1. To the one whose fire was hung high upon the lofty peaks
It shone so bright until it found no equal radiance

2. Its light appears and hides its whereabouts
It distances and draws near in the dark of night

3. As if rising suns amidst it
Or else a lightning flash ripped through piles of clouds

4. It reminded me of a fragrant bygone era
And a life we stole in the dark of the early dawn

5. And wine from the vines throughout the night
To him it's trivial that I spend it sleepless and distressed

6. And he denies us his wine out of avoidance
And turns away from us desiring connection

7. Shanabaa1 calls to the aloof one to return to youth
But the one who ascended, he did not cling

8. She is stingy to the passionate one with her shining light
Even if the vine quenched his thirst with sweet water

9. And when we met for farewell, tears welled up for her
While my tears that day did not flow

10. And when we passed by the gazelles in the evening
We mounted the summit and faltered with better than faltering

11. Journeying so the night was replaced by the forenoon
And made from those evenings elegant poise

12. So we touched boughs and looked out over the crescent moon
And wafted perfume or filtered wine

13. And they chided me with white hair that will clothe the likes of me
While one who escapes the hands of fate—does a separated youth remain?

14. Does a time ever leave the man his youth one day?
Morning and evening and distance and gathering

15. Say to the foe, how many ambitions to that one
Who rose to the heavens before you, soaring

16. Did that one who wearied me give you rest?
And did that one who kept me up put you to sleep?

17. You are not equal, and a man in dire straits
In which you doused the fear of danger and shone

18. None calmed it but dented iron
Or the whip, slit with stabs

19. And neighing horse as if you tore with it
The howl of life, so it ripped

20. I opened for them a deep crevice as if I
Opened with it a door to death, closed off

21. You scraped it with smooth passing
Where none who tasted the water would taste

22. It hurls and its hurling is not out of fear
And ruin is feared from the one who hurled and withdrew

23. It snarls poison from the crevices of its fangs
Whenever the people approach, it falls silent from chanting

24. The sea of generosity floods ruin with its torrent
When it meets the rich or when it pours forth, it drowns

25. And a lion you see each day at its side
For overpowering it, limbs cut off and necks twisted

26. Firm in power, if it dominated the herd, it dominated
And if it sought leadership lost, it recovered

27. And if roused one day by scum, you'd see it
Collapsing on its joints, drenched in sweat

28. So I boast, O Banu Fihr,2 that I am from you
When the noble stumble in their loftiness

29. You blame me for a people just as I faulted a group
Racing ahead of you in the arena of glory, outpacing

30. And I was for you the day of altercation an eloquence
And the day of battling, a refuge

31. And when you claimed to be lords of the earth
And attached glory to yourselves, I acknowledged

32. And you did not waver when you sought my excellence
Yet how many desiring this excellence have faltered

33. The mantle of awe was never upon you
And in my hands the slender Yemeni blade, constricted

34. Take pride abundant, everlasting, its pillars standing
And leave arrogance to whoever desires it, shining

35. And when you built the pinnacle of glory and eminence
You mocked a people building humpbacked structures

36. And with piercing you ignited ample fire
So you forgot who used to be called the igniter

37. And you soared in the lofty, towering heights
So you disgraced who used to be called the soarer

38. And men wished that I did not surpass them
Fully in favors, glory, and ascent

39. That I did not seize pride away from the people
As I seized it without equal, shining

40. That I did not set out in the paths of loftiness
Hearts, bodies, horses, and blades, galloping

41. So do not be angry with a predecessor who reached the goal
And blame the one not given precedence, so he may precede

42. And I did not see after perfection, with my vision
Of the people except ones indignant with me, enraged

43. And what is upon the climber to the peaks of eminence
But one who did not attain them nor ascend?

44. So how I compose each day a poem
And prepare for the reciter embellished speech

45. It is not healing the disease of my heart, my words
Even if the one of awe-inspiring bearing is slackened