---
type: article
status: Published
slug: "muallaqa-imru-al-qays"
title: "The Muʿallaqa of Imruʾ al-Qays"
author: "Imruʾ al-Qays"
tradition: "arabic"
language: "ar"
genre: "qasida"
period: "6th c. CE"
source_url: "https://ar.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A6_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%B3&oldid=532024"
certainty: observed
source: "https://ar.wikisource.org/w/index.php?title=%D9%85%D8%B9%D9%84%D9%82%D8%A9_%D8%A7%D9%85%D8%B1%D8%A6_%D8%A7%D9%84%D9%82%D9%8A%D8%B3&oldid=532024"
unknowns: none known
---
# The Muʿallaqa of Imruʾ al-Qays

## Original

### Verse 1

1. قِفَا نَبْكِ مِنْ ذِكْرَى حَبِيبٍ ومَنْزِلِ
بِسِقْطِ اللِّوَى بَيْنَ الدَّخُول فَحَوْملِ

### Verse 2

2. فَتُوْضِحَ فَالمِقْراةِ لمْ يَعْفُ رَسْمُها
لِمَا نَسَجَتْهَا مِنْ جَنُوبٍ وشَمْألِ

### Verse 3

3. تَرَى بَعَرَ الأرْآمِ فِي عَرَصَاتِهَا
وَقِيْعَانِهَا كَأنَّهُ حَبُّ فُلْفُلِ

### Verse 4

4. كَأنِّي غَدَاةَ البَيْنِ يَوْمَ تَحَمَّلُوا
لَدَى سَمُرَاتِ الحَيِّ نَاقِفُ حَنْظَلِ

### Verse 5

5. وُقُوْفاً بِهَا صَحْبِي عَلَّي مَطِيَّهُمُ
يَقُوْلُوْنَ:لاَ تَهْلِكْ أَسَىً وَتَجَمَّلِ

### Verse 6

6. وإِنَّ شِفائِي عَبْرَةٌ مُهْرَاقَةٌ
فَهَلْ عِنْدَ رَسْمٍ دَارِسٍ مِنْ مُعَوَّلِ؟

### Verse 7

7. كَدَأْبِكَ مِنْ أُمِّ الحُوَيْرِثِ قَبْلَهَا
وَجَارَتِهَا أُمِّ الرَّبَابِ بِمَأْسَلِ

### Verse 8

8. إِذَا قَامَتَا تَضَوَّعَ المِسْكُ مِنْهُمَا
نَسِيْمَ الصَّبَا جَاءَتْ بِرَيَّا القَرَنْفُلِ

### Verse 9

9. فَفَاضَتْ دُمُوْعُ العَيْنِ مِنِّي صَبَابَةً
عَلَى النَّحْرِ حَتَّى بَلَّ دَمْعِي مِحْمَلِي

### Verse 10

10. ألاَ رُبَّ يَوْمٍ لَكَ مِنْهُنَّ صَالِحٍ
وَلاَ سِيَّمَا يَوْمٌ بِدَارَةِ جُلْجُلِ

### Verse 11

11. ويَوْمَ عَقَرْتُ لِلْعَذَارَي مَطِيَّتِي
فَيَا عَجَباً مِنْ كورها المُتَحَمَّلِ

### Verse 12

12. فَظَلَّ العَذَارَى يَرْتَمِيْنَ بِلَحْمِهَا
وشَحْمٍ كَهُدَّابِ الدِّمَقْسِ المُفَتَّلِ

### Verse 13

13. ويَوْمَ دَخَلْتُ الخِدْرَ خِدْرَ عُنَيْزَةٍ
فَقَالَتْ:لَكَ الوَيْلاَتُ!،إنَّكَ مُرْجِلِي

### Verse 14

14. تَقُولُ وقَدْ مَالَ الغَبِيْطُ بِنَا مَعاً:
عَقَرْتَ بَعِيْرِي يَا امْرأَ القَيْسِ فَانْزِلِ

### Verse 15

15. فَقُلْتُ لَهَا:سِيْرِي وأَرْخِي زِمَامَه
ولاَ تُبْعدِيْنِي مِنْ جَنَاكِ المُعَلَّلِ

### Verse 16

16. فَمِثْلِكِ حُبْلَى قَدْ طَرَقْتُ ومُرْضِعٍ
فَأَلْهَيْتُهَا عَنْ ذِي تَمَائِمَ مُحْوِلِ

### Verse 17

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

### Verse 18

18. ويَوْماً عَلَى ظَهْرِ الكَثِيْبِ تَعَذَّرَتْ
عَلَيَّ، وَآلَتْ حَلْفَةً لم تَحَلَّلِ

### Verse 19

19. أفاطِمَ مَهْلاً بَعْضَ هَذَا التَّدَلُّلِ
وإِنْ كُنْتِ قَدْ أزمعْتِ صَرْمِي فَأَجْمِلِي

### Verse 20

20. وَإنْ تكُ قد ساءتكِ مني خَليقَةٌ
فسُلّي ثيابي من ثيابِكِ تَنْسُلِ

### Verse 21

21. أغَرَّكِ مِنِّي أنَّ حُبَّكِ قَاتِلِي
وأنَّكِ مَهْمَا تَأْمُرِي القَلْبَ يَفْعَلِ؟

### Verse 22

22. وَمَا ذَرَفَتْ عَيْنَاكِ إلاَّ لِتَضْرِبِي
بِسَهْمَيْكِ فِي أعْشَارِ قَلْبٍ مُقَتَّلِ

### Verse 23

23. وبَيْضَةِ خِدْرٍ لاَ يُرَامُ خِبَاؤُهَا
تَمَتَّعْتُ مِنْ لَهْوٍ بِهَا غَيْرَ مُعْجَلِ

### Verse 24

24. تَجَاوَزْتُ أحْرَاساً إِلَيْهَا وَمَعْشَراً
عَلَّي حِرَاصاً لَوْ يُسِرُّوْنَ مَقْتَلِي

### Verse 25

25. إِذَا مَا الثُّرَيَّا فِي السَّمَاءِ تَعَرَّضَتْ
تَعَرُّضَ أَثْنَاءَ الوِشَاحِ المُفَصَّلِ

### Verse 26

26. فَجِئْتُ وَقَدْ نَضَّتْ لِنَوْمٍ ثِيَابَهَا
لَدَى السِّتْرِ إلاَّ لِبْسَةَ المُتَفَضِّلِ

### Verse 27

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

### Verse 28

28. خَرَجْتُ بِهَا تمْشِي تَجُرُّ وَرَاءَنَا
عَلَى أَثَرَيْنا ذيل مِرْطٍ مُرَحَّلِ

### Verse 29

29. فَلَمَّا أجَزْنَا سَاحَةَ الحَيِّ وانْتَحَى
بِنَا بَطْنُ خَبْتٍ ذِي حِقَافٍ عَقَنْقَلِ

### Verse 30

30. هَصَرْتُ بِفَوْدَيْ رَأْسِهَا فَتَمَايَلَتْ
عَليَّ هَضِيْمَ الكَشْحِ رَيَّا المُخَلْخَلِ

### Verse 31

31. إذا التفتت نحوي تضوّع ريحُها
نسيمَ الصَّبا جاءت بريا القرنفُلِ

### Verse 32

32. مُهَفْهَفَةٌ بَيْضَاءُ غَيْرُ مُفَاضَةٍ
تَرَائِبُهَا مَصْقُولَةٌ كَالسَّجَنْجَلِ

### Verse 33

33. كَبِكْرِ المُقَانَاةِ البَيَاضَ بِصُفْرَةٍ
غَذَاهَا نَمِيْرُ المَاءِ غَيْرُ مُحَلَّلِ

### Verse 34

34. تَصُدُّ وتُبْدِي عَنْ أسِيْلٍ وَتَتَّقي
بِنَاظِرَةٍ مِنْ وَحْشِ وَجْرَةَ مُطْفِلِ

### Verse 35

35. وجِيْدٍ كَجِيْدِ الرِّيمِ لَيْسَ بِفَاحِشٍ
إِذَا هِيَ نَصَّتْهُ وَلاَ بِمُعَطَّلِ

### Verse 36

36. وفَرْعٍ يَزِيْنُ المَتْنَ أسْوَدَ فَاحِمٍ
أثِيْثٍ كَقِنْوِ النَّخْلَةِ المُتَعَثْكِلِ

### Verse 37

37. غَدَائِرُهُ مُسْتَشْزِرَاتٌ إلَى العُلا
تَضِلُّ العِقَاصُ فِي مُثَنَّى وَمُرْسَلِ

### Verse 38

38. وكَشْحٍ لَطِيفٍ كَالجَدِيْلِ مُخَصَّرٍ
وسَاقٍ كَأُنْبُوبِ السَّقِيِّ المُذَلَّلِ

### Verse 39

39. وَتُضْحِي فَتِيْتُ المِسْكِ فَوْقَ فِراشِهَا
نَؤُومُ الضَّحَى لَمْ تَنْتَطِقْ عَنْ تَفَضُّلِ

### Verse 40

40. وتَعْطُو بِرَخْصٍ غَيْرَ شَشْنٍ كَأَنَّهُ
أَسَارِيْعُ ظَبْيٍ أَوْ مَسَاويْكُ إِسْحِلِ

### Verse 41

41. تُضِيءُ الظَّلامَ بِالعِشَاءِ كَأَنَّهَا
مَنَارَةُ مُمْسَى رَاهِبٍ مُتَبَتِّلِ

### Verse 42

42. إِلَى مِثْلِهَا يَرْنُو الحَلِيْمُ صَبَابَةً
إِذَا مَا اسْبَكَرَّتْ بَيْنَ دِرْعٍ ومِجْوَلِ

### Verse 43

43. تَسَلَّتْ عَمَايَاتُ الرِّجَالِ عَنْ الصِّبَا
ولَيْسَ فُؤَادِي عَنْ هَوَاكِ بِمُنْسَلِ

### Verse 44

44. ألاَّ رُبَّ خَصْمٍ فِيْكِ أَلْوَى رَدَدْتُهُ
نَصِيْحٍ عَلَى تَعْذَالِهِ غَيْرِ مُؤْتَلِ

### Verse 45

45. ولَيْلٍ كَمَوْجِ البَحْرِ أَرْخَى سُدُوْلَهُ
عَلَيَّ بِأَنْوَاعِ الهُمُوْمِ لِيَبْتَلِي

### Verse 46

46. فَقُلْتُ لَهُ لَمَّا تَمَطَّى بِصُلْبِهِ
وأَرْدَفَ أَعْجَازاً وَنَاءَ بِكَلْكَلِ

### Verse 47

47. ألاَ أَيُّهَا اللَّيْلُ الطَّوِيْلُ ألاَ انْجَلِي
بِصُبْحٍ، وَمَا الإصْبَاحُ منِكَ بِأَمْثَلِ

### Verse 48

48. فَيَا لَكَ مَنْ لَيْلٍ كَأنَّ نُجُومَهُ
بكل مُغار الفتل شُدّت بيذبل

### Verse 49

49. كَأَنَّ الثُرَيّا عُلِّقَت في مَصامِها
بِأَمْرَاسِ كَتَّانٍ إِلَى صُمِّ جَنْدَل ِ

### Verse 50

50. وَقَدْ أغْتَدِي والطَّيْرُ فِي وُكُنَاتِهَا
بِمُنْجَرِدٍ قَيْدِ الأَوَابِدِ هَيْكَلِ

### Verse 51

51. مِكَرٍّ مِفَرٍّ مُقْبِلٍ مُدْبِرٍ مَعاً
كَجُلْمُوْدِ صَخْرٍ حَطَّهُ السَّيْلُ مِنْ عَلِ

### Verse 52

52. كَمَيْتٍ يَزِلُّ اللَّبْدُ عَنْ حَالِ مَتْنِهِ
كَمَا زَلَّتِ الصَّفْوَاءُ بِالمُتَنَزَّلِ

### Verse 53

53. مِسِحٍّ إِذَا مَا السَّابِحَاتُ عَلَى الوَنى
أَثَرْنَ الغُبَارَ بِالكَدِيْدِ المَرَكَّلِ

### Verse 54

54. عَلَى الذبل جَيَّاشٍ كأنَّ اهْتِزَامَهُ
إِذَا جَاشَ فِيْهِ حَمْيُهُ غَلْيُ مِرْجَلِ

### Verse 55

55. يزل الغُلاَمُ الخِفَّ عَنْ صَهَوَاتِهِ
وَيُلْوِي بِأَثْوَابِ العَنِيْفِ المُثَقَّلِ

### Verse 56

56. دَرِيْرٍ كَخُذْرُوفِ الوَلِيْدِ أمَرَّهُ
تقلب كَفَّيْهِ بِخَيْطٍ مُوَصَّلِ

### Verse 57

57. لَهُ أيْطَلا ظَبْيٍ، وَسَاقَا نَعَامَةٍ
وإِرْخَاءُ سَرْحَانٍ، وَتَقْرِيْبُ تَتْفُلِ

### Verse 58

58. كَأَنَّ عَلَى الكتفين مِنْهُ إِذَا انْتَحَى
مَدَاكُ عَرُوسٍ أَوْ صَلايَةَ حَنْظَلِ

### Verse 59

59. وبَاتَ عَلَيْهِ سَرْجُهُ ولِجَامُهُ
وَبَاتَ بِعَيْنِي قَائِماً غَيْرَ مُرْسَلِ

### Verse 60

60. فَعَنَّ لَنَا سِرْبٌ كَأَنَّ نِعَاجَهُ
عَذَارَى دَوَارٍ فِي مُلاءٍ مُذيَل

### Verse 61

61. فَأَدْبَرْنَ كَالجِزْعِ المُفَصَّلِ بَيْنَهُ
بِجِيْدٍ مُعَمٍّ فِي العَشِيْرَةِ مُخْوِلِ

### Verse 62

62. فَأَلْحَقَنَا بِالهَادِيَاتِ ودُوْنَهُ
جَوَاحِرُهَا فِي صَرَّةٍ لَمْ تُزَيَّلِ

### Verse 63

63. فَعَادَى عِدَاءً بَيْنَ ثَوْرٍ ونَعْجَةٍ
دِرَاكاً، وَلَمْ يَنْضَحْ بِمَاءٍ فَيُغْسَلِ

### Verse 64

64. وَظَلَّ طُهَاةُ اللَّحْمِ مِن بَيْنِ مُنْضِجٍ
صَفِيفَ شِوَاءٍ أَوْ قَدِيْرٍ مُعَجَّلِ

### Verse 65

65. ورُحْنَا وَراحَ الطَّرْفُ ينفض رأسه
مَتَى تَرَقَّ العَيْنُ فِيْهِ تَسَفَّلِ

### Verse 66

66. كَأَنَّ دِمَاءَ الهَادِيَاتِ بِنَحْرِهِ
عُصَارَةُ حِنَّاءٍ بِشَيْبٍ مُرَجَّلِ

### Verse 67

67. وأنت إِذَا اسْتَدْبَرْتَهُ سَدَّ فَرْجَهُ
بِضَافٍ فُوَيْقَ الأَرْضِ لَيْسَ بِأَعْزَلِ

### Verse 68

68. أحارِ تَرَى بَرْقاً أُرِيْكَ وَمِيْضَهُ
كَلَمْعِ اليَدَيْنِ فِي حَبِيٍّ مُكَلَّلِ

### Verse 69

69. يُضِيءُ سَنَاهُ أَوْ مَصَابِيْحُ رَاهِبٍ
أَمان السَّلِيْطَ  بالذُّبَالِ المُفَتَّلِ

### Verse 70

70. قَعَدْتُ لَهُ وصُحْبَتِي بَيْنَ حامر
وبَيْنَ إكام، بُعْدَمَا مُتَأَمَّلِي

### Verse 71

71. فأَضْحَى يَسُحُّ المَاءَ عن كل فيقةٍ
يَكُبُّ عَلَى الأذْقَانِ دَوْحَ الكَنَهْبَلِ

### Verse 72

72. وتَيْمَاءَ لَمْ يَتْرُكْ بِهَا جِذْعَ نَخْلَةٍ
وَلاَ أُطُماً إِلاَّ مَشِيداً بِجِنْدَلِ

### Verse 73

73. كَأَنَّ ذُرَى رَأْسِ المُجَيْمِرِ غُدْوَةً
مِنَ السَّيْلِ وَالغُثّاءِ فَلْكَةُ مِغْزَلِ

### Verse 74

74. كَأَنَّ أباناً فِي أفانين ودقه
كَبِيْرُ أُنَاسٍ فِي بِجَادٍ مُزَمَّلِ

### Verse 75

75. وأَلْقَى بِصَحْرَاءِ الغَبيْطِ بَعَاعَهُ
نُزُوْلَ اليَمَانِي ذِي العِيَابِ المحملِ

### Verse 76

76. كَأَنَّ سباعاً فِيْهِ غَرْقَى غُديّة
بِأَرْجَائِهِ القُصْوَى أَنَابِيْشُ عَنْصُلِ

### Verse 77

77. عَلَى قَطَنٍ، بِالشَّيْمِ، أَيْمَنُ صَوْبِهِ
وَأَيْسَرُهُ عَلَى السِّتَارِ فَيَذْبُل

### Verse 78

78. وَأَلْقى بِبَيسانَ مَعَ الليلِ بَرْكَهُ
فَأَنْزَلَ مِنْهُ العُصْمَ مِنْ كُلِّ مَنْزِلِ

## Translation — Mouseia

> Mouseia’s complete machine-assisted Musean translation, made directly from all 78 verses of the pinned Arabic Wikisource witness for fidelity, clarity, structure, imagery, and cadence.

### Verse 1

1. Stop, you two, and let us weep at the memory of a beloved and a dwelling
at the edge of the twisting sands between Dakhul and Hawmal.

### Verse 2

2. Then Tudih, then Miqrat—whose traces have not been erased
by what the south wind and the north wind wove across them.

### Verse 3

3. You see gazelle droppings in its courtyards
and level hollows, like grains of pepper.

### Verse 4

4. On the morning of departure, the day they loaded up,
by the clan’s thorn trees, I seemed to be splitting bitter apples.

### Verse 5

5. My companions halted their mounts there beside me,
saying: Do not destroy yourself with grief. Endure with grace.

### Verse 6

6. Yet my only cure is a flood of tears—
but at an effaced trace, is there any place for weeping?

### Verse 7

7. As was your way with Umm al-Huwayrith before her,
and her neighbor Umm al-Rabab at Masal.

### Verse 8

8. When they rose, musk breathed from them,
like the east wind arriving fragrant with cloves.

### Verse 9

9. My eyes streamed tears from longing
down my chest, until they soaked my sword belt.

### Verse 10

10. Ah, many a fine day you had with them—
above all, the day at Darat Juljul.

### Verse 11

11. And the day I slaughtered my mount for the virgins—
what wonder at all the baggage carried from its saddle!

### Verse 12

12. All day the virgins tossed its meat to one another,
and fat like the twisted fringe of white silk.

### Verse 13

13. And the day I entered the curtained litter, Unayza’s litter,
and she said: Damn you! You will make me go on foot.

### Verse 14

14. She said, as the howdah tilted with us together:
You have lamed my camel, Imru al-Qays. Get down.

### Verse 15

15. I told her: Keep going, loosen the reins,
and do not keep me from your fruit, tasted again and again.

### Verse 16

16. Many a woman like you, pregnant or nursing, I have visited by night
and distracted from her yearling child hung with amulets.

### Verse 17

17. Whenever he cried behind her, she turned one half toward him,
while the half beneath me never shifted.

### Verse 18

18. And one day atop the dune she denied herself to me
and swore an oath she would not break.

### Verse 19

19. Fatima, gently—enough of this coyness.
If you have resolved to leave me, leave me graciously.

### Verse 20

20. If some trait of mine has displeased you,
draw my clothes from yours, and they will slip free.

### Verse 21

21. Has it deceived you that your love is killing me,
and that whatever you command, my heart obeys?

### Verse 22

22. Your eyes shed tears only so you could strike
with both their arrows into the broken pieces of a slaughtered heart.

### Verse 23

23. And many a sheltered pearl, whose tent none dared approach,
I enjoyed at leisure, never hurried.

### Verse 24

24. I passed guards to reach her, and clansmen
watching for me, who would gladly have concealed my murder.

### Verse 25

25. When the Pleiades appeared across the sky
like the jeweled folds of an ornate sash.

### Verse 26

26. I came when she had taken off her clothes for sleep
beside the curtain, wearing only a loose sleeping gown.

### Verse 27

27. She said: By God, you have no way out,
and I do not see your recklessness ever leaving you.

### Verse 28

28. I led her out, and as she walked she dragged behind us,
over our tracks, the train of her patterned robe.

### Verse 29

29. Once we had crossed the clan’s open ground
and the bed of a hollow among ridged, tangled dunes enclosed us,

### Verse 30

30. I drew her toward me by the locks at her temples, and she leaned
over me, slender-waisted, her anklets ringing with fragrance.

### Verse 31

31. Whenever she turned toward me, her scent breathed out,
like the east wind arriving fragrant with cloves.

### Verse 32

32. Slender, pale, not loose-bodied,
her breastbones polished like a mirror.

### Verse 33

33. Like a virgin pearl in its shell, white touched with yellow,
nourished by pure water no hand has troubled.

### Verse 34

34. She turns away, then shows a smooth cheek, and guards herself
with the gaze of a wild doe of Wajra nursing her young.

### Verse 35

35. A neck like the gazelle’s—not excessive
when she raises it, and not unadorned.

### Verse 36

36. Hair that adorns her back, black and coal-dark,
thick as a date-palm cluster heavy with fruit.

### Verse 37

37. Her braids rise high,
while knots disappear among strands twined and loose.

### Verse 38

38. A delicate waist, slender as a braided rein,
and a shin like the smooth stem of a well-watered palm.

### Verse 39

39. By morning, crumbs of musk lie over her bed;
she sleeps through forenoon, never belting herself to labor.

### Verse 40

40. She reaches with soft fingers, not coarse,
like gazelle grubs, or tooth-sticks cut from a smooth-branched tree.

### Verse 41

41. At evening she lights the darkness as though she were
the lamp in the night-cell of a monk withdrawn from the world.

### Verse 42

42. Even a man of judgment gazes longingly at one like her
when she stands full-grown between shift and gown.

### Verse 43

43. Other men’s youthful follies have passed away,
but my heart will not withdraw from loving you.

### Verse 44

44. Ah, many a stubborn adversary over you I turned away—
a counselor tireless in his reproach.

### Verse 45

45. And a night like the sea’s waves lowered its curtains
over me with every kind of care, to test me.

### Verse 46

46. I said to it, when it stretched its spine,
heaped its hindquarters, and pressed down with its chest:

### Verse 47

47. Long night, clear away now
into morning—though morning will be no better than you.

### Verse 48

48. What a night—as if its stars
were bound by every tightly twisted rope to Yadhbul.

### Verse 49

49. As if the Pleiades were hung in their stations
by flaxen cables to unyielding boulders.

### Verse 50

50. Often I set out at dawn, while the birds are still in their nests,
on a sleek, massive horse that shackles the wild game.

### Verse 51

51. Charging, fleeing, advancing, retreating at once,
like a boulder hurled down from above by a torrent.

### Verse 52

52. Bay-colored—the saddle pad slips from the middle of his back
as rainwater slips from smooth stone.

### Verse 53

53. He pours out speed when other swift horses, worn down,
raise dust across the trampled, hardened ground.

### Verse 54

54. Lean-flanked, surging—as though his deep-chested snorting,
when his heat boils within him, were a cauldron’s boil.

### Verse 55

55. He throws the light young rider from his back
and whips away the clothes of the heavy-handed, burdened man.

### Verse 56

56. Racing like a child’s spinning top,
set whirling by the turn of his hands on a doubled cord.

### Verse 57

57. He has a gazelle’s flanks, an ostrich’s legs,
a wolf’s long stride, and a young fox’s quickened pace.

### Verse 58

58. When he bends into his course, the breadth across his shoulders
is like a bride’s grinding slab, or the stone for crushing bitter apples.

### Verse 59

59. His saddle and bridle remained on him through the night,
and he stayed standing before my eyes, never set loose.

### Verse 60

60. Then a herd appeared to us, its ewes like
virgins circling Dawar in long-tailed robes.

### Verse 61

61. They wheeled away like a necklace of banded onyx
spaced with pearls on the neck of a nobly connected clansman.

### Verse 62

62. He brought us up with the leading animals, while behind them
the heavy ones stayed together in a herd not yet scattered.

### Verse 63

63. He ran between bull and ewe,
taking each in turn, without breaking sweat enough to be washed.

### Verse 64

64. All day the meat cooks worked—some laying
strips to roast, others hurrying a pot to boil.

### Verse 65

65. We rode home, and the stallion went tossing his head;
whenever the eye climbed his height, it slid back down.

### Verse 66

66. The blood of the leading animals upon his throat
looked like henna juice on combed white hair.

### Verse 67

67. Viewed from behind, his tail filled the space between his legs,
thick and flowing just above the ground, not scant.

### Verse 68

68. Harith, do you see the lightning? Let me show you its flash,
like hands flickering within a mass of crowned cloud.

### Verse 69

69. Its brilliance flares—or the lamps of a monk
who has filled them with oil around twisted wicks.

### Verse 70

70. My companions and I sat watching it between Hamir
and Ikam, though the farthest point I watched lay beyond them.

### Verse 71

71. By morning it poured water from every cloud,
toppling the great trees of Kanhabal onto their chins.

### Verse 72

72. At Tayma it left no date-palm trunk
and no fortress standing, except those raised on stone.

### Verse 73

73. At dawn, the summit of Mount Mujaymir,
amid the torrent and its debris, looked like a spindle whorl.

### Verse 74

74. Aban, amid the streams of its rain,
looked like a tribal elder wrapped in a striped cloak.

### Verse 75

75. Over the plain of Ghabit it cast down its load,
like a Yemeni merchant arriving with his burdened chests.

### Verse 76

76. By morning, the drowned beasts of prey within it,
along its farthest reaches, looked like uprooted wild onions.

### Verse 77

77. Over Qatan at Shaym fell the right side of its rain,
and its left over Sitar, then Yadhbul.

### Verse 78

78. With night it lowered its chest upon Baysan
and drove the mountain goats down from every refuge.

## Translation — Mouseia

> Mouseia’s complete Plain English edition, made independently and directly from all 78 verses of the pinned Arabic Wikisource witness.

### Verse 1

1. Stop, you two, and let us weep at the memory of a beloved and a dwelling
at the edge of the twisted sands between al-Dakhul and Hawmal.

### Verse 2

2. Then Tudiha and al-Miqrat, whose traces have not been erased
because the south and north winds wove over them.

### Verse 3

3. You see gazelle droppings in their courtyards
and open flats, like peppercorns.

### Verse 4

4. On the morning of parting, the day they loaded up,
there by the tribe’s thorn trees, I seemed to be crushing bitter gourds.

### Verse 5

5. My companions halted their mounts there beside me,
saying, “Do not destroy yourself with grief. Bear it with dignity.”

### Verse 6

6. Yet my cure is a flood of tears.
But is there any recourse in weeping over an effaced trace?

### Verse 7

7. It was your old way with Umm al-Huwayrith before her,
and with her neighbor Umm al-Rabab at Masal.

### Verse 8

8. Whenever the two women rose, musk spread from them,
like the east wind bringing the fragrance of cloves.

### Verse 9

9. My eyes overflowed with tears of longing
down my chest, until my tears soaked my sword belt.

### Verse 10

10. Ah, many a fine day you had with those women,
especially the day at Darat Juljul.

### Verse 11

11. And the day I slaughtered my mount for the young women—
how astonishing that its saddle and gear were carried away!

### Verse 12

12. All day the young women tossed pieces of its meat to one another,
and fat like the twisted fringe of white silk.

### Verse 13

13. And the day I entered the curtained litter, Unayza’s litter,
and she said, “Damn you! You will make me walk.”

### Verse 14

14. She said, as the litter tilted with us together,
“You have crippled my camel, Imru al-Qays. Get down!”

### Verse 15

15. I told her, “Keep going and loosen its reins,
and do not keep me from your fruit, tasted again and again.”

### Verse 16

16. Many a woman like you, pregnant or nursing, I have visited by night
and distracted from her year-old child wearing amulets.

### Verse 17

17. When the child cried behind her, she turned half her body toward him,
while the half beneath me never shifted.

### Verse 18

18. And one day on top of the dune she resisted me
and swore an oath she would not break.

### Verse 19

19. Fatima, gently—enough of this coyness.
If you have resolved to cut me off, then do it gracefully.

### Verse 20

20. And if some trait of mine has displeased you,
draw my clothes away from yours, and they will come free.

### Verse 21

21. Has it deceived you that your love is killing me,
and that whatever you command, my heart obeys?

### Verse 22

22. Your eyes shed tears only so that you could strike
with both your arrows into the ten parts of a slaughtered heart.

### Verse 23

23. And many a sheltered maiden, an egg of the curtained chamber whose tent no one dared approach,
I enjoyed at leisure, without being hurried.

### Verse 24

24. I passed guards to reach her, and a whole clan
eager to watch me, if only they could conceal my killing.

### Verse 25

25. It was when the Pleiades appeared sideways in the sky,
like the folds of a jeweled sash.

### Verse 26

26. I came when she had taken off her clothes to sleep
beside the curtain, wearing only the lightest shift.

### Verse 27

27. She said, “By God, you have no way out,
and I do not see your recklessness ever leaving you.”

### Verse 28

28. I led her out, and she walked behind us, dragging
over our tracks the train of an embroidered cloak.

### Verse 29

29. When we had crossed the tribe’s open ground and reached
the hollow of a low tract with rugged, curving dunes,

### Verse 30

30. I drew her to me by the locks at both sides of her head, and she leaned
over me, slender-waisted and fragrant, her anklets full.

### Verse 31

31. Whenever she turned toward me, her scent spread,
like the east wind bringing the fragrance of cloves.

### Verse 32

32. Slender and white, not loose or heavy,
the skin above her breasts polished like a mirror.

### Verse 33

33. Like an untouched egg, white tinged with yellow,
nourished by pure water no one had disturbed.

### Verse 34

34. She turns away, yet reveals a smooth cheek, and guards herself
with the gaze of a wild doe of Wajra protecting her fawn.

### Verse 35

35. And a neck like a white gazelle’s—not excessive
when she raises it, and not left bare of ornaments.

### Verse 36

36. And hair that adorns her back, intensely black,
thick as a date-palm cluster heavy with fruit.

### Verse 37

37. Its braids rise high,
while the hairpins are lost among doubled tresses and loose strands.

### Verse 38

38. And a delicate waist, slim as a braided rein,
and a calf like the smooth stem of a tended, watered plant.

### Verse 39

39. Crumbs of musk remain on her bed into the morning.
She sleeps late and never belts up her clothes to work.

### Verse 40

40. She reaches with soft fingers, not coarse, as though they were
the pale worms of Zaby or tooth-cleaning twigs from a smooth-branched shrub.

### Verse 41

41. At evening she lights the darkness as though she were
the lamp in the night retreat of a solitary monk.

### Verse 42

42. Even a self-controlled man gazes yearningly at one like her
when she stands fully grown between her shift and outer smock.

### Verse 43

43. Other men’s youthful follies have faded with age,
but my heart has not withdrawn from loving you.

### Verse 44

44. Ah, many a stubborn opponent over you I have turned back—
a sincere adviser, tireless in his reproach.

### Verse 45

45. And many a night, like the sea’s waves, lowered its curtains
over me with every kind of care, to test me.

### Verse 46

46. I said to it when it stretched out its back,
added hindquarters, and pressed down with its chest:

### Verse 47

47. “Long night, clear away
into morning—though morning will be no better than you.”

### Verse 48

48. What a night it was, as though its stars
were bound to Yadhbul by every tightly twisted rope.

### Verse 49

49. As though the Pleiades were fastened in their fixed places
with stout flax ropes to solid boulders.

### Verse 50

50. Often I set out at dawn while the birds were still in their nests,
on a sleek, towering horse that shackled wild game.

### Verse 51

51. Charging, fleeing, advancing, retreating all at once,
like a massive rock hurled down from above by a torrent.

### Verse 52

52. Dark chestnut, with the saddle pad slipping from his smooth back
as rainwater slips from a polished stone.

### Verse 53

53. He pours forward when the other swift horses, worn with fatigue,
raise dust from the hard, trampled ground.

### Verse 54

54. Surging over his lean frame, his forceful snorting,
when his heat boils within him, is the boiling of a cauldron.

### Verse 55

55. He throws the light young rider from his back
and twists the clothes of the heavy, violent horseman.

### Verse 56

56. Racing like a child’s spinning top, which the child sets whirling
with the turning of both hands and a tightly joined cord.

### Verse 57

57. He has the flanks of a gazelle and the legs of an ostrich,
the long stride of a wolf and the close-stepping gait of a fox cub.

### Verse 58

58. When he bears down, it is as though upon his shoulders lies
a bride’s polished grinding slab, or a stone for crushing bitter gourds.

### Verse 59

59. His saddle and bridle stayed on him through the night,
and he spent the night standing before my eyes, never released.

### Verse 60

60. Then a herd appeared to us, its ewes like
young women attending Duwar in long, trailing robes.

### Verse 61

61. They turned away like the alternating beads of a jeweled necklace,
strung between pearls noble on both the father’s and mother’s side.

### Verse 62

62. He brought us up with the leading animals, while behind the leader
the laggards remained crowded together in a herd that had not scattered.

### Verse 63

63. He ran one sustained course between a bull and a ewe,
overtook them, and was not even splashed with sweat to be washed.

### Verse 64

64. All day the meat cooks were divided between those preparing
strips of roasted meat and those quickly boiling a potful.

### Verse 65

65. We returned, and the noble horse returned tossing his head;
wherever the eye climbed along his body, it descended again.

### Verse 66

66. The blood of the leading animals on his chest looked
like henna juice in combed gray hair.

### Verse 67

67. When you looked at him from behind, his tail filled the space between his legs,
thick and flowing just above the ground, not tilted aside.

### Verse 68

68. Harith, do you see the lightning whose flash I show you,
like two hands gleaming in a cloud mass crowned with storm?

### Verse 69

69. Its brilliance flares—or like a monk’s lamps
when he has poured oil over the twisted wicks.

### Verse 70

70. My companions and I sat watching it between Hamir
and Ikam, though the farthest point I watched lay beyond them.

### Verse 71

71. By morning it was pouring water after every lull,
toppling great trees face-first onto the ground.

### Verse 72

72. In Tayma it left neither a palm trunk
nor a fortress standing, except one built solidly of stone.

### Verse 73

73. In the morning the summit of Mount al-Mujaymir,
surrounded by floodwater and debris, looked like a spindle whorl.

### Verse 74

74. Aban, amid the spreading streams of its rain,
looked like a clan elder wrapped in a striped cloak.

### Verse 75

75. Over the plain of al-Ghabit it unloaded its burden,
like a Yemeni trader setting down his loaded trunks.

### Verse 76

76. By morning the drowned beasts in it,
along its farthest edges, looked like torn-up wild-onion roots.

### Verse 77

77. Over Qatan, at al-Shaym, fell the right side of its downpour,
and its left fell over al-Sitar and then Yadhbul.

### Verse 78

78. At Baysān, with the night, it settled its massive weight
and drove the mountain goats down from every refuge.