1. I saw Najran coming towards me
While Layla stayed behind at her abode in Sadir

2. For Layla, in the darkness, there was the light of a fire
Gleaming as if it were the Shira star

3. When I said it was a dark night
The blackness of night and the cold north wind

4. She could barely raise her gaze, if they did raise it
None could see her light except the keen-sighted

5. So I remained as if I had drunk old wine
Matured, as it spins into fervor

6. I said to my companions - will the dawn and morn
Take me to Layla after this estrangement?

7. And my travels, when the darknesses cast
Their tents, and the resting places do not wander

8. And my saying, whenever I passed a camp,
"To another camp, O people, let's move on"

9. With a camel litter, as if the litter poles
Were shaken by her shy, aloof character

10. On the backs of strong camels, enduring,
From those that Er encamps in shadows

11. It grazed on the edges of pastures
From luxurious places to worn, dug up ones

12. So when it saw the villages become animated
Their surfaces glistening and glowing

13. Its muscles tensed up, and it curled its tail
And hunched its withers, like a folded mat

14. A drink summoned it, made by one of high pedigree
A broth with truffles or a creek

15. So it trotted alongside them with determination
As the worker trots alongside his she-camels

16. I feel it in my chest when its nostrils
Sniffed their sequence, it brays a lot

17. It produces sounds, you'd think the voice was of one who yells
When seeking the flute or lyre to play

18. Taming them, it fought off peers
A fight not even donkeys fought

19. And it spent the morn in the wilderness, turning
Its gaze cautiously, so very alert

20. It produces sounds, you'd think its legs when
It stood up rested, were feeble

21. So it brought them closer, trotting hard
To pastures not muddied by many

22. It waded through the water ahead of them
Until it was clear its valley was barren

23. When it submerged, it cried out among them
And the brilliant dawn did not know him