1. For whom are the tents at Dhi Ruqa'
That used to be lined up and pitched?

2. And for whom are those lofty tents
Overlooking Al-Qaza'a seen?

3. Time has treated its people
After harmony, as it has treated them

4. Today my eyes see nothing of it
Except its ruins and tears

5. And I lamented the enemies
But lamenting did not benefit me

6. I wish youth would return
Though the bygone will not return

7. Why should I content myself with homelands of indignity
While the desert lies open before me?

8. Why should I be satisfied with little
While the open desert will not be satisfied?

9. Staying with humiliation
Is advice not to be heeded

10. To me belong the wilderness,
The camel-hair tents and the vales

11. And to me belong the poems and the bird songs,
The rumors and the hordes

12. Surely the Prophet in Mecca
Was too proud to stay, so he left

13. And Ibn Jafnah departed
Neither hoping nor submitting

14. Though it darkens, it will brighten
As she who bears a child delivers

15. O you who blame the lightning of generosity
Al-Sa'di, and it has flashed

16. With two she-camels making for the trail
To the harvest, to the spring

17. Arabs, when you meet them
You meet the fertility of the meadows

18. Do not blame the son of Harithah the venerable
When tumult among them flows

19. For their reason has loyalty
And Muhammad restrains moral corruption

20. And the guardian of neighborliness
Is the best of the noble who withholds

21. As for the family of Muhammad
To them belong all skills employed

22. They do not surrender their honor
Even if they are cut to pieces

23. They do not hope through their religion
While religion is the plague of hope

24. Their wealth is at the disposal of the destitute
So take what you wish and leave the rest

25. Their servants stoke the fire
With flames above their heads

26. An army fiercer than torrents
Like the waves of Dijlah in flood

27. The people of the phalanx, nay of the iron
Nay of the armor, nay of the helmet

28. Whoever is from Lam's line may be excused
Whether he is generous or brave

29. The child is born among them
With a sword in his fist and biting

30. In his left hand the rein,
Without having tasted his mother's milk.