1. My yearning is for a rock, for I see it
Performing acts of kindness though abandoned;

2. And my yearning is for a rock - it was protection
For its lord though his slipper slipped off;

3. It returns to its lord with sympathy
When loyal fellows have deserted each other;

4. You used to be such that when a palm came to you,
Destitute, you would hope for favour from your clouds that poured;

5. And one being strangled, Ibn ‘Amr relaxed his strangling
And his gloom dispersed from his face;

6. And a woman in the tribe who, were it not for his support
On a morning of days, would not have been independent of her folk;

7. And you were for us a life and the shade of a grove -
When we wished, you would begin the favour;

8. A man of inherent, noble magnanimity and gentleness
When the uncouth are stripped of their gowns of ignorance;

9. He attacked only to be the first assailant
And no sooner did the horses sight him than they shook with terror;

10. So he obtains vengeance, and no wealth made him forgetful
A brother the like of whom one day gladdened the eye and then was laid in the grave;

11. When they seek a protector, he appears with his bands
And he restrains himself, protecting them when the horses bolt;

12. I have no concern after him - rather my concern
Is that I remember him and my tears begin to flow.