s be happy.

“Oh Unaizah, I’ve visited a lot of beautiful girls like you, at night;

I’ve won them over to me, even won them away from their children.”

There was another day when I walked with her behind the dunes,

But she cut me short and said she was going to be a virgin forever.

“Oh, Unaizah,” I said, “have pity on me; stop flirting.

If you’ve really decided to dump me, then do it kindly, gently.

“Don’t you realize that your love is killing me,

And as often as you give my heart orders, it will carry them out?

“And if there’s anything you don’t like about me

Then put my heart away from your heart, and it will stay put away.

“And your tears are like arrows sticking into my bleeding heart.

I‘ve had a lot of beauties, whose tents were out of bounds.

I evaded guards on watch, people who wanted my blood;

who would conceal my murder, since they were unable to attack me up front.

I passed by these enemies when the Pleiades appeared in the heavens,

like an ornamented girdle whose spaces are set with pearls and gems.

Then she said to me, “By god, you have no excuse for your wild life;

I don’t think you’ll ever change.”

I went out with her; she went on foot and dragged behind

her embroidered woolen hem, smoothing our footprints.

Then, when we’d crossed the tribal enclosure,

we made for the middle of the open plain, with its sand-waves and dunes.

I tugged the fair side-locks of her head toward me; she leaned toward me;

Her waist was small, her ankle was full.

Tiny waist, white skin, slender body,

breast shining like a polished mirror.

Her skin was like the ostrich’s first egg — white, mixed with yellow.

She’d been fed on pure water, undisturbed by too many feet.

She turns away to show her smooth cheek, then shoots me a warning glance,

Like that of a wild animal, with young, in the desert of Wajrah.

And she reveals a neck like the neck of a white deer;

neither inordinate when lifted, nor unadorned.

And a glorious head of hair which, when loosened, covers her back

in black, dark, thick clusters like dates on an overburdened palm.

Her curls creep upward to the top of her head;

And the braids are lost in the twisted hair, and the hair falling loose.

She meets me with a waist thin as a camel’s nose-rein of twisted leather.

She’s like the stem of a palm-tree bending over from the weight of its fruit.

In the morning, when she wakes, grains of musk are strewn on her bed.

In the morning she sleeps in; no need to belt that waist with a working dress.

She gives with thin fingers, not thick like the worms of the Zabi desert,

In the evening she brightens the gloom, like a monk’s light-tower.

The man with good taste gazes incessantly, lovingly at someone like her:

a good shape for her height, between a gown-wearing woman and girl in short skirt.

Men’s games cease with their youth, but my heart does not cease to love you.

Sour counselors said your love was disaster, but I turned away.

Night has often let its curtains fall and surround me in my grief,

It has swallowed me as a wave would, weighed me with sorrow.

Then I said to the night, as his huge bulk dragged over me,

As his breast, his loins, his buttocks crushed me before going on,

“Oh long night, dawn will come, but won’t be any brighter without my love.

You are a wonder, with your stars hung as if by hemp ropes to a solid rock.”

Other times, I’ve filled my tribe’s water-skin and braved the desert,

ranged its wastes while the wolf howled like a gambler whose family starves.

I said to the wolf, “You make as little, achieve as little as I.

Whatever we gain, we give away. That’s how we stay thin.”

Early in the morning, birds still in their nests, I mounted my horse.

He was a thoroughbred, long-bodied, faster than wild beasts,

Quick to attack, to retreat, to turn, but firm as a rock in a torrent,

A bay so smooth the saddle slips off him like the rain off a stone,

Thin but full of life, fire boils within him like the sputter of a boiling kettle;

He speeds up when other horses are dragging their feet in the dust.

A boy would be blown off his back; even a strong rider loses his clothes.

My horse is as fast as a top when a child has spun it well.

He has the flanks of a buck, the legs of an ostrich, and the stride of a wolf.

His thick tail hides the space between his haunches, nearly sweeps the ground.

Standing in front of the house, his back looks like the huge grinding-stone.

the blood of studs runs as thick in him as henna juice in combed white hair.

As I rode him we saw a flock of sheep, the ewes like girls in long robes;

They turned to flee, but before they could run he’d already passed the leaders.

He passed a bull and cow and killed them; they were prepared for cooking;

He didn’t even break out a sweat or need any washing.

We returned at evening, and the eye could scarcely take his beauty in –

when gazing at one part, the eye was beguiled by another part’s perfection.

He stood all night with his saddle and bridle on him,

While I gazed at him admiring he stood all night, did not rest in his stable.

“But look, my friends, as we stand here in grief, do you see the lightning?

Its glint, like the flash of two moving hands, in the thick mass of clouds?

“Its glory shines like a monk’s lamps when he has dipped their wicks in oil.”

I sat down with my friends and watched the lightning and the coming storm.

The rain was so extensive that its right edge seemed to loom over Quatan,

But its left end was pouring down on Satar, and beyond that over Yazbul.

The storm was so strong it hurled huge kanahbul trees down on their heads,

Its spray drove the wild goats down from the hills of Quanan.

In the gardens of Taimaa not a palm was left standing,

Nor a building, except those strengthened with heavy stones.

The mountain, at the first deluge, looked a giant draped in a striped cloak.

Mujaimir’s peak in the flood and rush of débris looked a whirling spindle.

The clouds poured their gift on Ghabeet desert till it blossomed

as if a Yemeni merchant spread out all the rich clothes from his trunks,

As if the little birds of the valley of Jiwaa all woke in the morning

And burst forth in song after a morning sip of old, pure, spiced wine.

As if all the beasts had been rolled in sand and mud like onion bulbs                                        

drowned and lost in the depths of the desert at evening.