1. I swear by God, I'll ne'er forget Zuhair
Though hosts of years and friends I've lost and missed

2. My soul refuses to forget that peer
When wintry blasts have made my skin resistant

3. And when the penetrating spears draw near
Midst cutting edges keen and unrelenting

4. By God! No coat of mail shall save or cheer
When war brings perils great and unpreventing

5. Nor shall the freshest youth escape the bier
Amid those trackless wastes where death is haunting

6. Though pierced by lances, yet he showed no fear
But bravely galloped on, the bold, undaunted

7. Next day he marched where storms of death blew near
And fate assailed him with its weapons dreaded

8. Next day he marched upon the battlefield
Though foemen's shafts flew swift as lightnings threaded

9. Stout camels trained that naught their speed could yield
Unless caparisoned and riders goaded

10. He curbed them, then upon the foe impelled
And turned him in retreat, by fear bested

11. As though between them when the war-clouds swelled
A deadly wind swept by, the soft sands shifting

12. He followed till his thirst for vengeance quelled
He pierced him with his sword--its edge blood-dripping

13. He fell upon his brow. Thus fate dispelled
His years. Fleeting is each life's brief equipping.