Qasida Poems
Memory Inflamed
by Abu Layla al-Muhalhel
Memory inflamed the mote in my eye
in the still watch of the night,
then tears rolled down.
Then came the night,
enveloping us as if
it had no day.
All night I watched the Gemini until the first of them began to set,
And sent my glance on the trail of a tribe
that was drawn far off from land to land,
then disappeared.
......
And many a bitter morn of wind and cold
by Labid
And many a bitter morn of wind and cold
I curbed,
When its reins were in the hand
of the north wind.
I defended the tribe, my battle gear borne
by a winning courser,
Her reins my sash when I went
forth at dawn.
Then I mounted a lookout post
on a narrow, wind-blown peak
......
And many a bitter morn of wind and cold
by Labid
And many a bitter morn of wind and cold
I curbed,
When its reins were in the hand
of the north wind.
I defended the tribe, my battle gear borne
by a winning courser,
Her reins my sash when I went
forth at dawn.
Then I mounted a lookout post
on a narrow, wind-blown peak
......
Memory Inflamed
by Abu Layla al-Muhalhel
Memory inflamed the mote in my eye
in the still watch of the night,
then tears rolled down.
Then came the night,
enveloping us as if
it had no day.
All night I watched the Gemini until the first of them began to set,
And sent my glance on the trail of a tribe
that was drawn far off from land to land,
then disappeared.
......
