Page 154 - Arabian Studies (II)

146 Arabian Studies 11

witallah ‘ala taPin wara sakk ladbash9
tla‘ah ‘ala jolin ‘atho bill sagagTr10
tali’nnahar uzawwa* al-jol minhash i i
w-asbah yum! fi tiwTl al-'athamTr12
w-‘awwad mu‘Tfin ma liga hidu lab wash13
Translation:
(My hawk) is brown with very white flecks in his feathers;
He was just beginning to learn his job after being in the wild;
(The falconer) took a good look round, but saw nothing; then he took hold
of the hood-thong;14
The bird pulled to see behind a large herd of livestock;
He saw the quarry in a flock (of houbara) which other falconers had scattered
In the later afternoon, and flew at the flock which escaped.
(The falconer) swung his lure on the high ground,
But returned in despair and did not find his ‘gift of the pashas’.

3. Popular Peninsular hunting poem:15
ter! gliada wissilug! rah
lawahalalah ya ter!
aslh w-arm! lih il-milwah
w-azinn ter! liga gher!

Translation:
My hawk is lost and my saluki gone,
Oh, alas, alas, 0 my hawk!
I shout and swing my lure for him,
But I think my hawk has found someone else!

!