1. O rider coming from our Hiz'iyyah,
Freely wandering for five years,

2. May God guide you, take my message
From Qushtamuna across Syria's expanse.

3. O rider, go gently, steady your reins
Like an ostrich gliding over the sand.

4. O messenger, take the direct route
And be like a thirsty one seeking water.

5. O rider, after twenty nights
If you reach Syria, give my greetings

6. Greet those who delight the heart to see
Who don the garb and wrap the headdress.

7. And complain to the love-sick Mudhnun
Of my torment, with tears down my cheeks.

8. O white messenger from Maha
Is it the throat, or the soft-eyed gazelle?

9. I think not in Syria's expanse is her equal
A mare valued at four, pure bred stock.

10. She has cheeks flushed red, a neck like a gazelle,
A blossoming smile beneath her veil.

11. She has the height of a willow branch, if passion applauds
Were you to see her, she would stir tumult in your heart.

12. She has the eye of a hunter, launching arrows
And a nose like swords honed on the whetstone.

13. She has the rising Pleiades on her brow
Beyond describing her body and proportions.

14. She has a curving smile, gently bent
Sweeter than the honeycomb's dripping honey.

15. While I have a burning longing from the distance and disdain
And none but the loved ones hear my complaints.

16. She has two ostrich plumes, dyed red
Draped at the rise of her brow, trailing scarves.

17. While I have a wound from the sword, slicing my love
Woe to the wise, it has cut to the bone.

18. She has a mole, a mark of some beauty and charm
While it is far, far from the cup I desire.

19. I have a tumultuous passion burning the flint and gravel
I cannot attain the joy of fulfillment.

20. She has a face like the full moon in its brightness
While her arched brow glows like torches.

21. I have a heart like burning coal from the fires of longing
Scorched from losing my loved ones and friends.

22. She has a chest like a marble tablet, smoothed and polished
Stained red like a garden of anemones.

23. I have a withered body, devoid of power and strength
And if my fate returns, there will only be ruin.

24. She has breasts like buds, rising on her chest
Her dress clings to her, always hanging loose.

25. I have such grief from the loss of lovers
I doubt a mountain could withstand its weight.

26. She has the height of a willow branch, were it to bend
On any youth of the tribe it would incline.

27. I have a will-less soul from the distance and disdain
Yearning for closeness and nearness, O people.

28. Though I've gone far from home, O delight of my soul
Do not think me, my love, one who has left.

29. Beware of pretenders and stop heeding
Those who falsely claim to know my intentions.

30. We have mounted their steeds, O beloved
And headed west towards Syria.

31. I cannot abandon the soul's bliss and delight
My soul craves the sweet northern climes.

32. We left the gardens in which gazelles frolicked
But fate brought us arid and barren land.

33. We went, our hearts aflame, fires blazing
Taking our love and a hundred worries.

34. We arrived among those who know not Arabic
Would that we had not descended among them.

35. My dear one dwells in Damascus' abode
Alas for the loss of the Pleiades' rising.

36. But in Syria's land our minds were tempted
And we came to hostile, foreign territory.

37. What drew me, O soul's delight and joy?
Would that my body turn to dust and vanish.

38. Would that my body meet its end by their hands
While my soul delights in the longing and passion.

39. Grief, cares, sorrow and longing afflict me
While obscurity clouds my mind, confused.

40. If I live after losing the celestial stars
They will weep - life passed with no joy.

41. Better if she and I had died
And I could gaze upon you in my dying moments.

42. I see that I have no wealth or livelihood
And keep company, O soft-eyed gazelle.

43. And I say to my sad and pained heart
Rejoice after this grief and loss.

44. If estrangement, remoteness and disdain persist
May God afflict those blaming me with my afflictions

45. By the Prophet's honor, and my messages.
Pray upon the one who ennobled the earth by his mention

46. The Chosen One, the Finest of men.
Grant us relief, and those who wandered from our dwellings,

47. And may they return to the tribe's abode.