1. Happiness appeared, so the eyes fell asleep,
After a long absence, it was too good to be true,

2. A radiant white, whose advent the neighbors cannot disparage,
Nor can the biting gossip of slanderers sully her purity,

3. Yet between you and I stand a people, in whose hearts
Are rancor, malice, and endless mischief,

4. And dire needs have befallen me, a burden too great to shoulder,
For they favor even mares over noble steeds,

5. Powerful riders on a litter of the finest silk,
With nobles walking ahead to clear the way,

6. It bears a lissome youth with sturdy frame,
His lineage guaranteed, of esteemed descent,

7. As though his cheeks and neck were caressed
By a dangling sleeve of the softest Yemeni cloth,

8. Casting amorous glances from golden mirror-like eyes,
Gleaming in the sun like polished swords,

9. With two frisky colts that delight in the music of lyres,
Whenever their ears crave joyful strains,

10. Beside a lustrous pearl brought on palanquin
By honored men of high rank from India,

11. On two saddles of velvet embroidered with gold,
That soothe their backs like gently-swaying cradles,

12. Its skin made of supple leather that only the scrape
Of a sharp knife can cut through, soft and pliant,

13. It welcomes poets to take refuge in its shade,
With fresh milk and bread in abundance to regale guests,

14. Or an ostrich, taut of flesh, though scarred and abraded,
Its skin crinkled like much-folded parchment,

15. Borne by excellent camels in their excellent prime,
Their cheeks bright as the flash of shooting stars,

16. With legs like spread tent pegs planted in the ground,
Their joints covered in fetters and straps,

17. Neighing, snorting, groaning is their gait,
Ruffling its feathers, with tail bobbing up and down,

18. As though its trailing coverlets were bunched up
Over packsaddles, with fringes hanging loose,

19. Their necks outstretched from the sweat of exertion
Toward the water-skins filled to the brim,

20. Once set loose over the land they wreaked havoc,
Such was their headlong galloping over the plains,

21. Till they happened upon eggs lying exposed,
Withfledglings cheeping shrilly for their mothers' care,

22. So they veered away from harming the helpless chicks,
As gently as if lifting leaves of moist cabbage,

23. Then continued apace in the tracks of their guide,
His legs striking the ground like flickering flames,

24. As though his saddlebags were slung over pack camels
Weighted down with precious oils and perfumes,

25. For three nights they persisted through darkness
And with the rising sun effaced their pursuers' tracks,

26. Entrusting the gifts to a man of integrity
As refreshing as pure cold water on thirsty lips,

27. Certain he was true to his word, while others
Were distracted with merriment and mirth,

28. She turned aside, hurtling through plains and hills
From Al-Usaihim to Ar-Ranqaa and beyond,

29. Until she called out in her desperation
To a meadow resounding with the crickets' chorus,

30. Then continued undaunted despite her exhaustion,
Covered in dust like a shroud for the dead,