1. The dwellings are deserted, though their place remains;
At Mina their tyranny has come to stay forever.

2. The guardians of the rain clouds uncovered its form,
Created as promised in the Revelation's security.

3. After the loving era, a criminal time arrived
When the pilgrimage's lawful and unlawful were confused.

4. It was given the stars of the constellations and struck
By its pouring rain, its generosity and torrents.

5. From every lofty minaret and every singing night,
Whose evening shadows answer each other.

6. The tree branches are high, and the ostrich and deer
Graze there with the hyenas, at home.

7. While the eye rests on its heights, seeking refuge,
Bewildered, in the sky where its desires roam.

8. The torrents recede from the hills as if they are
Scrolls, their texts written by its surging waves.

9. Or like the returning cavalry of Washima
Covering them with its brave horses above.

10. I stood and asked about it - but how can I ask
When its eternal buildings cannot speak?

11. It was abandoned, and all departed from it,
Fleeing its hardship when the living things left.

12. You were split by the stab of life when they resolved to
Gather as cotton, pitching their tents.

13. Married couples in every covered litter,
Its pole shared by an old woman and her youth.

14. Men who seem like sheep scattering on it
And deer and cattle walking calmly.

15. They were roused and the mirage seemed to move them
Like tree trunks, their roots torn, and their bodies tossed.

16. Rather, it does not remember anything of Noor*
Its links are severed and its landmarks gone.

17. An ill-omened woman camped at Fayd*
And lodged with the people of Hejaz - where are your goals?

18. At Mashariq ul-Jabalain* or at Muhaggar*,
Sheltering them while its forts crumble.

19. If they prosper, they're suspected; if ruined, they meet
The doom of fate or a tyrant's injustice.

20. So break off from one who shows you his ties then betrays you
And the evil of one who befriends you plotfully.

21. Love those who are generous even if their bodies betray them
When their physique declines and their bodies grow thin.

22. With the hardships of travel some vigor remains
While others are worn out, backs bent and weak.

23. When its flesh is depleted and its bones show through
And its servants are severed after being together.

24. It has friskiness in its reins as if it is
A gray mare veering with the south winds.

25. Or like a polished sword, unsheathed for war,
Struck by warriors, clashing, combat, bleeding.

26. It climbs the hillocks of Ikam* with mettle
Though its disobedience and uncertainty exhaust it.

27. It fears war at Haziba's* slope, so it calms
When the thought of conflict makes its soul recoil.

28. Until the six months of Jumada* have passed
Its fasting and abstinence continue for so long.

29. By their command they returned to Dhi Mirra*
At harvest, the rope-binding successful.

30. The winds of summer blew over it while it shook
Off its covers and its arrows scattered.

31. They competed under the towering clouds
Whose shadows flowed like smoke from a torch.

32. Engulfed by the growth of Arafaj*,
Like smoke from a bright kindling fire.

33. He led the way, as was his habit
When it was restless and stamped its hooves.

34. They marched between the slopes of Sarri*
Past ruined dwellings, their walls adjacent.

35. Sheltered amidst the trees, shaded
By the wildlife and its guarding vegetation.

36. Is it a wild animal left behind
When the guides of the caravan neglected their duty?

37. A lost Khensa* who missed the parade of virtues;
The face of the meadow, its bloom and light lost?

38. Taken by a blue-eyed blond whose charm deceived it,
Whose visage soured, refusing any food.

39. It encountered a trick from him so death found it -
The arrows of death do not miss their mark.

40. It remained while the rain's escort settled around it
Watering the meadows, incessantly grazing.

41. It climbs the road of its valley continuously
On a night when the stars are veiled by clouds.

42. It passes a barren winter land, abandoned,
Toppled by the wind on its bending boughs.

43. It lights the darkness, shining bright,
Like the lamp of a sailor - ordered is its system.

44. Until the darkness recedes and the dawn rises,
The earth is stripped of its heavy dress.

45. It followed prey in the remains of hunted feast sites
For seven complete days of its course.

46. Until the hunter despaired and sent
The farewell pigeons, their wings clipped.

47. So they met and a guide from Mudarriya* reprimanded them -
As far as Samhra*, define it and complete it!

48. To drive them back, and it knew if it did not drive them
They would mingle with the doves and pigeons.

49. So it boldly encountered Kasab and blood dripped
While it plotted deceitfully in the valleys.

50. Thus with the dawn the lightning danced and the mirage of Sirab
Was stripped bare; complete my duty without doubt.

51. Or blame that some soul still craves
Or that a coveter criticizes its needs.

52. Or didn't you know, Noor, that I
Will keep the knot of loving ties bound?

53. I see you are ungrateful when I'm not pleased
Or some hearts hang upon you, obsessed.

54. Rather you don't know how many a sweet night of joy -
Our play and blameless passions spent.

55. I visited it at night while the goal of all merchants
Is the tavern from which only ruin comes.

56. I made wine of all the darkest necks
And cups poured out until the seal broke.

57. The clear dawn, pulling the well-rope persistently
With groping fingers stroking its handle.

58. I satisfied its needs, slaughtering chickens at dawn
To announce it when slumber had departed.

59. And after a windy morning and a day of comfort
When it fell into the hands of the north wind.

60. I even warmed the neighborhood, bearing my complaint -
Excess and my cheeks flaming as I wandered to meet it.

61. I climbed up a rocky hill on its heights, anxious,
To the flags guiding me to its camping grounds.

62. Until it wandered into an infidel land
And the darkness exposed the vulnerability of the ruins.

63. I raided it while it stood like a palm tree trunk
Bare, with only its fruit stalks remaining.

64. I lifted it while herding the ostriches and paralyzing them
Until its bones were hot and its body gaunt.

65. Its saddle-bags shook and its shoulders dripped
With the spittle of saliva soaking its straps.

66. It climbs up and digs in the reins, then settles down,
Returning to the dovecote when it coos.

67. Its strangers are many, unknown,
Their voluntary extras hoped for, their harm feared.

68. An overpowering force dispersed in the valleys as if
They are jinn of the waste, their feet implanted.

69. I denied its falsehood and recognized its truth;
It did not boast to me though it had prestige.

70. Short, equal troops I called against it
With bodies similar, their appearance uniform.

71. I summon them for a barren or nursing woman -
Their meat served indiscriminately to all neighbors.

72. The guest and the good neighbor next door are as though
They descended upon the plants, their roots nurturing.

73. Every outcast comes to rest there
Like a shriveled branch, their structures toppled.

74. When the winds contend they are girded
With alleys spreading out, their homes now orphaned.

75. When our groups come together, there remains among us
A persistent provision of great resolution.

76. And a just divider who gives rights to the clan
And forgives its obligations, erasing its debts.

77. So be satisfied with what the King has ordained;
He who divided creation among us knows all.

78. And if a trust was divided among the clan,
The One who divided fulfilled our largest share.

79. He built for us a lofty house, its ceiling so high
Their elders and youths ascended to it equally.

80. They are the runners when the clan is terrified
And they are its horsemen and they are its rulers.

81. They are the spring rain for neighbor and alien;
They are refuge when the year stretches its length.

82. They are the clan, no matter if a jealous one delays
Or if a coward leans towards the enemy.

83. *Words in italics are names of places related to Mecca and Medina.